A N

REVIEW

O F T H E

CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND,

FROM THE

Reign of QUEEN ELIZABETH,

TO THE

EXTRACTED

From PARLIAMENTARY RECORDS, STATE ACTS, and other authentic Materials.

By J. C. M. D.

Author of the HISTORICAL MEMOIRS of the IRISH REBELLION in 1641.

Audi alterant Partem.

DUBLIN:

Printed, and fold by J. HOEY, and T. T. FAULKNER, Parliament-ftreet ; G. BURNET, Abbey-itreet ; and J. MORRIS, Filhamble-ftreet, N°. 9.

MDCCLXXV.

jL

A D V E R T I S E M E N 1 .

A LTHOUGH this REVIEW is in the Nature of an Appeal to the en- -LJL lightened Part of the Public, yet it has been the Author's earneft Wifh that, in exhibiting every Interefting Truth, he fhould give no Caufe of Offence to any Party among us. His Defign is to conciliate, not to irri- tate; and, in the Execution of fuch a Defign, it was meumbent on him, to remove the falfe Grounds of a Torrent of Invectives, which have of late borne down repeatedly oa oar good Senfe ; and which, if not flopped in its Courfe, may fweep away before it feme practicable Schemes for Public Prof- perity. If fome of the pre-occupied, as is but too common, reject feveral Fads hereafter related, becaufe tlrey were taught to reject them early in Life : yet they will take the lefs Offence at our Author, as hijs Materials arc almoft entirely taken from thofe very Authorities, on which the Inve&ives- we have mentioned, are faid to be founded j and, confequently, can admit of no Difpute concerning their Credibility.

ATTENTIVE folely to the Choice and Importance of his; Matter, the A^ thor has delivered himfelf all along in a plain unadorned Narration ; little felicitous about Elegance of Periods, Strength of Colouring, or other Arts of Compofition, which are but too often employed to give a wrong Diredion to the Reader's Judgment, efpecially, when the Writer has any wrong Biafs on his own.

K A T A.

Introduction : p. x. 1. 1 1. for laws, read lures.

p. xiii. ]. 28. for render, read renders.

P- xiv. I. 25. for of our condutl, read 0« our conduct.

Paffim, in the Notes, inftcad of Rejig, read P- 75- J- 19. after clear, read ««//. p. 1 08. 1. 6. for /ai/0^ read /, P. 220. 1. 2. for was, read w/ P- 238 1. ip. fa nun, read,MWIK P. 206. 1. 3. after ^^ leave out ^

25- for inftrntlion, read inftrutlions. P- 187. J. 14. for /^ read that. P- 188.1. 23 after parliament, infert P- 156. 1 9. forfequal, rea ib. note, 1. 3 for //W(?$ p. 341. J. 3. for came, read

P. 148. 1. 7- after complaint, add, /0 ib. 1. 8. after month, add, o/7«w

23' ?8 (f ?r TO/- i!i-ead w/: "-^ 5z-

. 28. forferous, x

• and add>

P- 554- 1- 5- after forfeitures, infert P- 313- 1. 26. for rijb, read /nj!&.

INTRODUCTION.

<A D the learned Author of the following Review, propofed to him- felf no other end, than to detect the mifreprefentations of contem- porary writers, who derived ah intereft from the circulation of falfe hiftory, his fervice to the public would not be deemed inconfiderable. His merit would be flill greater, had he fat down profefTedly, to expofe the miftakes of other lefs interefted, but more dangerous writers, who have gained re- putation from genius, and authority from rank, to give a currency to falfe fads, and to pronounce falfe judgments on the true. His merit in both thefe cafes, is indeed clear j but it is fecondary to a nobler object.

• <c ON a review of our hiftory from the invafion of Henry the Second, King of England, to the revolution in fixteen hundred and eighty-eight, he difcovered the calamities of this nation, flowing invariably from public mifrule, private interefts, barbarous manners, and the rage of parties. He beheld the fires of faction and difcontent, unabated thro' every age; and found thefe calamities filling their meafure in the fixteenth century, thro' a frefh fupply of combuftibles, from ecclefiaftical contentions, which have fet all Europe in a flame for near a hundred and fifty years, and have hardly ceafed preying on the good fenfe and morals of our own people to the prefent day, to the difgrace of the human underftanding." He faw popular phrenfy, unfettled principles, and the luft of dominion, mingling early with our fpiritual contefts, and that the chriftian doctrine, which fa- tally, had fo little influence before thofe contefts began, had fo much lefs after their commencement, that Proteftants and Papifts, Churchmen and

a Puritans,

II

INTRODUCTION.

Puritans, fcrupled not occafionally, to load their adverfaries with feveral crimes, which were not committed, and with odious principles which were not profefTed. The iniquity was common and great j and it became the more horrible, by making religion fubfervient to it. Party power was the objecl, and to obtain it the morality of the gofpel and of nature, was, for the time fufpended, as binding only in the intercourfes of private life, not in public concerns ; where any means, for fecuring the end, were deemed admhTable. All this, I fay, our Author has difcovered in his review of thefe times, and with fome furprife he faw alfo, (what our theory of mankind could perhaps never reach) that there was one principle common to both parties, which with equal guilt and abfurdity, each party juftified, and reprobated alter- nately, as each were fufTerers or gainers by it. This was the principle of perfecution. which operated with all its terrors, as every dominant party could, by fraud or violence, obtain the dangerous power of giving the law and the gofpel of the times. In the progrefs of his refearches, our Au- thor beheld alfo, that the new parliamentary eftablifhment in matters con- cerning religion, on the commencement of Queen Elizabeth's reign, was excepted to, not only by the men averfe from any peculiar national fyftem, but by zealous reformers alfo, who claimed the liberty of expounding the divine fcriptures in their own way ; and who exclaimed highly againft the civil reftraints they were laid under, on the fcore of their right of explain- ing for themfelves, inftead of admitting others to explain for them. On reforming principles they were certainly in the right, and candour muft oblige us to confefs, that ftate intereft, not confiftency in the new religious eftablifhment, was chiefly conlidered by thofe who framed it. An eftablifh- ment however was made : it required penal fan&ions. The Puritan fufTered, and the Papift was undone.

