of Europe and retaining an implacable Resolution to destroy all sorts of Protestants and utterly to root out that Pestilent Northern Heresie abounding in Wealth and Treasure follow'd by mighty Armies strengthned by a numerous Fleet of Ships as nothing in humane Probability can defeat his execrable Designs of Aggrandising himself by the Ruin of his Neighbours but the scarcity of convenient Ports and Havens in any of his Dominions so it must be his Principal Aim and endeavour to be Master of Ireland whereby he will be sufficiently accommodated with excellent good Harbours in which he may securely place his Fleet to extend his Soveraignty over the Seas and opportunely annoy his Enemies 2. This being accomplish'd not only the Revenue and Trade of Ireland will be utterly lost the Auxiliary Aid of two hundred thousand Protestants diverted and taken away and many thousands of them forced to depend upon the Charity of England the Trade to America and all the Western Islands will not only be intercepted but in a short time those Countries be wholly conquered and reduced to the Possession of the French and annexed to his Dominion and made a Prey to glut his restless Ambition 3. The French King will make Ireland a Magazine and Store-house for the victualling His Ships and the Harbours as so many Docks to shelter them where his Fleet riding in safety an Opportunity will be given him not only to ingross all manner of Trade but that of England will be intirely interrupted if not infallibly destroyed since no Ships can peep out from thence in their Navigation toward the Streights or to the Indies but they must pass within view of some Ports of Ireland or very near them and consequently must be exposed to the Attacks of that rapacious Leviathan or be necessitated to sail in great Fleets and very strong Convoys under Frigats and Men of VVar to the inestimable charge of the State and detriment to the Merchants of England 4. Let it be consider'd that since VVooll and VVoollen Manufactures are the ancient Staple of England and a main support to their trading into all Foreign Countries if it should so come to pass that Ireland be alienated from it which abounds with that Commodity and from whence it may be exported at far cheaper Rates than can be afforded in England how unspeakable a Prejudice will it be to the Trade How will it impoverish the People and bring an unavoidable ruin on many Towns and Families 5. Tho it is to be hoped that the Power of France with the Addition of Ireland shall never be able to make a Conquest of England nevertheless by such an unwelcom Neighbourhood it is more than probable the French King may discompose the Peace and Quiet of Great Britain when at any time of the year he can transport an Army from Ireland or land small Forces in North VVales in six hours time in South-VVales in twelve or in the space of four Hours in the VVest of Scotland And this not to be prevented by the English Fleet or by all the Art and Contrivance of Mankind The CONCLVSION I wish the People of England may see now in this their Day what belongs to their Peace before it be hid from their Eyes That they may not be deluded by false Glosses and sinister Interpretations of Publick Acts nor be cajol'd by jealous Misprisions and groundless Censures on private Councils That they may understand and consider how much their safety and the Interest of the Protestant Religion is concerned and involved in the Fate of Ireland and that if the Enemy chance to possess the Out-works the City will be in great danger That they may not be abused by Chimerical Notions of Obeying without Reserve or being destroyed without Resistance That they would rest contented with obtaining their Desires in being happy under the Establishment of a Protestant King and Queen and not hanker after a Change or be bewitched to make a wanton Experiment of Indulgence and Protection under a Popish Government FINIS
did not submit to their Protection they marched or rather chased the affrighted People without Interruption till they received a slight Check at Colrane and were shamefully bafled at Londonderry But all the Towns and Forts through the Kingdom except that sturdy place and its neighbour Eniskilling being Garison'd by Papists no Arms nor Horses permitted to remain with any Protestants whose enjoyment of their Lives was wholly precarious and reversible at the will of merciless men all things concurred to advance the long-hatch'd Design which now began to ripen and King James with a Rabble of French Reformers intermixt with a sew Renegado-English and Scotch landed among his dearly-beloved Irish Catholics where he remains under Pupilage to the French He the Reputed King and Monsieur d' Avaux the Protector I need not place any Remarks upon the supine Negligence and fatal Indifferency demonstrated by England in their cold Concernment and slow Motions toward the Recovery of Ireland it is obvious to every eye and if any have been wilfully accessory to the Ruin and Depopulation of so flourishing a Kingdom everlasting Vengeance will pursue them I wish the good People of England may see in the Mirror of our Misfortunes that Scheme of Misery and Confusion which was prepared for them and which assuredly will be re-acted on their Theatre if ever the French and Irish be permitted to tread the Stage To undeceive that giddy sort of men who think to gather Grapes from Thistles to enjoy the Profession of the Protestant Religion under a Popish Ring and the Administration of Jesuits to continue in Peace and Safety in this Kingdom if the other be torn from it I offer the following Considerations which weigh'd impartially may help to convince all sorts of men