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
as refus'd to joyn with them to that extravagant height were accounted Persons disaffected to the Government called Fanatick and Oliverian Dogs with the like Expressions of Calumny and Reproach But this was not all the most judicious of them were now so animated in their hopes that 't was impossible for them to bear them any longer with moderation or to contain themselves from the most violent Outrages and from instigating the Rabble to steal from and rob the English which at first was looked upon as the most Expeditious Contrivance whereby to expel them the Kingdom The Duke of Ormond foresaw what was now past remedy and told a Friend of his that nothing could now preserve the English but a precipitateness of the Irish For said he let my Countreymen alone and they will spoil their own business And so indeed they had in any time but this when it might be said according to our Saviour's Prediction That the time was come when they that destroyed the Protestants thought they did God service King James and his former but now more especial Favourites the Irish were now equally furious in their course and seemed to contend the one in his Commands the other in their forward Obedience which should exceed in their joynt design of extirpating Heresie The Duke year 1684 of Ormond was called over but before his departure laboured with an Indefatigable diligence to establish matters on such a foundation so as that it might not be easie for them to create a present change without a manifest violation and infringement of the Laws and Constitutions of the Kingdom The new Hospital a stately Fabrick near Dublin erected for poor Soldiers would he foresaw be made a Nest for Hornets which to prevent as well as possible he sate several days with the Council and Judges in private in the Castle and there made all the provision that could be for it against the imminent storm One remarkable Passage I must not omit to mention which demonstrates the great spirit of that excellent person At the aforesaid Hospital he appointed a Dinner for all the Officers of the Hospital and the Officers of the Army then in Dublin which being over he took a large Glass of Wine in his hand bid them fill it to the brim then stood up and called to all the Company Look here Gentlemen they say at Court I am now become an Old Doating Fool you see my Hand doth not shake nor does my Heart fail nor doubt but I will make some of them see their Mistake and so drank the Kings Health But upon his Arrival at Court found that King James's Bigotted Opinion would carry him to the most violent actions a dismal apprehension whereof as is believed at length broke his heart for though he was of a great Age yet was he of such health of Body and cheerfulness of mind that in course of nature he might have lived Twenty Years longer as his Mother did 'T was plain that the Irish could fasten no Calumnies upon him when the first thing they reproached him with was Cheating the Army in building the Hospital and that Robinson the Architect had inriched himself by it when indeed not to lessen any thing of his due Character Robinson shewed the parts of an Excellent Artist in the Contrivance and of an Honest Man in the Charge as men of Value and Experience in Building affirm Upon the Duke of Ormond's removal the Government year 1685 was put into the hands of the Lord Primate and the Lord Granard in the Quality of Lords Justices The Irish fell immediately to their old trade of making Plots but with this difference That whereas they had formerly been the Actors themselves they now placed them upon the English which they daily impeached of designs against the King and the Government The Grandees had the confidence to appear in Vindication of such Evidence as was given against the English though it was altogether as unreasonable as untrue and press'd the Lords Justices for Orders of Council to empower Irish Papists and Mongrel Protestants to examine them and to commit if they saw cause without Bail any person impeached This Arbitrary Power the Lords Justices and Council would not agree to yet were so hectored and insulted upon by them that they issued out Orders of Council to examin and commit but always they were directed to Protestants which wearied the Irish of that Stratagem One thing has been omitted which was that before the Duke of Ormond left the Government an Order came for regulating the Council which he left for the Justices to do and most of the English that were active of the Privy Council were turned out but as yet no Irish Papists put in The Irish Lords and Gentry repaired in great numbers to Dublin and as well Gentry as Commonalty of the Natives in all places reproached the Protestants and their Religion with all the Calumnies and Impious Reflections that the rankest Satyrists could invent At Leslip seven Miles from Dublin the Lord Clanriccard Sir Valentine Browne now created a Viscount by the late King James Colonel Moore and some others upon their Knees drank Confusion to all Protestants and their Religion This was taken notice of and the wiser sort of their