first hauing bin Generall of the Irish forces not only in this kingdom but in the Wars of Scotland wales and Gascoigne And therefore Maurice Fitz-Thomas of Desmond beeing then the most actiue Nobleman in this realm tooke vpon him the chiefe command in this Warre for the support whereof the Reuennue of this Lande was farre too short and yet no supply of Treasure was sent out of England Then was there no mean to maintain the Army but by Sessing the soldiers vppon the Subiect as the Irish were wont to impose their Bonaught Whereupon grewe that wicked Extortion of Coigne and Liuerie spoken of before which in short time banished the greatest part of the Free-holders out of the County of Kerrie Limerick Corke and waterford Into whose possessions Desmond and his Kinsmen Alies and Followers which were then more Irish then English did enter and appropriate these Lands vnto themselues Desmond himselfe taking what scopes hee best liked for his demesnes in euery Countrey and reseruing an Irish Seigniory out of the rest And heere that I may verifie maintaine by matter of Record that which is before deliuered touching the Nature of this wicked Extortion called Coigne and Liuery and the manifolde mischiefes it did produce I thinke it fit and pertinent to insert the preamble of the Statute of the 10. of Henry 7. c. 4. not printed but recorded in Parlament Rols of Dublin in these words At the request supplication of the Commons of this Land of Ireland that where of long time there hath bin vsed and exacted by the Lords and Gentlemen of this Land many and diuers damnable customes vsages which bin called Coigne and Liuery and Pay that is Horsemeat and Mansmeat for the finding of their Horsemen and Footmen and ouer that 4. d. or 6. d. daily to euery of them to be had and paide of the poore Earth-Tillers and Tenants inhabitants of the saide Land without any thing doing or paying therefore Besides manie Murders Robberies Rapes other manifold extortions oppressions by the saide Horsemen and Footmen dayly and mightily committed done which bin the principall causes of the desolation destruction of the said Land hath brought the same into Ruine and Decay so as the most part of the English Free-holders and Tenants of this land bin departed out thereof some into the Realme of England and other some to other strange Landes whereupon the foresaide Lordes and Gentlemen of this Land haue intruded into the saide Free-holders and Tenants inheritances and the same keepeth and occupieth as their owne inheritances and setten under them in the same Land the Kings Irish Enemies to the diminishing of Holie Churches Rites the disherison of the King his obedient subiects and the vtter ruine and desolation of the Land For reformation whereof be it enacted That the King shall receiue a Subsidie of 26. s. 8. d. out of euerie 120. acres of arrable land manured c. But to return to Tho Fitz-Maurice of Desmond By this extortion of Coigne and Liuery he suddenly grewe from a meane to a mighty estate insomuch as the Baron Finglas in his discourse of the Decay of Ireland affirmeth that his ancient inheritance beeing not one thousand markes yearely he became able to dispend euery way ten thousand pounds per annum These possessions being thus vnlawfully gotten could not bee maintained by the iust and honorable law of England which would haue restored the true Owners to their Land againe And therefore this Greatman found no meanes to continue vphold his ill-purchased greatnesse but by reiecting the English Law Gouernment and assuming in lieu therof the barbarous customs of the Irish. And heereupon followed the defection of those foure shires containing the greatest part of Munster from the obedience of the Law In like manner saith Baron Finglas the Lord of Tipperary perceiuing how well the house of Desmond hadde thriued by Coigne and Liuerie and Other Irish exactions began to holde the like course in the Counties of Tipperary and Kilkenny whereby he got great scopes of Land specially in Ormond and raised many Irish exactions vpon the English Free-holders there which made him so potent absolut among thē as at that time they knew no other Lawe then the will of their Lord. Besides finding that the Earle of Desmond excluded the ordinary Ministers of Iustice vnder colour of a Royall Liberty which he claimed in the Counties of Kerry Corke and waterford by a graunt of King Edward the first as appeareth in a Quo warranto brought against him Anno 1. Edw. 1. the Record wherof remaineth in Breminghams Tower among the common Plea-Rolles there This Lord also in the third of Edward the thirde obtained a Graunt of the like Liberty in the County of Tipperary whereby he got the Lawe into his owne hands shut out the Common Law and Iustice of the Realme And thus we see that all Munster fell away from the English Lawe and Gouernment in the end of King Edward 2. his raigne and in the beginning of the raigne of King Edward the third Againe about the same time viz in the 20. yeare of King Edward the second when the State of England was well-ny ruined by the Rebellion of the Barons and the Gouernment of Ireland vtterly neglected there arose in Leinster one of the Cauanaghes named Donald Mac Art who named himselfe Mac Murrogh King of Leinster and possessed himselfe of the Countie of Catherlogh and of the greatest part of the County of wexford And shortly after Lisagh O Moore called himselfe O Moore tooke 8. Castles in one Euening destroyed Dunamase the principall house of the L. Mortimer in Leix recouered that whole Countrey De seruo Dominus de subiecto princeps effectus saith Friar Clynne in his Annalles Besides the Earle of Kildare imitating his Cosin of Desmond did not omit to make the like vse of Coigne Liuery in Kildare and the West part of Meth which brought the like Barbarisme into those parts And thus a great part of Leinster was lost and fell away from the Obedience of the Crowne neere about the time before expressed Againe in the seauenth yeare of King Edward the third the Lord VVilliam Bourke Earle of Vlster and Lorde of Conaght was treacherously murdered by his owne Squires at Knockefergus leauing behinde him Vnicam vnius annifiliam saith Friar Clynne Immediately vpon the murder committed the Countesse with her yong daughter fledde into England so as the Gouernment of that Countrey was wholly neglected vntil that young Ladie beeing married to Lionell Duke of Clarence that Prince cam ouer with an Army to recouer his wiues inheritance and to reforme this Kingdom Anno 36. of Edward the third But in the meane time what became of that great inheritance both in Vlster Conaght Assuredly in Vlster the Sept of Hugh Boy O Neal then possessing Glaucoukeyn and Killeightra in Tyrone tooke the