That it is not only the Interest of England to preserve Ireland but that it is necessary for their self-preservation to use all imaginable Industry and Expedition to reduce it to its former State and Condition I. The Advantage to the Kingdom of ENGLAND in General I Expect to be absolved from the Imputation of Flattery and Partiality when I take upon me to make this asseveration That nothing out of England doth or can rationally conduce more to the Honor Wealth and Prosperity of that Kingdom than the Addition and Conjunction of Ireland A Country abounding with all things that contribute to Pleasure and Comfort and richly endowed with the Blessings of Heaven and Earth scituated by Nature as a Postern-gate to England by which she may discharge all manner of Commodities which are supernumerary or unnecessary to the great encouragement of Navigation and Trade and through which an entrance is given for a continual supply of such things as the One may stand in need of and the other may conveniently spare I shall endeavour to make good this Assertion by subdividing this Consideration into the following particulars 1. The Revenue 2. The Fertility and Plenty 3. The Number 4. The Religion 5. The Consanguinity and Affinity 6. The Employments Ecclesiastical Civil and Military I propose these as so many irrefragable Arguments to convince the World That the Kingdom of Ireland has not only a Self-sufficiency within it to subsist without dependency and to grow rich by its own peculiar Traffick but also that by being annexed to England subjected to the Government and incorporated into its Religion and Laws it extends the Dominion strengthens the Hands and augments the Wealth of that happy and renowned Nation First let us take notice of the Revenue I. The REVENVE The Revenue of Ireland was under a sensible declination from the commencement of the late King's Reign occasioned by the daily Decay of Trade and that by the discouragement given to Protestants thro' whose hands almost the whole Commerce and current Money was wont to circulate and at length was so visibly impaired that in the year 1688. the Publick Treasury was utterly exhausted and I have no reason to believe that it has since that time been recruited by any considerable Imbursements for I suppose the French Money is in a Treasury distinct and issuable only at the discretion of the French Dictator whose Orders are not to open his Treasure till they land in England Therefore I deduce my Remarks from the latter end of the Reign of Charles the Second about which time the Publick Revenue was managed by Commissioners appointed by the King by whose Diligence and Application it was notably improved and it consisted in divers Branches as Crown-Rents Quit-Rents Customs and Excise Inland-Excise Hearth-Money Wine and Ale Licenses Fines and Forfeitures First-Fruits c. of the Clergy All which did amount communibus Annis to about Three Hundred and forty thousand Pounds Out of this Fund was derived the Maintenance and Pay of an Army consisting of seven Regiments of Foot three of Horse and one of Dragoons Exhibitions to the Judges sedent and itinerant and to all other Officers of the Civil List a noble Allowance to the Chief Governor a competent Salary to the Lord Chancellor and all the Officers of State a large Provision for all other Charges necessary or contingent and upon the Audit of the whole Receipts and Disbursements a very considerable sum remain'd most of which was remitted into England some disposed of in Ireland for Pensions Secret Service and other Occasions at the King's Will and Pleasure II. The Fertility and Plenty Ireland doth abound with an Exuberance of Plenty in all things conducing to a pleasant and comfortable Living The Ground without the Midwifery of humane Art brings forth Grass for the Cattel and Herbs for the use of man in great Abundance but where the Husbandman hath clubb'd his Invention and Labour it is rather luxuriant rendring a mighty Increase of all sorts of Grain very sound and very good Indeed Nature hath open'd her Stores and like a kind Mother hath liberally bestow'd her Blessings on that Island The Earth seems to stand in Competition with the Water for the Pre-eminence the one overloaded with its own Product the other overstockt by its proper Inhabitants the infinite Store of Corn of all sorts the pleasant Studds of Horses and Mares the numerous Herds of Cattel the vast Flocks of Sheep in most Places exceeding those of England in their Size is even to admiration neither do I brag when I say that the best Parts of Ireland are in every Respect except the Improvement equal to the best Parts in England and that the worst Parts of it are not so bad and barren as the worst Parts of the other Or when I challenge England it self to shew so vast a Tract of rich and excellent Land lying together as is to be seen from Carlingford all the way to Dublin from thence excluding the Mountains of Wicklow to Carlow from thence through part of Queens and Kings County so cross the Shannon and round by Longford to Roscommon in which vast Tract of Land at least fourscore Miles square there is not so much
