A DISCOURSE Concerning IRELAND AND THE Different INTERESTS thereof In Answer to the Exon and Barnstaple Petitions SHEWING That if a Law were Enacted to prevent the Exportation of Woollen-Manufactures from IRELAND to Foreign Parts what the Consequences thereof would be both to ENGLAND and IRELAND Pro Aris Focis Lâ—NDON Printed for Tho. Nott at the Queen's-Arms 〈…〉 the Pall-Mall and are to 〈…〉 by E. Whitlock 〈◊〉 Stationers-Hall 1697 8. PREFACE HAving seen in the Votes of the Honourable House of Commons the Contents of two Petitions one preferred by the Inhabitants of Exon and the other by those of Barnstaple c. which in the Opinion of all such as I have conversed with who know the Affairs of Ireland have a malign and fatal Aspect upon the English Interest and the Established Church of that Nation and being desired by some well-wishers to both Countries to publish my Thoughts upon this Subject I think my self bound by the Sacred Tyes of Religion as well as the Common Obligations of Nature to gratify their Desires in this Particular and do hope to make appear in the following Tract that the fore mentioned Petitions are not only the most unreasonable but the most unconscionable Requests that could be made to that August Assembly for if they mean as it is universally believ'd they do that the High Court of Parliament to gratify the Petitioners Request should enact a Law to prevent the Exportation of Woollen Manufactures from Ireland to Foreign Parts and consequently to Ruin the English of Ireland I know nothing more extravagant which they could have desired unless it were that a Law should be enacted against the Church of England or the City of London the English of Ireland having been upon all Occasions since they were a People the truest and stanchest Friends the Monarchs and People of England ever had I had I confess some Thoughts relating to this Affair the last Session of Parliament but after the prorogation thereof being persuaded by some I conversed with that the Parliament of England would not proceed further upon that Matter I forbore to make them publick but seeing the fore-mentioned Petitions I am forced to put them together after the best manner I can in that small compass of time I have for doing it so that it cannot well be expected the following Paper should appear so correct and accurate as it might if I had time either to consider further of it or consult my Friends but Truth I hope will not be rejected because She appears in a mean and humble Habit and I do affirm that to the best of my Vnderstanding I shall deliver nothing else in this Discourse There may perhaps some small Mistakes be occasioned through haste or inadvertency but the main Scope of it is Fair and Honest and I shall not in any one particular endeavour to impose upon those to whose Consideration it is submitted It may perhaps be objected that I might have written more politely if I had done it with that brevity which is now usual upon other Occasions but indeed the Subject is of so great Consequence that I think I have not altogether done right to it having to avoid Prolixity omitted several things I might have said and I would desire those who may think it tedious or whose Occasions may not suffer them to read the whole to omit the first part which is Historical and begin at Page 37 where that which is most material begins to be treated of and which will not take up much time in the perusal The great Motive I am told which induced the Western People to prefer Petitions against Ireland is the Notion they have of our being grown Rich and full of Money and Trade since the late War which was undoubtedly occasioned partly indeed because one particular People among us of whom I shall speak at large in the following Pages have engrossed the greater part of what Riches there are in Ireland and make a greater figure than ever they did before and partly by the unwary Discourses of some of our own Country that travel into England who cannot bear the very beginnings of Prosperity and are so vain-glorious that they think they cannot sufficiently extol their own Riches and Magnificence when God knows that poor Ireland in her highest Prosperity never was nor is like to be guilty of so unpardonable a Sin as being Rich to that degree that the English Nation should have cause to envy her or be jealous of her A DISCOURSE Concerning IRELAND c. THE greatest and the wisest Nations under Heaven being subject to human Frailties are apt sometimes to conceive wrong Notions of things and I know no Opinion more groundless and withal more universally received by the People of England than that which they entertain concerning that unhappy Kingdom of Ireland which of all the Territories that they have by their powerful and victorious Arms subdued to the Obedience of this Crown has been as they imagine and would perswade others the most dearly purchased They generally believe that Aceldama to have cost England greater Numbers of Men and vaster Quantities of Treasure computing the Expence of both from the time that the English had first footing there till the Conclusion of the late War than it really did the Greeks to Conquer the World by the Prowess of Alexander the Great or the Romans to do the same under the Conduct of Julius Caesar For we are told by Historians that the Armies commanded by those Generals were recruited by every fresh Victory they obtained and the People that had one Day the misfortune to be subdued by them must the next Day assist in the Destruction of their Neighbours The Spoils of conquered Nations in hand and the Prospect of Empire at