THESE general and inconteftible truths involved a feries of tragical events. To develope them fairly ; to fhew by the ufe made of party power, how long we have been the dupes of ihameful prejudices, for the fole gain of thofe who impofed and propagated them j to root up diftindions which have ever operated to general mifchief, and to reftore that harmony,

which

INTRODUCTION. jjj

which former incidents have obftrutfcd, was the principal defign of the

Author who prefents us with the following H.STOR.C/L REV,L. Th

tcrs he oppofes had evidently another, a fl.ameful intention to fnread

:es perpetuate rancour, and opprefs the living by an abufe of the Ld:

happjlynomanoftheprefent age has any intereft in fuch mifrcprcfcn-

Oro Author has confined himfelf to a period of hiftory which to us of he prefent age, ,s of all others the moft important; but 2 prior caufes led to the events he takes ,nto confideration, it may not be amifs to give fcort retrofpea of anterior times.

THE eonqueft of Ireland (as it is improperly enough called) was effcaed •a days, when barbanfm and ignorance prevailed in moft parts of Europe nation long wafted by ,ts own ariftocratical confufion, and litde Prn ^^"hyereaedon its ruins, by (a) three powcS rmces y.elded at laft to a foreign government. This great revolutio, havmgfromdomefticdivifions, many concurrent caufes to forward Has planned by the ambition of a foreign mighty monarch, and cafually fa™, * by the imquity of a domeftic Prince, expelled the kingdom by the relgnmg Ir.fh King. Several of our Irifh Princes fubmitted to Henry , Second on the conviaion that fuch a condua, ftamefol as it was would

:he beft remedy for the national diftempers. They found themfelv, ftaken when it was too late. Henry, who knew but little of the princi- P es, and (fall lefs of the true fpirit of legiflation, was unfit for the taflTof Arming a perverfe nation. His flay in Ireland was fhort, and his em-

ardedmaeniS " ^ CK,"tin;nt difablCd h!m fr°m CXeCUtinS the §<** ^ ^ enaed, and was capabl~ ~c ^ ' * ...

wor ft onon » d

'orfe: mftead of proted.on they experienced the exercife of wanton and

lawlefrpower : inftead of clement governors, purchafed at the expence of ex-

orbitant

^^^"*-1^^

n, Prince of Tyrone, and head (at the time) of the old Royal Hy-Niall line

IV

INTRODUCTION.

orbitant pcyfTeflions, a fet of freebooters, who denied the natives the bene- fit of Englifh laws, and of all law. Thus have the old natives been treated, and we are not ' to wonder if they endeavoured to relieve themfelves by infurredions. As far as the miferable ftate of anarchy eftablifhed among them permitted, they fought and found fome redrefs in refiftance. For four hundred years they could find it by no other means ; at leaft, by no means adequate to the ends of a fecufe eftablifhment.

WE fhould not forget that in courfe of time, when the great adventurers from the neighbouring ifle found themfelves firmly rooted in this, they began, in turn, to hate one another, and in confequence allied with their enemies, the Irifh chieftains, for the reduction of their rivals. This coalition cemented by no cordiality, but calculated for prefent convenience, produced no good effect". They were united indeed on one common principle, that of {baking off all dependence on England ; and they did, in fact, confine the Englifh government to a pale of no confiderable extent. The policy of the latter, confifted in dividing its enemies, by treating one party as rebels, to be received into mercy, the other as aliens to be cut off, without any. Infurreclions wrere the confequence of this fpecies of policy, and undoubt- edly, the little happinefs the people enjoyed, they owed to the fad ex- pedient of infurreftiou alone.

IT may be worth the while to confider, that this ftate of things was not owing to the hatred of one ecclefiaftical party to another, but to the inhu- manity of Papifts againft men of the fame perfuafion with themfelves. It {hews how little the formal identity of religion can fecure human race, againft human violence, and that we often and fatally miftake, when we afcribe to difference of worfhip, diforders which take their full operation without any. Of religious conformity it can only be faid, that it includes a ftronger tendency to civil quiet, than religious difcord can ; tho' exam- ples may be produced now on the continent, of happinefs under the latter fituation of things, as we can produce many inftances of mifery under the other. But political philofophy (fo to fpeak) has enlightened feveral coun- tries

INTRODUCTION. •/

tries on the Continent, and the people feel no civil mifcries, becaufe they do not adopt the religion pointed out to them by their matters. To them, and to thefe matters, an active civil obedience is fufiicient.

Irf the cafe of various religions (particularly in their firft eftablifhment.s) jealoulies are natural, and will prevail. Zeal, backed by credulity, and irimulated by hatred, will not hedtate on' tracing to any odious form of religion, the political crimes of its votaries. But zeal and credulity, how- ever they may be cafually in the right, are very unfair arbiters, and will be generally found in the wrong; in both cafes, and in our own country, we v. i'l find fad examples of human malevolence, fuitable to the opportunities of gratification. When the oppreffors of Ireland were unable to draw any juftification of their meafurcs from a diverfity of religion, they were obliged to charge on the peculiar perverfenefs of the nation, what they dared not charge to their fpiritual doctrines : but arguments fnpported by appeals to national oifpofitions to virtue or vice, cannot impofe long. Thofe drawn from differ ce in religion exhibit a fairer outfide; becaufe it is polfible enough that religion, ill underttood, may have terrible confequences on civil fociety, whicu ought therefore to be guarded againft. But fuch confequences, bad as t'sey may be, mutt iurely ceafe, or operate lefs to public danger, whenever knowledge and legiflative wifdom co-operate, to bring their caufcs imoer a cloler examination, than they have hitherto undergone. If the caufes fhould be found no other than mere fugitive opinions, which dittrefs may graft on a fair flock, judgment will interpofe, and fcparate an evil whicli is temporary, from a found principle which is permanent. Re- ligion, good or bad, (according to the prefident Montefquieu,) is the furefl teft we have for the probity of men j and fhould the votaries of the bett, in fome circumftances, torture the facred text to defend ill-taken meafures> particularly when they have very ttrong temptations to do fo ; it will' not be difficult to reduce fuch men from civil error, to civil obedience, becaufe they can demonftrably be reclaimed to fuch obedience, even under thelafhes of penal laws ; as the cafe ttands in Ireland, at prefent, with the Papitts, who are loyal to their King, and from a fenfe of religious duty, would be fo,

even.