THE INTEREST OF ENGLAND In the PRESERVATION of IRELAND Humbly Presented to the PARLIAMENT OF ENGLAND By G. P. Esq Nam tua Res agitur Paries cùm proximus ardet Et neglecta solent Incendia sumere Vires Licensed July 15th 1689. J. Fraser LONDON Printed for Rich Chiswell at the Ros◠and 〈◊〉 St. Pauls Church-Yard MDCLXXX◠TO THE HONOURABLE THE Knights Citizens and Burgesses IN PARLIAMENT Assembled I do not in the least presume to inform Your Judgments or to supplicate your Charity by the Boldness of this Dedication The Wisdom of the Nation cannot be Ignorant of all matters Foreign or Domestick that concern the Honour Safety and Advantage of it And you have already exprest such a feeling Commiseration of the Calamities of Ireland that it would seem an Offence unpardonable to solicit your Compassion by an immodest Importunity You have Testify'd your Tenderness in promoting the Brief and General Collection for the Relief of the Distressed Protestants of Ireland You have Signaliz'd your Zeal to the Protestant Interest by a deliberate Contrivance and a ready Expedition of the Pole-Bill appropriated and appointed only for the Reduction of Ireland You have Published your Resolution to interess your selves in the Cause of Ireland by a Noble Promise to supply the KING with what shall be further requisite for the Recovery of it You have Vouchsafed a Generous Regard to a multitude of Exiled Gentlemen of whom some seasonably and prudently withdrew others with great Hazard and Difficulty escaped but all Voluntarily dssierted then Houses and Estates because they would not strengthen the hands of the Papists or contribute to a FrenchVsurpation or the Exclusion of the English Right and Title by designing some competent Provision for their necessary Support proportion'd to their respective Sufferings and by so affectionate and repeated Addresses to His Majesty in their Favour who tho he needs no Intercession for the Care of His Subjects yet He loves and delights to seem perswaded by His Parliament you have made them your Votaries you have obliged them by everlasting Bonds of Gratitude and they shall be recommended to Posterity as the first that ever went under the Honourable Character of Pensioners to the Parliament You have demonstrated your Abhorrence of all clandestine Practices by a strict Inquisition after the Authors and occasions of the procrastinated Relief of Ireland and the Miscarriages of particular Men in their Trusts and Imployments Whereby England is put to an After-game and obliged in their own Defence to retrive that Kingdom at the hazard of many Lives and the Expence of a vast Treasure which by the very Countenance and appearance of a small Succour had been easily cheaply and safely assured and preserved Nay under your Protection I will speak out the Truth When London Derry had shut their Gates against the Irish and Iniskillin soon after refused to admit a Popish Garrison when the Protestants in Dublin were Numerous Rich and Stout when in Munster the Earl of Inchiquin with many others was very apprehensive of the imminent danger and ready with the least Assistance from England to secure the Protestant Interest there When the Lord Kingston in Conaght out stript the Deputy and made up his Musters of Horse and Foot before him when forty thousand brisk men were upon Watch and Ward in Ulster and the Earl of Tyrconnel utterly irresclute what Measures to take said to a Person of Honour who urged him to lay down the Sword and Submit to the English Government What would you have me do I see no Commission to demand the Sword would you have me cast it over the Castle Walls I say in this Juncture any one eminent Person attended with a small Party and furnished with a reasonable Proportion of Arms and Mony had without blows or slaughter secured the Kingdom of Ireland in their Allegiance to the present King and Queen and with much Ease prevented and curbed the insultory Insurrections in Scotland But alas while the Parliament are busie in discoursing and debating the Business of Ireland the Clergy are for the most Part silent the one Votes for them but I do not hear that the other Prays for them the miseries of Ireland are Remembred in the Parliament-House but Seldom mentioned in the Pulpit being omitted in their Addresses to the Throne of Mercy by a very regardless Preterition For my Part I had neither taken upon me the Confidence to make this Address nor given the world the Trouble of this undigested Pamphlet hudled over in hast and without the Advantages of Study Books Advice or Retirement but that a sort of Men no way considerable in number or Interest perverse in their Humor as Flattering in their judgments assume a Liberty to retail their raw and unconcocted Notions in Cossee-Houses where Men pretend a Priviledge to say any thing but their Prayers and with as little Charity as Discretion to arraign the Judgment and censure the Actions of the Irish Protestant-Refuges and severely to upbraid them with their Banishment and Poverty as the disserved Effects of their own Perversness in not Submitting to him who deserted the principal Kingdom and restless himself in that which is Subordinate Nay some have proceeded to that degree of uncharitable Frenzy that they have belched out their balsphemous Curses on poor bleeding Ireland Sinking it into the Sea with their Execrations and disparaging it as an incomber'd Estate not worth the Redemption Would God! it might please the King to undeceive this murmuring Crew by Commanding them on the Expedition with Duke Schomberg or Count Solmes that they may see the Country they so much despise and be convinced how little Reason they had to undervalue it And I am humbly of Opinion that it would conduce much to the regaining that Kingdom if the King would think it fit to imploy the Gentlemen of that Country upon that Service It is not to be imagin'd how far Loyalty whetted with self-Interest will go or what Exploits may be performed by such as fight with a double Courage to serve the King and to recover their Own. Thus far I have pleaded for my Country let me now be a Suitor for my self If a glowing Zeal for Religion an anxious Sympathy with my Friends and a pungent sense of my own Sufferings have transported me into any Impertinency I humbly implore Pardon from the Honourable House of Commons for the Rudeness of this Address George Philips The Interest of England in the Preservation of Ireland From these Considerations I. The Advantage to the Kingdom of England in general 1. By the Revenue 2. The Fertility and Plenty 3. The Number 4. The Religion 5. The Consanguinity and Assinity 6. The Imployments Ecclesiastical Civil and Military II. The Advantage to the Trade of England 1. By the Scituation 2. The Exportation 3. The Importation 4. The Ingenuity of the Inhabitants 5. The Benefit to the KING III. The Danger of falling into the Hands of the French. 1. By