length were the great Encouragements those Conquerors had to undergo their Toils and Labours The Riches of the Foreign World were their principal Funds for the payment of their Forces and tho' it would be absurd to imagine that they had not frequently and especially upon all urgent Occasions Succors from their own Countries yet those great things which in their different Ages in the World are attributed to them were principally atchieved at the Expence both of the Blood and Treasures of their vassal and tributary Provinces which daily increased as they went forward with their Conquests But a great many of the English Nation are fully perswaded that the course of their Victories in Ireland was not so swift and easy but that the Methods by which it hath been brought under subjection have been very different and the Work much more difficult and tedious For that being a poor and moneyless Country there were no very great Encouragements for an Army to Conquer it so that it was gained by piece-meal and England was at the whole Expence of subduing it for from the Reign of King Henry II. till the latter end of Queen Elizabeths Days being 432. Years it was not entirely conquered in which time Seventeen Kings and Two Queens governed successively in England for
which Reasons they conclude that it must of necessity have cost the English Nation vast Numbers of Men and great Sums of Money to keep their Ground which they gained there from time to time and at length to bring that whole Kingdom under subjection to the Crown of England And running away with this as an undoubted Maxim and Truth they conclude That it had been much better for England that God had left Ireland out of the Book of the Creation or placed it in some distant Corner of the World But this Conclusion will fail of course when I shew the mistake of the foregoing Opinion which will be the easiest thing imaginable to do if they will allow their own Chronicles and the Writings of their most Authentic English Historians to be the Rule of our Belief concerning the manner and means of Ireland's being Conquered by England For which end I here intended to have inserted a brief Abstract of English History so far as it relates to Ireland from the Reign of King Henry II. to the Conclusion of the late War but I find this in a great measure done to my hand by one Mr. W. H. in his Book entitled Remarks on the Affairs and Trade of England and Ireland printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers-Chappel 1691. to which I refer such as think it worth their while to be satisfied more at large And therefore I shall only desire those who think Ireland to have cost England so dear to consult the Histories which are written concerning that Kingdom by their own Authors and they will find that the first Number of Men sent over by Strongbow Earl of Chepstow and Pembroke under the Command of Fitz-Stephens and Fitz-Gerrald was but 400. which were followed soon after by Legross with 130. and in three Months after by Strongbow himself with 1200. more being in August 1170. the whole three Numbers amounting but to 1730. which was the Complement of the Army that by the Assistance of Mac Murragh King of Leinster and his Friends did not only recover that King's Dominions in Leinster but very much enlarge them and in effect made the Kings of England Lords of Ireland and all this was done at the private Expence of Strongbow and his Friends as the remaining Provinces of that Kingdom were most if not all of them subjected to the Crown of England at the Expence of particular Persons who notwithstanding were well rewarded for their Services by the grants of those vast Estates which were given them by the Kings of England and which many of their Successors enjoy to this Day 'T is true that King Henry III. in the Year 1172. landed there in Person with a Party which some say consisted of 4500. but others only of 500 Knights but had no occasion to make use of them for upon his arrival the Natives of the three Provinces of Leinster Munster and Connaught were so terrified that five of their Kings became tributary to him by which means he did not only cut off the Communication which France held with Ireland theretofore from whence they had considerable Succours whenever the English waged War against them but he had himself in four Years after a very considerable Subsidy out of that Kingdom His Successors also had frequently great Aids of Men Money and Provisions from thence which were great Assistances to the English in their several Wars against the French Scotch and Welch all which is owned by the most Authentic English Historians that have written upon this Subject And 't is certain that they make it plainly appear that the People of England from their first entrance into Ireland for 400 Years which reached to the middle of Queen Elizabeth's Reign were considerable gainers by that Kingdom and that there were greater Numbers of Men and more Money and Provisions sent from thence into England France c. in the several Kings Reigns that govern'd during those Years who were generally involved either in Civil Wars in the Heart of England or in Foreign Wars against the French Scotch or Welch than were sent out of England all that time towards the Reduction or Conquest of Ireland For tho' there were frequent Rebellions raised in Ireland before the Reign of Queen Elizabeth yet they were generally quash'd by the English of that Country and such of the Irish as adheâ—ed to them with very little Cost to England till that grand Rebellion which was raised by Tyrone and others who were set on and