he this Examinant leaped over a Wall and two Pales and so came to the Lord Justice Parsons Octob. 22. 1641. William Parsons Thomas Rotheram Robert Meredith Owen O Conally How it came to pass that the other Lord Justice attested not the Examination it being took in his house he present hath begot some doubts evidencing how since Counsels severed into Cabals In the interim whilst Owen O Conally was examining Mac-Mahon walking in Chichester-hall drew with Chalk several Postures some on Gibbets others groveling on the ground intimating how his fancy run on what was then acting So little did he dread the event The night being thus pass'd over the Lords Justices remov'd themselves for their better security into the Castle where the body of the Council attended them and having secur'd the Lord Mac-Guire taken after several removes in an obscure Cock-loft in Cook-street they joyn'd in this Proclamation By the Lords Justices and Council W. Parsons John Borlase THese are to make known and publish to all his Majesties good Subjects in this Kingdom of Ireland That there is a discovery made by us the Lords Justices and Council of a most disloyal and detestable Conspiracy intended by some evil-affected Irish Papists against the Lives of us the Lords Justices and Council and many other of his Majesty's faithful Subjects universally throughout this Kingdom and for the seizing not onely of his Majesty's Castle of Dublin his Majesties principal Fort here but also of all the other Fortifications in the Kingdom And seeing by the great goodness and abundant mercy of Almighty God to his Majesty and this State and Kingdom those wicked Conspiracies are brought to light and some of the Conspirators committed to the Castle of Dublin by us by his Majesties Authority so as those wicked and damnable Plots are now disappointed in the chief Parts thereof We therefore have thought fit hereby not onely to make it publickly known for the comfort of his Majesties good and loyal Subjects in all parts of the Kingdom but also hereby to require them That they do with all confidence and chearfulness betake themselves to their own defence and stand upon their Guard so to render the more safety to themselves and all the Kingdom besides and that they advertise us with all possible speed of all Occurrents which may concern the peace and safety of the Kingdom and now to shew fully that Loyalty and Faith which they had always shown for the publick Services of the Crown and Kingdom which we will value to his Majesty accordingly and a special memory thereof will be retain'd for their advantage in due time and we require that great care be taken that no Levies of Men be made for Foreign Service nor any Men suffer'd to March upon any pretence Given at his Majesty's Castle at Dublin 23. October 1641. R. Dillon Ro. Digby Ad. Loftus J. Temple Tho. Rotheram Franc. Willoughby Ja. Ware Ro. Meredith Which being immediately printed was dispersed to as many Places as they could convey it to Against which some of the Lords of the Pale though at first they had offer'd their service at the Council-board with great protestations and affections to his Majesty few days after appear'd with a Petition to their Lordships wherein they utter'd the deep sense they had of an expression in that Proclamation as if by the words Irish Papists there being no distinction they might doubt themselves involv'd Upon which the Lords Justices and Council being tender lest they in whose fidelity from the example of their Ancestors their Lordships then rested confident should take umbrage at any of their expressions condescended by their Printed Declaration dated the 29th of the same October to publish and proclaim That by the words Irish Papists they intended onely such of the old meer Irish in the Province of Ulster as had plotted contriv'd and been actors in that Treason and others that adhered to them and none of the old English of the Pale and other Parts enjoyning all his Majesty's Subjects whether Protestants or Papists to forbear upbraiding matter of Religion So that this Cavil being remov'd the Lords Justices and Councel with all imaginable amity and confidence animated the Lords of the Pale and their adherents to joyn with them as one Body for the suppression of the present Rebellion and the maintenance of his Majesty's just Right and Prerogative To which end they parted with 1700 Arms and proportionable Ammunition as well to the Roman Catholicks as Protestant Subjects for the defence of their Houses in several parts As to the Lord of Gormanston there were delivered Arms for 500 Men for the County of Meath there were also delivered Arms for 300. for the County of Kildare Arms for 300. for the County of Lowth Arms for 300. for the County of West-Meath Arms for 300. for the County of Dublin and about the same time there were sent down 400 Muskets to the Lords of the Ardes and Clandeboys for the Arming of the Scots in the County of Downe also the State furnish'd Wexford Waterford Trim and Dundalk with Arms and licence to import Arms and Powder a condescension never indulg'd without great confidence and favour that nothing should be wanting to testifie their confidence of all but such as were in actual Rebellion And now having heard Mac-Mahon's and Conally's Examinations and the proceedings thereupon it will be time to give you the Lord Mac-Guire's though at first when he was brought before the Councel Board nothing could be wrung from him till the 26th of March 1642. that his Examination was taken before Charles Lord Lambert and Sir Robert Meredith Kt. Chancellor of his Majesty's Court of Exchequer by direction of the Lords Justices and Councel in these words Who being examined saith That about the time when Mr. John Bellew came out of England with the Commission for the continuance of the present Parliament Roger Moore in the said Moore 's Chamber in the House of one Peter de Costres of this City acquainted him this Examinant That if the Irish would rise they might make their own Conditions for the regaining of their own Lands and freedom of their Religion At which time the said Moore also acquainted him this Examinant that he had spoken with sundry in Leimster who would be ready for that purpose and withal told him this Examinant that he was assured a good part of Connaght would do the like and thereupon mov'd this Examinant to joyn likewise with them with all he could make unto which motion he this Examinant yielded And the next day following there was a Meeting in his the said Moore 's Chamber aforesaid where were Col. Mac-Bryan Mac-Mahon Tirelagh O Neal Philip Mac-Hugh O Relie this Examinant and Roger Moore where Discourse was had about that Business yet nothing concluded on save that Roger Moore and the rest should go and prepare their Parties And this Examinant further saith That about May last he this Examinant Roger Moore Philip O
implorant demisse benedictionem obsecrantes Kilkenniae 7. Jan. 1645. Vestrae Sanctitatis ad Pedum Oscula But to proceed to the Peace in which all the Particulars which might concern the Interest and Security of either Party being maturely weighed and considered and then every Article being first read debated and approved in the general Assembly without one dissenting voice the whole was concluded and the Confederate Catholicks obliged to transport within a very short time an Army of 10000 Men into England for the Service and Relief of the King as by the succeeding Propositions with Colonel Fitz-Williams is fuller evident Fitz-Williams's Propositions about the Treaty with the Queen to bring Irish into England Col. Fitz-Williams humbly prays and propounds as followeth THat your Sacred Majesty will vouchsafe to prevail with his Majesty to condescend to the just Demands of his Irish Subjects the Confederate Catholicks in Ireland at least in private That upon the consideration thereof Colonel Fitz-Williams humbly propounds and undertakes with approbation of Mr. Hertogen now imployed Agent for the said Confederate Catholicks in Ireland to bring an Army of 10000 Men or more of the King's Subjects in his Kingdom of Ireland for the King's Service into England That Colonel Fitz-Williams undertakes for the sum of 10000 l. sterling to levy Ships and arm the 10000 Men and so proportionably for more or less and that the said Moneys may be paid into such hands as may be safe for your Majesty as well as ready for the said Colonel when it shall appear the said Army shall be in readiness to be transported into England That upon the Landing of the said Men there shall be advanced to the Colonel one months Pay for all the Army according to the Muster for the present support of the Army That Colonel Fitz-Williams may be Commander in Chief thereof and dispose of all the Officers and only be commanded by the King Prince and and qualified with such Benefits as have been formerly granted unto your Majesty's Generals that have commanded Bodies apart from the King 's own Army as the Earl of Kingston and others whereby the better to enable him in the Levies as well as in the general Conduct of the Business And in respect the Order gives no Power to the Irish therefore that the said Forces shall not by any Order whatsoever be divided at least that the Colonel may be supplied with a Body of 2000. to be ready at the Place of Landing That the Colonel may be provided with Arms and Ammunition or with Money requisite for himself to provide necessary Proportions for to bring with him That the Army shall be paid as other Armies of the King Having taken these Propositions into Consideration We have thought fit to testifie our Approbation and Agreement thereunto under our Sign Manual assuring what hath been desired of us therein shall be forthwith effectually endeavour'd and not doubting to the satisfaction of the Confederate Catholicks of Ireland and of the said Colonel so that we may justly expect an agreeable compliance and performance accordingly from all Parties in their several Concernments Henriette Marie All things thus stated and setled the Commissioners who had treated in the Peace were sent by and in the Name of the Assembly to Dublin where the Lord Lieutenant resided to sign the said Articles and to receive his Lordship's Confirmation of them And accordingly the Articles were the 30th of July 1646. interchangeably signed and perfected with all formality requisite notwithstanding his Majesty's Letter from Newcastle the 11th of June 1646. to treat no farther with the Rebels and shortly after they were with great Solemnity and Ceremony published and proclaimed by the King at Arms at Dublin and at Kilkenny where the Supream Council and the Assemblies of all the Confederate Catholicks were held and then Printed by their Authority The Arch-Bishop of Firmo manifesting his approbation of all that had been done giving his blessing to the Commissioners when they were sent to Dublin to conclude the Treaty and other Ministers from Foraign Princes being present consenting to and witnessing the Conclusion By the Lord Lieutenant and Council Ormond WHereas Articles of Peace are made concluded accorded and agréed upon by and between Us James Lord Marquiss of Ormond Lord Lieutenant General and General Governor of his Majesties Kingdom of Ireland his Majesties Commissioner to Treat and Conclude a Peace with his Majesties Roman Catholick Subjects of the said Kingdom by vertue of his Majesties Commission under the Great Seal of England bearing Date at Buckingham on the 24th day of June in the Twentieth year of his Reign for and on the behalf of his Most Excellent Majesty of the one part and Donogh Lord Viscount Muskery and others appointed and Authorized by his Majesties said Roman Catholick Subjects by vertue of an Authority of the said Roman Catholick Subjects bearing Date the sixth day of March 1645. and in the 21. year of his Majesties Reign of the other part a true Copy of which Articles of Peace is hereunto annexed We the Lord Lieutenant and Council do by this Proclamation in his Majesties Name Publish the same And do in his Majesties Name strictly charge and command all his Majesties Subjects and all others Inhabiting or Residing within his Majesties said Kingdom of Ireland to take notice thereof and to render due Obedience to the same in all the parts thereof And as his Majesty hath been induced to this Peace out of a deep sense of the Miseries and Calamities brought upon this his Kingdom and People and out of a hope conceived by his Majesty that it may prevent the further effusion of his Subjects blood redeem them out of all the miseries and calamities under which they now suffer restore them to all quietness and happiness under his Majesties most gracious Government deliver the Kingdom in general from those slaughters deprecations rapines and spoils which always accompany a War encourage the Subjects and others with comfort to betake themselves to Trade Traffick Commerce Manufacture and all other things which un-interrupted may increase the wealth and strength of the Kingdom beget in all his Majesties Subjects of this Kingdom a perfect Unity amongst themselves after the too long continued Division amongst them So his Majesty assures himself that all his Subjects of this his Kingdom duly considering the great and inestimable benefits which they may find in this Peace will with all duty render due obedience thereunto And We in his Majesties Name do hereby Declare That all Persons so rendring due Obedience to the said Peace shall be protected cherished countenanced and supported by his Majesty and his Royal Authority according to the true intent and meaning of the said Articles of Peace Given at his Majesties Castle of Dublin the Thirtieth day of July 1646. Ri. Bolton Canc. Roscomon Dillon Cha. Lambart Gerrard Lowther Fr. Willoughby Robert Forth La. Dublin Geo. Cloyne Arthur Chichester Hen. Tichborn Tho. Lucas
of the Lords seated in the House of Commons in an extraordinary manner undertook the charge and management thereof ordering at that time 500 l. in present for Owen O-Conally and 200 l. per annum till Lands of greater value could be order'd for him designing for the present Supplies of Ireland the sum of 50000 l. and had taken order for all Provisions necessary thereunto as by the Order of Parliament it appears An Order of the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament in England concerning Ireland THE Lords and Commons in this present Parliament being advertis'd of the dangerous Conspiracy and Rebellion in Ireland by the treacherous and wicked Instigations of Romish Priests and Jesuits for the bloody massacre and destruction of all Protestants living there and other his Majesty's loyal Subjects of English blood though of the Romish Religion being ancient Inhabitants within several Counties and Parts of that Realm who have always in former Rebellions given testimony of their fidelity to this Crown And for the utter depriving of his Royal Majesty and the Crown of England from the Government of that Kingdom under pretence of setting up the Popish Religion have thereupon taken into their serious Considerations how those mischievous Attempts might be most speedily and effectually prevented wherein the Honour Safety and Interest of this Kingdom are most nearly and fully concern'd Wherefore they do hereby declare That they do intend to serve his Majesty with their Lives and Fortunes for the suppressing of this wicked Rebellion in such way as shall be thought most effectual by the Wisdom and Authority of the Parliament And thereupon have order'd and provided for a present Supply of Money and raising the number of 6000 Foot and 2000 Horse to be sent from England being the full proportion desired by the Lords Justices and his Majesty's Council resident in that Kingdom with a resolution to add such further Succours as the necessity of those Affairs shall require They have also resolv'd for providing Arms and Ammunition not only for those Men but likewise for his Majesty's faithful Subjects of that Kingdom with store of Victuals and other Necessaries as there shall be occasion And that these Provisions may more conveniently be transported thither they have appointed three several Ports of this Kingdom that is to say Bristol West-Chester and another in Cumberland where the Magazines and Store-houses shall be kept for the supply of the several Parts of Ireland They have likewise resolv'd to be humble Mediators to his most Excellent Majesty for the encouragement of the English or Irish who shall upon their own charges raise any number of Horse or Foot for his Service against the Rebels that they shall be honourably rewarded with Lands of Inheritance in Ireland according to their merit And for the better inducing of the Rebels to repent of their wicked Attempts they do hereby commend it to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland or in his absence to the Deputy or Lords Justices there according to the power of the Commission granted to them in that behalf to bestow his Majesty's gracious Pardon to all such as within a convenient time to be declar'd by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland or in his absence by the Lord Deputy or Lords Justices there according to the power of the Commission shall return to their due obedience the greatest part whereof they conceive to have been seduced on false grounds by the cunning and subtil practices of some of the most malignant Rebels enemies to this State and to the Reformed Religion and likewise to bestow such rewards as shall be thought fit and publisht by the said Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or Lords Justices and Council there upon all those who shall arrest the Persons or bring in the heads of such Traitors as shall be personally nam'd in any Proclamation publisht by the State there And they do hereby exhort and require all his Majesty's loving Subjects both in this and in that Kingdom to remember their duty and conscience to God and his Religion and the great and eminent danger which will befal this whole Kingdom in general and themselves in particular if this abominable Treason be not timely supprest and therefore with all readiness bounty and chearfulness to confer their assistance in their Persons or Estates to this so important and necessary Service for the common Good of all Jo. Browne Cleric Parliament And that the Army might be led by an honourable and promising Person the Lord Lieutenant being not permitted to come over speedily himself made the Earl of Ormond Lieutenant-General of the Army approved of afterwards by the King as one who by his Relation Integrity and Quality was pitch'd on as the fittest Person for that imployment of whose affection to the Protestant Religion and his Majesty's Service his Majesty had great cause to be assured Soon after his settlement in that Place he had notice from Sir Hen. Tichborn that the Rebels with 1300 Foot had sate down before Mellifont the 24th of November intending to surprize it but the Lord Moor whose House it was having plac'd 24 Musketeers and 15 Horsemen therein defended it with much resolution as long as their Powder lasted and at last the Foot yielded on Quarter the same day never observ'd by the Rebels but the Horse charged vigorously through the Enemy and came safe to Tredath This Siege of Mellifont somewhat retarded the Rebels unanimous approach to Tredath upon which the Lords Justices forthwith design'd 600 Foot and a Troop of Horse for the further strengthning of that Garrison They march'd from Dublin the 27th of November but under such a Conduct being newly rais'd and unexperienc'd that most unfortunately the Lord Gormanston's Groom giving intelligence of their approach to the Rebels not without his Lord's privity they were defeated the 29th of November near Julians-Towns at Gellingston-Bridge not above an hundred of the Men besides the Major that led them and two Foot-Captains escaping to Tredath This unhappy Defeat put such a disheartning on the State as it begat sad Suspicions who being surrounded with Rebels Sir Charles Coote the same day was commanded into Wickloe with such Forces as the State could then raise to relieve the Castle of Wickloe then besieged by the Rebels who some days before had with miserable slaughter and cruelty surpriz'd his Majesty's Forts of Cairis Fort Arkloe Fort Chichester Fort and all the Houses of the English in that County the Lord Esmond's House and the adjacent Parts of Wexford threatning to assault Dublin approaching within two miles thereof in actual Hostility Upon which Service Sir Charles Coote vigorously advanced and fought with the Rebels under the Command of Luke Toole conceiv'd to be a thousand strong himself not being many hundreds yet defeated them so shamefully as the terrour thereof rais'd a fear in the Rebels ever after of Sir Charles Coote who thenceforwards so well attended his Commands as to the Government of the City and
his return from Ross which in the case our Forces stood he found difficult to be taken in as though our Ordnance made a breach in their Walls it was found necessary to desert the Siege he was encountred by an Army of the Rebels consisting of about 6000 Foot and 650 Horse well arm'd and horsed yet it pleas'd God so to disappoint their Councels and strength as with those small Forces which the Lord Marquess had with him being of fighting Men 2500. and 500 Horse not well armed and for the most part weakly horsed and those as well Men as Horse much weakned by lying in the Fields several nights in much Cold and Rain and by want of Man's Meat and Horse Meat the Lord Marquess obtain'd a happy and glorious deliverance and victory against those Rebels wherein were slain about 300 of them and many of their Commanders and others of Quality and divers taken Prisoners and amongst those Prisoners Colonel Cullen a Native of this City who being a Colonel in France departed from thence and came hither to assist the Rebels and was Lieutenant General of their Army in the Province of Leimster and the Rebel's Army was totally routed and defeated and their Baggage and Ammunition seized on by his Majesty's Forces who lodged that night where they had gain'd the Victory and on our side about 20 slain in the Fight and divers wounded We have great cause to praise God for magnifying his Goodness and Mercy to his Majesty and this his Kingdom so manifestly and indeed wonderfully in that Victory However the joy due from us upon so happy an occasion is we confess mingled with very great distraction here in the apprehension of our unhappiness to be such as although the Rebels are not able to overcome his Majesty's Army and devour his other good Subjects as they desire yet both his Army and good Subjects are in danger to be devoured by the wants of needful Supplies forth of England For as we formerly signified thither Those Forces were of necessity sent abroad to try what might be done for sustaining them in the Countrey so as to keep them alive till Supplies should get to us But that Design now failing those our hopes are converted into astonishment to behold the unspeakable Miseries of the Officers and Souldiers for want of all things and all those wants made the more insupportable in the want of Food whilst the City being all the help we have is now too apparently found to be unable to help us as it hath hitherto done And divers Commanders and Officers in the Army do now so far express the sense of their Sufferings which indeed are very great and grievous as they declare That they have little hope to be supplied by the Parliament and press with great importunity to be permitted to depart this Kingdom as it will be extream difficult to keep them here By our Letters of the 23d of March we signified thither the unsupportable burthen laid on this City for victualling those of the Army left here when the Marquess of Ormond with the Forces he took with him marched hence which burthen is found every day more heavy than other in regard of the many House-keepers thereby daily breaking up House and scattering their Families leaving still fewer to bear the burthen We also by those Letters and by our Letters of the 25th of February advertised thither the high danger this Kingdom would incur if the Army so sent abroad should by any distress or through want be forced back hither again before our Relief of Victuals should arrive forth of England When we found that those Men were returning back hither although we were and are still full of distraction considering the dismal consequences threatned thereby in respect of our Wants Yet we consulted what we could yet imagine feasible that we had not formerly done to gain some Food for those Men and found that to send them or others abroad into the Countrey we cannot in regard we are not able to advance Money for procuring the many Requisits incident to such an Expedition In the end therefore we were inforced to fix on our former way and to see who had yet any thing left him untaken from him to help us and although there were but few such and some of them poor Merchants whom we have now by the Law of Necessity utterly undone and disabled from being hereafter helpful to us in bringing us in Victuals and other needful Commodities yet were we forc'd to wrest their Commodities from them And certainly there are few here of our selves and others that have not felt their Parts in the inforced rigour of our Proceedings towards preserving the Army so as what with such hard dealing not less grievous to us to do than it is heavy to others to suffer and by our descending against our hearts far below the Honour and Dignity of that Power we represent here under his Royal Majesty we have with unspeakable difficulty prevail'd so as to be able to find Bread for the Souldiers for the space of one Month. We are now expelling hence all Strangers and must instantly send away for England thousands of poor dispoil'd English whose very eating is now unsupportable to this Place And now again and finally We earnesty desire for our Confusions will not now admit the writing of many more Letters if any That his Majesty and the English Nation may not suffer so great if not irrecoverable prejudice and dishonour as must unavoidably be the consequence of our not being reliev'd suddenly but that yet although it be even now at the point to be too late Supplies of Victuals and Munition in present to be hastned hither to keep life until the rest may follow there being no Victual in the Store nor will there be a 100 Barrels of Powder left in store when the out-Garrisons as they must be instantly are supplied and that remainder according to the usual necessary expence besides extraordinary accidents will not last above a month And the residue of our Provisions must also come speedily after or otherwise England cannot hope to secure Ireland or secure themselves against Ireland but in the loss of it must look for such Enemies from hence as will perpetually disturb the Peace of his Majesty and his Kingdom of England and annoy them by Sea and Land as we often formerly represented thither which Mischiefs may yet be prevented if we be yet forthwith enabled from thence with means to overcome this Rebellion We hope that a course is taken there for hastning thither the Provisions of Arms and Munition mention'd in the Docquet sent in our Letter of the 20th of January and the 600 Horses which we then moved might be sent hither for recruits and that the 7893 l. 3 s. for Arms to be provided in Holland besides those we expect in London hath been paid to Anthony Tierens in London or to Daniel Wibrants in Amsterdam and if that Sum had been paid as
very tender unto us But the present distempers of this your Majesties Kingdom of England to our unspeakable grief are grown so great that all future passages by which comfort and life should be conveyed to that gasping Kingdom seem totally to be obstructed so that unless your Gracious Majesty out of your singular Wisdom and Fatherly Care apply some speedy Remedy We your distressed and loyal Subjects of that Kingdom must inevitably perish Our condition represents unto your Majesty the estate of all your Majesties faithful Protestant Subjects in Ireland the influence of Princely favour and goodness so actively distill'd upon your Kingdom of Ireland before the birth of this monstrous Rebellion there and since the same so abundantly express'd in Characters of a deep sense and lively presentment of the bleeding condition thereof gives us hope in this our deplorable extremity to address our selves unto your Sacred Throne humbly beseeching that it may please your Gracious Majesty amongst your other weighty cares so to reflect upon the bleeding condition of that perishing Kingdom that timely relief may be offered otherwise your Loyal Subjects there must yield their Fortunes a Prey their Lives a Sacrifice and their Religion a Scorn to the merciless Rebels powerfully assisted from Abroad Whilst we live we rest in your Majesties Protection if our deaths are design'd in that Cause we will die in your obedience living and dying ever praying for your Majesties long and prosperous Reign over us Montgomery Hard. Waller Arth. Hill Aud. Mervin Unto which his Majesty by his Principal Secretary the Lord Faulkland return'd this Answer from the Court at Oxford the 1st of December 1642. His Majesty hath expresly commanded me to give this Answer to this Petition THat his Majesty hath since the beginning of that monstrous Rebellion had no greater sorrow than for the bleeding condition of that his Kingdom and as he hath by all means labour'd that timely relief might be afforded to the same and consented to all Propositions how disadvantagious soever to himself that have been offer'd him for that purpose and at first recommended their condition to both his Houses of Parliament and immediately of his own meer motion sent over several Commissions and caused some proportion of Arms and Ammunition which the Petitioners well know to have been a great support to the Northern parts of that Kingdom to be conveyed to them out of Scotland and offered to find 10000 Volunteers to undertake that War but hath often since prest by many several Messages that sufficient Succours might be hastned thither and other matters of smaller importance laid by which did divert it and offered and most really intended in his own Royal Person to have undergone the danger of that War for the defence of his good Subjects and the chastisement of those perfidious and barbarous Rebels and in his several Expressions of his desires of Treaty and Peace hath declared the miserable present condition and certain future loss of Ireland to be one of his principal Motives most earnestly to desire that the present Distractions of this Kingdom might be compos'd and that others would concur with him to the same end So his Majesty is well pleas'd that his Offers Concurrence Actions and Expressions are so rightly understood by the Petitioners and those who have employ'd them notwithstanding the groundless and horrid Aspersions which have been cast upon him but wishes that instead of a meer general Complaint to which his Majesty can make no return but of Compassion they could have digested and offered to him any such desires by consenting to which he might convey at least in some degree comfort and life to that gasping Kingdom preserve his distressed and Loyal Subjects of the same from inevitably perishing and the true Protestant Religion from being scorn'd and trampled on by those merciless and Idolatrous Rebels And if the Petitioners can yet think on any such and propose them to his Majesty he assures them that by his readiness to consent and his thanks to them for the proposal he will make it appear to them that their most pressing personal sufferings cannot make them more desirous of relief than his care of the true Religion and of his faithful Subjects and of that Duty which obliges him to his Power to protect both renders him desirous to afford it to them Faulkland Upon the Petition of the Confederates of Ireland his Majesty granted a Commission to the Marquis of Ormond to meet and hear what the Rebels could say or propound for themselves by vertue of which the Earl of St. Albans and Clanrickard the Earl of Roscommon Sir Maurite Eustace and other his Majesties Commissioners met at Trim to whom the Confederate Catholicks of Ireland Commissioners the Lord Viscount Gormanston Sir Lucas Dillon Knight Sir Robert Talbot Baronet and John Walsh Esq produced a Remonstrance the 17th of March 1642. to be presented to his most Excellent Majesty by the name of The Remonstrance of Grievances presented to his Majesty in the name of the Catholicks of Ireland Yet though as you see this Remonstrance was solemnly received by his Majesties Commissioners and by them transmitted to his Majesty as before had been the presumptious Propositions from Cavan the Letter of the Farrals to the Lord Costilough Dr. Cale's Agency from the Rebels the United Lords Letter to the Earl of Castlehaven and the Lord Mountgarret's to the Lieutenant General and all other Addresses to the State as afterwards the Propositions of the Roman Catholicks of Ireland even to his Majesty by their Agents to himself at Oxford Yet the bleeding Iphigenia abounds in so much Impudence as to affirm that to this day the 23d of December 1674. they were not heard to speak for themselves Shameless Soul The Commission from his Majesty that the Rebels might be heard was brought over and confidently delivered at the Council-board the 22. of January by Thomas Bourk Esq a Contriver of the Rebellion to the amazement of All not acquainted with the Plot. In the Remonstrance there are pieced together saith that excellent and judicious Person who knew as well their Sophistry as the States Interest so many vain inconsiderable fancies many subsequent passages acted in the prosecution of the War and such bold false notorious Assertions without any the least ground or colour of truth as without all doubt they absolutely resolv'd first to raise this Rebellion and then to set their Lawyers and Clergy on work to frame such Reasons and Motives as might with some colour of justification serve for Arguments to defend it It is indeed to speak plainly a most infamous Pamphlet full fraught with scandalous aspersions cast upon the present Government and his Majesties Principal Officers of State within this Kingdom it was certainly framed with most virulent intentions not to present their condition and present sufferings to his Majesty but that it might be dispers'd to gain belief amongst Foreign States abroad as well as
Protestant Religion and all the Brittish Professors thereof out of this Your Majesties Kingdom And to the end it may the better in some measure appear Your Suppliants have made choice of Captain William Ridgeway Sir Francis Hamilton Knight and Baronet Captain Michael Jones and Mr. Fenton Parsons whom they have employed and authorized as their Agents to manifest the truth thereof in such Particulars as for the present they are furnish'd withal referring the more ample manifestation thereof to the said Captain William Ridgeway Sir Francis Hamilton Captain Jones and Fenton Parsons or any three or more of them and such other Agents as shall with all convenient speed be sent as occasion shall require to attend Your Majesty from Your Protestant Subjects of the several Provinces of this Your Kingdom VVe therefore Your Majesties most humble loyal and obedient Protestant-Subjects casting down our selves at Your Royal feet and flying to You for succour and redress in these our great Calamities as our most gracious Soveraign Lord and King and next and immediately under Almighty God our Protector and Defence most humbly beseeching Your Sacred Majesty to admit into Your Royal Presence from time to time our said Agents and in Your great VVisdom to take into Your Princely Care and Consideration the distressed Estate and humble desires of Your said Subjects so that to the Glory of God Your Majesties Honour and the happiness of Your good Subjects the Protestant Religion may be restored throughout the whole Kingdom to its lustre that the losses of Your Protestant Subjects may be repaired in such manner and measure as Your Majesty in Your Princely VVisdom shall think fit and that this Your Kingdom may be setled as that Your said Protestant Subjects may hereafter live therein under the happy Government of Your Majesty and Your Royal Posterity with comfort and security whereby Your Majesty will render Your self through the whole VVorld a most just and Glorious Defender of the Protestant Religion and draw down a Blessing on all other Your Royal Undertakings for which Your Petitioners will ever pray c. Subscribed by the Earl of Kildare Lord Viscount Montgomery Lord Blany and many others To which they received this Answer by His Majesties Command At Our Court at Oxford the 25th of April 1644. His Majesty being very sensible of the Petitioners Losses and sufferings is ready to hear and relieve them as the Exigencie of his Affairs will permit and wisheth the Petitioners to propose what they think fit in particular for his Majesties Information and the Petitioners Remedy and future Security Edw. Nicholas Upon the reading of the Petition His Majesty was pleased to say That He knew the Contents of the Petition to be Truth APPENDIX XII Fol. 142. The Propositions of the Roman Catholicks of Ireland humbly presented to His Sacred Majesty in pursuance of their Remonstrance of Grievances and to be annexed to the said Remonstrance together with the humble Answer of the Agents for the Protestants of Ireland to the said Propositions made in pursuance of Your Majesties directions of the 9th of May 1644. requiring the same 1. Pro. THAT all Acts made against the Professors of the Roman Catholick faith whereby any restraint penalty Mulct or incapacity may be laid upon any Roman Catholicks within the Kingdom of Ireland may be repealed and the said Catholicks to be allowed the freedom of the Roman Catholick Religion Answ. To the first we say that this hath been the pretence of almost all those who have entred into Rebellion in the Kingdom of Ireland at any time since the Reformation of Religion there which was setled by Acts of Parliament above eighty years since and hath wrought good effects ever since for the peace and welfare both of the Church and Kingdom there and of the Church and Kingdom of England and Protestant party throughout all Christendom and so hath been found wholesom and necessary by long experience and the repealing of those Laws will set up Popery again both in Jurisdiction profession and practice as that was before the said Reformation and introduce among other inconveniencies the Supremacy of Rome and take away or much endanger Your Majesties Supream and just Authority in Causes Ecclesiastical Administration of honour and power not to be endured the said Acts extending as well to seditious Sectaries as to Popish Recusants so as by the repeal thereof any man may seem to be left to chuse his own Religion in that Kingdom which must needs beget great confusion and the abounding of the Roman Clergy hath been one of the greatest occasions of this late Rebellion besides it is humbly desired that Your Majesty will be pleased to take into Your gracious consideration a Clause in the Act of Parliament passed by Your Majesties Royal Assent in England in the 17th year of Your Raign touching punishments to be inflicted upon those that shall introduce the Authority of the See of Rome in any Cause whatsoever 2. Pro. That Your Majesty will be pleased to call a free Parliament in the said Kingdom to be held and continued as in the said Remonstrance is expressed and the Statute of the 10th year of King Hen. 7. called Poyning's Acts explaining or enlarging the same be suspended during that Parliament for the speedy settlement of the present Affairs and the repeal thereof be there further considered of Answ. VVhereas their desire to have a free Parliament called reflecteth by secret and cunning implication upon Your Majesties present Parliament in Ireland as if it were not a free Parliament we humbly beseech Your Majesty to present how dangerous it is to make such insinuation or intimation to your people of that Kingdom touching that Parliament wherein several Acts of Parliament have already past the validity whereof may be endangered if the Parliament should not be approved as a free Parliament and it is a point of high nature as we humbly conceive is not properly to be dismissed but in Parliament and Your Majesties said Parliament now sitting is a free Parliament in Law holden before a person of honour and fortune in the Kingdom composed of good loyal and well-affected Subjects to Your Majesty who doubtless will be ready to comply in all things that shall appear to be pious and just for the good of the True Protestant Religion and for Your Majesties service and the good of the Church and State that if this present Parliament should be dissolved it would be a great terrour and discontent to all Your Majesties Protestant Subjects of the Kingdom and may be also a means to force many of Your Majesties Subjects to quit that Kingdom or peradventure to adhere to some other party there in opposition of the Romish Irish Confederates rather than to be liable to their power which effects may prove of most dangerous consequence and we humbly offer to Your Majesties consideration Your own gracious Expression mentioned in the grounds and motives inducing Your Majesty to agree to a
Answers they had Humbly offered pretending not to be Judges but submissive Petitioners for what was committed to their Charge APPENDIX XIII Fol. 144. The Humble Propositions of your Majesties Protestant Agents of Ireland in pursuance of the humble Petition of your Majesties Protestant Subjects as well Commanders of your Majesties Army there as others presented to your Majesty the 18th day of April 1644. and answered by your Majesty the 25 of the same 1. WE most humbly desire the Establishment of the true Protestant Religion in Ireland according to the Laws and Statutes in the said Kingdom now in force 2. That the Popish Titular Arch-Bishops Bishops Jesuits Friers and Priests and all others of the Roman Clergy be banished out of Ireland because they have been the stirrers up of all Rebellion and while they continue there there can be no hope of safety for your Majesties Protestant Subjects And that all the Laws and Statutes established in that Kingdom against Popery and Popish Recusants may continue of force and be put in due Execution 3. That Restitution may be made of all our Churches and Church Rights and Revenues and all our Churches and Chappels re-edified and put in as good Estate as they were at the breaking out of the Rebellion and as they ought to be at the Charge of the Confederate Roman Catholicks as they call themselves who have been the occasion of the Destruction of the said Churches and possessed themselves of the Profits and Revenues thereof 4. That the Parliament now sitting in Ireland may be continued there for the better settlement of the Kingdom and that all Persons duly indicted in the said Kingdom of Treason Felonie or other heinous Crimes may be duly and legally proceeded against outlaw'd tried and adjudged according to Law And that all Persons lawfully convicted and attainted or to be convicted and attainted for the same may receive due punishment accordingly 5. That no Man may take upon him or execute the Office of a Major or Magistrate in any Corporation or the Office of a Sheriff or Justice of Peace in any City or County in the said Kingdom until he have first taken the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance 6. That all Popish Lawyers who refuse to take the Oath of Supremacy and Allegiance may be suppress'd and restrain'd from practice in that Kingdom the rather because the Lawyers in England do not here practice until they take the Oath of Supremacy And it hath been found by woful Experience that the Advice of Popish Lawyers to the people of Ireland hath been a great cause of their continued Disobedience 7. That there may be a present absolute Suppression and Dissolution of all the assumed Arbitrary and Tyrannical Power which the said Confederates exercise over Your Majesties Subjects both in Causes Ecclesiastical and Temporal 8. That all the Arms and Ammunition of the said Confederates be speedily brought into Your Majesties Stores 9. That Your Majesties Protestant Subjects ruin'd and destroy'd by the said Confederates may be repair'd for their great losses out of the Estates of the said Confederates not formerly by any Acts of this present Parliament in England otherwise dispos'd of whereby they may the better be enabl'd to re-inhabit and defend the said Kingdom of Ireland 10. That the said Confederates may rebuild the several Plantation-Houses and Castles destroy'd by them in Ireland in as good state as they were at the breaking out of the Rebellion which Your Majesties Protestant Subjects have been bound by their several Patents to build and maintain for Your Majesties Service 11. That the great Arrears of Rent due to Your Majestie out of the Estates of Your Majesties Protestant Subjects at and since Michaelmas 1641. may be paid unto Your Majestie by such of the said Confederates who have either receiv'd the said Rents to the uses of the said Confederates or destroy'd the same by disabling Your Majesties Protestant Subjects to pay the same And have also destroy'd all or the most part of all other Rents or means of support belonging to Your said Protestant Subjects And that Your said Protestant Subjects may be discharg'd of all such Arrears of Rents to Your Majestie 12. That the said Confederates may give satisfaction to the Army for the great Arrears due unto them since the Rebellion and that such Commanders as have rais'd Forces at their own Charges and laid forth great sums of Money out of their own Purses and engag'd themselves for Money and Provisions to keep themselves their Holds and Souldiers under their Commands in the due necessary Defence of Your Majesties Rights and Laws may be in due sort satisfied to the encouragement of others in like times and Cases which may happen 13. That touching such parts of the Confederate Estates as being forfeited for their Treasons are come or shall duly come into Your Majesties hands and possession by that Title Your Majesty after the due satisfaction first made to such as claim by former Acts of Parliament would be pleased to take the same into your own hands and possession and for the necessary encrease of Your Majesties Revenue and better security of the said Kingdom of Ireland and the Protestant Subjects living under your gracious Government there to plant the same with Brittish and Protestants upon reasonable and honourable Terms 14. That one good walled Town may be built and kept repair'd in every County of the said Kingdom of Ireland and endow'd and furnish'd with necessary and sufficient means of legal and just Government and Defence for the better security of Your Majesties Laws and Rights more especially the true Protestant Religion in time of Danger in any of which Towns no Papist may be permitted to dwell or inhabit 15. That for the better satisfaction of Justice and Your Majesties Honour and for the future security of the said Kingdom and Your Majesties Protestant Subjects there exemplary punishment according to Law may be inflicted upon such as have there traiterously levied VVar and taken up Arms against Your Majesties Protestant Subjects and Laws and therein against Your Majesty especially upon such as have had their hands in the shedding of Innocent blood or had to do with the first Plot or Conspiracy or since that time have done any notorious Murther or Covert Act of Treason 16. That all Your Majesties Towns Forts and places of strength destroy'd by the said Confederates since the said Rebellion may be by them and at their Charges re-edified and deliver'd up into Your Majesties hands to be duly put into the Government under Your Majestie and Your Laws of your good Protestants And that all Strengths and Fortifications made and set up by the said Confederates since the said Rebellion may be slighted and thrown down or else deliver'd up and disposed of for Protestant Government and Security as aforesaid 17. That according to the Presidents of former times in cases of General Rebellions in Ireland the Attainders which have been duly had by Outlawry for
and weakly attempted though that was not as it seems to determin here but as a place more combustible and fit for fewel to extend to Ireland carefully provided against by Proclamations if not since relaxed The Management of which Affairs fell to be very difficult on those then at the Helm which I cannot but say some might have more easily carried on yet when it shall be impartially considered I believe the caution and prudence of the State then will in their Acts to Posterity appear more significant and valuable than Malice or ingratitude can justly sully them with Besides what Exigences what Misapprehensions what Straights did these daily encounter in their own and the State Affairs supportable by none that had not been of an even and great Courage is not to be passed over Yet as to the Integrity of their Service few ever waded through their Task with greater Acquiescency what ever hath been their misfortune to be censur'd at Pleasure That being their aim which was their Glory His Majesties Honour and the Protestants Support how slenderly soever the Merit of that Service hath been since looked on in their Posterity To whom little hath been indulg'd Praeter Nomen Famam ea quoque a multis calcata And as then so since the State hath labour'd under great Difficulties many pangs and throws to Establish the Settlement of Ireland witness all those Interests which his Majesty in his Declaration for the Settlement of Ireland crouding one upon another carefully and with singular caution as well provided for as could reasonably be expected after so great Troubles and Confusions and such blessed Circumstances of his Restauration Though how observed by the Court of Claims is not my work to insist on that having been with singular Perspicuity and Judgment spoken to at large by the Speaker of the House of Commons in Ireland and since then by the Adventurers Case Stated c. The state of the Question arising chiefly from the distinction of Nocent and Innocent In reference whereunto First some were to be considered as fit to be restored to their Estates who not only gave early evidences of their Crimes but also persever'd in their Loyalty As 2. others who submitted to the Peace without Apostacy And 3. such as being transported into Foraign Parts united and served his Majesty through many difficulties and accepted not of other satisfaction As 4. others who in an especial manner merited the restoring of their Estates which Grace and unparalel'd Favour whether sufficiently refflected or no by the Confederates took off many of those who by the Declaration were to be Nocent as all of the Rebels Party before 1643. As also such as enjoy'd their Estates in the Rebels Quarters except the Inhabitants of Cork and Youghall or those who entred into the Roman Catholick Confederacy before the Peace 1648. adhering to the Nuncio opposing the Kings Authority Excommunicating such as adhered to the King impowering Commissioners to treat with any Papal Power or bringing into Ireland Foraign Forces As also such as had been Wood Kerns or Tories before the Marquess of Clanrikards leaving the Government on whom the Letter of Condemnation is writ in their foreheads as having been not only eminently Guilty of that horrid and unprovoked Rebellion but also active in the very Conduct of it as Generals Lieutenants and Major Generals Councellors in the Supream Assembly c. though many of these since enjoy a plentiful Estate In this War the Souldiers were forced on many sad inevitable streights Yet their Gallantry Courage and Patience carried them on so unanimously as in all the Encounters they had with the Rebels as far as an honourable Person writ they never writes he receiv'd any Scorn or Defeat and what was more without any assistance either from the meer Irish or English Irish that were Gentlemen of Quality In as much as one who knew as well the Genius as the Progress of the Irish in his excellent Speech to the Lord Lieutenant since publisht in Print thought it no Scandal to affirm That amongst all the Persons that have been restored as Innocent we cannot saith he understand of one neither can we say upon our own knowledge and we come from all parts of the Kingdom that any one of them from the 23. of October 1641. to September 1653. ever drew a Sword against the Irish in Rebellion or ever assisted our English Forces in prosecution of them Nor is it to be thought strange That none of the Irish gave any assistance to his Majesties Forces for that besides those Decrees of Salamanca c. Cited by Philip Sullevan mention'd in our State of Ireland before the Insurrection To this History Mahony in his Disputatio Apologetica Pag. 43. having sullied much Paper in quoting Bulls against English Hereticks invading Ireland there insists upon it That it was then also to be added as altogether certain that the Irish are engaged by a Divine Human and Natural Precept unanimously to joyn to extirpate Hereticks and to shun Communion with them and much more to be obliged not to assist them with Aid Councel Favour Arms or any Accommodation c. against Catholicks which Principle of Mahony Walsh Fol. 741. tells us with his Book was condemned to be burn'd by order of the Supream Council of the Confederates at Kilkenny Yet we do not find whilst the Irish were themselves that in Detestation to Mahony's Principle they ever assisted the English nay Father Nich. Redmond Secretary to the Congregation giving Walsh an account of the Acts of that Congregation tells him That they were never formal ones seriously digested and couched by select Committees nor were they the Principal Scope of that meeting whereby it may be conjectured without violence to their good Intentions that their Censure on Mahony's Book was rather a Fucus cast on their present Complexion than any abhorrency thereof what at other times they Solemnly intended being ever seriously digested And for those who joyn'd with his Excellency after the Peace of 1646. who would be thought to have merited thereby after they had assumed a Contradistinct Government and in defence thereof maintain'd a War and which is worse a Cessation with Detention of his Majesties Forts and the Inheritances of his Subjects It cannot be said without the forfeiture of our Reason that their pure Loyalty but self-preservation engaged them thereunto For seeing how resolute the Parliament of England was to pursue that War their security could be no where but in siding with the King And that this not affection or sence of what they had done was the grounds of that Compliance appears in their subsequent Acts shamefully afterwards diserting the Marquess of Ormond fixing upon him incredible Scandals when he had exposed himself at their request to all the inconveniencies imaginable for their Peace and his Majesties Interest First parting with the English under his Command an evidence that those were
they whom they still endeavoured to root out and then ordering their Bishops and Commissioners of Trust to share in his Councels and the management of Affairs At last ejecting him as questionable before his Majesty for his injuries to them and his ill Government whilst they assumed the Management of all in acting That no Temporal Government or Jurisdiction should be assumed kept or executed in that Kingdom or any Province or County thereof other then what is approved or instituted by their General Assembly or Supream Council which was indeed the first Common-Wealth set up in his Majesties Empire And yet these are those who were receiv'd as Penitents to Mercy strange Penitents Who after so much blood and spoil of Innocents such sins against Indulgence and Oaths of Obedience and Submission were so far from satisfying their wrong doings that they were never brought to profess themselves Guilty whose Penitence seems to be only in that they fail'd to accomplish their evil in fulness Twice Conspir'd they a Peace the better to accomplish to the utmost what they might not need further Penitence thereby foolishly forfeiting all the Grace which they might have expected from his Majesty though amongst the General there were some who upon the Peace made with them honestly perform'd what they had promised to him though with inconveniency enough to themselves whose demeanour could not but be thought very worthy of his Protection Justice and Favour as they find fully enlarg'd in the Act of Settlement And here I cannot but take notice that though some would impute the Irregularity of these Proceedings to the Clergy only who indeed were the main spoak in the Wheel yet some of the Committee of Trust and of the Nobility who ever else were free were also privy thereunto how close soever they behav'd themselves as appears in their cherishing privately the ill Humors and Jealousies of the People and their averseness to punish the greatest exorbitancy wherein the Clergy were concern'd without the Cooperation of the Bishops whose consent they were sure never to have Indeed I dare not but say having it from an excellent Pen that some of the Irish Discent have in the late Troubles as in all Ages well deserv'd of the Crown though it may wrack the Memory of the strictest observer to enumerate many few having assisted the Protestants against the Mighty However great strugling there hath been That the Peace of 1648. should be inviolable whereas besides other important Reasons referring to their abominable Reservation That if those Articles of Peace were not in every particular for their Advantage performed they would not be concluded thereby It must be considered that when the King was necessitated to comply with the Rebels he was then under sad streights The odious Court by which his Sacred Life was afterwards taken away being then erected So as no body could wonder that he desir'd though upon difficult Conditions to get such an united Power of his own Subjects as might have been able with Gods blessing to have prevented that infamous and horrible Parricide Yet then in that Article of time the Irish prest for the conclusion of the Peace Whereas if they had been truly Loyal and Unanimous Generous Souls would never have took that opportunity to have enhaunc'd their Price But in submission to what Grace they might afterwards find freely have waded through the difficulties they were call'd to having long before promised a vigorous Assistance which they never attempted Though many of these since must confess that they have been as well provided for as after so great Troubles and Confusions and such blessed Circumstances of his Majesties Restauration they could reasonably expect And yet the bleeding Iphigenia that piece of Ingratitude and Scandal will tell you That the Body of a noble antient Catholick Nation Ireland clad all in red Robes is not now to be offer'd up as Victime but is already Sacrificed not to a Prophane Diety but to the living God for Holy Religion As if after all the Indulgence which hath been and is vouchsaf'd that Nation nothing attends it but Misery and Ruine a Trumpet certainly to another Insurrection But to proceed the success of our Armies considering the numbers they often oppos'd exceeds a common Belief in as much as some have extenuated the Glory of their Service by the Cowardliness of the Enemy who seldom made a noble or brave Defence save where an extremity reduced them to an exigence or a surprize made them cruel But on this subject Sir Francis Bacon in a Letter to the Earl of Essex going for Ireland observes That the justest Triumphs that the Romans in their greatest Greatness did obtain and that whereof the Emperors in their Stiles took Additions and Denominations were of such an Enemy that is People barbarous and not reduced to Civility magnifying a kind of Lawless Liberty Prodigal of Life hardness in Body fortified in Woods and Bogs placing both Justice and Felicity in the sharpness of their Swords It being a higher Point of Honour to reduce such to Civility than to be enrich'd by a Praeditory War I am sensible that the undertaking of this War hath passed with many as an opportunity to enrich the Servitour nor can it be denied but that reward is the just expectation of Merit But when it shall be consider'd at what rates Debenters were paid off what hardship the Souldiers encountred how many in Rebellion shar'd the mercy of a Gracious Prince what were the Difficulties attended all in Government it cannot be denied but more then a Praeditory War even the Establishment of a Religion and Nation the Irish would have extirpated the settling of his Majesties Rights and the reducing of a People loose in their Principles to Civility were the main Ends of this War to which his Majesty was forc'd by the causeless and inhuman Insurrection of the Irish In reference to which the Rebels being before prepar'd thereunto soon Marshall'd a considerable Force But though it was for their Altars and Inheritance as they pretended never any Nation fell under greater Pusillanimity which some impute to their want of Warlick Provisions their ignorance in the Discipline of their Army the lack of unity amongst themselves and the Supplies of the English ever found of all necessaries But certainly the greatest Defect was in the badness of their Cause which Conor O Mahon in his Disputatio Apologetica urges from an Ethnick Poet led meerly by the light of Nature is most material Frangit attollit vires milite Causa Quae nisi justa subest excutit Arma Pudor For it must be allowed not to be denied by the Ingenious that the Natives have Courage and Abilities sufficient few in their Imployments abroad proving better Souldiers more temperate better vers'd in the World or readier to be put on the forwardest Action Here I might enlarge much in the Encomiums of those who so vigorously oppos'd them though at length the Irish got