Ingrossing all Trade 2. By Intercepting the Trade of England 3. By Interrupting the Peace of England THE Interest of ENGLAND IN THE Preservation of IRELAND The Introduction THERE were two things which mainly contributed to the Ruine and Desolation of Ireland and reduced it to that deplorable Condition under which it now languisheth Resistance and Non-Resistance The latter sprung from a fond and tame submission to the Arbitrary Government in Ireland the other was occasion'd by a vain and fruitless Expectation of Relief from England If the People of that Country had not been over-lavish in their Loyalty they had not been so unfortunate in their Opposition In the Reign of King JAMES they were unreasonably passive in the Reign of King WILLIAM they have been unprosperously active Strange Fate To be Losers by the One and not to be Gainers by the Other To be possest of their Estates under a Popish Prince and to be kept out of them under a Protestant Had they been independent and trusted to their own Legs possibly they had stood firm at this Day but they are miserably overthrown by leaning too much on their Supporters If there were any room in our Church for Merits the Protestants of Ireland would be intituled to a great Stock for suffering under King JAMES and for acting under King WIELIAM but alas they are despised for the one and derided for the other so difficult a matter it is to walk steddily upon the uneven surface of sublunary Places here you encounter a Precipice there a Quagmire That very way which seemed the direct Road to Safety and Tranquility may perhaps lead you into inextricable Troubles and often ends in certain Misery and Destruction When the Late King in pursuance of his Design to subvert that Church which He complemented with the Character of Loyalty and as solemnly promised to defend and support it was so far distracted by pernicious Counsel to prostitute the Kingdom of Ireland to the licentious Will of a Jesuitical Tyranny and to make an Essay of setling that Idolatrous Worship there which was too early and unseasonable for Him to attempt in England when the Sword was put into the Hands of a bigotted Zealot and more than a million of British Protestants subjected to the Dominion of an Irish Papist there was no Murmur heard no mutinous Whispers spread abroad to discompose the People or affront the Government men sigh'd and submitred they groaned and gave Obedience with a patient Resignation to the Will of God and the Commands of the King The Protestants through the Kingdom were disarm'd the Officers of the Army were divested of their Commissions the Soldiers disbanded and cashier'd stript and disarm'd without demanding a Reason for such unwarrantable Dealings or disputing the Pleasure of their Superiors the Papists were obtruded into the Privy Council and Chief Ministry of State all Justices of the Peace were superseded who did not carry the Mark of the Beast the Publick Revenue committed to such Hands as would surely imploy and improve it to the sinal extirpation of Hereticks yet all things proceeded in a silent Calm without Noise or Grumbling where Mass houses were erected and publickly frequented no man offer'd to pull down their Altars where the Fryers walk'd the Streets in their uncouth Habits no man threw Dirt at them the Popish Religion was prohibited by Law yet never contravened by Force The People abominated that Superstitious Way yet never exprest their Resentments by Rage or Discontent The Charters of their Towns and Corporations were condemned and vacated yet no spark of Sedition was kindled among the Inhabitants The famous Act of Settlement was daily eluded Possession and Property were no sufficient Guard against Irish Incroachments yet no man incurr'd the Penalty of a forcible Deteiner the Doctrine of Non-resistance which was so frequently preach'd in other Places was there actually and really practised and Obedience if there be not a Contradiction in the Terms was truly passive Thus posting themselves under the Covert of Privacy and Retirement they silently expected a Day of Deliverance from the Appointment of Heaven without the interposition of any Humane Machinations In this Posture Affairs stood in Ireland during tho short if it had not been sharp Reign of King JAMES and so probably they had continued at least for some time after the miraculous Revolution in England But He having Abdicated the Government and deserted the Throne and unnaturally truckt One Kingdom with that Christian Monster of Turkish Barbarity for the empty Hopes of re-possessing the other Two it seem'd convenient to his Irish Bashaw and the Jesuitic Cabal to make sure of a retreating Place and that of Necessity must be Ireland which having formerly been given to the Pope and by him transferred to the King of Spain must now be sold or mortgaged to the French Usurper to facilitate whose Entry by removing all Obstacles the present Possessors must be put out of Doors that so Livery and Seisin might be given in imitation of the due Form of