with various opportunities of destroying those whom they knew to be their implacable Adversaries yet declin'd all Informations against them a practice as peculiar to those of the Protestant Communion as different from the Indirect Principles and barbarous proceedings of that of the Church of Rome as has been but too manifest in those horrid Perjuries and notoriously false Accusations which the Irish have been palpably convinced of in their daily Impeachments of the English in the Reign of the late King James as will appear in the Sequel of this Discourse But notwithstanding that 't is so universal a practice of the Irish to swear such of the English as they bear prejudice to out of their Lives and Estates if possible or at least so vigorously endeavour it as to stick at no Affidavit how inconsistent soever with truth or but a rational probability yet were the English more just than to transcribe so base an Example or to propose that impious Maxim of the Romish Church Of doing Evil that Good may come of it as a Rule of their Imitation which the Apostle St. Paul has so plainly pronounced Damnation unto And indeed if we descend to an impartial enquiry after the opposite Principles of the Two Churches in this case we shall no longer wonder at the great integrity of the English nor at that barbarous Violation in the other Party of a Rite of the greatest Solemnity and most Sacred Institution which all Christians ought to account an Oath to be and which the whole Christian Church expect that lame and corrupt part of it which we call the Romish does upon its being administred under legal and requisite circumstances justly reckon as indissolluble But what if the other Christian Churches which are but a vile Rabble of Hereticks and Schismaticks though if dividing Christendom into five parts they make up more than three can pretend to no dispensing power in this case yet what cannot tâ—e Vicar of Christ do in Cathedrâ who has the Keys of Heaven at his Girdle and can lock and unlock as he pleases according to our Saviour's Commission which he will needs have limited to his Person as his Vicarial Prerogative but unlimited in its Authority whatsoever sins ye remit they are remitted and whatsoever sins ye retain they are retained But to leave this despotiek power of Absolution in the Chair of Infallibility which God be thanked we are neither ambitious of nor do pretend to it will not be unreasonable to consider that whatever complaints were made by the Irish as to their severe usage in the Popish Conspiracy of which they make many tedious harangues 't was plain that if there was any such 't was acted by those of their own Party and such as professed their own Religion who were indeed the fittest Agents for so black an Intriegue there being none of the English any way interessed in it Neither can I omit mentioning the great Integrity and Justice of the Duke of Ormond then Lord Lieutenant in his unbyassed and equal management of this Affair For though prejudice and partiality might have prepossess'd some Men and have served to awaken their resentments against the Irish at such a Juncture as this yet did he carry himself with so single an eye and observed so steady and even a course that 't was difficult to perceive the least deflection in him upon either hand 't is true indeed the Law had its due course but this was owing to the Evidence which those of their own Party and Religion made against their Associates in the Conspiracy and therefore if any irregularity was committed it cannot justly be charged upon the Duke or his Subordinate Ministers by whom the whole was managed with an equal Moderation and indifferency But I pass from these Reflections upon the Carriage of the Duke of Ormond and the Protestants to a Discourse of Affairs relating to the Plot in Ireland upon the discovery whereof Orders came from England to disarm the Papists year 1678 but they received such timely notice of the Design by their Creatures at Court that there was not found two hundred Arms in all Ireland the Irish having a contrivance of concealing their Arms by thrusting them into Boggs filling the Barrels of their Guns with Butter which suffers them not to take any harm and as for the Locks they can easily hide them The Lord Brittas and others made their Escape for France but the Earl of Tyrone was taken and committed to the Gate-house Sheridon was seized in London but nothing could be proved against him Talbot now Tyrconnel was confined a Prisoner in the Castle of Dublin together with his Brother the Titular Archbishop where he dyed The Duke of York went for Flanders which made the Irish even to despair and made one of their Lords to declare with a great Oath That He believed Iesus Christ was a Protestant for that nothing they could do did prosper The Duke of Ormond was extreamly sollicitous to settle the Militia in Ireland and ordered their watching equal with the Army And now notwiâ—hstanding the publick fears of the Popish Conspiracy in England and Ireland yet was the English Interest in Ireland of greater value than ever grounded upon a general Opinion of the English that the Plots of the Irish were now so fully unravell'd that the King would extend no favour to them for the future The Duke of York goes for Scotland and with him the Second Coleman Thomas Sheridon who still profess'd himself a Protestant though his Actions at this time gave a sufficient Demonstration to the contrary For from Scotland he writ over private Encouragements to the Popish Party in Ireland and put them in some hopes But the English were not apprehensive of any danger improving their Estates and the Trade of the Kingdom more than ever and never esteeming themselves more happy than at this juncture as being quietly seated under the Care and Influence of the Duke of Ormond's Government who now endeavours to have a Parliament called in Ireland and succeeded so far as to obtain a Grant in pursuance whereof a Bill drawn by the Lord Lieutenant and Council is sent over to the King but the Duke of York's interest interceding obstructed any farther Progress who came with all expedition from Scotland to put a stop to that design which the Irish were so confident of before it was done that they stuck not to affirm that they were well assured there would be no Parliament whilst King Charles lived and would frequently discourse with that liberty and boldness as if the Duke of York had been actually Seated in the Throne upon a Presumption that he would arrive speedily to it Ireland had now continued for two or three years in great Tranquillity and Quiet when upon a suddain a Stratagem was set on foot lain as deep as Hell and yet seemingly for the advantage of the English which take as follows In the Settlement of Ireland there were overplus and concealed
and industrious in laying open this mischievous and pernicious Conspiracy had their Cattle stole from 'em and were threatned to have their Houses burnt with such like terrifying devices of the Irish which they are not only wont to give out but also to practise against such of the English as endeavour to confront them in their evil Designs This together with the connivence of the Government put a stop to any farther discovery so that the whole was hushed up and passed over in silence Thus we see that to what proficiency soever the Popish Interest had attained by the violent and irregular proceedings of the Court of Claims and other artifices of its first rise and production that it was at that time but in its infant state when compared with that maturity it had now insensibly aspired to under the Government of the L. B. The Duke of Ormond when in the Government did in the whole conduct of Affairs so vigorously support the Protestant Interest that he remained an inseparable obstacle to their Design unless some method were taken to put him out of that Station in order to which as you have heard the Lord Roâ—erts was to be practised upon whose prejudice they doubted not would carry him to very severe Reflections upon the Duke of Ormond's Government and indeed the experiment answered the design of the undertakers for the first thing that the Lord Roberts did which I should have mentioned when I spoke of his succeeding the Duke of Ormond but however may not improperly be inserted in this place was to prie into the Duke of Ormond's Government and in a manner to encourage and invite persons to make their Complaints but 't was found a difficult task to find Faults after a Person of so great Honour and Integrity as he was But however to put his Design in Execution he first gave opportunity to the Officers of the Army to make their Complaints which not succeeding then he countenances the private Souldiers to offer their Grievances and in order to this appoints Commissioners to go round the Kingdom but all to no purpose afterwards he attempts the same in the City of Dublin to see if they would complain for Quartering of Souldiers but that Device came likewise to nothing But alas all this would not fix him long in the Government He was sent over but to serve a turn and after being a necessary Instrument for a while must now give place to a fitter Agent the L. B. who was now appointed to guide the Chariot Quem si non tenuit magnis tamen excidit ausis Though he could not hold the Rein so steady as fully to compleat the course yet was the undertaking noble in it self and how ever it succeeded could argue no less than a Gallant Resolution for the Catholick Cause and which indeed he had at last brought to that high pitch as to draw in the Populace by amusing them with specious Pretences against the Magistracy to an espousal of his interest But however 't was happy for the Protestants that the Rabble at last became sensible that they had look'd at the wrong end of the Perspective and that things had been represented to them in a false light and in colours quite different from what they now appeared Popery had now almost arrived to its Zenith and wanted but little of that Perfection which that horrible Bloody contrivance befoâ—e mentioned was designed to compass a practice of a parallel nature with the former Irish Rebellion and Parisian Massacre and the like infallible demonstrations of the Church of Rome's undoubted Catholicism But 't is high time to hasten to the aforesaid Affair of the Corporation The seasonable discovery of the afore-mentioned Sheriff gave the Aâ—dermen the opportunity of sending over Sir William Davis to London who representing a true Description of this Design to the Earl of Shaftsbury made that great Politician swear That the L. L. was a mad Man which Negotiation with the said Earl produced so successfull an effect that about a Month after the Earl of Essex was nominated Lord Lieutenant which year 1672 for the present interrupted the Progress of the Popish Design in Ireland though the Natives of that Kingdom were so elevated in their Expectations of its succeeding that they forbore not boasting to their Confidents of its improvement at Court. This Romish Design which had fully appear'd in its proper shape in Ireland began soon after this to unmask it self in England and a remarkable Passage occurred which not a little contributed to the untwisting of this Intricacy of State which had been carefully spun with so fine a Thread The King the Duke of York and Clifford the Lord Treasurer were one day at a certain House in a private Room where one Sir W. B. a Commissioner of the Excise of England and of the Revenue of Ireland came and being a Person that frequently accommodated the King with Money was wont to gain access at all hours and in presumption of this liberty was at the Door ready to enter the Room but his hearing the King speak with more than ordinary earnestness begat in him a curiosity to hearken with some Attention but could hear only some broken and imperfect Expressions The Duke also spoke so low that he could not understand him but Clifford was loud as in publick answering the King in a very audible and articulate manner in these words Sir if you are drove off upon fears you will never be safe the work will do if you declare your self with Resolution there is enow to stand by you The King replied This name Popery will never le swallowed by the People upon which the King started off his Seat and said Some Body is at the Door Whereupon Clifford hastily opened it and without speaking fell furiously upon B dragging him to a pair of Stairs from whence he kick'd him down Soon after this B. dyed which was not improbably imputed to that Misfortune Here we may reasonably reflect upon those Politick and for some time imperceptible steps by which Popery gradually gained ground upon us both in Ireland and England In Ireland the whole Scheme had been managed with so much address as to engage the Populace to their Party as has been already shewn in England the Design was lain with that depth and so profoundly disguis'd with the most artificial Delusions That few except some of the most Judicious and these no otherwise than by Conjecture were able to fatham it But God who brings to light the hidden things of darkness and whose powerful Prerogative is such as oftentimes to disappoint the wise in their own Craftiness did wonderfully infatuate the wicked Devices of these Men and that by an opportune discovery when they were possess'd with the greatest hopes of its attaining its designed effect But to proceed upon the former Discourse interrupted by this Digression In this Year a little year 1672 Instrument of the Pope appeared who by degrees became no