encouraged by the Pope who by his publick Bull excommunicated Queen Elizabeth and the Kingdom of England and were assisted with Men and Money by the Spaniard For till the Pope's Supremacy was invaded and Religion reformed most of the Irish except the Grandees of them that lost their Estates by Conquest at first or by Rebellion after they had submitted to the Crown of England with their particular Friends and Adherents most of the rest I say were well enough satisfied with the English Government under which they lived much more securely and happily than they did under their own Petty Kings who were daily Killing and Robbing and using all manner of Acts of Hostility towards each other But the Pope being disobliged the Quarrel ceased to be as formerly between English and Irish on account of Civil Interest and was taken up between Protestant and Papist on account of Religion for the English Papists joyned with the Irish as did some Irish Protestants with the English on the other hand and the Papists of both kinds became Enemies to the Crown of England by the instigation of their Priests and Friars as we must expect they will ever remain while those Incendiaries are suffered to continue amongst them And the Truth of the Matter is that the antient Irish being a poor dispirited and cowardly People that is the generality of them they would in all probability run with as much dread from the English as the Spartan Slaves did from their Masters to their several Imployments when they appeared with no Arms but Whips in their Hands were they not assisted and managed by the degenerate English Papists who are the most desperate and troublesome Enemies the Protestants have in that Nation For the Proof of which we need not look further back than the late Rebellion for the Chief among the very first that began about Christmas 1688. to drive away the Protestants Cattel in the Counties of Mayo and Galway in the Province of Connaught where the Rappareeing Trade began were of antient degenerate English Families such as the Jordans Stanfords Joyces Garvys and several others whose Predecessors were antiently transplanted thither from England And as for the Army which was raised there for the late King James it could never have been brought to be any way considerable had none joyned in it but the antient Irish We know that Tyrconnel and Sarsfield
who were the Two principal Commanders among them were both of English Families And 't is remarkable that most of those Families that were the chief Instruments in the Conquest of Ireland are this Day or at least were in the late War the most dangerous and perverse Enemies the English met with in that Kingdom and particularly the Burks or de Burgo's the Chief of which Name was so eminently serviceable in the Conquest of the Irish that the Estate which was granted him in consideration of that Service was thought sufficient to recommend an Heiress of that Family Elizabeth de Burgo to Lionel Duke of Clarence third Son to Edward III. King of England the yearly Rent thereof even in those Days being computed at 30000 Marks But in the late War that Family has been so far from being serviceable to England that I knew my self four Lords of the Name who were Colonels of Regiments by which we may imagine what a Number of this Family was in all other Posts in the Irish Army The Principal of those Lords Clanrickard a half-witted hot headed Zealot being to satisfy his foolish Ambition of being thought great made a kind of a Sham-Governour of the Town of Galway would have in one Day by the Advice of some of the malicious Inhabitants of that place sacrificed to his Rage and Folly the Lives of Sir Thomas Southwel and all his Party being between Two and Three Hundred Protestant Gentlemen which he certainly had done had he not been prevented by others who had the Sense to consider that they might very probably be called in a little time to a severe Account for so horrid and barbarous a Murder Another by his Title Galmoy was Colonel of Horse and spared no Protestant with whom he could find any manner of pretence to pick a Quarrel he was the first that I heard of who drew blood in the late War having hanged up Carleton and Dixy at a Sign Post in Belturbot without any manner of Tryal either by Martial or Common Law after which the Rabble cut off their Heads and kicked them through the Street as Foot-balls He also occasioned several other Gentlemen in the Queens County after they had made Terms for their Lives to be hanged and quartered at Maraburrough for which Reasons he has thought fit to Transport himself to France where he still remains The other two Lords of that Family were one of them taken Prisoner and the other kill'd at Aghrim Hugh Lacy was also one of those that in the Reign of Henry II. at his own expence Conquered the Kingdom of Meath which is a considerable part of Ireland And his Successors are most if not all of them bigotted Papists one of them I knew in the Year 1687. to be principal of the Dominican Fryars in the City of Limerick his Father had been a Colonel in the Rebellion of 1641. and was one that bore a great Sway in that Country at that time and tho' I do not know what Imployments the rest of that Family had yet I do not doubt but they were to the utmost of their power active and vigorous in carring on the late War And I may justly give the same Account of the Fitz-Stephens and a great many of the Fitz-Gerralds whose Ancestors Commanded the first Forces that Strongbow sent into Ireland tho' the chief of the latter be a Protestant and the first Earl of Ireland There are also several of the