Courage or rather from the certainty of what they were sure to suffer grew desperate extremity forcing that no sence of Honour before could Animate And yet then the Conduct and vigor of the English appear'd such as the Rebels though in some skirmishes assisted by surprisals prevail'd they could never arrive at a perfect Defeat Here though I am sometimes lead to mention eminent Persons in their Places I am yet forced to omit many whose Offices and Names I cannot attain to which by their Prowess and Virtue would have added Date to the History And yet I know some Persons are so apprehensive of their Merits that not to express them in Terms aequivalent may be worse than to omit them willingly I insist on None with a Disrespect to others Here I cannot without injury to a Reverend Prelate but take notice what I find clearly and most eloquently exprest by Dr. Loftus Vicar-General of Ireland in a Speech at a Visitation in the Diocess of Clogher touching Dr. John Lesley Lord Bishop of Clogher who during the first fury of the Rebellion in Ireland vigorously oppos'd the Rebels and when Sir Ralph Gore a worthy Servitor at Machrebeg and many other British Inhabitants were reduced to great extremity by a long Siege and necessity of a suddain Surrender of themselves without hope of Quarter to the enraged Cruelty of the Irish He sallied forth amidst the Flames of the whole Country and reliev'd him at that time reduc'd to such Streights as they were forc'd to cast their dishes into Ball And the Laggan Forces consisting of three Regiments refus'd to hazard them for the Relief of the Besieged whilst the Bishop with his Company Tenants and Friends attempted their Relief and perfected it evidencing at that instant as much Personal Valour as Regular Conduct yet mention'd with much astonishment Affairs thus carried on its evident how the Royal Throne by whom the Army advanc'd is justly to be vindicated from those Calumnies some would asperse it with as if they had not proceeded by his Majesties Command So impudently did these Rebels affront not his Authority only in his Instruments at the Helm but thereby gave his Proclamation Speeches Acts and Vows the Contradiction And when his Execellency had made the first Peace with them notwithstanding his Majesties Letter To proceed no further in Treaty with the Rebels that Letter as Pernachief well observes having been sollicited by the Scots in whose Power he was then to make their War more valuable The Irish yet so ill managed that condescention as nothing in History equals their ingratitude that thence the Integrity of the Prime Minister of State being to them and his Master Signal their Defection remains a Blot to Posterity Indeed it is seldom seen that where a People by Insurrection obtain their first pretentions but they aspire to greater Whence it is observed of Hen. 7. that he was ever in the Head of his Army lest Rebels prevailing at the beginning they might soon rowl into an Hoast Nor is it found that ever he complied with their requests how plausible soever least they might be thought to purchase that by their Insurrection which they did not dare to impetrate by their Prayers Upon which Account it may be thought his late Majesty desired to go for Ireland Conceiving that the Rebels were capable of no greater Terrour than by the Presence of their Lawful King in the Head of an Army to chastize them though the consequence of it were otherwise apprehended and his Journey stay'd thereupon He not being so weary of his Life as to hazard it impertinently whereby the Parliament conceiving by a Commission under the great Seal of England that they had Power to Advise Order and Dispose of all things concerning the Government and Defence of Ireland wholly applied themselves to that Work till the unhappy Difference betwixt his Majesty and them fell so considerable as though they sent sometimes scattering Supplies the wants of the Army grew clamorous Yet in the end they so far prevail'd as to declare the Rebels subdued In accomplishing of which so many changes such variety of matter and several alterations of Scenes happen'd as a Pen arm'd with the Rhethorick of the best Historian is but sufficient to Register them to Posterity Inferior Pens being probable to lessen so considerable a Story However it is now fallen to my Lot it may be thought voluntarily indeed thus much I must alledge for my self that besides a strong impulse so many and considerable Persons have drawn me to it that without a more than ordinary Hardiesse I could not well resist their Importunity which if any judge too easie a Flexibility I submit to their Censure so they think the Work shun'd by many really necessary considering the affront some bold Pens have offer'd to the Sincerity of the State and their Gallantry who in Honour of the Empire have sustain'd the Insolencies of a sad and unnatural War which if I do not express answerable to the subject it may satisfie the Reader that my aim is to be intelligible and significant though rude and plain Amongst several encouragements I shall here only insert One from a Person better vers'd in the Language he writes than English Vir Clarissime TAntâ fide industriâ tantoque successu finem imposuisti operi diù expectato quod texit nobis Hibernicae Rebellionis Historiam quae coepit Anno a reparatâ Salute 1641. Octobris 23. Gratulor tibi hocce calamo quo è tenebris eruisti veritatem penè obrutam per hujus AEtatis negligentiam in apertum protulisti Non puto quicquam unquam horridius funestius sua origine suo progressu eventu excogitatum fuisse ab orbe condito quam quod machinati sunt Authores execrabilis in Britannos Protestantes quibus sola defensionis Arma erant in sua Innocentia cedunt huic Immanitati Siculae Vesperae Rabies Paparum in Convallenses Pidemontanos Laniena Parisiensis Non queo satis praedicare nostra tempora quae tulerunt te virum Qui vivis coloribus graphice depingeret exprimeret palam faceret Sicariorum coepta incoepta complexus facinora nefanda singulosque actus horrendae Lanienae In qua tamen tanquam in re benè gesta triumphant ejus Patroni Mahony Alii Satanicarum Artium Consortes perinde homicidarum percussorum Advocati ut ulterius animos addant contribulibus suis perstandi in Incaepto ut Haereticorum quos vocant Jugum semel excussum non admittant unquam iterum nec permittant sed potius Eligant sibi Regem Catholicum vernaculum seu naturalem Hibernum Qui Eos Catholicè gubernari possit quemadmodum Loquuntur in sua exhortatione ad Catholicos utique Jesuita Hibernus Mac-Mahon ut recte observat Walsh insinuavit quod liceat occidere non solum omnes Protestantes sed quoscunque Hibernos de Romanis Catholicis Qui starent à partibus Coronae Regis
read Perinchief Fol. 17. Line 30. read Consequences Fol. 18. Line 29. read Execrabiles An Account of what the subduing the Rebellion of Ireland begun the 23d of October 1641. hath cost and what Damage the Protestants there have sustained thereby and what Lands have been forfeited and disposed of to Adventurers Souldiers and other English and what to the Irish and now in their possession Abstracted out of the Accounts of Moneys in the Exchequer during such time as any regular Accounts were made up and by probable and rational Estimates for the time in which no Accounts were kept by reason of the general Rebellion and Confusion and out of the Surveys Decrees and Settlements made by his Majesty's Commissioners for executing the Acts of Settlement and Explanation in Ireland   l. s. d. l. s. d. l. s. d. 1. Moneys receiv'd and issued from the 6th of July 1649. to the 1st of November 1656. being 7 years and 4 months according to an Account thereof remaining as a Record in the Auditor-General's Office in Ireland Transmitted out of England in specie 1566848 13 4 3509396 17 0½ 22191258 3 0½ Assessments in Ireland 1309695 14 11½ Rents of forfeited and sequestred Houses Lands Fishings c. 161598 8 7¾ Tythes sequestred 135524 3 2½ Customs and Excise 252474 18 10¾ Preys of Cows Horses and other Goods taken from the Rebels and for other casual Revenue 083258 18      l. s.  Money issued in England towards transporting Armies raising Recruits buying and sending over Provisions of all sorts for the Army and other Moneys issued by Warrant from the then Council or the Committee of the Army in England which was not accounted for in Ireland the Warrants and Accounts being never transmitted thither of which there is a Reference in the account of Record in the Exchequer above-mentioned which is estimated to be as much if not more than the above sum of 3509396 l. 17 s. 0½ d. In that all Cloths Linnen and Woollen Stockings Shooes Boots Horses Saddles Arms Ammunition Tents Bread Cheese and all other eating Provisions were sent from England and the price thereof deducted from the weekly Pay of the Army and not brought to Account and so estimated as above 3509396 17       l.   The Charges of the Armies in the several Provinces of Ireland from the 23d of October 1641. the time the Rebellion broke out to the 6th of July 1649. from whence the Account is stated as above being about 7 years and 9 months when no regular Accounts were or could be kept by reason of the Confusion in which the Kingdom was by the Rebellion there may be by probable Estimate added without any Allowance for Provision of all sorts after the Rate of what was paid the Army after the 6th of July 1649. when Provisions were deducted 3760068        l. s.  The Loss of Rents for 14 years from October 1641. until the year 1655. reckoning the Land but at 12 d. an Acre yearly is 7608264 l. 6 s. and reckoning all the Corporations Houses and Tithes but at a Moiety thereof comes to 11412396 9  Besides the Loss by the Devastation of Houses Orchards Gardens Improvements Houshold-stuff Corn Cattel and the impairing the value of Land unto that time not to be estimated but in reason to be accounted as much as before is computed for all other Charges Losses and Expences if not much more the same extending to the whole Kingdom 2. By the Surveys of Ireland there is in Ireland as forfeited by the Rebellion and belonging to Protestants not forfeited of Plantation-Acres accounting 21 Foot to the Perch and 160 Perches to the Acre in the respective Provinces the quantity of Land hereafter mentioned   a. Acres Leinster  2603520 10868949 Munster  3255874 Ulster  2777875 Connaght  2231680 The which Lands are divided and distributed as by the Surveys and Records of the Court of Claims will appear as followeth  a.  To the Protestants and others that proved their constant good affection including the Bogs Loughs and Mountains in Ireland 6110292 10868949 To Adventurers 396054 2717549 To the Officers and Souldiers 1442839 To the Officers that served his Majesty against the Rebels in Ireland before the year 1649. 278041 To his Royal Highness the Duke of Tork as Regicides Lands 111015 To Protestants on Provisoes by the Acts of Settlement and Explanation 383975 To the Bishops for their Augmentations of which some have possession 118041 Reserved to his Majesty as un-disposed upon the account of Lewis Dyke and Thomas Conyngham being set out on fraudulent Adventures 14006 Left of course Lands un-disposed the Title to the greatest part whereof was doubtful 73578 Restored unto the Irish upon Decrees of Innocency 965270 2041108 Restored to them by special Provisoes in the Acts of Settlement and Explanation 408083 Set out upon their Transplantations of Connaght and Clare over and above what is confirmed to English Protestants who purchased Interests there from the Irish 667755 So that the Irish notwithstanding the Rebellion and their great complaints of losing all their Lands are restored unto and possessed of almost one half of all the Lands formerly accounted forfeited by the Rebellion Besides that the 2717549 Acres granted to the English hath cost as before besides the loss of hundreds of thousands of Men murthered by and killed in subduing the said Rebels the sum of 22191258 l. 3 s. 0½ d. And accounting the said 2717549 Acres to be worth 12 d. per Acre one Acre with the other yearly they will come to 135876 l. 9 s. which for the Purchase thereof at 10 years Purchase comes to 1358764 l. 10 s. After which Rate the Lands granted to the English and Protestants are not the 15th part of what the Money expended in subduing the said Rebellion would have bought and accounting the Devastations and the loss of many thousands of Mens Lives for nothing A REFLECTION Upon the State of IRELAND With occurrent Accidents before the breaking forth of the Rebellion 23d of Octob. 1641. THough we date the Conquest of Ireland from the submission of the Kings and Natives there to Henry the Second 1172. yet on a truer estimate we must conclude that Ireland was never really subjugated to the Crown of England till our Laws became as communicable to the Natives as the English whereby each Party without distinction grew up together into one Nation which was never effectually vouchsafed till after Tir-Oen's last submission at Mellifont to the Lord Mountjoy 1603. by which the minds of the People were broken to the obedience of the Law and after that became so pliable as near fourty years there seemed no material distinction betwixt the Natives and other Inhabitants each concentring in subjection to the Laws making up but one Jury living in mutual amity and friendship till Indulgence so far became a mischief as thence
Conspiracies hatch'd our ruine not discernable ere the Monster arriv'd at its Birth a Prodigy scarce credible in so vigilant a State Though when it 's consider'd how tenderly the great concerns of Religion the principal wheels of all Commotion in a State were handled the astonishment that things aspir'd to so much Villany may easily be unridl'd Towards the end of the Lord Falkland's Government there being great need of Money for support of the standing Army in Ireland and maintaining of 500 Horse and 5000 Foot much by extraordinary means having been otherwise disposed the Catholicks of Ireland glad of the occasion seem'd very forward to supply the State in hopes of a Connivance if not a Toleration of their Religion though therein they were onely to bear their share or rather offered their Mite with the Protestants which they improved to so great an insolence as the Lord Falkland with the Council was forced to take notice in a Proclamation dated the 1st of April 1629. That the late Intermission of Legal Proceedings against Popish pretended Titulary Arch-bishops Bishops Abbots Deans Vicars General Jesuits Friers and others of that sort that derive their pretended Authority and Orders from the See of Rome in contempt of his Majesties Royal Power and Authority had bred such an extraordinary insolence and presumption in them as he was necessitated to charge and command them in his Majesties name to for bear the exercise of their Popish Rites and Ceremonies Notwithstanding which their Insolencies afterwards so increased as that the power of the High Commission rais'd in respect of them being withdrawn they erected a new University at Dublin to confront his Majesties Colledge there continuing their Nunneries and Monasteries that thence many things were objected against the Lord Falkland's Government to clear which the Council of Ireland in his defence to the King the 28th of April 1629. declared That towards the insolencies of the Papists and the late outragious presumption of the unsetled Irish in some parts your Deputy and Council of late us'd particular Abstinence holding themselves somewhat limited concerning them by late Insinuations Letters and Directions from England And yet afterwards so mindful too were the Lords of the Council in England of what had been by the State of Ireland happily supprest that the 31 of January 1629. they return'd their acknowledgment and put the State of Ireland in mind How much it concern'd the good Government of Ireland to prevent in time the first growing of such evils for that where such People are permitted to swarm they will soon grow licentious and endure no Government but their own which cannot otherwise be restored than by a due and seasonable execution of the Law and of such Directions as from time to time have been sent from his Majesty and Council c. further encouraging them to carry a soft or harder hand according to their discretions Which I do not find but they prudently observ'd though all was too little to root out the Leven that had season'd the Batch during the Government of the then Lords Justices As Dr. Bedel the Reverend Bishop of Kilmore takes notice of at large with a deep and hearty resentment worthy his Piety Courage and Learning till the arrival of Thomas Lord Viscount Wentworth who by his singular Wisdom Courage and quick Intelligence so managed affairs there though some thought they were carried on too severely as doubtless the Nation in general was never more seemingly in obedience what ever afterwards was aggravated against that Noble Person whose behaviour was less pleasing to some men interess'd in the detection of their morose and sinister dealings than to the Nation which flourish'd under his Auspicious Government Reverence is that wherewith Princes are girt from God Yet then the contrivance of some Spirits was so restless as Anno 1634. being the 10th of King Charls the First they design'd to have engag'd the Nation in a War which one Ever Mac-Mahon an eminent Popish Priest privately discovered to some of the Privy Council at Dublin at whose feet he prostrated himself for mercy having with others been employ'd abroad to Foreign Princes viz. the Pope the Kings of France Spain and other Princes on that service as in the Relation writ by the Lord Macquire in the Tower is apparent the Design having been of as ancient a Date as the Isle of Rhee's Enterprise 1628. About which time the Earl of Tyrone and Cardinal Richlieu held an intimate correspondence though the King of France's Wars then in Italy frustrated for that time the Insurrection and Invasion Upon the discovery of which Ever Mac-Mahon seeming penitent had his Pardon So that the thing being onely treated of in general the prudence of the Governour giving the People no suspicion that he feared it and yet watched against it blasted their design The same Providence we may also believe this Noble Person had in the antecedent warnings which the Reverend Dean of Kilmore particularly mentions though he in reference to the Intregues of State mov'd not so visibly as to make every one capable of his foresight Prime Ministers are not to level their proceedings to the capacities of all who pretend vigilancy of the State yet thence during his Government all things in the Publick proceeded with a serene countenance so as the Lord Deputy Wentworth came for England and return'd into Ireland several times with his Majesties greatest Approbation and the Peace of the Nation Anno 1634. a Parliament was summon'd in Ireland by his motion 1. For that the Contribution from the Countrey towards the maintenance of the Army ended that December 2. For that the Revenues there fell short of his Majesties Charges 20000 l. yearly 3. That there was a Debt of 80000 l. upon the Crown 4. For that there had been no Subsidies but one since the beginning of King James's Reign and the People were now grown wealthy being continued in their Estates who ever had enjoy'd them twenty years By the Supply of which Parliament the Lord Deputy paid the 80000 l. Debt due from the Crown than which nothing was more to his Majesties Honour and his Servants Integrity in testimony of which his Majesty saith That they cannot but witness who know that Kingdom that during the Government there by Lieutenants of his choice that Kingdom enjoyed more Plenty and Peace than ever it had since it was under the subjection of the Crown of England Traffick by Sea and Trade by Land increas'd Values of Land improv'd Shipping multipli'd beyond belief never was the Protestant Religion more advanc'd nor the Protestants protected in greater security against the Papists Inasmuch as we must remember you the Parliament capitulating with him to nominate a Governour for Ireland that the present Rebellion was begun when there was no Lieutenant there and when the Power which had been formerly us'd in that Kingdom was question'd and disgrac'd when those in the Parliament there by whom that Rebellion was hatch'd
were countenanc'd in their Complaints and Prosecution And as to the Progress of Religion there receive from the Bishop of Derry this account in his Discourse of the Sabbath where having occasion to mention the incomparable and pious Primate Archbishop Usher he takes notice That having liv'd sundry years a Bishop in the Province of Ulster whilst the Political part of the care of that Church lay heavy upon his shoulders he prais'd God they were like Candles in the Levitical Temple looking one towards another and all towards the Stem no contention arising amongst them but who should hate contention most and pursue the Peace of the Church with swiftest paces inasmuch as if the high-soaring Counsels of some short-wing'd Christians whose eyes regarded nothing but the present Prey with the Rebellious practises of the Irish Enemy tied together like Samson's Foxes with Firebrands at their tails had not thrust them away from the Stern and chas'd them from their Sees with Bellona's bloody Whip They might before this time without either persecution or noise have given a more welcome and comfortable account of the Irish Church than our Age is likely to produce The last time this Noble Person the Earl of Strafford enter'd Ireland was the 18th of March 1639. when he arriv'd at Dublin Lord Lieutenant a little before having in an extraordinary Solemnity and conflux of Ambassadors and Peers been made Earl of Strafford at which time he appear'd in Parliament begun the 16th of March in the 14th of King Charles the I. expressing his Majesties Necessities in such terms as immediately Four entire Subsidies without further expostulation were unanimously consented unto the freedom of which added much to the largeness of the gift with which he rais'd 8000 Foot and 1000 Horse additional to the Veterain Forces which at the breaking forth of the Rebellion consisted but of 2297 Foot and 943 Horse And so having setled his Majesties affairs in Ireland he went for England to the Parliament at Westminster summon'd by his Mediation the 13th of April 1640. being attended from Ireland with the acclamations of the whole House of Parliament yet legible in a very remarkable manner in the Preamble of their Act of Subsidies Anno 16 Car. 1. yet afterwards we know his fate Never writes Perinshief sufficiently bewail'd by the King till the issue of his blood dri'd up those of his tears All the actions of his Government were narrowly sifted and though no one thing after the mercenary Tongues of the Lawyers had endeavour'd to render him a Monster of men could be found Treason many accumulated were so voted That him whom even now the Parliament of Ireland extolled as an excellent Governour and one for whose due and sincere Administration of Justice they had principally consented to so great a Subsidy they afterwards pursued as the cause of all their mischiefs and so by their Agents even those who afterwards complotted the Rebellion incens'd the Parliament at Westminster against him as they denied all that they had attributed to his Worth fixing on him what-ever might contribute to a praevious Government or the Kingdom 's impoverishment the state of which cannot be better clear'd than by what his Majesty in a full Council at White-hall the 27th of Ian. 1640. seem'd clearly to acquiesce in upon the Earl of Strafford's avowing of the Answer to the Irish Remonstrance against him ordering that a Copy thereof should be forthwith given by the Clerk of the Council to the Committee of Ireland then attending upon him since Registred among the publick Records Thus was this great Man accused thus justifi'd yet all was not sufficient to exempt him from the destructive Bill of Attainder suggesting His tyrannous and exorbitant Power over the Liberties and Estates of his Majesties Subjects in Ireland laying and assessing of Soldiers by his own authority upon the Subject against their consent saying also that he had an Army in Ireland which his Majesty might make use of to reduce this Kingdom meaning England as appears by the Act which passed the 10th of May 1641. His Majesty having Sign'd a Commission to the Earl of Arundel the Lord Privy Seal the Lord High Chamberlain and others to that intent which had an after Act vacating the authority of the precedent for future imitation sufficiently thereby saith his Majesty telling the World that some remorse touched even his most implacable Enemies as knowing he had very hard measure and such as they would be loth should be repeated to themselves And that it might remain to Potesterity to whom the Age is accomptable for her Actions what he suffered in his Trial and by what artifices he was brought to it the Act for the reversal of the Earl of Straffords Attainder Anno xiv Car. II. fully shows to which it may seem impertinent to add more Histories and the Occurrences of those times having presented his Actions at his Trial more significant than I dare pretend to such a Scene of Justice attended with that Magnificence in its Structure such Seats for their Majesties for Ambassadors and the most discerning Audience of England not being to be parallel'd Therefore I shall conclude as to Him with what his Majesty speaks in his ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That his great abilities were prone to create in him great confidence of undertakings and this was like enough to betray him to great Errors and many Enemies whereof he could not but contract good store while moving in so high a Sphere and with so vigorous a Lustre he must needs as the Sun raise many envious Exhalations which condens'd by a Popular Odium were capable to cast a Cloud upon the brightest Merit and Integrity c. Yet saith this Excellent King I could never be convinc'd of any such criminousness in him having heard all the particulars of his great Cause from one end to the other as willingly to expose his life to the stroke of Justice and the malice of his Enemies However He suffered on Tower-hill the 12th of May 1641. taking his death with as much Christianity as Courage though some account nothing Christian that is not Effeminate of whom we should say more but must refer the rest to what is extant in Print The 19th of May following Robert Earl of Leicester was designed by his Majesty Lord Lieutenant of Ireland newly return'd from his Embassy in France where he had discharg'd his Trust with singular Prudence and Courage as he had done before in Denmark and elsewhere The choice of whom exceedingly endear'd his Majesties Wisdom to the most knowing and intelligent Party of the Nation the Earl having been one never engag'd in Monopolies one of the Grievances of the Times or the publick Complaints of the Kingdom but being long experienc'd in State-affairs promised nothing save his Majesties Honour and the Kingdoms security Being thought by his knowledge in Martial Affairs and other his great Abilities to be no doubt abundantly capable to reduce the Irish to
the late exorbitances so bitterly decried in Parliament of Paper Petitions or Bills in Civil Causes to be brought before them at the Council-board or before any other by their Authority reducing by his Majesties approbation the Subsidies from 40000 l. a Subsidy to 12000 l. a Piece Bringing all things to that compliance as best suited with his Majesties Interest and the quiet of the Nation that if it were possible there might not be the least discontent or jealousie rais'd amongst the People and for a season all things seem'd so peaceable as never any Government was less excepted against Yet then in the end of the year 1640. his Majesty being inform'd of an intention to raise Troubles in Ireland commanded Sir Henry Vane his Principal Secretary to write unto these Lords Justices this Letter Right Honourable HIs Majesty hath commanded me to acquaint your Lordships with an advice given him from abroad and confirm'd by his Ministers in Spain and elsewhere which in this distemper'd time and conjuncture of affairs deserves to be seriously consider'd and an especial care and watchfulness to be had therein which is That of late there have passed from Spain and the like may well have been from other Parts an unspeakable number of Irish Church-men for England and Ireland and some good old Soldiers under pretext of asking leave to raise men for the King of Spain whereas it is observ'd among the Irish Friers there a whisper runs as if they expected a Rebellion in Ireland and particularly in Connaght Wherefore his Majesty thought fit to give your Lordships this notice that in your wisdoms you might manage the same with that dexterity and secresie as to discover and prevent so pernicious a Design if any such there should be and to have a watchful eye on the proceedings and actions of those who come thither from abroad on what pretext soever And so herewith I rest Your Lordships most humble Servant Henry Vane White-hall March 16. 1640. Which was delivered to the Lord Justice Parsons and since his death found in his Study and by Sir James Barry Lord Baron of Santry a right Honourable and worthy Person presented to his present Majesty who look'd upon it as a precious Jewel discovering his Father's Royal thoughts towards the preservation of his Protestant Subjects and People But how far it was at first communicated is uncertain though being of so great a Trust it may very well be believed to have been often reflected on with caution and prudence Certain it is that notwithstanding that there was an Item that there should be an especial care against levying of Soldiers for Spain yet Colonel John Barry Colonel Taaff Colonel Garret Barry and Colonel Porter had all Warrants to transport 4000 Men thither which several of the House of Commons in Ireland and England too with much artifice though with divers ends endeavour'd to prevent on plausible terms As that from the experience of what they might learn abroad they afterwards might prove ill Instruments at home whereas it was more necessary that they should be employ'd on Husbandry whereof that Kingdom had great need And many of the active men of the House of Commons in Ireland as Darcy the Lawyer Plunket Chevers Martin and others urg'd their stay with a passion seemingly much concern'd for that amongst many Reasons which I will not undertake at so long a distance positively to remember though I had the honour to be a Member of that House yet I cannot forget that their chief Argument was drawn from the Spaniards having long born an ill will to England and her Empire And therefore they did not know mark the insinuation how soon those very Regiments acquainted with every Creek of the Kingdom might be return'd on their own Bowels having naturally a love to their Religion which such an Incendiary as the King of Spain might soon inflame to the highest prejudice Which I the longer insist on for that the Collection of Murthers committed on the Irish published by R. S. 1662. would insinuate the better to invalidate the Abstract of Murthers committed by the Irish that the Catholick Members of the House of Commons in Ireland never hindred as that Abstract affirms the Transportation of the Earl of Straffords disbanded Soldiers into Spain purposely to advance the Rebellion which is clear they did Inasmuch as upon these and other Arguments their Transportation was deferr'd though if the discontented Irish Army had been disposed of beyond-Sea according to the Contracts with the French and Spanish Ambassadors it was very clear as is judicially affirmed that there could have been no Rebellion in Ireland the Pretence and Means thereof having been thereby taken away though some were of opinion that where-ever these Forces had been they could yet easily have been brought over again as others have been since the principal Heads of the Rebels Army being led by old experienc'd Soldiers who at the breaking out of the Rebellion were generally beyond-Sea as the Leimster Forces by Colonel Preston a branch out of the House of Gormanston the Ulster Forces by Owen Roe O-Neal both bred in Flanders Munster Forces by Garret Barry and the Connaght Forces by one Burck animated with their Cause and the Pope's encouragement And it cannot be denied that the promiscuous compleating of the Army lately rais'd of 8000 Foot and 1000 Horse in Ireland taught many of the Common Soldiers the use of Arms who otherwise would have been ignorant thereof And evil in Perrot's and Fitzwilliam's Government much took notice of and by Camden in his Eliz. Anno 1593. towards the end observ'd in the like case to be most improvidently done as afterwards was found the Irish being always disloyal to the English Upon which I cannot but reflect on what Antalcidas in Plutarch * tells Agesilaus of being sorely hurt by the Thebans That they had paid him his deserved hire for teaching them against their wills to be Soldiers who before had neither will nor skill to fight Certain it is that most of these Soldiers thus rais'd betook themselves to the Rebels Party although very few of their Officers if we may credit a late Historian were polluted with the crime Yet notwithstanding the Letter fore-cited and many troublesome passages in Parliament wherewith the Lords Justices and Council were not seldom alarm'd sufficient to waken their confidence no Cloud not the breadth of a hand appear'd but the Lords Justices kept a fair correspondence with the Parliament giving all the furtherance they could to the going of their Committee into England hoping that what his Majesty should be pleased to grant at their requests might redound to the common benefit of the Nation Neither did the Lords Justices or Council transmit unto his Majesty or any of the State of England any mis-reprehensions of the proceedings and actions of that Parliament as some maliciously insinuated in as much as a Noble Person a Peer in the Lords House said That the Lords Justices had
always cheerfully receiv'd their Requests and Messages and were ready to comply with them desiring that this their compliance might be entred in the Journal to the end that it might remain to Posterity Having by his Majesties Commission dated the 4th of January 1640. authority to Continue Prorogue or Determine the Parliament as they thought fit which liberty they indulg'd much to the freedom of the Parliament However being resolv'd as the sequel prov'd to pretend any thing rather than not to have some exceptions against the Government the Irish Parliament sent to his Majesty a Declaration therein magnifying the Six entire Subsidies they had given in the 10th year of his Majesties Reign and the Four Subsidies in the 15th year of his Reign pretending moreover that they had been ill presented to his Majesty which was clearly evinc'd to the contrary and several Graces vouchsaf'd them thereupon Amongst other things the State at that time found difficult to do the Disbanding of the new rais'd Army was not the least which the Parliament of England had great jealousies of and besought his Majesty that it should be dissolv'd In answer whereof his Majesty repli'd That the thing was already upon consultation but he found many difficulties in it and therefore told the Parliament He held it not onely fit to wish it but to show the way how it might conveniently be done However in August 1641. it was effectually perform'd for which afterwards the Lords Justices had his Majesties gracious approbation and the Arms and Ammunition were carefully brought into his Majesties Stores by the vigilance of the Master of the Ordnance the Lord Justice Borlase else certainly most of those Arms as well as the Men had been undoubtedly listed in the Confederates Army which many of their Party in the House of Commons in Ireland having an eye to made them so averse to have them Disbanded And the Plot proceeded being so cunningly manag'd by some of the Members of Parliament subtil in their insinuations that many of the Protestants and well-meaning people of the House blinded with an apprehension of Ease and Redress lying under the same pretended Yoak with the rest were innocently decoi'd into their acting violently with them Hence Sir Richard Bolton Lord Chancellor of Ireland was impeach'd of High Treason and others of the prime Officers and Ministers of State were Articled against yea some of the Bishops were not spar'd contrary to all presidents of that nature as was certifi'd by the Lords Justices to the Principal Secretary on search made upon his Majesties commands for that purpose So as besides some of the active men of the House Lawyers Darcy Martin Plunket Cusack Brown Linch Bodkin Evers and others took upon them with much confidence to declare the Law to make new Expositions of their own upon the Text as That killing in Rebellion was no forfeiture of Lands and to frame 21 Queries Which in a solemn Committee of the House Adjourn'd from time to time they discuss'd at their own freedom in the Dining-Room at the Castle disdaining the moderate Qualifications of the Judges who gave them modest Answers such as the Law and Duty to their Sovereign would admit and in stead of them vented their own sense as if the State were then in its Infancy and from them meerly to receive its Constitution as Sir John Temple observes resolving upon an alteration in the Government and drawing of it wholly into the hands of the Natives Sir Phelim Oneal making it plain in his Letters of Triumph to his Holy Confessor That his purposes were Conquest and not defence of Religion his Majesties Prerogative or their Liberty No! No King of England writes Mahony a Jesuit nor Crown nor People nor state of that Kingdom having at any time any kind of Right to the Kingdom of Ireland or any part thereof that the English Title to it was but meer Usurpation and Violence and that therefore the old Natives i. e. the meer Irish might chuse and make themselves a King of one of their own Irish and in the then Circumstances of Charles the First of England ' s being a Heretick ought i. e. were bound in Conscience to do so and throw off together the Yoak both of Hereticks and Foreigners Which Tenents being roughly drawn the Confederate Irish seem'd afterward to condemn forsooth in a Council of their own at Kilkenny Yet it is very observable and that from Walsh himself who says He can never forget it having extraordinary great admiration thereat That there was not one in the National Congregation met by an extraordinary favour the 11th of June at Dublin 1666. that open'd once his mouth for confession of any Villanies committed against the King at any time in the late Rebellion or Civil War or even to speak a word for so much as a general Petition to be exhibited to his Majesty imploring his Majesties gracious Pardon Notwithstanding the first Rebellion 1641. and what follow'd upon the Nuncio's access and the violation of the first Peace 1646. and the Nuncio's Censures against the Cessation with the Lord Inchequin and the Peace 1648. And the Declaration and Excommunication of the Bishops as James-Town 1650 against the Lord Lieutenant the Marquis of Ormond and those who obey'd him Emphatically enough exprest by P. W. No. 1. He enforces this Argument further There was no crime writes he at all committed by All or any of the Roman Catholick Clergy of Ireland nor even at any time nor in any occasion or matter hapen'd since the 23d of October 1641. that needed Petitioning for Pardon either for themselves or any other of the Irish Clergy if we must believe the Bishop of Ardagh Patrick Plunket pleading for them in so express terms and the tacit approbation of his words by the universal silence of that Assembly In pursuance of which the Protestant Commissioners of Ireland in their Answer to the Objections the Rebels Agents put in against the Preamble of the Bill of Settlement took notice that in the whole Volume of Papers which were put in by the Catholicks about that Affair there was not one grateful Acknowledgment or so much as one civil mention of his Majesties singular Condescention They having the favour to inspect that Act of Settlement and object as they pleas'd as if all his Majesty could do for them were no more than he ought And further it is these Commissioners observation That in all the Irish Papers they do not own the slaughter of so many thousands to be a Rebellion or once give the Title of Rebels to those who were the first Agents in that horrid and bloody Massacre which being not acknowledged by them more easily absolves the rudeness of their Ingratitude for his Majesties favours And a Person of Honour in his Animadversions on Fanaticism who deserves much for his excellencies in the case takes notice That no Catholick ever made any profession against the Rebellion or manifested his detestation or dislike of
it by any publick Writing that the Design seem'd a Birth acceptable to the Catholick Community And the Pope by his Nuncio afterwards to whom the general part of the Clergy and Natives adhear'd in effect maintain'd what Mahony had deliver'd for wholesome Doctrine accounting the Popes Bulls and Interdictions and Absolutions how long soever since publish'd still in the same force and vigour as they were the first day of their publication And it is very few years since writes this Honourable Person that upon the meeting of the Secular and Regular Clergy of Ireland before-mention'd to frame an Address to the King in testimony of their obedience disclaiming any Temporal Authority in the Popes the Court of Rome was so alarm'd by it that Cardinal Barbarin writ to them to desist from any such Declaration putting them in mind that the Kingdom of England was still under Excommunication And Walsh acquaints us at large of Mac-Mahon the Irish Jesuits printed Book of the lawfulness of killing not onely all the Protestants but even all such of the Roman Catholick Irish who should stand for the Crown of England and the Rights of the King to Ireland A Tenent agreeable to Salamanca's approbation of Oneal's Rebellion 1602. instigated by Pope Clement the 8th whereby it 's declared That all Catholicks who followed the English Standard against Prince Oneal mortally sinned And Osulevan the Priest in King James's Reign said It was a Doctrine fetch'd from Hell that Catholicks in Ireland should joyn with the Queens Forces which were Protestants against the Rebels Catholicks in Ireland and that such English ought to be no less set upon than the Turks So that whatsoever delusive Tenents have been broach'd of late as to perswade us the Adder is without sting the contrary hath been written in letters of blood not in his Majesty's Kingdoms only but wheresome-ever the Papal Power was exalted That persons professing the Reformed Religion are but Tenants at Will for their Lives and Fortunes and through Centuries of Ages it appears that as their Fleeces grow they are shorn till a time of slaughter be appointed That hence we may see at what we should have arriv'd had the Irish been fortunate in their attempt for though the loyal Formulary or Remonstrance highly magnified by some may seem a Bond of Iron it may easily by the Pope become weaker than a Rope of Straw During the Summer Sessions of Parliament already spoke of wherein the Heads of the Rebellion were closely complotting some under a suspicion that the Earl of Strafford's Servants in revenge of their Lord's death intended a Mischief to the Parliament mov'd the House and accordingly had Orders that the Lords Justices would let his Majesty's Stores for Powder and Arms be search'd which by a Committee they so curiously perform'd as they turn'd over several improbable Chests to find it out and when they had seen that there was none according to what the Officers of the Ordnance had before assur'd them yet they seem'd unsatisfied and repair'd on a new Order to the Lords Justices to be admitted to see the Stores of Powder and Arms plac'd in other Parts in and about the Castle To whom the Lord Justice Borlase Master of the Ordnance principally interess'd in securing his Majesties Stores answer'd That those were the King 's precious Jewels not to be without special Gause shewed assuring them further that they needed not to be afraid for that upon his Honour there was no Powder underneath either of the Houses of Parliament as at the Trial of the Lord Mac Quire at the King's Bench in Westminster was openly in Court testified by the Lord Blaney a great sufferer a worthy and gallant Person the said Lord Justice Borlase having at that time such a motion in his blood upon the importunity of that enquiry as he would afterwards often mention that action of theirs as aiming how slightly soever then looked on by others at some further mark than was thân discernable So that at that instant he denied them whereat they seem'd discontented as being left in uncertainty in what state his Majesty's Stores stood which they desired particularly to know the late new Army being disbanded then and their Arms brought in that if the Powder and Arms were not there they might find them elsewhere or if there then by the intended surprize to be sure of them and to know where on the sudden to find them In which search the Lord Mac Quire was a chief actor and very inquisitive Thus in order to their Design they made ready for the Business passing that Session of Parliament began the xi of May 1641. for the most part away in Protestations Declarations Votes upon the Queries the stay of Souldiers from going over Seas and private Petitions little to the good of the Common-wealth or advancement of his Majesty's Service whereof the Lords Justices and Councel having notice finding withal that the Popish Party in both Houses grew to so great a height as was scarce compatible to the present Government they imparted by a Message to both Houses the 14th of July following their intention to give a recess for some months the harvest coming on and both Houses growing thin Which intimation of a recess both Houses readily assented to so that the 7th of August the Lords Justices adjourn'd the Houses to the 9th of November following which afterwards the Members of Parliament aggravated as a great unkindness the Committee of Parliament being expected from England and arriv'd at Dublin near the end of August Whereas when the Parliament was adjourn'd and before there was no certainty of their Committee's return the Earl of Roscommon who few days before coming from England expressing in plain terms that the Bills desired were not likely in any short time to be dispatch'd as the Letters from the Irish Committee at London which this Lord brought over inform'd too and That they were daily about their dispatch but could not guess when they might have it Yet as I have took notice in August beyond expectation the Committee return'd upon whose arrival the Lords Justices and Councel desirous to give them all satisfaction imaginable sate daily composing of Acts to be passed the next Sessions of Parliament for the benefit of his Majesty and the good of his Subjects on which the Members of Parliament then at Dublin and their Committee newly arriv'd seem'd with great contentment to retire into the Countrey the Lords Justices forthwith sending Briefs to all the Ports in the Kingdom of the Graces concerning Customs commanding the Officers punctually to obey those his Majesty's Directions particularly what-ever concern'd Wool Tobacco as all other things of that nature wherein his Majesty had been pleas'd to gratifie the Committee They gave Order also for drawing a Bill for repeal of the Preamble of the Act of Subsidies They also desired Sir William Cole and Sir James Montgomery two of the Committee if they could ever take the Assizes in the County
of Ulster to give publick notice to all the Undertakers of what his Majesty had graciously granted and intended to them which accordingly they undertook to do the Lords Justices leaving as they thought nothing omitted which might evidence their compliance with his Majesty's gracious Intentions acting during this recess of Parliament so vigilantly and with that vigor in relation to all the Committee's Transactions in England and his Majesty's Service that they had little time if any to spare for their other occasions that if we reflect on their unwearied and faithful Endeavours it cannot but be imputed as the greatest act of ingratitude that ever a Nation was guilty of to calumniate such a Government which had been mainly instrumental to accomplish those Graces that Favour such Indulgence as never any of his Majesty's Predecessors would vouchsafe Yet then in the midst of this Condescention many of those even the major part which were Papists who had been thus graciously heard by his Majesty countenanc'd in England carassed at Court most treacherously conspired against his Crown and Dignity the original of this Rebellion being brought over deposeth Prisley of Mac-Mahon by the Irish Committee who were imployed by the Parliament to his Majesty for the redress of their Grievances in that Kingdom complotting thereby the most execrable and bloody Rebellion History can parallel improving their Neighbourhood at that time to a mighty access of Visits and Freedom especially in Ulster where the Irish seem'd to mind nothing else but Entertainment lodging under colour of friendship the night before themselves with those whom they intended to kill the next morning That with his Majesty in his Solitude I may say that That Sea of Blood which these Men have cruelly and barbarously shed is enough to drown any Man in eternal both infamy and misery whom God shall find the malicious Author or Instigator of this effusion And all this perpetrated not for Religion as with great industry they endeavour to make foreign Princes believe No! It was their inbred malice and hatred to the English which from the first Conquest to this present may by very sad Examples be clearly demonstrated all Rebellions to Hen. 8. his time that the Reformation in Religion seem'd more favourable being wholly to extirpate the English then with them all of one Religion as may be easily shewed in a constant Series of Affairs were not every History concerning Ireland full of this Truth with horrible Presidents of Treachery and Barbarism And since Hen. 8th's time that the Protestant Religion hath had greater freedom it is evident too as Cambden notes That their Rebellions sprung from their zeal to the Romish Religion and their malice to the New English not to leave one alive So that Giraldus Cambrensis his Character of them in his Typography is suspected to remain yet too great a Truth to which we shall refer you concluding this with what a late Historian in fewer words observes Hiberni magna ex parte fallaces sanguinarii faedifragi diversis micantes inter se factionibus alter in alterius viscera ferrum immittere quam cum hoste communi congredi paratiores To which we may add that of the Orator not more pathetical than truely That Ex omnibus Gentibus vix ullam reperias cui peccare flere magis naturale est But as to my own Inclinations I truely reverence what the judicious and learn'd Bishop of Meath in his Epistle to his Excellency the Earl of Essex Lord Lieutenant in his Sermon of Antichrist observes That the Irish of themselves were a People peaceable harmless and affable to strangers and in themselves and to all pious and good whilst they retain'd the Religion of their Forefathers Yet that we may come more closely to the Business it will not be impertinent to recount what Rebellions ensued upon Queen Elizabeth's Reign and since to the fatal year 1641. That the practice of the Irish formerly being summ'd up it may appear what seeds of Rebellion were ever sown in their hearts and soil ripen'd constantly as opportunity and season gave them hopes of a harvest all their submissions as Sir John Davies observes being meer mockery and imposture Nor are we now without jealousies of what may yet be were there opportunity for it writes that excellent Bishop before cited in the said Epistle Soon after this glorious Queen whom the Bishop of Rhodes calls one of the most Heroick and Illustrious Princes of her Age came to the Crown all the Interests and Powers of Rome were animated against her she having clear'd the light of the Gospel by dissipating the fogs and mists of Superstition so as thence the Spirits of Darkness rag'd every where the Confederates of the Beast exalting their Power 1. Anno 1567. Shane O-Neal rais'd a notable Rebellion in Ulster meerly in hatred to the English erecting a Castle upon Lac-Eaugh which he nam'd Feognegall i. e. The hatred of the English and prevail'd much till Sir Henry Sidney routed his Forces 2. The Fitz-Geralds in Munster 1569. to whom the Birns Tools and Cavenaghs joyn'd rag'd in Rebellion till they were subdu'd by Sir William Drury All Attainted by Parliament 27 28 Eliz. Of the Justice of which War an Edict was shortly after divulg'd which in respect of those Tenents yet maintain'd in the bleeding Iphigenia and is indeed the sum of all their Infelicity and Malice we have thought good to insert immediately betwixt the first and second Appendix 3. Hugh O-Neal Anno 1595. succeeded in his Villanies the War being call'd Tyrone's Rebellion till 1603. the War determining with that Glorious Queen Of which three Rebellions the Analecta de rebus Catholicorum in Hibernia publish'd Anno 1617. has summ'd up these notable and just Remarks 1. Praecesserat Spiritus grandis fortis subvertens montes conterens petras id factum est in famoso illo Dynasta Johanne Nealo initio Regni Eliz. instar saevientis procellae omnia provadente populante qui nec montibus pepercit nec collibus aut petris divina pariter humana miscens Post multas strages quas fecit accitis etiam è Conacia Momonia Primipilaribus quos sui Consilii participes fecit deinde post probra opprobria quae contraxit plurima cum vellet haberi restitutor Patriae Libertatis avitae Religionis quia non erat de Numero eorum per quos salus facta est in Israel Qui seminavit ventos non messuit nisi Turbinem Fatus ipse turbo impellens in parietem in vindictam Caedis antea per eum perpetratae filio Paterni Sanguinis ultore Scoto in Rixa Scotorum Hibernorum interiit itaque non in Spiritu tam praecipiti praepostero Dominus 2. Post hunc Spiritum sequuta est gravis Commotio quam suscitavit in Monronia Jacobus Geraldinus Mauritii filius cui accessit Johanne Geraldi Desmoniae Comitis Germanus frater ipse postmodum Comes Geraldus
from the Crown Multitudes of British were brought in and planted in great numbers even in the most barbarous Places of the Kingdom many corporate Towns have been erected some wall'd Towns have been also lately built Castles Stone-houses and Villages daily made in every part in great abundance Trade and Traffick so well setled as the obstructions therein being remov'd the native Commodities were so freely exported as they did to the great advantage of the Kingdom by far exceed the foreign Importation and all other necessary Provisions were made for the Publick which might be thought any ways to conduce to the Peace Plenty and flourishing Estate of a growing Kingdom And for the Irish themselves though they have ever been observ'd to be a whining Generation a People always given unjustly to complain of their Governours yet in these later times there hath been a most special care taken to preserve them free from all manner of Pressures They have had liberty beyond the examples of former Ages to redress their Grievances in their own Parliament being elected Knights Citizens and Burgesses according to the Affections of the Commons they had too of their Communion Lawyers bred up in England frequent at their Bar also upon their Bench Justices of the Peace in their Counties Sheriffs and Mayors and other Officers in their Corporations Favours not aspir'd to by the Catholicks of England or ever granted And in Cases where they thought fit to present their Complaints unto his Majesty they were graciously receiv'd and fitting Remedies applied They were admitted to enjoy the free and full exercise of the Roman Religion without controul to entertain Priests Friers Jesuits and all sorts of their Ecclesiastical Orders without number whilst the Protestants dissenting from the Regimen of the Church of England were frequently summon'd to the Bishop's Court. Justice was equally administred to the British and Irish without any manner of difference the Countrey Duties and other Taxes were levied upon all without distinction of Persons all private Animosities suppress'd all ancient Grudges remov'd and in all outward appearance they liv'd so affectionately intermixt together as they could not be esteem'd two Nations in one Kingdom but that they did Coalescere in unam Gentem And it is without all contradiction not to be denied That never any Conquer'd Nation enjoy'd more fully the Liberties and Priviledges of Free Subjects and through the great Indulgence of his Majesty liv'd with greater contentment Ease Peace Plenty and freedom from all manner of extraordinary Taxations other than such as they were pleas'd to impose upon themselves in Parliament than the Natives of Ireland have lately done Inasmuch as an Excellent Lawyer clearly evidences from 1601. to the year that he writ in That Ex illo tempore quantum creverunt Hibernorum Res desertissimae sollitudines in vicos oppida Conversae Itinera olim clausa Exercitibus nunc patent Viatoribus Portus Navibus Urbes Mercatoribus Agri Colonis fora Judiciis frequentantur nec siquid inter Cives controversiae inciderit ferro nunc ut olim sed lege Judicis Arbitrio deciditur Ipsae vero Gentes Anglicanae Hibernicae quae non solum studiis sed etiam Castris olim dissidebant nec ullo faedere tenebantur sed alteri alterum utcunque occidere jus erat sublatis nuper Hostilitatis legibus in unum populum coaluerunt nec Commercia nunc Convivia verum Conjugia inter ipsos celebrantur adeoque aequo Jure pari lege eadem Conditione absque omni Gentis discrimine sub justissimo Rege vivitur ut nec Angli se vicisse nec Hiberni victos se esse sentiant That hence ensued the calmest and most universal Peace that ever was seen in Ireland it being not to be produc'd that after the Irish were receiv'd into the Condition of Subjects without difference and distinction which was in the Parliament begun at Dublin under the Lord Chichester the 18th of May Anno Regni Jacob. 11. that ever the English in Ireland offer'd the least violence to any of the Natives eo Nomine Papists or Irish yet nothing could keep them from Rebelling the Corn being then full ear'd And so we are arriv'd at the Rebellion which as you have read hath had many steps to its Rise which we shall now pursue in its Progress and Success The Irish Rebellion 23. Octob. 1641. THE first dark Light of which Sir William Cole the 11th of October 1641. gave the Lords Justices and Council notice of As that there was a great Resort made to Sir Phelim O Neals in the County of Tyrone as also to the House of the Lord Mac-Guire in the County of Fermanagh and that by several suspected Persons fit Instruments for Mischief As also that the said Lord Mac-Guire had of late made several Journeys within the Pale and other Places and had spent his time much in writing Letters and sending Dispatches abroad Upon the receipt of which Intelligence the Lords Justices and Council writ to Sir William Cole requiring him to be very vigilant and industrious to find out what should be the occasion of those several Meetings and speedily to advertise them thereof or any other particular that he conceiv'd might tend to the publick service of the State And more than this rationally could not have been done for that what Sir William Cole inform'd the State of was but conjectural and had any notice been took publickly of it whereby Sir Phelim O Neal or the Lord Mac-Guire had been seiz'd on the same would certainly have been a pretended cause for the Irish ready Touch-wood to have risen in Arms being suspected before they manifested any dis-satisfaction Besides there was some so unwilling to receive the least mis-conceit of the Irish believing Time had worn out all Animosities and the State had secur'd each Interests as they us'd the utmost artifice imaginable to suppress those thoughts in others That thence more than a circumspect eye was not to be advis'd Some say one John Cormack reveal'd to Sir William Cole the 21. of October That the Irish resolv'd to seize upon his Majesties Castle and City of Dublin to murder his Lords Justices and Council there and to seize upon all the Castles and Forts of the Kingdom c. Which Sir William Cole the same day sent the Lords Justices notice of As others from an Ultogh would infer That they had inform'd the State thereof and that Sir Lucas Dillon thereupon had been summon'd before them and told that they had heard something of him and others in Connaght that made their fidelity suspected which with a sober countenance and solemn protestation Arts he had been long bred to he soon wiped off So saith my Author that for our sins our Counsellors were infatuated and our Watch-men slumber'd But Sir John Temple whose Integrity over-weighs all Assertions to the contrary testifies That those Letters and Informations never came to their knowledge and that indeed
rest to disobedience that they adjudged them less worthy of favour than the others whom they had misguided And therefore for those principal Persons they required them to take care not to be too forward without first consulting the Counsel-board in proffering or promising mercy to those unless they the said Commissioners saw it of great and unavoidable necessity They likewise writ to the Lords Presidents of Munster and Connaght advising them to be upon their Guards And that several of the Catholick Communion might not say but that they also were confided in the Lords Justices who were willing to continue all proofs imaginable of their confidence in them gave in November several Commissions of Government to the Lord Gormanston in Meath the Lord Mountgarret in Kilkenny Nicholas Barnewell in Dublin Walter Bagnall in Caterlagh the Lord Lowth in Lowth Sir Thomas Nugent in Westmeath Sir Robert Talbot in Wickloe the two Sir Dillon's in Longford and several others as well in Munster as Connaght and Ulster who contrary to the trust reposed in them not forbore to protect or endeavour'd to reduce any but soon after joyn'd with the Rebels and prov'd as violent if not worse against the Protestants as those who first appear'd in the Rebellion And because the Times required something extraordinary beyond the course of Common-Law the Lords Justices and Councel gave several Commissions of Martial-Law to the prime Gentlemen of the Pale all Roman Catholicks as to Henry Talbot in the County of Dublin John Bellew Esq in the County of Lowth Richard Dalton and James Tuit Esq in the County of Westmeath Valerian Wesley in the County of Meath James Talbot in the County of Cavan And understanding of Sir O-Neal's proceedings in Ulster the only person remaining of nearest alliance to the Earl of Tyrone how that he had surprized Charlemont where the Lord Caufield lay with his Foot-Company afterwards basely butcher'd by him the Lords Justices endeavour'd to reduce many to their obedience But the root of their Design being deeplier laid than on threats or encouragements to frustrate their hopes the Lords Justices hourly endeavour'd to fortifie his Majesty's Interests wih the most powerful Forces they could raise But in the interim the Magistrates of the City of Dublin perceiving great numbers of Strangers to come to Town from several Parts lingring in the Suburbs and Fields to the terror of the Inhabitants they repair'd to the Councel Board with much fear and astonishment beseeching the Lords Justices and Councel to inhibit the same lest the concourse of people promiscuously gathering in such a crowd might threaten the security of the City Whereupon their Lordships considering somewhat more than ordinary must necessarily be done in such an exigence caus'd some to be apprehended and immediately publisht a Proclamation in his Majesty's Name commanding all Persons not Dwellers in the City and Suburbs to depart within an hour after publication thereof upon pain of death in the interim and afterwards receiving all who applied themselves to the Lords Justices with singular friendship and integrity But the Magistrates growing still jealous of the concourse of people applied themselves again to their former refuge Whereupon the State that the Inhabitants might receive no dis-encouragement who were like to bear the brunt of all Taxes Levies and Supplies the 28th of October publisht a Proclamation to the same intent with the former with the penalty of death to such as wilfully harbour'd them However the Insolencies of the Rebels threatning even Dublin it self most of the prime Gentry of the County Justices of Peace looking on in all places and giving way to those hateful actions the State having intelligence from Dr. Jones a Service very remarkable that during his imprisonment amongst the Rebels at Cavan which ripen'd his integrity highly improv'd to the Service of the State they intended to besiege Tredath the Lords Justices the better to divert them from Dublin appointed Sir Henry Tichborn Col. and Governour of that Town Sir Faithfull Fortescue the former Governour finding Supplies not hastned with that speed he desir'd having resign'd up his Commission not being willing to lose his Reputation though he was forward enough to hazard his Person So the Lords Justices designing the said Sir Hen. Tichborn a Company of Foot and to compleat his Regiment order'd Sir John Borlase Junior Capt. Lt. Col. Byron Capt. Lt. Col. Wenmond Capt. Who though they had been all in former Employments Field-Officers yet out of their zeal to the present Service came as private Captains Jacob Lovell Serjeant Major who died in the Siege Capt. Chichester Fortescue Capt. William Willoughby Capt. Edward Billingsley Capt. Lewis Owens Capt. John Morris to associate him These they sent from Dublin the 3d. of November who happily arriv'd at Tredath the 4th having been enabled thereunto by 3000 l. most opportunely in the hands of the Vice-Treasurer intended before the Rebellion for the satisfaction of a publick Engagement in England Besides these there was sent Troops under Capt. John Slaughter Lt. to Sir Thomas Lucas Commissary-General Thomas Greimes Lt. to Sir Adam Loftus besides others which in their due time may be taken notice of These being gone to Tredath Sir Charles Coote had a Commission for a Regiment of the poor stripped English so likewise had the Ld. Lambert A little while after arriv'd from England Sir Thomas Lucas who commanded a Troop compleated with such Men as he found there also Capt. Armstrong rais'd a Troop Capt. Tardner soon after landed Lt. to the Ld. Lieutenant's Troop all very considerable not long after Col. Crafford came over also and bringing with him Letters from the Prince Elector then attending his Majesty in Scotland also rais'd a Regiment of the Townsmen and the poor dispoil'd English The State at that time had store of Arms and Ammunition by which these Souldiers and the rest were seasonably furnisht though as I have took notice what in confidence of the Loyalty of the Pale the Lords Justices had furnish'd many of the Lords and Gentlemen of Quality with were either slenderly if ever restor'd or made serviceable against his Majesty Yet for all this the Outrages of the Rebels still increasing adding to their Cruelties a pretended Commission under the Great Seal of Scotland from the King bearing date at Edinburgh the first of October 1641. though in his Majesty's Declaration to the Parliament's Resolution of no further Addresses it appears That the Scot's Great Seal which is said thus to be made use of had for many months before and after that date never seal'd any thing of which notwithstanding Sir Phelim O Neal and Rorie Mac-Guire from the Camp at Newry the 4th of November following gave notice to their Confederates within the Kingdom of Ireland incloseing in their Letters a Copy of the Commission a Copy of which is extant but so improbable as it needs an expiation to mention it the Lord Mac-Guire equally privy to all Transactions