VI

INTRODUCTION,

even without experiencing the royal mercy, to which alone, not to the laws of their country, they owe their prefent quiet exiftance in thefb Iflands.

WE do not think we have any difTafFefted. Papifts at this day in Ireland. The number, at leafl muft be very inconfiderable ; but the fmalleit is an object of attention. Relatively to thefe, the detection of them will be eafy, (for they have a fcrupulous regard to oaths,) from their refufal of a teft of loyalty, and of an abjuration of every connection and principle inconfiftent with it. By fuch a trial, legiflators may be enabled to feparate (f6 to fpeak) the elect: of government from the reprobate ; but legiflators muft conquer their own pre-occupations firft, before fuch a feparation can be made, or even attempted.

IN former time, in the heat of contentions for power and property, pre-occupations had a foundation : they were lucrative as well as natural ; at this day they are neither lucrative nor natural. At this day fun-ly, the tranfient effects of tranfient policy fhould ceafe, and if an union, on the te- nets of religion cannot be obtained, yet an union on civil principles, and civil conduct may. Good governors and wife men will not object to fuch an union, tho' they may be tender of propofmg it, till a majority is prepared for believing what it really is, an ufeful meafure.

OUR morals as men, our interefts as fubjects, require the reformation here hinted at j religion, confiflent with civil order, fhould ceafe to be a civil crime, and punifhment fhould not reach thofe who are guilty of no other. Until people, whofe principles (fuperftitious or orthodox) are recon- cileable to our civil eflablifhment, are trufted with conftitutional immu- nities, Ireland cannot be happy. Nay, the great Landlords of the king- dom muft be reduced to a ftate of real, and hereafter, undoubtedly to a ftate of feeling deficiency in their incomes, as the labouring and inc'uftrious (more than half the people) are rendered ufelefs, and indeed, hurtful to the aggregate whole, by too many reftraints. Lazinefs, dhTatisfaction, and

defpondency,

INTRODUCTION. vii

defpondency, the offspring of infecurity, will generally prevail j nay, the very induftry of the people, thus punifhed, will be turned againft the ftate. A flux monied property may be acquired, by a traffic in large herds of cattle, or in imports and exports of commodities, and the wealth acquired will find its way into remote lands, when no fecurity can be found for it at home. This, it muft be granted, is but a partial evil: The British em- pire will lofe nothing ; it will in fad gain by it, as an emigration from hence to cultivate unoccupied lands in North America, muft contribute to the ftrength of government, and increafe of revenue, in thofe parts efpecially, where the Britifh legislature have given fecurity of property, to Proteftants and Papifts indifcriminately.

AT the period from whence the Author of the following Memoirs fets forward, it will be found, that fpiritual hatred mixed itfelf with our former national feeds of dhTention. The perverfenefs fo long imputed to thelriih, as a people, was no longer charged on their nature, but on their religion. Almoft every moral, and civil duty, was then confined within the pale oF an ecclefiaftical party : every fpecies of treachery was placed beyond it. Real crimes were difowned by one faction, imaginary crimes were im- puted to another ; and this flate of things occafioned guilt on both fides, which in a different flate, would undoubtedly be avoided. High as moft of thefe crimes were, yet moft were exaggerated, and the innocent fuffered with the guilty. To complete the mifery of the times, the gofpel of peace was tortured to defend the meafures, and fanclify the drunkennefs of every governing, as well as every refifting fet of men ; and thus it fared in Ireland, in fome time after the acceiTion of Queen Elizabeth to the Throne.

QUEEN Elizabeth, whofe reign began in the height of ecclefiaftical rage, had admirable talents for government. To plant civil order in the place of that mifrule which difgraced the three preceding reigns, was difficult. Her intereft led her, and the fuccefs of her father and brother encouraged her, to change the religion then efiablifhed in England. This file effected ;

but

vin

INTRODUCTION.

but truth muft oblige us to confefs, that the new church was reared on the foundations of perfecution, and that the violence fo juflly cenfured in Queen Mary's reign was adopted as a juftifiable meafure in the prefent. The change was made by a quick ad of legiflative power, but without that moderation, which found policy fhould direct in eftablifhments of this na- ture. By the change, one party in the nation was ruined, another was provoked. Papifls were occafionally punifhed without difcrimination, and in the idea of party juftice, this procedure appeared equitable. But the Puritan Proteftant was punifhed alfo, and the clamour ran' high among DifTenters, that the old beail returned, with a change only of the rider, and of the habiliments. The party for a comprehenfive reformation, grew popular and encreafed every day in ftrength and numbers, as it increafed in faction and enthufiafm. The new church, even in the act of extirpat- ing the old, created to itfelf, enemies on all fides, and thus it happened that the fyflem wove by civil policy, was in a great degree unravelled by the ecclefiaftical.