A Full and Impartial Account Of all the SECRET CONSULTS Negotiations Stratagems and Intriegues OF THE Romish Party IN IRELAND From 1660 to this present Year 1689. For the Settlement of Popery in that Kingdom LONDON Printed for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard M DC LXXX IX TO THE READER TO Preface to the ensuing Pamphlet will I am sensible be attributed to a vain humour of the Age rather than to more important Considerations But however that may be the Apprehension of some yet the more Judicious will I doubt not be of another Opinion when they perceive a whole Series of the most profound Policies and Designs drawn with that rudeness and disproportion as equally requires their Candour as well as my Apology Indeed to give an exact pourtraicture of this Intriegue which in all its circumstances appears very extraordinary and surprizing would require Apelles his favourable chance or at least a more Artificial Representation than must be expected in the following Discourse All that I can pretend to is an Impartial Account of the Matter of Fact and that being chiefly aimed at will with sober Men be in some sort at least interpreted A Dispensation for the want of exteriour Ornament or however that may prove I deem'd it much more serviceable to the Publick to present the Reader with this rough draught rather than conceal that which with what imperfection soever 't is managed must needs be useful to all Protestants and especially at this Juncture For here the Reader has an Account of the first steps that were made in Ireland for the Introduction of Popery into that Kingdom together with a Description of what obstacles and repulses this Design met with how 't was still carried on notwithstanding its frequent Interruptions and Discouragements and by what private Cabals and after what secret Machinations Here is represented the admirable diligence of an indefatigable Romish Genius for the promotion of the Catholick Cause which in several periods of State and vicissitudes of that Government still kept its design on foot sometimes retreating a few paces backward when they found it necessary and at others not only retrieving that disadvantage but continuing a greater Progress when they met with occasions favourable to their Design which at last they carefully improved to that ripeness wherein it now stands and to which it has attained by an unparallel'd Violation of the Laws and Constitutions of the Realm by the most violent and unjust Proceedings in the Reign of the late King James of which you have an ample and copious Relation in the following Sheets Full and Impartial Account Of all the SECRET CONSULTS Negotiations Stratagems and Intriegues OF THE Romish Party in Ireland from 1660 to this present Year 1689. for the Settlement of Popery in that Kingdom c. WHEN the natural Consequent of our late intestine Differences had in a short time produced so many various Scenes of Government till by a circular Motion we center'd in our first Model and so like Pythagoras his transmigration of Souls were metamorphosed into so many differing Shapes till at last in the Year One thousand six hundred and sixty we became animated with our first Dispositions to Monarchy by the Restoration of King Charles the Second then it was that several Disputes arose which were Debated before the King and Council concerning the Settlement of Ireland the Lord of Santry Lord Chief Justice of Ireland a Man equally eminent for Law as well as Loyalty in an excellent and learned Speech represented to the Board the horrid Rebellion of Ireland together with those Barbarous and Inhumane Massacres which he had been an eye Witness of In Opposition to which Sir Nicholas Plunkett a Man also very skilful in the Law but a Knight of the Pope's making and one that had acted his part in all the Rebellion of Ireland assumed the Defence of the Natives of that Kingdom but as his Cause was too apparently bad to be maintained with any tolerable Success so was his Understanding in the Law inferiour to the Lord Chief Justice Santry's who carried the Debate with great Applause in the Opinion of all that heard it and had his Advice been accordingly pursued 't was thought few of the Irish would have got their Estates and at that time if by mistake the Lord of Ormond and Lord Anglesey had not joined with the Court-Party 't was believed that what the Lord Santry urged as Law must have prevailed in point of Right for in those days the Interest of the Duke of York which afterwards grew to a mighty height as you will perceive by the Sequel was not so powerful as to have prevented it That which he chiefly insisted upon as to matter of Law was That 't was most agreeable to the Law of the Land as well as most equal for the Subject to be Tried by the Common Law where they would meet with a fair and indifferent Tryal by Juries of their Neighbours and in this case could have no wrong done them but that the Court of Claims was like the Usurper's High-Court of Justice Arbitrary and Unlimited This touch'd the Irish to the quick for they being conscious of their Guilt most of 'em Indicted and Outlawed for Treason despaired upon their Trial at the Bar to make any considerable Defence The Government of Ireland was first put into year 1660 the hands of Lords Justices which were Sir Maurice Eustace Lord Chancellor the Earl of Mountrath and the Earl of Orrery the first a Lawyer the latter Men that had signally behaved themselves against the Irish during the whole Rebellion Under the Government of these Men a Parliament was called in the City of Dublin and the Convention which sat upon the King's Restoration dissolved The first thing they proceeded upon were the Bills sent them from England for by the Law of Ireland Intituled Poyning's Act the Parliament of Ireland can read no Bill in their House which proceeds not by these Steps First The Chief Governour and Council of Ireland draw up a Bill and send it over to the King and Council in England who either approve or correct it as they think convenient and so in the second place return it back to the Chief Governor and Council and these send it to the House of Commons who have only a Negative Voice and can neither alter nor amend a word of it This by way of Digression which differing so much from the Practice of the Parliament of England induced me not to think it altogether unpleasant or unnecessary to present the Reader with this brief Account of it But to return to the Parliament the variety of interests in that Kingdom gave birth to several Disputes among them for the accommodating whereof it was thought necessary at Court to send over a Lord Lieutenant for about this time a great Controversie arose among all Parties which was founded upon this occasion A new interest was set on foot in
of this poor man which was faithfully represented to him by the English of the North that he not only ordered a maintenance for himself but also for his three Sons whom he ordered to be maintained in the Colledge near Dublin where they all improved themselves to an eminent degree of Learning and parts This is an Impartial Account of Thomus Sheridon's Pedigree whose Sisters and other Relations were in Broges and Kerchiefs the Irish Garb for Women The Author saw them not many years ago in this condition and knowing this Story of Sheridon was heightened in his Curiosity of being the more inquisitive after it in the County where his Father was born and found that he was of the Scologues a Name which the Irish call Cotchers And none of his Kindred as the Irish affirm were ever better I should not have given the Reader the trouble of this Digression but that I deemed it not altogether unpleasant to him to represent the unparallell'd Impudence of this Man who could attempt to speak of his high Extraction before the House of Commons when the meanness of his Original and Descent was so universally known in most parts of the North of Ireland But to what degrees of extravagancy will not the Confidence of an Irish-man transport him And whither will not that audacious Arrogance with which the Natives of that Kingdom are most plentifully stock'd carry and invite them The ridiculous Genealogies which the Irish have framed of themselves as to their Heroical Ancestry Antiquity of their Nation their eminency for Literature and extraordinary Piety in former Ages are Fopperies not to be wondered at when in these days the Author by his own Experience can give an account of several of the Irish Gentry who have laid aside both their former Names and Relations and have created new ones to themselves which they pretend to be derived from a numerous train of Noble Progenitors though this be publickly known to be a Chimerical and Fictitious Invention But to return again to the Earl of Essex from whence this account of Sheridon has caus'd me to digress though his politick Carriage in the business of the aforesaid Farmers discovered a dextrous and prudent Government yet did it contract upon him the hatred of the Duke of York who from this time set up private designs against him which the Earl had constant intelligence of but at last was not able to withstand them the prejudice rising so high till the Duke obtained a resolve for his removal from the Government year 1677 The way to accomplish this was to find out a man that would lend the King Money and the Earl of Bridlington was pitched upon Talbot had by the Relation of a Brother of his Married into that Family some interest but was not looked upon as a fit person to break it to the Earl so another was found by the Earl of Orrery's means who had been disobliged by the Earl of Essex and by that way it was pursued But though the Earl of Bridlington might have had a mind to the Government yet would he part with no Mony and the King's necessities were the great inducement whereby to prevail upon him to remove Essex and Bridlington being unwilling to supply 'em no other pretence could be found out to work on the King. 'T was admired by all for what reasons the Earl of Bridlington should be thought on in regard that none but the Duke's Party were in the Intriegue But the Romish Faction well understood that although the Earl of Bridlington was not fit to carry on their main Design yet they knew him governable and were in hopes to put things upon him that might bring matters into a leading way for another they had in their Eye not fit here to be named But these things missing of their designed effect they were now at a full stop though no occasions were omitted of making dayly Objections against the Earl of Essex The Popish Conspiracy as has been already hinted in discoursing upon Sheridon advanced apace by Coleman and the Parliament began now to be apprehensive of the present proceedings and of the Alliance with France which they utterly disapproved of The L B was sent in quality of the King's Embassador to France and Sir Ellis Leaton his Secretary in Ireland accompany'd him but neither of 'em were judged fit to be trusted with the secret Designs For at that time there was a Design for the French to set up their Demands for the Irish to have the Articles made by King Charles the Second with the French King in their favour to be performed and the King of England was to admit the French to land Men under pretence of being got by private compact of the Irish The Earl of Tyrone Lord Brittas and others being to raise Men in Ireland in order to make a Diversion to the putting the Popish Plot in force in England But the whole of this was kept private from the King only so much of it as referred to the French King 's demanding the Promises made by him when in Exile in favour of the Irish The Duke undertook to qualifie the King if any discovery should be made of the Irish intended Insurrection but this was divulged by some of the Irish and the King hardly prevailed with not to believe it The L B was recall'd from France and sent to Nimeguen and Complaints were made by some Merchants against Sir Ellis Leaton who being questioned before the King and Council spoke very intemperately and among other words said He wonder'd how these Merchants durst presume to speak any thing against the greatest King in Europe as the French King was for which indecent Expression he was committed it being justly accounted great impudence for him to affirm in the presence of the King That there was any other King greater than himself The King and Council finding some cause to believe that there were Designs of introducing Popery in Ireland pitch'd upon the Duke of Ormond as the only Pilot for that Kingdom in a Storm and accordingly he was sent over The Duke of York did not then think it seasonable year 1677 to oppose it though he was conscious 't was fatal to his Design But however he wrought so powerfully with the King That orders were given to raise Men in Ireland under the Notion of Foreign Service They were all composed of the Natives of the Kingdom excepting some Protestant Officers fit to make Catholicks of The Duke year 1678 of Ormond would give them no Arms so they were Exercised with Sticks and in a little time the Plot in England was discovered and they all disbanded Upon which a discovery was made by the Irish of the Popish Conspiracy in Ireland and it was very remarkable that in the whole discovery not one Protestant appeared as an evidence against the Papists A pregnant instance of the great impartiality and equal demeanour of the English towards the Natives who altho' they were now presented