July 1642. to Philip Mac-Hugh Mac-Shane O Relie and others on honourable Conditions Sir Francis Hamilton the Lady Craig Sir Arthur Forbes Baronet and others march'd thence with credible Articles faithfully set down by Dr. Jones in his Relation of the Rebellion in Cavan worthy perusal Those with others that came from these Castles were 1340 in number who being convey'd towards Tredath were all received by Sir Henry Tichbourn eight miles from Tredath and afterwards dispos'd of as was most convenient One of the Places most considerable in this County first surpriz'd was Cloughouter whereof Arthur Culme Esq was his Majesties Captain a Fort certainly of great strength environ'd with a deep Water and distant from shore more than Musket-shot in which the Lord Bishop of Kilmore Dr. Bedel was imprison'd though afterwards Exchang'd by Sir James Craigh and contrary to Articles seiz'd on again who died near Kilmore about the midst of March 1641 and was buried in the Cathedral Church-yard a worthy Person as formerly we had occasion to take notice of One of the brightest Lights of that Church both for Learning and a shining Conversation and in his constant diligence in the Work of the Ministery a Pattern to others In the beginning of the Troubles in this County Captain Richard Rives Commander in Chief of Sir John Borlase Lord Justice his Troop Garrison'd at Belturbet acted very close and gallantly attending the English with much faithfulness till by the command of the State who suspected his surprizal he was recall'd to Dublin marching thither through the Enemy over many dead Bodies that with Famine had perish'd in the way performing afterwards being Sir Borlase's Junior's Lieutenant Colonel very many honourable services as at Athboy near Trim with the Lord Lisle where they notoriously beat up the Rebels Quarters as else-where viz. Kells Carickmacros the Earl of Essex's Castle in Monaghan which they took from the Rebels with a considerable advantage in October 1642. highly deserving the publick notice though since he was unfortunately put away heading Colonel Penruddock's and Sir Wagstaff's Party in the West of England about the 14th of March 1654. And now by reason that more People flock'd to the City and that the Lords Justices and Council had frequent intelligence from several parts of the insolent proceedings of the Rebels against the British and Protestants in the Borders of the Pale as well as the adjacent Counties they the xi of November prohibited the access of unnecessary Persons not any way restraining such as by their Quality or Business gave no grounds of Exceptions as by the Act it self is evident which you will find in the Appendix However there were some venom'd with the vigilancy of the State who endeavour'd to cast a blemish on this Proclamation though afterwards it appear'd to be his Majesties sense in his Letters to the Lords Justices in December following Yet the 16th of November the Parliament freely met according to the Adjournment Mr. Darcy Mr. Burk and other active Members of the House of Commons having exceedingly importun'd the same the deferring thereof being as they urg'd it an injury to the whole Nation as hindring them from expressing their Loyal affections to his Majesty and shewing their desires to quell this dangerous Rebellion withall engaging that there should be on their meeting a clear Protestation against the Rebels else for fear there should have been some prejudice to the State by the concourse of People at that time the State was once resolved having power from his Majesty so to do by a Proclamation of the 27th of October to have deferr'd the Parliament to the 24th of February next ensuing for several causes therein mention'd but especially for that his Majesty desir'd the Lord Lieutenant should be there As by another Proclamation the same 27th of October the Lords Justices and Council had adjourn'd Michaelmass-Term To avoid in that exigency those great and manifold perils and dangers that might have ensu'd to the State by such concourse of People out of all the parts of the Kingdom unto the City of Dublin as the holding of the Term would necessarily require by reason of the late most disloyal and detestable Conspiracy plotted by a multitude of evil-affected meer Irish Papists But however the Parliament met And here it was visible that more were tainted with the Infection than appear'd in Rebellion Lord what artifice what cunning what varnish was put upon all the Rebels actions and cruelties Those who seem'd to be most affected with the Insurrection cover'd it with such a vail treated of it so nicely with such tenderness as if they themselves being all indeed of the Conspiracy had been to participate immediately of the Punishment as well as they were clandestinely involved in the Plot By always contesting that they might not be called Traitors and Rebels being privy to what themselves had formerly with these Rebels contrived to be done And fearing it might move the Rebels to recriminate writes a most judicious Instrument of State That the Appellation of discontented Gentlemen was the worst that could be wrung from them till One heartily detesting the Fig-leaves thrown over this nakedness told the Speaker That though he had not arriv'd at that consistency of years as that his words might challenge there an audience Days should speak and multitude of years should teach wisdom yet he could not but observe many passages in that Assembly too like Catilines in the Senate and therefore moved that it might not be told in that House or publish'd at Askelon that so general a Revolt accompani'd with such horrid and barbarous circumstances should be took notice of with a more favourable expression than Treason and Rebellion He added further That he did not know but that that was the season wherein they were cast on their trial whether Allegiance or Rebellion God or the Pope were to be own'd And that as to any thing that might soften the Rebels he conceiv'd they were harden'd with so much villany that they esteem'd all things justifiable that were attainable Iram atque animos à crimine sumunt And therefore it was fit that that House should act as sensible of the Rebels cruelties and trust God to vindicate his and his Peoples Cause Upon which and other Arguments too shameful for them to palliate the Parliament discovered their Resentment in these words The Protestation and Declaration of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament assembled WHereas the happy and Peaceable Estate of this Realm hath been of late and is still interrupted by sundry Persons ill affected to the Peace and Tranquility thereof who contrary to their Duty and Loyalty to his Majesty and against the Laws of God and the fundamental Laws of this Realm have traiterously and rebelliously rais'd Arms seiz'd upon his Majesties Forts and Castles and dispossess'd many of his faithful Subjects of their Houses Lands and Goods and have slain many of them and committed other
many other testimonies of their Conjunctions that which is confirm'd by a very credible Person of Colonel Richard Plunket of Dunsaghly in the County of Dublin within the Pale one destin'd for the taking of the Castle of Dublin who affirm'd openly That he had a Contract under the hands of all the Lords of Ireland that were Catholicks to stand firm in this Insurrection most of their actions confirming his words And Relie's Wife told James Talbot a Person of eminent note amongst them That if those of the Pale would have let them alone and not set them on work they were so well at ease as they would never have begun that troublesome task Upon which it is evident though Some would insinuate the contrary that both the old Irish and old English what ends they would severally pretend to have centred in the destruction of the Protestants and that the old English Papists were a little backwarder than the Irish was in that they had something more to loose than the other and so would put them first upon the work wherein themselves were equally engag'd Which the Lords Justices and Councel perceiving writ the 3d. of Decemb to the Earl of Fingal the Lord Viscount Gormanston and the rest of the Lords of the Pale To come to Dublin and consult for the safety of the Kingdom Luke Nettervile and others having caus'd Proclamation to be made at Lusk twelve miles from Dublin that all the Gentry of the County should upon pain of death meet within three or four days at Swoards within six miles of Dublin which accordingly they did constituting Captains Richard Golding Thomas Russel Francis Russel Robert Travers Christopher Hollywood and other Commanders their Militia amounting on that short warning to 1200. which would have been impossible to have rais'd had they not before been Armed and instigated to that Cause Upon which these Lords of the Pale Conspirators with the first return'd to the Lords Justices the 7th of Decemb. this Answer receiv'd the 11th May it please your Lordships WE have received your Letters of the 3d. instant intimating that you had present occasions to confer with us concerning the present state of the Kingdom and the safety thereof in these times of danger and requiring us to be with you there on the 8th of this instant We give your Lordships to understand that we have heretofore presented our selves before your Lordships and freely offered our advice and furtherance towards the particulars aforesaid which was by you neglected which gave us cause to conceive that our Loyalty was suspected by you We give your Lordships further to understand that we have receiv'd certain advertisement that Sir Charles Coote Knight at the Council-board hath offered some speeches tending to a purpose and resolution to execute upon those of our Religion a general Massacre by which we are all deterr'd to wait on your Lordships not having any security for our safety from those threatned evils or the safety of our lives but do rather think it fit to stand upon our best guard until we hear from your Lordships how we shall be secur'd from those perils Nevertheless we all protest that we are and will continue faithful advisers and resolute furtherers of his Majesties Service concerning the present state of this Kingdom and the safety thereof to our best abilities And so with the said tender of our humble service we remain Your Lordships humble Servants Fingall Gormanston Slane Dunsany Nettervile Oliver Lowth Trimblestone And Luke Nettervile Esq George Blackney of Rickenhore Esq George King of Clantarfe Gent. and others met at Swoards being charged on their Allegiance the 9th of Decemb. immediately on sight of the Lords Justices Warrant to separate and not to unite any more in that manner without direction from the State They instead of obedience to the States command return'd this answer That they were constrain'd to meet there together for the safety of their lives That they were put into so great a terror by the rising out of some Horse-Troops and Foot-Companies at Dublin who kill'd four Catholicks for no other reason than that they bore the name of that Religion as they durst not as they pretended stay in their houses and therefore resolved to continue together till they were assured by their Lordships of the safety of their Lives before they ran the hazard thereof by manifesting their obedience due unto their Lordships Upon which the Lords Justices and Council publish'd a Proclamation the 13th of Decemb. to satisfie the world of the innocency of the State from the guilt of any mans blood and concerning the four they alledg'd were kill'd as Papists they were such as were found faulty in rebellious actions of which one was a Protestant Commanding them furthermore on the allegiance to his Majesty to separate upon the sight of their Warrant and that Luke Nettervile and his Accomplices should appear before the State on the eighteenth of the said month to the end they may be fully heard by the State To which end the Lords Justices and Council thereby gave them and every of them the word of the State that they might then securely and safely repair thither without danger of any trouble or stay whatsoever And that the Lords of the Pale might not be less satisfi'd in what they objected the same day also the Lords Justices and Council publish'd a Proclmation and sent it to those Noblemen positively affirming That the Lords Justices and Council did never hear Sir Charles Coote or any other utter at the Council-board or else-where any speeches tending to a purpose or resolution to execute on those of their Profession or any other a general Massacre nor was it ever in their thoughts to dishonour his Majesty or the State by so odious impious and detestable a thing giving them assurance of their safety if they would repair thither the 17th of that Month. Yet notwithstanding these Condescensions or whatsoever else the State could do whereby the doubts of those men might be remov'd and their security ascertain'd still the Torrent of the Pale ran to make up the intended Deluge despising whatsoever security or faith the State was pleased to promise them Whereupon the Lords Justices and Council were enforc'd to send this Warrant to the Earl of Ormond and Ossory to send out a Party of Soldiers Horse and Foot against those that dar'd so impudently to affront them By the Lords Justices and Council William Parsons John Borlase FOrasmuch as divers of the Inhabitants of Clantarfe Rhaheny and Kilbarrock have declared themselves Rebels and having robb'd and spoil'd some of his Majesties good Subjects are now assembled thereabouts in Arms in great numbers mustering and training of their rebellious Multitudes to the terrour and danger of his Majesties good Subjects as well at Land as at Sea which their boldness is acted in such manner as to put scorn and affronts upon this State and Government they acting such depredations even before
our faces and in our view as it were in despight of us It is therefore order'd That our very good Lord the Earl of Ormond and Ossory Lieutenant General of the Army do forthwith send out a Party of Soldiers of Horse and Foot to fall upon those Rebels at Clantarfe and thereabouts who in such disdainful manner stand to outface and dare us and to endeavour to cut them off as well for punishment as terrour to others and to burn and spoil the Rebels Houses and Goods And to prevent their farther annoying any Shipping going out and coming in and lying in harbour those Souldiers are to bring up or cause to be brought up to the new Crane at Dublin such of the Boats and Vessels now lying there as they can upon the sudden and to burn spoil sink and make unserviceable the rest Given at his Majesties Castle of Dublin December the 14th 1641. Ormond Ossory Rob. Dillon Char. Lambert Ad. Loftus John Temple Char. Coote Francis Willoughby The Lords of the Pale however effectually endeavour'd to strengthen the Northern Rebels and thereupon declared the Lord Viscount Gormanston General of the Forces to be rais'd in the Pale Hugh Birn Lieutenant General the Earl of Fing all General of the Horse who in several Baronies rais'd Captains accordingly and Provisions suitable to every hundred men in a Company for their daily allowance one Beef and half a Barrel of Corn during the Siege of Tredath And that nothing might be wanting to straighten the State Nettervile and his Party being increas'd by their confederacy with Wickloe and Kildare the 15th of December sent two strong Parties to Santry and Finglass where they continu'd till the 22d of the said December when they were beaten by Colonel Crafford from Finglass two miles from Dublin after they had like to have put us to a shameful retreat Those at Santry hearing of Sir Charls Coot's approach saved themselves by a cowardly quitting of their Quarters leaving their best Equipage and Provisions behind them whilst near 300 men shew'd themselves at Clantarf a Village on the Sea-side about a mile and half from Dublin The Inhabitants strengthning the Rebels confidence with store of strong Fishing-boat having the day before spoil'd two English Barcks lying at Anchor near Clantarf in the Road of Dublin much to the disquiet of the Lords Justices and Council suspecting thereby that the Port to Dublin might have been blocked up Robberies also of that nature having been committed at Skirries twelve miles from Dublin and the Prey of those Barks carried to Barnewell of Brimore a prime Man as the Prisoners to the Lord Gormanston's who sent them to Balrothry sufficient to prove the Robberies Murthers and other Outrages committed on the British Protestants were by the allowance and privity of the principal Gentlemen of the Pale if not their command how speciously soever in their humble Protestation a piece of as much vanity as falshood against the States Proclamation the 8th of Febr. 1641. they would insinuate That none of the better sort had robb'd or pillaged any of them nor dispossess'd them of their Estates Whereas by the example of what is here produc'd the falsity of all they assert is clearly prov'd though further particulars without much sifting may easily be expos'd were not the story like to be tedious And the truth of these assertions may be fully read in the end of the Answer to the Eighth Article of the Rebels Remonstrance of Grievances at Trym 1642. Whereupon the Lords Justices found it absolutely necessary that some Forces should be sent against them at Clantarf which Forces were commanded by Sir Charles Coote the 15th of Decemb. who burnt the Village destroy'd their Boats and excellently well quitted the service injoyn'd him clearing that place of Piracy and Rebels Though in the interim Nettervile being frighted from Santry lay with near 2000 men at Swoards and possess'd himself of the Castle of Artain and some other places within two miles of Dublin On the West side of which at Tassagard Rath-Coole Castle-Lyons and other Villages there lay 2000 more of the Rebels out of the Counties of Katerlagh Kings County and Kildare under the command of Roger Moore and Sutton Eustace of Castle-Martin and others The Clandonells Birns and Tooles frâm Wickloe towards the Sea three or four miles on the South of Dublin came also down blocking up on all sides Passages thereunto their Forces in Lemster amounting to 20000 men So as the State being now put in eminent danger few hopes survived of her recovery The Naas and Kildare as Trim and Ashboy in the County of Meath being taken by the Rebels Which in a Letter to the Lord Lieutenant dated the 14th of December the Lords Justices and Council very emphatically express'd adding in the close That if notwithstanding all this so often and truly made known by us to your Lordship we shall perish for want of Supplies we shall carry this comfort with us to our graves or any other burial we shall have That your Lordship can witness for us to his Royal Majesty and all the world that we have discharg'd our duties to God to his Majesty and to that Nation and to this in humbly representing to his Majesty by your Lordship the chief Governour of the Kingdom the extremities and dangers wherein his Kingdom and People stand and the necessities of hasting Supplies hither by all possible means for preservation of Both so as whatever become of our Persons our Memory cannot be justly stain'd with so wretched a breach of Faith and Loyalty to the King our Master as to forbear representing thither the extremities wherein we are whether we have receiv'd credit to be believ'd or no and that we write truth and most needful truth will be found true when perhaps we shall perish and which is more considerable the Kingdom also for want of being believ'd and succour'd in time The Consideration of which long before presented to his Majesty wrought so sensibly on Him that being then newly return'd out of Scotland before the Letter mention'd arriv'd at the Parliament He took the first opportunity which was the 2d of December 1641. to tell the Lords and Commons in Parliament other things being rehearsed That He had one Particular more to recommend unto Them which was Ireland for which saith He I doubt not your Care yet methinks the preparations for it go on but slowly And being touch'd with the truth of what He had observ'd in this Business he came to the Parliament the 14th of December and thus exprest his resentment My Lords and Gentlemen THE last time I was in this Place and the last thing that I recommended unto you was the Business of Ireland whereby I was in good hope that I should not have needed again to have put you in mind of that Business But still seeing the slow proceedings therein and the daily dispatches that I have out of Ireland of the lamentable Estate of my
Protestants Subjects there I cannot but again earnestly commend the dispach of that Expedition unto you for it is the chief Business that at this time I take to heart and there cannot almost be any Business that I cââ have more care of I might now take up some of your time in expressing my Detestation of Rebellions in general and of this in particular But knowing that Deeds and not Declarations must suppress this great Insolency I do here in Word offer you whatsoever my Power Pains or Industry can contribute to this good and necessary Work of reducing the Irish Nation to their true and wonted Obedience And that nothing may be omitted on my Part I must here take notice of the Bill for pressing of Souldiers now depending among you my Lords concerning which I declare that in case it comes so to me as it may not infringe or diminish my Prerogative I will pass it And farther seeing there is a Dispute rais'd I being little beholding to him whosoever at this time began it concerning the bounds of this ancient and undoubted Prerogative to avoid further Debate at this time I offer that the Bill may pass with a Salvo Jure both for King and People leaving such Debates to a time that may better bear them If this be not accepted the fault is not mine that this Bill pass not but theirs that refuse so fair an offer To conclude I conjure you by all that is or can be dear to you or me that laying away all Disputes you go on chearfully and speedily for the reducing of Ireland A Charm one should think sufficiently powerful Yet the Lords and Commons in Parliament from his Majesty's Speech took great exceptions suffering the Supplies of Ireland to be retarded demanding of the King the Names of those who had counsell'd Him to take notice of any Debate in the House before it was from'd into a Bill whence began the Cry against evil Counsellors afterwards the pretext of the Misery that ensued Some Forces indeed the Parliament had sent to the Sea-side and others were on their March yet Winds and Tides Votes and Councels did not equally agree so as the Exigences by this means that the State of Ireland was cast upon almost split them Whereupon the Lords Justices and Council publisht a Proclamation dated the 28th of December 1641. Requiring all Persons other than such as had necessary Causes to Dublin such as the Lords Justices the Lieutenant-General of the Army or the Governour of his Majesty's Forces in the City of Dublin should approve or other than such as should bring Provision to the City to be sold should forbear coming to the City or Suburbs thereof upon pain of Death Which was done in time of high necessity Provision being scarce and few repairing to the City but what were Spies and Traitors And because what his Majesty had propos'd before-mention'd for the service of Ireland seem'd to have little effect he again sends a Message to the Lords House by the Lord Chamberlain the 28th of December That being sensible of the Miseries of Ireland the Succours for which went on slowly he offer'd to raise 10000 Voluntiers if the Commons would undertake to pay them A Proposition rather heard than consented to About this time Sir Thomas Carey and Dr. Cale a Sorbonist offer'd from the Rebels these Propositions to the Council Board for a Treaty First That there should be a Toleration of Religion Secondly That Popish Officers as well as Protestant should be admitted to all Employments Thirdly That the Wrongs of Plantations should be repair'd since 1610. Fourthly That there should be a Protlamation to take off the File the Title of Rebels and Traitors All which pass'd somewhat currantly till One then being absent through sickness hearing thereof repair'd to the Council Board though at that time much indispos'd and upon strong Arguments Arguments that would admit of no Sophistry stop'd the proceeding of so dishonourable a Motion so early did some endeavour to force on the State a necessity of complying with the insolent Demands of the Rebels by this faithful Minister of State confidently rejected And here that you may see what the Rebels afterwards thought the only means to reduce Ireland into Peace and Quietness we shall here present you with their Propositions methodically digested The Means to reduce Ireland unto Peace and Quietness 1. THat a general and free Pardon without any exception be granted to all his Majesty's Subjects of this Kingdom and that in pursuance thereof and for strengthning the same an Act of Abolition may pass in the Parliament here 2. That all marks of National distinction between English and Irish may be abolished and taken away by Act of Parliament 3. That by several Acts of Parliament to be respectively passed here and in England it may be declared that the Parliament of Ireland hath no subordination with the Parliament of England but that the same hath in it self supream Jurisdiction in this Kingdom as absolute as the Parliament of England there hath 4. That the Act of the 12th of H. 7th commonly called Poining's Act and all other Acts expounding or explaining the same may be repealed 5. That as in England there pass'd an Act for a Triennial Parliament so there may pass in Ireland another for a Sexennial Parliament 6. That it may be enacted by Parliament that the Act of the 2d of Q. Eliz. in Ireland and all other Acts made against Catholicks or the Catholick Religion since the 20th year of H. 8th may be repeal'd 7. That the Bishopricks Deanaries and all other spiritual Promotions in this Kingdom and all Frieries and Nunneries may be restored to the Catholick Owners and likewise all Impropriations of Tythes and that the Scits Ambits and Precincts of the Religious Houses of the Monks may be restored to them but as to the rest of their temporal Possessions it is not design'd to be taken from the present Proprietors but to be left unto them till God shall otherwise incline their own hearts 8. That such as are now entituled Catholick Archbishops Bishops Abbots or other Dignitaries in this Kingdom by donation of the Pope may during their lives enjoy their spiritual Promotions with Protestation nevertheless and other fit Clauses to be laid down for preservation of his Majesty's Patronages First-fruits and twentieth Parts in Manner and Quantity as now his Highness receives benefit thereby 9. That all Inquisitions taken since the year 1634. to entitle his Majesty to Connaght Thomond Ormond Eliogartie Kilnemanagh Duheara Wickloe and Idvagh may be vacated and their Estates secured according to his Majesties late Graces 10. That an Act of Parliament may pass here for securing the Subjects Title to their several Estates against the Crown upon any Title accrued unto it before sixty years or under colour or pretext of the present Commotions 11. That all Plantations made since the year 1610. may be avoided by Parliament if the Parliament shall hold it just
in any case whatsoever or to maintain or defend the same shall forfeit his Lands and Goods as in case of Rebellion Before which there was no pretence some thought to make the War a matter of Religion Whereas I do not conceive that that Clause is any more then what was in several Acts provided as Anno 28. H. 8. Capite 13. Anno 2. Eliz. Cap. 1. as elsewhere And by his Majesties Letter to the Marquiss of Ormond the 15th of Decem. 1644. is there specified That many Acts in favour of the Irish should be repeal'd but those against Appeals to Rome and Praemunire should stand That had not the Rebels first intended what afterwards they pursued that Clause could not have made them more obstinate Rebels nothing being in it but what was before in force Now besides other miseries which aggravated the unhappiness of the State at that time there flocked to the City from all Parts such as having escaped the fury of the Rebels sheltered themselves there of which by reason of the diseases they had contracted by their journey and ill usage there died many else prov'd a burthen to the City Which the Confederates of the Pale would have the World believe was mercy and Signal Humanity in them not to have imbrued their hands in the blood of any British Protestants When as the lingring deaths and Exigences these were put to exceeded any death which at once might have been inflicted though after the Siege of Tredath that the old English Papists of the Pale were driven into Ulster they as a meritorious act vaunted that they had killed more English and Protestants in Fingall then were killed in many other Counties for the discoveries of whose miseries and what besides others had suffered by the Rebels the Lords Justices authorised several Commissioners to state their Case and the state of the deplorable English by two Commissions the one bearing date the 23d of December the other the 18th of January both in the 17th year of his Majesties Reign whereby the Murders Losses and Cruelties committed upon the English and Protestants were discovered on Oath and presented in a Remonstrance by the Dispoil'd Clergy of Ireland to the Honourable House of Commons in England And lest the Remonstrance should seem the act of a few Persons highly interessed in their own Concerns it was accompanied with a Letter from the Lords Justices and Council dated at Dublin the 7th of March 1641. to the Speaker of the said House of Commons the Remonstrance shewing such depredations of Goods such cruelties exercis'd on the Persons and Lives of the loyal Subjects such wasting and defacing of all monuments of Civility with such Prophanation of Holy Places and Religion that by the most barbarous and heathenish Nations the like could not in any Age be found to be perpetrated of which I might say more having not yet forgot the cruelties legible in most Noble and antient Families But the day would fail us should we sum up what is in the Clergies Remonstrance Printed at London 1642. briefly mention'd to which and the History of the Irish Rebellion 1646. from p. 84. to 136 we must refer you that the Proofs of all may be before your eyes May they be writ on our Posts of our houses and our Gates that they may be looked upon and remembred for ever what Amalek did when we were faint and weary and he feared not God! Thus the State having to their power supported his Majesties Authority and the English Interest searching out whatsomever might fathom the bottom of this Conspiracy they being driven to great necessities trampled on by the Enemy not further able to support their own miseries When the last of December 1641. arriv'd at Dublin from the Parliament of England Sir Simon Harcourt with a Regiment of 1200 Foot a Gentleman of Good Extraction long bred in the Low-Countreys the School of War under Sir Horatio the Lord Vere that renown'd and Excellent Person one of the most noted and eminent Commanders of the late Age He was design'd Governour of Dublin much to the comfort of the Protestants and terrour of the Rebels soon after whose arrival the City being secur'd thereby the Lords Justices commanded forth Sir Charles Coote with such Forces as could be spared to Swoards about the 10th of January following the better to let them know how far the State resented their Insolencies whom no assurance fair or open Resolves or any free course could satisfie Sir Charles Coote found the access to the Village straightly block'd up yet so managed the attempt as he soon forc'd them to a flight beating them out of their Fortifications and killed 200 of their men without any considerable loss on his side more then Sir Laurenzo Carey second Son of the Lord Falkland late Lord Deputy a Gentleman of excellent and ingenious Parts well principled and one whose vertues and resolution promised much happiness to the State After setling of which Place Sir Charles Coote return'd to Dublin and ere long there arrived from England by Order of the Parliament three Regiments of Foot the Lord-Lieutenants Regiment under the Conduct of Lieutenant-Colonel Monk since Duke of Albemarle the second under the Command of Sir Michael Earnely and the other under the Command of Colonel Cromwell and two Regiments of Horse one belonging to Philip Lord Lisle General of the Horse and the other under the Command of Sir Richard Greenvile That now the English Interest began to revive the Irish being much disheartned thereby yet grew confident in their Allies and Confederacy they had made through the whole Nation to weaken which and vindicate his Majesties Honour the State received the 20th of January a Proclamation from his Majesty dated the first of the same month declaring them Rebels and Traitors and that it might want no solemnity to impress the greater Character of obedience His Majesty was pleased to Sign all the Proclamations with his Royal Hand affixing also thereto his Privy Signet a circumstance scarce presidenc'd The Original of which I have in my Custody Charles R. WHereas diverse lewd and wicked Persons have of late risen in Rebellion in our Kingdom of Ireland surpriz'd diverse of our Forts and Castles possessed themselves thereof surpriz'd some of our Garrisons possest themselves of some of our Magazeen of Arms and Ammunition dispossest many of our good and loyal Subjects of the British Nation and Protestants of their Houses and Lands rob'd and spoil'd many thousands of our good Subjects of the British Nation and Protestants of their Goods to great values Massacred multitudes of them imprison'd many others and some who have the Honour to serve us as Privy Counsellors of that our Kingdom We therefore having taken the same into our Royal consideration and abhorring the wicked disloyalty and horrible acts committed by those Persons do hereby not onely declare our just Indignation thereof but also do declare them and their Adherents and Abettors and all
those who shall hereafter joyn with them or commit the like acts on any of our good Subjects in that Kingdom to be Rebels and Traitors against our Royal Person and Enemies to our Royal Crown of England and Ireland And we do hereby strictly Charge and Command all those Persons who have so presumed to rise in Arms against us and our Royal Authority which we cannot otherwise interpret than acts of high Rebellion and detestable Disloyalty when therein they spoil and destroy our good and loyal Subjects of the British Nation and Protestants that they immediately lay down their Arms and forbear any further acts of Hostility Wherein if they fail we do let them know that we have authorised our Justices of Ireland and other our Chief Governour or Governours and General or Lieutenant-General of our Army there and do hereby accordingly require and authorise them and every of them to prosecute the said Rebels and Traitors with Fire and Sword as Persons who by their high Disloyalty against us their lawful and undoubted King and Soveraign have made themselves unworthy of any Mercy or Favour Wherein our said Justices or other chief Governour or Governours and General or Lieutenant-General of our said Army shall be countenanc'd and supported by us and by our powerful Succours of our good Subjects of England and Scotland that so they may reduce to obedience those wicked disturbers of that Peace which by the blessing of God that Kingdom hath so long and so happily enjoy'd under the Government of our Royal Father and us And this our Royal pleasure we do hereby require our Justices or other chief Governour or Governours of that our Kingdom of Ireland to cause to be published and proclaim'd in and throughout our said Kingdom of Ireland Given under our Signet at our Palace at Westminster the 1st of January in the 17th year of our Reign 1641. Which coming forth so late and but 40 of them onely ordered to be Printed was by the Parliament in their Declaration of the 19th of May 1642. interpreted as a countenance to that Rebellion in answer whereunto his Majesty in his reply to that Declaration shews That the Proclamation not issuing out sooner was because the Lords Justices of that Kingdom desired them no sooner and when they did the number they desired was but twenty which they advised might be Signed by us which we for the expedition of that service commanded to be Printed a Circumstance not required by them thereupon we Sign'd more of them then our Justices desired And that it might further appear how deep a sense his Majesty had of the Rebellion which called upon Him and his People of England for a general Humiliation of all Estates before Almighty God in Prayer and Fasting for drawing down his Mercy and Blessing upon Ireland His Majesty was pleased by a Proclamation dated at Whitehall the 8th of January 1641. Straightly to Charge and Command That the last Wednesday of every Month during the troubles in Ireland a Solemn Fast should be observ'd through his Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales shewing in his own Person and the Court and example thereof which accordingly for some years was observ'd and considerable Collections were gathered at most Churches that day for the miserable People of Ireland Several but especially Sir Benjamin Rudyard excellently speaking on that Subject which being much in a little accept of in his own Words Mr. Speaker THis Day is appointed for a charitable Work a Work of Bowels and Compassion I pray God we may never have the like occasion to move to stir up our Charity These miserable People are made so because of their Religion He that will not suffer for his Religion is unworthy to be saved by it and he is unworthy to enjoy it that will not relieve those that suffer for it I did know but the last year here in England some and they no Papists who were resolv'd to make Ireland their Retreat as the safer Kingdom of the two We do now see a great a dismal Change God knows whose Turn shall be next it is wrapp'd up in his Providence that which happens to one Country may happen to any Time and Chance comes upon all though guided by a certain Hand The right way to make a Man truely sensible of another's Calamity is to think himself in the same case and condition and then to do as he would be done unto Wherefore Mr. Speaker let our Gift be a matter of Bounty not of Covetousness that it may abound to our Account in the Day of Reckoning He that sowes plentifully shall reap plentifully I am sure he that lends to the Lord hath the best Security and cannot be a loser The first President of the Fast before-mention'd which usher'd in the Charity that succeeded was before it came to be Monthly by the Lords House kept in the Abbey of Westminster where the Archbishop of York and the Lord Primate of Ireland preach'd to the Lords as in St. Margrets Westminster Mr. Calamy and Mr. Marshall to the House of Commons Though when his Majesty afterwards found by the ill use made thereof that the Lecturers in their Sermons and Prayers stir'd up and continued the War rais'd against Him in England the great Promoters too thereof deserting the Care of Ireland He the 6th of October 1643. forbad it to be kept and instead thereof expresly commanded a solemn Fast to be observ'd every second Friday of the Month through England and Wales But to return to the King's Proclamation against the Rebels which the bleeding Iphigenia and others of that lying Spirit would have to be grounded on the information of a malignant Part of the Council informing his Majesty that the Catholicks of Ireland without discrimination had enter'd into a Rebellion whereas there was never any such general Information Nay in all the Accounts they gave to his Majesty they still intimated that they hoped the Pale and other Parts would continue their Loyalty affording the Lords of the Pale as other Towns which afterwards shamefully revolted Arms Ammunition Commands informing his Majesty only of what they had discovered in the North with the suspicions that they had learnt on Examinations from others which would have been Treachery in them to have conceal'd and grand Disloyalty Nor doth his Majesty take notice in his Proclamation of any other than that divers lewd and wicked Persons had of late risen in Rebellion in his Kingdom of Ireland not so much therein as naming Papists or Catholicks that thence any of that profession should take Umbrage Nay so circumspect were the Lords Justices and Council at that time that they avoided all expressions which might any ways encourage the Irish to apprehend the English intended to make it a War of Religion However the Rebels were so far from paying obedience to his Majesty's Proclamation afore-mention'd saying it was counterfeit or done by Coertion as they acted now not as before apart but united in
any Levies he should make to that purpose Being loath saith his Majesty in his Solitudes to shoot at any mark here less than himself or that any should have the glory of his destruction but themselves Whilst at the same time his Majesties Subjects of Scotland in an Act of Council at Edinburgh the 22d of April following upon this occasion takes notice That there could be no greater demonstration of Care and Princely Courage than this his Majesties intention to go in Person into Ireland against the Rebels Upon the signification of which Royal Intent to the State there the Lords Justices and Council in a Letter to his Majesty the 23d of April 1642. taking notice of his Princely Purpose to take just vengeance on the perfidious Rebels humbly besought him to come so provided as to appear in that Kingdom suitable to the Greatness and Wisdom of so mighty a King Which Letter how finely soever it was covered went not in some mens opinion without a discouragement forasmuch as that though some at Court might conceive by his Majesties coming over a Peace might be made with the Irish when his Majesty pleas'd yet by taking in so base perfidious and barbarous a People who in so execrable a manner had cut off such multitudes of the English the event as was privately signifi'd by some could not redound to his Majesties Honour Besides the Soldiers were then grown so implacable to the Irish as they would scarce endure any ordinary Papist much less suffer a Rebel to be admitted amongst them After all his Majesties resolutions for Ireland were prevented not without several constructions as each Party apprehended the Scene Though his Majesty express'd that he would never refuse or be unwilling to venture his Person for the good and safety of his People yet he was not so weary of his life as to hazard it impertinently and therefore at present should desist However as yet the Protestant Army in Ireland being competently supplied the Rebels were frequently chastized To say truth after the raising of the Siege of Tredath and the consequences thereupon his Majesties Forces so enlarged their Quarters as no considerable Enemy save some Castles lay nearer Dublin than twenty miles on any side that now the Lords Justices thought it high time to provide for the safety of such places as lay more remote in the Countrey the English having in many Places upon the first rising of the Irish possess'd themselves of some Forces Strong Holds Towns and Castles which though very ill provided they did for many months yea some for years after the first breaking out of the Rebellion defend notwithstanding long Sieges multitudes of Rebels encompassing them and all means by Treachery Force or Famine experienc'd to draw them into their possession It will here take up too large a space in this Story where many considerable things may fall besides the Pen to recite the gallant actions perform'd by several private Persons in some inconsiderable in respect of Strength Places many Women shewing more courage constancy and resolution in the defence of what they were necessitated to than the Men without did in their undertakings against them Great were the Straits many of them were put unto enduring all manner of extremities subjecting themselves to all kind of dangers not daunted with the multitudes of Rebels that lay about them they in many places issued out and lived onely on the Spoils they took from them fighting continually for their daily bread which they never wanted as long as their Enemies had it The Rebels were so undextrous in the management of their Sieges as they took very few Places by force in all their Attempts whether by Mine Battery Assault they seldom prosper'd The great Engine whereby they master'd any Fort of the English was Treachery Offers of safe Conduct and other Conditions of Honour and Advantage which might induce the Besieged sometimes reduc'd to the utmost extremities to surrender their Places into their hand which though solemnly sworn and sign'd they yet seldom or never kept but left several Places as Monuments of their Treachery and Infidelity using those who surrender'd them as they did the poor Protestants in the Town and Castle of Longford whom they having besieged and drawn to yield up into their hands upon condition of Quarters and safety for their Persons they as soon as they issued out fell upon with their Skenes their Priest as a signal for the rest to fall on first ripping open the belly of the Minister amongst the English then his followers soon kill'd and hang'd the rest After this manner used they the 150 Protestants who yielded up upon fair Quarter the Castle of Tullagh and the Church of Newtown in the County of Fermanagh And the 1400 or 1500 at Belturbet and the Inhabitants of Ardmagh and Loughgell and those under the conduct of the Lord Mayo and those 120 murther'd by the Mac-Swynes as those who yielded the strong Castle of Cloghleigh situate upon the Manningwater to Richard Condon who promised Quarter and a safe Convoy to Castelions contrary to which they were all of them either hang'd kill'd wounded or kept Prisoners by him and his Company In the same manner also he used a Party of the Earl of Barrimore's Troop who having bravely maintain'd themselves in a House in Coole against his Forces were by his Promise on the Faith of a Soldier and a Christian of a safe Conveyance to Castelions contented to yield it up but were immediately upon their coming forth murther'd As some English Families and the Garrison Soldiers at Sligo were used by O Connor Slygah who upon the quitting of their Holds promis'd them Quarter and to convey them over the Curlew Mountains in safety to Abbeyboyle or Roscommon but he first imprison'd them in a most nasty Goal allowing them onely Grains for their food and afterwards when the Rebels were merry with Company that came to congratulate their Victory over these poor Creatures those which survived were brought forth by a Frier Connor's Brother and others and kill'd or precipitated over the Bridge into a swift Water where they were presently destroy'd And at Teagh-Temple after the English and Scots who retired thither were not able longer to resist the Enemy had yielded the Place on Conditions to be brought in safe Conduct to Abbeyboil were murther'd hang'd or buri'd alive At which terrible sight Mrs. Olyfant a Ministers Wife being great with Child fell in Labour but was still beat forward till at last the Child slipt from her and what was horrible she was forced to draw that poor Infant and the Concomitants of such an accident after her till she died with sport to them The Story would be too long should we mention those 140 taken forth to be sent for England and drown'd at Portadown or those numbers drawn to Florence Fitz-Patricks house and there slain Or those 60 and odd persons gathered together on pretence of sending them to Clanhughboyes drown'd by them
besiege the Town with a Fleet and having taken possession of the Abbey near adjoyning landed many of his Battering Guns But before he attempted any thing according to his Commission he first advised with the present Governour the Lord of Clanrickard affectionate to his Majesties Service As the Town seem'd to be placing his Majesties Colours on the top of their Tower charging Captain Willoughby Governour of the Fort with the breach of Pacification an Agreement it seems assented to by the State though in vindication of himself he and Captain Ashley alledg'd much Great straits he had been put to though at length happily reliev'd by the Earl of Clanrickard when he was closely Beleaguer'd together with the Archbishop of Tuam Richard Boyle and his Family besides 36 Ministers 26 of which serv'd as Soldiers and did their Duty After all the Lord Forbes being by the Town the Earl of Clanrickard and the President of Connaght with whom he had had several ineffectual Conferences daily delay'd in what he endeavour'd to give Captain Willoughby satisfaction in prepar'd to make his approach to the Town but not being strengthen'd by any supply he could get from the Lord President or Sir Charles Coot and dishearten'd by Captain Willoughby in that every House in the Town was a Fort he drew off being perswaded to a Composition to be paid in Money within two months which he never got And at the Lord Presidents return to Athlone the Soldiers Mutini'd both Officers and Soldiers offering to go to Dublin but the Common Soldiers being very weak not able to draw into a considerable Body the Irish Kerns killing all sick and fainty persons that could not accompany the Body of the Army that intent for the present was deferr'd though not long after they return'd with Sir Richard Greenvile whose seasonable relief and the Battel of Raconnel will be mention'd in its due place Whilst the Lord Forbes sail'd up Limerick River relieving some Places and without much opposition took in Fits-Geralds the Knight of the Valley or Glyn Castle furnish'd with all Utensils and Provisions for a Family About the 20th of June 700 Foot and two Troops of Horse under the Command of Colonel Gibson went into Wickloe where the Rebels not daring to face them they got much Prey burnt many Villages and return'd with success The Kings affairs now growing every day more straitned in England than other Sir Lewis Kirk at Court withdrew Sir Henry Stradling and Kettleby from guarding the Irish Coast whereby presently after there came in both Arms and Ammunition in great quantities to Wexford as also several Irish Commanders as Preston Cullen Plunket and others who having been Colonels in France were readily entertain'd there much to the heartning of the Rebels However in Ulster the 28th of June Sir Robert Stewart and Sir William Stewart Persons deserving excellently well of the State near Raphoe got a considerable Victory over the Rebels under Sir Phelim O-Neal slaying near 2000 of them though much inferiour in number Arms and Ammunition whilst Monroe sought them towards the Newry but had not so good luck to encounter them as he had the 23d of May preceding when he gave the Irish Committee of the Parliament of England this account That with 2000 Foot and 300 Horse he beat Owen Mac-Art O-Neal Sir Phelim O-Neal and Owen Mac-Art the General 's Son being all joyn'd together with their Forces and forced them to return upon Charlemont after quitting the Generals house to be spoil'd and burnt by them with the whole Houses in Louhgall being the best Plantation in Ulster and straightest for defence of the Rebels Thus in some places whilst we find the War succeeded the Lords Justices in the midst of August suspecting Preston's Forces should increase and according to the resolution of the Parliament at Kelkenny should first gain the Out-Garrisons and then besiege Dublin were forced to require the Lord Conway to come unto their aid with 3000 Foot and all the Horse he could procure to prosecute the War in Leimster Who return'd an Answer That their Companies were so weak they could not draw them together and that the Rebels having then receiv'd new Supplies were strong and that he was engag'd to meet the Earl of Leven the Scots General to encounter Owen O-Neal with all the Forces he could get Thus that Province reserved to it self its own strength not coming in as by the Tenth Article with the Parliament of England the Scots were engaged to In Munster the Scene was hot for the Parliament of England having sent over as into Leimster several Regiments of Foot and some Troops of Horse unto Sir William St. Leger Knight who having long serv'd in the Low-Countreys with singular reputation was some years before the Rebellion made Lord President of Munster a Command he discharg'd with much vigilance and courage in as much as the Enemy now fear'd no man more What he did upon the first breaking out of the Rebellion in hope to have stopt its current in that Province we have already mention'd and should have told you that the State to impower him thereunto admitted him to raise a Regiment of Foot consisting of 1000 men and two Troops of Horse 60 to each Troop which afterwards besides the supplies mention'd were listed in his Majesties Musters with Pay accordingly But the Design being general Munster at length was as well disturb'd as the rest of the Kingdom Cashel Clonmel Dungarvan and Featherd with other Places were all on an easie summons soon yielded to the Rebels raging through the Countrey which the Lord President endeavour'd to suppress as far as those small Forces he had with him would admit resolving near Redsheard to have given them Battle having at that time in his company the Earl of Barrymore the Lord Dungarvan the Lord Broghil Sir Hardress Waller Sir Edward Denny Serjeant Major Searl Sir John Brown Captain William Kingsmil with 600 Foot and 300 Horse But the Rebels on the other side the Mountain privately avoided them though four to one and getting to Cashel held there a general Rendezvous from whence Mountgarret went with his Forces to Kilmallock a Town treacherously surrendred to the Rebels a little before on demand situated on the Frontiers of the County of Limmerick towards Cork environ'd with a strong Wall which held out Loyally for the Crown all Tyrone's Wars though sometimes strongly besieged and highly distressed And the 9th of February 1641. he went to Butavant where the Gentry from all parts appear'd It is an antient Town belonging to the Earl of Barrimore in the Barony of Orrory an old Nest of Abbots Friers and Priests There the General Mountgarret exercis'd his greatness with reserv'd gravity and distance so as none except Serjeant Major Purcel who had now joyn'd himself with the Confederates contrary to the expectation the Lord President had of him were admitted to any Command in the Army more then they had over the Men they brought
Walls of Cork with great Forces not far from whence the Confederates promising General Garret Barry with the consent of his Council of War the Lord Muskery and others planted his Camp at Rochforts Town holding thereby Cork in a manner besieg'd on the North-side whilst my Lord Roch the Lord of Ikern Dunboin the Baron of Loghmo Mr. Richard Butler with the Tipperary Forces were drawing down on the South till by the valour of those few English then in Town viz. the Lord Inchiquin Col. Vavasor and 400 Musketeers and 90 Horse they were beaten off with the loss of 200 of their Men their Tents and whole Bag and Baggage being taken In the whole Service Sir William St. Leger as long as he had health was active with the meanest Officers of the Army doing many times a private Soldiers duty as well as a careful Generals But finding at length the Rebels multitudes to increase and his Men to decay even in being victorious and the Supplies of Men and Money with Provisions which he expected out of England to come over very slowly and far short of what the necessities of that Province required well understanding too the difference then in England betwixt his Majesty and the Parliament and what were the designs of some putting fair Glosses on the Rebellion of Ireland which his Soul apprehended as one of the most detestable Insurrections of the World These things so troubled his Spirit as being discouraged in the desperate undertakings necessity and the honour of his Nation put him daily upon so deep an impression fixed in his mind as the distemper of his body increasing he wasted away and died at his house at Downrallie four miles from Cork in the County of Cork 1642. and was there buried a little before whose death he writ the second of April 1642. a most significant Letter to the Lord Lieutenant touching the Affairs of that Province and his utter detestation of the Rebels Remonstrance sent him after a motion made for a Cessation which he would have seconded with further testimony of his aversion to their insolency as would have tended much to their dis-encouragement had he been enabled with any reasonable strength so to have done The Command of the Forces in this Province was after the death of Sir William St. Leger for the present by the Lords Justices and Council committed to the Lord Inchequin who had married his Daughter and during his Father in Law 's life had shewed himself very forward in several Services against the Rebels He was a meer Irish-man of the antient Family of O-Brian's but bred up a Protestant and one that had given good testimony of the truth of his Profession as his hatred and detestation of his Countrey-mens Rebellion and having match'd into the Lord President 's Family was held the fittest Person to cast the Command upon till there were another Lord President made by the King or he confirm'd by his Majesty in that Province In the mean time the Lord Inchequin takes some opportunity and having beaten the Rebels Forces at the Battel of Liscarrol in the County of Cork got great reputation by that action The Battel was fought on Saturday the 3d. of September 1642. in which on the English Party was kill'd Lewis Boyle Lord Viscount Kynalmeaky second Son to the late Earl and Brother to this of Cork who behav'd himself most nobly in that Expedition and was buried at Youghall in his Fathers Tomb. And on the Irish side was slain Captain Oliver Stephenson Grandson of him who in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth had done eminent service in the Wars against the Earl of Desmond And afterwards the Division increasing in England the sending over a new Lord President was neglected so as the Lord Inchequin continu'd in the Government managing affairs there sometimes for the King against the Parliament sometimes for the Parliament against the King as he conceiv'd might bring on the absolute settlement of that Government upon himself of whom we shall speak more hereafter And now having shewed you the effects of the English Courage strangely reviv'd and managed against the Rebels it will be seasonable to acquaint you by what means the Forces there have been animated to so eminent a Service You have already read the generous resolutions of the Parliament in England upon the first discovery of the Rebellion as the encouragement his Majesty gave them upon his first and second appearance in the House of Lords after his return from Scotland And you have read if it would have been admitted how he would have adventured his Royal Person thither and have rais'd 10000 English Volunteers speedily for that Service if so the House of Commons would have declared that they would pay them which would not be accepted but instead thereof the 24th of January following the Town and Castle of Carickfergus were advised by the two Houses to be given in Command and Keeping to the Scots 2500 of which were to be transported thither and paid by England so as to be accountable according to their Order the 22. of Jan. to the King and Parliament and the Lord General in his Place for all their actions in that Service Which his Majesty was loath to grant as prejudicial to the Crown of England and employing too great trust for Auxiliary Forces Though at the importunity of the Parliament it was so setled at Windsor the 27th of January 1641. But what service the Scots did in those Parts more than subsist by English Pay deserves an enquiry It will now be convenient to acquaint you that after many necessary Propositions to the King from the Parliament passionately affected with the miseries of Ireland it was in the Petition of the House of Commons December the first mov'd That his Majesty would be pleas'd to forbear to alienate any of the Forfeited or Escheated Lands in Ireland which shall accrue to the Crown by reason of this Rebellion that out of these the Crown may be the better supported and some satisfaction made to his Subjects of this Kingdom England for the great Expences they were like to undergo in this War To which his Majesty answer'd That concerning Ireland he understood their desire of not alienating the forfeited Lands thereof to proceed from their much care and love and likewise that it might be a Resolution very fit for him to take But whether it be seasonable to declare resolutions of that nature before the event of a War be seen that he much doubted Howsoever we cannot repli'd his Majesty but thank you for this care and your chearful Engagement for the suppression of that Rebellion upon the speedy effecting whereof the Glory of God in the Protestant Profession the safety of the British there our Honour and that of the Nation so much depends all the Interests of this Kingdom being so involv'd in that business We cannot but quicken your affections therein and shall desire you to frame your