IN Ireland where ftatute laws prevailed, but within a narrow circle, the new fpiritual ordinances made no progrefs; the minds of the Irifh were even prepared againft any fpiritual change, and they were provoked by the violence of the' pale-governors in 1540, when after great excefTes in Dub- lin and Trim, they extended their rage to the town of Monaghan, plun- dering not only the monaftery of the obfervants, but putting the guardian and friars to death. In the firft years of Elizabeth's reign, fuch bloody menfures were wifely avoided : on its commencement, the Earl ofSufTex appointed chief governor of Ireland, proceeded on a plan of moderation without the pale, and for fome time within, where a majority ftill fhewed thcmfelves extremely averfe to the new fpiritual doctrines, eftablifhed by parliament in England. The ruinous effects of a Brehon government were long felt, and owned by the old inhabitants. A change to a better civil eftablifhment was practicable and folicited for by them : but they were ftrenuous for the retention of their religion ; and tho' unanimous on no other principle of defence, they declared themfelves unanimous in the

defence

INTRODUCTION.

IX

defiance of this. In treating therefore with the provincial Irifh, Lord SufTex confined himfelf to the reformation of civil government, chiefly without prefling any other upon them. This found policy was of fhort continuance, and the people without the pale were exafperated, by the fudden meafures taken againfl their brethren within. Contemporary writers are unanimous in affirming, and the nature of the thing verifies the fad, that the penal laws againfl the exercife of their religion, were the ftrongeft incentives to every infurredion of the Jrifh fince the reformation. Thefe laws were originally framed in England, where the majority were prepared for their reception ; but they were rejeded in the Irifh, or pro- perly fpeaking, the pale parliament.

THE natives of Ireland, ready at all times to recognize the temporal fu- premacy of their fovereign, and rejed any foreign claimant (lay or eccle- fiaftical) of fuch fupremacy, merited being received into the fociety of conftitutional fubjeds ; and that they fhould be fo received, had been the labour of Sir Henry Sydney, one of the ableft, wifeft, and beft governors ever fent into that kingdom. But in vain ! The reformation, it is true, made no progrefs for a long time without the pale, and extraordinary efforts to enforce it by arms would certainly be dangerous, as it might put an end to inteftine divifions among the people, which hitherto proved fo ufcful towards their reduction. To favour thofe divifions was previoufly the more politic alternative, and the Queen received the fubmiflions of many Irifh chieftains at her court very gracioufly, difmifTed them with honours and prefents, and left them free as to the concerns of their fpiritual confcience.

IT was otherwife within the pale, and its environs. Here even the fenefchals of counties exercifed plain tyranny over the poor people, and fuch particular feverities were then inflided, even in the opinion of the Lord Deputy himfelf, " as were fufficient to drive the bell and quieteft flates into fudden confufion (a)"

(a) Lord Mountjoy's Letter. Pacat. Hibern. Tub finem.

b THE

x INTRODUCTION.

THE evils of perlecution were forely felt in England particularly, and in feveral diftrids of Ireland, during the greater part of Queen Elizabeth's reign. One party was punifhed without difcrimination, and the other (and indeed both) without found J^olicy. Thefe evils encreafed in the two fucceeding reigns, when thefe three kingdoms, for the firft time have been united under one fovereign. James the firft whom the trumpeters of fadion, charged with favouring Popery, was a great and determined enemy to his popifh fubjeds. His adminiftralion in Ireland, with little exception, i« a full proof of this. His trimming conduct towards the Papifts of England, antecedently to his acceflion, is no proof to the contrary, for they gained nothing (and he intended they fhould gain nothing) by the fursehe held out to them. Learned without knowledge, cunning without wifdom, one of his firft gracious proclamations imported a general jail delivery to all his fubjeds, excepting murderers and Papifts, and this coupling of the latter w?tk' fuch criminals produced a refentmenr, which degenerating into mad revenge, contributed in a considerable degree, to the deteftable Powder Plot, entered into foon after, by a few defperate men, to get rid of their perfecutors.

CHARLES the fucceflbr of James trod (and trod ruinoufly) in his father's fteps. He wanted to impofe the Englifh religion on his Scotifh fubjeds. The covenanters would not bear the introduction of, what they deemed a fuperftitious liturgy, among them. They defended themfelves againft it by infurredion, .and the parliament fitting at Weftminfter approved of their condud. The Northern Irifti finding affairs embroiled in Great Britain, and dreading fatal confequences from the refolutions denounced againft Papifts in the Englifh Houfe of Commons, entertained the thought of availing themfelves of the prefent opportunity, of fruftrating the inten- tions of their enemies-,' and of -fbaking off the bondage they groaned under, ff&n the tittid of the late Queen's -demife. But they meant to compals this end by means equally juftifiable, with thofe employed by the Scotch covenanters, and ftyi without an irnpeachment of their loyalty.

THE

INTRODUCTION. *

THE memory of paft grievances, the dread of prefent detraction made thefe men defperate. For forty years before the period we mention, the whole body of Irifh Papifls bore miniftenal invafions of the moft diftreffing nature to the human mind. The lands poffeffed by their families for feveral ages, were in the Court-Cafuiftry of that age pronounced invalid and refumable tenures, tho' no charge of treafon or rebellion could be made to the heirs in actual porTeflion. Upon this pretence of defective titles fome have been ruined, others threatened with ruin: and this wa$ not all. The court harpies grown impatient at the paffive conduct of the proprietors, attempted to provoke them to open rebellion, by exercifing the moft galling tyranny over their confciences, by fining, imprifoning, and punifhing in various fhapes, fuch Papifts, as refufed to join in the eftablifhed form of worfhip. Here then we fee how the natives have been alarmed, in regard to property, and fpiritual liberty, and how they were tortured by ftate inquisitors for not fubmitting to religious doctrines, which fpiritual directors may preach, but which no civil power on earth has a right to impofe ! — They furely who vindicate the rights of the Scots to infurrection in 1640, can with no good grace condemn that of the

Irifh in 1641. We do not defend either, but we may fafely afTert, that

he who fhould at this time of day advance, with my Lord Clarendon, that the Irifh had no civil or religious grievances to complain of during trie forty years antecedent to the Ultonian rebellion in 1641, has but a wretched alternative in option between wilful ignorance, and barefaced difhonefty.