Government and that it would be no excuse to say they were their own Arms and not belonging to the Militia This frighted many and operated so powerfully that abundance delivered in their Arms bought with their own money The Protestants being thus disarmed Tyrconnel proceeds to destroying the Army and first begins with the Officers in the same method which was designed immediately before the Death of the King which was to displace all Officers that had been in the Parliament or Oliver's Army as also the Sons of any such This the Duke of Ormond had directions to proceed in when he came last from England but he made no Progress in it under pretence of gaining time to find them out for he foresaw it was to make room for Papists Tyrconnel for so we must call him for the future proceeds in his design and after turning out a great part of the Officers returns for England and carries along with him one Neagle a Cunning Irish Lawyer since Knighted by him Neagle's Business at London was to be engaged in their secret Consults for he was a man of great parts educated among the Jesuits and consequently very inveterate Upon their Arrival at London 't was some time e'er Neagle could gain admittance to kiss the King's hand but was constantly with Father Petre and the rest of that Furious Cabal The Queen was altogether for their Counsels but the King was not so forwardly inclined being every day set upon by all his Popish Lords not to proceed too fast in the revolution of Ireland for that would spoil the general interest of the Catholicks and upon the Lord Bellasis Powis and some others of that Factions understanding that Neagle was come over they were so transported with Rage that they would have him immediately sent out of London But whatever mischiefs he effected in private his Publick Transactions were of no great prejudice to the Protestants However to compleat in Retirement what he durst not attempt at Court and upon the Publick Stage 't was agreed in Council that he should set forth by way of a Letter to a Friend the great Oppression and Injustice of the Act of Settlement which he did under the pretence of a two hours waking in a Night at Coventry but was indeed two Weeks labour in London In this Letter he ran so high in his Invectives against King Charles the Second which nothing but a meer Tyger or Savage as himself would have done that he durst not own it to be his but in Ireland gave out that he would Arrest any Man in an Action of Ten Thousand Pound who should father it upon him But now a Consult was held the design of Tyrconnel's coming over and the Debate variously canvass'd as to a fit Person to send over for Ireland in quality of Lord Lieutenant Tyrconnel was mentioned with some tenderness as being a person very Obnoxious to the English and therefore 't was not thought seasonable till matters were come to a greater Maturity to bring him upon the Stage The Lord Bellasis was proposed but that was too bare-fac'd besides he was infirm at least to carry on their design with success and not altogether to disgust the English 't was resolved that Tyrconnel should return Lieutenant General of the Army and the Earl of Clarendon Lord Lieutenant In the mean time the Irish Papists in all parts of the Kingdom proceeded in their former Stratagems of Impeaching the Protestants for Plots c. but these were generally so ridiculously contrived and made up of such Palpable Contradictions and Incongruities that they served only to demonstrate the Protestants innocency and the Horrid Perjuries and Implacable Inveteracy of the Informers But seeing that these Impeachments were so unskilfully managed which yet were repeated upon every pretended occasion of disgust they had to an English-man as to miss of their Wicked and Diabolical intent then they applyed themselves to other Courses many went out Toryes and robb'd upon the High-way broke up Houses stole Cattle killed them in the Field and cut out the Tongues of Sheep alive with other innumerable Barbarities all acted upon the English which were so frightened and discouraged with these Tragedies that thousands deserted the Kingdom and came for England under as great Fears and Jealousies as if there had been an open Rebellion and Five Hundred together departed the Kingdom to Transport themselves to Virginia Carolina Pensilvania West-Indies and New England This was extream grateful to the Irish who set all their Engines at work so to disheâ—â—â—en and discourage the Protestants as to force them to leave the Kingdom Tyrconnel now drives with greater fury than before not only displacing the Officers of the Army but also turning out the Private Soldiers and to both prefers which of the Irish he thought fit his Will was his Law and his Actions purely Arbitrary none daring to question him for he brought over Blank Commissions Signed by the King for such as he was willing to put in This Part he acted in a most Insulting Barbarous manner causing poor Men that had no Cloaths on their Backs but Red Coats to be stript to their Shirts and so turned off and of all this he himself was an Inhumane Spectator He seiz'd the Horses of some Officers and Troopers giving Notes that amounted not to a fourth proportion of their just Values to others he gave nothing but ill words and vile reproaches In the midst of this Tragical Scene the Earl of Clarendon comes upon the Stage in the Capacity of Lord Lieutenant his Relation to the King added to the violent Proceedings then in Ireland so vigorously drove on by the Popish Party afforded but little hopes of any redress of these Evils to the Drooping Spirits of the Protestants who were by this time entered into a very Desponding and Dejected Condition But these Discouragements of the English were alleviated in a very high measure if not changed into Ecstasies and perfect Raptures of Joy when perceiving the Lord Lieutenant acting as a person of inviolable Integrity to the Protestants and the English Interest they looked upon him as a fit Man to stem the Torrent of the Popish Faction which had been so violent and impetuous and indeed his very first action gave no small proof of it which was to cherish and revive the broken hearts of the Protestants with those great Assurances his Master had given him of protecting the Protestant Interest and Religion which he good man could not disbelieve In pursuance of this he issued out Proclamations for bringing in of Torys and propos'd Rewards to such as should apprehend them He rid a Progress round the chiefest parts of the Kingdom to give life to the English but at the same time the Grandees of the Irish proceeded in their design animating their Vassals with hopes that he should soon be removed the Irish composing Barbarous Songs in praise of Tyrconnel and that his Heroick hand should destroy the English Church with Bloody and
Inhumane Expressions very ungrateful to a Christian Ear. These restless Endeavours of the Papists made the Earl of Clarendon find things very uneasie whereunto one Remarkable Passage not a little contributed which was reported to be thus That upon a Sunday Morning going to Church he perceived an Irish Officer he never saw before Commanding his Guard of Battle-Axes that attended his Person which exceedingly surprized him whereupon he made a stop demanding who he was and who put him there The Irish-man for they are naturally Pusillanimous and fearful was as much frighted as the Lord Lieutenant was disturbed but with some difficulty and in broken Expressions occasioned by fear told his Excellency he was a Captain put in by the Lord Tyrconnel His Excellency demanded of him When he replyed That Morning His Excellency bid 'em call the former Captain and dismiss this of Tyrconnel's The next day the Lord Lieutenant sent for Tyrconnel and questioned him for this Action who replyed He did nothing but by the King's Orders to which the Lord Lieutenant returned answer That whilst His Majesty intrusted him with the Government he would not be disposed by his Lieutenant General Complaints on both hands were made to the King and so ended Tyrconnel having compleated his design in modelling the Army goes for England and there consults with his Party to obtain the Government of Ireland The King Queen and Father Petres were for him but the whole Council of Papists oppos'd it still urging how unacceptable he was to the English others therefore were named in private by that Popish Party But all the while the Protestant side were wholly ignorant of any design to remove the Earl of Clarendon not questioning but that he stood upon a firm Foundation namely the Kings late assurance to the Earl of Rochester Lord Treasurer who was seemingly Prime Minister of State but not thought fit to be confided in as to those dark Secrets of the Catholick Designs About this time there was a general metting at the Savoy before Father Petres of the chief Roman Catholicks of England in order to consult what Methods were fittest to be pursued for the promotion of the Catholick Cause The Papists were universally afraid of the King's Incapacity or else unwillingness of exposing himself to the hazard of securing it in his Reign They were sensible that he advanced considerably in Age besides they were not ignorant of what almost insuperable difficulties they had to contend with before they could bring it to any ripeness Wherefore upon these Considerations carefully weighing and ballancing every Circumstance some were for moving the King to procure an Act of Parliament for the security of their Estates and only liberty for Priests in their own private Houses and to be exempted from all Employments This Father Petres Anathematized as Terrestrial and founded upon too anxious a Sollicitude for the preservation of their Secular Interests but if they would pursue his measures he doubted not to see the Holy Church triumphant in England And indeed his Politicks have taken but in a quite different manner than he expected for God be praised a Church triumphs in England as much superiour to his in Holiness as the means of its preservation have been in justice to his which were intended for its destruction Others of the Papists were for addressing the King to have liberty now that they might do it to sell their Estates and that his Majesty would intercede with the French King to provide for them in his Dominions After several Debates it was at last agreed upon to lay both Proposals before the King and some of the number to attend his Majesty with them which was accordingly done to which the King's return was That he had before their Desires came to him often thought of them and had as he believed provided a sure Sanctuary and Retreat for them in Ireland if all those endeavours should be blasted in England which he had made for their security and of whose success he had not yet reason to despair This Encouragement to the Papists in England was attended with the most Zealous Expressions and Catholick Assurances of his Ardent Love to the Holy Church which he said he had been a Martyr for Thus we see how the Bigottry of this unhappy Prince