Law. Hereupon Plots were invented several Protestant Gentlemen were committed to Prison Indicted and Tryed for their Lives abundance of Commissions were issued and the Army multiplied into many Regiments of Horse and Foot for whose Entertainment there being no Fund of a growing Revenue the Goods of the Protestants were consigned to their subsistence which they did not pilfer by Night but drove away whole Flocks and Herds at Noon-day and in case of Resistance securing their Prey by the Murder of the Owners Thus the Province of Munster was exposed to a Military Execution Conaught was entirely plunder'd and had not the Gates of Londonderry been opportunely shut when a Regiment of Irish were ready to enter it all Vlster had been under the same Fate and probably had been followed by an Universal Massacre But the surprizing News of the Prince of Orange's Adventure and the total Exclusion of Popery and Arbitrary Government in England awakened the Protestants in Vlster to stand upon their Guard and animated them with an Assurance That their Redemption was drawing nigh flattering themselves with a Confidence That as they were under the Laws of England so they should be no less under their Protection They firmly believed that the same methods would be taken in Ireland which had been so successfully practised in England every puff of a fair Wind revived them with a smiling expectation of Succor they were eager to retrieve their drooping Religion from the Jaws of Death and ready to rally under a Protestant Standard their Numbers were very considerable and their Courage great but they were naked and undisciplin'd they wanted an Expert Leader and no Aid appear'd to support them The Deputy having too sure and quick Intelligence of the Transactions in the Court of England and the dilatory Proceedings there poured a mighty Army into the Bowels of Vlster who rifling the deserted Houses seizing and carrying away all portable Goods and exercising all Cruelty on such as
will be Thorns in our Sides and who since the first Conquest of them were never able to accomplish that Design which was bequeath'd from Generation to Generation till this late unhappy Juncture do not derive their Pedigree from Strangers they are the legitimate Offspring of England and Scotland there is scarce a Man there of British Extraction except such as by very long continuance are degenerated into mere Irish but in one of those Kingdoms will Challenge a Father Brother or near Kinsman They are not estranged in their Language Habit Manners or Customs they retain the natural Propensions disseminated from their respective Families and own a filial Reverence to their Countries as to their lawful Parents not their Step mothers who not being able to make a competent Provision for all their Issue at home have sent some of their Children abroad to seek for their Livelihood on the other side of the Ferry where in their Manners and Humour they bear an exact Resemblance to that Original whereof they are the Transcript except only in their profuse Hospitality and luxurious Consumption of Meat and Drink to which perhaps they are inclined by the Constitution of the Air or disposed by the Genius of the Country or tempted by the incredible Plenty and Cheapness of all sorts of Provisions yet in their Language they have gone beyond their Teachers having refined the English Tongue from the odd Tones and uncouth words used in several Counties distant from London and reformed the Scotch from the Clownish Dialect spoken by the vulgar People So that the People of England are bound in Conscience and common Reason to regard the English in Ireland as Bone of their Bone and Flesh of their Flesh and the Scots as naturalized and incorporated with them to sympathize with them in their Sufferings to participate in their Adventures and from the Principles of Generosity as well as the Impulse of Nature and a prudential Foresight of the same Calamities hovering over their Heads to use their utmost Effort to re-assure that Kingdom in its Appendage to England and absolutely to eradicate the Irish Papists and all French Intruders VI. The Imployments Ecclesiastical Civil and Military Since England is bounded by the Sea and cannot be inlarged by the Discovery of any Newfound Land since the Inhabitants are as fruitful as the Soil Prolific and continually multiplying and increasing since the Vigor and Generosity of their Temper spurs them on to Business and Activity and that the List of Places Offices and Preferments in Church and State do bear no Proportion with the number of Competitors Candidates and Pretenders It is an unexpressible Benefit and Advantage that they can so easily inlarge their Quarters and spread through a Kingdom in Polity Subordinate but in natural Fertility no way Inferior to that from whence they sprang I think it very well worth the Observation That among all the Bishops Deans and Dignitaries in the Church of Ireland in the first year of the late King so very few were born in that Kingdom but almost all of them transplanted from England so were the Lord Chancellor Lord Chief Baron Attorny General and many of the Judges and Officers in the Civil List by such also was the Revenue managed And for the Army it was perfectly a Detachment out of the several Shires in England In a word there did Divines and Scholars get Preferment Lawyers Attornies and others of the Long Robe met with Practice and Promotion Clerks Accountants and Men of ingenious Education were gratified with Imployments the younger Sons of the English Nobility and Gentry were honoured with Military Commands and thousands of the meaner sort train'd up in the Discipline of War. All which must have