WE have advanced that the Irifli in general wanted, in thefe confufed times of King Charles I. to redrefs grievances by legal and constitutional means, and truth will warrant our faying fo. They were firmly attached to our monarchical form of government ; they were cordially loyal to the reigning Prince, and ready to make a distinction between the feverity of the law, and the difpofition of the monarch, notwithstanding the unwor-

b 2 thinefs

xii INTRODUCTION.

thinefs of his deputies, who betrayed him and them. By their reprefenta- tives in parliament they made the highefl profefilons of their afFedion, and were fmcere. What then provoked to the fudden and defperate mea- fures which followed ? The anfwer is eafy and ready. This devoted people found the King's upright intentions fruftrated by an adjournment of the feffion of parliament in 1641, fo contrary to the King's order, as well as intereft. In that proceeding they difcovered how the Lords Juftices had been leagued fecretly with the Puritans at Weftminfter; how the King had been betrayed, and the hands of his enemies ftrengthened ; how the claim to their own patrimonies (the hereditary poffeffions of feveral ages) had been kept up, and the intention of granting them to under- takers from England referved. What idea could this difobedience to the King, this infecurity to the fubjed, fuggeft? It did not produce jealoufy and miftruft alone : it confirmed them in a certainty, that a ma- jority of the more antient and wealthy proprietors were to be ruined, for the advantage of needy Grangers, as was intended by Lord StrafFord's plan. All grew impatient, the Northern men, already ruined, grew def- perate. The latter rofe up in arms in the fatal month of October 1641. And feveral counties have all at once been expofed to the barbarities of an exafperated multitude ; an evil which would not remain to be a ftain on the face of our annals, had the felfion been continued as the King intended, and had the bills prepared for the fecurity of the antient pro- prietors of the kingdom been paffed into laws. Had this, I fay, been the cafe, the defpera'does of Ulfter would be kept down by their Southern fellow fubjeds, who had no concern in the peculiar complaints of that party. But the Lords Juftices and their agents took care to remove this line of feparation, and render the men in poffeffion as infecure, as the men ejeded. This fad: is one of the moft important in the hiftory of this ifland,'arid fhould be well underftood. I fay no more of it here, that I may not anticipate on the following Hiftorical Review, wherein the details are given with equal candor and judicioufnefs.

THE

INTRODUCTION. xiii

THE Earl of Clarendon has left us an account of thofe times in the ftile rather of a pleader, than of an hiftorian. He was doubtlefs a nobleman of great abilities, but very unjuft to the Irifh nation. In reprefentations anticipated by fpiritual hatred and national prejudices, this man c£ ftrength, refigns all his vigour. No longer mafter of his fubjecl, he yields himfelf up. a willing captive, to fuch informations as were correfpondent to his prior ideas of the people he undertakes to defcribe. He appears to have been incapable of receiving fecond impreffions, and we can hardly on this account, charge him with delivering us a confcious untruth: Hiftory in fuch hands is neither better nor worfe, than what the writer is enabled to make it, according to the degree of his partiality or averfion j and he muft have little knowledge of men, who knows not, that this fpecies of human infirmity, is but too often an ingredient infomeofthe- beft, as it always is in the worft characters, with whom the infirmity ends in vice. In the beft, it refembles a cancerous excrefcence on a beautiful face, and grows but too often out of our faireft principle, that of religion, from which it fhould, if poilible, be rooted. Were religious indifference ufeful in any inftance, it would be in this before us, where the more a man is lukewarm in religious party-zeal, the nearer he approaches to the character of a true patriot and good citizen. But there is a ftrength of mind fuperior to religious indifference itfelf, which gives all the qualifica- tions necefTary to conftitute a good man, and judicious hiftorian. Thus ftrength the Earl of Clarendon and other great men (Proteftants and Pa- pifts) wanted, and ftill want. As painters of former times, they may give a good likenefs : as contemporaries they are intolerable ; of all men the moft likely to be deceived, and the moft laborious to deceive. The mifchief they circulate is in proportion to their abilities, and that rank in life, which render thofe abilities confpicuous.

IT is, indeed, to be lamented, that Mr. Hume, one of the ableft wri- ters of the prefent age, fhould as an hiftorian fuffer himfelf to be fb far led aftray by fuch contemporaries as we have hinted at, as to transfer all

or

XIV

INTRODUCTION.

or moft of the mifchiefs of the year 1641 in Ireland, from the original authors, to the unfortunate Irifh alone. Parties lefs aggrieved in Scotland were up before them, and drew the fword not only with impunity but with advantage. The Irifh in Ulfter who wanted to regain the lands they loft, followed the example. We do not juftify the ad in either kingdom. We only advance in alleviation of the Irifh crime, that the majority of the nation have, in the two reigns of James and Charles, fuffered a cruel bondage of thirty eight years with little intermiffion, and had now the moft alarming profped of extirpation before them. They did not mean to withdraw their allegiance from the King ; even the weak leaders of the Northern rabble had no fuch intention. The latter began, and aded fingly. Their outrages on their firft fetting out were kept within fome bounds ; moft of the innocent Proteftants in the neighbouring diftrids had time to efcape into places of fecurity, before many murders were committed. The Papifts in the other provinces had no ihare in their guilt ; they imme- diately publilhed their deteftation of it.

IN general, they were fteady to their duty as chriftians, and to their loyalty as fubjeds. They in their own defence took up arms, not againft the King, but againft the King's enemies, who announced their exciilon in public refolutions, and parliamentary votes. This is the truth of the fad. Mr. Hume paiTes it over as of no importance to the fubjed of his hiftory.