transported him beyond all bounds and carry'd him to such Extravagancies in Government as the moderate of the English Papists themselves thought to be extream hazardous and insecure and would all of them have been content with a private exercise of their Religion as thinking it abundantly more safe rather than endanger the losing their Estates and Fortunes which they almost look'd upon as inevitable if such violent extream courses were followed But alas these self-preserving and the furious Principles of the Jesuits had no Congruity and the King was too much a Creature of the last to attend to any but their Counsels He said he was resolved to die a Martyr rather than not advance the Catholick Cause He had entered himself into the Order of the Jesuits and was become a Lay-Brother of that Society and so in consequence to his Profession must needs look upon it as meritorious to extirpate and destroy Heresie He was told that this would be a most glorious action and doubtless would be Canonized for it To reduce three Kingdoms to an entire obedience to the Holy See which had Apostatized so long and been the Nursery of so many Damned Hereticks who by their Heterodox Doctrines had created so much disturbance to the peace of the most Holy Catholick Church was doubtless the greatest action on this side Heaven and deserved no less than that for its reward No time nor story could parallel this Heroical Atchievement which would be commemorated to Eternal Ages This would be a Work of Supererogation indeed which would not only convey him to Heaven without touching at Purgatory but also lay up such an infinite over-plus of merits as being deposited in the hands of the Church and frugally applyed would not only preserve thousands of others from these Flames but waft them immediately into Abraham's Bosom These or the like we may suppose to have been the constant suggestions of the Jesuits which as they indeavoured to instill into the Kings mind with Tongues as smooth as Oyl and with the most prevailing Flatteries and Artificial Insinuations so on the other hand did he as greedily imbibe these Poisonous Doctrines as they could infuse them and eagerly swallow'd the Bait when all the while the Hook lay conceal'd and he so far intangled till 't was too late to discover it And now how can we suppose that a Prince thus wholly at the Devotion of the Jesuits swayed altogether by their Councils and upon every occasion consulting them as so many Oracles should resist the voice of these Charmers who Charmed so wisely in his byass'd opinion These Syrens kept a very harmonious Consort which they exactly tuned to the Key and accent of this Votary's fanciful
of Families which flocked over from Dublin to the Isle of Man and other places Indeed I cannot recal to mind the great Consternation the dismal Apprehensions and Panick Fears which possess'd the hearts of all Protestants at this juâ—cture without reviving like Aeneas his repetition of the Trojan Miseries to the Carthaginian Queen those deep impressions of sorrow those Infandos dolores under which I was then almost sunk and overwhelmed Now every thing discovered a gloomy and Melancholy prospect and seemed to be attended with so many Discouragements that many that had Patentee Employments obtained Licence from the Lord Lieutenant under the Broad-Seal to come away and all that lay in his Excellency's power for the help and assistance of the Protestants he zealously performed It was interpreted by many as a signal Act of Providence propitious to the English that the Winds continued for some time contrary after that this furious Zealot for the Cause as impatient as a Wild Bull in a Net was come to the Sea-side which disappointment did not a little discompose him whose prejudice and ambition equally inspired him with eagerness to supplant his Predecessor whom he had looked upon as his Corrival in the Government This favourable delay was religiously respected by many as a certain warning or admonition from God to his people to fly from those heavy Judgments which had been long imminent but now in an actual readiness to descend upon that Poor Distressed Kingdom But he whose Arrival was dreaded every moment as the most fatal misery that could fall upon the Nation at last after being thus retarded to the unspeakable terrour of the Protestants Landed at Dublin And the Lord Clarendon who had a particular favour conferred upon him to continue for one Week in the Government after Tyrconnel's Landing at his Grace the Lord Archbishop of Dublin's Palace resigned the Sword to Tyrconnel with an admirable Speech to him setting forth his exact observance of the Commands of the King his Master and faithful discharging of that great trust which had been committed to him and concluding with his Impartial Administration of Justice to all Partys in these or the like words addressed to Tyrconnel That as he had kept an equal hand of Justice to the Roman Catholicks so he hoped his Lordship would to the Protestants Never was a Sword washed with so many Tears as this a most doleful presage of its being so in blood It would surpass the Art of Rhetorick to set forth the dreadful Reflections which the poor afflicted Protestants made upon this Ominous Revolution No Oratour could find words to express the fatal Calamities which were now derived from the consequence of this change it presaged the worst of evils and seemed to carry in all its parts the most dismal Characters of an Irreversible Extirpation of the Protestant Interest and Religion Most of the English were possessed with the daily fears of a general Massacre to be suddainly put in Execution and that in a most inhuman manner and this produced the strangest Convulsions in the minds of men that a most exquisite grief could be capable of Others were more temperate in their sorrows and were of opinion that notwithstanding Popery was the Scene which must be acted yet they were in hopes by some more plausible way than that of downright murthering They considered that the last Rebellion had heaped so much Infamy upon the Irish and had justly rendered them such Barbarous and Inhumane Savages to the whole Christian World that to obliterate that deserved reproach they would now take some milder course which though it might have something more of Humanity in it would yet be as effectual to the design the utter Subversion of the Protestant Interest and Religion In fine Quot homines tot sententiae their Sentiments were as various as their Fears But however all concurred in this That Popery was the Game that must not only be Played but win too whatever Arts were used to obtain the upshot The Lord Clarendon before he surrendered the Government was very curious to inform himself of the Constitution and Condition of Ireland and at his going over carried with him Copies of Records Surveys c. of that Kingdom and among other things it is said that he desired the Lord Chief Justice Keating now in Rebellion in Ireland and one of the fatal instruments for the ruine of that Kingdom to give him his opinion in Writing both as to the Legality and Justice of the Act of Settlement as also to answer those Objections which had been made against it by Neagle all which he amply performed and which my Lord Clarendon upon his Arrival at Court shewed to the King who sent the Copy over to Tyrconnel who spared not to reproach Keating for this action which Keating at first disowned but the matter being too plain to admit of an absolute denial at length began to make the best Excuse he could My Lord Clarendon being shipped for England now does the open and full Triumph of the Irish ambitiously shew it self in this advantagious light in all its grandeur and magnificence The dejected condition of the English made their Victory more glorious 'T was now impossible for the Natives to forbear insulting over the English at an insupportable rate as if they had been actually their Slaves bound to the Wheels of their Chariots That sober thought of Sesostris when he had his Coach drawn by four Kings was not a reflection to be entertained by them at this juncture The Day was now their own and Post mortem nulla voluptas they failed not to use it as extravagantly whilst they enjoyed it What Affronts and Indignities were now cast upon the English How barbarously Hector'd and Insulted over by these Huffing Rhodomontadoes How injured and oppressed by publick acts of notorious injustice How abused as to their good Names reviled as to their Religion and reproached as Englishmen and Protestants Called Fanatick Dogs and Damn'd Hereticks is so publickly known as requires not much pains to describe Those of the Protestants who had been the most obliging to the Irish were sure to meet with the most ungrateful returns and if they had been so charitable as to relieve them in their necessities as the English a merciful and too easie natured a People had frequently done they would now in requital seize upon what they had by open force or else set others of their own Creatures to do it If any of the English had lent Money to them or bargained for Goods and Commodities of the Countrey whereby the Irish were become their Debtors their usual payment especially if they were in necessity and afraid that Executions would be obtained against their persons or substance was repairing to the next Irish Justice of the Peace and swearing of High-Treason against their Creditors though oftentimes in kindness to them they had been forborn with a year or two from discharging the Debt But I pass from speaking any more of
these Infamous Wretches whose Mercies are Cruelty to Tyrconnel's first steps in the Government as Lord Deputy in relation to which I shall now usher in at once the removing of the Judges though some of them were turned out before Tyrconnel came to the Sword As Sir Standish Harston Baronet one of the Barons of the Exchequer Sir Richard Reynolds Baronet one of the Judges of the King's-Bench and Johnson one of the Judges of the Common-Pleas The Consult was in London before Tyrconnel came to the Government whether the Judges should not be turned out before the Earl of Clarendon was removed to represent him odious to the People if he complyed or disobedient to the King if he seemed unwilling in the matter as they believed he would For they observed that he and the Lord Chancellor Porter began to startle at the Commands from England before they received any account of their removal and Porter publickly declared That he came not over to serve a turn nor would act any thing against his Conscience and as a Testimony of this he found at his return to London that he could not without some difficulty obtain the favour of kissing the King's hand but at length gaining admittance he humbly asked the King What he had done that he was so used For it had been a considerable expence to him to remove his Family To which the King replyed That 't was his own fault which was an expression not very unintelligible Porter went several times after to Court and stood in the King's Eye but he never vouchsafed to speak to him or to take the least notice of him But to come to the Judges it was not thought safe to turn them all out nor any more of them till the Government was in a hand that was Catholick For some of the Council I mean the Cabal were afraid of proceeding in their design too fast especially Powis who urged a slow Progress as accounting it most safe and this made him not be confided in as to their secret and blacker Designs though in his Lady they reposed an intire Confidence as being thought the greatest Politician among them and were not a little ambitious that the Earl of Shaftsbury in the Popish Plot had given her that Character This Debate concerning the Judges was long and often some were for making a clear riddance and to have the Reformation begin in the Courts of Judicature They having already the Military part of the Government in their hands might with greater Facility secure the Civil But the moderate Party prevailed and one in a Court to colour the actions of the rest must be left But that which stuck with them was that Sir William Davis Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench must not be moved for two Reasons The First was That he had been of the Duke's Party in the time of the Popish Plot behaving himself so loyal that he had been sent over if Dissolving the Parliament had not preserved him but this was the least part of his Strength The Second therefore and most prevalent Inducement was his Marriage with the Countess of Clancarthy whose Son had Married the Earl of Sunderland's Daughter and Sunderland was to be denied nothing Besides Sir William Davis was a Diseased infirm man given over