in a short time after did so cleare the Kingdome of Theeues other Capitall Offenders as I dare affirme that for the space of fiue yeares last past there haue not bin found so many Malefactors worthy of death in al the six Circuits of this realm which is now diuided into 32. shires at large as in one Circuit of six Shires namely the Westerne Circuit in England For the troth is that in time of peace the Irish are more fearefull to offend the Law then the English or any other Nation whatsoeuer Againe whereas the greatest aduantage that the Irish had of vs in all their Rebellions was Our Ignorance of their Countries their Persons and their Actions Since the Law and her Ministers haue had a passage among them all their places of Fastnesse haue been discouered and laide open all their paces cleard notice taken of euery person that is able to do either good or hurt It is knowne not only how they liue and what they doe but it is foreseen what they purpose or intend to do Insomuch as Tirone hath been heard to complaine that he hadde so many eyes watching ouer him as he coulde not drinke a full Carouse of Sacke but the State was aduertised thereof within few houres after And therefore those allowances which I finde in the ancient Pipe-Rolles Proguidagio spiagio may be well spared at this day For the Vnder-Sheriffes and Bayliffes errant are better guides and Spies in the time of peace then any were found in the time of war Moreouer these ciuil assemblies at Assises and Sessions haue reclaymed the Irish from their wildenesse caused them to cut off their Glibs and long Haire to conuert their Mantles into Cloaks to conform themselues to the maner of England in al their behauiour and outward formes And because they find a great inconuenience in mouing their suites by an Interpreter they do for the most part send their Children to Schools especially to learne the English language so as we may conceiue an hope that the next generation will in tongue heart and euery way else becom English so as there will bee no difference or distinction but the Irish Sea betwixt vs. And thus we see a good conuersion the Irish Game turned againe For heeretofore the neglect of the Lawe made the English degenerate and become Jrish and now on the other side the execution of the Law doth make the Irish grow ciuil and become English Lastly these generall Sessions now do teach the people more obedience and keep them more in awe then did the general hostings in former times These Progresses of the Law renew and confirme the Conquest of Ireland euery halfe yeare and supply the Defect of the kings absence in euery part of the Realme In that euery Iudge sitting in the seat of Iustice dooth represent the person of the King himselfe These effectes hath the establishment of the publicke Peace and Iustice produced since his Maiesties happie Raigne began Howbeit it was impossible to make a Common-weale in Ireland without performing another seruice which was the setling of all the Estates and possessions aswell of Irish as English thoroughout the Kingdome For although that in the 12. year of Queen ELIZABETH a special Law was made which did enable the Lord Deputy to take surrenders regrant Estates vnto the Irishry vpon signification of her Maiesties pleasure in that behalfe yet were there but few of the Irish Lords that made offer to surrender during her raigne they which made surrenders of entire Countries obtained Graunts of the whole againe to themselues only to no other and all in demesne In passing of which Graunts there was no care taken of the inferiour Septes of people inhabiting and possessing these Countries vnder them but they held their seuerall portions in course of Tanistry and Gauelkind and yeilded the same Irish Duties or exactions as they did before So that vpon euery such Surrender Grant there was but one Free-holder made in a whole Country which was the Lord himselfe al the rest were but tenants at Wil or rather tenants in villenage and were neither fit to be sworne in Iuries nor to performe any publicke seruice And by reason of the vncertainety of their Estates did vtterly neglect to build or to plant or to improue the Land And therefore although the Lorde were become the Kings Tenant his Countrey was no whit reformed thereby but remained in the former Barbarisme and Desolation Againe in the same Queens time there were many Irish Lordes which did not surrender yet obtained Letters Patents of the Captaine-ships of their Countries of all Lands Duties belonging to those Captainships For the Statute which doth condemn abolish these Captain-ries vsurped by the Irish doth giue power to the Lorde Deputy to graunt the same by Letters pattents Howbeit these Irish Captaines and likewise the English which were made Seneschalles of the Irish countries did by colour of these Grants and vnder pretence of Gouernment claime an Irish Seigniory and exercise plaine tiranny ouer the Common people And this was the fruite that did arise of the Letters Patents granted of the Irish Contries in the time of Q. Elizabeth where before they did extort oppresse the people only by colour of a leud and barbarous Custom they did afterwards vse the same Extortions and Oppressions by warrant vnder the great seal of the Realme But now since his Maiesty came to the Crown two speciall Commissions haue bin sent out of England for the setling and quieting of all the possessions in Ireland The one for accepting Surrenders of the Irish and degenerate English and for regranting Estates vnto them according to the course of the Common Law The other for strengthening of defectiue Titles In the Execution of which Cōmissions there hath euer bin had a speciall care to settle and secure the Vnder-Tennants to the end there might be a repose and establishment of euery Subiects Estate Lord Tenant Free-holder and Farmer thoroughout the Kingdome Vppon Surrenders this course hath bin helde from the beginning when an Irish Lord doth offer to surrender his Country his surrender is not immediatly accepted but a Commission is first awarded to enquire of three special points First of the quantity and limits of the Land whereof he is reputed owner Next how much himselfe doth hold in demeasne and how much is possest by his Tennants and Followers And thirdly what Customes Duties and seruices he doth yearly receiue out of those lands This Inquisition being made returned the Lands which are found to bee the Lords proper possessions in demesn are drawne into a Particular and his Irish Duties as Cosherings Sessings Rents of Butter and Oatmeale and the like are reasonably valued and reduced into certaine Summes of Money to be paide yearely in lieu thereof This being done the surrender is accepted and thereupon a Grant passed not of the whole Country as was vsed in
king Henry the thirde gaue the whole Land of Ireland to Edward the Prince his eldest son and his heyres Ita quod non Separetur a Cona Angliae Whereupon it was styled the Land of the Lorde Edward the kings eldest sonne and all the Officers of the Land were called the Officers of Edward Lord of IRELAND and though this Edward were one of the most actiue Princes that euer liued in England yet did he not either in the life time of his father or during his own raign come ouer in person or transmit any armie into Ireland but on the other side he drew sundry ayds supplies of men out of Ireland to serue him in his warres in Scotland wales and Gascoigne And again though king Edw the second sent ouer Piers Gaueston with a great retinue it was neuer intended he should perfect the Conquest of Ireland for the K. could not want his company so long a time as must haue beene spent in the finishing of so tedious a worke So then in all that space of time betweene the twelfth yeare of king Iohn and the 36. yeare of king Edward the third containing 150. years or thereabouts although there were a continuall bordering war between the English and the Irish there came no royall army out of England to make an end of the warre But the chiefe Gouernors of the realme who were at first called Custodes Hiberniae and afterwards Lords Iustices and the English Lordes who had gotten so great possessions and Royalties as that they presumed to make warre and peace without direction from the State did leuie all their forces within the land But those forces were weakely supplied and Ill