met with a Check in their Fortunes and been subjected to a less generous course of Living and remain'd as Shrubs in their own Soil while by this Transplantation they grow up to tall Trees shoot out their Branches and bring forth abundant of Fruit. The Advantage to the Trade of England Hitherto I have endeavoured by a few short Hints to represent the many valuable Benefits and Advantages accruing to the Kingdom of England in general by the Conjunction and Preservation of Ireland I shall now proceed to set down how palpably and remarkably it doth contribute to the Advancement of Trade which is the Glory Strength and Security of the English Nation the Fountain and Source of the Riches Wealth and Plenty which render it the Envy and Astonishment of all the Neighbouring Kingdoms and without which it were impossible to provide Sustenance for the innumerable Company of Inhabitants wherewith the Country is sufficiently furnished and the Cities and Towns are absolutely crowded It is Trade that preserves the Body Pelitick in health by Recreation and Exercise by Evacuation and Repletion carrying off such Things as are unnecessary and redundant and bringing in a constant supply of whatsoever is useful and profitable It is Trade that ransacks the Indies joins remote Islands in an imaginary Contiguity with England and makes the whole World but a large Mart for Negotiation and Traffic Trade is the Blood that Circulates in the Veins and Arteries of the Commonwealth and disperseth the animal Spirits to all the Limbs and extreme parts of the Body This so necessary an Ingredient to the Honour and Felicity of England has been signally augmented and improved by the Trade of Ireland co-incident with it will suffer a mighty Detriment by the present Obstruction of Commerce and will as eminently gain by its Revival and Recovery The Advantage to Trade arising from Ireland is demonstrable by these Particulars 1. The Scituation 2. The Exportation 3. The Importation 4. The Ingenuity of the Inhabitants 5. The Benefit to the King. I. The Scituation In the Description of Ireland I might expatiate in recounting the many Benefits and Advantages which it enjoys in Common with her Neighbour Countries and the several Immunities which God and Nature have indulged to it in peculiar above other Places in its exemption from poysonous Insects and noxious Vermin as Frogs Toads Snakes and Adders Neuts Effs and hurtful Spiders but above all in the Freedom from Moles which are the Epidemical Nusance of England and are so sensibly injurious to Orchards Gardens Medows and Pastures in a temperate and benign Air in an infinite number of Fountains Springs Loughs or Lakes and fresh Rivers in an incredible store and variety of Land and Sea-Fowls among which I would mention the incredible Number of Woodcocks and how the Parson of Clownish farms the Tyth of the Woodcocks catcht in his Parish at thirty Pounds per annum where they are generally sold at Twelve-Pence per dozen the innumerable Flocks of Swans and Barnacles that haunt the River of Loughfoyl but that it would exclude the wonder due to the rest But because these Priviledges are inherent to the Soil and not communicable to the Use and Benefit of the Neighbours I shall pass over the further
commemoration of those Matters and apply my self to the Rehearsal of such Particulars only as render Ireland in its happy Scituation a most desirable Countrey and highly advantageous in its Accession to the Crown of England Possibly there is not a Country in the whole World so admirably accommodated with convenient Bays safe Harbours large Havens and useful Creeks and that not only in some Sides and Corners but quite round the Island To describe the Harbours of Carlingford Strangford the Lough of Carricfergus Donaghadee Loghlern Raghlin Portrush Lough-foyl Lough-swilly Sheep-Haven Castledow Killebeggs Ballyshannon Sligo and Black-Sod in the North and West Parts Galway Lymerick Trallee Dingle Kilmar the Great Bay of Bantry including Bere Haven and many others Ship-Haven Crook-Haven Baltimore Castle-Haven Castlemain the matchless Haven of Kinsale the noble River of Cork Yoghal Dungarvan Waterford Slade Wexford Arclo Dublin c. in the South and Eastern Parts beside almost innumerable Creeks Ports and commodious Landing-Places would take up more room than I have allowed to the discharge of this brief Narration my Purpose is only to mention them referring the Account of their Beauty Strength Security and Conveniency to Historians and Geographers I shall only take notice that as they are most advantageously placed for the proper Trade of that Kingdom so they are upon many Accounts a secure Refuge and Safeguard to their Friends and Allies which is briefly demonstrated in this that none of the Neighbouring Countries can manage a Trade into the South North or Western Seas but they must be under great Danger of Ireland if they be Enemies to England or be beholding to it if they be in Amity where upon every Turn they may meet with a safe Retreat from Storms and Tempests and a ready Protection from Pirates and Robbers it being set as a Watch-Tower in the Sea within whose view all Ships must come that sail and trade that way to any part of the World an Island commodiously seated for the Dominion of the Seas so long as she is in one Interest with England It is beyond the Power of Expression to repeat the Advantages arising to the English Trade by the relief and shelter of the Irish Harbours where the several Fleets bound for the Streights and for the East or West Indies or returning from thence meet with Refreshment and Security from all sorts of Danger This the Merchants find in their daily Voyages This the