for some years and to expedite his Journey for another World for he was a thoughtful man his Brother Judge Nugent the first Popish Judge that was put in pass'd Patent for Sir William Davis's place of Lord Chief Justice in reversion a sad Presage in those times where men must die when and how their Adversaries pleased This being resolved the choice was soon made Lord Chief Baron Hen makes way also for Rice and in Rice's room Sir Linch succeeds in the Common-Pleas In the High Court of Chancery was placed Sir Alexander Fitton a man notorious on Record so exempts me from the pains of giving the Reader a Character of him in this place but little regard was to be had to the man so long as he was fitted to that interest which was then promoting it being very remarkable That of what Perswasion soever they were which they employed at this time they chose men of the most branded Reputations and whose Principles were such as could brave Conscience The three Protestant Judges had their several Capacities and Inclinations for their Service the Lord Chief Justice Davis I speak not of for he was decreed to die and did soon after but the three Standards for the Cause were the Lord Chief Justice Keating for the Common-Pleas Lyndon for the King's-Bench and Baron Worth for the Exchequer The Lord Chief Justice Keating had always been a Servant of the Duke of Yorks was a Native of the place as the Irish call them his Family for many Ages there and Naturalized into Irish he was somewhat accounted to be Popishly inclined and therefore that Party thought themselves sure of him but he was a person of more sense than to pursue the Chace with greater expedition than safety He was rich and single and small hopes would not spur him on to an indiscreet forwardness however as to the main they questioned not his Affection to the Cause Lyndon though in his affection no friend to the Irish Government yet lay under the powerful temptation of a numerous Family and his not abounding in Riches made him the more Passive though he behaved himself the best of the three and when it laid in his power shewed himself an English-man Baron W was the Man they most depended upon and he was so well known that year W 't was in vain to pretend indifferency nor did he but was the first man in the Exchequer where there was more business than in all the Courts besides that struck the fatal blow in all Causes where the English were concerned as in the Sequel will appear in the Charters and private Causes of the English that came before him The Courts being thus setled the next thing year 1687 to be performed was calling in the Charters and here Tyrconnel endeavoured to proceed in the same method that the Lords Justices had done before in perswading the City to deliver up their Arms. But one art in State-Policy could not easily be imposed twice in a year and the English had a fresh Impression upon their Memories by what plausible perswasive Rhetorick they had been cajoled out of their Arms and now to have a like Delusion pass upon them in depriving them of their Laws was a colour not natural enough to deceive them a second time However this was the method of the proceeding Tyrconnel during the Lord Clarendon's Government had procured the King's Letter that all Roman Catholicks should be admitted into the freedom of all the Corporations of the Kingdom which Letter was artfully contrived with a great deal of sweetness and of endearing expressions as that it proceeded from his Majesty's great care of the general good of the Kingdom and was graciously designed by
him for the encouragement of Trade and the uniting of the Affections of his Subjects and in order to put this in execution the City of Dublin was to lead the way and to be the Precedent to the whole Kingdom And therefore in pursuance to the tenour of the aforesaid Letter the Lord Mayor calls a General Assembly wherein the Kings Letter was read upon which the City made their humble Address to the Lord Lieutenant and Council setting forth that they found the City by Act of Parliament bound up and the if they should act according to the Letter they incurred a Forfeiture of their Charters and therefore humbly prayed the Lord Lieutenant and Council to lay their Condition at his Majesty's Feet who they did humbly conceive was mis-informed in this matter This retarded the freedom of the Papists for some time but another Mayor one Castleton who is still in Dublin succeeding he passed the Irish Freemen and in consequence to this the same was done in the whole Kingdom This was laid with ingenuity enough for promoting the Irish design yet received not its hoped for effect which was by this means to procure freedom for so many of the Irish in every Corporation as by the Majority of their Suffrages might out-vote the English in the Election of Popish Magistrates which upon Tyrconnel's Accession to the Government might facilitate the surrendring the Charters and so render the Kingdom as they stiled it entirely Catholick But this device how speciously soever contrived did not reach the end of its Projectors For notwithstanding the great Endeavours and active Industry of the Irish yet most of the Corporations out-ballanced them in the number of Protestants Tyrconnel perceiving himself frustrated of his expectation by the numerous Party of the English has an immediate recourse to the way before-mentioned of the Lords Justices and to put this in practice sends for the Lord Mayor and Aldermen and there acquaints them that he had in charge from his Master the King to tell them as being the chief City of the Kingdom and unto which as such he intended the greatest Marks of his Favour that it was his pleasure to call in all the Charters of the Kingdom not with design to take away any thing from them but to enlarge their Priviledges by which act of bounty and favour he might the more endear them unto him He farther told them that his Majesty expected their ready compliance so as that their chearful surrendry of their Charter might become examplary to the rest of the Kingdom The Lord Mayor returned the answer usual in such cases which was that he would call an Assembly and move it to them and the next day he accordingly did so acquainting them with what the Lord Deputy had given him in charge The Assembly was not long upon their Resolves but the manner of delivering them afforded the greatest matter of debate the result whereof was this That the Lord Mayor Recorder and Aldermen should wait upon his Excellency and acquaint his Lordship that as the City had ever been exemplary in their Loyalty and faithful Obedience to the Kings and Queens of England so they should ever continue in the same and therefore humbly conceived it to be their Duty to lay at his Majesty's feet the great Services they had done the Crown under the Grants and Immunities of One Hundred and Chirty Charters they had then in their Treasury from his Majesties Royal Ancestors and they humbly prayed his Excellency to favour them in a kind representation of their condition to his Majesty which they hoped would prevail with his Majesty for the continuance of their Ancient Government under so many Gracious Grants and Charters Upon the making of this return there was present the King's Attorney and Sollicitor The first being a most Virulent and Inveterate Papist nothing of friendship was expected from him but the latter was not doubted yet contrary to expectation argued stifly against the City The Lord Deputy as extravagantly mad to meet with this return which so absolutely thwarted his design fell into a great fit of violent Passion and in a raging Tempest told them That this was the continuance of their former Rebellion that they had turned out all the Loyal Snbjects in the last War of Ireland and that they would do so now were it in their power And it was because they so lately disputed the King's Commands for admitting Catholick Free-men that caused his Majesty to call in their Charters and in the close of this furious Speech advised the Lord Mayor to call the Assembly again and obey the King or it would be worse for them Wherefore the Lord Mayor humbly besought his Excellency to signifie his pleasure to the Assembly by a Letter under his hand alledging that they would not regard a Verbal Repetition of it which they had been already acquainted with as also urging that it had been the constant practice of the Chief Governour to send their Letter upon occasions of publick business to the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Commons And if his Excellency would please to follow this usual method he would act as in duty bound in obedience to it To which the Sollicitor General replyed that there was no necessity of any such Formality but 't was sufficient if his Excellency signify'd his Commands by word of Mouth in which they ought to acquiesce Upon this the Lord Mayor called another Assembly and great Debates arose how to demean themselves in this nice Criticism of Affairs But as to the surrendry of their Charter 't was what they unanimously resolved against After some Dispute as to the manner of Addressing the Lord Deputy in this case 't was at last resolved and concluded That the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Commons should make their Application to his Excellency with Reasons why they could not surrender their Charter and to pray his Excellency to allow them time to Petition the King not doubting but His Majesty would be graciously pleased to take into his Princely Consideration as well their Exemplary Loyalty as Eminent Sufferings for His Royal Father of Blessed Memory Upon which they produced a Letter from King Charles the First dated at Oxford which contained great Acknowledgments of their great Loyalty and Faithfulness to him which he gave them high assurances of being eminently rewarded if it pleased the Divine Providence to restore him to his Crown and its just Rights and Prerogatives The aforesaid Representatives of the City also prayed Tyrconnel to represent their condition favourably to His Majesty but he answered them roughly and according to his former Austerity told them That on the contrary he would Write against them and in the interim according to the Directions he brought over with him from England a Quo Warranto issued forth against the City Who called another Common Council and there agreed upon a Petition to the King and sent over with it their Recorder Sir Richard Rieves who behaved year 1687
himself briskly and with good Applause in this matter For notwithstanding that he was not only frequently sent to but threatned by Tyrconnel if he proceeded in it yet however he goes for London and there sollicits the Duke of Ormond to introduce him to the King where on his Knee he delivers the Petition with a submissive tender of all the City Charters at His Majesties Feet The King was already so prepossessed with the Partial Account that Tyrconnel had given of this Action with which he was so extreamly prejudiced that upon the first sight of Sir Richard Rieves he asked him if he had the Lord Deputy's leave to come with this Petition And that he had those in Ireland that understood the Law better than himself and so turn'd from him Sir Richard Rieves advised with the Duke of Ormond who told him That there was no hopes of succeeding in the Enterprize so was forced to go back for Dublin with a short but unpleasant return of the ineffectualness of this Negotiation But however the City was resolved to stand the Brunt and to stop the violent Tide if possible which now ran with so rapid a Current and in order thereunto they Fee'd four Counsels Their first Evasion whereby to procrastinate matters was by urging that the Sheriffs were interessed as Parties in the Writ the Charters being granted to Mayor Sheriffs and Commons and so could not properly make Returns to that Writ that came against themselves this was deem'd to be Law but nothing was to be accounted as such by Judges that broke through all Inclosures and stuck not to trample upon the known Laws and Constitutions of the Kingdom if opposite to their Popish and Arbitrary designs So this return of the Sheriffs was over-ruled and a Fine imposed upon them if in four days they did not amend their Return which some though they would not have agreed to but 't was among themselves thought fit to do it and accordingly the Attorney General proceeded against them and took some advantage of their Pleadings which the Court gave judgment upon This afforded matter of Triumph and an universal excessive joy to the Irish which dispersed it self with a marvelous Celerity throughout the whole Kingdom but became on the contrary hand as much a Subject of Lamentation to the