Party blamed these Men for their forwardness as judging it could not be safe to go on so fast but to stifle the noise of it such as were Eye-witnesses of the Fact and threatened for not Pledging the Health were seized with Warrants and menac'd with having their Throats cut and the like terrifying Arts if they denied not the thing Sir Standish Harston one of the Barons of the Exchequer was threatened to be eased of his Employment if he took not off his Son-in-Law who reported the matter These daily repeated Insolences of the Irish made the Lords Justices weary of their Government and one of them the Lord Granard writ to England to be dismist But in a Consult of the Papists it was resolved to represent him as a Man fit to be kept in for that his interest was very prevalent in the North among the Scots and had for many years in King Charles's Reign been a Pensioner and had Five Hundred Pounds per Annum given him to distribute among the Presbyterian Clergy of which Perswasion his Lady was For the aforesaid Considerations and besides that he was a Popular Man in the Army 't was judged convenient to retain him in the Government For which end King James writ him a Letter with his own hand with great Promises and assurance that nothing should be acted prejudicial to the Protestant Interest which at that time this Lord was accounted to be zealous for however he has now prevaricated Monmouth's Rebellion soon broke out and year 1685 some were apt to believe that Granard was in suspence who to declare for but the Lord Primate was a person of firm and inviolable Loyalty and his unalterable steadiness hindered the other from deserting These two
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
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
which neither Souldier Adventurer nor Irish according to the first Declaration from Breda were concerned and yet it related to the first Souldiers that fought against the Irish which were now called Forty-nine Men these being King's-Men were not provided for in the Parliament and Usurper's time and how to make Provision for them now was the matter in Dispute Some Lands indeed there were that had not been set out to Souldiers and Adventurers which were allotted these Men but this Provision was not considerable and therefore the forfeited Corporations and Houses that were in them were hereunto annexed and to render 'em the more valuable a Clause was inserted in the Act That no Irish Papist in what manner soever he justified his innocency should enjoy any House within a Corporation except the Natives of Corke and Featherd This the Irish vehemently exclaimed against as barbarous and inhumane that to serve the conveniency of a particular Set of Men a Man must appear innocent in the Country and enjoy his Estate but be adjudged a Rebel in the City and upon that account be dispossessed of his Houses On the other hand the English complained That the Natives by an Illegal Arbitrary Court were made innocent though they were known to have been concerned in the Rebellion for that in truth 't was beyond all peradventure that not Ten of the Irish Papists were free from Rebellion and Murther The Duke of Ormond had a great Arrear due to him upon this Fund and after mutual Contests on either side the Affair was settled to the Satisfaction of the Protestants But in order to a firmer and more mature Establishment of things it was amongst other Consultations resolved in Council to send over the Lord Roberts for Ireland in Quality of the Lord Lieutenant as a Person whose indifferency as to the various and opposite interests of that Kingdom might bring forth a compleat and impartial settlement but his being an Englishman and not related to and so consequently not interessed in favour of the Irish occasioned the Duke of York whose Affection to the Natives of that Kingdom has appeared by too pregnant and demonstrative Proofs to work with the King his Brother to send over the Duke of Ormond whose Acquaintance with and year 1662 Relation to divers of the Irish Nobility and Gentry did rationally promise a more favourable regard to their Interests though what probability soever this Prospect had in it it finally turned to their disadvantage and that by the even steerage of the Duke of Ormond who though placed at the Helm in favour to the Irish yet so signally espoused the Interest of the English Protestants in all their just and legal demands that upon that very account he lost the favour of the Duke of York This management of things made the Popish Party very sensible of their mistake but to correct it in a very high measure they procured the removal of some of the Commissioners of the Court of Claims and got others put in exactly calculated for their present design The leading Man was one Rainsfoord who drove so furiously that complaints were made to the King. Talbot now Tyrconnel was at this time made principal Agent for the Irish Papists at Court and upon the account of solliciting for them had Sums of Money rais'd him by way of Tax upon all that passed the Court of Claims and in such cases wherein men had no Friends nor good Titles he bought