in Dublin who consumed all the Provisions sent over for their supply lying idle there and oppressing the poor English Inhabitants and such English as had taken sanctuary there Or else making but small expeditions abroad wasting not the Enemy so much as they did their own Provisions It was moved therefore and furthered by this Committee that a considerable Force should be sent forth Whereupon it was resolved 4000 men should be sent out to take Ross or some other Town thereabouts where they might Winter and live in part upon what they could take from the Enemy whereupon many difficulties being found in the Design the Lord Lisle General of the Horse accepted of it with Colonel Monk and others who made ready to go the Lieutenant General of the Army the Earl of Ormond being then much indisposed But as soon as his Lordship recovered he came to the Council Board and there declared that he could not in Honour permit such a considerable part of the Army to go out upon such an important Service under any other Command then his own and so undertook the leading out of the Army himself and carried it to Ross of which you shall hear more in its due place The Parliaments Committee imbarked for London by long Sea the 27th of February 1642. the difference of whose Carriage was observable so much Integrity Discretion and Humility appear'd in the one and so much Pride Arrogancy and Intemperancy in the other as the one went away highly valued and well esteem'd and the other extreamly hated and despised As for Tucker he was the City's property which every one improved to their own humour During their continuance in repute hearing that Balanokil was Besieged by Preston the most reputed Captain amongst the Rebels Colonel Monk was sent forth with 600 Foot and two Troops of Horse the 5th of December 1642. to relieve it which he soon did the Enemy raising the Siege upon his reproach but in his return he met Preston with 3000 men in a disadvantagious Place and though he saw evident danger in so unequal a Fight yet he thought there would be more in a Retreat Wherefore having intrench'd himself so as to fear no attack but in the Front he resolved to receive them bravely and taking care that his Musketiers should not spend their shot in vain he saluted the Rebels in their approach with such a shower of Bullets as killed the boldest of them and made the rest begin to give way which the English perceiving came hotly upon them But the Fight was soon ended by the cowardliness of the Irish who with much more shame than slaughter losing not above 60 Men there betook themselves to the next strong Place and Colonel Monk without the loss of one Man return'd to Dublin The Committee of Parliament whilst they remain'd at the Council interpos'd in many things Amongst the rest it being desired by the Officers of the Army that Major Wodowes might repair to his Majesty to express their service the Committee demonstrated that the Parliament would certainly withdraw their Supplies on notice of such an Address Upon which the Ships were stayed yet the Business was so argued as the Major had licence to proceed in his Journey And now the Committee being discharg'd the Council where the prosecution of the War was to be managed the Parliament took it ill inasmuch as the want of all things afterwards was exceeding great and the main part of the remaining Army was quarter'd within the City and Suburbs of Dublin upon the poor Inhabitants altogether unable to bear the Necessities of their Families much less support 7 or 8000 Men. In alleviation of which the Lords Justices and Council the 31st of December 1642. publisht a Proclamation That all Custodiums should send to his Majesty's Granaries or Stores of Corn half the Wheat gather'd there at 10 s. the Barrel in ready Money c. to the Relief of that and the adjoyning Garrisons Yet small Supplies coming in thereupon the Lords Justices and Council order'd by another Proclamation the 15th of January That all Corn-Masters and others should sell their Corn at a lower rate than was propos'd the 28th of December 1641. and that Bakers accordingly should size their Bread About the 20th of January 1642. Sir Richard Greenvile with a Party of 200 Horse and 1000 Foot with 600 Suits of Cloaths and Money reliev'd Athlone In his return he was encounter'd at Raconnel by 5000 Rebels which he routed took their General Preston's Son Prisoner killed many gained 11 Colours and surprized many Prisoners for which service Captain William Vaughan was by the Lords Justices to whom he brought the News Knighted The Irish thought much of this Victory for that there was an old Prophesie That who got the Battle of Raconnel should conquer all Ireland The Army return'd to Dublin the 10th of February with the remnant of Sir Earnley's Regiment and others who for their better Accommodation would have had some of these Cloaths which was denied and they laid up in the Castle where with others they afterwards prov'd unserviceable to his Majesty's Forces much in want of them in the depth of Winter The Lords Justices being driven to great strait and left without hopes of Relief from England and the Inhabitants of Dublin being no longer able to support the Necessity of their Families and relieve the Souldiers their Insolencies being high the State entertain'd a Design of sending the greatest part of the Army then quarter'd in Dublin into some Parts distant from that City where they might live upon the Rebels and for this end coin'd their own Plate encouraging others to the same Advance of the State 's service whereupon at first they order'd Pieces of Money marked to their Weight Many brought in freely those indeed who considering their imployment and what was expected from them had least reason to do it whilst others issued only out their Warrants and Receipts never yet discharged Yet by the help of what came in and some supplies out of England which had not wholly deserted Ireland the Army march'd out 2500 Foot and 500 Horse under the Command of the Marquess of Ormond whose carriage in that Business and his success at the Battle of Ross we shall leave to the Lords Justices and Council's Letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons in England the 4th of April 1643. where besides the Account of that Battle they present a true state of their Affairs Civil and Military SIR OUr very good Lord the Marquess of Ormond having in his March in his last Expedition consulted several times with the Commanders and Officers of the Army in a Councel of War and so finding that subsistence could not be had abroad for the Men and Horses he had with him or for any considerable part of them it was resolved by them that his Lordship with those Forces should return hither which he did on the 26th of March In
being daily inform'd writes this Letter C. R. RIght trusty and Right well beloved Cousen and Councellor we greet you well by our Letters of the 23. of the last month We gave you our Command to Treat and Agree upon a Cessation of Arms for one year with those our Subjects in that our Kingdom who have taken up Arms there against our Authority and having since seen the Propositions which you and the rest of our Commissioners sent us from our said Subjects We find the same to be of such great importance and many things therein alledged so necessary to be further examined and inquired into as we have been the rather induced to have such a Cessation as we have formerly written unto you so as it may be with Honour to us and without prejudice to our Interest and Service This Bearer Mr. William Brent is a Person whom we have purposely sent over to give us an account of your proceedings in a Business of this Consequence to whom you may give credit and by him we shall desire to hear from you when you shall have any Matter of moment to send over unto us Given at our Court at Oxon the 3d. of May 1643. To our right trusty and entirely beloved Cousen and Counsellor James Marquiss of Ormond Lieutenant General of our Army in Ireland This upon the Treaty the Confederates Commissioners acknowledge to have seen but insisted upon one formerly mention'd of the 23. of April more important they conceive which upon promise that upon the agreement of the Treaty perfected they should have a Copy of the Treaty went on though as to his Majesty that there might be a further evidence of his Intentions to subdue the Rebellion in Ireland he being presented the 5th of May 1643. by Sir Robert King William Jephson and Arthur Hill Esquires from the Parliament with a Bill entituled An Act for the speedy payment of Moneys subscribed towards the reducing of the Rebels in Ireland which yet remain'd unpaid was so far from denying to pass the said Act though driven from his Parliament with far the Major part of both Houses that he inclin'd to pass the Act if he might be assured to have it imployed to no other purpose then the Reducing of the Rebels c. Which Conditions not being answered no more was attempted by that Bill a defect not resting in his Majesty but those that sent it whereby the straights in Ireland still increasing the Lords Justices writ to his Majesty as a little before they had done to the Parliament the ensuing Letter May it please your Most Excellent Majesty AS soon as we your Majesties Justices entred into the charge of this Government we took into our consideration at this Board the state of your Army here which we find suffering under unspeakable extremities of want of all things necessary to the support of their Persons or maintenance of the War here being no Victuals Cloaths or other Provisions requisite towards their sustenance no Money to provide them of any thing they want no Arms in your Majesties Stores to supply their many defective Arms not above 40 Barrels of Powder in your Stores no strength of serviceable Horses being now left here and those few that are their Arms for the most part lost or unserviseable no Ships arriv'd here to guard the Coasts and consequently no security rendred to any that might on their private Adventures bring in Provisions of Victuals or other necessaries towards our subsistence and finally no visible means by Sea or Land of being able to preserve for you this your Kingdom and to render deliverance from utter destruction to the Remnant of your good Subjects yet left here We find that your Majesties late Justices and this Board have often and fully by very many Letters advertised the Parliament in England of the extremities of Affairs here and besought relief with all possible importunity which also have been fully represented to your Majesty and to the Lord Lieutenant and to Mr. Secretary Nicholas to be made known to your Majesty And although the Winds have of late for many days and often formerly stood very fair for accessions of supply forth of England hither and that we have still with longing expectations hope to find Provisions arrive here in some degree answerable to the necessities of your Affairs yet now to our unexpressible grief after full 6 months waiting and much longer patience and long-suffering we find all our great expectations answered in a mean and inconsiderable quantity of Provisions viz. 75 Barrels of Butter and 14 Tun of Cheese being but the fourth part of a small Vessels Lading which was sent from London and arriv'd here on the 5th of this Month which is not above 7 or 8 days Provision for that part of the Army which lies in Dublin and the out-Garrisons thereof no Money or Victuals other then that inconsiderable proportion of Victual having arriv'd in this Place as sent from the Parliament of England or any other forth of England for the use of the Army since the beginning of November last We have by the blessing of God been hitherto prosperous and successful in your Majesties Affairs here and should be still hopeful by the mercy of God under the Royal Directions of your Sacred Majesty to vindicate your Majesties Honour and recover your Rights here and take due vengeance on these Traitors for the innocent blood they have spilt if we might be strengthned or supported therein by needful supplies out of England But these supplies having hitherto been expected to come from the Parliament of England on which if your Majesty had not relyed we are assured you would in your high Wisdom have found out some other means to preserve this your Kingdom and so great and apparent a failer having hapned therein and all the former and late long continuing Easterly winds bringing us no other Provisions then those few Cheese and Butter And no advertisement being brought us of any future supplies to be so much as in the way hither whereby there might be any likelihood that considerable means of support for your Majesties Army might arrive here in any reasonable time before that we be totally swallowed up by the Rebels and your Kingdom by them wrested from you we find our selves so disappointed of our hopes from the Parliament as must needs trench to the utter loss of the Kingdom if your Majesty in your high Wisdom ordain not some present means of preservation for us And considering that if now by occasion of that unhappy and unexpected failing of support from thence we shall be less successful in your Services here against the Rebels then hitherto whilst we were enabled with some means to serve you we have been the shame and dishonour may in common construction of those who know not the inwards of the Cause be imputed to us and not to the failing that disabled us And considering principally and above all things the
their Grievances and vouchsafe Redress therein did direct there should be a Cessation of Arms and thereupon did Authorize the Right Honourable the Lord Marquess of Ormond to treat and conclude the said Cessation with the said Confederate Catholicks Know ye that the said Council by the express Order and Authority of the said Catholicks by them conceiv'd and granted in their General Assembly at Kilkenny on the 20th day of the last Month of May and in pursuance of the said Order and Authority reposing special Trust and Confidence in the Wisdom Circumspection and provident Care Honour and Sincerity of our very good Lords Nicholas Lord Viscount Gormanston Donnogh Lord Viscount Muskery and our well-beloved Sir Lucas Dillon Knight Sir Robert Talbot Baronet Tirlagh O Neal Esq Geoffry Brown Esq Ever Mac-Gennis Esq and John Walsh Esq have constituted appointed and ordain'd and by these presents do constitute appoint and ordain the said Nicholas Lord Viscount Gormanston c. our Commissioners and do by these presents give and grant unto our said Commissioners or any five or more of them full Power and Authority to treat with the said Lord Marquess of Ormond of a Cessation of Arms for one whole year or shorter and to conclude the same for the time aforesaid upon such Terms Conditions and Articles as to the said Commissioners in their Judgements Conscience and Discretion shall be thought fit and expedient by these presents ratifying and confirming whatsoever Act or Acts our said Commissioners as aforesaid shall do or execute concerning the said Cessation Given at Kilkenny the 20th of June 1643. Montgarret Castlehaven Audley Malachias Arp. Tuamen Fr. Thom. Fleming Arch. of Dublin Primate of Ireland Maurice de Rupe Fermoy Nettervile Nich. Plunket Edm. Fitz-Maurice Patrick Darcy Rob. Linch R. Bealing Upon which both sides proceeded the Marquess not admitting the Title or Name attributed by the Irish Commissioners unto them in behalf of those for whom they treated as likewise not admitting the Cause for which they took up Arms as in the Protestation is expressed Whereas the Irish Commissioners on the other side still propos'd all in the behalf of the Catholicks of Ireland with protestation that the said Catholicks took Arms in defence of their Religion his Majesty's Rights and Prerogatives and the Liberties of Ireland and no ways to oppose his Majesty's Authority so as say they neither the Title or Protestation being justly due to them were to be excepted against being the same they always used in their immediate applications to his Majesty Against which though there were exceptions the Treaty still proceeded they owning the premisses And at Sigginstown the Treaty went on not without Debates of great concern and much difficulty and then was deferr'd from the 1st of July to the Thursday next come seven-night at which time the Marquess of Ormond could not meet in respect That the necessity of his attendance otherwise upon the publick Service of his Majesty would not permit which the Irish Commissioners seem'd much to resent writing to his Lordship from Kilkenny the 19th of July 1643. That although we conceive this Treaty to be of the greatest consequence of any Service to be effected for his Majesty within this Kingdom yet we are not apt to give an ill construction to the laying of it by for the present until we do know of that Service that taketh place of it which being for the advantage of his Majesty's Interests we heartily wish may have good success Yet your Lordship will give us leave to take notice that we meet in these as in all other Proceedings whereby we may have any expectation to enjoy the benefit of his Majesty's Grace and Favour some interruption and slackness in conveying any part of his good Intentions to his faithful Subjects the Catholicks of Ireland which we add to our other Grievances and will endeavour in discharge of the many harms which may ensue by reason of this Protraction to have it rightly presented to his Majesty In Answer to which the Marquess of Ormond replyed the 21st of July That whereas they had no pretence of unaptness to give an ill construction to the laying by of the Treaty until they could know of what Service took place he acquainted them That he was not accountable to them with the knowledge of his Majesty's Services wherewith he had the Honour to be intrusted or to any but to his Majesty and to those to whom he had intrusted the government of the Kingdom And for what they said They would endeavour to have rightly presented to his Majesty he doubted not but to acquit himself as became him as in other Commands so in this Particular and that they should find when the other Occasions of his Majesty were over the deferring of the Treaty at present was not such a laying aside of the Matter as their Letters inferr'd Thus at present more than by Letters and the private Actings of some Men there was nothing further attempted in the Treaty till the 26th of August following In the interim we must take notice of the Insolence of these Men then expecting his Majesty's Favour By the Lords Justices and Council Jo. Borlase Henry Tichborn WE the Lords Justices and Council do declare That if Captain John Farrer be forthwith released by the Rebels and safely sent hither that forthwith upon his coming so released we will give Order for the releasing Synnot lately imployed as Captain amongst the Rebels out of Prison the Jaylor's just Dues being first paid and will then permit him freely to depart without interruption Given at his Majesty's Castle of Dublin July 8. 1643. La. Dublin Ormond Roscommon Bramston Ant. Midensis Tho. Rotheram Jo. Temple Fra. Willoughby Ja. Ware We do not know to whom this Certificate is directed and we will avow our selves in all our Actions to be his Majesty's loyal Subjects neither shall it be safe henceforth for any Messenger to bring any Paper to us containing other Language than such as suits with our Duty and the Affections we bear to his Majesty's Service wherein some may pretend but none shall have more real desires to further his Majesty's Interest than his Majesty's loyal and obedient Subjects Montgarret Muskery Fr. Tho. Dublin Malachias Tuamen Castlehaven Audley R. Bealing Torlo O Neile Patr. Darcy Who reads this may well think their Confidence built on other Grounds than appear'd What! Shall such as fought in opposition to his Majesty's Proclamation be thought loyal Subjects whilst the State owning his Majesty's Interest Honour and Service are said to pretend to what they really were Surely so impudent a Reply never before without chastizement escaped the Pen of suppliant Rebels nor indeed could some then have had the freedom of their just scorn and indignation should such expressions have been swallowed During the respite of the Treaty for the Cessation viz. the 29th of July 7 or 800 of the Rebels gave us at mid-night by whose neglect I know not
of by the two Houses of Parliament in England The publication of which with the Articles and his Majesties Motives thereunto you may read in his Majesties Works from fol. 353. to 365. In confirmation of which the Lords Justices and Council issued out a Warrant to the Lord Chancellor to draw Letters of Confirmation under the Great Seal of Ireland which accordingly bore date the 26th day of Septemb. in the 19th year of his Majesties Reign And to express the necessity thereof many Persons of Quality sign'd the said 15th of Septemb. 1643. a Writing therein concluding it necessary for his Majesties Honour and Service that the Lord Marquis of Ormond should assent to a Cessation of Arms though some of these afterwards joyning with the Parliaments Forces resolved to die a thousand deaths rather than to descend to any Peace with the perfidious Rebels but stuck not at length to that Protestation altering as the Scene chang'd Whilst the Cessation was in agitation at Sigginstown the Consequences of dissolving the Parliament were not the least in consideration at the Council-board nor was there any thing more desired by the Rebels who thereby hoped to be re-seated in a new Parliament which they question'd not to manage to their own ends and advantage Wherefore that the State might still steer by the same Compass they had hitherto done they committed the Case to the Judges who unanimously agreed upon the following Reasons for its continuance May it please your Lordships ACcording to your Lordships Order of the xi of September 1643. we have considered of such inconveniencies as we conceive may arise to his Majesty and his Service as Affairs now stand if this present Parliament should be determin'd and have reduc'd the same to writing which we humbly present to your Lordships further consideration The greatest part of the Free-holders of this Kingdom are now in actual Rebellion whereby his Majesty ought to be justly entituled to all their Estates both Real and Personal this cannot be done but by their Conviction and Attainder either by course of Common Law or by Act of Parliament By course of Common Law it will be very difficult to be effected for these Reasons following First Those who are indicted in most of the Counties of this Kingdom cannot be Attainted by Outlawry by reason that the Sheriffs of those Counties by occasion of the present Rebellion cannot keep their County-Courts to Proclaim and make due Return of the Exigence Nor can they be Attainted by Verdict for want of Jurors most of all the Free-holders in the Kingdom being now in Rebellion Secondly Those that are not Indicted or those that are already Indicted and in Prison or upon Bonds cannot be proceeded against Legally at the Common Law for want of Jurors because as aforesaid most of the Freeholders are in Rebellion Therefore of necessity those Persons must either not be Attainted at all or onely by Act of Parliament which is scarce possible to be effected if this present Parliament be Dissolved or Discontinued for that upon a new Parliament to be Summon'd the Knights and Burgesses must be Elected by the Free-holders and Inhabitants respectively most whereof are in Rebellion And yet the present Parliament will be discontinued unless a Commission under the Great Seal of England to the now Lords Justices or other the Chief Governour or Governours for the time being be here before the 13th of November next being the day of Prorogation for the beginning of the next Session of Parliament to enable them to continue this present Parliament the last Commission for the continuance thereof being onely to the Lords Justices one whereof is since remov'd Unless the Parties now in Rebellion being Legally Attainted which cannot be here as is aforesaid as the case now stands but by Act of Parliament his Majesty cannot have power to dispose of their Estates as in his wisdom he shall think fit either for the increasing of his Revenues or for the Peaceable establishment of this Common-wealth and indifferent Administration of Justice therein Rich. Bolton Cancell Geo. Shurly Gerrard Lowther Ja. Donnalon Sa. Mayard The Cessation as yet not being known to his Majesty the Lords Justices and Council received a Letter from him at the Camp at Matson near Gloucester of the 4th of Septemb. passionately resenting the sufferings and complaints of the Officers who upon all occasions had a tender affection in his breast And to the end they might not be frustrated of their Arrears he commands their Debentors should be respectively sign'd that they might take an effectual course to be paid the same by the Two Houses of Parliament that engaged them And left there should be any defect in acknowledging of their Merits who had so faithfully ventur'd their lives for his Majesties Service he is yet further pleased to provide for their Encouragement and Entertainment who upon the Cessation were now free to serve him though as yet he knew not of its conclusion but by the Contents of the following Letter seem'd to expect it giving particular Orders for the management of Affairs upon that occasion C. R. RIght Trusty and Well-beloved Counsellors and right Trusty and intirely Beloved Cousin and Counsellor We greet you well Whereas not onely the great neglect of the Affairs of that Our Kingdom by the remaining part of our Houses of Parliament who pretended so great care of it but their impious preventing all Supplies destin'd to their Relief by Our Authority which did ever most readily concur to any Levy of Men Money or any other Work in order to the Assistance of Our Protestant Subjects there and employing the same in an unnatural War against Us their Liege Lord and Sovereign hath reduc'd our Army in that our Kingdom into so heavy straits that out of Our Care of the preservation of them who so faithfully ventur'd their Lives for Our Service We were brought to condescend to a Treaty for a Cessation of Arms Our Will and Pleasure is and We do hereby Charge and Command you that in case according unto the Authority given unto you by Us you have agreed upon a Cessation or as soon as you shall agree thereupon you or any two of you do immediately consider of and put in execution these Our following Commands 1. That you agree upon what number of Our Army will be necessary to be kept in Garrison there for the maintenance of the same during the time of the Cessation and what Soldiers they shall be and what Persons shall command the same and that you settle them accordingly in that Command as shall appear to your discretion to be most conducing to our Service 2. That you do consider and advise of the best means of Transporting the rest of Our Army in that Our Province of Leimster excepting such as are to be kept in Garrison in Our Kingdom of Ireland and to that end We do hereby give you or any one of you full Power and Authority to hire all
Ships Barques or Vessels whatsoever and to treat with any Persons whatsoever for the Loan Hire or Sale of any Ships Barques or Vessels upon such Conditions as you or any one of you shall agree upon with them 3. That in such time and manner as to you shall seem meet you communicate to the Officers and Soldiers of that Our Army this Our intention to make use of their known Courage and Fidelity in the defence of Our Person and Crown against the unnatural Rebellion rais'd against us in this Our Kingdom and against the like labour'd by the Rebels here to be rais'd against Us out of Our Kingdom of Scotland 4. That you signifie unto them that We are the more mov'd and necessitated unto this course for as much as it is resolv'd by some ill affected Persons in that Our Kingdom of Scotland to call over the Army of Our British Subjects out of Our Kingdom of Ireland to the end to make use of them for the Invasion of Us and of Our Good Subjects of England And for as much as this Rebellion against Us under colour of the humility of Our two Houses of Parliament hath exhausted the Means appointed by the concurrence of Our Royal Authority for the sustentation of that Our Army there and by force hath stai'd and taken from Us all those Our Revenues which might have enabled Us to have supplied them in that Our Kingdom so that we ought in reason besides the Bond of their Allegiance to expect their ready concurrence against those Persons who are as well the Causers of all the Miseries they have endured as of all the Injuries We have suffered 5. That you assure them both Officers and Soldiers that upon their Landing here they shall immediately receive Our Pay in the same proportion and manner with the rest of our Army here And you are to assure the Soldiers that all care shall be taken that Cloathes Shoes and other Necessaries be forthwith provided for them after they are Landed here and that care shall be taken for the Provision of such as shall happen to be maim'd here in Our Service and for the payment of all their Arrears that shall be due to any of them that shall happen to be kill'd in the same to their Wives Children or nearest Friends And you are to assure both Officers and Soldiers that we will take special care to reward all such according to their Merit and Quality that shall do us any eminent Service in this Our War against this odious and most unnatural Rebellion 6. We will and require you and do hereby authorize you to use your utmost Interest and Industry for the speedy Transportation of this forementioned part of Our Army with their Arms Horses and such Ammunition and the like as you shall think fit into Our Kingdom of England and particularly if it may be to our Fort of the City of Chester or to the most commodious Haven in North-Wales And for Our obedience in this and every other of these Our Commands this shall be to you and every of you sufficient Warrant Given at Our Court at Eudely-Castle 7th Sept. in the 19th year of Our Reign Superscrib'd as before For the Lords Justices and the Lieutenant General of the English Army To what Party the Cessation was happy will be hard to determine that thereby the Rebels had an opportunity which they improv'd to provide themselves of Arms and Ammunition may easily be conceiv'd in as much as the Parliament of England concluded the Cessation in Ireland was of advantage to none but to the bloody Rebels of that Kingdom Agreeable to what Camd. well observs for as much as in that space wherein a Cessation is allowed to the Rebels the Rebels enjoy free liberty to digest all their secret Plots and Machinations to strengthen their Sides by new Confederacies abroad and to encrease them at home with new Forces whilst all this while the English lay at a costly idleness feeding on the fruits of their Friends and faithful Well-willers when by reason of the Cessation they might not prey upon the Enemy Certain it is the Parliament improv'd the Cessation to a very specious pretence in as much as no estate say they of the Rebels was to be disposed of consequently no Cessation or Peace to be made till the Lords and Commons of the Realm of England should in Parliament by order declare that the said Rebels were subdued and this present Rebellion appeas'd and ended But on the contrary his Majesty shew'd the necessity of his good Protestant Subjects and the Army being not longer able to subsist for want of Supplies enforced that Cessation though he is told again That many since the Cessation have and do subsist And that one end for which the Cessation was made was that the Forces might be brought out of Ireland into England and employ'd against the two Houses Which in Answer his Majesty shews the reason of when the Scots Army before was made use of against him The whole Scene is excellently stated in his Majesties Answer to the two Papers concerning Ireland at the Treaty at Uxbridge How passionately soever the Parliaments Commissioners conclude That whatsoever becomes of us say they if we must perish yet let us go to our graves with that comfort that we have not made Peace with the Enemies of Christ yea even Enemies of Mankind declared and unreconciled Enemies to our Religion and Nation And indeed to give the Parliament their due when they had reduc'd the Affairs of England to their own Module the Rebels of Ireland were frequently chastised and so affectionately pursued that neither Men Money or Courage was wanting to that service Of the first part of which Paragraph his Majesty seems most sensible expressing in his Answer before-mention'd That he would be glad that either a Peace in England or any other Expedient might furnish him with Means and Power to do Justice upon them if this cannot be we must not desperately expose our good Subjects there to Butchery without means or possibility of Protection God will in his due time avenge his own quarrel In the mean time his Gospel gives us leave in case of War to sit down and cast up the cost and estimate our power to go through with it and in such case where Prudence adviseth it is lawful to propose Conditions of Peace though the War otherwise might justly be pursued This wrought much on many But the Parliament who persisted resolutely to have his Majesty disclaim the Cessation would not allow any necessity for it alledging that though some of great estimation with the Parliament whom his Majesties Commissioners produc'd as principally interessed in the managing of Affairs in Ireland and the War there had prest for Supplies as in all likelihood to perish speedily without them yet they were assur'd even by some who were at the Council at that time when those Letters were written that the same was done onely to
press for Supplies out of England without the least intention in them of inducing a Cessation which is granted But as the necessities were there laid open so they were considered by his Majesty and no other Expedient remaining for the Protestants safety save a Cessation thereupon it was concluded though to this day some will have it that his Majesties expectation to be supplied thence and the preservation of the Irish almost swallowed up by his Forces were the principal Motives to that Cessation And it must be acknowledged from the series of Affairs since that the Irish in concluding the Cessation had a respect to their greater security and designs those being thereby withdrawn to his Majesties service in England which otherwise would certainly have oppos'd them And here I cannot but observe that the Irish afterwards acquired much confidence by a Bull of Urban's the 8th dated at Rome the 25th of May 1643. commending their forwardness against the Protestant Hereticks which they publish'd even after the Cessation of Arms was agreed on to what intent may be easily conceiv'd considering their subsequent frequent violation of Compacts and Agreements with the State Though the bleeding Iphigenia who in pleading their Cause grosly betrays it would not have it thought that this charitable Bull cherish'd the Catholicks in Rebellion but was onely an Indulgence to so good and just a Quarrel not any dis-respect to the King to whom saith he his Holiness advised them by their Agents to be Loyal as if that and the breach of his Majesties Commands to lay down Arms could rationally agree Before which Bull an Indulgence had been sent Dilecto filio Eugenio Onello the 8th of October 1642 in the 20th year of his Papacy The Cessation now concluded Obedience was expected from all parts but instead of an absolute compliance from the Scots in Ulster their Officer in Chief return'd this Letter Right Honourable YOur Lordships of the 21. I received at Ardmagh the 29 together with the Printed Cessation which was very displeasing unto this Army who being sent Auxiliary for supply of the British Forces in distress were promis'd by his Majesty and the Parliament of England Pay and Entertainment from three months to three months nevertheless in eighteen months time they have endured both Officers and Soldiers unparallel'd miseries And now a great part of the Service being done they are rewarded with the conclusion of a Cessation without assurance of entertainment for the time or any certainty of the payment of their Arrears and they must conform to the Treaty This kind of usage and contempt would constrain good Servants though his Majesties Loyal Subjects to think upon some course which may be satisfactory to them being driven almost to despair and threaten'd to be persecuted by the Roman Catholick Subjects as they are now called Nevertheless of the foresaid Contempt for obedience to his Majesties Command I have mov'd the Army for the time to cease any hostile Act against our Enemies till such time as your Lordships will be pleased to consider better of our present condition and grant us time to acquaint the General who has onely Commission over the Army to advise us how to behave our selves in this Exigency since I as Governour of Carigfergus can give your Lordships no positive Answer to this Cessation in the name of our Army having not absolute Power over them And immediately after receiving the General 's resolution your Lordships shall be acquainted therewith which is the least favour your Lordships can vouchsafe upon us in recompence of our Bygan Service And so I remain Ardmagh 29 Sept. 1643. Receiv'd the 2d of Octob. Your Lordships humble and obedient Servitor Robert Monro To the Right Honourable the Lords Justices and Council Upon this Answer of Monro's the Supreme Council at Kilkenny maintaining their Umpire in the Empire visits the Lords Justices and Council with this Letter Our very good Lords WE whom his Majesties Catholick Subjects of this Kingdom did intrust in the management of their Affairs have by their publick Act ratified and confirmed the Articles of Cessation concluded upon by our Commissioners willingly and cheerfully hoping in the quiet of that time assign'd for it by the benefit of the access which his Majesty is graciously pleas'd to afford us to free our selves from those odious Calumnies wherewith we have been branded and to render our selves worthy of Favour by some acceptable service suiting the expression we have often made and the real affections and zeal we have to serve his Majesty and in as much as we are given to understand that the Scots who not long since in great numbers came over into this Kingdom and by the slaughter of many Innocents without distinction of Age or Sex have possessed themselves of very large Territories in the North and since the notice given them of the Cessation have not onely continued their former cruelties upon the Persons of weak and unarmed Multitudes but have added thereunto the burning of the Corn belonging to the Natives within that Province of Ulster Notwithstanding which outrages we hear that they have although but faintly and with relation unto the consent of their General after some days consultation whether it were convenient for their Affairs desired to partake in the Cessation intending as is evident by their proceedings so far onely to admit thereof as it may be beneficial for their Patrons the Malignant Party now in Arms against his Majesty in England by diverting us from assisting his Majesty or of advantage to their desire of eating further into the bowels of our Countrey We who can accuse our selves of no one hollow thought and detest all subtile Practices cannot think of serving two Masters or standing Neuters where our King is Party And we desirous none should reside in this Kingdom but his Majesties good Subjects we beseech your Lordships therefore that these who have other ends then his Majesties Service and Interest and are so far from permitting the Natives to enjoy three parts of what they have sown as they may with no security look upon their former habitations and do absolutely deny to restore their Prisoners contrary to the Articles of Cessation may by the joynt power of all his Majesties good Subjects within this Kingdom of what Nation soever be prosecuted and that while these Succours are in preparation our Proceedings against them may no way be imputed unto us a desire any way to violate this Cessation And we do further pray your Lordships that for our justification therein you will be pleas'd to transmit unto his Majesty these our Letters and to send unto us the Copy of those directed unto your Lordships from Serjeant Major Monro concerning this Matter Thus with the remembrance of our heartiest wishes unto your Lordships we rest Kilkenny 15. Octob. 1643. Received 25. Your Lordships loving Friends Mountgarret Castlehaven Audley H. Armach Jo. Clonfert Th. Fr. Dublin R. Beling N. Plunket Gerrard Fennell To
the Right Honourable the Lords Justices and Council And now many of those Officers who had served his Majesty most signally in Ireland were treated with to recruit his Forces in and about Chester to which end all the encouragement that his Majesty had given in his Letters of the 4th and 7th of September were faithfully imparted to them and what could possibly be rais'd for their Transportation was effectually done Whereupon several Regiments as Sir Mich. Earnely's Sir Rich. Fleetwoods Colonel Gibson Colonel Monk Colonel Warren and others hasted over but with such Reluctancy of the Common Souldiers as the sharpest Proclamations of which there were several hardly restrain'd them from flying their Colours both before and after their arrival in England To prevent which and that the Souldiers might be secur'd in their Loyalty to his Majesty the Lieutenant General compos'd this Oath I Resting fully assured of his Majesties most Princely Truth and Goodness do freely and from my heart promise vow and protest in the presence of Almighty God that I will to the utmost of my Power and with the hazard of my Life maintain and defend the true Protestant Religion establish'd in the Church of England his Majesties sacred Person his Heirs and lawful Successors and his Majesties just Powers and Prerogatives against the Forces now under the Conduct of the Earl of Essex and against all other Forces whatsoever that are or shall be rais'd contrary to his Majesties Commands and Authority And I will do my best endeavour to procure and re-establish the Peace and Quietness of the Kingdom of England And I will neither directly or indirectly divulge or communicate any thing to the said Earl of Essex his Officers or any other to hinder or prejudice the Designs of his Majesty in the Conduct or Imployment of his Army Which that it may be taken by every Souldier follows the Precept By the Lieutenant General of his Majesties Army WHereas his Majesty hath been pleas'd to command the present transportation of a part of his Army here into England I do think fit and hereby Order that every Officer and Souldier to be transported hence do take the Oath above-written before they depart this Harbour Given at his Majesties Castle of Dublin 13. of Octob. 1643. Ormond And in respect that upon their going many Souldiers listed themselves under other Officers the Lord Lieutenant besides other Courses publisht the 13. of November an Edict that no Souldiers under penalty of death should depart from their former Commanders and Officers and that no Commanders and Officers on pain of displeasure should dare to entertain any Souldiers so offending And the 4th of Feb. 1643. the Lord General publisht a Proclamation That if any Souldier should stay behind that was commanded to go over or should after he was transported over into England run away from his Colours he being afterwards apprehended should presently suffer death without mercy Upon which as you see many came over into England and at Hawerden Castle Beeston Castle Bartomley Church Dedington House Acton Church and Durtwich improved their time but the main body the 25. of January 1643. was utterly defeated by Sir Thomas Fairfax raising the Siege of Namptwich 1500 common Souldiers besides Officers being there taken Prisoners besides those that were slain so that what advantage accrewed to the Regal Army by their coming over many believ'd was not very considerable unless those who came out of Munster were more successful The general if not all those who came to his Majesties assistance out of Ireland were his own Forces which he had sent against the Rebels from whom I cannot yet learn after all their professions of having no one hollow thought or subtile practice to serve two Masters or standing Neuters whilst their King was Party that any formed Regiment or considerable Party reach'd England no! it will hereafter appear how shamefully they deserted his Majesties Affairs even in Ireland it self when their Interest might have united them in Loyalty and Obedience Some months after the arrival of these and other Forces out of Ireland the Parliament of England made an Ordinance against the giving of any Quarter to any Irish man or to any Papist born in Ireland taken in Hostility against the Parliament by Sea or Land which his Majesty thought very severe they being called to the service of their Natural Prince The coming over of the English made several that were not so forward suspected in their Loyalty though in truth never any Prince had an Army more intirely affecting his Person then the generality of his Militia of Ireland who being sent thither or rais'd there were not yet wean'd from the Justice of that Cause hardly matchable in any example the War being said long since a great Instrument of State not an ambitious War of Foraigns but a recovery of Subjects and that after Lenity of Conditions often tried not onely to obedience but to Humanity and Policy from more then Indian Barbarism whereas the Affairs of England imbrued Relations in one anothers blood and the Concerns of Ireland were as much his Majesties as the other and the Cause undoubtedly Gods The Lords Justices and Council this while had a great task and not so much as straw to the Work the Confederates paying in the Money viz. 30800 l. they promised the 16th of September towards the maintenance of his Majesties Army this Cessation very uncertain as their Cows and Cattle of the worst taking within three days after the Cessation near 369 head of choice English Cattle from the suburbs of Dublin acting besides many other violencies on divers Castles Forts and Houses so as this agreement with the Rebels seemed rather a Protection then a Cessation of Acts of Hostility That in this extremity the Lords Justices Providence and Care how great soever could remedy little being their business now was to proceed in another course then formerly they had the Election of which grew hourly the heavier upon them by reason of the discontents which constantly arose from the Inhabitants and the Protestants now more then ever sensible of their Condition the Irish Agents making all the speed they could to repair with their Propositions to his Majesty then at Oxford according to an Article in the Cessation and his Majesties Proclamation thereupon by which they were allowed to send Agents to his Majesty of which the Protestants in and about Dublin being very apprehensive lest his Majesty should be pre-possessed of the Rebels sence they thought it most convenient to dispatch Agents presently to his Majesty and to that end about the 6th of October 1643. they meeting at the Earl of Kildare's house fram'd a Petition to the Lords Justices and Council humbly beseeching their Lordships for their License unto such as they should appoint to attend his Majesty in their behalf whereunto the Lords Justices and Council the 12. of the same month expressed their forwardness declaring how his
Majesty had been graciously pleas'd to put them in mind that thence they should send some of his Majesties Ministers to assist in the Treaty when the Irish should repair to him and when they had acquainted his Majesty with the Petitioners request they should be certified of his Pleasure with convenient speed But the Petitioners not conceiving this a satisfactory answer again Petitioned the Lords Justices and Council the 14. of the same month sending them therewithall a Copy of their Petition they had agreed on to his Majesty whereunto the Lord Justices and Council the 19th of October returned an Answer That such was their care of the Petitioners that the same day they had given them an Answer to their former Petition they inclosed in their Letters to Secretary Nicholas their first Petition to them requesting his Majesties gracious Pleasure thereupon and further they could not now proceed though if they would repair to his Majesty they would not hinder them but could not accompany them with their recommendation till they knew his Majesties Pleasure to have them come over much artifice there was used to have had some protested against the Petition they had framed to his Majesty but none of those who had signed it save Major Morris was wrought upon and the 17. of Febr. 1643. the Petition was so well approved of in the House of Commons in Ireland as it had their concurrence And about the beginning of January a Letter of his Majesties to the Lords Justices and Lieutenant-General of the Army dated the 6th of November 1643. arrived at Dublin Licencing the Protestant Agents to repair to Oxford of whose further Proceedings with the management of that business you shall have speedily Not long after the Cessation one mov'd at the Council Board by way of Petition That such of the Irish as would constantly pay contribution to the Army might have freedom to return to their Castles and the motion took with some but was strongly oppos'd by others considering how many gallant men as Sir Simon Harcourt and others had been lost in the regaining of those Castles and that it being uncertain on what terms there might be Peace it might be taken ill by the King that those Castles the price of so much blood should be surrendred without his Privity upon which the motion was laid aside I will not say all Reflections afterwards on them that oppos'd it Nor indeed was the event of this motion so supprest but that in a short time after some through the Importunity of the Irish Agents were restored to their Estates who had from the beginning been in Rebellion notwithstanding their Estates had been given in Custodium and those who had them not accepting of mean and sinister proffers had little else to subsist by or pay the Arrears of their Service So as Affairs of different natures hourly encreasing subject to constructions beyond the management of the Prudentest and most Loyal thoughts it could not but be a great ease to be free'd of that Government which an Illustrious Person whose Interest was Principally involv'd in the present Intrigues had a Regal Call thereunto whereupon these Lords Justices were remov'd not without considerable Repose difficulties daily flowing in upon them remediless by any but his Excellency James Marquiss of Ormond who the 21. of January 1643. was solemnly in Christchurch Dublin sworn Lord Lieutenant with general acceptance At which time Robert Sibthorp Bishop of Limerick chose for his Text the 77. Psalm and the last verse Thou leadest thy People like a Flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron upon which he paraphras'd exceeding elegantly But as Sir James Ware observes in his Life never receiv'd a Farthing of his Bishoprick The Marquiss of Ormond being now seated in the Government one of the first things he began to regulate after he had sent the designed Army into England was the standing Army at that time much straightned through want of Pay and other Extremities he therefore reduced the Troops about Dublin to Five and twenty apiece besides Officers all but his own which was continued 40. and Sir Lucas's and Armestrong's 30. besides Officers and to pay these which made up 150 Horse besides 2000 Foot he rais'd money by an Excise Taxes on the Town and 3d. an Acre inhabited within the English Pale besides enquiry what was owing by Debts unto the Londoners so as thence with what Tabacco they had a considerable sum was weekly rais'd and accordingly disbursed for the Relief of the Souldiers and other necessaries which he having retrench't according to the Exigence he kept to due Musters and observance And by reason of divers Robberies and Murthers daily committed by the Souldiers on such as brought Provision for the Relief of the City the Lord-General the 16th of March 1643. strictly prohibited all such outrages under the utmost Peril of the Martial Laws And the Parliament there meeting at Dublin the 17th of April the Speakers of both Houses the 18th of the same 1644. by a Letter prohibited the Commanders Officers of his Majesties Armies and others in the Kingdom of Ireland to take the Solemn League and Covenant according to a Proclamation by the Lords Justices and Council the 18th of December 1643. set out with great Wisdom and Reason highly commending their deep Judgment therein which his Excellency then also commanded to be re-Printed at the request of the Commons House of Parliament 1644 In pursuance of which an Oath afterwards was hammer'd but some of the Judges dis-agreeing it was never form'd Great were his Excellency's Affairs indeed the contrary Parties he was necessarily obliged to deal with would in any but one so resolute and intire have betrayed to Effeminacy and Disorder The Irish on one hand confident in their Address to his Majesty and the Protestants oppress'd with their sufferings and straights both he quitted to his Majesties Justice after that he had had his Majesties Licence for their Repair to him The Confederate Catholicks thereupon sent their Agents authorised by them to attend his Majesty at Oxford but indeed with such Desires and Propositions as weighed but in an indifferent Ballance make too lively a Representation how in-competent Considerers they were of the way to their own Repose and Happiness and how unlikely they were to prevent the destroying Calamities which hung over their heads and so closely pursued them At the same time and so long as the Treaty lasted the King was likewise attended by a Committee from the Council Board of Ireland in pursuance of his Commands to inform his Majesty of all matters of Fact which had passed and of all the Laws and Customs there necessary to be weighed upon what the Catholicks should demand or propose And by the Parliament then sitting in Dublin several were authorized to present to his Majesty the Grievances of his Protestant Subjects in Ireland that nothing might be granted in that Treaty to the prejudice
of their Interest and security Each Party arrived at Oxford near the midst of April the Confederate Agents got thither soonest having less Remora's in their dispatch The Confederates as men who thought themselves possessed of the whole strength and Power of the Kingdom and the Kings condition in England so weak as he would buy their assistance at any rates demanded upon the Matter the total alteration of Government both in Church and State the very form of making and enacting Laws which is the foundation of Government and which had been practis'd ever since the Reign of King H. 7. must be abolished and instead of Liberty or Toleration for the exercise of the Romish Religion they insisted on such Priviledges Immunities and Power as would have amounted at best but to a Toleration of the Protestant Religion and that no longer then they should think fit to consent to it On the other hand the Committee of Parliament as men who too much felt the smart and anguish of their late sufferings undervalued and condemned the Irish as inferior to them in Courage and Conduct and as possessed of much greater Power by the Cessation then they could retain in War very earnestly prest the execution of the Laws in force Reparation for the dammages they had sustain'd disarming the Irish in such manner and to such a degree as it might not be hereafter in their Power to do more mischief and such other Conditions as People who are able to contend are not usually perswaded to submit unto which the Committee at Oxford for Irish Affairs insisted on with powerful Reasons and Arguments In these so different and distant Applications they who were sent as moderate Men from the Council knew not how to behave themselves but enough discovered that they had not the confidence in the Irish as to be willing that they should be so far trusted that the performance of their Duty should depend onely on their Affection and Allegiance But that there should be a greater Restraint upon them then they were inclin'd to submit to otherwise that the Protestant Religion and English Interest would be sooner rooted out by the Peace they proposed then it could be by the War It is very true that the Irish Agents demean'd themselves to his Majesty with great shew of Modesty and Duty they were Men that lack'd neither Art nor Behaviour and confessed that they believ'd that the Demands they were enjoyn'd to insist upon were such as his Majesty could not consent unto and that the present condition of his Affairs was not so well understood by them or by those who sent them before their coming out of Ireland as it now was which if it had been they were confident they should have had such Instructions as would better have complied with their own Desires and his Majesty's Occasions and therefore frankly offer'd to return and use their utmost Endeavours to incline the Confederate Council whose Deputies they were and who then exercised the supream Power over the Confederate Catholicks of that Kingdom to more Moderation and to return their full submission and obedience to his Majesty upon such Conditions as his Goodness would consent unto for their security But how little of this was perform'd you shall find in the sequel of the Story however the King sent his Command the 16th of Feb. 164. to the Marquess of Ormond to continue and renew their Cessation for another year and likewise a Commission under the Great Seal of England to make a full Peace with his Catholick Subjects upon such Conditions he found agreeable to the publick Good and Welfare and might produce such a Peace and Union in that Kingdom as might vindicate his Regal Power and Authority and suppress the Rebels in England and Scotland And so his Majesty dismissed the Catholick Agents with demonstration of much Grace and Confidence with this good Council which he most pathetically poured out to them at their departure That they should not forget the preservation of the Nation and Religion which they professed and were so zealous for in Ireland depended upon the preservation of his just Rights and Authority in England That they saw his Subjects of Scotland contrary to all Obligations had invaded England and joyned with those Rebels against him who without that assistance would have been speedily reduced to their obedience And therefore if his Catholick Subjects of Ireland made haste upon such Conditions as he might then grant without prejudice to himself and which should be amply sufficient for the security of their Fortunes Lives and Exercise of their Religion to assist him whereby he might be enabled by God's Blessing to suppress that Rebellion they might confidently believe he would never forget to whose Merit he owed his Preservation and Restauration and it would then be in his absolute Power to vouchsafe Graces to them to compleat their happiness and which he gave them his Royal Word he would then dispence in such manner as should not leave them disappointed of any of their just and full Expectations But if by insisting on such Particulars as he could not in Conscience consent to and their Consciences obliged them not to ask or on such as though he could himself be content to yield to yet in that Juncture of Time would bring such great damage to him that all the Supplies they could give or send to him could not countervail and might be as beneficially granted to them hereafter when he might better do it they should delay their joyning with him and so look on till the Rebel's Power prevail'd against him in England and Scotland and suppress'd his Party in those Kingdoms it would then be too late for them to give him help and they would quickly find their Strength in Ireland but an imaginary Support for his or their own Interest and that they who with much difficulty had destroyed him would without any considerable Opposition ruine their Interest and root out their Religion with their Nation from all the Dominions which should be subject to their exorbitant Jurisdiction How much of this prov'd a Prophesie their sad Experience knows and the World cannot but take notice of Soon after the Confederate's Agents were dismissed the Protestant's Committee of Parliament who had managed their Scene with much Courage and Integrity drew off with the King's Favour and Promise to do the utmost he could for them In the managing of which Affairs if they had not been very resolute arm'd with much Truth they would certainly have fall'n under many Inconveniencies For besides what they met with at Oxford they had still Correspondence and accordingly acted as they were animated by a Party of the Protestant Committee of the Parliament of Ireland then resident in Dublin who that they might decline the height of what those at Oxford proposed were tempted by an Order of the Council-Board to certifie Whether the 24 Propositions of his Majesty's Protestant Agents of Ireland presented to