Gouerned as I said before Weakly supplyed with men and Money and gouerned with the worst Discipline that euer was seene among men of warre And no maruell for it is an infallible rule that an army ill paide is euer vnruly and Ill gouerned The standing forces heere were sildome or neuer re-enforced out of England and such as were either sent from thence or raised heer did commonly do more hurt and damage to the English Subiects then to the Irish enemies by their continuall Sesse and Extortion Which mischiefe did arise by reason that little or no Treasure was sent out of England to pay the soldiers wages Onely the Kings reuennew in Ireland was spent and wholy spent in the publicke seruice and therefore in al the ancient Pipe-Rols in the times of Henry the third Edward the first Edward the second Edward the third betweene the Receipts and allowances there is this entrie In Thesauro nihil For the Officers of the State and the Army spent all so as there was no surplusage of Treasure and yet that All was not sufficient For in default of the Kings pay aswell the ordinary forces which stood continually as the extraordinarie which were leuied by the cheefe Gouernor vpon iourneyes and generall hoastings were for the most part laid vpon the poore subiect descended of English race howbeit this burden was in some measure tolerable in the time of King Henry the third and King Edward the first but in the time of King Edward the second Maurice Fitz-Thomas of Desmond beeing chiefe Commander of the army against the Scots began that wicked extortion of Coigne and Liuery and pay that is He his army tooke Horse meate and Manfmeate and money at their pleasure without any Ticket or other fatisfaction And this was after that time the generall fault of all the Gouernours and Commanders of the army in this Lande Onely the Golden saying of Sir Thomas Rookesby who was Iustice in the thirtieth yeare of king Edward the 3. is recorded in all the Annalles of this kingdome That he would eate in wodden dishes but would pay for his Meat Gold Siluer Besides the English Colonies being dispersed in euerie Prouince of this kingdome were enforced to keepe continuall guards vpon the Borders Marches round about them which Guardes consisting of idle souldiers were likewise imposed as a continuall burthen vppon the poore English Free-holders whome they oppressed and impouerished in the same manner And because the great English Lords Captaines had power to impose this charge when and where they pleased manie of the poore Freeholders were glad to giue vnto those Lords a great part of their Lands to hold the rest free from that extortion And many others not being able to endure that intollerable oppression did vtterly quit their freeholds and returned into England By this meane the English Colonies grew poore and weake though the english Lords grew rich and mighty for they placed Irish Tenants vppon the Landes relinquished by the English vpon them they leuied all Irish exactions with them they married and fostered and made Gossips so as within one age the English both Lords and Free-holders became degenerate and meer Irish in their Language in their apparrell in their armes and maner of fight all other Customes oflife whatsoeuer By this it appeareth why the extortion of Coigne and Liuory is called in the old Statutes of Ireland A Damnable custome and the imposing taking thereof made High Treason And it is saide in an ancient discourse Of the Deâ—…y of Ireland that though it were first inuented in Hell yet if it had been vsed and practised there as it hath been in Ireland it had long since destroyed the very kingdome of Belzebub In this manner was the warre of Ireland carried before the comming ouer of Lionel Duke of Clarence This young Prince being Earle of Vlster and Lord of Conaght in right of his wife who was daughter and heire of the Lord VVilliam Bourke the last Earle of Vlster of that family slaine by treachery at Knockfergus was made the Kings Lieutenant of Ireland and sent ouer with an army in the 36. year of King Edward the third The Rol and List of which Army doth remaine of Record in the Kings Remembrauncers Office in England in the presse de Rebust augentibus Hiberniam dooth not containe aboue fifteene hundred men by the Poll which because it differs somewhat from the manner of this age both in respect of the Command and the Entertainment I thinke it not impertinent to take a briefe view thereof The Lord Lionel was Generall and vnder him Raulf earle of Staffora Iames Earle of Ormond Sir Iohn Carew Banneret Sir William winsor other knights were Commanders The entertainment of the Generall vpon his first arriuall was but six shillings eight pence per diem for himselfe for fiue Knights two shillings a peece per diem for 64. Esquires xij d a peece per diem for 70 Archers vj. d. a peece per diem But being shortly after created Duke of Clarence which honor was conferred vpon him beeing heere in Ireland his entertainement was raised to xiij s. iiij d. per diem for himselfe for 8. Knights ij s. a piece per
yet remayning in Breminghams Tower made by william Fitz-warren Seneshall and Farmour of the Landes in Vlster seized into the Kings hands after the death of walter de Burgo Earle of Vlster from the fifth yeare of Edward the third vntill the eight yeare doe amount but to 900. and odde pounds at what time the Irishry had not made so great an inuasion vpon the earledome of Vlster as they had done in the time of King Richard the second As vaine a thing it is that I haue seen written in an ancient Manuscript touching the Customes of this realme in the time of King Edward the third that those dutics in those daies should yearely amount to 10000. Markes which by mine owne search and view of the Records heere I can iustly controll For vppon the late reducing of this ancient inheritance of the crown which had beene detained in most of the Port-Townes of this Realme for the space of a hundred yeares and vpwardes I tooke some paines according to the duty of my place to visâ— all the Pipe-Rolles wherein the Accompts of Customes are contained and found those duties aunswered in euery Port for 250. yeares together but did not find that at any time they did exceed a thousand pound Per annum and no maruell for the subsidie of Pondage was not then known and the greatest profite did arise by the Cocquet of Hides for Wooll and Wooll-fels were euer of little value in this Kingdome But now againe let vs see how the Martiall affayrs proceeded in Ireland Sir william winsor continued his gouerment till the latter end of the raign of King Edward the thirde keeping but not enlarging the English borders IN the beginning of the raigne of King Richard the second the State of England began to thinke of the recouery of Ireland For then was the first Statute made against Absentees commanding al such as had Land in Ireland to returne reside thereupon vppon paine to forfeite two third parts of the profit thereof Againe this King before himselfe intended to passe ouer committed the Gouernment of this Realme to such great Lordes successiuely as he did most loue and fauor first to the Earle of Oxford his Cheefe Minion whom he created Marquesse of Dublin and Duke of Ireland next to the Duke of Surrey his halfe Brother and lastly to the Lord Mortimer Earle of March and Vlster his Cosin and heyre apparant Among the Patent Rolles in the Tower the ninth yeare of Rich. the 2. we finde fiue hundred men at Armes at xij d. a peece Per diem and a 1000. A chers at vi pence a piece per diem appointed for the