their pretences and by Rainsfoord's means passed the Claim from all which illegal courses 't was visible to the English that they were in a lost condition which brought many of them under such apparent discouragements as to part with their Estates for a year or two's Purchace neither could any man make a measure of his Title so arbitrary were the Commissioners in their Proceedings And as the Irish insinuated themselves into the favour of Rainsfoord and the Commissioners of the Court of Claims or by the powerful sollicitation of their Agent at Court procur'd Recommendatory Letters from thence in the same proportion they pass'd their innocency not according to their demerit For what Complaints soever were made by the Irish of the Cruelty of Oliver's Court in criminating them yet some who prov'd their innocency there were decreed nocent by these Commissioners and where they had no pretence of taking away an Irish-man's Estate that was adjudg'd innocent in the Usurper's time in that case they obtain'd Proviso's in the Act of Settlement to deprive them of their Estates for Rebellion As for instance the Knight of Kerry who though a Papist yet always so faithfully adher'd to the English Interest and had been so great an instrument of divers of the Protestants preservation that for that reason he was by the Vsurper restored to his Estate his case was so notorious that the Parliament though their whole Fortunes depended upon the Act of Settlement refus'd passing the Act except that clause in prejudice to the Knight of Kerry was struck out notwithstanding that they were inform'd at the same time That if the Act was sent back and altered it should be to their disadvantage as indeed it prov'd however it was Corrected as to that Clause So much of this Act did so manifestly incline to favour the Irish as justly created Complaints by the English which seemingly to redress a new Act was prepared Entituled The Act of Explanation the consequence of which was That the Protestants were glad to sit down with the loss of one third and where the Irish had either been so notoriously criminal as that no Palliations could extenuate the blackness of their Rebellion or else were Men of that inconsiderable interest as render'd them incapable of passing their innocency in such cases their Estates were claim'd by other Irish whose interests at Court were more prevalent such were the Earls of Clanearthy Clanriccard Lord Costela Dillon Earl of Carlingfoord and many more who pass'd their Claims for twice more than ever they had before the Rebellion Pursuant to the Act passed for the payment of Quit-rent to the Crown for all Lands that were Seiz'd and Sequestred the English paid Quit-rent in many places where their Lands were scarce worth it but when the Court of Claims was over and the Parliament of Ireland Dissolv'd then the Irish that paid Quit-rent obtain'd Grants by means of the Duke of York who omitted no opportunities of testifying his good will to them not only to be remitted of their Quit-rent but of their Arrears also To this height had the Popish Design advanc'd it self at a Juncture when the English Interest seemed not only to carry the preeminence but even to have reach'd the Meridian of her Triumph at Court and though it was believed upon the King's Restauration there could not have been the twentieth part of Ireland gain'd from the English yet what with the thirds taken at one blow from the English and by Nominees and other Stratagems of State there was almost an
half of the Kingdom in value lost notwithstanding at the same time the most innocent of the Irish were depriv'd of their Estates and the greatest Rebels got more than their own This was the first step advanc'd for the introduction of Popery into that Kingdom and notwithstanding the small Progress it had then seemingly made it so far encouraged even in this time of its Infancy the most considerable of the Irish as often to intimate to the English That in a short time the Protestants and they must be of one Religion 'T was very remarkable That in the Year year 1668 One Thousand Six Hundred Sixty Eight Talbot Brother to Tyrconnel and Titular Archbishop of Dublin Landing at a place called the Skerish within Twelve Miles of that City and being very Hospitably entertained by one Captain Coddington Lodging all Night at his House the next Morning took him aside and after the most Affectionate Expressions of Kindness asked him what Title he had to that Estate for that he observed he had expended considerably upon its improvement Coddington answered That 't was an old Estate belonging to the Earl of Twomond Talbot replyed That was nothing it did belong to the Church and it would all be taken away therefore advised him to lay out no more upon it but get what he could and then desert it All this was offered upon strong injunctions of the most Inviolable Secrecy The Duke of Ormond was then Lord Lieutenant and nothing advantagious to their Interests could be managed whilst he continued in that Post which was the rise to divers Consultations at Court for his removal It had been too palpable for the Popish Party to have appeared