his Majesty the 18th of April 1644. did agree with their sence in order to the present condition of the Kingdom Whereby it 's thought that if it had been said that the 24 Propositions had been agreed to by the Protestants in general there would have been an Endeavour to have got some to have signed an Instrument against the Agent 's Proceedings and therefore their Proceeding was acknowledged to be according to their Instructions and their Correspondent's Advice in Town As in the Answer May it please your Lordships IN Obedience to your Lordship's Commands signified in your Order of the 5th of June 1644. directed to us the Persons under-named requiring us to certifie your Lordships Whether the 24 Propositions of his Majesty's Protestant Agents of Ireland presented to his Majesty do agree with our sence in order to the present condition of this Kingdom We the said Persons do humbly certifie That we have perused the Propositions in the said Order mention'd and do humbly conceive them to be in substance pursuant to the humble Petition of his Majesty's Protestant Subjects as well Commanders of his Majesty's Army here as others a Copy of which Petition hath been formerly presented to your Lordships and from that Honourable Board transmitted to his Sacred Majesty and by him graciously receiv'd as may appear by his Majesty's Letters of the 6th of November last whereof your Lordships were pleas'd to grant the Petitioners a Copy And that the said Propositions are as we humbly conceive in substance pursuant unto certain Instructions entituled Instructions for the Agents who are to attend his most Sacred Majesty on the behalf of his Majesty's Protestant Subjects of Ireland Which Instructions were also presented at that Honourable Board and there upon serious Debate according to the Pleasure of your Lordships in some things altered and so a Copy thereof was delivered to your Lordships And we humbly conceive that the said Propositions are such in substance as if way may be found whereby his Majesty may bring to pass the Particulars therein conceiv'd they would conduce to the Establishment of the true Protestant Religion the Honour and Advantage of his Majesty and the future Security of his Highness his Royal Posterity this his Kingdom and the Protestant Subjects therein But how these Propositions stand in order to the present condition of this Kingdom is a thing far above us to resolve All which we humbly leave to your Lordship's Grave Considerations Signed Will. Cooley Will. Usher Hen. Jones Anth. Dopping Will. Plunket Theod. Schoute Peter Wybrants When the Irish Confederates Agents return'd into Ireland most of them as far as acted in view perform'd their Promise and Engagements to the King so as many of the Nobility and Gentry and most of the Persons of considerable Fortune together with the moderate Clergy who are easie to be number'd were convinc'd of the necessity of submitting themselves entirely to the King till he was able to grant them more that they might not be glad to accept of less But the evil Genius of that People condemn'd to wilful ruine and misfortune soon evidenc'd how unripe they were for mercy and that it was not so easie to allay the Spirits they had conjur'd up as to foment and irritate them The Nobility and Men of known Fortune whom self-Interest by this time had taught Loyalty found that they had lost their Power and the Reverence they had parted with to the Clergy had much Influence on he common People who devoting themselves solely to their Clergy's Dictate oppos'd all Conclusions which according to Wisdom and true Policy were to be the Ingredients of a happy and lasting Peace And so above 2 years were spent after these Agent 's departure from the King in fruitless and in-effectual Treaties the Earl of Glamorgan in the interim treating in that wilde order with the Rebels as under a pretended sufficient Authority from the King utterly disown'd he blew them up to such a pernicious Expectation by the feigned Articles he sign'd to them the 25th of August 1645. so destructive both to Church and State and so repugnant to his Majesty's publick Professions and known Resolutions as the Treaty of Peace proceeding on more agreeable Terms by the Lord Lieutenant found many rubbs and impediments Whilst the Strength and Power of the Parliament's Forces in England exceedingly increased and his Majesty's Forces were defeated and himself for want of Succours promis'd out of Ireland was compelled to deliver up himself to his Scottish Subjects and was shortly after by them given into the hands of the Parliament of England who being at last split into several Factions so varied Councils as in conclusion he was betrayed and suffer'd to the astonishment of the World But that I may not o're-slip the Series of this Story which through a conflux of Matter will sometimes unavoidably be disturbed I must take notice that the first Cessation being near determin'd the 5th of Sept. 1644. there was a new Cessation agreed on by the Lord Lieutenant and the Irish Commissioners to begin on the 15th of September and continue till the 1st of December following And in respect that the Treaty of Peace had several Matters of weight and consequence which necessarily required further time to be prepared and drawn into writing it was agreed on at the Castle of Dublin the 2d of Octob. anno praedict that the Treaty should be adjourn'd to the 4th of November ensuing the Irish Agents in the interim to have liberty to continue in or come to Dublin as often as they should think fit which time they improved and Affairs were so managed as there was never any other Cessation till the Peace About which time the Earls of Thomond Clanrickard and St. Albans the Lord Rannelagh Fitz-williams Taaff and Dillon who had never receded from his Majesty's Commands writ to him That betwixt two Parties one if they were disposed to make Invasion upon them and the other who sticking to the Covenant dis-obey'd the Cessation they were like to be ruin'd and therefore implor'd his Majesty to reconcile the Difference betwixt those who were too high either of the Confederates or Protestants in their Demands and declare against the Scots who would make little distinction were it in their power between them and those whom they now assaulted In treating of Peace we must not forget that the Lord Inchequin having been easily wrought on to agree to the Cessation carried over many of his Munster Forces to the King who in memory of his service bestowed on him a noble Wardship and would have made him an Earl But the Presidency of Munster pre-dispos'd of to the Earl of Portland being his aim he returns again into Ireland and from Cork the 17th of July 1644. he and other Officers there writes to his Majesty That no Peace could be concluded with the Irish Rebels which would not bring unto his Majesty and the English in general a far greater prejudice than
the shew of a Peace there would bring them an advantage c. And thereupon besought him that he would not so much regard so inconsiderable a handful of People as they were as to purchase but a seeming security by leaving thereby the Protestant Religion in all likelihood to be extirpated and his Majesty obnoxious to the loss of that Kingdom Further beseeching his Majesty that he would be pleas'd to Proclaim again the Irish to be Rebels and not to pardon those who have committed so many barbarous Crimes that they are as far above description as they are short of honesty professing they had his Majesties Commission for what they did the true sense of which devillish aspersion cast upon his Majesty with other reasons made them resolve to die a thousand deaths rather than condescend to any Peace referring themselves in other things to their Declaration And from the same place the day following these write to both Houses of Parliament in England much to the same effect importuning their Agreement with his Majesty without which the War could not be prosecuted as it ought offering for the securing of their Garrison to their Service whom they pleas'd Concluding That they hoped such a wise Assembly would distinguish betwixt the effects of Necessity the Cessation and Dishonesty Including in their Letter to both Houses their Declaration which I had thought to have abbreviated but it is so significant that we shall find it unravels many Secrets then to come and declares such Truths as without injury to their Merits we could not smother The unanimous Declaration of His Majesties Protestant Subjects of the Province of Munster IF in the undertaking of a just Design it were onely requisite that the Hearts and Consciences of the Undertakers were satisfi'd we should not need to publish this Declaration but lest our Enemies should traduce the candour of our Actions and Intentions we have made this manifestation of them which will acquaint the World with their Malice and our Innocence We are confident that all Christendom hath heard of the bloody Rebellion in Ireland and we are as confident the Rebels and Popish Clergy have so palliated and disguised it that many are fully perswaded they had reason for what they did But we believe all men of Judgment will change that opinion when they shall know That though they were a Conquer'd People yet the Laws were administred unto them with as much equity as to the English That they enjoyed their Religion though not by Tolleration yet by Connivance That their Lords though Papists sate in Parliament And that the Election of the Knights of the Shire and Burgesses was free and though of a contrary Religion were admitted into the House of Commons yet for all these and many other vast Favours and Priviledges when every one was sitting under his Vine and Fig-tree without any provocation they resolve upon a general extirpation both of the Protestants and their Religion which without doubt they had effected had not God been more merciful than they were wicked and by a Miracle discovered this devillish Design whereof though we had notice just time enough to secure our main Magazine at Dublin yet we could not prevent the butchery of multitudes of innocent Souls which suffered at the first in the Province of Ulster and since they have continued this Rebellion with such perfidiousness and bloodiness that though we had been as guilty as we are innocent yet the prosecuting of the War with that barbarousness had rather been a sin than justice But by Gods great providence when the Rebellion brake out first the Parliament of England was sitting unto whom his Majesty communicated so much of his Power over this Kingdom as we shall hereafter mention and gave them great encouragement to prosecute the War against the Rebels by granting Lands unto such as should adventure Money for the maintenance of the War Whereupon the Parliament who were most willing to advance so good a Cause sent us at first large Supplies which had so good success that the Divine as well as Humane Justice did proclaim them Rebels for indeed God Almighty since the deliverance of the Children of Israel from the Egyptians never appeared so visibly as in this War But the unhappy misunderstanding between the King and Parliament did so hinder the continuance of those Supplies for this Kingdom that all we received in nineteen months amounted not to five weeks entertainment so that the Army which was sent to relieve us lived upon us And truly we may with Justice profess that the Forces of this Province did feed as miraculously as fight being never able to prescribe any certain way of subsistance for one month together but when the poor Inhabitants were almost beggar'd and no means for the Forces to subsist on left a Cessation of Arms was made for a twelvemonth with the Rebels which our necessity not inclination compelled us to bear with and the rather out of a firm hope that the Almighty out of his infinite goodness would within that year settle a right understanding between the King and Parliament that then they would unanimously revenge the crying blood of so many thousands of innocent Souls and until God blessed us with the sight of that happy Union we might keep our Garrisons which otherwise we could not the better to enable them to prosecute so just and honourable a design But this Cessation was as fatal to us during the time of Treaty as afterwards it was ill observed for they knowing what agreement they would enforce us to condescend unto did privately send one or two persons to every Castle that we had demolished which under pretence of being by that means in their possession they ever since detain though it be contrary to the Articles And which is more injurious they have at all times since entred upon what Lands they have thought fit and detained them also and their devillish malice having no bounds they did place Guards upon the High-ways to interrupt our Markets and punished divers of their own Party for coming with Provisions to us thereby to deter all from bringing any relief to our Garrisons that so they might starve us out of those Places that neither their fraud or force could get from us which that they might the better accomplish they murthered divers of the poor English that presuming on the Article of free Commerce went abroad to buy Victuals which certainly would have caused them to have declined that course of seeking Food if hunger threatning them with more certain death had not forced them thereunto And whereas we trusted that these notorious infidelities in them and infinite sufferings in us would have been so visible to his Majesty that nothing could have induc'd him to make a Peace with so perfidious a People who through their fawning and insinuating with his Majesty and by the counsel of some who represent that there is no way left for the securing the
remainder of English but by a Peace We find his Majesty being deluded by the first and believing the last to be conducing to the preservation of his Majesties Protestant Subjects is concluding of a Peace which will again admit those Irish Rebels to be Members of Parliament so that that Court which should afford relief for our Grievances will by their over-swaying Votes be our greatest Grievance Moreover we are too truly informed by divers of their own Party whose names if we should publish would be as great an ingratitude as folly the first in betraying those that obliged us the last in depriving our selves of all future Intelligence by them that they have vowed never to submit to an English or Protestant Government except they have liberty to exercise their Religion in Churches That the Forces of the Kingdom may be Train'd-Bands of their Men and that likewise those of their own Religion may be admitted to Places of Trust in the Common-wealth which they call modest and moderate demands though we hope they cannot seem so to any but themselves and their Clergy who we find do not think them enough being they may not have all their Church-Livings For we have certain intelligence that they have made a strong Faction as well among my Lord of Castlehaven's Soldiers as in all other parts of the Kingdom so that they are five parts of six who will fly out into a new action when they see a convenient time to execute their design which as yet they determine to forbear until they see a Peace concluded supposing that then the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland will intermix Irish and English without distinction to oppose the Scots and that by that means there will be a sufficient number of their Party in our Garrisons to master them which when they find an opportunity for they will certainly seize into their own hands upon notice whereof the Faction abroad will with all expedition apprehend the English in all parts and having accomplished this part of their design they will manifest that they are weary of the King of England's Government and that they will trust none of his Protestant Subjects among them for we are certainly informed that they will invite a Forreign Prince to take them into his protection unto whom they will deliver possession of what he pleases and will become his Subjects And lest that Princes Treasure should be exhausted by Wars in other places the Clergy have with the Pope's assistance raised amongst those of their own Calling and divers of the Gentry in Italy one hundred thousand pounds in money and a quantity of Arms and Ammunition that are now ready to be sent hither and they have employed one Doctor Duyer to go forthwith thither for it as also to get his Holiness to settle a course for the raising of more Money to be employed for the advancement of that which they call the Catholick Cause Therefore out of a true sense of our injuries already suffered and un-redressed with a right apprehension of inevitable ruine not onely to our Lives and Estates but likewise to the English Nation and Protestant Religion we have re-assum'd our Arms according to our Duty to God our King and Countrey with inviolable resolution to die or frustrate this devillish design And since those that die acting for the Gospel are as perfect Martyrs as those that die suffering for it we cannot but with joy embrace any effect that proceeds from so glorious a Cause Neither can this act be esteemed a crime in us since his Majesty upon the Rebels first Insurrection his Treasure being exhausted gave his Royal assent for the passing of an Act of Parliament wherein he granted to all his Subjects that would adventure money towards reducing of the Rebels Lands proportionable to the sum adventured which would fall to the Crown when the Conquest should be finished And the better to secure the Adventurers his Majesty obliged himself to make no Peace with the Rebels but with the advice and approbation of the Parliament of England and by that Act communicated to the Parliament that Power which before was solely in himself So that they not condescending to this Peace our imploying of their Aids and re-assuming of those Arms put into our hands by King and Parliament joyntly cannot be esteemed contradictory to his Majesty in regard that their joynt Act is so absolutely binding that neither of them severally can annull it as is evident in the Laws of the Realm Therefore if this War were onely Offensive yet even slander it self must acknowledge us innocent having so just a Cause so pious an Intention and so lawful an Authority much more it being Defensive and the Law both of God and Nature allowing every one to defend himself from violence and wrong Moreover the King must never expect any obedience from the Irish but what proceeds either from their Interest or Fear Through the first of these neither his Majesty or we can hope for assurance for not granting them all their desires their Interest which is more powerful with them than their Loyalty will make them throw off their subjection and to become absolute not scruple to destroy us Then to expect any security by their fears were frivolous for though we have found their Hearts as ill as their Cause yet they cannot be apprehensive of 2 or 3000 ill armed and unprovided men having all things necessary and so numerous a People at their devotion And lest our Enemies should scandalize us with breach of Faith in violating the pretended Cessation or with Cruelty in expelling the Irish Papists from our Garrisons who hitherto seemed adhering to us Concerning the first we declare That although our necessities did induce us to submit supposing the Cessation would have produced other effects as is before mentioned yet we had no power without Authority from King and Parliament joyntly to treat or yield to it or if it had been in our powers yet by the Rebels daily breaches of it we are disengaged from it Concerning the second we declare That our Garrison cannot be secured whilst so powerful and perfidious Enemies are in our bosomes Powerful being four to one in number more than the English Perfidious in their constant designs to betray us some whereof we will instance to convince their own Consciences and satisfie the World of our just proceedings One Francis Matthews a Franciscan Frier being wonderfully discovered in an Enigmatical Letter and as justly executed before his death confessed that he had agreed to betray the City of Cork to the Lord of Muskery which must necessarily infer that the chiefest and greatest part of that City were engaged in this Conspiracy for otherwise he could not so much as hope the accomplishment And if this had taken effect it had consequently ruin'd all the Protestants in the Province of Munster that being our chief Magazine and greatest Garrison Besides upon this occasion other Friers being examin'd upon Oath confessed that in
Ja. Ware God save the King An Abreviate of the Articles of Peace concluded by the Marquiss of Ormond Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Commissioner for the King and the Lord Mountgarret President of the Supream Council the Lord Muskery Sir Robert Talbot Dermot O Brian Patrick Darcy Jeffery Brown and John Dillon Esquires Commissioners for the Irish. 1. THat the Professors of the Roman Catholick Religion in the Kingdom of Ireland or any of them be not bound or obliged to take the Oath of Supremacy expressed in the second of Queen Elis. commonly called the Oath of Supremacy 2. That a Parliament may be held on or before the last day of November next and that these Articles agreed on may be transmitted into England according to the usual Form and passed provided that nothing may be passed to the Prejudice of either Protestant or Catholick Party other then such things as upon this Treaty shall be concluded 3. That all Acts made by both or either Houses of Parliament to the Blemish or Prejudice of his Majesties Roman Catholick Subjects since the 7th of August 1641. shall be vacated by Acts of Parliament 4. That no Actions of Law shall be removed before the said Parliament in case it be sooner called then the last of November And that all Impediments which may hinder the Roman Catholicks to sit in the next Parliament shall be remov'd before the Parliament sit 5. That all Debts do Stand in state as they were in the beginning of these Troubles 6. That the Plantation in Connaght Kilkenny Clare Thomond Tipperary Limrick and Wickloe may be revoked by Act of Parliament and their Estates secur'd in the next Sessions 7. That the Natives may erect one or more Inns of Court in or near the City of Dublin they taking an Oath as also one or more Universities to be Govern'd as his Majesty shall appoint as also to have Schools for Education of Youth in the Kingdom 8. That Places of Command of Forts Castles Garrisons Towns and other Places of Importance and all Places of Honour Profit and Trust shall be conferr'd with equal Indifferency upon the Catholicks as his Majesties other Subjects according to their respective Merits and Abilities 9. That 12000 l. Sterling be paid the King yearly for the Court of Wards 10. That no Peer may be capable of more Proxies then two And that no Lords Vote in Parliament unless in 5 years a Lord Baron purchase in Ireland 200 l. per anum a Viscount 400 l. and an Earl 600 l. or lose their Votes till they purchase 11. That the Independency of the Parliament of Ireland on the Kingdom of England shall be decided by Declaration of both Houses agreeable to the Laws of the Kingdom of Ireland 12. That the Council Table shall contain itself within its bounds in handling Matters of State as Patents of Plantations Offices c. and not meddle with matter betwixt Party and Party 13. That all Acts concerning Staple or Native Commodities of this Kingdom shall be repeal'd except Wooll and Woollfels and that the Commissioners the Lord Mountgarret and others named in the 26 Article shall be Authoriz'd under the Great Seal to moderate and ascertain the rates of Merchandize to be exported and imported 14. That no Governor be longer Resident then his Majesty shall find for the good of his People and that they make no purchase other then by Lease for the Provision of their Houses 15. That an Act of Oblivion may be passed without extending to any who will not accept of this Peace 16. That no Governor or any other Prime Minister of State in Ireland shall be Farmers of his Majesties Customs 17. That a Repeal of all Monopolies be passed 18. That Commissioners be appointed to regulate the Court of Castle-Chamber 19. That Acts Prohibiting Plowing by Horse-tails and burning of Oats in the Straw be repealed 20. That Course be taken against the Disobedience of the Cessation and Peace 21. That such Graces as were promised by his Majesty in the Fourth year of his Reign and sued for by a Committee of both Houses of Parliament and not express'd in these Articles may in the next ensuing Parliament be desir'd of his Majesty 22. That Maritine Causes be determin'd here without Appeal into England 23. That the increase of Rents lately rais'd upon the Commission of defective Titles be repeal'd 24. That all Interests of Money due by way of Debt Mortgage or otherwise and not yet satisfi'd since the 23. of Octob. 1641. to pay no more than 5l per Cent. 25. That the Commissioners have power to determine all Cases within their Quarters until the perfection of these Articles by Parliament and raise 10000 Men for his Majesty 26. That the Lord Mountgarret Muskery Sir Dan. O Bryan Sir Lucas Dillon Nich. Plunket Rich. Bealing Philip Mac-Hugh O Relie Terlogh O Neal Thomas Flemming Patrick Darcy Gerald Fennel and Jeffery Brown or any five of them be for the present Commissioners of the Peace Oyer and Terminer and Gaol-Delivery in the present Quarters of the Confederate Catholicks with power of Justice of Peace Oyer and Terminer and Gaol-Delivery as in former times of Peace they have usually had 27. That none of the Roman Catholick Party before there be a Settlement by Parliament Sue Implead or Arrest or be Sued Impleaded or Arrested in any Court other than before the Commissioners or in the several Corporations or other Judicatures within their Quarters 28. That the Confederate Catholicks continue in their Possessions until Settlement by Parliament and to be Commanded by his Majesties Chief Governour with the advice and consent of the Commissioners or any Five of them 29. That all Customs from the perfection of these Articles are to be paid into his Majesties Receipt and to his use as also all Rent due at Easter next till a full Settlement of Parliament 30. That the Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol-Delivery shall have power to hear and determine all Offences committed or done or to be committed or done from the 15th day of September 1643. until the first day of the next Parliament Thus the Marquess having perform'd all on his part that could be expected from him and was in his power to do and having receiv'd from other Parts all the assurance he could require there being no other way of engaging the publick Faith of the Nation than that to which they had so formally engaged themselves to him in he intended nothing then but how his Majesty might speedily receive some fruit of that Peace and Accommodation he thence expected by sending assistance to him And to that purpose with advice and upon invitation of several Persons who had great Authority and Power amongst the Confederate Catholicks the Lord Lieutenant took a Journey himself to Kilkenny where he was receiv'd with that Respect and Reverence as was due to his Person and to the Place he held and with such expressions of Triumph and Joy as gave him cause
do crave his Holiness's Mediation with the Queen and Prince as also with the King and Queen Regent of France and with the King of Spain and all other Christian Princes in all Matters tending to the Avail of the Nation either in point of settlement to a Peace or otherwise 3. The Confederate Catholicks having raised Arms for the freedom of the Catholick Religion do intend in the first place that you let his Holiness know their resolution to insist upon such Concessions and Agreements in Matters of Religion and for the security thereof as his Holiness shall approve of and be satisfied with wherein his Holiness is to be prayed to take into his Consideration the imminent danger the Kingdom is in according to the Representations aforesaid to be made by you and so to proceed in Matters of Religion as in his great Wisdom and Piety may tend best and prove necessary to the preservation of it and the Confederate Catholicks of Ireland 4. You are to represent to his Holiness That the Confederates think fit to insist upon as security for such Agreements in Religion as his Holiness will determine that the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or other Chief Governour or Governours of the Kingdom from time to time should be Roman Catholicks unless his Holiness upon the said Representation of State-Affairs here or for some other Reason shall think fit to wave that Proposition 5. You are to represent to his Holiness That the Confederate Catholicks desire that all the Concessions to be made and agreed on for the setling of the Catholick Religion in this Kingdom be publisht at the same time with the Temporal Articles of the Settlement if his Holiness on representation of the State of Affairs here or for some other Advantages shall not think fit to determine or suspend the publishing of those or some of them for a time 6. You are to represent to his Holiness That no change or alteration is to be in any part of the present Government of the Confederate Catholicks until the Articles of Peace or Settlement pursuant to the present Authority and Instructions you and the Commissioners to the English Court in France have been concluded and expected and published in this Kingdom by those intrusted in Authority over the Confederate Catholicks 7. You are to take notice That the resident Council now named are the Persons to serve for the interval Government until the next Assembly of the Confederate Catholicks and the Assembly is at liberty to name others if they please and that no less than eight of the said Residents concurring during the said interval shall make any Act or Order obliging and according as it is provided in the former Articles for the interval Government in the late rejected Peace the Forts Cities Towns Castles and Power of the Armies of the Confederate Catholicks to remain and continue in their hands during the said interval Government 8. You are to take notice That the Persons to be imployed into France to the Queen and Prince are to finish their Negotiation with the Queen and Prince pursuant to their Instructions with all possible speed after they shall receive his Holiness's Resolution from you out of Rome in the Matters referred as aforesaid to his Holiness and you are to use all possible diligence in procuring and sending his Holiness's said Resolution unto our said Commissioners imployed to the Queen and Prince 9. In case his Holiness will not be pleased to descend to such Conditions as might be granted in Matters of Religion then you are to solicit for considerable Aids whereby to maintain War and to ascertain and secure the same that it may be timely applied to the use of the Confederate Catholicks And in case a Settlement cannot be had nor considerable Aids that may serve to preserve the Nation without a Protector you are to make application to his Holiness for his being Protector to this Kingdom and by special instance to endeavour his acceptance thereof at such time and in such manner as the Instructions sent by our Agents to France grounded on the Assembly doth import whereof you are to have a Copy 10. Though Matters be concluded by his Holiness's Approbation with the Prince and Queen yet you are to solicit for Aids considering our distress and setting before him that notwithstanding any such Aids we have a powerful Enemy within the Kingdom which to expulse will require a vast charge 11. You are to take with you for your instruction and the better to enable you to satisfie his Holiness of the full state of Affairs here the Copies of the Instructions at Waterford the Articles of the late rejected Peace and Glamorgan's Concessions and the Propositions from Kilkenny to the Congregation at Waterford in August 1646. 12. If Moneys be receiv'd in Rome by you by way of Gift Engagement or otherwise you are to bring or send the same hither to those in Authority and not to dispose the same or any part thereof otherwise than by Order from the general Assembly or supream Council and for all sums of Money so by you to be receiv'd you are to give account to the Authority intrusted here over the Confederate Catholicks 13. You are to manage the circumstance of your Proceedings upon the Instructions according as upon the Place you shall find most tending to the Avail of the Confederate Catholicks Tho. Dublin Tho. Cashell Thom. Tuamen Electus Ewerus Clougherensis David Ossoriens Joha Episc. Roscotensis Fr. Edmundus Laglensis Franc. Ardensis Episc. Robert Elect. Coses Cluomer Francis Patricius Ardack Electus Rob. Dromore Elect. Henry O Neal Rich. Bealing J. Bryan Robert Devereux Gerald Fennel Farren By the Command of the General Assembly N. Plunket These having been solicited we shall now present you with their further Instructions to importune other Princes Instructions for France Jan. 18. 1647. YOu are to present your Letters of Credence to his most Christian Majesty and the several Letters you have with you to the Queen the Prince and Cardinal Mazarine declaring the special affection of the Confederate Catholicks to his Majesties service upon all occasions wherein they may serve him You are to desire his most Christian Majesty the Queen Regent and Cardinal Mazarine their Favourable and Friendly regard of the Affairs of the Confederate Catholicks and to direct their assistance in what they may to further the settling of the happy Peace of this Kingdom with advantagious and honourable Conditions Commissioners being now sent to conclude the same if they may You are to let his most Christian Majesty the Queen Regent and Cardinal Mazarine know That there be a considerable Enemy in the heart of the several Provinces of this Kingdom that yet we have many Cities and Parts of the greatest consequence in our hands and have sufficient stock of Men to defend the Nation and expel the Enemy but do want aids of Money and Shipping without which we shall be in danger the next Summer-service and therefore to
their Quarters In the interim the Parliament of Ireland then sitting at Dublin finding into what straights the Kingdom was brought and how his Excellency had strugled with the greatest difficulties imaginable for his Majesties and their Interest they the 17th of March sent this Remonstrance in acknowledgment of great Care and Indulgence The Remonstrance of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament assembled declaring the Acknowledgment of their hearty thankfulness to the most Honourable James Marquis of Ormond Lord Lieutenant General of Ireland his Excellency WE the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament in our whole Body do present our selves before your Lordship acknowledging with great sense and feeling your Lordships singular goodness to us the Protestant Party and those who have faithfully and constantly adhered unto them who have been preserved to this day under God by your Excellencies providence and pious care which hath not been done without a vast expence out of your own Estate as also to the hazarding of your Person in great and dangerous difficulties And when your Lordship found your self with the strength remaining with you to be too weak to resist an insolent and upon all advantages a perfidious and bloody Enemy rather than we should perish you have in your care transferred us into their hands that are both able and willing to preserve us and that not by a bare casting us off but by complying so far with us that you have not denied our desires of Hostages and amongst them of one of your most dear Sons All which being such a free Earnest of your Excellencies love to our Religion Nation and both Houses do incite us here to come unto you with Hearts fill'd with your love and Tongues declaring how much we are oblig'd to your Excellency professing our resolutions are with all real service to the utmost of our power to manifest the sincerity of our acknowledgment and affections unto you and to perpetuate to posterity the memory of your Excellencies merits and our thankfulness We have appointed this Instrument to be entred into both Houses and under the hands of both Speakers to be presented to your Lordship Rich. Bolton Canc. 17 die Martii 1676. intr per Val. Savage Dep. Cler. Parl. Maurice Eustace Speaker Int. 17. die Martii 1676. per Philip Fernely Cler. Dom. Com. What effect this made upon his Excellency you will here see My Lords and Gentlemen WHat you have now read and deliver'd hath much surpriz'd me and contains matter of higher obligation laid upon me by you than thus suddenly to be answer'd yet I may not suffer you to depart hence without saying somewhat to you And first I assure you that this Acknowledgment of yours is unto me a Jewel of very great value which I shall lay up amongst my choicest Treasures it being not onely a full confutation of those Calumnies that have been cast upon my actions during the time I have had the Honour to serve his Majesty here but likewise an Antidote against the virulency and poison of those Tongues and Pens that I am well assur'd will be busily set on work to traduce and blast the Integrity of my present Proceedings for your preservation And now my Lords and Gentlemen since this may perhaps be the last time that I shall have the Honour to speak to you from this Place and since that next to the words of a dying man those of one ready to banish himself from his Country for the good of it challenge credit give me leave before God and you here to protest That in all the time I had the Honour to serve the King my Master I never receiv'd any Command from him but such as spake him a Wise Pious Protestant Prince zealous of the Religion he professeth the welfare of his Subjects and industrious to promote and settle Peace and Tranquility in all his Kingdoms and I shall beseech you to look no otherwise upon me than upon a ready Instrument set on work by the Kings wisdom and goodness for your preservation wherein if I have discharg'd my self to his Approbation and Tours it will be the greatest satisfaction and comfort I shall take with me where-ever it shall please God to direct my steps And now that I may dismiss you I beseech God long long to preserve my Gracious Master and to restore Peace Rest to this afflicted Church and Kingdom But to return In conclusion the Commissioners from the two Houses of Parliament having performed all that on their part was expected the Marquis of Ormond delivered up Dublin and the other Garrisons into their hands the 17th some write the 18th of June 1647. on condition to enjoy his Estate and not to be subject to any Debts contracted for the support of his Majesties Army under his Command or for any Debts contracted before the Rebellion That he and all such Noblemen and Officers as desir'd to pass into any part of that Kingdom should have travelling Arms and free Passes with Servants for their respective Qualities That he should have 5000 l. in hand and 2000 l. per Annum for five years till he could receive so much a year out of his own Estate And that he should have liberty to live in England without taking any Oaths for a year he engaging his Honour to do nothing in the interim to the prejudice of the Parliament However he delivered not up the Regalia till the 25th of July at which time he was transported with his Family into England where they admitted him to wait on the King and to give his Majesty an account of his Transactions who received him most graciously as a Servant who had merited highly from him and fully approved all that he had done The straits his Excellency was then put to were great and in consideration into whose hands the Government might fall his surrender of Dublin to the Parliament seem'd extreme hazardous yet Providence so steer'd his Resolution in that act as doubtless the ground of his Majesties Sovereignty and the English preservation how many Channels soever it past through first proceeded thence Before He came away the Soldiers had receiv'd such a tincture of Mutiny as Mr. Annesly and Sir Robert King for fear of violence privately quitted the Kingdom before which they with Sir Robert Meredith Colonel Michael Jones and Colonel John Moore took notice of the insolency of the Soldiers to exact Contribution and free Quarters at their pleasure forbidding them so to do c. by a Proclamation at Dublin the 20th of June 1647. Soon after the Parliaments Commissioners were warm in the Government having regulated their Militia they put their Sickle into the Service of the Church where they found many so tenâcious to the Oathes of Allegiance and Supremacy and their Vows to their Ordinaries as they could not be wean'd from the Liturgy of the Church of England in which Ministery they desir'd to finish their Course with joy and the 9th of July
1647. they unanimously publish'd a Declaration to that end exactly drawn up with great Reason Perspicuity and Eloquence The time that the Marquis of Ormond agreed with the Parliaments Commissioners was near the time that the Army had gotten the King into their hands having taken him from Holmbey out of the custody of the Commissioners to whom the Scots had delivered him And the Marquis of Ormond at his arrival in England found so many specious pretences and professions publish'd by that Party which then had the whole Power of the Army and consequently of the Kingdom that very many believ'd his Majesties Affairs to be in no ill condition more seeming respect was paid to his Person and less restraint upon the resort of his faithful Servants to him than had been from the time that he first put himself into the Scots power The Army took upon them the Government of the Kingdom having solemnly declared That there could be no reasonable hope of a firm and lasting Peace if there were not an equal care to preserve the Interest of the King Queen and Prince as of the Liberties of the People and that both should be with equal care provided for together In this time of freedom and hypocritical compliance the Marquis had free liberty of repairing to the King where he gave him an account of all his actions and of the course he had taken for the reviving and preserving his Majesties Interest in Ireland by setling a Correspondence with many Persons of Honour there who would keep the two Houses of Parliament how great an advantage soever he had given them by the delivery up of Dublin c. into their power if they refus'd to return to his Majesties obedience from obtaining any absolute Dominion in that Countrey and who were most like to reduce the Nation from the Distemper with which they were transported and to incline them to that submission that was due from them to the King with all which his Majesty was very graciously and abundantly satisfied and gave the Marquis direction in case the Independent Army should proceed otherwise than they pretended how he should behave himself and comply with the Irish if he could reduce and dispose them to be instrumental towards his or their own delivery And when his Majesty discovered by the double dealing and hypocritical demeanour of the Officers of the Army of whom he had earlier jealousie than other men as seeing farther into their dark Design the little good they meant him he found it fit to receive some Overtures from the Scottish Commissioners who were still admitted to reside at London and to bear a part in the Managery of the Publick Affairs and now plainly saw that the Independent Army which they had so much despised was grown superiour to them and meant to perform nothing less than what they had so Religiously promised before the King was delivered up at Newcastle The King hereupon commands the Marquis of Ormond to confer with the principal Persons of that Commission who seem'd very sensible of the dishonour their Nation had incurr'd and resolved by uniting the power of that Kingdom for his Majesties Service to undo some of the mischief they had wrought And desired that the Marquis of Ormond would likewise transport himself into Ireland to try once more if he could compose the humours of that People to his Majesties obedience that so those two Kingdoms being entirely reduc'd to their duty might with that assistance they were like to find in England perswade the violent Party to comply with those moderate and just Conclusions which would establish the Peace and Tranquility of the whole in a full happiness to Prince and People And from hence was that first Engagement design'd which was afterwards so unfortunately conducted by the elder Duke Hamilton and concluded with the ruine of himself and of many Worthy and Noble Persons When the Army had by their civil and specious carriage and professions disposed the Kings Party to wish well to them at least better than to the Presbyterians who seem'd to have erected a Model of a more formid and insupportable Tyranny and were less endu'd with the appearances of Humanity and good Nature and had by shuffling themselves into new shapes of Government and admitting Persons of all Conditions to assemble and make Propositions to them in order to the publick Peace given encouragement to most men to believe that all Interests would in some degree be provided for and so had brought themselves into an absolute Power over all Interests they began to lessen their outward Respects and Reverence to the King to inhibit some of his Servants absolutely to resort to him and more to restain the frequent access of the People who out of their innate Duty and Affection delighted to see his Majesty they caused reports to be raised and scattered abroad of some intentions in desperate persons of violence upon his Majesties Person and upon this pretence doubled their Guards and put Officers of stricter vigilance and more surly disposition about him so that whatsoever he said or did or was said unto him was more punctually observed The Marquis of Ormond was look'd upon with a very jealous eye and was forbid to continue his attendance on him or to come within 25 miles of London and that Article in the Agreement at the delivery of Dublin viz. That he should engage his Honour not to act any thing to the prejudice of the Parliament in a twelvemonth there was an intention to put him in mind of by a Letter from the Committee at Derby-house but before the Messenger came where he had been near Bristol he knowing of the King 's being close Prisoner in Carisbrook-Castle and that it would be to little purpose to contest his Articles with the Parliament privately shipt himself away for France where he arrived safely about the end of the year 1647. having spent in England little more than six months For a time we must leave the Marquis in France and return to Colonel Jones in Dublin who with those Forces that were left there by the Marquis of Ormond and such as he brought and received out of England amounting in all to 3000 marched against Colonel Preston approaching with his Leimster Forces to infest Dublin and met him about 12 miles from Dublin who having gotten great advantage of ground routed Jones killed many of his men and took not a few Prisoners Jones himself escaping with much difficulty to Dublin Whether upon this accident or otherwise I cannot determine but great divisions then arose betwixt the old English who had Preston for their General and the old Irish who had Owen Roe O Neal for theirs The old English had a gallant Army consisting of near 10000 Foot and Horse well Arm'd and well Disciplin'd who thought that if they would offer themselves Instruments to destroy the old Irish they might at any time have good Conditions from England therefore under
Ireland in confusion And when he had with less success than formerly issued his Excommunication the 27th of May 1648. against all those who complied with the Cessation with the Lord Inchiquin he was compelled in the end after so much mischief done to the Religion he was obliged to protect in an obscure manner to fly out of the Kingdom and coming to Rome had an ill Reception of the Pope Temerariè te gessisti said he with which and the Fate of Fermo in his absence he soon after died Nor indeed had any of those Apostolick Nuncios in Ireland much better Fate Nicholas Sanders an English-man An. 1579. was sent Nuncio by Gregory the 13th who wander'd in the Mountains of Kerry and was there starv'd under a Tree Owen Mac Egan alias Eugenius O Hegan of Irish Birth Vicarius Apostolicus under Clement the 8th was slain leading a Troop of 100 Horse against the Loyalists An. 1602 3. And because the impudent Injustice and Imprudence of the Nuncio and the lame Subjection of the People to his immoderate Pride and Haughtiness was in truth the real Cause or rather Fountain from whence this torrent of Calamities flowed which hath since over-whelmed that miserable Nation and because that exorbitant Power of his was resolutely opposed by the Catholicks of the most eminent Parts and Interests and in the end though too late expelled by them it will be but Justice to the Memories of those noble Persons briefly to collect the sum of that unhappy Person 's Carriage and Behaviour from the time that he was first design'd to that Imployment And in doing hereof no other Language shall be used than what was part of a Memorial delivered by an honourable and zealous Catholick who was intrusted to complain of the in-sufferable Behaviour of the Nuncio to the Pope himself which runs in these very words speaking of the Nuncio He declar'd before he left Rome That he would not admit either in his Company or Family any Person of the English Nation In his Voyage before he arrived at Paris he writ to his Friends in Rome with great joy the News though it prov'd after false that the Irish Confederates had treacherously surprized the City of Dublin while they were in truce with the Royal Party and treating about an Accommodation and Peace Arriving at Paris where he shut himself up for many months he never vouchsafed I will not say to participate with the Queen of England any thing touching Nunciature or in the least degree to reverence or visit her Majesty save only one time upon the score of Courtesie as if he had been sent to her Enemies not Subjects Being arrived in Ireland he imployed all his Power to dissolve the Treaty of Peace with the King which was then almost brought to perfection and his diligence succeeded of which he valued himself rejoyced and insulted beyond measure In his Letters he writ to Paris which were after shewed to the Queen and he may truely say that in that Kingdom he hath rather managed the Royal Scepter than the Pastoral Staff and that he aim'd more to be held the Minister of the supream Prince of Ireland in Temporalibus than a Nuncio from the Pope in Spiritualibus making himself President of the Council he hath managed the Affairs of the supream Council of State he hath by his own Arbitrement excluded from it those who did not second him though by Nobleness of Birth Allegiance Prudence and Zeal to Religion they were the most honourable of these he caused many to be imprisoned with great scandal and danger of sedition and in short he assumed a distributive Power both in Civil and Military Affairs giving out Orders Commissions and Powers under his own Name subscribed by his own Hand and made Authentick with his Seal for the government of the Armies and of the State and Commissions for Reprizals at Sea He stroke in presently after his Arrival in Ireland with that Party of the Natives who are esteemed irreconcilable not only to the English but to the greatest and best part of the Irish Nobility and of the same People to the most civil and most considerable of that Island And the better to support that Party and Faction he hath procured the Church to be furnished with a Clergy and Bishops of the same temper excluding those Persons who are recommended by the Queen who for Doctrine and Vertue were above all exceptions all which is contrary to what your Holiness was pleas'd to promise The Queen was not yet discouraged but so labour'd to renew the Treaty of Peace already once broke and disorder'd by Monsieur Rinuccini that by means of her Majesty it was not only re-assumed but in the end after great disputes and oppositions on his part the Peace was concluded between the Royal Party and the Confederate Catholicks and warranted not only by the King's Word but also by the retention of Arms Castles and Forts and of the Civil Magistrates with the possession of Churches and of Ecclesiastical Benefices and with the free exercise of the Catholick Religion And all this would have been exhibited by a publick Decree and authentick Laws made by the three Estates assembled in a free Parliament By this Peace and Confederacy they would have rescued themselves from the damages of a ruinous War have purchased security to their Consciences and of their temporal Estates honoured the Royal Party and the Catholicks in England with a certain restitution and liberty of the King whereon depended absolutely the welfare of the Catholicks in all his Kingdoms the Catholick Chair had quitted it self of all Engagements and Expence with Honour and Glory This Treaty of Peace on all sides so desirable Monsieur Rinuccini broke with such violence that he forced the Marquess of Ormond the Vice-Roy of Ireland to precipitate himself contrary to his inclination and affection into the arms of the Parliament of England to the unspeakable damage of the King and of the Catholicks not only of Ireland but also of England He incensed the greatest and best part of the Catholick Nobility and rendred the venerable Name of the holy Apostolick Chair odious to the Hereticks with small satisfaction to the Catholick Princes themselves of Europe as though it sought not the spiritual good of Souls but a temporal Interest by making it self Lord over Ireland And when the Lord Digby and the Lord Byron endeavour'd on the Marquess of Ormond's part to incline him to a new Treaty of Peace he did not only disdain to admit them or to accept the Overture but understanding that the Lord Byron with great danger and fatigue came to Town in the County of Westmeath where he was to speak with him he forced the Earl that was the Lord of it to send him away contrary to all Laws of Courtesie and Humanity in the night-time exposed to extraordinary inconveniencies and dangers amongst those distractions protesting that otherwise he himself would immediately depart the Town By
the Marquis Whereupon his Majesty signifi'd That in case other things were compos'd by the Treaty the Concerns of Ireland should be left wholely to the management of the Houses And in the interim writes to the Marquis of Ormond this Letter C. R. RIght Trusty and Well-beloved Cousin and Counsellor We greet you well Whereas We have received several Informations from Our two Houses of Parliament concerning your proceedings with the Confederate Roman Catholicks in the Kingdom of Ireland the several Votes and Extracts whereof We do herewith transmit unto you and forasmuch as We are now engaged in a Treaty of Peace with Our two Houses wherein We have made such large Concessions as We hope will prove the foundation of a blessed Peace And We having consented by one Article if the said Treaty take effect to entrust the Prosecution and Management of the War in Ireland to the Guidance and Advice of Our two Houses We have therefore thought fit hereby to require you to desert from any further Proceedings upon the Matters contained in the said Papers And We expect such Obedience unto this Our Command that Our Houses desires may be fully satisfi'd Given at Newport in the Isle of Wight the 25th of November in the 24th Year of Our Reign To Our Right Trusty and Well-beloved Cousin and Counsellor James Marquis of Ormond As soon as the Parliament received this Letter some were of opinion that it should be immediately sent to the Marquis of Ormond yet others aiming at what afterwards was brought upon the Stage laid it as it 's said aside We find by the event it produced nothing for the Treaty proceeded a Peace ensuing though as yet Owen Roe was so far from being reconcil'd to the Supreme Council or any that adher'd thereunto as he fell most violently in the end of November upon the Earl of Clanrickard's Party gaining Jamestown by Composition and Drumrusk by the Sword Rory Mac-Guire the prime Instrument herein with several other Officers and Common Soldiers to the number of 4 or 500 being there slain Roe's Party afterwards putting all to the Sword save Major Bourk his Wife and Children cruelly harassing the whole County of Roscommon The 19th of October the Confederate Catholick's Commissioners came to Carrick an House of the Marquis's where he continued about twenty days which they spent principally in matters of Religion in treating whereof they were so bound and limited by their Instructions and could make so little progress of themselves being still to give an account to the Assembly of whatsoever was propos'd or offer'd by the Lord Lieutenant and to expect its Direction or Determination before they proceed that for the husbanding of time which was now very precious the prevailing Party in England every day more discovering their bloody purposes towards the King the Assembly thought it fit to desire the Marquis to repair to his own Castle at Kilkenny which they offered to deliver into his hands and that for his Honour and Security he should bring his own Guards who should have the reception due to them And upon this invitation about the middle of November he went to Kilkenny before the entry into which he was met by the whole Body of the Assembly and all the Nobility Clergy and Gentry and in the same Town was receiv'd with all those requisite Ceremonies by the Mayor and Aldermen as such a Corporation use to pay to the Supreme Authority of the Kingdom so that greater evidence could not be given of an entire union in the desire of the People of returning to the Kings obedience or of more affection and respect to the Person of the Lord Lieutenant who by his steady pursuing those professions he had always made by his neglect and contempt of the Parliamentarians and their prodigious Power whilst he was in England by his refusing all Overtures made by them unto him for his particular benefit if he would live in the Kingdom and by their declared manifest hatred and malice towards him was now superiour to all those Calumnies they had aspersed him with and confessed to be worthy of a joynt trust from the most different and divided Interests and Designs However there were so many Passions and Humours and Interests to be compli'd with and all Conclusions to pass the Approbations of so many Votes that it was the middle of January before all Opinions could be so reconciled as to produce a perfect and entire Contract and Agreement which about that time passed with that miraculous consent and unity that in the whole Assembly in which there were Catholick Bishops there was not one dissenting Voice So that on the 17th of January 1648. the whole Assembly repair'd to the Lord Lieutenant in his Castle at Kilkenny and there with all solemnity imaginable presented him by the hand of their Chair-man or Speaker the Articles of Peace as concluded assented and submitted unto by the whole Body of the Catholick Nation of Ireland which he receiv'd and solemnly confirm'd on his Majesties behalf and caus'd the same that day to be Proclaim'd in that Town to the great joy of all who were present and it was with all speed accordingly Proclaim'd and as joyfully receiv'd in all the Cities and Incorporate Towns which professed any Allegiance to the King throughout the Kingdom and for the better reception thereof amongst the People and to manifest the satisfaction and joy they took in it the Catholick Bishops sent out their Declarations and Letters that they were abundantly satisfi'd in whatsoever concern'd Religion and the secure practice thereof Certainly well they might for unless it had been at such a time that his Majesty had been reduc'd to the utmost extremity a Prince could be compell'd to such disingenious and hard terms could never have been stood upon with a free and generous Prince in as much as his present Majesty in his Declaration for the settlement of Ireland there takes notice That no body could wonder that he was desirous though upon difficult conditions to get such an united Power of his own Subjects as might have been able with Gods blessing to have prevented the infamous and horrid Parricide intended But how ineffectual this his Indulgence after prov'd will appear by these Wretches foolishly forfeiting all the Grace which they might have expected from him But to proceed When the Articles of Peace were presented in that solemn manner to him by the Assembly after a Speech made by the Chair-man The Lord Lieutenant express'd himself in these words My Lords and Gentlemen I Shall not speak to those expressions of Duty and Loyalty so eloquently digested into a Discourse by the Gentleman appointed by you to deliver your sence you will presently have in your hands greater and more solid Arguments of his Majesties Gracious acceptance than I can enumerate or perhaps you your selves discern For besides the provision made against the remotest fears fear of severity of certain Laws and besides
in for his Loyalty relyed on for his Wisdom trusted in for his Care to prevent ill Accidents and Dexterity to take advantages he was indeed looked upon as the Restaurator of his Countrey and as the onely Person by whose management of the Irish War the injur'd King was like to arise out of his Fathers ruines to the Glory and Greatness he was born to though upon this Defeat those whose Crimes were no otherwise to be veil'd than by this misfortune cast the miscarriage thereof solely upon him a Fate incident to great Men to be extremely magnifi'd on Success and upon any notable Disaster to be as much depress'd and peradventure neither justly Soon after this Defeat Jones was writ to by his Excellence to have a List of the Prisoners he had taken from him To whom it was repli'd My Lord since I routed your Army I cannot have the happiness to know where you are that I may wait upon you Michael Jones This Defeat at Rathmines alter'd the result of Counsels at Court till then very strong for his Majesties repair into Ireland the Scots having given ill proofs of their Integrity and Faith And certainly the Irish were at that time so disposed as probably they would have submitted to his Majesty what-ever afterwards might have been the result of their compliance And for the Parliament they had at that time so inconsiderable a footing in Ireland possessing not a Garrison in Munster or Connaght and in Ulster none but London-derry and the Fort of Culmore as in Leimster little but Dublin and Ballishannon as his Majesties Presence it was thought would have wrought on some reduced others and brought in All. When the Marquis as we have said before found the Consternation to be so great in his Soldiers as they could not be contain'd from dispersing and had sent Orders to those on Finglass-side to march to Tredagh and Trim for the strengthning of those Garrisons which he believ'd Jones might upon the pride of his late success be inclined to attack whilst himself went to Kilkenny as the fittest Rendezvous to which he might rally his broken and scattered Forces and from whence he might best give Orders and Directions for the making of new Levies And in his March thither the very next day after the Defeat at Rathmines he made an halt with those few Horse he had rallied together and summon'd the strong Fort of Ballishannon which he had before left blocked up by a Party of Horse and Foot and having found means to perswade the Governour to believe that Dublin had been surrendred and that his Army was returning he got that important Place into his hands without which Stratagem Jones would have pursued his Conquest even to Kilkenny it self which he had found in a very ill condition to defend it self For in a whole weeks time after the Marquis's coming to Kilkenny he could draw together but 300 Horse with which he found it necessary that day sevennight after the Defeat to march in Person to the relief of Tredath which was besieged by Jones and defended by the Lord Moor but upon the approach of the Marquis no nearer than Trim the Siege was rais'd and Jones return'd to Dublin and his Lordship entred Tredath whether he resolved to draw his Army as soon as might be and issued out his Orders accordingly hoping in short-time if no other misfortune intervened to get a Body of Men together able to restrain those of Dublin from making any great advantage of their late Victory But he had been there very few days when he received sure advertisement that Cromwel himself was landed with a great Army of Horse and Foot and with vast Supplies of all kinds at Dublin where he arriv'd within less than a fortnight viz. on or about the 15th of August after the unfortunate Defeat at Rathmines The Scene being now alter'd and the War the Lord Lieutenant was to make could be onely Defensive until the Parliamentarians should meet with a Check in some Enterprise and his own Men by Rest Discipline and Exercise of their Arms might again recover their Spirits and forget the fears they had contracted of the Enemy He in the first place therefore took care to repair the Works and Fortifications of Tredath as well as in so short a time could be done and got as much Provision into the Town as was possible and then with a full approbation of all the Commissioners he made choice of Sir Arthur Aston a Roman Catholick and a Soldier of very great Experience and Reputation one at Reading and Oxford formerly confided in by his Majesty a Gentleman of an Ancient and yet flourishing Family in Cheshire to be Governour thereof and put a Garrison into it of 2000 Foot and a good Regiment of Horse all choice Men and good Soldiers with very many Gentlemen and Officers of good Name and Account and supplied it with Ammunition and all other Provisions as well as the Governour himself desired and having done so he marched with his Horse and small remainder of Foot to Trim from whence he had sent to the Lord Inchiquin to bring up as many Men to Tecroghan the Rendezvous as he could out of Munster now the apprehension of Cromwel's Landing there was over and endeavour'd from all parts to recruit his Army hoping that before the Parliamentarians could be able to reduce any of his Garrisons he might be empowered to take the Field The 24th of August 1649. the Commons assembled in Parliament set forth a Declaration declaring all Persons who had served the Parliament of England in Ireland and had betrayed their Trust or adhered to or aided and assisted his late Majesty or his Son to be Traitors and Rebels and accordingly to be proceeded against by a Court-Marshal whereby some were Sentenc'd others sent into England some Imprison'd there and many disbanded though they had serv'd against the Rebels from the first Discovery Upon Friday the 30th of August Cromwel marched out of Dublin having setled the Affairs of that City Civil and Military instituting Sir Theophilus Jones Governour in his absence with an Army of 9 or 10000 Men chosen out of the General Muster where appear'd a compleat Body of 15000 Horse and Foot came before Tredath Monday the 2d of September of which the Marquess of Ormond was no sooner advertiz'd than he came to Trim to watch all opportunities to infest the Enemies Quarters and having full confidence in the Town and in the Experience of Sir Arthur Aston who had sent him several Advices to precipitate nothing for that he doubted not to find Cromwel play a while the goodness and number of the Garrison being such that Cromwel would not be able to get the Town by any Assault But here again he found his expectations disappointed for the Enemy resolv'd not to lose their time in a Siege and therefore as soon as they had sent their Summons the 9th of September and it was rejected