Duke of Ireland Super Conquestu illius terrae per duos annos for those are the wordes of that Record But for the other two Lieutenants I do not find the certain numbers wherof their armies did consist But certaine it is that they were scarse able to defend the English borders much lesse to reduce the whol Island For one of them namely the Earle of March was himselfe slain vpon the borders of Meth for reuenge of whose death the King himselfe made his second voyage into Ireland in the last yeare of his raigne For his first voyage in the eighteenth yeare of his raigne which was indeed a VoyageRoyall was made vpon another motiue and occasion which was this Vpon the vacancy of the Empire this King hauing married the King of Bohemiaes Daughter whereby hee had great alliance in Germany did by his Ambassadors solicit the Princes Electors to choose him Emperour but another being elected and his ambas sadors returned hee would needes know of them the cause of his repulse in that Competition they tolde him plainly that the Princes of Germanie did not thinke him fit to commaund the Empire who was neither able to hold that which his Ancestours had gained in France nor to rule his inso lent Subiects in England nor to Maister his rebellious people of Ireland This was enough to kindle in the heart of a young Prince a desire to performe some great enterprise And therefore finding it no fit time to attempt France he resolued to finish the Conquest of Ireland and to that end he leuied a mightie armie consisting of foure thousand men at Armes and 30000. Archers which was a sufficient power to haue reduced the whol Island if he had first broken the Irish with a warre and after established the English Lawes among them and not haue beene satisfied with their light submissions onely wherewith in all ages they haue mockt and abused the State of England But the Irish Lords knowing this to be a sure pollicie to dissolue the forces which they were not able to resist for their Ancestors had put the same trick and imposture vppon King Iohn and King Henry the second assoone as the King was arriued with his army which he brought ouer vnder S. Edwards Banner whose name was had in great veneration amongst the Irish they all made offer to submit themselues Whereupon the Lorde Thomas Mowbray Earle of Nottingham and Marshall of England was authorized by speciall Commission to receiue the homages Oaths of fidelity of all the Irishrie of Leinster And the King himselfe hauing receiued humble Letters from Oneale wherein hee styleth himselfe Prince of the Irishry in Vlster and yet acknoledgeth the King to be his Soueraign Lorde perpetuus Dominus Hiberniae remoued to Droghedab to accept the like submissions from the Irish of Vlster The men of Leinster namely Mac Murrogh O Byrne O Moore O Murrogh O Nolan and the cheefe of the Kinshelaghes in an humble and solemn manner did their homages made their Oaths of fidelity to the Earl Marshall laying aside their girdles their skeins and their Caps and falling downe at his feet vpon their knees Which whe they had performed the Earle gaue vnto each of them Osculum pacis Besides they were bound by feueral Indentures vpon great paines to bee paide to the Apostolique Chamber not onely to continue loyall subiects but that by a certaine day prefixed they and all their Sword men should clearely relinquish and giue vp vnto the King and his successors all their Landes and possessions which they held in Leinster and taking with them onely their mooueable goods shold serue him in his warres against his other Rebels In consideration whereof the King should giue them pay pensions during their liues and bestow the inheritance of all such lands vpon them as they shoulde recouer from the Rebels in any other part of the Realme And thereupon a pension of eighty Markes per annum was graunted to Art'Mac Murrogh chiefe of the Kauanaghes the enroulement whereof I found in the White Booke of the Exchequer heere And this was the effect of the seruice performed by the Earle Marshall by vertue of his Commission The King in like maner receiued the submissions of the Lords of Vlster namely O Neal O Hanlon Mac Donel
imprisoned iudged as a Traitor And that heerafter there be no diuersity of ligeance betweene the English borne in Ireland and the English borne in England but that all bee called and reputed English and the Lieges of our Soueraigne Lord the KING c. This Law was made only to reforme the degenerat English but there was no care taken for the reformation of the meer Irish no ordinance no prouision made for the abolishing of their barbarous Customes and manners Insomuch as the Law then made for Apparrell and riding in Saddles after the English fashion is penal only to English men not to the Irish. But the Romaine State which conquered so many Nations both barbarous and Ciuill and therefore knewe by experience the best and readiest way of making a perfect absolute conquest refused not to communicate their Lawes to the rude barbarous people whom they had Conquered neither did they put them out of their protection after they had once submitted themselues But contrarywise it is said of Iulius Caesar Qua vicit victos protegit ille manu And againe of another Emperor Fecisti patriam diuersis gentibus vnam Profuit invitis te dominante capi Dumque offers victis proprij consortia Iuris vrbem fecisti quod priùs orbis erat And of Rome it selfe Haec est in gremium victos quae sola recepit Humanumque genus communinomine fouit Matris non dominae ritu Ciuesque vocavit Quos domuit nexuque pio longinqua reuinxit Therefore as Tacitus writeth Iulius Agricola the Romaine Generall in Brittany vsed this pollicy to make a perfect Conquest of our Ancestours the ancient Brittaines They were sayth he rude and dispersed and therfore prone vpon euery occasion to make warre but to induce them by pleasure to quietnesse and rest he exhorted them in priuate and gaue them helpes in common to builde Temples Houses and places of publique resort The Noblemens sonnes hee tooke and instructed in the Liberall Sciences c. preferring the wits of the Brittaines before the Students of France as beeing now curious to attaine the Eloquence of the Romaine Language whereas they lately reiected that speech After that the Roman Attire grew to be in account and the Gowne to be in vse among them and so by little and little they proceeded to curiosity delicacies in Buildings and furniture of Houshold in Bathes and exquisit Banquets and so beeing come to the heighth of Ciuility they were thereby brought to an absolute subiection LIkewise our Norman Conqueror though he oppressed the English Nobility very sore and gaue away to his seruitors the Lands and possessions of such as did oppose his first inuasion though he caused all his Actes of Counsel to be published in French and some legall proceedings pleadings to bee framed and vsed in the same tongue as a marke and badge of a conquest yet he gouerned Al both English and Normans by one the same Law which was the auncient common Law of England long before the Conquest Neither did he denie any English-man that submitted himselfe vnto him The benefit of that Law thogh it were againsta Norman of the best ranke and in greatest fauour as appeared in the notable Controuersie betweene VVarren the Norman and Sherburne of Sherburne Castle in Norfolke for the Conquerour had giuen that Castle to warren yet when the Inheritors thereof had alledged before the King that he neuer bore Armes against him that hee was his subiect aswell as the other that he