HE appears to have fat down with an intention to cure us of our un- happy-party prejudices, by pointing out their terrible coniequences, in the laft age, or. our condud as legiflators, and our feelings as men. In general his obfervations are admirable, and ftand in the place of excellent inftruc- tions, enforced by ftriking examples. His miftakes at the fame time are hurtful, and a wound from fuch a hand muft be painful. But happily it cannot be mortal, in the cafe before us, as abundant materials of true information are Hill preferved entire. The documents in the following

Review

INTRODUCTION. Xv

Review will fhew that Mr. Hume's reprefentation of Irifh affairs in 1641, is not true hiftory, but fine and pathetic writing. Pity it is, to find fuch a man adopting the untruths of Sir John Temple, and fpreading them on a new canvas heightened with all the colourings of his art. The piece has certainly cofl him fome labour j for horror and pity are wrought up here in high tragical ftrains. But the Irifh certainly have not fat for the pic- ture i and Mr. Hume in this part of his hiftory muft admit the juflnefs of a charge, that he has given a wrong direction to the paffions* he has taken fo much pains to excite.

MR. Hume is ftill alive to review and correct fome miftakes in his hif- tory 5 and fhould he decline doing juftice in the cafe before us (what muft not be luppofed) he, and not truth, will be affected.

THE changes of religion in thefe kingdoms produced a moft memorable sera in our hiftory j and however the reformation hath operated, in fpread- ing the bafe of civil liberty, yet it divided us into parties, and for a time produced terrible ftruggles for power and property in both kingdoms 5 in Ireland efpecially thefe things had a period. When all power was fet on one fide, and that contention ceafed, yet the hatred which commenced with the original dilputes remained, and exerted itfelf with rema^able violence, in the framing of penal laws, which doubtlefs (hould be but few, in countries which exift by induftry, unlefs the objecl of fuch laws, be too formidable not to require its removal at any expence to the pub- lic. In this light hath Popery been held, from the very commencement of Queen Elizabeth's reign, and is feen in no other to this day. No ex- perience of Papifts being known and acknowledged good fubjects in other Proteftant countries j no experience of their good conduct in our own, could hitherto remove the idea of their being enemies by principle to our Proteftant eftablifhment. Sir William Blackftone, who has enlightened thefe nations by his admirable commentaries on our laws, pronounces on this fubjecl, like thofe who are content with the firft impreflions they receive, and think but little on a fubje€t, in which they are but little concerned.

" While

XVI

INTRODUCTION.

" While Papifts," he fays, " acknowledge a foreign power, fuperior to the " fovereignty of the kingdom, they cannot complain, if the laws of that "kingdom will not treat them on the footing of good fubjecls." With great deference to fo great an authority, this judgment includes a charge, which it is impofTible to fupport, unlefs it can be proved that Englifh and Irifh Papifts are men of different principles from their brethren in Hanover and Canada. But this is not the cafe ; the majority of Englifh Papifls 'even in the days of Queen Elizabeth (who (tripped them of power .and li- berty) acknowledged no authority fuperior to her fovereignty, and re- nounced to the authority of Pius the Fifth, who wanted to withdraw them From the allegiance they owed her. This they have done, without any breach with the Roman fee in matters purely fpiritual ; in things, I mean, which regard the next life, not the prefent. The Papifts of Ireland have, in a Formulary lately drawn up by themfelves, renounced any authority, civil or temporal, claimed or unclaimed, by any foreign Prince or Prelate what- foever, recognizing at the fame time his Majefty's title, and profeffing their allegiance to be due to him folely. Thus it is at prefent, even in Spain and Portugal, where no fubjecl would dare own or recognize any foreign power fuperior to the fovereignty of thofe kingdoms ; and nearer home in France, the fovereignty of that kingdom is fo jealoufly guarded, againft all foreign pretenders and pretenfions, that a profefTor who fhould bring this matter even into doubt, would be degraded from his office, if he .did not meet with a feverer punilhment. Pity it is, that a point of know- ledge, fo much within his reach, fhould efcape Judge Blackftone j pity it is indeed, that fo great an authority, fhould be employed to give weight, and perhaps perpetuity to a popular error, fo injurious to a million of his Majefty's good fubjecls ; for fo I venture to denominate them, not- withftanding the hurt they do the public through a legal incapacity to ierve it.

WE are forry to find any neceflity for faying fo much on this fubjeft, and yet a little more muft be added, before we difmifs it.

THE

INTRODUCTION.

XUi

THE fupremacy of Popes in matters merely fpiritnal, and directed as it ought to be, for the prefervation of harmony and unity in the church,- can- not be formidable to princes; thus reftrided, it had for many ages been

ufeful to them. The abufe of this fupremacy, and every ill-grounded claim foreign to it, may be removed, and (let me add) has been removed. In the prefent age, Popes have no more the power of depofing Kings, or of ab- folving fubjecls from their allegiance, than they had in the days of Conftan- tine, who permitted a legal eflablifhment of their religion in Rome, the ca- pital of his empire. The claim to this depofing power began and operated only in times of bigotry and ignorance, and has been often oppofed even in the darkeft ; in the dawn of knowledge it could not do much mifchief ; it could not operate in the light ; and if any among us fhould be {till found blind; Ihould any fpiritual doctor among us attempt to juflify fuch a claim, he may be eafily detected by putting him to the teft of his civil orthodoxy. Such a man, if a chriltian, will not abjure to the public, what he teaches in private. It is againfl fuch a man that the keen edge of penal laws fhould be employed ; legiflative wifdom fhould here draw a line of partition, in- flead of confounding the well principled, indifcnminately, with their oppofers,

THE Hiflorical Review now prefented to the public, was intended in- tirely for expofmg, in a proper light, things over which the fatal .prejudices of the times have thrown much obfcurity. We would draw ufeful inftruc- tions from our former calamities, and reconcile, by truth, men too long di- vided by miflakes. We have freely condemned, in this preliminary difcourfe, the conduct of the Roman Catholics before the reformation : We have had no call upon us to juflify it fince that time in any blameable cafe, and, through the rebellion which fucceeded the year 1641 in particular, the author of the following work has been free enough to expofe and cenfure the violence and ambition of fome among the clergy as wrell as laity, that the more juftice might be done to the virtue and patriotifm of others of the

c fame

XV111

INTRODUCTION.

fame party. It was an age of infatuation and drunkennefs, among all par- ties (Proteftants and Papifts) throughout the three kingdoms, and an hifto- rian who from prejudice cannot diftinguiih, or who from bye-ends will not diftinguifh, between the mad and the fober, will acquit himfelf but ill. He will not inftruclt, but he certainly will miilead.