interessed in it wherefore an Intriegue was then formed of renewing the ancient Animosities betwixt him and the Duke of Buckingham This was reduced to Act and the effect was proportionable to the design The next thing to be considered was who should succeed him which was a matter that required a very nice and critical management They pitched upon the Lord Roberts as a person that had been formerly disappointed year 1669 of that Station which begetting a prejudice in him and meeting with a Vindicative Spirit whose temper they knew to be such would prompt him invidiously to inspect into or else to create faults in the Government of the Duke of Ormond which was the end of the Court-Intriegue and of his advancement as knowing that his uneasiness to those of that Kingdom would serve to prepare a fair reception for the L B a Man of whose inclinations to their interest the Popish Party had the most convincing assurances and agreeably to this whole Scheme of policy the Lord Roberts remained Lord Lieutenant about Six Months and then the L. B. was sent over Talbot now Tyrconnel leaves the Court and year 1670 follows his Brother the Titular Archbishop and lives privately but notwithstanding his Retirement is still engaged in all the Secret Counsels with Sir Ellis Leaton the Lord Lieutenant's Secretary And now to accomplish their purpose the first thing to be done was to set up a pretence that the King when in Exile had obliged himself to the French King to restore the Irish to their Religion and their Estates and lest a neglect of this should occasion a Breach with France something must be acted in pursuance to it So it was ordered That notwithstanding the Law to prefer Irish Papists to the Commission of the year 1671 Peace in which they behaved themselves with that partiality and insolence Properties inherent to most if not all of them that they became odious even to the judicious of their own party The next thing was to regulate the Corporations year 1672 which by an Act of the last Parliament there was power for the Lord Lieutenant and Council to do This was managed with such great secrecy that none were made acquainted with it till it was actually drawn and brought ready to the Council-Board The next day there was sent to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of Dublin an Order for them to call a Common-Council and to turn them out and to make a new Government in the City This they well understood would create a disturbance which they were desirous so to improve among the Citizens as to render the Protestants disaffected for which purpose they industriously laboured to irritate and provoke them as the L B had done the Year before when a number of Boys got up in a Tumult to pull down a Bridge which was erecting contrary to the desire of the City where when the Lord Mayor and Constables had suppress'd them the Lord Lieutenant ordered Soldiers as they were carrying them to Prison who discharg'd several Shots amongst them and killed some of them But to return to the Order of Council for modelling the Corporation the Aldermen gave ready obedience though they feared the bottom of the Design This compliance of the Aldermen necessitated them to take new measures for the most considerable of the Aldermen were Men of New Interest and had been noted for keeping out Papists from the City Freedom and whilest these Aldermen were in Power no Popish Design could succeed and therefore to facilitate by another what they could not effect by former Stratagems the next work was to prepossess the Populace with prejudice against the Aldermen representing them as the Authors and Contrivers of this New Model though as it was afterwards proved upon an hearing before the Earl of Essex and Council when Lord Lieutenant of Ireland they never heard word of 'em till they were brought to 'em to the Tole-sale with orders to put 'em in Execution At that time there came over to Dublin a Person year 1672 who assumed several names a practice as agreeable to the Interest and Policy of the Church of Rome and as common as that of variety of Shapes and Professions sometime he went by the name of Payne at others by that of Nevell and was found to be the same person that was afterwards committed to Newgate for some high Misdemeanour relating to Coleman and the Popish Plot. This Nevell as has since been apparent in the instance before named had his part with Coleman and was sent over for Ireland as his proper Province wherein to act the designed Tragedy He remained for some time obscure in Dublin and after that was received into the Castle but never appeared till this as was deem'd seasonable juncture and then in the capacity of Under Secretary to Sir Ellis Leaton His business was to infuse into the Populace of the City of Dublin an Opinion of the Treachery of their Recorder Sir William Davis and to make the pretext the more plausible he had Instructions to add That the Recorder and the Lord Primate then Lord Chancellour counselled the L. B. to enact those Laws for the abolishing of the Ancient Government of the City and farther insinuating that this was done at the desire and instigation and by the contrivance of