did inherit and hold his Landes by the rules of that Law which the King had established among all his Subiects The King gaue iudgement against VVarren and commanded that Sherborn shold hold his land in peace By this meane him-selfe obtained a peaceable possession of the kingdom within few yeares whereas if he had cast all the English out of his protection and held them as Aliens and Enemies to the Crowne the Normans perhaps might haue spent as much time in the Conquest of England as the English haue spent in the Conquest of Ireland THE like prudent course hath bin obserued in reducing of Wales which was performed partly by King Edward the first and altogether finished by King Henry the eight For we finde by the Statute of Rutland made the 12. of Edward the first when the Welshmen had submitted themselus De alto Basso to that King he did not reiect and cast them off as Out-lawes and Enemies but caused their Lawes and Customes to be examined which were in many points agreeable to the Irish or Brehon Lawe Quibus diligenter audit is plenius intellectis quasdam illarū saieth the King in that Ordinance Consilio procerum dileuimus quasdam permissimus quasdam correximus ac etiā quasdam alias adijciendas et faciend de creuimus and so established a Commonwealth among them according to the forme of the English Gouernement After this by reason of the sundry insurrections of the Barons the Warres in France and the dissention betweene the houses of Yorke and Lancaster the State of England neglected or omitted the execution of this Statute of Rutland so as a great part of Wales grew wilde and barbarous again And therefore King Henrie the eight by the Statutes of the 27. and 32. of his raign did reuiue and recontinue that Noble worke begun by King Edward the first and brought it indeed to ful perfection For he vnited the Dominion of Wales to the Crown of England and deuided it into Shires and erected in euery Shire one Borough as in England and enabled them to send Knights Burgesses to the Parliament established a Court of Presidency and ordained that Iustices of Assise and Gaol-deliuerie should make their halfe yearly Circuits there as in England made all the Lawes Statutes of England in force there and among other Welsh Customes abolished that of Gauel-kinde wherby the Heyres-Females were vtterlie excluded and the Bastards did inherit aswel as the Legimate which is the very Irish Gauelkinde By means whereof that entire Country in a short time was securely setled in peace and Obedience and hath attained to that Ciuility of Manners and plentie of all things as now we finde it not inferiour to the best parts of England I will therefore knit vp this point with these conclusions First that the Kings of England which in former Ages attempted the Conquest of Ireland being ill aduised and counselled by the great men heere did not vpon the submissions of the Irish communicate their Lawes vnto them nor admit them to the state and condition of Free-subiectes Secondly that for the space of 200 yeares at least after the first arriual of Henry the secound in Ireland the Irish would gladly haue embraced the Lawes of England and did earnestly desire the benefite and protection thereof which being denied them did of necessitie cause a continuall bordering warre between the English and the Irish. And lastly if
allegiance of al the Nobility Gentry and Cittizens of this kingdom which sernice he performed fully and made an exact returne of his Commission to the King And immediately after that the King sent for all the Lordes of Parliament in this realme who repayring to his presence were first in a Kingly manner reprooued by him for among other things he told them that if their King were still absent frō them they would at length Crowne Apes but at last entertained them and dismissed them graciously This course of clemency hee held at first But after when Perkin warbecke who was set vp and followed chiefely by the Giraldines in Leinster and the Cittizens of Corke in Mounster to suppresse this counterfaite the King sent ouer Sir Edward Poynings with an Army as the Histories call it which did not consist of a thousand men by the Pol and yet it brought such terrour with it as all the Adherents of Perkin warbecke were scattered and retyred for succour into the Irish Countries to the Marches whereof hee marched with his weake forces but eft-soones returned held a Parliament Wherin among many good Lawes one Act was made That no subiect shold make any warre or peace within the Land without the speciall License of the Kings Lieutenant or Deputie A manifest argument that at that time the bordering Warres in this kingdome were made altogether by Voluntaries vpon their own head without any pay or entertainement and without any Order or Commission from the State And though the Lords and Gentlemen of the Pale in the 19. yeare of this Kings raigne ioyned the famous battel of Knocktow in Conaght wherein Mac william with 4000. of the Irish and degenerat English were slaine yet was not this iourny made by warrant from the King or vppon his charge as it is expressed in the Booke of Howth but only vpon a pri◅ quarrell of the Earle of Kildare so loosely were the martiall affaires of Ireland carried during the raigne of King Henry the seuenth IN the time of King Henry the eight the Earle of Surrey Lorde Admirall was made Lieutenant and though he were the greatest Captain of the English Nation the liuing yet broght he with him rather an honorable Guard for his person then a competent armie to recouer Ireland For he had in his retinue 200. tall Yeomen of the Kings Guard But because hee wanted meanes to performe any great action hee made meanes to returne the sooner yet in the meane time he was not ydle but passed the short time he spent heere in holding a Parliament and diuers iournies against the Rebels of Leinster insomuch as he was hurt in his own person vpon the borders of Leix After the reuocation of this honourable personage King Henry the eight sent no forces into Ireland till the rebellion of the Giraldines which hapned in the 27. year of his raigne Then sent he ouer Sir william Skeuington with fiue hundred men onely to quench that fire and not to enlarge the border or to rectifie the Gouernment This Deputy dyed in the midst of the seruice so as the Lord Leonard Gray was sent to finish it who arriuing with a supply of 200. men or thereabouts did so prosecute the Rebels as the Lord Garret their Chiefetaine and his fiue Vnckles submitted them-selues vnto him and were by him transmitted into England But this seruice being ended that actiue Nobleman with his litle army and some ayds of the Pale did oftentimes repell O Neale and O Donel attempting the inuasion of the Ciuill Shires and at last made that prosperous sight at Belahoo on the Confines of Meth the memory whereof is yet famous as that he defeated well-nie all the power of the North so quieted the border for many yeares Hitherto then it is manifest that since the last transfretation of King Richard the second the Crowne of England neuer sent ouer either numbers of men or quantities of treasure sufficient to defend the small Territory of the Pale much lesse to reduce that which was lost or to finish the Conquest of the whole Island After this Sir Anthony S. Leger was made chiefe Gouernor who performed great seruice in a ciuill course as shall be expressed heereafter But Sir Edward Bellingham who succeeded him proceeded in a Martiall course against the Irishry and was the first Deputy from the time of K. Edward