THE Catholics of the prefent age, have one great intereft in common with their fellow fubjecls, and it confifts in the peace of their country, un- der a monarch, who makes the happinefs of all his people the principal object of his government. With this intereft in quiet they never will part. Since their fubmiffion at Limerick, in 1691, they have been faithful to the go- vernment, which God has fet over them j and we take great pleafure, in finding that the penal la\vs of the late Queen, which they did not provoke, have taken their beft effects, in crowning thofe virtues, which, in fact, are die production of painful fufferings, not of power or wealth. Whatever their religion be, a complex fyftem of fuperftition, or a fummary of chriftian duties, it enforces obedience to the eftablifhed government ; their perfeve- rance in fuch a religion is not a civil crime, though an hypocritical adoption of a different one, or a reward offered for obtaining the adoption, would be odious to God and man. Indeed if any danger can arife from their religion, it muft be from their not profeffing it fincerely, and from omitting the du- ties it impofes on them. Every man who has a retrofpeft to the grievances expofed in the following work, will think himfelf happy, that he found his cxiftence in this prefent century. In the prefent reign we muft feel a com- fort like that which fucceeds to the terrors of a mighty tempeft ; our ftate bark is moored, and however many may fuffer by reftraints on induftry and infecurity to property, yet every fubjecl has a full permiflion to exercife the religion of his confcience. Can this be faid of the Tudor and Stuart reigns, when men were fined, tortured, and imprifoned, to exercife a religion againft their confcience ? Were infurre&ions in thofe days any mighty won- ders among a fierce and turbulent people ? Or will not their infrequency be ihe chief wonder with impartial pofterity ?

THE

INTRODUCTION,

THE intention of the author in the following Hiftorical Review of times, (mod important to be well defer ibed) is, we truft, fufftciently explained. He labours to inftrud, not to mifreprefent 5 he endeavours to conciliate, not to inflame. No honeft man of the prefent age, (Protcftant or Papift) is concerned in the conduct of Proteflants or Papilts of any former age, other- wife than by contrafting the caufes and effects in the one with thofe in the other, and inftruding us thereby to put a proper eftimate on our prefent happinefs, and to remove any ill impreffion the public may ft ill retain, in regard to times fo very different from our own. This is placing a mirror before the reader, wherein beauties and deformities are fairly reflected ; and whereby deductions may be made, for improving our minds and mannersv by the juftnefs of the reprefentation,.

THE inftrudion to be drawn from the perufal of the following HiftoricaV

Review has been pointed out ; and if the Author has occafionally paft cen-

fures on fbme of our Roman Catholic predeceffors, relatively to fome falfe

judgments and opinions, he has not done it impertinently, to guard the

prefent generation of Roman Catholics againfl fuch exploded notions. He

knows them tocf well to need being fo guarded. The opinions he refers to

(and they were no more than opinions) may be compared to chronic diftem-

pers, which for a time make (depredations on a found conftitution, and

which fuch a conftitution will in time fhake off. The birth and parentage

of thofe opinions can be eafily traced, if men will be at the fmall pains of

doing it They were the offspring of local interefts, nurfed by the pailions,.

and adopted by the politics of the age. They are now no more, and the

fhades which -formerly enveloped the ignorant and unwary are difperfed..

No Roman Catholic is now interefted in errors which were but local, and

have indeed been oppofed by Roman Catholics in the moil clouded days.

In the light which time hath fpread about us, Papifls have got a full fight

of their civil duty ; and they profefs and practice it. To them we need

not apply. Our prefent fuit is to Proteftants who ftill are jealous, and who

may perhaps be loth to part with miftakes, they have, been long in the ha-

c 2 bit

xx INTRODUCTION.

bit of indulging. Some among them (and it is a good omen) have already fhaken of! their captivity under thofe miftakes •, and we wifh, and hope alfb, that others may make a philofophic effort, and reflect that the opinions we have cenfured were no other than what we have reprefented them to be, mere temporary and tranfient evils, from which no party (Proteftant or Papift) was exempt in the times we fpeak of. At prefent no party fhould be punifhed for opinions or principles which they are ready to abjure. The Papifts it is true, avow doctrines, which they are bound by confcience to retain, and which their adverfaries will always condemn. It is not in this cafe as in the other. The opinion is fugitive, the doctrine permanent. Relatively to tenets of faith, a charge made on one fide, is admitted to be juft on the other. There can therefore be no miftake in a cafe where all parties are agreed, and no good reafon can bg afligned for charging men with do&rines they reject, when fo many are avowed, as would juftify the charge of error, if error it could be proved. Human fociety expofed by nature to fundry evils, requires no adventitious fupply from caufes wherein nature revolts, inftead of bearing a part. If the terms of chriftian commu- nion profefTed by Roman Catholics in every country, be deemed crimes punifhable in any; they muft ftand to this in every punifhing country. They muft, in this cafe, oppofe the penalties of confcience to thofe of law> and refignedly yield to the lefTer punifhment.