and General Governor of the Kingdom of Ireland Chancellor of the University of Dublin and Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter To our Trusty and Well-beloved Bishop Ever Mac Mahon ORMOND WHereas upon the Treaty with General Owen O Neal deceased it was amongst other Particulars Concluded and Agreed upon that in case of death or removal of him such other General or Commander in Chief should be authorised by Commission from us to Command his Majesties Forces of the Province of Ulster Natives of the Kingdom as should be by general consent of the Gentry of that Province elected and made choice of for the same And whereas in a general Meeting lately held by the Gentry for that purpose it was agreed upon and so represented unto us that you should exercise that Command over the said Forces We therefore upon the Consideration thereof and of the Care Judgment Valour and Expedience in Martial Affairs as also of the readiness and good affections of you to do his Majesties Service have nominated and appointed and we do hereby nominate and appoint you the said Bishop Ever Mac Mahon to be General of all his Majesties said Forces of Horse and Foot of the Province of Ulster Natives of the Kingdom Giving thereby unto you the said Bishop Ever Mac Mahon full Power and Authority to take the said Charge and Employment upon you and the said Forces and every of them to Lead and Command according to the use and discipline of War and such further Order and Instructions as you shall from time to time receive from us or other his Majesties chief Governor or Governors of this Kingdom the time being in that behalf willing and hereby requiring all the Officers Troopers and Soldiers of the said Forces to obey you as their General and to be at and perform your Commands as they shall issue unto them upon all occasions of his Majesties Service as they will answer the contrary In witness whereof we have Signed this our Commission and caused our Seal of Arms to be thereunto affixed at Loghreogh the first day of April 1650. In execution of which the Bishop with great activity and courage proceeded in infesting the English Garrisons and Army in that Province as much as was in his Power And having an Army consisting of about 5000 Horse and Foot about the 20th of June 1650. when the Lord Lieutenant himself could not draw 1000 men together or keep them if together the space of 48 hours he encountred not far from London-derry with Sir Charles Coot who Commanded the Parliaments Forces in Chief in that Quarter and was then inferior in Foot to the Bishop though otherwise he had a great advantage of him by having near treble the number of Horse Notwithstanding which inequality the Irish for a while behaved themselves handsomly but in the end were totally defeated so that the Bishop was compelled after he saw the day was irrecoverably lost to quit the Field with a small party of Horse The next day in his flight he had the misfortune near Eniskelin to meet with the Governor Major King of that Town in the Head of a Party too strong for him against which however the Bishop defended himself with notable courage though after he had received many wounds he was taken Prisoner and soon after by the positive Order of Sir Charles Coot whom within less then a year he had reliev'd when in great extremity hang'd This was a most happy Victory for the Parliament in that 3000 of the Rebels were there slain all meer Irish out of an opinion they could not prosper as long as they had any English joyn'd with them and for that end had throughly purg'd their Army which being stiled by them the Confident Victorious Army of the North had a full return of Gods Vengeance they being the first Incendiaries and Actors in those barbarous Cruelties which ensued their Insurrection This was the unfortunate end of that unhappy Prelate of whom since he bore so great a Part in the Troubles of Ireland and was much superior in Parts to any man of that Party it will not be impertinent or uncharitable to mention some Passages of his Life that thereby his nature and disposition may be the better collected and indeed the spirit and temper of mind which those kind of men were possessed with who had the greatest abilities to do hurt Some few years before the Rebellion this Ever Mac Mahon being then an Arch Priest and residing for the most part in or near Dublin repair'd as you have heard to a Prime Instrument of State and discovered to him the Contrivances abroad in reference to bring Troubles upon that Kingdom who being thereupon Pardon'd still as any thing of that nature proceeded inform'd the State thereof And though according to the formality of Law he should have sued out his Pardon yet that he might still be confided in by the Confederates who knew not who the Discoverer was he meerly trusted to the Kings Mercy and Clemency and through the Government of the Earl of Strafford he prov'd faithful to the Crown From the beginning of this Rebellion his Power was very great with those that were opposite to any Reconciliation upon the first and 2 Conclusion of Peacy by the Confederate Catholicks continuing firm to that Party which followed Owen O Neal or rather Govern'd Owen O Neal who commanded that Party and over and above those demands which concern'd Religion to which they seem'd to adhere with more then ordinary zeal and thereby drew a dependency of that Clergy to them they insisted upon the Restitution of the great Estates in Ulster which was not in the Power of the Crown to make without violation of several Acts of Parliament and defeating many descents and purchases which had passed without any interruption or claim for the space of 150 years This impossible expectation kept both Owen O Neal and the Bishop of Clogher from concurring with the Confederate Catholicks in the Peace they made with his Majesty 1648. and the Animosity they contracted against the Confederates inclined them to relieve London-derry when as is remembred before it was even ready to be reduced by his Majesties Forces rather then to submit to the Peace made by them with the Lord Lieutenant To whose Divisions the State of England saith Rely Archbishop of Armagh ows their present Possession of Ireland and therefore infers that that Party of the Irish Natives ought to be not onely on that account Favour'd and Trusted but because also they never had affection for the King or his Family Yet after they had found it necessary to make that agreement with the Marquess in 1649. being neglected by the Parliament it must be acknowledged that the Bishop performed and observ'd it very justly as he was punctual in what he promised and applied himself with all dexterity and industry to the advancement of his Majesties Interest so that during his time he restrain'd the Clergy
Rapotensis Nico. Fernensis Procurator Arch. Dublin Eug. Kilmore Walt. Clonfert Procurator Leghlin c. Jamestown 10. Aug. 1650. When viz. the 12. of the same the two Persons had delivered their Credential Letter to the Lord Lieutenant he wished them in regard of the importance of the Matter they were instructed with to set down what they had in Command in Writing whereupon they presented him the 13th with this following Letter May it please your Excellency WE being intrusted by the Clergy met at Jamestown to deliver a Message unto your Excellency importing their advice what the onely means is as they conceive that may serve to free the Nation from the sad Condition whereunto it is reduced at present do in obedience to your Excellencies Commands signified for giving in the Substance of the said Message in Writing humbly present the same as followeth That whereas they doubt not your Excellency hath labour'd by other hands to bring the best Aids that possibly could be had from abroad for the Relief of this gasping Nation yet finding now in their Consciencies no other expedient Remedy for the preservation thereof and of his Majesties Interests therein more prevalent then your Excellencies speedy repair to his Majesty for preventing the Ruine and Dissolution of all and leaving the Kings Authority in the hands of some Person or Persons faithful to his Majesty and trusty to the Nation and such as the affection and confidence of the People will follow by which the Rage and Fury of the Enemy may receive Interruption They humbly offer this important Matter of the Safety or Destruction of this Nation and the Kings Interest to your Wisdom and Consideration hoping the Kingdom by your Excellencies Presence with his Majesty and intrusting safely the Kings Authority as above may with Gods blessing hold out until reliev'd with Supplies from his Majesty The Prelates will in the mean time do what lies in their Power to assist the Person or Persons so intrusted The great Trust his Majesty doth repose in your Excellency the vast Interest in Fortune Alliance and Kindred you have in this Nation and your experience in the management of Affairs of greatest Consequence will we doubt not added to other the Reasons proposed by us induce you to embrace this Advice as proceeding from our pious Intentions that look onely on the preservation of the Catholick Religion the support of his Majesties Authority and the Estates Liberties and Fortunes of his Subjects of this Kingdom which we humbly offer as Your Excellencies most humble Servants Fr. Oliver Dromore Charles Kelly Aug. 13th 1650. Though the Marquess did not expect that the Meeting of the Bishops and Clergy in that manner at Jamestown would have produced any better effect than their former Meetings in other Places had done yet he could not imagine that their Presumption would have been so great as it appear'd by this Message to be And when he communicated it to the Commissioners of Trust they were no less seemingly scandalized at it and believ'd that upon serious Conference with the Bishops they should be able to reform their Understandings and their Wills and therefore desired the Marquess that instead of sending a particular Answer to the Matter of the Message he would write to them To give him a Meeting at Loghreogh on the 26th of the same month to the end that upon a free Conference they might be induced to understand how pernicious a thing they had advised in order to their own security And the Bishop of Dromore and Dr. Kelly return'd with this Proposition and the Marquess making no doubt of their Compliance so far as to meet at the Place appointed went thither at the day assigned but they instead of meeting him themselves sent their Bishops of Cork and Clonfert no otherwise intrusted then to receive his Answer to the Proposition they had made for his leaving the Kingdom To which when he saw he could not draw them to a Conference he the 31. of August return'd That they might well remember that upon the Disobediences he had formerly met with he had obtain'd leave from his Majesty to have departed the Kingdom and that if themselves the Bishops Nobility and Gentry met together had not in April last in Writing and Discourse given him assurance that they not only desired his stay but would endeavour to procure such obedience to him as might enable him with hope of success to have gone on in the War he would have made use of the liberty given unto him by his Majesty to have freed himself from the vexation which he had since endured and the dishonour which he fore-saw he should be subject to for want of Power without which as he then told them he should be able to do nothing considerable for the King or the Nation That he had transmitted those Assurances to his Majesty with his own resolution to attend the Effects That he plainly observed that the Division was great in the Nation under his Government yet it would be greater upon his removal of which in a free Conference he would have given them such pregnant Evidence as he held it not fit to declare to them by writing For these and other Reasons he told them That unless he was forced by in-evitable necessity he was not willing to remove out of the Kingdom and desired them to use all means within their Power to dispose the People to that Dutifulness and Obedience that became them This wrought nothing on the Temper of those Men who were resolved not to be satisfied with any thing the Marquess could say unto them Insomuch that within few days after they had receiv'd his Answer from Loghreogh at the time when the Parliamentarians were strong in the Field and had then passed the Shannon if they had not been restrained by the few Troops the Marquess still kept on foot they published an Excommunication against all those of what Quality soever who should feed help or adhere unto the Lord Lieutenant in which this Circumstance is observable That though they did not publish this Excommunication until the 15th of September it was enacted in their Assembly at Jamestown the 12th of August which was within two days after they had sent the Bishop of Dromore and Dr. Kelly to perswade the Marquess to leave the Kingdom and the day before they delivered their Message So that they thought any thing that the Lord Lieutenant should return to them would be impertinent to the Matter in hand or if they were not so delighted with their own Proceedings that they have themselves carefully published to the World in Print would it be believ'd that Persons who in the least degree pretended the care of the Peoples welfare and security could at such a time when a potent Enemy was in the Field set all Men loose from all Government Civil and Martial and not direct them whom they should follow and obey For if it be said That
and set at liberty by him and whom the Bishops themselves in their Letter of the 12th of September 1650. to the Earl of Westmeath c. do acknowledge to be preserved by the Marquess and for which many will rather expect an Apology than for any Jealousie he could entertain of the Persons who behaved themselves in that manner towards the King's Lord Lieutenant They charge him with having represented to his Majesty that some Parts of the Kingdom were dis-obedient which absolutely deny any Dis-obedience by them committed and that thereby he had procured from his Majesty a Letter to withdraw his own Person and the Royal Authority if such dis-obedience was multiplied and so leave the People without the Benefit of Peace This was the Reward his Excellency out of his Envy to a Catholick Loyal Nation prepared for their Loyalty and Obedience seal'd by the shedding of their blood and the loss of their substance Whether the obstinate and Rebellious carriage of Waterford Limerick and other Places which brought destruction upon themselves did not deserve and require such a Representation to be made unto the King may be judged by all men upon what hath been before truly set down of those Particulars and if the Places themselves had not acknowledged that dis-obedience yet the Prelates seemed to lament those Acts of Dis-obedience and most earnestly disswaded him from leaving the Kingdom promising all their endeavours to reduce the People to Obedience which was onely in their Power to have done else the Marquess would not so long have exposed Himself and his Honour to those Reproaches or suffered his Person with the Impotent Title of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to have remained in that Kingdom and every day to hear of the rendring and betraying of Places to the Enemy which he could no more remedy then he could infuse a Spirit of Obedience Unity and Understanding into that unhappy infatuated Nation Yet he was so far from wishing that his Majesty should absolutely withdraw his Royal Authority from them how unworthy soever they made themselves of it that he offered to leave the Kings Power in the Person of the Marquess of Clanrickard as he afterwards did hoping that since their great exception was to him for being a Protestant they would with all Alacrity have complied with the other who is known to be a most zealous Roman Catholick yet a great Royalist They reproach'd him That while he was an Enemy to the Catholicks he had been very active in unnatural executions against them and shedding the blood of poor Priests and Churchmen But since the Peace he had shewed little of action keeping himself in Connaght and Thomond where no danger was or the Enemy appear'd not Here you see they would neither suffer him to have an Army to oppose the Enemy nor be content that he should retire into those Places where the Enemy could least infest him and from whence with those few Troops which remained with him he defended the Shannon and kept the Enemy from getting over the River while he staid there And for the former activity and success against them which they were content to impute to him it was when he had a free election of Officers an absolute Power over his Garrisons where he caused the Soldiers continually to be exercised their Arms kept in order and from whence he could have drawn his Army together and have march'd with it to what place he would which advantages he was now without and the Enemy possessed of and therefore it was no wonder that they now obtain'd their Victories as easily as he had done formerly But since they were so disingenious and ungrateful there being many amongst them whose lives he had saved not without suspicion of being favourable to them when he should have been just to charge him with being active in unnatural executions against them and in shedding the blood of poor Priests and Church-men and for the Improvement and Propagation of Calumny it hath pleased some Persons to cause that Declaration to be Translated in Latin and Printed thereby to make him odious to the Roman Catholicks and have named two Priests who they say were by his order Executed and put to death in cold blood and after his promise given to save their lives whose names were Mr. Higgins and Mr. White It will not be impertinent to set down at large the Case of these two Persons that from thence men who have no mind to be deceived and mislead may judge of the Candor and Sincerity of those Persons who would obtrude such Calumnies to the World It must therefore be known that when these two Priests were put to death the War was conducted and carried on by the two Houses of Parliament that the Government of Ireland was in the hands of the two Lords Justices who upon the inhumane and barbarous Cruelties first practised by the Irish Catholicks in the beginning of the Rebellion had forbidden any quarter to be given to those whom they found in Arms and principally against all Priests known Incendaries of that Rebellion and prime Actors in exemplary Cruelties and the Marquess of Ormond was then onely Lieutenant General of the Army and received all Orders from the Lords Justices and Council who having intelligence that a Party of the Rebels intended to be at such a time at the Naas order'd him to draw some Troops together with hope to surprize them And the Lieutenant General marching all night came early in the morning into the Town from whence the Rebels upon notice were newly fled In this Town some of the Souldiers found Mr. Higgins who might it's true have easily fled if he had apprehended any danger in the stay When he was brought before the Marquess he voluntarily acknowledged that he was a Priest and that his Residence was in the Town from whence he refused to fly away with those that were guilty because he not onely knew himself very innocent but believ'd he should not be without ample Evidence of it having by his sole Charity and Power preserved very many of the English Protestants from the rage and fury of the Irish and therefore he onely besought the Marquess to preserve him from the violence of the Souldiers and to put him securely into Dublin to be tried for any Crime which the Marquess promis'd to do and perform'd it though with so much hazard that when it was spread abroad amongst the Souldiers that he was a Priest the Officer into whose Custody he was intrusted was assaulted by them and it was as much as the Marquess could do to relieve him and compose the mutiny When he came to Dublin he informed the Lords Justices and Council of the Prisoner he had brought with him of the good Testimony he had receiv'd of his peaceable Carriage of the pains he had taken to restrain those with whom he had Credit from entring into Rebellion and of very many charitable Offices he had perform'd of which there wanted not
Evidence enough there being many then in Dublin who own'd their Lives and whatever of their Fortunes was left purely to him so that he doubted not but that he would be worthy of their Protection Within few days after when the Marquess did not suspect the poor man to be in danger he heard that Sir Charles Coot who was Provost Martial General had taken him out of Prison and caused him to be put to death in the morning before or assoon as it was light of which Barbarity the Marquess complained to the Lords Justices but was so far from bringing the other to be question'd that he found himself to be upon some disadvantage for thinking the proceeding to be otherwise then it ought to have been This was the Case of Mr. Higgins and this the Marquess's part in it and the poor man was so far from complaining of his breach of Promise at his death how confidently soever it be aver'd that he exceedingly acknowledged the Favour he had receiv'd from his Lordship prayed for his Prosperity and lamented his want of Power to do that which the World saw his inclination prompted him to The proceeding against Mr. White was very different and in this manner The Marquess being upon his march with his Army he quarter'd one night at Clonin an house of the Earl of West-Meaths who was residing there with his Wife and Family when he was at Supper many of the Officers being at the Table the Lady of the House upon some whisper she receiv'd from a Servant expressed some trouble in her Countenance which the Marquess who sate next her perceiving asked her what the matter was she told him in his ear that she was in great apprehension of an honest man who was in her house and much fear'd the Souldiers confessing he was a Priest The Marquess replied that if he was in the house and kept himself there he was in no danger for as the Souldiers would attempt nothing while the Marquess stai'd there so he would leave a Guard at his departure that should secure it against Straglers or any Party that should stay behind which he did accordingly In the morning when he was ready to march he receiv'd information that the Rebels were possessed of a Pass by which he was to go whereupon he sent some Troops to get a Foard three miles from the way the Army was to march and by that means to come upon the Rear of the Rebels by the time the Army should come to the Pass which being done after a short Encounter in which many were killed the Rebels were put to flight and the Pass gain'd In this action Mr. White was taken on Horse-back with a Case of Pistols who desired to be brought to the Marquess which being done he told him he was the Person for whom the Countess of West-Meath had besought his favour the night before and that his Lordship had promised that he should be safe The Marquess told him if he were the same Person it was his own fault that he was not safe if he had staid in the house he was in this had not befaln him that it was now out of his Power to preserve him himself being bound to pursue those Orders which the Lords Justices had given him Nevertheless he did endeavour to have saved him at least till he might be brought to Dublin But the whole Army possessed with a bitter spirit against the Romish Clergy mutinied upon it and in the end compelled the Marquess to leave him unto that Justice which they were authoris'd to execute and so put him to death Who can now upon these two Instances and no other can or have been given reasonably and honestly say that the Marquess hath had his hands defiled with the blood of Priests And from the time that he had the chief Power committed to him there was not one Priest how Maliciously Rebelliously or Treacherously soever they behaved themselves against the Kings Service and the Person of the Lord Lieutenant who suffered death but also all other acts of Blood and Rage which are not necessary though hardly avoidable in the most just War were declined and discountenanced by him nay for his Respect to affairs of this nature that they might be evenly and without passion carried on did he not often undergo even with his own Party a suspicion of not being sufficiently faithful The Consequences of which had many Censures The truth is the Rebellion was odious to him yet his desire often to reclaim the Irish by Mercy palliated what otherwise might have finished some thought the War sooner then it had its Determination I shall pass over the many Tautologies and impertinent Calumnies in the said Declaration all which are sufficiently answer'd and clear'd by what is already contain'd in this Narrative and shall onely insert their conclusion in their own words as followeth For the prevention of these Evils and that the Kingdom may not be utterly lost to his Majesty and his Catholick Subjects this Congregation of Archbishops Bishops and other Prelates and Dignitaries of both Clergies of this Kingdom found our selves bound in Conscience after great deliberation to declare against the continuance of his Majesties Authority in the Person of the Lord Marquess of Ormond having by his Misgovernment ill Conduct of his Majesties Army and breach of Publick Faith with the People in several Particulars of the Articles of Peace rendred himself incapable of continuing that great Trust any longer being questionable before his Majesty for the aforesaid Injuries and ill Government to which effect we will joyn with other Members of this Kingdom in drawing a Charge against him And we hereby manifest to the People that they are no longer obliged to obey the Orders and Commands of the said Marquess of Ormond but are until a General Assembly of the Nation can be conveniently called together unanimously to serve against the common Enemy for the defence of the Catholick Religion his Majesties Interest their Liberties Lives and Fortunes in pursuance of the Oath of Association and to observe in the mean time the form of Government the said Congregation shall prescribe until otherwise ordered by an Assembly or until upon Application to his Majesty he settle the same otherwise And we do Fulminate the annexed Excommunication of one date with this Declaration against all opposers of the said Declaration Here we are arrived at one of the most fatal Conclusions of a desperate People any History ever mention'd yet as the case stood it was not possible for his Excellency to chastise their folly and madness such a reverence and esteem this unhappy Nation hath ever had of their Clergy that a seditious Frier and he happily none of their highest Order neither could take the Colours in the head of a Regiment and pronouncing damnation to those who should presume to march contrary to the General 's command caused the Soldiers to throw down their Arms and disband as fell out in an
a Papist had merited from them The Lord Deputy hereupon and in consideration of many resorting to the Parliaments Quarters issued forth this Proclamation By the Lord Deputy General of Ireland CLANRICKARD WHereas divers of the Tradesmen and other Inhabitants have formerly lived in the Quarters in obedience to his Majesty within this Kingdom have of late withdrawn themselves from their respective Habitations there and be-taken themselves into the Garrisons and Quarters under the Power of the common Enemy for their particular and private advantage thereby to avoid contributing to his Majesty's Army to the great dis-advantage thereof and the support of the adverse Party which probably might be destroy'd had it not receiv'd this Relief For Reformation whereof we do hereby publish and declare That whosoever of the said Inhabitants or Tradesmen shall not within 14 days after publication hereof withdraw themselves and their Goods from the Garrisons and Quarters of the Enemy wherein they now remain to the Quarters in obedience to his Majesty And whosoever after the time aforesaid shall presume to live within a Mile to any of the said Garrisons shall be liable to the Confiscation of their Goods and Chattels and shall be prosecuted against as adhering in all respects to the Enemy and Traitors to his Majesty And whereas many idle and desolate Persons commonly call'd by the Name of Tories and others under pretence of going about to his Majesty's Service and frequently exact Meat Drink and Money from the Subjects committing many Outrages and using their Will for Law to the ruine and devastation of the Kingdom For prevention whereof we do hereby publish and declare That any Person or Persons of that Condition or Nature who within 14 days after publication hereof shall not in-list themselves in his Majesty's Army shall be un-horsed and dis-arm'd where-soever taken or found and in their Persons proceeded against as Traitors And we require and command the Commanders in chief of his Majesty's Army to take Order that this our Proclamation receive due execution And to the end that no Man may plead ignorance thereof we require all Mayors Sheriffs Soveraigns Portiffs and Bayliffs in whose hands these shall come on receipt thereof within the respective Liberties in the most publick Places to cause it to be proclaimed Given under our Hand and Seal at Arms the 2d day of January 1650. God save the King But to return to the Parliaments Forces who whilst the Marquess of Ormond was thus variously treated by the Confederates took in the Castle of Carlow as the 27th of July Caterlagh and the 10th of Aug. Waterford commanded by General Thomas Preston and the strong Fort of Dungannon under Giles Smith the 14th of Aug. as in the North Charlemont that nothing indeed they attempted but resigned to their Power Ireton this Winter continued at Kilkenny because the Plague which the Summer before had so exceedingly raged at Dublin as 't is reported there died thereof 17000 Persons was not yet ceased whence he caused several Parties to be sent abroad which did notable Service in divers Parts of the Countrey as in taking in Balimoy in the Kings County and in chasing back into Thomond the Earl of Castlehaven as also in frighting the Lord Muskery to his Fastnesses in Kerry who whilst the Army was prosecuting the Earl of Castlehaven had burnt the Town and Parts near Mackrump whilst the Rebels surprized two Troops of Horse and a Company of Foot belonging to Colonel Zanckey about the midst of February About the 21. of February Colonel Huson with 1600 Foot and 700 Horse march'd to the County of Westmeath to reduce some Garrisons and to prevent the Rebels raising of Forces there When he came to Tecrogham he heard Colonel Preston and Sir John Dungan had besieged a Castle of theirs in the Kings County to whose Relief he marched as far as Terrills Pass where he heard that Colonel Reynolds had dispersed them thence turning towards Mullingar he took in Kilbridge wherein he found 200 Barrels of Corn and the next day enter'd Mullingar whereupon the Enemy quitted Tuets-town Ledwicks-town and Disert where he heard that Colonel Reynolds had taken in Donore in which was found 500 Barrels of Corn and having garrison'd Ballimore thence march'd to Ballimallock a Pass upon the Aine and took it and Sir Thomas Nugent's Castle in one day Thence drawing towards Finagh he encamped against Tough's Castle which after the third shot was delivered him where hearing that Phelim Mac Hugh with 1500 Foot was marching on the other side of the River to the re-enforcement of Finagh he sent Sir Theophilus Jones with 400 Horse and his own Regiment of Foot to encounter him who fell upon them killing O Cahan and divers considerable Officers with about 400 private Souldiers and taking Prisoners Colonel Mac Donel his Lieutenant General 1 Major 12 Captains 12 Lieutenants 15 Ensigns the Quarter-Master and about 376 private Souldiers and non-Commission Officers Sir Theophilus performing in this as in all other Expeditions excellent Service whilst Colonel Huson stormed Finagh but was repulsed with some loss though he had it surrendred the next day upon Conditions bearing date the 14th of March 1650. which Surrender brought in five adjacent Castles About May 1651. Order was taken in England for sending over Recruits of Foot and Money to pay and raise Men but by reason of the numbers sent into Scotland there could not many or much be spared but what could be procured came over very opportunely to re-inforce the Army then ready to march to the Siege of Limerick Ireton having appointed Sir Charles Coot with 2000 Horse and as many choice Northerly Foot to march into Connaght by the way of Sligo which he did seating himself before that strong Fort as though he would have besieged it but perceiving that the Irish from all Parts were drawing to its Relief he drew off and passing not without difficulty the Curlew Mountains enter'd Connaght and had Athlone by the Lord Dillon Portumna with some other Places of no great strength delivered to him whilst Ireton with the main Army passed the River Shannon about Killalow where the Rebels were gathered together but made little resistance and presently fell down before Limerick where he entrenched himself and made a formed Siege During which he and others intercepted frequent Intelligence from the Bishop and Mayor of Limerick That unless they were effectually reliev'd and that speedily the Commonalty would force them to deliver the City upon Conditions to the Enemy Upon which the Lord Broghil by orders from Ireton drew all the Forces of the County together to impede the Lord Muskery then marching out of the County of Kerry with a considerable Force and though he made many halts seeming as if he intended another Design then the Relief of Limerick yet being narrowly watched the Scouts brought certain Intelligence about the 22. of June that his Body of Horse marched from Dromagh
your Highness pious intentions for the preservation of the Catholick Religion your great and Princely care to recover his Majesties Rights and Interests from his Rebel Subjects of England and the high obligation you put upon this Nation by your tender regard of them and desire to redeem them from the great miseries and afflictions they have endured and the eminent dangers they are in And it shall be a principal part of my ambition to be an useful instrument to serve your Highness in so famous and glorious an enterprize And that I may be the more capable to contribute somewhat to so religious and just ends First in discharge of my conscience toward God my duty to the King my Master and to dis-abuse your Highness and give a clear and perfect information so far as comes to my knowledge I am obliged to represent unto your Highness that by the title of the Agreement and Articles therein contained made by those Commissioners I imployed to your Highness and but lately come into my hands They have violated the trust reposed in them by having cast off and declined the Commission and Instructions they had from me in the King my Masters behalf and all other Powers that could by any other means be derived from him and pretend to make an agreement with your Highness in the name of the Kingdom and People of Ireland for which they had not nor could have any warrantable Authority and have abused your Highness by a counterfeit shew of a private Instrument fraudulently procured and signed as I am informed by some inconsiderable and factious Persons ill-affected to his Majesties Authority without any knowledge or consent of the generality of the Nation or Persons of greatest Quality or Interest therein and who under a seeming zeal and pretence of service to your Highness labour more to satisfie their private ambitions then the advantage of Religion or the Nation or the prosperous success of your Highness generous undertakings And to manifest the clearness of mine own proceeding and make such deceitful Practices more apparent I send your Highness herewith an authentick Copy of my Instructions which accompanied their Commission when I imployed them to your Highness as a sufficient evidence to convince them And having thus fully manifested their breach of publick Trust I am obliged in the King my Masters name to protest against their unwarrantable proceedings and to declare all the Agreements and Acts whatsoever concluded by those Commissioners to be void and illegal being not derived from or consonant to his Majesties Authority being in duty bound thus far to vindicate the King my Masters Honour and Authority and to preserve his just and undoubted Rights from such deceitful and rebellious Practices as likewise with an humble and respective care to prevent those prejudices that might befal your Highness in being deluded by counterfeit shews in doing you greater Honour where it is apparent that any undertaking laid upon such false and ill-grounded Principles as have been smoothly digested and fixed upon that Nation as their desire and request must overthrow all those Heroick and Prince-like Acts your Highness hath proposed to your self for Gods glory and service the restauration of oppressed Majesty and the relief of his distressed Kingdom which would at length fall into intestine broils and divivisions if not forceably driven into desperation I shall now with a hopeful and chearful importunity upon a clear score free from those deceits propose to your Highness that for the advancement of all those great ends you aim at and in the King my Masters behalf and in the name of all the Loyal Catholick Subjects of this Nation and for the preservation of those important cautionary Places that are security for your Highness past and present disbursements you will be pleased to quicken and hasten those aids and assistances you intended for the relief of Ireland and I have with my whole power and through the greatest hazards striven to defend them for you and to preserve all other Ports that may be at all times of advantage and safeguard to your Fleets and Men of War having yet many good Harbours left but also engage in the King my Masters name that whatsoever may prove to your satisfaction that is any way consistent with his Honour and Authority and have made my humble applications to the Queens Majesty and my Lord Lieutenant the King being in Scotland further to agree confirm and secure whatsoever may be of advantage to your Highness and if the last Galliot had but brought 10000 l. for this instant time it would have contributed more to the recovery of this Kingdom then far greater sums delayed by enabling our Forces to meet together for the relief of Limerick which cannot but be in great distress after so long a Siege and which if lost although I shall endeavour to prevent it will cost much treasure to be regained And if your Highness will be pleased to go on chearfully freely and seasonably with this great work I make no question but God will give so great a blessing thereto as that my self and all the Loyal Subjects of this Kingdom may soon and justly proclaim and leave recorded to posterity that your Highness was the great and glorious restorer of our Religion Monarch and Nation and that your Highness may not be discouraged or diverted from this generous enterprize by the malice or invectives of any ill affected it is a necessary duty in me to represent unto your Highness that the Bishop of Ferns who as I am informed hath gained some interest in your favour is a Person that hath ever been violent against and malicious to his Majesty's Authority and Government and a fatal Instrument in contriving and fomenting all those divisions and differences that have rent asunder this Kingdom the introduction to our present miseries and weak condition And that your Highness may clearly know his disposition I send herewithal a Copy of part of a Letter written by him directed to the Lord Taaffe Sir Nicholas Plunket and Jeffery Brown and humbly submitted to your judgment whether those expressions be agreeable to the temper of the Apostolical Spirit and considering whose Person and Authority I represent what ought to be the reward of such a crime I must therefore desire your Highness in the King my Masters behalf that he may not be countenanc'd or intrusted in any Affairs that have relation to his Majesties Interest in this Kingdom where I have constantly endeavoured by all possible service to deserve your Highness good opinion and obtaining that favour to be a most faithful acknowledger of it in the capacity and under the title of Your Highness most humble and obliged Servant CLANRICKARD Athenree 20th Octob. 1651. Thus the Lord Deputy very faithfully discharged his duty and great cause there was to protest against such proceedings of the Confederates they putting his Majesties Kingdom of Ireland into the hands of a Foreign Prince and in that
and Cruelty unmeasurably sinful and detestable But I fear I have been too long and too troublesome both to you and my self I will conclude It is well known how the loud cry of innocent Blood of many thousands of Christians ascending up to Heaven and the devout and fervent prayers of many of Gods dear Saints and Servants have solicited the Throne of Justice that this happy and blessed day might come wherein Justice might impartially be executed against those Murderers whose cruelties have made this Land a Field of Blood And now since the high and righteous Providence of God by those many and signal Victories given to the Arms and Forces of Ireland hath sent down from Heaven this day of Justice unto us in this Land we ought to return him all praise and thankfulness for this unspeakable mercy And since the trust of this great work by the same Providence is committed unto us let us stir up his Grace within us and faithfulness of our minds and Souls to the faithful discharge and execution of this great trust Sedes Judicanda est quasi Thronus Dei saith old Bracton that learned Chief Justice in Henry the Thirds time I well remember and have often thought upon the counsel of Jethro to Moses Exod. 18. 2. Thou shalt provide thee out of all thy people able men such as fear God men of truth hating covetousness and set them to judge the people Whereupon Moses having constituted Judges over the People gave them this charge viz. Hear the causes between your brethren and judge righteously between every man and his brother and the stranger that is with him Ye shall not respect persons in judgment but ye shall hear the small as well as the great Ye shall not be afraid of the face of man for the judgment is Gods Deut. 16. 17. Give me leave likewise to mind you of Jehosaphat's charge to the Judges 2 Chron. 19. 6 7 9 11. Take heed what you do for you judge not for man but for the Lord who is with you in judgment Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you take heed and do it for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God nor respect of persons nor taking of gifts This shall ye do in the fear of the Lord faithfully with a perfect heart and shall judge the cause that shall come before you between blood and blood c. Deal couragiously and the Lord shall be with you There is also an excellent Rule for Judicature put in the case of the Gibeonites abuse of the Levites Wife Judg. 19. 30. the Crime was horrid the Case extraordinary There was never such a deed done or seen before in Israel the Tribes were moved at it and upon the Assembly the Rule is given viz. Consider of it take advice and speak your minds This certainly is an excellent Rule of Judicature viz. first 1. Consider of it consider well the Case and consider all the Circumstances of it beware that no guilty person escape nor innocent person be condemned For he that justifieth the wicked and condemneth the just even they both are an abomination to the Lord Prov. 17. 15. 2. Take advice and consult with others Lean not to thine own understanding saith the wise Solomon Prov. 4. 5. In the multitude of Counsellors there is safety Be not rash nor sudden or hasty to give judgment Qui festinat ad judicium proper at ad poenitentiam Prov. 11. 14. And therefore right grave and ponderous are the Entries of the Judgments in the Common Law scil Quibus lectis auditis per justiciarios his plenius intellectis matura deliberatione me praehabita c. adjudicatur c. When we have patiently heard and fully understood the Parties and Proofs the Witness and whole Case and have search'd into all the Parts and Circumstances of it and when we have advisedly considered debated and consulted of it and taken mature deliberation thereupon then according to the charge of Jehosaphat Let us deal couragiously give Sentence and fear not the face of man for God is with us It is no less impiety to absolve the Guilty than to condemn the Innocent Thus Sir Gerrard Lowther Chief Justice of the Common Pleas one principally imployed in the weightiest Affairs at Oxford and Westminster by the Marquess of Ormond with his Majesties Approbation that it cannot be said we have here presented you with the froth of a Fanatick or one less interressed in the State then one to whom the greatest Concerns thereof had been frequently communicated Yet because his Speech being spoke at the opening of the High Court of Justice may be thought Apocryphal and so not to be admitted for Doctrine yet may be read for instruction of Manners we shall soon present you with some thing Orthodox Many at Kilkenny Waterford Cork Dublin and other Places underwent the Censure of the High Court of Justice though the number of those that suffered exceeded not 200. for that the Sword Plague Famine and Banishment had swept away vast numbers amongst whom one Tool a notable Incendiary of Wicklow was one against whom Edmund Reily the Irish Priest and Vicar-General afterwards Archbishop of Ardmagh appearing in 1653. as a Witness was there accused for the chief Author of surprizing and burning in Cessation time the black Castle of Wicklow and consequently too of murthering of all those were in it upon which he was seized and committed Yet for his service in betraying the Royal Camp at Rathmines suffered no further punishment In distributing of Lands a course was thought of how the English might enjoy them freely without disturbance of the Irish for the future ever ready to fall upon them and therefore many of the Natives were transplanted into Connaght and according to the Extenuation of their Crimes had more or less Land allotted them which they enjoyed freely and in several respects was a great conveniency to them and not less security to the English They being now in a Body might be better watched then several where they would have been sure on every opportunity to have disturb'd the Peace One of the last Commanders amongst the Irish which bore up against the Parliament was Moitogh O Brian who being at last forced into his Fastnesses obtain'd in March 1653. the usual Articles of Transportation By the favour of which not less then 27000 Men had that year been sent away so as through the numbers that had been killed died of the Plague Famine and had been Transported the scarcity of People was very considerable To supply which Fleetwood writ that several Colonies might be sent over offering very good Conditions to such Families that would Transport themselves whereupon great numbers of all sorts of Sex flocked into Ireland which Fleetwood much indulging Cromwel thought requisite for the greater strengthening of his own Party to make his Son Harry Lord Deputy which he did in 1655. and soon after Lord Lieutenant a
required to be aiding and assisting in the execution of this Our Proclamation as often as occasion shall require Given at our Court at Whitehal the first day of June 1660. in the Twelfth Year of Our Reign Afterwards assoon as such matters for so great a Business could be brought about his Majesty the 8th of May summon'd a Parliament at Dublin in which passed the great Act of Settlement after that his Majesty had published the 30th of November 1660. His Gracious Declaration for the settlement of his Kingdom of Ireland and satisfaction of the several Interests of Adventurers and Souldiers and other Subjects there wherein as to the Irish first such are considered as came in upon the Cessation secondly those who honestly and faithfully performed what they promised in the Peace and thirdly such as being beyond Seas cheerfully receiv'd and obeyed his Majesties Commands abroad all which are comprehended in several Articles proceeding from these Heads and the Souldiers and Adventurers by themselves These also who had the Fortune whether through Loyalty or Suspicion that they were not able to bear up against the English Interest to withstand the Nuncio have in the Act of Settlement their Fortunes and themselves secur'd memorable to Posterity who being fewer then those that bowed not their knees to Baal in Israel we cannot but mention it being a Reward for their eminent Sufferings And because the voice of a Parliament next to the delivery of the Law from Mount Sinai ought to impress the greatest Reverence on the heart and affections of the People I shall here present you with the Preamble to the Bill of Settlement in Ireland 1662. which in brief commits that to Posterity no Paint can ever Palliate An Act 14 Carol. 2. WHereas an unnatural Insurrection did break forth against your Majesties Royal Father of ever blessed memory his Crown and Dignity in this your Majesties Kingdom of Ireland upon the 23. of October in the year of our Lord God 1641. and manifest it self by the Murthers and Destruction of many thousands of your said Majesties good and loyal Subjects which afterwards universally spreading and diffusing it self over the whole Kingdom setled into and became a formed and almost National Rebellion of the Irish Papists against your Royal Father of blessed memory his Crown and Dignity to the destruction of the English and Protestants inhabiting in Ireland The which Irish Papists being represented in a General Assembly chosen by themselves and acting by a Council called by them The Supream Council of the Confederate Roman Catholicks of Ireland did first assume usurp and exercise the Power of Life and Death make Peace and War Levy and Coin Money and many other Acts of Soveraign Authority Treating with Foreign Princes and Potentates for their Government and Protection and afterwards acted under a Foreign Authority by all the said ways disowning and rejecting your Royal Fathers and your Majesties undoubted Right to this Kingdom even while they treacherously used his and your Majesties Names in the outward forms of their Proceedings withal impiously seeming by words and shews to swear unto that which by the whole Series of their Deeds they denied And moreover presuming to pretend his late Majesties Sacred Authority even for their worst actions all which they did amongst other their evil Designs to frighten his good Protestant Subjects from their Loyalty to blast his Majesties Honour and to widen the Breach between his said Majesty and his seduced Subjects in England The which Ends by their said wicked Stratagems they did too successfully and mischievously effect Before this Preamble to the Act of Settlement pass'd the Irish by their Agents in England had an unusual Favour of inspecting that Bill and objecting what they thought fit which they did in the presence of the Commissioners sent out of Ireland by the Convention and Lords Justices and Council even before his Majesty his Council and the Committee of Lords for the Affairs of Ireland to that end especially appointed The debate continuing touching this grand Instrument from the 8th of July 1661. till March following in which the Irish most insisted against the Preamble for that it seem'd to involve the whole Nation in the first designing and raising of the late Rebellion in Ireland and in the barbarous Circumstance thereof whereas they would pretend it was onely the act of a few Persons of broken fortunes followed with the rude multitude c. Praying that nothing might be contain'd in that Preamble in Derogation to his Majesties Articles of Peace or the blemish of his Majesties Loyal Catholick Subjects delivering in at the same time their Reasons against previous Reprisals the variances between the Declaration and Act of Settlement and their defence for their Articles of Peace Insisting much upon their Loyalty after the Lord Lieutenants departure the Catholicks unanimously in their Assembly joyning if you dare credit their reports with the Lord Deputy to oppose the Usurpers as the best means to divert the Parliament from preventing the Kings Designs in England and Scotland for which his Majesty as they say return'd them thanks they rejecting then many advantagious offers from Ireton though they were in a low Condition and so continued faithful till the Lord Deputy was driven to the Mountains and they at liberty to compound for themselves many of which went beyond-Sea to serve his Majesty All which they insist on as a great test of their Loyalty whereas it can never be made evident as is alledged that Proposals were made to that Assembly by the Usurpers and refused by them for the enjoyment of their Rights Priviledges and Inheritances alike with others under their Government for indeed such Proposals were never made nor offered to them in their most flourishing Condition but it is confessed such Terms were tendred and refused by them as were agreeable to a conquering Army to give as that of the Usurpers then was and to a broken scattered Party to expect as the other was being then reduced to Bogs and Woods as their best Holts and yet the Terms so offered and rejected by the Assembly together were soon after embraced by all of them divided into Parts on which they submitted and laid down Arms having by their Conditions liberty to transport themselves into Foraign Parts or to stay in the Kingdom And therefore it doth no more consist with their Honour then with Truth to say they were forced by banishment to an opportunity of serving his Majesty beyond-Seas from whence they date their Merits from him which was more then his late Majesty of blessed memory could obtain from them although obliged thereunto by Allegiance and Articles when his Distress and their Power were sublimated to the highest Pitch and his Prerogative lay at the stake as he did often complain of The Commissioners from the Lords Justices and Council besides this produced the Instructions of the Supream Council to their Agents for Rome France Spain offering the Crown to either
shall be used and then and there abide orderly and soberly during the time of the said Prayers Preaching or other Service of God there to be used and ministred And because all and every Person may be put in mind of his Duty and be then the better prepared to the said holy Service Be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that every Minister shall give warning to his Parishioners publickly in the Church at Morning Prayer the Lords day next before every such three and twentieth day of October for the due observation of the said day and that after Morning Prayer or Preaching upon every such three and twentieth day of October they read publickly distinctly and plainly this present Act. And besides our private Thankfulness that we may know what the Church is enjoyned by his Majesties Command given at Whitehall the 15th of August in the 18th year of his Reign 1666. I must refer you to the Office of the Church Here one might well have thought this bloody Scene should have been fully closed the event of so horrid a Conspiracy having by God and Man been severely chastized But as if Heaven were still to be dared and Majesty affronted no sooner was this State setled in so wonderful a manner as it drew the whole world to look on it as a miracle but the grand Incendiaries of the late Rebellion Archbishops Bishops and others of that Union openly owning their Profession appear'd in publick in as much as the Parliament of England was enforced to take notice of their Insolency as an encouragement to Popery beseeching his Majesty that Plunket the Titular Archbishop of Ardmagh and Talbot Archbishop of Dublin should be apprehended to answer what might be objected against them And as an Evidence of their Parties Activeness and Insinuation the Lord of Ossory Lord Deputy and the Council by a Proclamation dated at the Council Chamber in Dublin the 11th of July 1664. shew Whereas information hath been given unto us by divers Gentlemen and others of the Popish Religion that several pretended Chapters have been and are to be soon called in several Parts of this Kingdom and Meetings appointed by Persons dis-affected to his Majesties Government and to the publick Peace and Quiet who take opportunities from those Assemblies to diffuse and spread abroad amongst the People of that Religion Seditious Doctrines to the great dissatisfaction of all those who are peaceably and loyally inclined c. They therefore to the avoiding the Contagion that by such Delusions might be ingendered and those Dangers which by the continuance and seducement of the said Persons and other turbulent Spirits are endeavour'd caution'd and forewarn'd That none should presume to assist abett or countenance them and that those who were engaged therein should upon their Duty of Allegiance to his Majesty forbear any further Proceedings c. All which were afterwards blank'd over as indeed they had the fortune to be strangely palliated together with what the Bishop of Ferns had discovered to the Earl of Sandwich passing through Galacia to Madrid of Edmond Reylie Archbishop of Ardmagh's purpose to raise the Irish again into Rebellion though some to delude the Age made a Loyal Formulary or Remonstrance of their Obedience whilst being admitted at Dublin into a National Synod of their own 1666. an Indulgence not yet fathom'd they there split themselves into Parties and the 15th day of their meeting broke up without the least satisfaction to the End they were connived at so as from their Principles its natural to conclude That whatever a Prince must expect from such men it must be in subordination to the Popes Approbation A Reflection on the like made King H. 8. say that he found the Clergy of this Realm were but his half Subjects or scarce so much every Bishop or Abbot at the entering upon his Dignity taking an Oath to the Pope derogatory to that of their Fidelity to the King which contradiction he desired his Parliament to take away and it occasion'd writes my Lord Herbert Fol. 335 the final renouncing of the Popes Authority about two years after The Clergies Oath is given at large in Walshe's Epistle to his Loyal Formulary Fol. 19. which draws me into a further consideration of the late War A War in which were interessed on several Principles some of the greatest Princes and States of Europe the Pope Emperor France Spain Lorraign and others who professedly or under-hand contributed Money Arms Council or Countenance A War many years in contriving and what makes it the more stupendious so secretly and unexpectedly carried on villany hates the light that considering how far the Conspiracy was spread and who were engaged in it it is scarce credible that no apprehension of its event should in the least be discovered more then what Ever Mac Mahon imparted 1631. The apprehension of which soon passed over as did also some other petty suspicions rais'd I know not from what improbable and confused Rumors amusing rather then convincing the Judgment of such as were most concern'd in the notice of them so as till the 22. of Octob. 1641. late at night on the very point of the Plot being acted nothing seem'd certain or infallible that if God had not been very merciful all had been surprized before any one had been suspected A War not confined to some Province or parts of Provinces in Ireland as Tyrones Desmonds and the rest had been but as if the Design were the joynt Act of the whole Kingdom all seem'd to have one head few excepted whose Honour is the greater A War not arising from small beginnings as some of the former which from private Interest at last espoused greater But this in its first appearance drove all before it like some Infections speedily diffusing its Venome through the whole Body A War for which the most diligent enquiry could not have found within the Nation a Head in Popularity or Parts for such an undertaking The occasion doubtless of security in most and whereby the State Politicks of that time were deluded they having their eyes open onely on what might have been from abroad suspected not much less fear'd at home the loud alarms of a Massinello a Person of none or of broken Fortunes of little Power or of less Brain but any thing even what is under foot and next at hand may easily be taken up and made by Divine Justice a sufficient Scourge for a provoking People such was that Sir Phelim O Neal esteem'd till then generally a very Buffoon in Converse but after own'd and Honour'd as a Principal in that undertaking Yet being therein rather the hand then the head proving however the Fire-brand of his Countrey that being the English of Phelim an Totan or smoaking Phelimy a Name on this occasion given him in way of Honour by his Irish Rhimers and wherein he himself after gloried Finally a War dismal to the English and Protestants of Ireland in its beginning so dismal as no example