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
Lands said to be in the possession of divers of the English but in truth much more in that of the Irish Now to insure the Titles of the English from any future Discoveries as was pretended a Court of Grace was to be erected year 1683 where all that would had the opportunity of putting in their Claims and upon proving their possession and compounding with the Commissioners for payment of such a sum as they thought fit to impose on them they were to pass new Patents It was also given out that it was safe for all new Interests to pass that Court and that it would strengthen their Titles This Policy had its intended effect for many persons came in and considerable Sums of Money were paid But under what plausible pretext soever this Court was set up 't was soon perceived as a snare to the English For its design was to make a narrow inspection into all Mens Titles and thereby to discover what advantage might be derived from it For by the Act of Settlement all the forfeited Lands in Ireland were only invested in the King as a Royal Trustee for the use of the Soldiers and Adventurers and could be no way disposed of but according to the intent of that Act. Now whereas there were several Irish out of their Lands decreed them by the Act for want of Reprisals the King's Patent could not give any Land away but in pursuance to the intent of the Act. By which it appears that this Court was erected to prepare Pretences for the Irish when opportunity should invite and though all this was negotiated through the Duke's Interest yet none of that party appeared in it but the whole of it was transacted by the Dutchess of Portsmouth who had the Money got by Fines out of it Because there will be occasion in the farther discovery of this Treachery to name a principal Actor in the Catastrophe of Ireland I shall now nominate him that was the Abettor and Contriver of this mischief 't was one W. who sometime year W before bought a Judge's place in the Exchequer for Eight Hundred Pounds This Judge was found a fit Tool to make use of and being a Cunning ambo-dexter formed this Intriegue which had proved fatal to the Protestant Interest of Ireland if affairs had succeeded in the same Current they had now put them But I must not forget to add that to make this poison go down the more easie the Pill was gilded over Most of the Judges were made Commissioners and had part of the Fines the Lawyers and Attorneys got Money by the Court so that consequently all that were capable of understanding the Cheat were interessed as Parties in the Intriegue and by this means some of the Lawyers and Attorneys purchased Estates to the ruine of the former Possessors And 't is to be observed that in the several Designs of the Papists Protestants were the Tools whereby they acted by which they appeared to have nothing of Catholick in them And now to force men into this Tonnel another Oppression was impos'd upon the Subject and that was that no man should pass Patent for Fairs Markets Mannors c. without passing his Estate through this Court whereas by the Act of Settlement all persons had liberty for the improvement of the Countrey to pass Patent for them so that they were not within three Miles of one another Here you may perceive a most black design speciously represented as a fit occasion to lay hold on whereby to corroborate the English Interest though in truth nothing could more effectually weaken the Protestants Titles to their Estates and strengthen or improve those of the Irish and this not only managed but at first set up by a Protestant And indeed this gave a more plausible colour to it and made it the more easily gain belief with the English that the true Reasons of its erection were the same with those that were pretended because first advanced by one of their own Party A sad thing indeed that Englishmen and Protestants should by base and unworthy Compliances become such Servile Instruments to the advancement of the Popish Cause A Calamity which as it had made some steps before so did it improve to an infinite Progress when the late King James was in possession of the Throne In which time too many men who were reputed Protestants through a mean and pusillanimous Disposition were not seldom Co-adjutors with the Papists in such violent Proceedings as carried a direct opposition to the Laws and their Religion But to proceed where I left off The Duke of Ormond perceiving by the tendency of these Affairs that the Romish design was agitated with greater earnestness than ever with great difficulty obtains leave to go for England and pursuant to that comes over leaving his Son the Earl of Arran Lord Deputy Upon his Arrival at year 1683 Court he a second time attempts a Parliament but ineffectually upon which disappointment he returns again for Ireland with an heavy heart as he himself declared to a Great Man of that Kingdom He had Instructions to Regiment the Army and some other things that were Preparatives to what followed soon after But now the Fatal Stroke was come the Death of the King a Mystery not to be