ancientest English Families who continue Papists and have undoubtedly been as deeply engaged in the War as their Neighbours But besides these particular Families there are in one part of that Kingdom a whole Generation of People called the Natives or the Birth of Galway as they style themselves who were reckoned before the late War to have been worth 30000 l. per annum in Lands in the Province of Connaught beside their Trade or Merchandize by which they purchased their Estates They consist of 14 Families which they call Tribes such as Lynch French Blake Kirwan Dean Skerret Bodkin Morris Athy c. the generality of which are so far from owning themselves to be Irish men that they care not for intermarrying nor to have any dealings with the ancient Irish more than the purchasing their Lands or receiving their ready Money for Wines and other Merchandize They were at first a Colony of Fisher-men and when they began to Trade to Sea and grew great and rich by that means were frequently molested and Plundered by the old Irish so that they were constrain'd to make their Application to King Edward VI. from whom they obtained a Charter with great Privileges and Immunities by which they were enabled yearly to choose their own Clergy-men in opposition to the Irish Arch Bishop of Tuam and were in short put thereby in a posture of defending themselves contrà gentem quandam feram barbaram Offlaherty which are the words of their Charter This Town in the Rebellion of 41. was one of the last in that Kingdom that surrendred to the Earl of Munrath upon very advantageous Articles as it did this last War to General Gynckhel In the Year 1688. the Mayor of that Town one Brown by name had a Commission for a Regiment sent him by Tyrconnel which was accordingly raised there and in the Neighbourhood There were also a great many of the Natives of that Town who were Field-Officers Captains and Subalterns in other Regiments in that Kingdom Now there is no doubt to be made but those Papist of English Extraction in conjunction with the Old Irish have been very injurious to the People of England and have put them to a vast Expence both of Men and Money as well in this late War as in that of Tyrone in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth and that horrid Rebellion of Forty One in which according to the best Accounts we have above 200000 Protestants of all Sexes and Ages were barbarously murdered in cold Blood but this will not be sufficient to prove that the English have been loosers by Ireland and that it were better for them there were no such Country in the World For let us but consider the State of that Nation in the Reign of King Charles II. and the yearly Benefit which 't is apparent to the World England made of it and we shall find it demonstrable that 't is a mere vulgar Error either to think or say so For it is plain Matter of Fact that in the latter end of that King's Reign and the two or three first Years of the late King James's that they received Forty Thousand Pounds per annum which was or might have been transmitted to them into England out of the Revenues of Ireland and remained clear to them over and above the Charge of the whole Establishment of that Kingdom that is both of the Military and Civil List which amounted to 243663 l. Sterl to this we may add above 10000 l. a Year paid out of that Revenue in Pensions to
them and if I demonstrate that the English Party are like to be the only sufferers thereby I hope I shall gain my Point and that the Wisdom of England will not think convenient to do any thing that may be ruinous or prejudicial to that Interest First I shall begin with the Irish Papists as they consist of Popish English Families as well as of the ancient Natives of that Kingdom in which sense I desire to be understood all along when I mention the Irish I have already hinted how vexatious and troublesom they have been to England ever since the Reformation of Religion how vigorously they have at several times endeavour'd to cast off the English Yoak and how Bloody their Rebellions and Massacres have been And 't is certain that all such of them as have been dispossessed of their Estates especially since the beginning of Queen Elizabeths Reign were turn'd out of them by reason of their constant opposition to and uneasiness under the English Government with which 't is apparent they have believ'd their Interest to be wholly inconsistent or it cannot be imagined they would have made so many violent Efforts to extricate themselves from it I need not therefore give my self or those to whose hands these Papers shall come any further trouble by producing Arguments to prove the Dependance and Hopes of the Irish Papists to be very opposite to those of the English of that Country for if their Interests be so this must of course be allow'd And this they have in the late War evidently demonstrated to the World For when the Emperor the King of Spain and most of the other Roman Catholick Princes of Europe were in League with his Majesty of Great-Britain the Pope himself being rather a Friend than an Enemy and such of those Princes as did not assist us against France were all Neuters the Irish only with some small assistance from France maintain'd a brisk and vigorous War against us and did indeed make a stronger opposition to the Arms of England than we might imagine it were possible for them to do if we consider either the Condition in which they are now being unhorsed and disarm'd of all manner of Weapons of War or the Circumstances in which they were in any time since the Restoration of King Charles II. till the