Commanders of the Kings Ships can evidence upon frequent Experience but I shall produce only one undeniable Instance how highly and indespensably it imports the Safety as well as Trade of England to preserve Ireland to themselves That in the time of King Charles II. when England was imbroyl'd in an unlucky War with the States of Holland not only a Fleet of Merchant-men consisting of an hundred Sail or thereabout bound homeward from the West-Indies and the Streights but also forty Men of War under the Command of Sir Jeremy Smith after that unfortunate Business at Chatham came all into the Habour of Kinsale where they continued in that Safety and Security which they could not promise to themselves in any Harbour or Port of England 2. The Exportation of Irish Commodities As Ireland is placed as an Out-guard to watch all Interlopers in the Trade of England so lately it was a Store-house and Magazine to furnish it It sent over yearly vast quantities of Wooll shipt from the several Ports in Munster and Lemster which mightily supported the Staple in England by the old and new Draperies and other woollen Manufactures wrought and made in the West Countrey whereby not only a numerous Train of Families were fed and maintained but an extraordinary addition was made to the Kings Revenue by the Importation of it when raw and unwrought into England and the Exportation of it after it was wrought into several Countries to the great inriching of Merchants and Adventurers The Islands and Plantations in America are in a manner wholly sustain'd by the vast quantities of Beef Pork Butter and other Provisions of the Product of Ireland from whence an unspeakable Benefit redounds to England by the vast Cargoes of the Goods of the said Plantations returnd thither and the Great Consumption of those Goods being shipt out of England into Ireland than which nothing more evidently tends to the inriching the Merchants who trade into those Parts or to the increase of Shipping or encouragement to Navigation The mighty Quantities of Tallow Hides tann'd Leather Skins of several sorts Yarn Hemp Linnen-Cloth Cony-Skins and other Furrs yearly shipt from Ireland and exported into England supply that Kingdom with the said Commodities at very reasonable Rates which otherwise would prove excessive dear to the great conveniency of the Inhabitants in general and the particular Advantage of the Merchants and such as trade in them The Cargoes of Salmon Herrings Pilchards and those the best and fairest to be had in any Part of the World Eels and other Fish made up yearly in Ireland and transported into several Parts in Spain to Venice and all the Ports in the Mediterranean Sea would startle common Belief I have heard from faithful Relation and I spoke of it before that in the South of Ireland they have made in a year near Eight hundred Tuns of Pilchards A Person of great Quality whose Judgment and Credit no man will dispute did aver to me that in one Season 16000. l. was paid for the Pilchards taken on the South side of Cork and the most of it by Sir John Frederic of London That in one Port in the North called Dunfanaghan they have made in one Season Two thousand Tuns of Herrings And I was told by a very honest and intelligent Person who in the Reign of Charles the Second was Collector of the Port of London-Derry that in that one Place there was shipt off in one Season 450. Tuns of Salmon 400. Tuns of Herrings and 80. Tuns of Eels The Benefit and Profit of all which accrues to the Merchants of England on whose sole Account almost all the forementioned Commodities are shipt off and sent away to the great increase of their Shipping and the manifest incouragement of Navigation These things being undenyable and perfectly true in matter of Fact and which I am constrained by the necessity of the Argument to mention over again it is evident beyond Contradiction that the Trade of Ireland is of inestimable Advantage to the Trade of England highly contributing if not wholly subservient to it 3. The Importation of English Commodities The great multitudes of Goods and Commodidities continually exported out of Ireland into England did not more apparently tend to the Advantage of Trade there than the continual Importation of all kinds of Wares and Merchandise from thence The People of Ireland did not deal like Niggards or Rooks to vend and put off the Product of their own Country and not be instrumental to promote the Consumption of what their Neighbours
had to spare on the contrary they maintain'd a constant Correspondence and an universal Commerce and hugely advanced the Trade of England The Wooll which they from time to time sent into England they received again and perhaps with it much of the growth there transformed into the old and the new Drapery and all sorts of Woollen Manufactures and thereby doubly advanced the English Trade by the Outlet and by the Return by selling the one and buying the other Silks wrought and un-wrought Gold and Silver Lace Buttons Ribbands c. all sorts of Grocery Spicery Haberdashers and Milliners Ware Beavers and other fine Hats Tobacco cut and dry'd in Rowl and in Leaf white Salt Coals and many foreign Commodities were daily and hourly brought into all the Ports of Ireland being purchased by the Merchants there from the Merchants of London Bristol Chester Leverpool Plymouth and other Towns and Cities in England the Quantities whereof must be prodigiously great to supply not only the Necessities but the Vanity and Luxury of so populous and opulent a Kingdom the Rate of whose Expences was no way regulated by the instinct of Thrift or Parsimony and consequently the Gains and Profit redounding to the English Merchants