inquired into though one can hardly omit remarking that the Irish year 1684 Papists could for some time before fix upon the utmost Period of that Reign and the Duke was sent for in haste from Scotland three years before without any apparent reason for it besides that the King's permission was obtained with some difficulty From this time we may Commence the Date of the Irish greatness Fate now smil'd upon 'em and that which they had long expected with so much impatience and importunity which had cost them so much pains and had involved them in such great Perplexities That which had exposed them to so many dangers and been so frequently blasted with cross Accidents and various Disappointments was now fallen into their Lap. Now their long-look'd for day was come and their Game which had been play'd with so much difficulty and loss did now assure them of better success These Apprehensions so transported them with such pleasant Raptures as were eminently visible in all their actions especially in Publick Days of Rejoycing as the day of the King 's Proclaiming that of his Coronation the Birth of the pretended Prince of Wales and the like in all which they demonstrated the most extravagant Symptoms of a Superlative Joy which they express'd in making of Bonfires Beating of Drums playing upon the Bag-pipes and other Musical Instruments in Drinking and Serenading in the night time forcing the English out of their Beds and breaking open their Doors and drinking Confusion to the Kings Enemies upon their Knees by which 't was plain that they understood the Protestants And all these unlawful Revellings oftentimes continued for two or three Nights and Days without intermission wherein such of the English
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
who replyed No he would send naming some body by him to stand in his place and that would do as well Of this Sheridon being a Bigotted Zealot gives an account to Father Petres whose Niece Sheridon had Married by which means he obtained an interest and freedom with the Jesuit and not with him only but with all the Irish Clergy especially with the Titular Primate of Armagh who being an Vlster man as Sheridon was had no kindness for Tyrconnel who was of the Pale a sort of old English degenerated into Irish but had in no esteem by the Natives of the Province of Vlster The aforesaid Titular Primate then contracted an intimate Familiarity and Acquaintance with his Cousin Sheridon as he called him and they with the before-mentioned Priest formed Articles against Tyrconnel which having compleated and Sheridon disposed of his Affairs prays leave of the Lord Deputy to go for England pretending some private business of his own to dispatch there But Tyrconnel being jealous that he designed some prejudice to himself would not give him permission to go upon which Sheridon writes to a Cousin of his to London to take out a Licence from the King which Father Peters look'd upon as strange and sent him word back That the King would enquire the reason why he had it not from the Lord Deputy This could not be transacted with that secrecy at Court but that Tyrconnel had some intelligence of it which exigency drove him to have recourse to his two Grand Counsellors at a dead lift Rice and Neagle who advised him to take no notice nor shew any outward Symptoms of discontent against Sheridon but rather attend some opportunity whereby to intangle him in a snare which soon offered it being fatile baculum invenire c. no difficult matter to find out Treachery and Perfidiousness enough in an Irish-man whereof to accuse him They observed that the Lord Deputy's Domestick Chaplain was intimately conversant with Sheridon and another Priest that was or called himself Cousin to him To countermine these Intriegues the Lord Deputy appoints a third Priest a Confident of his own to fall into an intimate familiarity with his Brethren who seemed inclined to unite his endeavours with theirs if they had any intentions of impeaching Tyrconnel The Priest managed this Affair with so much skill and dexterity verifying the vulgar saying of Setting a Thief to catch a Thief that he soon wound himself into a strict League of Amity with them and so seemingly interessed in all their Affairs that they no longer questioned his espousing their Party and to delude them the more artificially pretended to find out new matter of accusation against Tyrconnel which he did so effectually that against the Post-day he brought his Charge against the Lord Deputy in writing under his own hand which Sheridon in his sight sealed up with a great many more in a Pacquet and directed it to his Cousin in London This being done the Priest takes leave of Sheridon and gives notice immediately to Rice the chief Baron who doubted not to trapan him upon this favourable occasion Sheridon as usually makes up the Lord Deputy's Pacquets sending all to the Post with instructions for the Pacquet immediately to go to Sea. Rice and Neagle remained in the Lord Deputy's Closet and at twelve of the Clock at Night a Messenger was sent on Board the Pacquet-Boat to fetch off the Male which being opened Sheridon's