last part of his Reign when by the great Encouragements they had by the D. of York's means from the Court of England they began to seem formidable to the Protestants of Ireland So that I think I have made it evident that as they believe the Extirpation of the English out of that Country would be their greatest Interest and Advantage so they have chiefly depended upon the French and by them expected the accomplishment of that great Design Not that I will say that they have naturally a greater Affection for the French than any other Nation but because they have for some Years esteem'd the French King to be the most powerful and the most Ambitious Monarch of Europe of the Romish perswasion and consequently the most likely to attempt the Expulsion of the British out of that Country and as they fondly imagined to restore them to their pretended ancient Estates and Liberties which is the same reason that induced them to be so fond of the Spaniard in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth And notwithstanding that there have been all along the War considerable Numbers of those Irish Papists in the French service many of which remain there this very day and the Ruins of Demolished Towns and Fortresses in Ireland and the vast heaps of the Bones of Slaughtered Men which are to be seen in many parts of that Kingdom are but too Fresh and Sensible Monuments of their Villanies and cannot when we see them but make us Reflect upon their Behaviour towards us and remember how few years have passed since they were by downright Dint of Sword beaten into good Manners I say notwithstanding all these things I have been very well assured that long before the Conclusion of the Peace they have made application to the Emperor K. of Spain and other Roman Catholick Princes that they might Intercede for them to the K. of England as being poor Persecuted Catholicks because they are not left in a Posture of running into another Rebellion and Cutting of Throats at pleasure And to my certain knowledge they had September last their Agents or Plenipotentiaries as some stile them in Flanders and have the confidence to tell us that they were never so happy as under an English Government and that our present King has been gracious to them beyond expectation and so far they are in the right and speak Truth whether they believe it or no but they do also endeavour to make us believe that most of any Note among them having taken the Oath of Fidelity they are now true Friends to King William and the English Interest of Ireland and we know very well that Oaths have been ever such Sacred Tyes as they could not break through but have observ'd them as invfoiably as a certain Friend of theirs who was always Fam'd for being nicely just to his word did perform his repeated Oaths and Promises of Preserving the Church of England and Governing these Kingdoms according to the Laws then Established c. But to lay any stress upon their asseverations to this purpose is so grand a contradiction to Common Sense and Experience that reason can never admit it nor Mankind be so far Imposed upon as that they should expect the performance of any thing of this kind from them 't is altogether as reasonable to imagine that those Creatures which are called Tame Wolves when let loofe will abstain from their Prey and not fall upon the Flocks and Herds nor Foxes upon the Poultry t is as reasonable I say to believe this as that Irish Men in power will preserve and not endeavour to extirpate the Protestant Race out of that Country and for my part I shall scarce ever be convinced but that the Character is very applicable to them which Hippolitus gives his Hunts man of the Spartan Dogs Spartanos Genus est audax avidumque serae Nodo cautus propiore liga which according to my Interpretation is as follows That 't is a Turbulent ungovernable Generation greedy of Blood and never in good order but when tied up or close coupled If these be the People which the Parliament of England propose to keep in low circumstances they are very much in the right for that Generation never becomes Rich or Powerful but they grow Troublesome and Uneasie and are ready to joyn with any Popish Prince that will assist them against the English Nation who can never be too jealous or careful to prevent their being in a condition to repeat those Villanies which they have so often and so lately acted against the Protestants of that Kingdom and consequently of putting England to any further Charge or Trouble in the Reduction of
only say further that both the Irish and they have so lately that we cannot yet forget it given us evident Demonstrations how they would deal with us if we lay at their Mercy and this they did at the same time with this only difference that the latter did their Work more effectually than the others the Irish did theirs in the time of VVar and Tyranny and were themselves and their pretended Act of Parliament soon kick'd out of doors But the Scotch taking the advantge of a time when England was not at leisure to take notice of their Proceedings ruin'd the Church of Scotland by a Law which is like to prove but too firm and lasting which leads me Thirdly To a third Consequence and one that I think doth necessarily and evidently follow from what has been now said and that is that if the High Court of Parliament should pass such a Law as afore-mentioned and either the Irish or Scotch become Masters of Ireland the Church which is now established there must inevitably be ruined which indeed is the main Consideration that engaged me in this Undertaking I heard the Question proposed since