English Citizens who called themselves the Virgin City as having never been tainted with any action of Disloyalty or Rebellion in all the several Revolutions and Vicissitudes of that unfortunate Kingdom which though never since it was in the possession of the King 's of England continued forty years uninterruptedly without an Insurrection of the Natives yet was this City remarkably Loyal in all Changes and performed many signal acts of Bravery and Courage as their Records do amply testifie and of which not to name many others I cannot omit one very remarkable Instance which was That when the Lord Duke of Ormond received Orders by that Royal Martyr King Charles the First of ever Blessed and Immortal Memory to give up the Sword and Government to the Parliament they being at that time best able to suppress the Irish Rebels The Lord of Ormond in pursuance to this instruction delivered up the Sword and sent to the Mayor one William Smith ordering him to do the like but he to shew his Loyalty went to the Lord of Ormond accompanied with his Brethren the Aldermen and told his Lordship that he kept that Sword for the King that the City was the King's Chamber and he would deliver neither but into the hands of the King's Servants Upon which the Lord of Ormond took occasion to commend his Loyalty and told him He had the King's Commands to do it and for the Mayors greater satisfaction shewed him the King's Letter which when the Mayor read he observed there was order for the Lord of Ormond to give up the Government to the Parliaments Commissioners but not a word that the Mayor should do it which the Mayor taking notice of to the Lord of Ormond told him he would leave the Sword and Keys of the City with his Lordship to use as he pleased he being the King s Lieutenant and so he did and after took his leave This the City justly boasts of as never being engaged in any Rebellion nor ever actually under the Usurper's Government in any other manner than by the King 's Appointment and Command But to return to the Charters consonant to the Sentence against Dublin so was Judgment given against all the Charters of the Kingdom except against such as quietly surrendred as most did it being to no purpose to contend in the lesser and inferiour parts of the Kingdom after their GOLIAH of Dublin was slain I shall not impose upon the Reader 's Patience with giving him an account of what subtle arts of Address and Obsequious Contrivances were made use of to distinct Corporations to prevail with them to surrender This he will suppose that they were not remiss or unactive in if he considers that they dreaded nothing so much as that the Clamours and Outcries of so many Bodies of people which were to be sued and disobliged should reach the Ears of the Court and be made use of by the adverse Party to their disadvantage and therefore we may be sure that they endeavoured to silence them as much as they could For both Tyrconnel and his Voucher â—eagle had assured their Party that most of the Charters would quietly be surrendred by the people and that there was but one Corporation in the North of Ireland which they were afraid of this was Carrickfergus which they managed with a great deal of Policy in the following manner Ellis Secretary to Tyrconnel writes a wheedling Letter to the Mayor of that City insinuating how great an opinion the Lord Deputy had of his Loyalty with abundance of such impertinent stuff and that his Excellency would enlarge their Priviledges They were foolishly taken with this gilded Bait and so surrendred their Charter Upon this success Ellis was applauded as an excellent Instrument to delude the Protestants with and so he was which he improved by the frequent opportunities which were offered to him of drawing in honest men he having been many years in the Secretaries Office and a pretended Protestant though his Brother was a noted Champion for Rome but that was one of the Machinations of the Romish Conclave mightily practised in Ireland to disguise one part of their Family under the Protestant Education though they were as much Papists as the other that appeared to be openly such by a publick Profession A practice which the old English Families are rarely free from in that Kingdom But to come again to Ellis his Letters and Messages flew round the Kingdom and prevailed in many places but more out of a Sentiment That 't was to no purpose to contend than any Belief or Opinion they had either of his or his Masters assurances But however that was 't is certain that Ellis
acquired a fair Reputation among the Popish Party for his success in these Arts of Delusion and Treachery and they in their Secret Cabals did not a little magnifie and applaud their Politicks which they thought they so amused the English with laughing at the Credulity of the Heretick Dogs for so their Grandees in their private Meetings would frequently call them Having thus obtained their wish as to the surrendry of the Charters the next work was to agree upon a Model for the men This debate was strongly canvassed several ways and that which chiefly puzled them and even put 'em almost to a Non-plus was that the King would have nothing of this transacted at Court for fear of meeting with opposition there This Exigency of not being suffered to receive advice from England exposed them to great Difficulties for they were utter Strangers to the Laws and Government of Corporations as indeed they were to all matters of Government having been conversant in nothing but Secret Plots and Private Contrivances how to unhinge and discompose all Governments and as an aggravation of their misfortune except Rice Daly and Neagle there was not a man of them in the Privy Council that had common sense if you will believe themselves for Rice and Daly would often complain that nothing could pass at the Council-Board that concerned the Publick but their Countrymen must first ask Teig If that would not spoil his Pottatoe-Garden Necessity at last supply'd the place of Invention and a method was agreed upon which reduced Corporations to perfect Slavery and this in all the Circumstances of that affair was their prime and ultimate aim For as to matter of Trade or improving of the Nation these were Speculations of too Metaphysical a nature for men of their size and former way of Education as was demonstrated in the first Proclamation issued forth by Tyrconnel and his Council to break an Act of Parliament in taking off the duty of Iron and admitting it so into the Kingdom whereby they might encourage Merchants to bring in Pieces of Eight from Spain and so hasty they were to have the honour of this admirable contrivance that without asking the King's leave which is always done before any Proclamation relating to the Revenue Pass They put it in execution but as soon as 't was heard of in England a Proclamation came from the King forbidding this wise act made by these great States-men And so ill this presumptuous folly of theirs was interpreted That the Lord Bellasis swore in Council that That Fellow in Ireland was Fool and Mad-man year 1687 enough to ruine ten Kingdoms Father Petres corrected him severely for this foul miscarriage and writ to him That if he acted not with greater Caution the King could not possibly preserve him in that Government These Documents and severe Reprimands of the Ghostly Father were so religiously observed by him that for the future he would proceed in nothing but ball out at the Council-Board and call them Fools and Blockheads if they spake any thing that was contradicted by the English Privy-Council Their great Confident was the Lord Chief Justice Keating who knowing that he had an Ascendant over them as to Parts was so imperious and insulting that sometimes he was taken to task but had wit enough to submit yet often was very uneasie to them But however he in publick and W. in private for he was not of the Privy-Council directed them in the management of the affair of the Charters And when they had got the shape and model of them presented by these Temporizing Painters who drew to the life according to the Popish fancy then they proceeded to an Election of the men to name in their Charters and here they begged pardon of their Advisers and would be their own Directors 'T was their Rule to have in the great Cities who were most English one third Protestants and two thirds Papists but then these that they called Protestants were Quakers or other Enthusiasticks and two or three in a Charter of such Protestants as either their considerable Estates or loose Principles would secure to their Party by that means leaving not a man of true Value or Courage in any Corporation in the Kingdom and although they took in Lords and Gentlemen out of the Countrey into all their Corporations yet could they not compleat them without additional numbers of Scandalous and Contemptible men In one Corporation in the North the first Magistrate of the Town was a Man that had been burnt in the Hand Here you see by what impious Arts and fraudulent Machinations the several Corporations were cheated and trapanned out of their Charters most of them wheedled and grosly imposed upon by a Wolf in Sheeps Cloathing Secretary Ellis who stuck not to make great Promises of enlarging their Priviledges and the like though he knew nothing to be more destructive of the Protestant Interest and Religion of which he owned himself a Professor And as his wearing of a Protestant Mask contributed very much to the success of this intrigue so did the same Vizard put on by Keating and W. not a little facilitate the Model of the new Charters of which they contrived the Plat-form and then 't was easie for the Popish Faction to super-struct upon it the palpableness of whose design was in nothing more fully evident than in putting in of all manner of Fanatical Enthusiasts into their new Charters under the notion of Protestants For 't was evident that some of these were as irreconcileable Enemies to the Protestant Church as they were Friends to and Confederates with the Romish As for instance The Quakers concerning which ridiculous Profession Who is or can be ignorant that 't was derived from the Jesuits Who knows not that these have sharpened their Weapons at the Romish Forge and that their prime Leaders whatever they otherwise pretend to do inwardly own Ignatius Loyola as their Founder These were therefore too much their own Creatures to be neglected by them as not only appears by their former Principles if those monstrous Absurdities they maintain may be reckoned to be such but also by their present Practices as their vindicating the late King's Declaration for Liberty of Conscience though it manifestly tended to the introduction of Popery and their zealous espousing of his interest at this day do fully shew But amidst all the new arts of modelling the Corporations neither their Brethren the Quakers nor other of their Adherents could give them such effectual assistance but that often they were put to their shifts and necessitated to elect men of the blackest Characters and most infamous Reputations as appears from their choosing a Magistrate that had been burnt in the Hand Here was admirable justice indeed to be expected where he who had not only held up his hand but been punished in so scandalous a manner at the Bar was now to sit upon the Bench. But as the Popish Party were put to these Difficulties of getting