the third till the raign of king Edward the sixt that extended the border beyond the limits of the English Pale by beating and breaking the Moores and Connors and building the Forts of Leix and Offaly This seruice he performed with sixe hundered horse the monthly charge whereof did arise to 770. li. And 400. foote whose pay did amount to 446. li. per mensem as apeareth vpon the Treasurers accompt remaining in the Office of the Kinges Remembrauncer in England Yet were not these Countries so fully recouered by this Deputy but that Thomas Earl of Sussex did put the last hand to this worke and rooting out these two rebellious Septs planted English Colonies in their roomes which in all the tumultuous times since haue kept their Habitations their Loyalty and Religion And now are we come to the time of Queene ELIZABETH who sent ouer more men and spent more treasure to saue and reduce the Lande of Ireland then all her progenitors since the Conquest DVring her raign there arose three notorious and maine Rebellions which drewe seuerall armies out of England The first of Shane O Neale the second of Desmond the last of Tyrone for the particular insurrections of the Vicount Baltinglasse and Sir Edmund Butler the Moores the Cauanaghes the Birnes and the Bourkes of Conaght were all suppressed by the standing forces heere To subdue Shane O Neal in the hight of his rebellion in the yeare 1566. Captaine Randal transported a Regiment of 1000. men into Vlster planted a Garrison at Loughfoile Before the comming of which supply viz in the yeare 1565. the List of the standing army of horse and foot English and Irish did not exceed the number of 1200. men as appeareth by the Treasurers accompt of Ireland now remaining in the Exchequer of Eng land With these forces did Sir Henry Sidney then Lord Deputy march into the farthest parts of Tirone and ioyning with Captaine Randal did much distresse but not fully defeate O Neale who was afterwards slain vpon a meere accident by the Scottes and not by the Queenes army TO proseeute the Warres in Munster against Desmond and his Adherents there were transmitted out of England at seuerall times three or four thousand men which together with the standing Carrisons and some other supplies raised heere made at one time an army of six thousand vpwards which with the Vertue and lour of Arthur Lorde Gray and others the Commanders did proue a sufficient power to extinguish that rebellion But that
called the Crosse wherein the K. made a Sheriffe And so in each of these Counties Palatines there were two Sheriffes One of the Libertie another of the Crosse As in Meth we find a Sheriffe of the Liberty and a Sheriffe of the Crosse And so in Vlster so in wexford And so at this day the Earle of Ormond maketh a Sheriffe of the Liberty and the King a Sheriffe of the Crosse of Tipperary Heereby it is manifest how much the Kinges Iurisdiction was restrained and the power of these Lords enlarged by these High Priuiledges And it doth further appear by one Article among others preferred to King Edward the thirde touching the reformation of the state of Ireland which we finde in the Tower in these words Item les francheses grantes in Irelād que sont Roialles telles come Duresme Cestre vous oustont cybien de les profits Come de graunde partie de Obeisance des persons enfrancheses en quescū franchese est Chancellerie Chequer Conusans de pleas cybien de la Coronne come autres communes grantont auxi Charters de pardon et sont souent per ley et reasonable cause seisses envostre main a grand profit de vous et leigerment restitues per maundemēt hors de Englettere a damage c. Vnto which Article the K. made answer Le Roy voet que les francheses que sont et serront per iuste cause prises en sa main ne soent my restitues auant que le Roy soit certifie de la cause de la prise de icelles 26. Ed. 3. Claus. m. 1. Again these great Vndertakers were not tied to any forme of plantation but all was left to their discretion and pleasure And although they builded Castles and made Free-holders yet were there no tenures or seruices reserued to the Crowne but the Lords drew all the respect and dependancie of the common people vnto Themselues Nowe let vs see what inconueniences did arise by these large and ample Grants of Landes and Liberties to the first Aduenturers in the Conquest ASsuredly by these Grants of whole Prouinces and pettie Kingdomes those few English Lordes pretended to be proprieters of all the Land so as there was no possibility left of setling the Natiues in their possessions and by consequence the Conquest becam impossible without the vtter extirpation of all the Irish which these English Lords were not able to doe nor perhaps willing if they had bin able Notwithstanding because they did still hope to become Lordes of those Lands which were possessed by the Irish whereunto they pretended Title by their large Grants and because they did feare that if the Irish were receiued into the Kings protection and made Liege-men and Free-subiectes the state of England woulde establish them in their possessions by Graunts from the Crowne reduce their Countries into Counties ennoble some of them and enfranchise all and make them amesueable to the Lawe which woulde haue abridged and cut off a great part of that greatnesse which they had promised vnto themselues they perswaded the King of England that it was vnfit to Communicate the Lawes of England vnto them that it was the best pollicie to holde them as Aliens and Enemies and to prosecute them with a continuall warre Heereby they obtained another Royal prerogatiue and power which was to make Warre and peace at their pleasure in euery part of the Kingdome Which gaue them an absolute Commaund ouer the Bodies Landes and Goods of the English subiectes heere And besides the Irish inhabiting the Lands fully Conquered and reduced being in condition of slaues and Villaines did render a greater profit and Reuennew then if they had bin made the Kings Free-subiects And for these two causes last expressed they were not willing to root out all the Irishry We may not therfore meruaile that when King Edward the third vpon the petition of the Irish as is before remembred was desirous to be certified De voluntate magnatum suorum in proximo Parliamento in Hibernia tenend si sine alieno praeiudicio cōcederepossit quod per statut inde fact Hibernici vtantur legibus Anglicanis siue chartis Regijs inde Impetrandis that there was neuer any Statute made to that effect For the troth is that those great English Lords did to the vttermost of their power crosse and withstand the enfranchisement of the Irish for the causes before expressed Wherein I must stil cleare and acquit the Crown and State of England of negligence or ill pollicy and lay the fault vppon the Pride Couetousnesse ill Counsell of the English planted heer which in all former ages haue bin the chiefe impediments of the final Conquest of Ireland AGaine those large scopes of Land and great Liberties with the absolute power to make warre and peace did raise the English Lordes to that height of Pride and Ambition as that they could not endure one another but grew to a mortall warre and dissention among themselues as appeareth by all the Records and Stories of this Kingdome First in the yeare 1204. the Lacies of Meth made Warre vpon Sir Iohn Courcy who hauing taken him by treachery sent him prisoner into England In the yeare 1210. King Iohn comming ouer in person expelled the Lacies out of the Kingdome for their tiranny and oppression of the English howbeit