Chamber and about nine of the Clock Mr. Moore and Captain Fox came to me and told me all was discovered and that the City was in Arms and the Gates were shut up and so departed from me And what became of them and of the rest I know not nor think that they escaped but how and at what time I do not know because I my self vvas taken that Morning APPENDIX III. Fol. 30. By the Lords Justices and Council W. Parsons Jo. Borlase WHereas We the Lords Justices and Council have lately found that there waas a most disloyal wicked and detestable Conspiracy intended and plotted against the Lives of Us the Lords Justices and Council and many others of his Majesties faithful Subjects especially in Ulster and the borders thereof and for the surprizing not only of his Majesties Castle of Dublin his Majesties principal Fort but also of other Fortifications in several parts and although by the great goodness and abundant mercy of Almighty God to his Majesty and to this State and Kingdom these wicked conspiracies are brought to light and some of the Conspiracies committed to the Castle of Dublin by Us by his Majesty's Authority so as those wicked and damnable plots have not taken effect in the chief parts thereof yet some of those wicked Malefactors have surprised some of his Majesty's Forts and Garrisons in the North of Ireland slain divers of his Majesty's good Subjects imprisoned some and robbed and spoiled very many others and continue yet in those Rebellious courses against whom therefore some of his Majesty's Forces are now marching to fight against them and subdue them thereby to render safety to his Majesty's faithful Subjects And whereas to colour and countenance those their wicked Intendments and Acts and in hope to gain the more numbers and reputation to themselves and their proceedings in the opinion of the ignorant common people those Conspirators have yet gone further and to their other high Crimes and Offences have added this further wickedness even to traduce the Crown and State as well of England as Ireland by false seditious and scandalous reports and rumors spread abroad by them We therefore to vindicate the Crown and State of both Kingdoms from those false and wicked calumnies do hereby in his Majesty's name publish and declare that the said reports so spread abroad by those wicked persons are most false wicked and triterous and that We have full Power and Authority from his Majesty to prosecute and subdue those Rebels and Traytors which now We are doing accordingly by the Power and Strength of his Majesty's Army and with the Assistance of his Majesty's good and Loyal Subjects and We no way doubt but all his Majesty's good and faithful Subjects will give Faith and Credit to Us who have the Honour to be trusted by his Majesty so highly as to serve Him in the Government of this his Kingdom rather then to the vain idle and wicked Reports of such lewd and wicked Conspirators who spread those false and seditious Rumors hoping to seduce a great number to their party And as We now believe that some who have joyned themselves with those Conspirators had no hand in contriving or plotting the mischiefs intended but under pretence of those seditious Scandals were deluded by those Conspirators and so are now become ignorantly involved in their guilts so in favour and mercy to those so deluded We hereby charge and command them in his Majesty's name now from Us to take light to guide them from that darkness into which they were misled by the wicked seducement of those Conspirators and to depart from them and from their wicked Counsels and Actions and according to the duty of Loyal Subjects to submit themselves to his Sacred Majesty and to his Royal Authority intrusted with Us. But in case those persons which were no Plotters nor Contrivers of the said Treason but were since seduced to joyn with them as aforesaid lay not hold of this his Majesty's Grace and Favour now tendred unto them then We do by this Proclamation Publish and Declare that they shall hereafter be reputed and taken equally guilty with the said Plotters and Contrivers and as uncapable of Favour and Mercy as they are Given at His Majesties Castle of Dublin the 30. of October 1641. La. Dublin R. Ranelagh Ant. Midensis John Rophoe R. Dillon J. Temple P. Crosbie Ja. Ware Rob. Meredith APPENDIX IV. Fol. 32. By the Lords Justices and Councel A Proclamation for the discovery and present removal of all such as do or shall continue in the City of Dublin or places adjacent Without just or necessary cause W. Parsons Jo. Borlace VVHereas through the great concourse of people to this City of Dublin the Countrey is deprived of Defence and left open to the rapine and depredation of the Rebels now in Arms in this Kingdom the poor of those parts are destitute of Succour and Relief and divers other inconveniences do and may thence arise unless some timely remedy be applied thereunto VVherefore We do hereby in his Majesties name and under the pains and punishments hereafter mentioned command That all and every person and persons whatsoever not having necessary cause of residing in this City of Dublin and the Suburbs thereof and the places within two miles about the same aswell within Liberties as without to be approved of by our very good Lord James Earl of Ormond and Ossory who is appointed Lieutenant General of His Majesties Army in this Kingdom and the Councel of War here for the time being or by such other persons as shall be by them appointed for examination thereof do within four and twenty hours after publication hereof repair to their respective homes and dwellings And also that no person or persons of what quality or condition soever do keep with him or them any more or other then his or their own domestick servants And that this Proclamation and the service hereby intended be not in any wise eluded or evaded VVe do hereby in His Majesties name and under the pains and punishments hereafter mentioned charge and command That all and singular the Citizens Inhabitants and Residents of and within this City of Dublin the Suburbs thereof and all places within two miles about the same do within four and twenty hours after publication hereof return under their hands unto the next Alderman of the Ward or Seneschall or other chief Officer of Liberty respectively the names sirnames qualitie and condition of all persons now lodged and remaining in their houses and also that they and every of them for the future until Declaration be made to the contrary do within two hours after the receipt or entertainment into his or their house or houses of any stranger or strangers not being of his or their familie or families return under his and their hand and hands unto the next Alderman of the Ward Seneschall or other chief Officer as aforesaid the names sirnames quality and condition of all and
Cahel mac Bryne Farrall APPENDIX VI. Fol. 65. By the Lords Justices and Councel W. Parsons Jo. Borlasse IT is well known to all men but more particularly to his Majesties Subjects of this Kingdom who have all gathered plentiful and comfortable fruits of his Majesties blessed Government how abundantly careful his Majesty hath been in the whole course of his Government of the peace and safety of this his Kingdom and how graciously he hath laboured to derive to all his Subjects therein all those benefits and comforts which from a most gracious King could be conferred on his Subjects to make them a happy people whereof he hath given many great testimonies And as at all times he endeavoured to give them due contentment and satisfaction so even then whilst the Rebels now in Arms were conspiring mischief against Him and his Crown and Kingdom he was then exercising Acts of Grace and benignity towards them granting to his Subjects here the fulness of their own desires in all things so far as with Honour or Justice he possibly could and particularly when the Committees of both Houses of Parliament here this last Summer attended his Majesty in England at which time amongst many other things graciously assented to by Him he was content even with apparent loss and disadvantage to himself to depart with sundry his Rights of very great value which lawfully and justly he might have retained And as his continual goodness to his people and his Princely care of their prosperity and preservation shall to the unspeakable joy and comfort of all his good Subjects render him glorious to all Posterity so the wicked ingratitude and treacherous disloyaltie of those Rebels shall render them infamous to all Ages and utterly inexcusable even in the judgment of those who for any respect either formerly wished well to their persons or now pity them in their transgressions And although the said persons now in Rebellion were in no degree provoked by any just cause of publique grief received from his Majesty or his Ministers to undertake such desperate wickedness neither can justly assign any severity or rigour in the execution of those Laws which are in force in this Kingdom against Papists nor indeed any cause at all other then the unnatural hatred which those persons in Rebellion do bear the Brittish and Protestants whom they desire and publickly profess to root out from amongst them The more strange in that very many of themselves are descended of English whence is the original and foundation of all their Estates and those great benefits which they have hitherto enjoyed and whence their Predecessors and others then well affected in this Kingdom have been at all times since the Conquest cherished relieved countenanced and supported against the ancient Enemies of the Kings people of England many of the Irish also having received their Estates and livelyhood from the unexampled bounty and goodness of the Kings of England Yet such is their inbred ingratitude and disloyaltie as they conspired to massacre Us the Lords Justices and Councel and all the Brittish and Protestants universally throughout this Kingdom and to seize into their hands not only his Majesties Castle of Dublin the principal Fort in this Kingdom but also all other the fortifications thereof though by the infinite goodness and mercy of God those wicked and devillish Conspiracies were brought to light and some of the Principal Conspirators imprisoned in his Majesties Castle of Dublin by Us by his Majesties Authority so as those wicked and damnable plots are disappointed in the chief parts thereof His Majesties said Castle of Dublin and City of Dublin being preserved and put into such a condition of strength as if any of them or their Adherents shall presume to make any attempt thereupon they shall God willing receive that correction shame confusion and destruction which is due to their treacherous and detestable disloyaltie And in pursuit of their bloody intentions they assembled themselves in Arms in hostile manner with Banners displayed surprised divers of his Majesties Forts and Garrisons possessed themselves thereof robbed and spoiled many thousands of his Majesties good Subjects Brittish and Protestants of all their Goods dispossessed them of their Houses and Lands murthered many of them upon the place stripped naked many others of them and so exposed them to nakedness cold and famine as they thereof died imprisoned many others some of them persons of eminent quality laid Siege to divers of his Majesties Forts and Towns yet in his Majesties hands and committed many other barbarous cruelties and execrable inhumanities upon the Persons and Estates of the Brittish and Protestant Subjects of the Kingdom without regard of quality age or sex And to cover their wickedness in those cruel Acts so to deceive the World and to make way if they could to the effecting of their mischievous ends they add yet to their wickedness a further degree of impiety pretending outwardly that what they do is for the maintenance and advancement of the King's Prerogative whereas it appears manifestly that their aims and purposes inwardly are if it were possible for them so to do to wrest from him his Royal Crown and Scepter and his just Soveraignty over this Kingdom and Nation and to deprive him and his lawful Ministers of all Authority and Power here and to place it on such persons as they think fit which can no way stand with his Majesties just Prerogative nor can any equal-minded man be seduced to believe that they can wish well to his Royal Person or any thing that is his who in their actions have expressed such unheard-of hatred malice and scorn of the Brittish Nation as they have done And such is their madness as they consider not that his Sacred Majesty disdains to have his Name or Power so boldly traduced by such wicked malefactors Rebels having never in any Age been esteemed fit supporters of the King's Prerogative much less these who under countenance thereof labour to deface and shake off his Government and extirp his most loyal and faithful Subjects of his other Kingdoms and here whose preservation above all earthly things is and always hath been his Majesties principal study and endeavour which even these Traytors themselves have abundantly found with comfort if they could have been sensible of it And whereas divers Lords and Gentlemen of the English Pale preferred petition unto Us in the behalf of themselves and the rest of the Pale and other the old English of this Kingdom shewing that whereas a late conspiracy of Treason was discovered of ill-affected persons of the old Irish and that thereupon Proclamation was published by Us wherein among other things it was declared that the said Conspiracy was perpetrated by Irish Papists without distinction of any and they doubting that by those general words of Irish Papists they might seem to be involved though they declared themselves confident that we did not intend to include them therein in regard they alleadged they were
none of the old Irish nor of their Faction or Confederacy but as they then pretended altogether averse and opposite to all their designs and all others of like condition We therefore to give them full satisfaction having indeed at that time great confidence in their loyaltie did by Proclamation dated the 29. of October 1641. declare and publish that by the words Irish Papists VVe intended only such of the old meer Irish in the Province of Ulster as were then Actors in that Treason and others who adhered to them and that VVe did not any way intend or mean thereby any of the old English of the Pale nor of any other parts of this Kingdom then esteemed good Subjects VVe being then as we conceived well assured of their fidelities to the Crown and having experience of the good affection and services of their Ancestors in former times of danger and Rebellion And indeed so believing were we in their faithfulness and loyaltie to the Crown as we then also represented it into England for their advantage and thereupon in the Order of the Lords and Commons in the Parliament in England concerning Ireland His Majesties loyal Subjects of English Blood though of the Romish Religion being ancient Inhabitants within several Counties and parts of this Realm are mentioned as those who have always in former Rebellions given testimony of their fidelity to the Crown of England And in further testimony of the good affiance we had in their loyaltie VVe issued Arms to the several Counties of the English Pale the better to enable them to discharge their duties in defending those parts and His Majesties good Subjects therein against the Rebels upon deep professions of loyalty made by them and their seeming detestation of the loath somness of the crimes and bloody guilts of the Rebels which they for their parts professed with many Oaths and protestations to abhor and promised to oppose and resist them with all their power And we issued Arms also to many Noblemen and Gentlemen of the Pale and elsewhere of the Romish Religion for the defence of their Houses against the Rebels Yet much contrary to the expectation of all equal-minded men and in deceit of the trust reposed in them by this State and directly contrary as to their loyaltie and duty to His Majesty so to the great professions which they had so lately before made at this Councel-Board many of those as well whole Counties as particular persons entrusted with those Arms revolted to the Rebels carried His Majesties Arms with them and so the Arms which were trusted into their hands for the protection of His Majesties good Subjects they converted to the annoyance and destruction as much as in them lay of those good Subjects they were trusted to protect and of this State and Government and have not only not resisted the Rebels but have also joyned with them and they and the Rebels assembled in Arms in hostile manner with Banners displayed against his Majesty in besieging some of his Town taking into their possession by force or fraud many of his Majesties Burroughs walled and unwalled and in committing murthers spoyls robberies and many detestable cruelties on His Majesties good Subjects And although those of the Pale pretended that they were not able to assemble or Arm any strength against the Rebels yet lately they found means to assemble and arm great multitudes to assist the Rebels against His Majesties Forces and against His Majesties Government and this State and as well the persons who were the first Actors in this Rebellion as also many others in the English Pale and several other parts of the Kingdom forgetting those duties which by the Laws of God and man are due from them to His Sacred Majesty are so ungrateful to His Majesty for the great and abundant benefits and favours from Him and His Royal Father and Predecessors derived to them so insensible of the happiness which they with all others in this Kingdom enjoyed by His blessed Government and so improvident to themselves and their posterity as they have presumed most unnaturally to conspire raise and act those abominable Treasons and Rebellion against His Majesty as is herein formerly mentioned And forasmuch as those Rebels and particularly Sir Con Magenis of Newcastle in the County of Down Knight Patrick mac Cartan of Loghnelan in the said County Art oge mac Glasny Magenis of Ilandery in the said County Ever mac Phelim Magenis of Castlewelan in the said County Rory mac Brian oge Magenis late of Edenteecullagh in the said County Philip mac Hugh mac Shane ô Rely of Ballinecarrig in the County of Cavan Philip mac Mulmorry ô Rely of Lismore in the said County Mulmorry mac Edmond ô Rely of Cavet in the said County Hugh Boy mac Shane ô Rely of Kilmore in the said County Owen mac Shane mac Philip ô Rely of the same Rory Magwyre of Hassets Town in the County of Fermanagh Brother to the Lord Magwyre Donogh bane Magwyre of Carrow in the said County Uncle to the said Lord Magwyre Brian mac Cowconnaght Magwyre of Tempoe in the said County Sir Phelim ô Neal of Kinard in the County of Tyrone Knight Tirlagh Roe ô Neal brother to the said Sir Phelim Tirlagh Groom ô Quin of Donoghmore in the said County Cormock mac Owin oge ô Hagan of Mullinecor in the said County Patrick Modder ô Donelly of Crosscanena in the said County Art mac Tirlagh mac Henry ô Neal of Davernagh in the County of Armagh Tirlagh mac Tirlagh ô Neal of the Fues in the said County Hugh oge ô Neal of Aghadamph in the said County Donogh oge ô Murchie of Cashell in the said County Collo mac Brian mac Mahowne of Balloghie in the County of Monaghan Neal mac Kena of the Trough in the said County Coolo mac Ever Mahowne of in the said County Art Roe mac Patrick mac Art Moyle mac Mahowne of Fanahah in the said County Captain Hugh mac Phelim Birne late of Ballinecor in the County of Wickloe Shane mac Brien mac Phelim Birne late of Carrigocroe in the said County Luke alias Feagh O Toole of Castlekuen in the said County Luke alias Feagh mac Redmond Birne of Kilcloghran in the said County Redmond mac Feagh Birne late of Kilvane in the said County Phelim mac Redmond Birne late of the same in the said County Dermot mac Dowlin Cavenagh of Ballidony in the County of Wexford Lewis alias Lisagh mac Owny Dempsie of Rahynne in the Kings County Art O Molloy of Rathlian in the said County Hubert Fox of Kilcoursie in the said County Owen O Molloy of Clonekeene in the said County Florence mac Shane Fitz-Patrick of Castle-Town in the Queens County Barnabie Dempsie of Knockardegur in the said County Daniel Doine of Tenehinche in the said County Barnabie Fitz-Patrick of Raghdown in the said County James mac Fegus mac Donell of Taghnekilly in the said County Francis mac Faghny O Farrall of
who shut up the said places and other passages and ways to his Majesties Justice and Mercy from his Majesties well-affected Subjects of this Kingdom for the Exaltation therefore of the holy Roman Catholick Church for the advancement of his Majesties Service and the preservation of the Lives Estates and liberties of his Majesties true Subjects of this Kingdom against the Injustice Murders Massacres Rapes Depredations Robberies Burnings frequent breaches of Quarter and publick Faith and destruction daily perpetrated and acted upon his Majesties said Subjects and advis'd contriv'd and daily exercis'd by the said malignant Party some of them managing the Government and Affairs of State in Dublin some other parts of this Kingdom to his Highness great disservice and complying with their Confederates the malignant Party in England and elsewhere who as it is manifest to all the world do complot and practice to dishonour and destroy his Majesty his Royal Consort the Queen their Issue and the Monarchal Government which is of most dangerous consequence to all the Monarchs and Princes in Christendom The said Assembly doth order and establish a Councel by name A Supream Council of the Confederate Catholicks of Ireland who are to consist of the number of 24. to be forthwith nam'd by the Assembly whereof 12 at the least to be forthwith nam'd shall reside in this Kingdom or where-else they shall think expedient And the members of the said Council shall have equal Votes and two parts of the three or more concurring present Votes to conclude and no fewer to sit in Council than 9 whereof 7 at least are to concur And of the 24 a President shall be nam'd of the Assembly who is to be one of the twelve resident and if in case of his death absence or sickness the rest of these who shall be resident may name a Vice-president of the 24. And the said Council shall have the Power and preheminence following viz. The Lords Generals and all other Commanders of Armies and Civil Magistrates and Officers in the several Provinces shall observe their Orders and Decrees and shall do nothing contrary to their directions and shall give them speedy advertisement and account of their proceedings and actions with as much expedition as may be That the said Council shall have power to order and determine all such matters as by this Assembly shall be left undetermined and shall be recommended unto them and their Orders therein to be of force until the next Assembly and after until the same be revoked That the said Council shall have Power and Authority to do and execute all manner of Acts and things conducing to the advancement of the Catholick Cause and the good of this Kingdom and concerning this VVar as if done by the Assembly And shall have power to hear and determine all matters Capital Criminal or Civil except the Right or Title of Land That the Generals and other Commanders of Armies and all Governors and civil Magistrates and all other persons within this Realm shall obey the Orders and Decrees of the said Council touching the present Service That the Council shall have for their Guard the number of 500 Foot and 200 Horse to be equally extracted out of the Armies of the four Provinces 5. Item It is further ordered and establish'd that in every Province of this Kingdom there shall be a Provincial-councel and in every County a County-councel the Provincial-councel to be compos'd of the number of two of each County and the said Provincial-councel shall chuse a President for themselves 6. That the Provincial-councel shall sit four times a Year and oftner if there be cause for it That they shall have power and Authority to renew or reverse the Judgment of the County-councel the party complaining entring Security De adjudicat ' solvend ' And shall during the trouble have power to hear and determine all matters of the Crown as Judges of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol-delivery were wont to do so that no Spiritual person be present at the determining matters of blood And shall have power to hear and determine all civil Causes and to establish Rents and Possessions so that they meddle not with the Title of Land other than in case of Dower and Joynture And the Sheriffs Provincial-generals and all Commanders of the Armies in case of Disobedience are respectively required to execute the Decrees and Orders And in case of Debts and Accounts great consideration is to be had of the disabilities of Creditors occasion'd by the VVar. 7. Item In every County there shall be a County-councel consisting of one or two of each Barony at the Election of the County and where there are no Baronies the Councel of such County to consist of the number of 12. And the said County-council shall have power and Authority in all points as Justices of the Peace to hear and determine all the matters concerning the Offices of the Justice of Peace and all matters of the Crown happening within every such County and the Delinquent may if he please have his Trial in the Province and to hear and determine Debts Trespasses and personal Demands and to do all things as Justices of the Peace were accustomed to do and to restore and establish possessions taken by force or fraud since these troubles And likewise to take a special care that Tenants and Farmers be kept to their Farms where they were used and to be preserv'd from Extortion and Oppression And that Trades Tradesmen Manufactures Agriculture and Husbandry be maintained and duly kept 8. Item In Cities and Towns Corporate Justice is to be done and the Laws executed as is accustomed 9. Item In every County there shall be Coroners High-Sheriffs High-Constables and petty-Constables and Gaolers who are to do their respective Offices as accustomed the High-Sheriff to be confirm'd or nominated by the Supream Council and the High-Sheriff is required to execute the Commands Orders and Decrees of the Provincial and County-council 10. Item In every County the High-Sheriff shall be Provost-Marshal and shall have power to execute a Layman not worth 5 l. and none other for Murther Man-slaughter Burglary Theft Robbery or other capital Offence provided the party to be executed may have 24 hours time to prepare his Soul And that the Supream and Provincial-council shall and may name more Provost-Marshals as they shall think expedient qualified with the like Authority 11. Item It is further order'd that no Temporal Government or Jurisdiction shall be assumed kept or exercised in this Kingdom or within any County or Province thereof during these troubles other than is before expressed except such Jurisdiction and Government as is or shall be approv'd by the General Assembly or the Supream Council 12. Item It is further order'd that whosoever hath enter'd since the first day of October 1641. or shall hereafter during the continuance of the War in this Kingdom enter into the Lands Tenements or Hereditaments at or immediately before the first day of
former rebellious courses not so much as having to this time offered any assistance to this State or any the Governors or Commanders of the Army and have murdered many English and other Subjects in several parts it being observed that if any of his Majesties good Subjects Souldiers or others pass by not strongly guarded they are set upon and murthered in the High-ways and passages as they travel the very Plowmen and those that keep Cattle having continually Arms lying by them in the Fields to murther those his Majesties good Subjects when they find them weakly guarded and on the other side when they find them strongly guarded they seem to go on in their Plowing and Husbandry shewing those Warrants for their safety and seeming to be poor innocent and harmless Labourers And although the aforesaid open Rebels were frequently in some of their Houses and continually round about them they never gave us any intelligence concerning the proceedings of those open Rebels nor of the places where they had often meetings and where they might be found to be fallen on by his Majesties Army which they might easily have done if their affections to his Majesty and his Government had been such as by the Laws of God they ought to be or if they desired to live humbly in obedience to the Laws as some of them pretend And albeit in many of the said VVarrants there were conditions expressed and in all of them Conditions implyed that the parties taking benefit thereby should behave themselves as becomes dutiful and Loyal Subjects whereby We might justly proceed to their deserved Correction without any violation on Our parts of the said VVarrants or the word thereby given And albeit also that most of those VVarrants were not in themselves Protections to the parties further than in giving them leave to bring or send Corn and other provisions to the Markets whereby their Servants or Horses or Provisions should not be seized on by the Souldiers when they came to the Markets which admittance fell out as well for their benefit as intended for the furnishing of the Market Yet because We find that the further continuing of those VVarrants do now appear inevitably to induce a great inconvenience to his Majesties General Service and many of those people do either ignorantly or perhaps purposely mistake the true sense and meaning of those VVarrants and do give out to interpret them to be Protections granted to them for the safety of their Lives and Estates how foul soever they are in their crimes which is an interpretation that cannot justly be made out of the letter or meaning of those VVarrants yet in regard We who are entrusted here by His Majesty for the government of this His Kingdom and People are so tender of His Majesties Honour as VVe neither have done nor will do anything that by any construction can be interpreted a Breach of any word given by Us neither have desired or willingly permitted any violence or hurt to be done to any Inhabitant or any prejudice other than for the necessary Defence and safety of this State and other His Majesties good Subjects against those that tookup Arms against His Majesty And for that we are now necessitated to resolve not to suffer this State to be any longer deluded and abused and His Majesties good Subjects murthered even as it were in our own view in scorn and affront of the State and some of the actors passing with impunity under countenance of these VVarrants VVe think fit before we proceed to the just Correction of those who have so declared themselves Enemies to the Peace of this Kingdom hereby to publish and declare that the said VVarrants so granted by Us the Lords Justices or either of Us or by Us the Lords Justices and Councel or by the said Lieutenant General of the Army or by the said late or present Commanders of the Forces of this City or by any His Majesties Commanders in Drogheda or other places to any person or persons within the Baronies of Castle-knock Nethercrois Balrothery or Coolock in the County of Dublin or within the Baronies of Duleeke Skryne Moyfenragh Ratoath Deece and Dunboyne in the County of Meath shall from and after the four and twentieth day of this Month stand void and be annulled repealed and revoked and we do hereby accordingly from and after the said day revoke repeal make void and annul them and every of them to all intents and purposes as if they had never been granted and do order that from and after the said day they be of no force nor derive any benefit Protection or Security in the parties to whom they were granted And this Proclamation we hereby require the Major and Sheriffs of the City of Dublin to cause to be proclaimed and published on two Market-days in and throughout the said City and Suburbs and to be publickly fixed up in the Market-place and other publick places in the said City and Suburbs that so all men may take notice thereof and that hereafter when by the power and strength of his Majesties Army Offenders receive due punishment they may appear inexcusable and not have any colour to pretend the least Breach of word in this State Given at his Majesties Castle of Dublin the 10. of June 1642. Ormond Ossory Roscomon Ad. Loftus J. Temple Tho. Rotherham Fra. Willoughby Tho. Lucas Ja. Ware Geo. Wentworth Rob. Meredith God save the King This relates to what is mentioned in the end of the second Paragraph Fol 102. Justifying the State in the revoking of Protections given contrary to their Order and the Abuse the Protected made thereof By the Lords Justices and Council W. Parsons Jo. Borlase WHereas in the beginning of this hideous and detestable Rebellion We the Lords Justices and Council desirous if it might be to give some sudden stop thereunto so to prevent the spreading thereof and the growth of it to that height to which it hath sithence risen and conceiving that at that time the multitude were by evil Council or false rumors seduced to partake in that Rebellion who not knowing the truth and depth of the Combination We did think could not so wretchedly fail in their Duty and Loyalty to their most Gracious King and Soveraign as so universally to persist in their course of Disobedience to his Majesties Authority but would with treatable and fair admonitions laying before them their great danger and the iniquity of their enterprise have returned to their obedience We therefore on the 27th of October last authorised divers persons of quality and trust for the several Counties of Down Antrim Armagh Monaghan Cavan Tirone and Fermanagh amongst other Powers then entrusted with them to parly with the Rebels or any of them and by Proclamation or otherwise to proffer his Majesties Grace and Mercy to them or any of them and to receive such of them into his Majesties Grace and Mercy as should submit themselves and desire the same Yet We held fit
contrary to the Liberty and Freedom of the Subject to be by any such Oath or Covenant pre-engaged And for that the setting on foot at this time in this Kingdom the said League or Covenant without His Majesties Allowance may not only beget much distraction and unquietness amongst His Majesties good Subjects but also may prove very penal to all those who shall presume to tender or take the same We therefore for prevention of such mischiefs do in His Majesties Name strictly charge and command all His Majesties good Subjects of what degree or quality soever within this Kingdom upon their Allegiance to His Majesties that they presume not to enter into or take the said League Covenant or Oath And we do likewise inhibit and forbid all His Majesties Subjects in this Kingdom to impose administer or tender the said League Oath or Covenant And if notwithstanding this our Proclamation any person shall presume to impose tender or take the said League Oath or Covenant We shall proceed against him or them with all severity according to the known Laws of the Land Given at His Majesties Castle of Dublin the 18. day of Decemb. 1643. Ri. Bolton Canc. La. Dublin Ormonde Roscomon Edw. Brabazon Ant. Midensis Cha. Lambart Geo. Shurley Gerrard Lowther Tho. Rotherham Fra. Willoughby Tho. Lucas Ja. Ware G. Wentworth GOD SAVE THE KING APPENDIX XI Fol. 141. The Copy of a Letter written by direction of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament Assembled to several Commanders and Officers of his Majesties Army and others in the Kingdom of Ireland AFter our very hearty Commendations The Lords and Commons Assembled in Parliament in this His Majesties Kingdom of Ireland have commanded us to signifie unto you that they have lately seen a Printed Paper intituled a solemn League and Covenant for Reformation and defence of Religion the honour and happiness of the King and the Peace and safety of the three Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland which seems to have been Printed at London on the ninth day of October 1643. That they have also seen a Printed Proclamation dated the eighteenth day of December last and set out by the Right Honourable the late Lords Justices and Council expressing diverse great and Weighty Reasons against the said League and Covenant and therefore Commanding all his Majesties good Subjects of what Degree or Quality soever within this Kingdom upon their Allegiance to his Majesty That they presume not to enter into or take the said League Covenant or Oath and inhibiting and forbidding all His Majesties Subjects in this Kingdom to impose administer or tender the said League Oath or Covenant That upon serious debate and consideration taken by the Lords and Commons of the said League and Covenant and Proclamation They find the said Proclamation to have been set out with great Wisdom and Reason and do highly Commend the Judgement of the said Lords Justices and Council therein and as both Houses do fully concurr therein in all the parts thereof So they have expresly Commanded us to signifie the same unto you and in their names to let you know That it is their express Pleasure that you and all the Commanders Officers and Souldiers of His Majesties Army and all others His Majesties Subjects in this Kingdom whom it may concern do render all due Obedience and Observation to the said Proclamation in all the parts thereof And this being to no ther end We remain Your very Loving Friends Ri. Bolton Canc. Maur. Eustace Speaker of the House of Commons Dublin Castle xviii die April Anno Dom. 1644. Fol. 142. There is mention made of the Protestants Arrival at Oxford where they deliver'd to his Majesty this Petition To the Kings most Excellent Majesty The humble Petition of divers of your Majesties Protestant Subjects in your Kingdom of Ireland as well Commanders of Your Majesties Army here as others whose Names are subscrib'd in the behalf of themselves and other Your Protestant Subjects in this Your Kingdom Sheweth THAT this Your Highness Kingdom reduced with the vast Expence of Treasure and much effusion of British blood to the obedience of the Imperial Crown of England hath been by the Princely care of your Royal Progenitors especially of Queen Elizabeth and of Your Royal Father of ever blessed Memory and your Sacred Majesty in many parts happily planted great sums of Moneys disbursed in Buildings and Improvements Churches edified and endowed and frequented with multitudes of good Protestants and your yearly Customs and Revenues rais'd to great yearly sums by the industry of your Protestant Subjects especially and great sums of Money by way of Subsidies and Contributions chearfully paid unto your Majesty by your said Subjects In which happiness this your Kingdom hath flourished in a long-continued Peace and under your Highness most glorious and happy Government until that by the present general Conspiracy and Rebellion rais'd out of Detestation of Your blessed Government and for rooting out of the Protestant Religion and so for the dispossessing of Your Majesty of this Your said Kingdom without the least occasion offered by Your Majesty or Your Protestant Subjects And notwithstanding that Your Majesty immediately before had enlarg'd beyond president Your Royal favour and bounty to them in granting all that their and our joint Agents did desire of Your Majesty And we continuing amongst them in all Love and Amity without distrust Your Petitioners and others who labour'd to oppose those damnable Designs and Practices have been driven from their Dwellings Estates and Fortunes their Houses and Churches burnt and demolished All Monuments of Civility utterly defaced Your Majesties Forts and places of strength thrown down and the Common and Statute-Laws of this Your Kingdom utterly confounded by taking upon themselves the exercise of all manner of Authorities and Jurisdictions Ecclesiastical and Civil both by Sea and Land proper and peculiar to Your Sacred Majesty being Your just Prerogatives and the Royal Flowers of Your Imperial Diadem to the Disherison of Your Crown and Your Royal Revenues brought to nothing and the Protestant Clergy with their Revenues and support for the present destroyed This Your Kingdom in all parts formerly inhabited with Brittish Protestants now depopulated of them and many thousands of Your Protestant Subjects most barbarously used stripped naked tortur'd famish'd hang'd buried alive drown'd and otherwise by all barbarous cruel sorts of Death murther'd such as yet remain of them are reduced to that extremity that very few of them have wherewithal to maintain a Being and all of them so terrified and afflicted with those barbarous and inhuman cruelties the true report whereof being now spread abroad into the Christian World Your Suppliants conceive fears that Your Majesties Brittish Subjects will be discouraged from coming again to inhabit this Kingdom and the remnant of what is left will be forced to depart All this being done by the Conspiracy of the Papists who did publickly declare the utter extirpation of the
Cessation of Arms for one whole year with the Roman Catholicks of Ireland printed at Oxford 19. Octob. 1643. And let all your good Subjects be assured that as we have for these reasons and with caution and deliberation consented to the Proposition to peace and to that purpose do continue do continue our Parliament there so we shall proceed in the accomplishing thereof with that care and circumspection that we shall not admit even peace it self otherways than it may be agreeable to Conscience Honour and Justice VVe also humbly desire that such Laws as Your Majesty shall think fit to pass may be transmitted according to Poynings Law and other Laws of explanation thereof or of addition thereunto now in force with great contentment and security to Your Majesties Protestant Subjects but if the present Parliament be dissolved we humbly represent unto Your Majesty that so many of your ablest and best Protestant Subjects have been murthered or banished by this Rebellion the few or no Protestant free-holders will be found in the Countreys Cities or Burroughs to elect and chuse Knights Citizens or Burgesses which will be most dangerous to your Majesties Rights and Prerogatives and good Subjects and may beget great disputes in after-times for the repealings of Poynings Acts notwithstanding their feigned expressions of their loyaltie yet it plainly appeareth they do not repose such trust in your Majesties Justice as becomes loyal Subjects to do and such they pretend themselves to be for that they seek thereby to prevent Your Majesty and your Councel of England and Ireland of so full a view and time of mature consideration to be had of Acts of Parliament of Ireland before they pass as in prudence is requisite and hath been found necessary by the experience of well near 200 years and if their Intentions were so clear as they profess we know not why they should avoid the strictest view and tryal of Your Majesty and your Councels of both Kingdoms this their desire tending to introduce a grand diminution to the Royal and necessary Power for the conservation of Your Regal State and protection of your good Protestant Subjects there and elsewhere and what special use they aim at in seeking such a repeal Your Protestant Subjects as they know not the particular so can they conjecture of none unless the said Confederates have some design by way of surprize to obtrude upon Your Majesty in their new desired Parliament some Acts of justification of their ill-done actions and for condemning such of your Protestant Subjects as have in their several degrees most faithfully served Your Majesty there which we the rather believe seeing they have vowed by their Oath of Association and the Bull lately published in Ireland since the Cessation the destruction of the Protestants there when they have the Sword in their hands to put the same in Execution 3. Pro. That all Acts and Ordinances made and passed in the now pretended Parliament in that Kingdom since the 7th day of August 1641. be clearly annull'd and declared void and taken off the File Answ. VVe humbly desire that they may particularize those Orders and Ordinances which may prejudice Your Majesties service for we are well assured that the Parliament now sitting in Ireland on signification of Your Majesties pleasure therein will give Your Majesty full satisfaction or repeal any unjust Orders or Ordinances whatsoever which may be prejudicial to Your Majesty and there may be some Orders or Ordinances which may concern particular persons in their Lives Liberties or Fortunes that may suffer unheard by the admitting of so general a Proposition which is meerly propos'd as we humbly conceive to put a scorn upon Your Majesties Parliament now sitting there and to discourage your Protestant Subjects who have faithfully served Your Majesty in that Parliament 4. Pro. That all Indictments Attainders Out-lawers in the Kings Bench or elsewhere since the said 7th day of August 1641. and all Letters Patents Grants Leases Custodiums Bonds Recognizances and all other Records Act or Acts depending thereon or in prejudice of the said Catholicks or any of them be taken off the File annulled and declared void first by Your Majesties Proclamation and after by Act to be passed in the said free Parliament Answ. This we conceive to be a very bold Proposition not warranted as we also conceive by any Example and tending to introduce an ill president in after-times for that was never seen that the Records were taken off the File but where there was some corruption or fraud or some illegal or unjust carriage used or concerning the procuring or making up of such Records and the same first we 'll prove upon due Examination and that may not only conceal but in some sort seem to justifie their abominable Treasons Murthers Cruelties Massacres and Plunders acted against your Majesties Person Crown and Dignity upon the persons of your Majesties most loyal Protestant Subjects in that Kingdom and encourage the Papists to do the like again besides the discouragement it may beget in your Majesties Officers Subjects to do their duties in the like insurrections which may happen hereafter which also may prove very prejudicial to Your Majesties Rights and Revenues if the Records to support the Forfeitures wherein many of them are or may be grounded should be taken off the File and cancelled 5. Pro. That inasmuch as under colour of such Out-lawers and Attainders Debts due unto the said Catholicks have been granted levied and disposed of and of the other side that Debts due upon the said Catholicks to those of the adverse party have been levied and disposed of to publick use that therefore all Debts be by Act of Parliament mutually released or all to stand in statu quo notwithstanding any Grant or dispossession Answ. VVe humbly conceive that in time of peace and most setled Government when the course of Law and Justice is most open and best observed that Debts due unto the Crown actually levied and paid in to Your Majesties use ought not to be restored though the Records of the Forfeitures should be legally reversed which is far from the present case and this Proposition tendeth to cross that just Right of Your Majesty and to make the disposition by the Confederate Papists Rebels of Debts due to Protestants and by the said Rebels by fraud and force levied and disposed in maintenance of their Rebellion which cunningly they call by the name of Publick use to be in equal degree to the Debts owing by the Rebels and by them all forfeited and many of them by Law duly levied which is a most unequal and unjust thing and the said Proposition cannot nor doth make offer to have the Pope's Confederates cut off from the Debts due to them which they have justly forfeited but only for a colour of consideration to have the Protestants lose such Debts justly due to them as have been unjustly taken from them who have done no act at all to forfeit
them 6. Pro. That the late Officers taken or found upon feigned or old Titles since the year 1634 to intitle Your Majestie to several Counties in Connaght Thornond the County of Typperary Limrick and Kelkenny and Wicklowe be vacated and taken off the File and the possessors thereof setled and secure in their ancient Estates by act of Parliament and that the like Act of limitation of Your Majesties Titles for the security of the Estates of your Subjects in that Kingdom be passed in that Parliament as was Enacted in the 21. year of his late Majesties Raign in this Kingdom Answ. VVe know not of any Offices found or feigned Titles nor what the Confederates may demand in respect of any graces promised by your Majesty which we intend not nor have any occasion to dispute but do humbly conceive that all those who have committed Treason in the late Rebellion subsequent to your Majesties promise of those Graces have thereby forfeited the benefit thereof together with the Lands to which the said Graces might else have related and so their whole Estates are now justly fallen to your Majesty by their Rebellion which we conceive is of great importance for your Majesties service to be taken into consideration as First with regard of the Statutes made in the present Parliament of England Secondly That necessary increase of your Majesties Revenue decayed by the present Rebellion Thirdly The abolishing the evil Customs of the Irish and preservation of Religion Laws and Government there Fourthly The satisfaction of the Protestant Subjects losses in some measure Fifthly The Arrears of your Majesties Army and other debts contracted for the War and for preservation of that Kingdom to your Majesty Sixthly The bringing in of more Brittish on the Plantation Seventhly The building of some walled-Towns in remote and desolate places for the security of that Kingdom and your Maiesties good Subjects there Eightly The taking of the Natives from their former dependency on their Chieftains who usurped an absolute Power over them to the dimunition of all Regal Power and to the oppression of the inferiors 7. Pro. That all marks of incapacity imposed upon the Natives of that Kingdom to purchase or acquire Lands Leases Offices or Hereditaments be taken away by Act of Parliament and the same to extend to the securing of Purchases Leases or Grants already made and that for the Education of Youth an Act be passed in the next Parliament for the erecting of one or more Inns of Court Universities Free and Common-Schools Answ. This we conceive concerneth some of the late Plantations and no other part of that Kingdom and that the restriction herein mentioned is found to be of great use especially for the indifferency of Tryals strength of the Government and for Trade and Traffick and we humbly conceive that if other Plantations shall not proceed for the setling and securing of the Kingdom and that if no restraint be made of Popish purchasing or buying of the Protestants out of their former Plantations where they were prudently settled though now cast out of their Estates by the late Rebellion and unable to Plant the same again for want of means and therefore probably upon easy terms will part from their Estates to the Confederates that those Plantations will be destroyed to the great prejudice of your Majesties Service and endangering of the safety of that Kingdom Touching bearing of Offices we humbly conceive that their now conformity to the Laws and Statutes of that Realm is the only mark of incapacity imposed upon them we humbly conceive that they ought not to expect to be more capable there then the English Natives are here in England in like case for Schools in Ireland there are divers setled in that Kingdom already by the Laws and Statutes of that Realm if any person well affected shall erect and endow any more Schools there at their own charges so that the School-master and Scholars may be governed according to Laws Customs and Orders of England and the rest of Free-Schools here we cannot apprehend any just exception thereunto but touching Universities and Inns of Court we humbly conceive that this part of the proposition savoureth of some desire to become Independant upon England or to make aspersion on the Religion and Laws of the Kingdom which can never be truely happy but in the good unity of both in the true Protestant Religion and in the Laws of England for as for matter of charge such of the Natives that are desirous to breed their Sons for Learning in Divinity can be well content to send them to the Universities of Lovane Doway and other Popish places in forreign Kingdoms and for Civil Law or Physick to Padua and other places which draws great Treasure yearly out of your Majesties Dominions but will send few or none of them to Oxford or Cambrige where they might as cheaply be bred up and become as Learned which course we conceive is holden out of their Pride and disaffection towards this Kingdom and the true Religion here professed and for the Laws of the Land which are for the Common Law agreeable to England and so for the greatest part of the Statutes the Inns of Court in England are sufficient and the Protestants come thither without grudging and that is a means to civilize them after the English customs to make them familiar and in love with the Language and Nation to preserve Law in the Purity when the Professors of it shall draw from one Original Fountain and see the manner of the Practice of that in the same great Channel where his Majesties Courts of Justice of England do flow most clearly whereas by separation of the Kingdoms in that place of their principal instruction where their foundations in Learning are to be laid a degenerate corruption in Religion and Justice may haply be introduced and spread with much more difficulty to be corrected and restrained afterwards by any Discipline to be used in Ireland or punishment there to be inflicted for departing from the true grounds of things which are best preserved in unity when they grow out of the same root then if such Universities and Inns of Court as are proposed should be granted all which we humbly submit to your Majesties most Pious and Prudent consideration and judgment 8. Pro. That the Offices and Places of Command Honour Profit and Trust within that Kngdom be conferred upon Roman Catholicks Natives in equality and indifferency with your Majesties other Subjects Answ. We humbly conceive that the Roman Catholicks Natives of Ireland may have the like Offices and Places as the Roman Catholicks Natives of England here have and not otherwise howbeit we conceive that in the generality they haye not deserved so much by their late Rebellion therefore we see not why they should be endowed with any new or farther capacities or priviledges then they have by the Laws and Statutes now in force in that Kingdom 9. Pro. That the insupportable Oppression
of your Subjects by reason of the Court of Wards and respit of Homage be taken away and certain revenue in Lieu thereof setled upon your Majesty without diminution of your Majesties profits Answ. We know of no Oppression by reason of the Court of Wards and we humbly conceive that the Court of Wards is of great use for the raising of your Majesties Revenues the preservation of your Majesties Tenures and chiefly the Education of the Gentry in the Protestant Religion and in Civility and Learning and good Manners who otherwise would be brought up in ignorance and barbarism their Estates be ruined by their Kindred and Friends and continue their depending upon their Chieftains and Lords to the great prejudice of your Majesties service and Protestant Subjects and there being no colour of exception to your Majesties just Title to Wardships we know not why the taking away of your Court concerning the same should be pressed unless it be to prevent the Education of the Lords and Gentry that fall Wards in the Protestant Religion For that part of this Proposition which concerns respit of Homage we humbly conceive that reasonable that some way may be settled for that if that standeth with your Majesties good pleasure without prejudice to your Majesty or your Majesties Protestant Subjects 10. Pro. That no Lord not estated in the Kingdom or estated and not resident shall have Vote in the said Parliament by Proxie or otherwise and none admitted to the House of Commons but such as shall be estated and resident within the Kingdom Answ. We humbly conceive that in the year 1641. by the Graces which your Majesty then granted to your Subjects of Ireland the matter of this Proposition was in a fair way regulated by your utter abolishing of blank Proxies and limiting Lords present and attending in the Parliament of Ireland that no one of them should be capable of more Proxies then two and prescribing the Peers of that Kingdom not there resident to purchase fitting proportions of Land in Ireland within five years from the last of July 1641. or else to loose their Votes till they should make such purchases which purchases by reason of the troubles hapning in the Kingdom and which have continued for two years and a half have not peradventure yet been made and therefore your Majesty may now be pleased and may take just occasion to enlarge that time for five years more from the time when that Kingdom may again be settled in a happy firm peace and as to members of the House of Commons the same is most fit as we humbly conceive to be regulated by the Laws and Statutes of that Kingdom 11. Pro. That an Act be passed in the next Parliament declaratory that the Parliament of Ireland is a free Parliament of it self independant of and not subordinate to the Parliament of England and that the Subjects of Ireland are immediately subject to your Majesty as in right of your revenue and that the Members of the said Parliament of Ireland and all other the Subjects of Ireland are independant and no way to be ordered or concluded by the Parliament of England and are only to be ordered and governed within that Kingdom by your Majesty and such Governours as are or shall be there appointed and by the Parliament of that Kingdom according to the Laws of the Land Answ. This Proposition concerns your Majesties High Court of Parliament both of England and Ireland and is beyond our abilities who are not acquainted with the Records and Presidents of this Nature to give an answer thereunto and therefore we humbly desire your Majesties pardon for not answering unto the same 12. Pro. That the assumed Power or Jurisdiction in the Council-Board of determining all manner of Causes be limited to matters of State and all Patents Estates and Grants illegally and extrajudiciously avoided there or elsewhere be left in state as before and the parties grieved their Heirs or Assigns till legal eviction Answ. The Council-Table hath aways excercised Jursdiction in some cases ever since the English Government was setled in that Kingdom and is of long continuance in cases of some Nature as the beginning thereof appeareth not which seemeth to be by prescription and hath always been armed with Power to examin upon Oath as a Court of Justice or in the nature of a Court of Justice in cases of some natures and may be very necessary still in many cases especially for the present till your Majesties Laws may more generally be received in that Kingdom and we conceive that Board is so well limited by printed Instructions in your Majesties Royal Fathers time and by your Majesties Graces in the seventeenth year of your Reign that it needeth for this present little or no regulating at all howbeit they humbly referr that to your Majesties great wisdom and goodness to do therein as to Law and Justice shall appertain 13. Pro. That the Statutes of the 11th 12th and 13th years of Queen Elizabeth concerning the Staple Commodities be repealed referving to his Majesty lawful and just Poundage and a Book of Rates be setled by an indifferent Committy of both Houses for all Comodities Answ. The matter of this Proposition is settled in a fitting and good way by your Majesty already as we conceive amongst the Graces granted by your Majesty to your people of Ireland in the Seventeenth year of your Majesties Reign to which we humbly referr our selves 14. Pro. That insomuch as the long continuance of the chief Governour or Governours of that Kingdom in that place of so great eminency and power hath been a principall occasion that much Tyranny and Oppression hath been used and exercised upon the Subjects of that Kingdom that your Majesty will be pleased to continue such Governours hereafter but for three years and that none once employed therein be appointed for the same again until the expiration of six years next after the end of the first three years and that an Act pass to disanul such Governour or Governours during their Government directly or indirectly in Use Trust or otherwise to make any manner of Purchase or acquisition of any Mannors Lands Tenements or Hereditaments within that Kingdom other then from your Majesties own Heirs and Successors Answ. We humbly conceive that this Proposition tendeth to lay a false and scandalous aspersion on your Majesties gracious Government over Ireland and that it toucheth very high upon your Wisdom Justice and Power and under colour of supposed Corruptions pretended to be in the greatest Officer that Commandeth under your Majesty there if he continue so long in his Government as may well enable him to find out and discover the true State of the Kingdom and the dangerous disposition and designs of the Popish party there to prevent him therein and to turne him out from doing Service before or as soon as he is throughly informed and experienced how to do the same and then to hold him excluded so long
that in all likelihood he shall not live to come to that place the second time which we humbly conceive will be a great discouragement to any person of Honour and Fortune to serve your Majesty in that high Trust and for their purchasing Lands in that Kingdom your Majesty may be pleased to leave them to the Laws and punish them severely if they commit any offence or exercise any oppressions under colour of purchasing of any Lands or Estates whatsoever 15. Pro. That an Act may be passed in the next Parliament for the raising and setling of Trained-bands within the several Counties of that Kingdom as well to prevent foraign Invasion as to render them the more serviceable and ready for your Majesties service as cause shall require Answ. The having of Trained-bands in Ireland for the present cannot under favour be for your Majesties service or the safety of that Kingdom for that the Protestants by the said sad effects of the late Rebellion are so much destroyed that the said Bands must consist in effect altogether of the Confederates Catholicks and to continue them in Arms stored with Ammunition and made ready for service by Mustring and often Training will prove under colour of advancing your Majesties service against foraign Invasions a meer Guard and Power of the Popish Confederates and by force of Arms according to their late Oaths and Protestations to execute all their cruel designs for extirpation of the Protestant Religion and English Government both which they mortally hate however in cunning they dissemble it and to prevent the setling an Army of good Protestants without which your Maiesties good Subjects cannot live securely there 16. Pro. That an Act of Oblivion be passed in the next free Parliament to extend to all your Majesties said Catholick Subjects and their Adherents for all manner of Offences Capital Criminal and Personal and the said Act to extend to all Goods and Chattels Customs Mesne Profits Prizes Arrears of Rents taken received or incurred since these troubles Answ. We humbly pray that the Laws of force be taken into consideration and do humbly conceive that your Majesty in Honour and Justice may forbear to discharge or release any Actions Suits Debts or Interests whereby your Majesties Protestant Subjects who have committed no offence against your Majesty or your Laws should be barred or deprived of any of their legal remedies or just demands which by any of your Majesties Laws and Statutes they may have against the Popish Confederates who are the only Delinquents or any of their party for or in respect of any wrongs done unto them or any of their Ancestors or Predecessors in or concerning their Lands Goods or Estates since the contriving or breaking forth of the Rebellion the said Confederates having without provocation shed so much innocent Blood and acted so many Cruelties as cannot be parallel'd in any Story and we conceive it to be high presumption in them upon so weak grounds to propound an Act of Oblivion in such general terms some of the Confederates having been Contrivers or Actors of such cruel Murthers and other Acts of Inhumanity as cry to God and your Sacred Majesty for Justice and they having of your Majesties Revenues Customs Subsidies and other Rights of your Crown in their hands are disbursed by them to the value of two hundred thousand pounds and more 17. Pro. For as much as your Majesties said Catholick Subjects have been taxed with many inhumane Cruelties which they never committed your Majesties said Suppliants therefore for their vindication and to manifest to all the the world their desire to have all such hanious Offenders punished and the Offenders brought to Justice do desire that in the next Parliament all notorious Murthers breaches of Quarter and inhumane Cruelties committed of either side may be questioned in the said Parliament if your Majesty think fit and such as shall appear to be guilty to be excepted out of the said Act of Oblivion and punished according to their deserts Answ. We conceive this Proposition is made but for a Florish and if the Confederates be so desirous to try their innocency as they pretend they need not stay for another Parliament in Ireland but submit to that which is now in being which is an equal and just Parliament as in some of our Reasons touching that point is expressed and the offering to draw it to a new Parliament is in effect to desire that they may be their own Judges for as that Kingdom is now imbroiled and wasted the chief Delinquents or their Confederates will be so prevalent a faction in the next Parliament that they will be able and doubtless will clear all the Popish party how guilty soever and condemn all the Protestants how innocent soever These Answers to the high and unexpected Demands of the Confederates we have have framed in humble obedience to your Majesties directions but being very sensible as of the weight and great importance of the business so also of our own weakness and want of time and well knowing that some of your Majesties Privy-Councillors Judges and Officers of that Kingdom are now in Town sent for over and here attending by your Majesties Command who by their long observations and experience of the affaires and State of Ireland are better able to give your Majesty more full and satisfactory Answers touching the premises then we can and conceiving that the Collection in Answer to the said Confederates Remonstrance which we humbly presented to your Majesty the 17th of the last Month of April may in many things give your Majesty more light then these our Answers do or can We humbly beseech your Majesty that the said Privy-Counsellors Judges and Officers as occasion shall require may be called upon and heard to give your Majesty the more satisfaction in these particulars and that to the same purpose the Book of the said Collections may be perused and considered of as your Majesty shall find most requisite After reading of which Propositions and Answers thereunto the King asked the Protestant Agents whether they had Answered unto the Rebels Propositions as they were to be granted by Him in Law and Justice and fit for the Security of the Protestants of Ireland or prudentially as the times were who humbly made Answer to his Majesty That they looked upon the Rebels Propositions as they appeared to them destructive to his Majesties Laws Government and Protestant Subjects of Ireland Then the Earl of Bristol said That if they asked what by Law and Justice was due from the Rebels their Answers were full But now the King expected from the said Agents what prudentially was fit for his Majesty to do seeing the Protestants were not in a Condition to defend themselves And that the King would not admit the Protestants to joyn with the new Scots or any other that had the Covenant To which the Agents conceived not fit to Answer more then what before in their Propositions and