Pacquet was taken out directed to his Cousin which discovered the whole Intriegue and among the rest the Irish Primate's concern in the design Sheridon's Pacquet was sealed up and put into the Male except one Letter which was taken out directed to a certain person in London full of vehement Exclamations against the Lord Deputy and giving an account of many of his Articles which he designed to impeach him of Rice and Neagle advised the Lord Deputy to write to the Lord Sunderland which he accordingly did setting forth Sheridon's Briberies and other Sinister Practices not taking any notice of Sheridon's contrivance against himself All this was done when Sheridon was asleep and not suspicious of any design against him which the better to disguise Tyrconnel still carried himself to him with the same unconcernedness as formerly At this time happened the death of the Bishop of Clogher in order to which Commissioners were appointed for setting and disposing of the Revenue of that Bishoprick 'T was adjacent to Sheridon's Countrey who had abundance of Cousins especially upon such an occasion as this some of which he endeavoured to prefer in that Employment thereby hoping to have fished out something for himself but the Lord Chief Baron was now though he knew it not become his formidable opposite and there was one of the Commissioners of the Customs Dickison by name that was a person as well of great experience as of integrity and honesty who kept a vigilant eye upon Sheridon for though he had a great hand over and much influenced the rest of the Commissioners yet could he never prevail upon Dickison Now arrives the return of his Pacquet to his Cousin in London but with no good account of his Affairs The reason of which ill success was Sunderland's acquainting Father Peters with the complaints that were made against him by the Lord Deputy and thereupon shewed him his Letter from Tyrconnel That Letter which was taken out of the Pacquet in Dublin was not missed by Sheridon's Cousin in London who only writ back to him That he had delivered his several Letters as directed and no more 'T was now time for the Lord Deputy to break publickly with Sheridon and in order to it sends for him into his Closet there being present with him the Earl of Lymerick the Lord Chief Justice Nugent the Lord Chief Baron Rice Judge Daly and some others The Lord Deputy demanded of Sheridon Whether or no he had written any thing against him to London Sheridon who wanted not Confidence or rather Impudence with which his Countreymen do universally abound to an immense proportion and degree answered That he had not but that he had heard that his Excellency had writ against him which so enraged the Lord Deputy who is a great Furioso and can prescribe no limits to his Passion that he could not contain from calling him Traytour Cheat Rogue c. and pulling out Sheridon's Letter asked him if that was not his hand which for the present put him into great disorder and confusion but after some recollection he assumed to justifie himself and to enter into a Capitulation with the Lord Deputy at which Tyrconnel rose in excess of fury to kick him so he was turned out Tyrconnel and his Party were in long consideration how to proceed in this nice Conjuncture of Affairs They dreaded not Sheridon's interest or Impeachments so much as this opportunity of awakening his Excellency's Enemies at Court After various Debates 't was at last resolved That Daly should take Sheridon to Task
and so accommodate the matter as to stifle any farther noise of it which Sheridon was ready enough to embrace but at the same time both the Lord Deputy and he had mutual Jealousies of and strove who should first intrap one another The Lord Deputy by reason of his aversion to him for siding with Sheridon does now revive the Quarrel that the Irish Clergy had with the Primate especially the Archbishop of Cashell I call the Titular one so in this Discourse Upon an Assembly of the Titular Popish Bishops of Ireland great Debate arose concerning the Priority of their Jurisdictions in reference to which the Primate insolently usurped over them all not distinguishing the Archbishop which he of Cashell resenting as a great Indignity and Affront inflamed the difference to a great height and caused them to break up abruptly and in great discontent with one another Cashell is the more Learned Man the Primate being universally contemned by their own Party as neither respected by them as a Scholar or a Man of Parts which general disesteem made most of the Clergy that were considerable I mean the Dignitaries bandy against him and their Prejudice ran so high that they sent over to Father Peters who promoted their Applications to the King to have a Co-adjutor imposed upon him The King writes about it to the Pope with aggravating Exclamations of the Primate's Miscarriages and Insufficiency to which the Pope replied That he was one of his own Election and so indeed he was being a Fryar in Spain and coming over Chaplain to the Spanish Embassador at the time of the Primate of Ireland's being Executed he prevailed with the Embassador to present him to