vppon payment of great Fines they were afterward restored In the yeare 1228. that family beeing risen to a greater heighth for Hugh de Lacy the yonger was created Earle of Vlster after the death of Courcy without yssue there arose dissention and warre betweene that house and william Marshall Lorde os Leinster whereby all Meth was destroyed and layd wast In the yeare 1264. Sir walter Bourke hauing married the Daughter heire of Lacy whereby he was Earl of Vlster in right of his Wife had mortall debate with Maurice Fitz-Morice the Geraldine for certaine Lands in Conaght So as all Ireland was full of Wars between the Bourkes and the Geraldines say our Annalles Wherein Maurice Fitz-Morice grew so insolent as that vppon a meeting at Thistledermot he took the Lord Iustice himselfe Sir Richard Capell prisoner with diuers Lords of Mounster beeing then in his Company In the yeare 1288. Richard Bourke Earle of Vlster commonly called the Red Earle pretending title to the Lordship of Meth made warre vpon Sir Theobald de Verdun and besiedged him in the Castle of Athloue Againe in the yeare 1292. Iohn Fitz-Thomas the Geraldine hauing by contention with the Lorde Vesci gotten a goodly inheritance in Kildare grew to that heighth of immagination saith the Story as he fell into difference with diuers great Noblemen and among many others with Richard the Red Earle whom he took prisoner and detained him in Castle Ley and by that dissention the English on the one side and the Irish on the other did wast and destroy all the Countrey After in the yeare 1311. the same Red Earle
Aduenturers so they left the prosecution thereof to them other voluntaries who came to seeke their fortunes in Ireland wherein if they could preuayle they thought that in reason honor they could doe no lesse then make them proprieters of such scopes of Land as they could conquer people plant at their owne charge reseruing only the Soueraigne Lordshippe to the Crowne of England But if the Lyon had gone to hunt himselfe the shares of the Inferiour Beastes had not beene so great If the inuasion had been made by an army transmitted furnished supplyed only at the kings charges wholy paid with the Kings Treasure as the Armies of Queene ELIZABETH and King Iames haue been as the conquest had beene sooner atchiued so the seruitors had beene contented with lesser proportions For when Scipio Pompey Caesar and other Generals of the Roman Armies as Subiectes and Seruants of that State and with the publicke Charge had conquered many Kingdomes Commonweales wee finde them rewarded with Honorable Offices and Triumphes at their returne and not made Lords and proprieters of whol Prouinces and Kingdoms which they had subdued to the Empire of Rome Likewise when the Duke of Normandy had conquered England which he made his owne work and performed it in his owne person hee distributed sundry Lordships and Mannors vnto his followers but gaue not away whole Shires and Countreyes in demesne to any of his seruitors whom he most desired to aduance Only he made Hugh Lupus County Palatine of Chester and gaue that Earledome to him and his heyres to hold the same It a liberè ad gladium sicut Rex tenebat Angliam ad Coronam Whereby that Earledome indeed had a royal Iurisdiction and Seigniory though the Landes of that Countie in demesne were possessed for the most part by the auncient Inheritors Again from the time of the Norman Conquest till the raigne of King Edward the first many of our English Lords made warre vpon the Welshmen at their owne charge the lands which they gained they held to their owne vse were called Lords Marchers and had Royal Liberties within their Lordshippes Howbeit these particular Aduenturers could neuer make a perfect Conquest of Wales But when King Edward the first came in person with his army thither kept his residence and Court there made the reducing of wales an enterprize of his owne hee finished that worke in a yeare or two whereof the Lords Marchers had not performed a third part with their continuall bordering warre for two hundred years before And withall we may obserue that though this King had nowe the Dominion of Wales in Iure propriet atis as the Statute of Rutland affirmeth which before was subiect vnto him but in Iure feodali And though he had lost diuers principall Knights Noblemen in that Warre yet did he not reward his seruitors with whol Countries or Counties but with particular Mannors and Lordships as to Henrie Lacy Earle of Lincolne hee gaue the Lordship of Denbigh and to Reignold Gray the Lordship of Ruthen and so to others And if the like course had beene vsed in the winning and distributing of the Landes of Ireland that Island had beene fully conquered before the continent of wales had beene reduced But the troth is when Priuate men attempt the Conquest of Countries at their own charge commonly their enterprizes doe perrish without successe as when in the time of Queene Elizabeth Sir Thomas Smith vndertooke to recouer the Ardes and Chatterton to reconquer then Fues and Orier The one lost his Sonne and the other Himselfe and both their Aduentures came to nothing And as for the Crowne of England it hath had the like fortune in the Conquest of this Land as some purchasers haue who desire to buy Land at too easie a Rate they finde those cheap purchases so full of trouble as they spende twice as much as the Land is woorth before they get the quiet possession thereof And as the best pollicy was not obserued in the distribution of the conquered Lands so as I conceyue that the first Aduenturers intending to make a full Conquest of the Irish were deceiued in the choyse of the Fittest places for their plantation For they sate downe and erected their Castles and Habitations in the Plaines open Countries wher they found most fruitfull and profitable Lands and turned the Irish into the VVoods Mountains Which as they were proper places for Out-Lawes and Theeues so were they their Naturall Castles and Fortifications thither they draue their preyes and stealths there they lurkt and lay in waite to doe mischiefe These fast-places they kept vnknowne by making the wayes and Entries thereunto impassable there they kept their Creaghts or Heardes of Cattle liuing by the Milke of the Cowe without Husbandry or Tillage there they encreased and multiplied vnto infinite numbers by promiscuous generation among themselues there they made their Assemblies and Conspiracies without discouery But they discouered the weaknes of the English dwelling in the open plaines and thereupon made their sallies and retraites with great aduantage Whereas on the other side if the English had builded their Castles and Towns in those places of fastnesse and had driuen the Irish into the Plaines and open Countries where they might haue had an eye and obseruation vpon thē the Irish had beene easily kept in Order and in short time reclaimed from their wildnesse there they woulde haue vsed Tillage dwelt together in Towne-ships learned Mechanicall Arts Sciences The woods had bin wasted with the English Habitations as they are about the Forts of Mariborough and Phillipston which were built in the fastest places in Leinster and the wayes and passages throughout Ireland would haue boene as cleare and open as they are in England at this day A Gaine if King Henry the second who is said to be the K. that Conquered this Land had made Forrests in Ireland as he did enlarge the Forrests in England for it appeareth by Charta de Foresta that hee afforrested many woods and wasts to the Greeuance of the Subiect which by that Lawe were disaforrested or if those English Lordes amongst whom the whole Kingdome was deuided had beene good Hunters and had reduced the Mountaines Bogges and woods within the limits of Forrests Chases and Parkes assuredly the very Forrest Law and the Law de Malefactoribus in parcis would in time haue driuen them into the Plains Countries inhabited and mannured and haue made them yeeld vppe their fast places to those wilde Beastes which were indeede lesse hurtfull and wilde then they But it seemeth straunge to mee that in all the Recordes of this Kingdome I seldome find any mention made of a Forrest neuer of anie Parke or Free-warren considering the great plenty both of Vert and Venison within this Land and that the cheefe of the Nobility and Gentry are discended of English race and yet at this day there is