Treason done in this Rebellion may be establish'd and confirm'd by Act of Parliament to be in due form of Law transmitted and passed in Ireland and that such Traitors as for want of Protestant and indifferent Jurors to indict them in the proper County are not yet indicted nor convicted or attainted by Outlawry or otherwise may upon due proof of their offences be by like Acts of Parliament convicted and attainted and all such offenders forfeit their Estates as to Law appertaineth and Your Majesty to be adjudged and put in possession without any Office or Inquisition to be had 18. That Your Majesties Protestant Subjects may be restored to the quiet Possession of all their Castles Houses Mannors Lands Tenements Hereditaments and Leases and to the quiet possession of the Rents thereof as they had the same before and at the time of the breaking forth of this Rebellion and from whence without due Process and Judgment of Law they have since then been put or kept out and may be answer'd of and for all the Mean Profits of the same in the interim and for all the time until they shall be so restored 19. That Your Majesties said Protestant Subjects may also be restor'd to all their Moneys Plate Jewels Houshold-stuff Goods and Chattels whatsoever which without due Process or Judgment in Law have been by the said Confederates taken or detain'd from them since the contriving of the said Rebellion which may be gain'd in kind or the full value thereof if the same may not be had in kind and the like restitution to be made for all such things which during the said time have been deliver'd to any person or persons of the said Confederates in trust to be kept or preserv'd but are by colour thereof still withholden 20. That the establishment and maintenance of a compleat Protestant-Army and sufficient Protestant-Souldiers and Forces for the time to come be speedily taken into Your Majesties prudent just and gracious Consideration and such a course laid down and continued according to the Rules of good Government that Your Majesties Right and Laws the Protestant Religion and peace of that Kingdom be no more endanger'd by the like Rebellions in time to come 21. That whereas it appeareth in Print that the said Confederates amongst other things aim at the repeal of Poyning's Law thereby to open an easie and ready way in the passing of Acts of Parliament in Ireland without having them first well consider'd of in England which may produce many dangerous Consequences both to that Kingdom and to Your Majesties other Dominions Your Majesty would be pleased to resent and reject all Propositions tending to introduce so great a diminution of Your Royal and necessary Power for the confirmation of your Royal Estate and protection of Your good Protestant Subjects both there and elsewhere 22. That Your Majesty out of Your grace and favour to your Protestant Subjects of Ireland would be pleased to consider effectually of answering them that you will not give order for or allow of the transmitting into Ireland any Act of general Oblivion Release or discharge of Actions or Suits whereby Your Majesties said Protestant Subjects there may be barred or depriv'd of their Legal Remedies which by Your Majesties Laws and Statutes of that Kingdom they may have against the said Confederates or any of them or any of their party for or in respect of any wrongs done unto them or any of their Ancestors or Predecessors in or concerning their Lives Liberties Persons Lands Goods or Estates since the contriving and breaking forth of the said Rebellion 23. That some fit course may be consider'd of to prevent the filling or over-laying of the Commons House of Parliament in Ireland with Popish Recusants being ill-affected Members and that provision be duly made that none shall Vote or sit therein but such as shall first take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy 24. That the proofs and manifestations of the truth of the several matters contain'd in the Petition of Your Majesties Protestant Subjects of Ireland lately presented to Your Majesty may be duly examined discussed and in that respect the final Conclusion of things respited for a convenient time their Agents being ready to attend with Proofs in that behalf as your Majesty shall appoint In answer wereunto it was replied by the Committee of Lords and others of Irish affaires at Oxford 1. That their Lordships did not think that the Propositions presented by the Protestant Agents to his Majesty and that morning read before their Lordships were the sence of the Protestants of Ireland 2. That those Propositions were not agreeable to the Instructions given the said Agents by the Protestants of Ireland 3. That if those Propositions were drawn they would lay a prejudice on his Majesty and his Ministers to Posterity these remaining on Record if a Treaty should go on and Peace follow which the Kings necessity did enforce and that the Lords of the Committee apprehended the said Agents did flatly oppose a Peace with the Irish. 4. That it would be impossible for the King to grant the Protestants Agents desires and grant a Peace to the Irish. 5. That the Lords of the Committee desired the Protestant Agents to propose a way to effect their desires either by Force or Treaty considering the condition of his Majesties Affaires in England To the first the Protestant Agents replied that they humbly conceived that the Propositions which they had presented to his Majesty were the sence of of the Protestants of Ireland To the Second That the Propositions are agreeable to the Instructions given to the said Agents by the Protestants of Ireland and conduced to the well settlement of that Kingdom To the Third That they had no thought to draw prejudice on his Majesty or their Lordships by putting in those Propositions neither had they so soon put in Propositions had not his Majesty by his Answer to the Protestant Petition directed the same To the Fourth The said Agents humbly conceived that they were imployed to make proof of the effect of the Protestant Petition to manifest the inhumane Cruelties of the Rebels and then to offer such things as they thought fit for the Security of the Protestants in in their Religion Lives Liberties and Fortunes That the said Protestants had no disaffection to Peace so as punishment might be inflicted according to Law as in the Propositions are expressed and that the said Protestants might be repaired for their great losses out of the Estates of the Rebels not formerly by any Acts of this present Parliament in England otherwise disposed of which the said Agents desired might be represented to his Majesty and the Lords of the Committee accordingly To the Fifth That the said Protestant Agents were Strangers to his Majesties Affairs in England and conceived that part more proper for the advice of his Councils then the said Agents and therefore desired to be excused for medling in the treaty further then the
manifessing of the truth of the Protestant Petition and proposing in the behalf of the Protestants according to the Instructions given them which the said Agents were ready to perform whensoever they should be admitted thereunto Touching which and other Particulars there were many motions but the Proofs they would have insisted upon by the importunity of other Affairs never came to their due discussion APPENDIX XV. Fol. 120. THE SPEECH Of His GRACE James Duke of Ormond Lord Lieutenant of Ireland My Lords and Gentlemen THere is no duty incident to the Place I have the Honour to serve the KING in to which I come with less willingness or conscience than to this of speaking to such an Assembly And by that time I have done you will acknowledg I have reason to be unsatisfied with the necessity imposed by custom upon all that sit in this Place to make Speeches a Custom perhaps reasonably introduced by those that did or at least thought they did it well but somewhat hardly continued upon those that were sure they did it ill And yet though I am in the Number of the Last I will rather obey the Necessity than hazard the Imputation of Sullenness or Singularity Besides I do not know but that to be silent at this time and in this Place may be a greater Fault than any I hope I shall commit in speaking for we are taught by Infallible Authority and enjoyned by Indispensible Precept and it seems to be agreeable to the Dictates of NATURE and REASON as well as of RELIGION and PIETY that for all the Blessings we receive from the Divine MAJESTIE we should make as proportionable Returns as lie within our Power And therefore Publique and National BLESSINGS do require Publique and Solemn CELEBRATIONS This was it that induced the Transmission of that Act for an Anniversary Thanksgiving for his Majesties most Happy RESTAURATION and this is it which if it be dully that is sincerely performed is most like to perpetuate to us and to our POSTERITY all the Happinesses consequent to that BLESSING What these Happinesses are or at least may be if we Our selves obstruct not the course of them would be best discerned and set off by a RETROSPECT into the state of things for above twenty years past and by opposing to that Dismal Object of Our remembrance the Chearfulness and Serenity of the Prospect forwards If the Miseries and Desolations of those years could be enumerated in the time I mean to allow this Discourse or if they could be described to the Life by so ill an Orator as I am they would be fewer and more supportable than I doubt the sad experience of too many have found them to be I shall therefore only put you in mind of some more Remarkable and Fundamental deliverances and Restitutions wrought by most wonderful Providence as a thankful acknowledgment fit as I conceive to be the subject of the first Discourse from this place where I have the honour how unworthily and how unresemblingly soever to represent the Majestie of my Great Master This very Seat of Royaltie is delivered from some neglected Corner or contemptible Use or from a Profanation worse than either from the Usurpation of mean and low Aspirers who having no shadow of right to it had no other way to ascend it than by treading down and destroying whatever was ordained by God or Man to fence and guard it their extravagant Ambition transporting them and darkning their understanding to that degree as not to consider how short their possession of that Throne must be to the disarming and violation of which they themselves had but newly shewn the way VVe see this Throne now restored to its proper place and Natural use surrounded and supported by Peers and Prelates by Officers Magistrates and Judges the Out-works as well as Ornaments of Majestie VVe see it restored to the approach and I doubt not to the delight of the meanest of the Commons whom you Gentlemen do nor ought not disdain to represent for they are the Foundation upon which Monarchy is built the strength wherewith it is guarded and the wealth whereby it is sustained inriched and beautified It is restored to the undoubted Lawful Possessour the Off-spring of a long-continued Race of Princes in whom all the Contested Titles of former Ages are met without the pretence of a Competitor and in whom all the Vertues of the Princes of those Ages are united without the severity to say no worse of some of the Great and Warlike and without the as harmful weaknesses of others of more devout and peaceable dispositions A PRINCE that hath given frequent proof that though he loves and seeks peace for his Subjects sakes he fears not War for his own This Sword the Instrument of conferring Military Honour and the Emblem of inflicting Punishment is delivered from the ridiculous Stage-like Pageantry of later times and from a more execrable and Tragical Abuse from cutting off the most Innocent and defending the most guilty VVe see it now by the visible immediate hand of God restored and put into that Hand that only had His Commission to bear and use it and let it be Our Prayer That he bear it long and that he may bear it long that he bear it not in vain but to the terrour and extermination of Evil-doers and to the support and Protection of those that do well The King himself whose Throne and Sword these are is accountable to God and we to God for him for many and great deliverances He is delivered from the Murtherers of his Father and the Usurpers of his Inheritance from their restless endeavours to destroy his Person and to blast his Fame from their open violence and secret contrivements against both from Exile and all the Afflicting consequences of that miserable state of a King from comfortless wandrings from Protections from cold Receptions from narrow supports and from such applications for them as were more unsupportable than the want of them could be to him that was born and delights to give rather than receive them He is deliver'd from a continual tormenting Anxietie for the danger of his Friends and the oppression and slavery of his Countrey from the importunity of impertinent Arguments drawn from his misfortunes to draw him from his Religion and from a necessity of hearing and bearing with the Reproaches and Revilings cast upon our then Desolate Church only because she was desolate and made so by her own unnatural Children From this dejected despised and in all humane appearance desperate condition he is raised and restored to the Throne of his Fathers to his Native Countrey become more dear and valuable to him by his Experience of others to the free and uncontrol'd exercise of the Religion he was bred in to a capacity of making Royal Retribution for any kindness he hath received abroad or from home and which is the greatest earthly Felicity so good a KING as he could wish he is not only
we are protected in all our dangers and distresses we thy people and sheep of thy Pasture do acknowedge our selves above all others infinitely bounded unto thy heavenly Majesty for thy many unspeakable benefits daily conferred and heaped upon us especially for the enlightning us with thy heavenly truth and planting thy Gospel amongst us for placing over us a most gracious King a faithful Professour and Defender of the same a wise and vigilant Lieutenant And as at this time especially we praise thee for the discovery and prevention of the bloody and treacherous designs of the Enemies of thy Truth and People We laud and magnifie thy Glorious name for these thy Mercies and will ever shew forth thy praise from generation to generation for it was thy goodness alone that we were not delivered over for a prey unto their Teeth Thy prudence not our foresight thy love not our merit that we appear this day before thee That the Enemy did not triumph in our utter destriction nor root up the Uine which thy right hand had planted O Lord God of hosts look down from Heaven and behold and visit this thy Uine water it with thy blessing and make it to fill the Land to the astonishment of our Enemies but unto the joy of all that wish well unto our Sion So will we not go back from thee but will serve thee in fear and holiness all the days of our lives through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen The Third Collect after the Litany O Most Gracious Lord God we of this Nation whom thou didst snatch as a brand out of the fire of the late horrid Massacre we this day assembled before thee do with shame and sorrow acknowledge and confess That our Sins had most justly provoked thee to Wrath when thou didst suffer those men of blood to make their Sword fat with the Slaughter of so many thousand Innocents-And we may as justly fear that our not being made better by thy former Judgements thou mayest be compelled to make thy Sword sharper and return upon us in greater fury because our sins are greater more bold more provoking in particular our neglect and contempt of thy sacred Ordinances our vain and false swearing for which the Land mourns our unchristian uncharitableness and shameful intemp rance our sacriledge and covetousness hypocrisie slandering and deep security in the midst of all our sins and dangers These together with a glorying in our impieties might in justice have brought upon us a sudden and horrible destruction But contrary to the method of thy proceedings against others thou hast spared us thereby woing us to return unto thee by unfeigned Repentance Thou hast magnified thy mercy towards us that we may magnifie thee as we do this day this memorable day O Lord for thy patience and long suffering notwithstanding all our provocations we repent O pardon we return O vouchsafe to receive us and enable us to walk worthy of thy great past deliverance by a more strict and holy future obedience for the merits of Jesus Christ our only Saviour and Redeemer Amen At the second Service this Fourth Collect to be said after the Collect for the King MOst merciful and bountiful Lord God seeing thou hast been graciously pleased to preserve thy most unworthy people from total desolation and dayly to follow us with the blessing of peace and good Government make us therefore O Lord in all thankfulness to be obedient to thy will in all things to be faithful and constant in our duty to the King and to all that are in Authority under him to be sincere in thy worship zealous of good works of one faith and one mind studying to be quiet forbearing one another and forgiving one another even as God for Christs sake hath forgiven us so that when every one in his several place shall labour to advance the good both of Church and State and by a through Reformation of our lives shall become a people whom thou mayest take delight to bless then thy Judgements which we have deserved and therefore fear may be averted and our sinful Souls saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Then with one heart and voice we may all praise thee in thy Church and always sing joyfully that thy loving kindness is ever more and more towards us and the truth of the Lord endures for ever These mercies we most unworthy to ask humbly beseech thee to grant for the benefit of this Church and Nation and glory of thy Name through Jesus Christ our only Saviour and Redeemer Amen For the Epistle Nehem. 4. from ver 7. to ver 16. or 2 Cor. 1. from ver 3. to ver 11. For the Gospel Mat. 14. from ver 23. to ver 34. or Mat. 15. from ver 1. to ver 13. or Mat. 5. from ver 1. to ver 14. And then proceed as in the Book of Common Prayer Other Particulars We might add but how can We conclude better then with the voice of the Church for so wonderful a deliverance from so unnatural and inhuman a Conspiracy which hath produced besides other horrid effects this Abbreviate of so sad a Tragidy and the expence of so vast a Treasure Omissions containing several Additions to the History FOl. 9. line 23. Crime which for the Honour of those Gentlemen rather then that it 's undeniably true I would willingly believe it being easy to be made out that many of these instigated if not headed the Commonalty afterwards Fol 10. l. 25. of Lands though the Law heretofore was held otherwise and much of his Majesties Revenue stands upon that Title Fol. 13. l. 39. Epistle which expression of his is the more to be took notice of in that being a prime Instrument of State He hath more Grounds then others to build these Conjectures upon Fol. 28. l. 12. Rebellion the Commission Granted to the Lord Gormanston was as follows By the Lords Justices and Council W. Parsons Jo. Borlase RIght Trusty and well beloved We greet you well Whereas divers and most disloyal and malignant Persons within this Kingdom have traiterously conspired against his Majesty his Peace Crown and Dignity and many of them in Execution of their Conspiracy are traiterously assembled together in a Warlike manner and have most inhumanly made destruction and devastation of the Persons and Estates of his Majesties good and loyal Subjects of this Kingdom and taken slain and imprisoned great Numbers of them We out of our care and zeal for the common good being desirous by all means to suppress the said Treasons and Traitors and to conserve the Persons and Fortunes of his Majesties loving Subjects here in safety and to prevent the further spoil and devastation of his Majesties good People here do therefore hereby require and authorize you to Levie Raise and Assemble all every or any the Forces as well Footmen as Horsemen within the County of Meath giving you hereby the Command in chief of all the said Forces and hereby further
force and the Commands and Constitutions of our lawful Convocation of the Bishops and Clergy still live and speak unto us in the Canons made in the year 1634. whereof the third thus expresly That Form of Liturgie or divine Service and no other shall be used in any Church of this Realm but that which is established by Law and comprized in the Book of Common-Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments VVhich Canon with all the rest is confirmed and published by His Majesties Authority under the great Seal of Ireland VI It may be added that the Reformed Church of Ireland under the Government of our dread Soveraign the King is and ever was reputed a free National Church and not subordinate unto or depending upon the convocation of any other Church And hence it was that till the Convocation held at Dublin Anno 1634. the Articles of the Church of England were not held or reputed the Articles of the Church of Ireland and when they were received they were not received in any acknowledged subordination to the Church of England but for manifestation of our agreement with that Church in the confession of the same Christian Faith and the Doctrine of the Sacraments as is expressed in the first Canon Hence it is besides that our Canons were not imposed by the Church of England nay when somewhat highly the Clergy was invited to submit to the Book of English Canons the Convocation utterly refused the same and framed a new Book of Canons for the Church of Ireland Should we therefore receive or admit of any other form without the Authority of this Church we should be held and esteemed before God and the World guilty of unconscionably betraying of the Liberty of the free National Church of Ireland VII The Book of Common-Prayer hath been in use in this Church from the beginning of the Reformation we have preached for it and recommended it to the people as a form of God's publick Worship and Service the people of God in this City for the most part generally do love it have been edified by it are loath to part from it and earnestly desire the continuance of it Now should we consent to the taking it away and receive or use any other form not established by Law we should not avoid the guilt of Sin it being all one to destroy that which is well built as to build that which a man once destroyed which in the Apostles judgement Gal. 2. 8. renders a man a transgressor And withall we should as matters stand give great offence and scandal to the Consciences of our Brethren and so sin against them who deserve better at our hand and for whom Christ dyed VIII Lastly that reason given by the University of Oxford in this point is not to be forgotten that by our leaving of the Book of Common-Prayer and receiving any other Form we should condemn the Church and State for the penalties and censures against Recusants and justifie them in their accusations and imputations of injustice and tyranny wherewith they boldly charge both our Churches of England and Ireland The premisses considered as we hope your Honours discern hereby that we have not lightly or obstinately or out of faction or any spirit of opposition forborn the exercise of our Ministry since your Honours injunction so we do now with all humility present these our fervent Petitions to your Honours 1. That you would be pleased in pity and compassion to the Protestants of this City and to us the Ministers who else by your Injunction aforesaid are indangered to be exposed to banishment loss of estate and of present subsistance with our wives and families to restore us to our Churches Ministry and exercise thereof by permitting of us to use the Book of Common-Prayer in our several Cathedral and Parish Churches as formerly we used the same before your Injunction aforesaid and to grant us your Protection therein till such time as further order be taken by a Convocation of the Clergy and an Act of Parliament in this Kingdom and in the mean time we shall endeavour to demean our selves in the whole course of our Ministry with such Christian faithfulness and moderation as that we shall by the help of God give no just occasion of offence 2. That in case your Honours shall be pleased to grant this Petition which we hope you will if after our stay and residence here we or any of us shall be by the imposal of any thing against our Consciences be forced hereafter to depart the Kingdom we may then respectively have free passes and convenient time to remove our persons families and goods 3. That during the time of our residence here we may enjoy the profits benefits and meanes of our several Church-livings for our subsistance which are due or allotted to us by the Law of the Land and Acts of State 4. That whereas the monthly fast observed hitherto by command of authority on a Friday was grounded upon the horrid Rebellion of the Irish Papists begun and the danger we were all in as on that day wherein the Rebells came to this City to surprise it and the evening of that day was the time wherein that bloody treachery and conspiracy was discovered that we may be permitted still to keep the monthly Fast on that day being a day of preparation for the monthly Communion according to our custom these five years past And we shall ever pray c. Delivered the 9th day of July 1647. Subscribed as followeth Ed. Laonensis Jac. Margetson Since Armachanus Ben. Culme Ambr. Anngier Ja. Sybold Godf. Rhodes Hen. Hall Since Ep. Academ Jos. War Jo. Brookbank Gilbert Deane Dud. Boswel Rob. Parry Joan. Creighton Can. Edw. Syng Since Arfeitensis Rob. Dickson Rand. Ince Henry Byrch Rich. Powel Fol. 190. l. 36. the Loyallists An. 160 3 After that the Nuncio was driven to Galoway He the 2d of August took an occasion to expostulate with the Marquess of Clanrickard about one of the Provincial Fathers of the Franciscans being by the Presidents Souldiers clap'd up in Clare-Castle wondring so pious and true a Catholick should permit a Subject of the Apostolick See to which the Clergy are only accountable to be so used by Laicks unto which the 8th of of August the Marquess excellently replied That unknown to him the Father was at the Command of the supream Council taken and by their order was to be brought to Kilkenny He reverenced the Clergy but could not recede from the Order of that Council for that the Holy Church gives not Protection to Criminals or the God of Peace Impunity to the Seditious enlarging well on that Subject concluding that if under pretext or title of the Immunities of the Church any should escape unpunished There would be soon an end of the State and Temporal jurisdiction And having been thus entertained by the Nuncio the Marquess freely proposes to Him these Questions That He might understand the difference
ibid. A Proclamation calling in Protections fol. 99 for the Peace 1646. fol. 156 Propositions from the Rebels by Sir Thomas Cary and Dr. Cale fol. 45 by Fitz-Williams about the Peace with the Queens consent fol. 154 Protections granted by Commissioners revoked fol. 102 The Protestants Petition for Agents to go to Oxford fol. 140 to the King App. 62 allow'd by his Masty fol. 140 Agents to go to Oxford fol. 142 receive a gracious promise from his Majesty fol. 143 Agency question'd by the Councel-board fol. 144 of Ireland acknowledg'd by the King to bear a great part in his Restauration fol. 316 How Protestant Hereticks are to be buried fol. 171 Q QUarter not to be given to any in arms especially Priests fol. 264 The Queen Regent of France thought a convenient Person to procure the Peace fol. 152 of England her Answer to to the Irish Agents fol. 199 Querie whether the Protestant Agents at Oxford acted by the Protestant Committee of the Parliament of Ireland at Dublin fol. 144 Queries expounded by several Members in a Committee of the House of Commons against the sense of the Judges fol. 12 R RAconnel Battle fol. 105 The Lord Rannelagh pent up in Athlone till reliev'd by the Lieutenant General fol. 44 Rathmines Disaster fol. 221 Reasons why O Neil consulted not with the Councel at Kilkenny fol. 254 The Irish Rebellion discovered fol. 19 its success in Ulster fol. 27 60 progress in Lemster fol. 38 breaks out in Munster fol. 49 Connaght ibid. Remonstrance presented at Trim fol. 114 The Rebels tear the Order of Parliament fol. 35 55 Mercy was cruelty fol. 50 51 slanders cast on the English profligated fol. 57 endeavour to make themselves Masters of Lemster fol. 59 of Longford Letter by Costilough App. 25 Unskilful in Sieges fol. 71 Cruelties ibid. send Agents to forreign Princes fol. 98 receive Ministers from them ibid. are declared Subdued fol. 303 Several Rebellions fol. 14 c. Five Regiments arrive at Dublin fol. 52 Not the Defence of Religion Prerogative or Liberty but the Extirpation of the English Interest principally aim'd at by the Rebels fol. 10 c. The Officers Remonstrance threatning much danger fol. 111 Col. Reynold's takes Carrick fol. 227 Ross Battle fol. 109 Sir Benjamin Rydiard's Speech in defence of Religion fol. 35 touching Collections for Ireland fol. 27 S SIr William Saintleger President of Munster fol. 49 83 his good Service there ibid. at Talloe fol. 85 his Letter to the Lord Lieutenant App. 35 takes Dungarran fol. 85 his vigilance and faithfulness fol. 88 death ibid. Upon the recalling the King's Ships principal Commanders land in Ireland fol. 83 The Scots thought the King's Offer to go for Ireland a great Demonstration of his Care fol. 70 Yet the Scotch Councel as well as the two Houses interceded earnestly against this design pretending the hazard his Sacred Person would be in Burnet fol. 163 The meer Scots did little in Ireland the English Scots did good Service fol. 101 152 The Scots beaten at Benburgh fol. 162 in Ulster join with Hamilton to invade England fol. 195 Declaration against the standing Army in Ireland fol. 210 Souldiers sent into England fol. 138 receive an Oath ibid. disobey what Preston engaged for fol. 171 The Spaniard prevails with the Irish to send no men into England fol. 160 Stafford betrays Wexford-Castle to Cromwell fol. 225 The States first dispatch to the King at Edenburgh fol. 27 second dispatch to the King fol. 30 his Warrant to the Earl of Ormond and Ossory to fight the Rebels fol. 42 Letter to the Lord Lieutenant expressing the sad Condition they were in fol. 43 Captain Stutfield's good Service in the relief of Tredagh fol. 63 64 Colonel Synnot's Propositions for the delivery of Wexford fol. 226 T THe Lord Taaff goes for England fol. 34 returns to Ireland fol. 123 beaten by Inchequin fol. 187 is at Rathmines Battle fol. 190 helps to expel the Nuncio fol. 221 goes to the D. of Lorrain fol. 285 Tecroghan delivered to the Parliamentarians fol. 255 Sir Hen. Titchbourn sent Governour of Tredagh fol. 29 certifies the Lord Lieutenant that Mellifont was besieged fol. 37 his excellent Service at Tredagh fol. 61 62 c. Lord Justice fol. 121 at Dungan Hill fol. 186 Sir Arthur Tirringham gives the State notice of the Rebellion fol. 27 his Conduct at Lisnegarvy fol. 38 Tool of Wickloe accused by Relie fol. 315 Tredagh forewarn'd to be besieg'd by the Reverend and Vigilant Dr. Jones fol. 28 besieged by the Rebels fol. 59 relieved with Provisions fol. 63 64 Col. Trevor beaten by Captain VVilliam Meredith fol. 224 New Troubles meditated in Ireland fol. 226 V SIr Charles Vavasor lands at Youghall fol. 85 his excellent Service at the Comroe fol. 116 takes Cloghleigh fol. 117 is taken Prisonner fol. 118 Captain William Vaughan's resolution in relieving Carrickmacros fol. 102 Knighted fol. 105 his Service at Ross Battle fol. 110 slain at Rathmines fol. 220 The pious and learned Primate Usher's Prophecy of the Rebellion fol. 24 agreement with Bishop Bramhall fol. 3 goes for England fol. 25 Col. Venables lands at Dublin fol. 218 appearing at Rathmines Defeat a few days after with exemplary Vertue he goes with Cromwell to the siege of Tredagh where the Assailants having been twice beaten off he the third time forced his entrance into the Town over the bodies of the slain Cromwell following At the Bridge in the midst of the Town he found some considerable opposition which would have been more could they within have drawn up the Draw-bridge which his Capt. Lieut. Thomas Chetam and Ensign Done hinder'd with a set of Pikes so the Town being taken he was sent to oppose George Monro in the North fol. 224 he is set upon in his March by Col. Trevor ibid. has Belfast surrendred to him fol. 225 takes in Charlemont and other Garisons fol. 255 VV LIeut Col. Waineman goes to Tredagh fol. 29 his Service at Marlington fol. 66 Dundalk fol. 67 An Abbreviate of the War in Munster 1642. from 83 to 89 1643. from 115 to 119 Connaght 1642. from 80 to 83 1643. from 119 to 120 Waterford content at last to receive a Supply of Souldiers so they might be old Irish of Ulster under Lieutenant General Farrall fol. 229 230 VVendesford Lord Deputy fol. 6 his Affection to the Earl of Strafford dies ibid. Viscount VVentworth Lord Deputy fol. 2 his Government fol. 2 3 made Earl of Strafford fol. 4 Lord Lieutenant of Ireland fol. 3 his Trial fol. 5 Death ibid. Sir Francis VVilloughby Governour of Dublin Castle fol. 27 is sent from the Marq. of Ormond Commissioner to the Parliament fol. 167 his eldest Son Capt. VVilloughby Governour of Wallway-Fort fol. 82 his Son Col. Francis Willoughby's Regiment reduced fol. 180 disbanded fol. 225 is sent Prisoner to Chester by Jones fol. 195 Colonel VVogan Governour of the Fort of Duncannon fol. 230 Major VVoodhouse returns unsatisfied from England fol. 105
the present state of Ireland * Fol. 216. His Majesties third Letter concerning the Cessation The Treaty towards a Cessation The Irish Commissioners the 23. of June 1643. first presented themselves to the Lieutenant-General Their Commission from the Supream Council The Treaty deferred against which the Commissioners excepted The Insolencies of the Irish in Reply to a Warrant of the State Colonel Monk against Preston The Lord Moor killed Read Husband 's Collect fo 340. The Rebels very audacious and active upon the very point of the conclusion of the Cessation The Cessation concluded His Majesties Motives to the Cessation fol. 355. Octob. 19. 1643. Reasons given in by the Judges for the continuance of this Parliament against a free one sought by the Rebels Sept. 13. 1643. His Majesties fourth Letter touching the Cessation and his care of his Army * Annals Eliz. Anno 1595. The Cessation begat great heats betwixt the King and his Parliament * His Majesties Answer to the Commissioners last Paper at Uxbridge fol. 557. Monro's Letter to the Lords Justices in dislike of the Cessation The Supream Council's Letter from Kilkenny to the Lords Justices touching the Scots breach of the Cessation Several Regiments transported into England The Oath imposed upon the Souldiers going for England * See his Majesties Message from Oxford the 24. of Jan. 1645. Fol. 227. * View their Letter again of the 15th of Octob. 1643. * Octob. 24. 1644. The Irish break the Cessation Agents being to go from the Rebels to Oxford the Protestants Petition the State that they might have some to attend at the same time his Majesties Pleasure Motions made upon the Cessation that some of the Confederates should be admitted unto their dwellings The Marquisâ of Ormond made Lord Lieutenant the 21. of Jan. 1643. The Lord Lieutenant regulating of the Army * The Establishment of which with the rates set on each Commodity according to an Act of Council made at the Council Board the 4th of December was by Proclamation at the Castle of Dublin published the 9th of December 1644. As the 12th of Oct. preceding there had passed one of the same nature though this more large * Appendix 10. 11. * The Lord Viscount Muskery Sir Robert Talbot Dermot Mac Trag O Bryan c. The Confederates sent their Agents to Oxford The Lord Lieutenant from the Council Board sent others * Sir William Stewart Sir Gerard Lowther Sir Philip Percival Justice Donnelon to whom were added being resident at Oxford Sir George Radcliffe Sir William Sambach * Captain William Ridgeway Esquire Sir Francis Hamilton Sir Charles Coote Captain William Parsons the Insolencers of the Confederates Appendix 12. The Protestant Committee of the Irish Parliament pressed the execution of the Laws against the Rebels c. * The Lord Cottington Earl of Bristol Portland Lord George Digby Sir Edward Nicholas Sir John Culpeper Sir Edward Hide c. These of the Council much troubled betwixt the contests of the Rebels and Protestants The Irish Agents seemingly mov'd at what they were from the Confederates inforced to stand upon The King's Admonition to the Irish Agents at their departure * Appendix 13. The Irish Agents Behaviour on their Return into Ireland The Earl of Glamorgan's unjust Management of the King's Affairs in Ireland Legible in his Message dated at Oxford 29. Jan. 1645. * July 18. 1644 * The Lord Inchequin The Lord Broghil Sir Wil. Fenton Sir Percy Smith Lieut. Col. Wil. Brocket Lieut. Col. Tho. Serle Serjeant Major Muschamp The Lord Inchequin's revolt to the Parliament after the Cessation The Scots preserve themselves against the incursions of the Rebels 1645. * The Lord D. principal Secretary * The Lord I. from Ascot 27. Aug. 1645. * In a Letter printed at Oxford pag. 3. * Col. Fitz-Williams's Letter to Lord D. 16. July 1645. In his Letter from Caerdiff 3. August 1645 * To whom and the Irish Agents the King in his Letter to the Queen Jan. 30. 1644. advises not to give much Countenance 1646. The first Peace concluded The Lord Lieutenant upon Agreements on all sides repair'd to Kilkenny expecting there to receive Advance for his Majesty's Service * In his Works fol. 320. A Congregation of Clergy are summon'd contrary to his expectation to Waterford They inveigh against the Peace they had lately consented to The King of Arms barbarously used at Limerick The Confederates treachery to cut off the Lord Lieutenant The Congregation at Waterford declared Peace void The Nuncio's exorbitant carriage The Oath taken by General Preston The Nuncio besieges the Lord Lieutenant in Dublin and the Consequences thereof Some of the Supream Council being appointed to confer with the Lord Lieutenant the Nuncio admonishes them not to proceed That nothing yet might be ill resented of by the Lord Lieutenant the Supream Council wins on his Patience The Nuncio's Excommunication Matth. 16. 18 19. John 20. 23. 2 Cor. 2. 11. The two Generals Preston and O Neil being with the Nuncio engaged to sit down before Dublin sends a Letter with Propositions The Lord Lieutenant in great straits at the approach of the Nuncio to Dublin Upon the Irish breach of faith the Lord Lieutenant made a shew of delivering all into the Parliaments hands * Sir Gerr. Lowther Lord Chief Baron Sir Francis Willoughby Sir Paul Davis Knights The Parliament of England Voted Philip Lord Lisle Lord Lieutenant of Ireland He arrives in Ireland Knockmohun a strong Garrison Sir Rich. Osborn Governour His Expedition with his Commission soon determin'd being oppos'd by those who afterwards were accus'd * 7th of May. The Confederates upon Recruits out of England piece again with the Lord Lieutenant * Sir Thomas Wharton Sir Rob. King Sir John Clotworthy Sir Rob. Meredith Knights Rich. Salway Esq. The Lord Lieutenant not being admitted to send to the King the Treaty with the Parliaments Agents broke off The Marquis of Clanrickard's fidelity Upon the Marquis of Clanrickard's free dealing with the Confederates General Preston and others sign an Engagement Upon this there seem'd to be some Agreement betwixt the Lord Lieutenant and Confederates they taking Commissions from the Lord Lieutenant Yet after all the Officers of General Preston being not Excommunication-proof the Lord Lieutenant was again disappointed The Lord Lieutenant returns to Dublin which being not able to supply his Souldiers they were forced to be quarter'd on the Countrey where nothing but Victuals were taken by them The Assembly at Kilkenny justifie the Commissioners yet agreed with the Congregation at Waterford The Irish being in all things sound treacherous those who were most averse to the Parliament yet now wished the Lord Lieutenant might conclude with them The Lord Lieutenant's Conviction that the Irish intended to renounce the Crown of England A Motion to call in a forreign Prince The Kings Answer to the Lord Lieutenant upon his signification of his Streights in Dublin The Lord Lieutenant delivers Dublin to the Parliaments Commissioners though upon his
a due obedience Yet after all having attended his Majesty at York and other Places as the Court mov'd for his Dispatch he came in Novem. to Chester in expectation of an easie remove thence into Ireland but falling indispos'd at Chester was commanded back to Oxford about the beginning of Ian. 1642. so as in conclusion he ever going never went His stay was at first resented by the King then the Parliament to evidence the truth he writes a Letter from York to the Earl of Northumberland which by Order of Parliament the 26th of Septemb. 1642. was printed wherein he writes That he besought his Majesty that he might not be staid at Court for that the Affairs of Ireland requir'd his speedy repair thither or at least that some Governour if he were not thought worthy of it should be presently sent into that Kingdom And upon the 21 of Septemb. he appear'd in Parliament informing the Houses That he could never since his first going to his Majesty get his Commission Seal'd till the 18th of Septemb. referring himself to the pleasure of the Houses whether they would dispatch him for Ireland or no. Whereupon the 1st of October following his Case was again debated and it was Voted for the future That the said Earl should not put in execution any Instructions from his Majesty concerning the Affairs in Ireland until such time as they should be made known and approved by them After which many things in his Instructions were debated and it being mov'd the 4th of Novemb. in a Conference of the Houses that he was ready to set forward for that Service he had his Dismiss So as I have said he came to Chester and was remanded back to Oxford the important Affairs of Ireland being in another Channel than as yet they appear'd visibly to run in Though it was a good while after before he had his discharge from that Employment being kept in suspence till others had perfected their Design by which there accrued to him a great Arrear somewhat consider'd in the Act of Settlement though short of what he was prejudic'd thereby Upon the Earl of Straffords quitting Ireland Christopher Wendesford Esq Master of the Rolls the 3d. of April 1640. was sworn Lord Deputy He managed the Government with much Policy advantage to his Majesty and faithfulness to his intimate Friend and Ally the Earl of Strafford adjourning the Parliament in November following somewhat to the dis-satisfaction of the Members who before their Dissolution made shift to form a Remonstrance against the Earl of Strafford which he would have prevented to have been sent for England could he as he endeavour'd have staid the Committee of the Parliament in Ireland from going over the greatest part of which were Papists which the Irish took as a good Omen But he being not able to hinder them they finding conveniences from every Port grew thereupon much discontented and having quick intelligence how affairs were carried against the Earl of Strafford He died the 3d. of December following betwixt whom even from their Youth there had been an especial intimacy nor did it afterwards grow cooler but more strengthned in Judgment After his decease Robert Lord Dillon of Kilkenny-West and Sir William Parsons Knight and Baronet Master of the Court of Wards Decemb. 30. were sworn Lords Justices But it was not long before the Committee of Ireland then at Court so prevail'd as that his Majesty displac'd the Lord Dillon a Person of notable Parts and one by his Son's Marriage with the Earl of Strafford's Sister passionately concern'd in the Earl's Case Yet lest the Execution of his Majesties Graces to his Subjects of Ireland obtain'd by their late Committee's sollicitation should be deferr'd till those who were design'd to succeed the Lord Dillon were in Office his Majesty was pleas'd to direct a Letter dated the 4th of Ianuary in the 16th year of his Reign to his Privy Council of Ireland and Sir William Parsons and Sir Iohn Borlase then design'd Justices to grant amongst other things that his Subsidies there should be reduced to a lesser rate than formerly and that all Letters directed to the Lord Deputy Justices Chief Governour or Governours or to any other Officers or Ministers of that Realm either concerning the publick Affairs or private Interests of any Subject there might be entred into his Signet-Office in England to the end that they might be upon occasion found to take Copies of for the Subjects better information in such publick things as may concern them as also that all Dispatches from Ireland should safely be kept apart that like recourse may be had to them for the better satisfaction of the Subject who shall be concern'd therein And whereas in the former Governour 's time there were endeavours to hinder some Agents of Parliament to have recourse into England his Majesty taking notice That for asmuch as the Committee of the Parliament of Ireland John Bellew Esq and Oliver Cassel with others employ'd thence have repair'd into his Kingdom of England to represent their Grievances He hath manifested his gracious condescensions to them admitting them into his Royal Presence forbidding his Counsellors in Ireland or any other Officers or Ministers of that State to proceed any ways against them or any of them for the same And that his Subjects shall have Copies of Records Certificates Orders of Council Publick Letters or other Entries for the Declaration of their Grievances made In grateful acknowledgment of which the Parliament then sitting the 10th of Febr. 1640. order'd That the said Letter should be forthwith Entr'd amongst the Ordinances and Records of that House So that if there had not been a general defection long anvil'd in the minds of that People the event of so unnatural and horrid a Rebellion as few months after happen'd could not have been the issue of such remarkable Condescensions The 10th of Febr. 1640. his Majesty instituted Sir William Parsons Master of the Court of Wards before mention'd long experienc'd in the Affairs of Ireland and Sir Iohn Borlase Knight Master of the Ordnance Lords Justices One well known to his Majesty by the Eminency of his Imployments abroad and the opinion He had of his integrity and skill in Military Affairs the Discipline of the Army having been ever under his Charge since his arrival there These writes an Honourable Person appli'd themselves with all manner of gentle Lenitives to mollifie the sharp humours rais'd by the rigid passages of the former Government They declar'd themselves against all such proceedings as they found any way varying from the Common Law They gave all due encouragement to the Parliament then sitting endeavouring the reasonable ease and contentment of the People freely assenting to all such Acts as really tended to the Legal Reformation They betook themselves wholly to the advice of the Council and caus'd all matters as well of the Crown as Popular Interests to be handled in his Majesties Courts of Justice no ways admitting
insequutus est cum multis sequalibus in Lagenia vero se adjunxerant Jacobus Vice-Comes de Baltinglass cum Kavanachiis Briniis aliis Nobilibus illius Provinciae visa est magnis piis Principibus Causa Dei tractari quia pro fide bellum susceptum intellexerunt Copias etiam auxiliares transmiserunt sed propter Delicta seculi irritus fuit Conatus Deo tunc non decernente speratum Bellatoribus effectum tribuere quem in aliud tempus pro alia Generatione aliis Instrumentis modis parandum reservavit atque ita difflatum est Consilium illud dissiluit in partes opus coeptum ipsum infaeliciter dissolutum est neque enim in illa Commotione transire ad refrigerium nostrum voluit Dominus 3. Illa vero Geraldinorum commotione sic praetervecta successit ignis omni late devastans dum flamma ferroque omnia populatur Comes Tyronensis plusquam decennali bello intercipiens hujus Insulae quietem multa visus prospere aggredi multis etiam congressibus victor sed nonnullis victoriis infolescens exercitus tametsi Cohortium antesignari ipse Gubernator Dactor exercitus causam praetulerit honorificam restituendae Religionis nec ullam vellet capitulationem admittere cum Anglis in qua Primario non ageretur De fide Orthodoxa publicè stabilanda per universum regnum quia Tamen via violentia tunc exercita non erat secundum propositum Dei efficax hinc peccatis Hominum irato Numine frustra se exerebant vires Hominum 4. At King James's access to the Crown Waterford Cork and Limerick in Munster Kilkenny and Wexford in Lemster openly oppos'd the King's Title as not being a Catholick but were soon brought into obedience by the Lord Deputy Mountjoy 5. Within four years after the Lord Chichester Deputy Tyrone and O Donnel conspiring with Mac-guire Cormack O Neal O Cahan the Lord Delvin and others design'd a notable Rebellion but were prevented in May 1607. and an Act of Attainder past Anno 11 12 13 Jacobi Cap. 4. 6. The year following Anno scil 1608. Sir Doghertie's War succeeded sharp though short determining in five months encourag'd by the Priests That all who died in that Service went forthwith into Heaven Afterwards the State of Ireland seemed very happy both as to Improvement of Land Plenty and Peace till the year 1634. that Ever Mac-Mahon before mention'd discover'd an intended Plot which by the prudence of the Governour the Lord Wentworth never arriv'd at its design nor afterwards was any thing further suspected till Sir Henry Vane by his Majesties command K. C. 1. gave the Lords Justices the 16th of March notice of a suspected Rebellion of which with its circumstances we have already insisted Though we must say that the result of the former Conspiracies which by the blessedness of the Times prudence of Governours or other accidents were delayed in this Anno sc. 1641. met the accomplishment of them all Yet nothing was here attempted which the bleeding Iphigenia the great Incendiary of that Nation doth not passionately justifie it being in his Divinity and Logick rational That the Irish though not then visibly assaulted might however assume Arms in defence of their Religion and Property both threatned it being writes he a common Doctrine of Divines That it is lawful to prevent an evil that cannot be otherwise avoided than by preventing it nor need the authority of the Prince in that case be required A Doctrine so hellish as none certainly is so besotted but he may easily read therein the ruine of States and Kingdoms excellently answered by the Learned and accurate late Proselyte Dr. Andrew Sal to whom in this point we must refer you And as to matter of Fact bequeath you to the ensuing History clearly evidencing That before the Irish assumed Arms no Instrument was ever thought on much less found against them Formerly indeed it hath been strongly imputed to the State of England that conquering Ireland they did not also endeavour to make them one People holding them Enemies not taking care to settle Civility and a Property amongst them the cause as some thought of frequent Rebellions But though these and some other defects in the Civil Policy some think are inexcusable it may clearly be demonstrated they were not of so large a size as they are mark'd And it may appear by antient Records that the Laws of England were at first communicated to the meer Irish as far as their Barbarism and Cruelties exercis'd on occasions upon the English would well admit But to let these times pass whereof we cannot speak much with any certainty let us now see what fruits we have of all the Royal endeavours of his Gracious Majesty and his two Glorious Predecessors what return for all their Care for all their Charge and for all the English Blood which hath within the compass of the last Age been spilt for purchasing of Peace and introducing of the true Religion and common Civility into Ireland It cannot be denied that since the happy Reign of Queen Elizabeth all the former defects in the Government and Civil Policy have been abundantly supplied and all those Means us'd those Acts perform'd those Designs fully accomplish'd and all things else perfectly brought to pass which in the judgement of all wise Men were conceiv'd would undoubtedly effect the full settlement and reduction of that Kingdom As first The barbarous Customs continually us'd by the Irish have been quite abolished all sorts of People even the most wicked amongst them have been allowed the benefit of the Law and liv'd under the King 's immediate Protection all the Laws of England found useful for that Kingdom have been made currant by Act of Parliament in Ireland many other good Laws enacted and the execution of them hath had free course through all parts of the Kingdom the Courts of Justice have been open and the Judges for the more free distribution of Justice to the People have constantly twice every year gone their Circuits through the several Counties of the whole Land the Church-Government hath been fully setled many preaching Ministers generally plac'd throughout the several Parishes as likewise Free-Schools together with sufficient Maintenance for them have been establisht the Lands belonging to the Natives have been always duely setled according to Law in the Proprietor and what noise soever was rais'd entituling the Crown to Roscommon Mayo Slego Galloway Clare besides some parts of Limerick and Tipperary as one of the Master-pieces of the Earl of Strafford's Service in Ireland nothing was ever effected thereupon though it had cost his Majesty 10000 l. upon the enquiry and had they had patience till the next Sessions of Parliament there was an Act for Limitations pass'd by his Majesty to bar all Titles Claims and Challenges of the Crown before 60 years last past to have cut off all expectations upon the ancient Title and have strengthned by new Grants and Patents all Titles
until about 20 of the Rebel's Horse escaped away together leaving the rest of their Company to be killed and taken Prisoners as they were during which time the Foot and Cannon performing well their parts drove the Enemy to shift away to save themselves which Captain Hermon seeing pursued their Rear with some Horse with which he did notable good execution and to say the truth it is probable that most of the Rebels had that day been cut off had not the un-passable deep High-way betwixt both Armies hindred our left Wing of Horse from giving on upon their side and also the disorder that hapned to the right Wing of the Horse by their unhappy wheeling to the left hand But so soon as the Officers of those Troops could reduce their Men again into order my Lord Lisle and Sir Richard Greenvile presently pursued the Enemy with 2 Troops and sent Sir William Vaughan with 2 Troops more to pursue others flying away to the right hand And having followed the chase of them about 2 or 3 miles distant from the Army the Rebels having made their escape over Bogs and un-passable Grounds for Horse our Horse were fain to leave them and return to the rest of the Army where the Cannon stood In which service were 300 of the Rebels slain amongst which were a great number of their best Gentry and Commanders There were of the Rebels taken Prisoners Colonel Cullen their Lieutenant General Major Butler besides divers other Captains and some of their Ensigns of the English Forces were slain not full 20 Men in which service Sir Thomas Lucas unhappily received a very sore wound in his head That night the English Army lodged at Ballybeggan After which time the Army march'd without molestation of any Enemy until they return'd to Dublin whether the Rear of the Army came safe on Munday the 27th of the same month 1643. Where they were again Quarter'd even to the undoing and great desolation of that poor City which had now suffered so much and so long under the burden and insolencies of unpaid wanting Soldiers as they were unable to bear it longer and with loud cries and complaints made known their Grievances to the Lords Justices and Council wholely unable to relieve them And indeed such was the posture of the present affairs at that time as every thing tended to bring on a Cessation yet for the present the Lieutenant General that the Soldiers might be quieted publish'd a strict Edict Prohibiting all Soldiers to offer the least violence to any who brought Provision to the Market or any Inhabitants of the Town under the severest Penalties of the Marshals Court which for a time begat an obedience But the Army being ill Cloath'd meanly Victuall'd worse Paid and seldom employ'd in service necessity enforc'd them to those outrages Humanity could not take notice of many of them being the effects of a very pinching want though the Lords Justices and Council to the great dislike of the Army pursued some of the Offenders with exemplary Justice A sense of which with the Meagre return which Serjeant Major Warren brought out of England on his sollicitation for the Soldiers Pay and the dissatisfaction that thence arose some of the Officers not all there was a Party that presum'd they might have gone through with the work had there not been another in the Loom afterwards presented the State the 4th of April 1643. with a Paper in such a stile threatning so much danger as the Lords Justices and Council remitted the Copy of it to the Parliament of England which here follows My Lords AT our first entrance into this unhappy Kingdom we had no other design than by our Swords to assert and vindicate the Right of his Majesty which was here most highly abused to redress the wrongs of his poor Subjects and to advance our own Particulars in the prosecution of so honest undertakings And for the rest of these we do believe they have since our coming over succeeded pretty well but for the last which concerns our selves that hath fall'n out so contrary to our expectations that instead of being rewarded we have been prejudic'd instead of getting a Fortune we have spent part of one And though we behave our selves never so well abroad and perform the actions of honest men yet we have the Reward of Rogues and Rebels which is Misery and Want when we come home Now my Lords although we be brought to so great an Exigence that we are ready to rob and spoil one another yet to prevent such outrages we thought it better to try all honest means for our subsistence before we take such indirect courses Therefore if your Lordships will be pleased to take us timely into your considerations before our urgent wants make us desperate we will as we have done hitherto serve your Lordships readily and faithfully But if your Lordships will not find a way for our preservations here we humbly desire we may have leave to go where we may have a better being And if your Lordships shall refuse to grant that we must then take leave to have our recourse to that first and primary Law which God hath endued all men with we mean the Law of Nature which teacheth all men to preserve themselves Hence with what countenance some gave it it was thought the Rebels as to the bringing in of the Cessation and their further Aims prevail'd more than in all their Battels Treacheries and Surprizals About Easter the Rebels under Preston besieg'd Baranokil at which time even the 11th of April Colonel Crafford march'd forth of Dublin with 13000 Foot and 130 Horse a Culvering and a Saker Drake towards Monastar-Even that with his Party he might there live and if he should be advised by the Garrisons thereab outs he had Orders to set upon Preston who had with him 4000 Foot 500 Horse three Pieces of Battery and four Field-Pieces But here we must acquaint you that about November 1642. the Lords Justices sent his Majesty then at Oxford a short Petition in the name of the Roman Catholicks of Ireland which they had received from them desiring that his Majesty would appoint some persons to hear what they could say for themselves with many expressions of Duty and Submission Shortly after which Sir James Mountgomery Sir Hardress Waller Knights and Colonels Colonel Arthur Hill and Colonel Audley Mervin a Committee for Ireland in behalf of themselves and other Commanders in his Majesties Army there attended his Majesty at Oxford setting forth by their Petition as follows May it please your Sacred Majesty WE your Majesties most humble Subjects being entrusted from considerable parts of your Majesties Forces in the Kingdom of Ireland to petition your Majesty and your Parliament for Supplies and finding that your Majesty had committed the care and managing of that War to your Parliament here we address'd our selves unto the same whose sense of our miseries and inclination to redress appear'd