I came to London What the Church had to do with Trade or how a Law concerning the Woollen Manufacture could affect it as if the whole Body of the People were not of the Church nor the Clergy Members of the Commonwealth but their Interests were different and did not stand upon the same Basis with the establish'd English Laws of that Kingdom And I think it might as well have been ask'd What it concern'd the Church of England if the grand Fleet had been burnt by the French in the late War or the Church of Spain if the Galleons had been taken by Monsieur Ponty But because it may not be thought a good way to answer one Question by proposing others I shall in few words give a direct answer to it I have already shewn how far this Statute must affect the Laity of the established Church of Ireland and shall now endeavour to shew how far the Ecclesiasticks or the Church strictly so called must be concern'd in this matter Tho' methinks 't is needless to tell the World that if the Nobility Gentry and Commonalty of that or any other Nation be reduced to a low Ebb of Fortune the Clergy must by necessary consequence bear a part in the common Sufferings except that part of the World where the Church hath engrossed all to herself and made the Country poor and miserable and it is not long since we have by fatal Experience found this to be true in Ireland But for greater Evidence sake I shall endeavour to shew the Methods by which that Church was ruined to that Degree that the Clergy who lived in those Parts of the Country where the Irish principally inhabited had for two Years before the War little more than the Name of Livings for they must either have set their Tythes c. to the Irish at what Rates they thought fit to offer or they would pay little or none in kind for the most expeditious means which the Clergy of that Kingdom had or indeed have now for the recovery of their dues is a Statute passed in England in the Twenty Seventh of Henry VIII which mentions Ireland as well as England and ordains that if any Person being cited in a Decimary Cause to the Ecclesiastical Court refused to appear that then two Justices of the Peace whereof one to be of the Quorum shall upon the Receipt of a Certificate under the Seal of that Court signifying his Contumacy issue their Warrant against the Party so offending and if he refuse to enter sufficient Security that he will appear at a prefix'd time and pay what by the said Court shall be adjudged against him that then he shall be committed to safe Custody till he make Satisfaction which Law was commonly put in execution in several Diocesses of that Kingdom and met with no opposition while Protestant Judges sat on the Bench but they were no sooner thrust out and Popish Judges appointed but that Practice was declared illegal and that Statute to be of no force in Ireland and several Justices of the Peace discarded for having issued their Warrants pursuant thereto By another Statute which was made in Ireland in the Three and Thirtieth Year of Henry VIII it is enacted That if the Party summoned for Detention or Substraction of Tythes shall enter his appearance in the Ecclesiastical Court and Sentence shall pass there against him that then two Justices of the Peace qualified as aforesaid shall at the request of the said Court imprison the said Offender without Bail or Main-prize till he fulfil the Sentence so pronounced against him But the intent of this Law was in those days easily deseated for the Irish throughout the Kingdom were advised by their Lawyers to take no notice of any Citations issued out of the Ecclesiastical Courts So that the only Method which then remained of proceeding against Offenders of that kind was to prosecute them to Excommunication and to take Writs de Excommunicat capient out of the High Court of Chancery which by reason of the great Charge of those Writs is not to be done but upon extraordinary occasions and where the matter contested is considerable however to prevent even this Practice as well as to obstruct the common Course of Justice in all Cases where a Protestant was concern'd against a Papist the Lord Chancellor Sir Charles Porter who was a true Friend to the establish'd Church and the English Interest was displaced to make room for a profess'd malicious Papist who utterly refused the Clergy the Benefit of the Law in cases of that kind and left the Laity of what Communion soever to pay their Ministers what they thought convenient so that 't is plain that if either the Irish or Scotch have that one Minister of Justice on their side that shall be no Friend to the establish'd Church but shall discountenance the Proceedings of the Ecclesiastical Courts he may himself singly go a great way towards the ruin of the Protestant Episcopal Clergy of that Nation And indeed it happened very well for them that those Writs were not granted them by that Popish Lord Chancellor for he by the Direction of the Lord Tyrconnel had made Irish High Sheriffs in most of the Counties of Ireland who would execute neither Writ nor Decree on any Papist either for Clergy-man or Lay-man I think likewise that I have laid down sufficient Reasons to make us believe that if the Scotch Presbyterians had the Estates of Ireland and consequently the Magistracy and Power in their Hands they would serve the Episcopal Clergy and such as should adhere to them after the same manner The Question therefore that remains is whether it be not probable that the Irish and they whose Interests seem now to be so opposite to each other might upon occasion of ruining the Episcopal Protestant Church should they