former times but of those Lands only which are found in the Lords possession of those certaine summes of Money as Rents issuing out of the rest But the Lands which are found to be possest by the Tenants are left vnto them respectiuely charged with these certain Rents only in lieu of all vncertaine Irish exactions In like manner vpon all Grants which haue past by vertue of the commission for defectiue Titles the Cōmissioners haue taken speciall Caution for preseruation of the Estates of all particular Tenants And as for Graunts of Captaineshippes or Seneschal-shippes in the Irish Countries albeit this Deputy had as much power and authority to graunt the same as any other Gouernors had before him and might haue raised as much profit by bestowing the same if he had respected his priuate more then the publicke good yet hath he bin so farre from passing any such in all his time as he hath endeuoured to resume all the Graunts of that kinde that haue bin made by his Predecessors to the end the inferiour subiects of the Realme should make their only and imediate dependancie vppon the Crowne And thus we see how the greatest part of the possessions aswell of the Irish as of the English in Leinster Conaght and Mounster are setled and secured since his Maiestie came to the Crowne whereby the harts of the people are also setled not only to liue in peace but raised incouraged to builde to plant to giue better education to their children to improue the commodities of their Landes whereby the yearely value thereof is already encreased double of that it was within these few yeares and is like daily to rise higher till it amount to the price of our Lande in England LAstly the possessions of the Irishry in the Prouince of Vlster though it were the most rude and vnreformed part of Ireland and the Seat and Nest of the last great Rebellion are now better disposed and established then any the Lands in the other Prouinces which haue bin past and setled vpon Surrenders For as the occasion of the disposing of those Lands did not happen without the speciall prouidence and finger of God which did cast out those wicked and vngratefull Traitors who were the only enemies of the reformation of Ireland so the distribution and plantation thereof hath bin proiected prosecuted by the speciall direction and care of the K. himselfe wherein his Maiesty hath corrected the Errors before spoken of committed by K. Henry 2. k. Iohn in distributing and planting the first conquered Landes For although there were six whole Shires to be disposed his Maiesty gaue not an entire Country or County to any particular person much lesse did he grant lura Regalia or any extraordinary Liberties For the best British Vndertaker had but a proportion of 3000. Acres for himself with power to create a Mannor and hold a Court Baron Albeit many of these Vndertakers were of as great birth quality as the best Aduenturers in the first conquest Again his Maiesty did not vtterly exclude the Natiues out of this plantatiō with a purpose to roote them out as the Irish wer excluded out of the first English Colonies but made a mixt plantation of Brittish Irish that they might grow vp togither in one Nation Only the Irish were in some places transplanted from the Woods Mountaines into the Plaines open Countries that being remoued like wild fruit trees they might grow the milder and beare the better sweeter fruit And this truly is the Maister-piece and most excellent part of the worke of Reformation and is worthy indeed of his Maiesties royall paines For when this Plantation hath taken root and bin fixt and setled but a few yeares with the fauour and blessing of God for the son of God himselfe hath said in the Gospell Omnis Plantatio quam non plantauit pater meus eradicabitur it will secure the peace of Irelād assure it to the Crowne of England for euer and finally make it a Ciuill and a Rich a Mighty and a Flourishing Kingdome I omit to speake of the increase of the Reuenew of the Crown both certaine and casuall which is raised to a double proportion at lest aboue that it was by deriuing the publick Iustice into all parts of the Realm by setling all the possessions both of the Irish English by re-establishing the compositions by restoring and resuming the Customes by reuiuing the Tenures in Capite and Knights-Seruice reducing many other thinges into charge which by the confusion and negligence offormer times became concealed and subtracted from the Crowne I forbeare likewise to speak of the due and ready bringing in of the Reuenue which is broght to passe by the well-ordering of the Court of Exchequer and the Authority paines of the Commissioners for Accompts I might also adde heereunto the encouragement that hath bin giuen to the Maritime Townes and Citties as well to increase their trade of Marchandize as to cherrish Mechanicall Arts and Sciences in that all their Charters haue bin renued their Liberties more inlarged by his Maiesty then by any of his Progenitors since the Conquest As likewise the care course that hath been taken to make Ciuil Commerce and enter course betweene the Subiects newly reformed and brought vnder Obedience by granting Markets and Faires to bee holden in their Countries and by erecting of corporate Townes among them Briefly the clock of the ciuil Gouernment is now well set and all the wheeles thereof doemoue in Order The strings of this Irish Harpe which the Ciuill Magistrate doth finger are all in tune for I omit to speak of the State Ecclesiasticall and make a good Harmony in this Commonweale So as we may well conceiue a hope that Ireland which heertofore might properly be called the Land of Ire because the Irascible power was predominant there for the space of 400. yeares together will from henceforth prooue a Land of Peace and Concorde And though heeretofore it hath bin like the leane Cow of Egypt in Pharaohs Dreame deuouring the fat of England and yet remaining as leane as it was before it will heereafter bee as fruitfull as the land of Canaan the description whereof in the 8. of Deutronomie doth in euery part agree with Ireland being Terra Riuorum aquarumque Iontium in cuius Campis Montibus erumpunt fluviorum abyssi Terra frumenti hordei Terralactis mellis vbi absque vlla penuria comedes panemtuum rerum abundantia perfrueris And thus I haue discouered and expressed the Defects and Errors aswell in the mannaging of the Martiall Affaires as Of the Ciuil which in former Ages gaue impediment to the reducing of all Ireland to the Obedience Subiection of the Crowne of England I haue likewise obserued what courses haue bin taken to Reforme the Defects and Errors in Gouernment and to reduce the People of this Land to Obedience since the beginning of