the Duke of York who writ to the Pope in his behalf upon whose recommendation he got the Mitre This Quarrel of the Irish Clergy had been dormant for some time but the Deputy to execute his Revenge upon the Primate thought it now seasonable to awaken and revive it But this continued not long upon the Stage for he soon received a severe reprimand from Father Peters for this rash Action who was extreamly moved at the proceeding This being the most effectual course whereby to render their Party ridiculous and contemptible to the World that whilst they were so industriously contriving to establish their Religion they should at once break all their former measures by endeavouring to supplant and destroy one another And therefore 't was immediately hushed up in a deep silence and the Primate at least seemingly and to outward appearance reconciled to the Lord Deputy Sheridon again assumes to Petition for leave to go for England assuring his Excellency That 't was only in order to pursue some private business of his own That he had a Law-suit for some Debt due to his Wife which required his attendance c. but all would not prevail to obtain permission wherefore he employs his Wife's interest at London and by that way sollicits the King with so much importunity till at last an Order was got for his going over About the Ninth of December in this Year year 1687 upon a Sunday Morning there happened such an Inundation of Water in the City of Dublin as no man was ever a Spectator of the like It carried away Stone-Bridges destroyed Houses and without intermission continued three days overflowing a great part of the City to the unspeakable damage of many Thousands and that which encreased the Prodigy was That no Rain fell save a few Showers upon the Saturday Night before This besides the considerable detriment to or rather apparent ruine of many English was accounted by many as a miraculous act of the Divine Providence and interpreted as an ominous Presage of that Deluge of Troubles which has since so universally descended upon the poor English in that distressed Kingdom But to come again to Sheridon who now arrives at London but 't was near four and twenty hours before he could speak with Sunderland who after his admittance gave him but a cold reception the reason of which as 't was conjectured was that Sunderland expected that which Sheridon was not yet Master of for he had but just began his Trade when the Lord Deputy and he fell at variance This indifferency or rather coldness in Sunderland did not hinder him from applying to the rest of his Friends but was so unhappy as to find by them that there was no expectation of removing Tyrconnel for he was fortified with the French Interest and was in a manner Deputy to Lewis not James it being said in Paris when News came there of Tyrconnel's being struck out That there was none in England durst move him and so it appeared as we shall find hereafter Sheridon wanted not those which were Favourites and Well-wishers to his design against the Deputy as Castlemain Powis and another not to be named but they durst not trust Sheridon with their Sentiments but sent some of their Confidents to animate him with general Promises without naming any body He found himself now involved in great danger and in three days turned his Story and went to Sunderland to whom he had at first only complained of the Lord Deputy's unkindness but now comes and positively affirms that he brought over no Articles against him nor could say any thing but what was honourable of him only that his Excellency had taken displeasure against him he knew not why c. and that the occasion of his coming over was to follow his own private business Father Peters his Wife's Uncle would not carry him to kiss the King's hand but at last his Friend the Lord Sunderland got him admittance However the King would not hear him speak in so great awe stood he to his Brother or rather Master of France whose Creature Tyrconnel was Sheridon had not continued three days in London when he was followed by the Lord Dongan a Young Man Son to the Earl of Lymerick He brought Letters to Sunderland and others setting forth Sheridon in black Characters which Negotiation so succeeded that Father Peters would admit him no more in his presence And now those Lords which would have privately supported him against Tyrconnel deserted and declaimed against him when they perceived that he publickly magnified his Master by which means he was wholly left to himself and Tyrconnel's Party vigorously pursued him here as a Delinquent and had it immediately inserted in the News-Letter That he was turned out of his Employments in Ireland and so he had notice given him that he was too that of being Secretary and a Popish Bishop preferred to his place Sheridon was now involved in very great streights to go back he considered 't was to no purpose To remain here 't was not possible for him without the assistance of Friends and none would appear for him At length he delivers a Petition with his own hand to the King desiring that he might be heard speak for himself and not be Condemned to utter Destruction as he