any sort of men how notoriously infamous soever to fill up their Charters so were they as much perplexed to find out men that would pay for them For not ten in the whole Kingdom would or could discharge the Fees for them Wherefore to encourage them the Lord Deputy ordered That the Lord Chancellor and Attorney General Neagle should abate half of their Fees But all would not do so that most of the new Charters are yet in the Attorney General 's hands for want of paying the Fees and the several Corporations act without them The infinite numbers of people deserting the Kingdom from all parts of it upon Tyrconnel's coming to the Government made the Towns and Cities almost waste discouraged all manner of Trade and sunk the Revenue to an incredible Ebb and deduction from its former value These weighty Arguments were strongly pressed at Court to Tyrconnel's disadvantage upon which he obtains leave to meet the King at Chester and carries with him his great Minister year 1687 and Counsellor Rice who being chief Baron of the Exchequer was to be believed above any it being King James's Maxim That he would hear no man in any thing that did not properly lie under his Province Rice was fitly enough qualified to sooth up the King with fine Stories and a specious representation of Affairs which he could the more easily do in regard there was none present to contradict him and so this Cloud blew over though many did believe and were in hopes that it would have broke with that violence upon Tyrconnel that he would never have returned again as Lord Deputy There as yet remained some Protestant Officers in the Army which upon this interview were ordered to be disbanded excepting some few who 't is believed had made fair Promises which they had not occasion as yet to put in execution Nor did King James require more than a private assurance of their Faith and Inclinations to his interest it being too early to make a publick Declaration as yet The Judges were abroad upon their Circuit year 1687 whilst Tyrconnel was in England pursuing such instructions as he had prescribed to them before his departure which were severe and prejudicial enough to the English and to their Protestant Clergy notwithstanding his late Proclamation superadded to others before from the King that they should enjoy all their Ecclesiastical Rites and Just Dues as they had formerly done The Clergy having since the beginning of King James's Reign lain under great Grievances as to the non-payment of their dues especially Surplice Fees which in that Kingdom they call Book-money and is very considerable to them by reason of the numerousness of Irish Families in most places took the opportunity at the Assizes in the several Circuits to represent their condition to the Judges as Persons from whom they expected Redress but on the contrary met with very dissatisfactory and unequal returns For though the Judges could not disown the legality of those small Dues called the Book money because founded upon the same Law with the greater Tythes as the Irish of the Country unanimously did notwithstanding that they had paid them in the former Reign yet did they so manifestly discourage the Clergy in their Addresses to them taking all advantages against them that could be offered and as studiously declining every Argument made in their favour as they were ready to embrace and hearken to what could be objected against them though meer Forgeries of the Irish and thereby so animated the Natives against them that they seemed to do them as much injustice though under specious and fair pretences as if they had publickly told the Papists that they ought not to pay them any thing Though at the same time and with the same breath that they were guilty of this execrable partiality they had the confidence to avow the justice of their proceedings towards the Clergy for whom they would have had them believe that they entertained the most equitable and upright intentions This would require a large Discourse if accurately handled but my unskilfulness in a matter out of my Province and peculiar to Ecclesiasticks will I hope be excused though thus slenderly touched upon but thought it better to speak something imperfectly of it than wholly omit an Affair which was so universal in the Reign of the late King James and so publickly transacted in the whole Kingdom The Judges found the Gaols full stocked with Toryes and Irish Robbers but Irish Sheriffs and Irish Juries were so Gracious as to vouchsafe them so general a deliverance that not one in forty was found guilty And in such Cases where Matter of Fact was notoriously plain or any of the Grandees were any way interessed in belief of the Criminals as 't was rare almost to a miracle if none were and the Evidence not to be taken off then 't was usual for the Prisoner at the Bar to be called by wrong Names and so discharged for want of Prosecution To these Arts of evading condign punishment for their Execrable Crimes several Menaces were added to terrifie the Plaintiff from prosecuting as that otherwise their Houses should be burnt their Cattle stole their substance destroyed and perhaps their own Throats cut which as often threatened so not seldom put in execution a sad discouragement to the poor English who lay under the daily hazard of being Robbed and Pillaged by the Irish and if they happened to seize the Malefactors must either discontinue any farther prosecution against them or else be exposed to greater mischief For the Proof and Demonstration whereof not to insist upon too many others take the following Instance which for the eminency of the Person and Barbarity of the several Facts may supply the rest acted by the Earl of C This Earls Eldest Son a great Favourite of the Duke of York's was with him at Sea and there killed and leaving no Heir his younger Brother was brought out of a Convent in France and instated in the Earldom The Duke of Ormond who always endeavoured to Naturalize the Irish Families into English embraced this opportunity there being none living but his Sister and this Earl who was next to a Natural to Marry him to a Daughter of the Earl of Kildare's in Ireland a firm Protestant and capable of an Intrigue beyond her Sex by this Lady he had several Children and one Son who is now Earl He was by the Duke of Ormond sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury and by him carefully bred up a Protestant and Educated at Oxford His Uncle Justin Mac Carthy as it since appears for the promotion of the Catholick Cause without the knowledge of his Mother or the Duke of Ormond Marries him when not Sixteen Years of Age to the Earl of Sunderland's Daughter and immediately sends him for Ireland where he continued a Protestant until the coming of King James to the Crown and then like the rest of his Country-men at that juncture returned to his old Vomit
word either in favour of or in opposition to the thing but desired it might be read which being done the Lord Bellasis in a storm of Passion inveigh'd bitterly against it saying that If such designs as those were encouraged they of England meaning the Catholicks had best in time to look out for some other Country and not stay to be a mad Sacrifice for Irish Rebels Powis according to the best of his understanding seconded and in short 't was so run down that neither Sunderland nor Peters durst attempt to speak a word in its vindication but only desired that those Gentlemen which brought over those Papers might be heard Bellasis was for committing them or commanding their immediate return but 't was at last thought reasonable to hear them so a day was appointed The noise of this and the success it had met with at Council-Board flew abroad with great Exclamations the Boys in the street running after the Coach where Rice and Nugent at any time were with Pottatoes stuck on sticks and crying Make room for the Irish Embassadors 'T was believed that some of the Popish Party did blow up the People that so the King might be sensible what mischief this would tend to The day came on for these Embassadors to be heard at Council-board where Rice made a Speech full of Policy and Artifice and answered the Objections made by the Lord Bellasis and Powis but when Nugent came to speak he kicked down all that Rice had done and Bellasis presently discovered the defect of his Irish understanding as he call'd it abusing him beyond the respect due to the place where the King was calling him Fool and Knave and Powis did the same They were not long in tearing this fine Project to pieces which when they had done Bellasis bid them make haste to the Fool their Master and bid him next Message he sent to employ Wiser Men and upon a more honest Errand Powis bid them tell him That the king had better use to make of his Catholick Subjects in England than to Sacrifice them for reprize to the Protestants of Ireland in lieu of their Estates there In short every one fell so violently upon them at the Board that the King remained silent and without any resolve or order broke up the Council and neither the Embassadors nor their Project appeared more upon the Stage but kissing the Kings Hand march'd off with great hast and precipitation for they were afraid that even the Roman Catholicks themselves would have affronted ' em This Miscarriage of Tyrconnell's gave fresh opportunity year 1688 to the Castlemanians to raise Objections against him setting forth what mischiess he had already done in that Kingdom that the Revenue was sunk to an incredible abatement and that in one year more there would not be left money enough in the Kingdom to discharge the Army and that this last Project of his would exasperate and frighten away those of the English which were left who being the dealing and industrious people of the Nation would put a final period to all Trade and Commerce in that wasted and depopulated Countrey But all these just and reasonable Allegations which matter of fact and the present ruinous and distracted Estate of that Kingdom did but too fully evince the truth or rather infallibility of though judiciously laid down before the King by sober and considering persons yet were they all to no purpose For though the King kept it private from most of his Council yet certain it is that he had promised the French King the disposal of that Government and Kingdom when things had attained to that growth as to be fit to bear it This jumped near to the time of the King's Declaration for Liberty of Conscience and the Bishops Commitment to the Tower And as one had ruined England if the visible hand of Supream Providence had not signally and miraculously interpos'd by inspiring the Bishops with couragious and invincible resolutions in a just vindication of the Protestant Cause and Religion so the other had struck the fatal blow to the Laws and Fundamental Constitutions of Ireland if some Hushai's even amongst the Romish Faction had not turned the pernicious Counsels of these Achitophels into folly The expected success of the aforesaid Embassadors Negotiation which by one Party was dreaded by the other hop'd to prove answerable to its design made various impressions upon men in proportion to their different interests The English were apprehensive of no less a change than a total subversion of the Government and an unraveling of all the Laws made for the security of their Estates and Religion which the unhinging the Act of Settlement the sole occasion of this Solemn Embassy would at one blow compleat The Natives were imaginarily in actual possession Their apprehensions whereof were such as discovered all the outward signs and indications of so high a satisfaction as cannot be easily represented Joy and Triumph was in all their Actions and Discourses Fancy and Imagination wrought very powerfully and like Men in Bedlam who dream of nothing but Kingdoms and Empires they seem'd to shew as much Complacency and to be alike transported with the airy hopes of getting as if they had been already invested in their Estates But this Scene of Joy which had been represented with so much splendour and magnificence soon disappear'd and a Melancholy Prospect over-shadowed with a dark Cloud was quickly brought upon the Stage when they perceiv'd all their hopes blasted in the fruitless consequences of this great intrigue Parturiunt montes their high expectations soon descended to a low ebb and they were quickly under as great despondency by this suddain turn of the Spoke in the Wheel as they were before of satisfaction For as they are wont to put no bounds to their Ecstasies and transports in prosperous so neither do they limit their sorrow and despair upon adverse Contingencies An unequalness of mind and resolution very remarkable among the Irish who like the floating Euripus have no consistency in themselves but are carried up and down in their hopes and fears according as every petty accident does either invite or discourage But to return to Sheridon whose Trial Rice and Nugent's absence had retarded and the ill effects of whose Negotiation had so exalted him that he begun to vaunt over his Enemies openly exclaiming upon the Lord Deputy and withal adding That he would soon be removed from the Government and such advantage did he derive from this disgrace Tyrconnell met with in England that he held the Lord Deputy and his Judges at defiance and was now become so imperious that his braging and threatening the Evidence took off several And the truth is after that Rice returned from England they were in such despondency expecting every day a new Lord Lieutenant insomuch that one day Tyrconnell himself said publickly to some Officers at the Castle that though he had great assurance from the King that he should not be