must in reason bear some Proportion with the Vent and Consumption the estimate whereof in a few years is beyond Credit if not past Numeration I could appeal to particular Men by Name whose Books and Accounts will justifie my Position that England received incredible Advantage by their Trade with Ireland and their sensible disappointments in the present Cessation of Trade from thence do too unhappily confirm it but I will not do that prejudice to them to discover the Secrets of their Dealing or raise a Spirit of Envy at their prosperous Proceedings I honour them for their Ingenuity I applaud their Industry and heartily wish them reinstated in their former Course of Traffick that all Men may be convinced by their Experiment how advantageously the Trade of Ireland co-operates to the Advancement of the Trade of England 4. The Ingenuity of the Inhabitants I am now brought to a hard Dilemma I must either renounce the Country from whence I came or retract my Assertion For when I go about to illustrate the Ingenuity of the Inhabitants I confute my self by a Discourse so void of it But there is no general Rule without some Exceptions and I hope that my particular Defects shall not be imputed as a derogation from the Credit of the rest It is an ungrateful Imployment to make Comparisons and I do not in the least intend any unkind Reflection upon the Common People of England when I alledge that the ordinary and vulgar sort of the British Inhabitants in Ireland are much more Ingenious and quick more docible more intelligent in the Laws and Customs of the Country more active sedulous and inquisitive disposed to handle the Sword as well as the Plough and notably capable to serve upon Juries and to discharge the Duty incumbent on them at Assises and Sessions But I shall only insist on that Qualification which is more proper and pertinent to the Argument in hand viz. their natural Disposition to Trade and an undefatigable Industry in promoting it and all for the advantage of the Trade of England For the Petty Chapmen Traders in small Towns and Country Dealers are only Hawkers Procurers and Brokers for the greater Merchants in Cities and big Towns and they ordinarily make themselves Factors for the Merchants in England sending over to them the most Part of what they gather or bringing back from them the Commodities of England in return of what they adventure and gain upon their own Account Thus I have observed the Chapmen in a small Village belonging to my self with great Art and Ingenuity negotiating with the Neighbours about them making up many Tuns of Butter and Tallow gathering great quantities of Yarn Linnen cloth Salt Hides and Tann'd Leather which soon after they sell to the Merchants in the next City or Sea-Port who either deal by Commission from the Merchants in England or export them on their own Account but certainly bring home the Produce in the Wares and Merchandise of England and I know one particular Man who in one Town in one Season made up Eleven hundred Tuns of Butter by Commission and as a Factor for some Merchants there but which way soever it be the Ingenuity and Diligence of the Inhabitants of Ireland does indisputably advance the Trade of England and the whole Labour of the one centers in the Benefit of the other 5. The Benefit to the King. Tho' I propose the Kings Benefit in the last Place yet it is not the least of my Care and good Wishes and I perswade my self that the Loyal and Loving Subjects of England will on that very Consideration if there were no other Motives to incite them account Ireland worth the keeping and accordingly will employ their Wealth and exert their Courage and Strength for the speedy Reduction and Restitution of it To inforce this I need produce no other Arguments than the repetition of what was before remonstrated That the annual Revenue of Ireland coming into the Treasury and the Kings Coffers amounted to Three hundred and forty thousand Pounds out of which beside the necessary Exhibition for supporting the State and safety of the Kingdom a very considerable Sum was yearly laid at the Kings Feet therewith to gratifie such Servitors and Favourites in England as the Revenue there would not reach to supply To which let me add that though under Charles the Second the protestant Interest in Ireland received as little Incouragement as could be expected under a Protestant King yet thriving by their Pruning taking deeper Root by their being shaken and growing more strong by their Depression they had beyond all Doubt added before this time a very valuable Augmentation to the Publick Revenue by their Trade and Improvements had not Popery nipt them and Arbitrary Power blasted them 3. The danger of falling into the hands of the French. Let us now reflect upon what has been said and Re capitulate the skatter'd Arguments hinted in this abrupt and immethodical Discourse If neither the sense of Shame the Pursuit of Fame and Glory the Influence of Brotherly Charity the Sympathy with Blood and Kindred the Respect to Religion the Acquisition of Wealth the Support of Trade the Increase of the Publick Revenue nor the irresistible motive of Self-Preservation can prove Inducements sufficient to dispose the People of England to a hearty affectionate and vigorous espousing of the Protestant Cause in Ireland by a timely Prosecution of a War there and rooting out the last Remains of Popery let us change the Scene and suppose Ireland subdued by the present Invaders and become a Province to France which God of his infinite Mercy avert then without all peradventure these mischiefs will inevitably ensue 1. The French King having an insatiable Thirst after the universal Monarchy