two Men that rais'd their fortunes in the last Settlement and were making provision for the same Work again and 't is remarkable that 〈…〉 Brother to these here is as 't is said the most active among the Irish at this day and Sir 〈…〉 Houses the only Sacred place from violence in Dublin But of this Intrigue more may be expected and time will shew since the Honourable House of Commons have taken that matter into their prudent Consideration The deplorable Effects and Consequences attending the wrong measures taken for the reduction of that Kingdom are perhaps if duly reflected upon in all their Circumstances more doleful than the Massacre and Rebellion there in Forty One tho' 't is much less considered and it seems a Work becoming the great Council of this Nation to bring the Authors of it to condign punishment But to return to the last debate betwixt Tyrconnel and his Council They were all of them in amaze and in great confusion What to do they knew not all of them were unanimous in their Resolutions to submit except the Lord Chief Justice Nugent and the Lord Chief Baron Rice The Priests put off their Wolves cloathing and in most parts of the Kingdom turn'd Sparks with their Swords by their sides and Perriwigs upon their Heads In this Month the Irish assembled together in great Bodies by the name of Raperees armed with Slâ—eens and Half Pikes and what Robberies they left unacted upon the English in the Relation aforementioned those they now compleated killing their Cattle and robbing and pillaging their Houses Now their new Levies were Mustering every day and their Priests exercising the fresh rais'd Soldiers and Hamilton's Arrival from England put them upon new resolutions which necessitated the English to fortifie themselves and to associate together for their ownpreservation against which Proclamations were issued out in the North and at London-derry and then followed the same in other parts of the Kingdom commanding them home to their respective Dwellings and that such as did not immediately observe the Proclamation should be proceeded against by the Attorney General as Traytors This Proclamation was signed by several Protestants of the Privy-Council which was fatal to the English in regard that it possessed many of them with a belief that there was not so much danger as they were afraid of and others it put in fears of the Law. So that upon the whole matter they were diverted from any thoughts of making their defence and so were dispersed and scattered up and down and by that means became an easie Prey to the Irish Every day brought in new hopes and fears so that some got together again of the English near Kilkenny and the Queens County who were soon dispersed Still the Lord Deputy and Council remained in suspence what to resolve upon when upon a suddain they came to a conclusion whâ—â—h might quiet the Irish Lords that were for submission to the Prince and Government of England The Project was this That two Men should be pitched upon and sent over to the late King James in France only to set forth the impossibility of their holding out against England and then they were sure to obtain permission to make terms and so might surrender But this was a Jesuitical Stratagem contrived by Rice and Neagle and as one of them brag'd since carry'd on without the privity of any but the Lord Deputy and themselves For they were afraid of the Cowardly Temper of the rest whose inclinations were favourable enough to the Cause but wanted Courage and Resolution The Scheme being thus laid 't was moved at Conncil and took with general Applause Rice and the Lord Mountjoy were pitched upon to be sent and in the conclusion of this Affair at Council-Board the Lord Chief Justice Keating believing now that their hopes of King James were over thought to begin with the first to shew his Zeal and Affection to the Protestant Cause and in order to that moved that since they were resolved on this method that his Excellency would put a stop to the raising Men which was agreed to but not in the least observed Mountjoy and Rice proceed in their Negotiation year 1688 and take Shipping at Waterford but before they arrived at Paris the French Engineer Landed at Corke and from thence rid with all expedition for Dublin Then the face of things looked with a far different prospect to what they had done before and those little hopes which had supported the English till this time did now evaporate into nothing which put them upon a necessity of associating together and of getting into Castles and the best places of strength they had for the defence and preservation of their Lives In Connaught the Lord Kingstone behaved himself like the Son of so Noble a Father whose hand the Irish had felt in the former Rebellion In the North Sir Arthur Royden did the like but a fate attended him that he could not divert In Munster the English were thought to be more considerable than in any part of Ireland both for Horse and Foot of the latter more than three thousand and numbers of brave Gentlemen of gallant Courage and resolution and of will enough to back it to have drove the Irish out of that Province and to have march'd through the Kingdom Cork Bandon Kingsale and Youghall being offered to be delivered into their hands which was so openly and indiscreetly managed that it became the publick discourse for a Month together in every Coffee house in Dublin At this time there were not seven hundred old Soldiers in the whole County of Corke which forc'd Justin Mac Carthy to write daily to Tyrconnel that he could not hold out without a speedy supply of Men which yet Tyrconnel could not spare for he was afraid of an insurrection in the North and 't was believ'd in Dublin that if they in Munster had done any thing all parts of Ireland had been secure in the English hands except Lynster for that Tyrconnell could have spared none of his own Forces from himself and the new raised men then knew not the right from the left if same be true The fault lay but in two Men but that being publick time will shew it and my work here is to relate nothing but what there is good authority for Matters were now reduced to that extremity year 1688 that no course remained to preserve the English but that of making their escape for they were disarmed in one day throughout the Kingdom and that order executed with so much rigour that few persons of whatsoever quality were permitted to wear their Swords In the Corporations they shut up the Gates and suffered none to pass in or out without searching them strictly for arms and when they came to search in their Houses under pretence that the English had conceal'd their Arms they sometimes seiz'd upon what Plate or Money they could meet with during this hurly-burly which lasted for several days together
most of the Horses which belong'd to English Gentlemen and Farmers in the Countrey were violently seized upon for the King's use as was pretended and several hundreds were brought into the Corporations which were Garrisoned with Irish Soldiers who quartered upon Private as well as Publick-Houses of the English which were so full of them that they had scarce Beds for themselves to lie in They now were in daily expectation of the Landing of the late King James And this possessed them with so triumphant a joy that the more to discourage the English they not only gave out that he was arrived when there was no such thing but rung the Bells made Bonfires the Mayor and Aldermen in several Corporations drinking the King's Health and the like But this imaginary formality was but a prelude to the succeeding Triumph to the real Landing of the late King. And then what they had done before in Effigie or in empty show they now performed substantially and to the life 'T is beyond any thing of human art to imagine much more to describe the greatness of their joy at this time and therefore I shall not attempt a representation which would come infinitely short of those extravagant Pageantries which were now acted Publick fame has already given some account of it and to that I refer the Reader I have now given as without vanity and oftentation I may affirm it as true and impartial a Relation as is possible of the design the Abdicated King had from the happy Restauration of King Charles the Second to make Ireland the refuge if all other endeavours proved unsuccessful for â—is Catholick Friends and 't is plain that 't was the French Allyance which he always assiduously made Court to upon which he depended in the accomplishment of this Intrigue The Irish were very sensible of it and since his accession to the Crown would frequently boast that if England should upon King James's Death or any other misfortune devolve into the Protestants hands that they made no doubt of preserving Ireland by the power of the French and that the Prince of Orange whom they always dreaded would have his hands full at home but that Soveraign Providence by whom Kings Reign and Princes decree justice has to the great astonishment of other Nations most miraculously confounded all the wicked devices of his Adversaries and preserved him to sit upon the Imperial Throne of these Kingdoms where may he long Reign not only to maintain the true Reformed Religion in his own Dominions but to enlarge the best part of his Titles Defender of the Faith throughout the whole Christian World For so indeed whatever opinion some prejudiced Men amongst us may have do all the Reformed Churches of Europe esteem him to be I thought to have put a period to this Discourse in this place but observing the complaints of many that are fled from Ireland whose miseries may indeed allow them grains I shall beg leave to animadvert a little as to their mistakes in the hard usage which they think they have received here in not being all immediately reprized by the King's Bounty I shall not say what is too apparent of some who came from thence and would shelter themselves among Honest Men as most of them are generally believed to be yet even in this Relation where they could not be left out without making it imperfect some are found faulty and yet may pretend as fair as the best Every day produces additional reasons why the King cannot be too cautious in whom he confides and 't is to be feared that some of Ireland are not quite exempt from all suspicion as well as others in England But then as for those whose deserts have entituled them to his Majesty's good opinion such as for their affection to the Protestant Interest and Religion have been divested of their substance and are in present want those we see are not out of his Majesty's Gracious Care and Princely Consideration For how many I was about to say how few are excluded from Commands in the Army that desired it besides all that had Commands formerly and could not be employed have half pay allowed them for their present subsistence And then as for the poorer sort his Majesty was before-hand in making provision for them in issuing out his Brief for a General Collection throughout the whole Kingdom which Charity has been gratefully acknowledged by that most Reverend anâ— Pioâ—s Archbishop of Tuam in a Seâ—mon at St. James's There now remains onl◠〈◊〉 part of the Clergy and Gentlemen unprovided for As for the Clergy his Majesty graciouâ—â—y consâ—dering their condition did soon after his accession to the â—rown graciously order that whatever Benefices in his Gift should become vacant should be conferr'd upon them besides the supply which the Brief affords them for the present Hence we may observe to what a narrow compass the noise of Forty Thousand People is reduced to there being according to the best account that is given not Seven Hundred Men that are not in some respect or other competently provided for But that I may not be thought to have incurred a mistake in this computation it must be observed That a great part of the List given in to the House of Commons are Men of Estates or Money here in England and though perhaps some of those make the greatest clamour yet would it better become them to relieve their Distressed Brethren than to abate the Charity which the Parliament with great generosity and a Christian compassion designed for the support of such as were really in a poor and an indigent condition All I here say is matter of fact and how partially soever his Majesty's present management may be misinterpreted by some yet 't is certain that his silent but wonderful conduct in the provision for the Distressed Protestants of Ireland ought to be engraven in Golden Characters and not defaced by the unreasonable Clamours of such who would devour that which they have no want of and consequently no just claim and title unto to the apparent injury of their suffering and necessitous Bâ—â—â—hren which the Parliament have most huâ—â—â—â— supplicated 〈◊〉 Majesty for who no doubt 〈◊〉 in the most 〈◊〉 and discreet manner make such a 〈◊〉 as will bespeak his Royal Bounty and 〈◊〉 sense of their condition as well as 〈◊〉 opottionable to their pressing and great 〈…〉 ties FINIS