ENOUGH is faid to fhew, that an union on civil principles and practices, under the prefent eftablifhment, is fufKcient for all the pur- pofes of civil fecurity ; and we need not go about to prove, that in our own Northern foil, and under our variable climate, the profperity admitted by both, cannot be obtained, without the co-operation and mutual confi- dence of all our people. They muft be hands of mifchief indeed, that re- quire to be tied up from this co-operation, and heads devoid of all honeft principle, who fhould be an obftacle to fuch confidence. The. Roman Ca- tholics are by law excluded from permanent property. Even infecurity is annexed to a flux-monied property acquired, by their induftry. But the pe- *al laws they are expofed to, have long fince received a conftitutional rati- fication,

INTRODUCTION.

xxi

fication, and while fuch laws exift, their religion commands obedience, not refinance. They have as little the inclination, as they have the right, to feek any alleviation of their fufFerings, but what they may obtain, from a Prince who has approved himfelf the beft of Kings, at the head of a wife parliament.

BEFORE we conclude, it is but fit that the author fhould exprefs his gra- titude to gentlemen who have forwarded the prefent work by their encou- ragement. He does fo unfeignedly ; and he has a particular call upon him to confefs his obligations to Mr. JAMES REYNOLDS of A/h-Street, whofe correfpondence with the great towns of the kingdom is extenfive, and who omits no occafion, and indeed improves every opportunity, to approve him- felf a loyal fubjecl, and good citizen.

June 1 2th, 1775.

AUTHORITIES quoted in the enfuing Work.

Eliquiae Sacrae Carolinae, or the Works of King Charles I. Octavo. Scrinia Sacra, or Myfteries of State and Government. Octavo, Lond. Ed. MorriiTon's Hiflory of Ireland. Lond. Ed. Folio. Pacata Hibernia. Lond. Ed. Folio. State Letters of the Earl of StrafFord. Lond. Ed. Folio. State Letters of the Earl of Orrery. Dub. Ed. Octavo. State Letters of Lord Arlington, by Brown. Lond. Ed. Octavo. Borlace's Hiftory of the Irifh Rebellion. Dub. Ed. Folio. Temple's Hiftory of the Irifh Rebellion. Quarto. Sir John Davis's Hiftorical Relations. Dub. Ed. Odavo. Journals of the Irifh Houfe of Commons. Folio. Supplement to thefe Journals. Dub. Ed. Folio. Walfh's Hiftory of the Irifh Remonftrance. Folio. Carte's Life of the Duke of Ormond. Lond. Ed. Folio. Carte's Collection of Original Letters. Dub. Ed. Odavo. Earl of Caftlehaven's Memoirs. Lond. Ed. Duodecimo. Earl of Anglefey's Letter to the Earl of Caftlehaven. Lond. Ed. Duodecimo. Dodor Leland's Hiftory of Ireland. Dub. Ed. Quarto. Warner's Hiftory of the Irifh Rebellion. Lond. Ed. Quarto. Archbifhop King's State of the Proteftants of Ireland under King James.

Quarto.

Mr. Lefley's Anfwer to Archbifhop King. Quarto.

The Earl of Clarendon's Life and Memoirs, by himfelf. Dub. Ed. Odavo. Henry Earl of Clarendon's State Letters. Octavo. Lord EfTex's State Letters.

Mr. Belling's Manufcript Hiftory of the Wars of Ireland. Sir John Dairy mple's Memoirs. Dub. Ed. Octavo. Spencer's State of Ireland. Dub. Ed. Duodecimo.

A N

HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL

RE VI E W

O F T H E

CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND.

BOOK I.

CHAP. I.

Of the State of the Irifh from the Time of the Invafion of Henry II.

IN order to form a right judgment of the principles, and conduct of the natives of Ireland, fince the reformation (from which period only, I pur- pofe to confider their civil difTenfions) it is necefTary to look back to the times preceding that event ; and to take a curfory view of the manner, in which the firft Britilh adventurers, and their fucceffors, for feveral ages, treated thefe, as they affected to call them, conquered People ( i ). Now it is evident from all our records, that after thefe adventurers got footing in that kingdom, the Britifh colonies only, and fome (a) few fepts of the Irifh, that were enfranchifed by fpecial charter, were admitted to the Benefit and Protection of the laws of England -, and that the Irifh, as fuch, were generally reputed aliens,

B or

(i) Sir John Da vis's Hiftorical Relations, D. Ed. p. 45.

(a) Thefe were the O'Neals of Ulfter, O'Melaghlins of Meath, the O'Conors of Conaught, the O'Briens ofThomond, and the Mac Mouroghs of Leinfter. Sir John Davis's Hift. Rel.

2 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. I.

or rather enemies j in fo much, that it was adjudged no felony to kill a mere (£) Irifhrnan, in time of peace.

IT is alfo evident, that (2) the Irifh, on their parts, " did, at feveral times, defire to be admitted to the benefit of the law ; as in their petitions to Richard II. and Lord Thomas of Lancafter, before the war of the two Houfesj and afterwards, to Lord Leonard Gray, and Sir Arthur St. Leger, when Henry the VIII. began to reform that kingdom. And it was certainly a great defect in the civil policy of Ireland, that for the fpace of three hundred and fifty years at leaft after the conqueft firft attempted, the Englifh laws were not commu- nicated to its people, nor the benefit or protection thereof allowed them j for as long as they were out of the protection of the laws, fo as every Englifhman inight opprefs, fpoil, and kill them without controul (3), how was it poffible they fhould be other than outlaws, and enemies to the Crown of England? If the king would not admit them to the condition of fubjects, how could they learn to acknowledge, and obey him, as their Sovereign ? When they might not converfe, or commerce, with civilized men, nor enter into any town or city without peril of ther lives: whither fhould they fly, but into woods and mountains, and there live in a wild, and barbarous manner ? In a word, if the Englifh would neither in peace govern them by the law, nor could in war root them out by the fword, muft they not needs be pricks in their eyes, and thorns in their fides, to the world's end ?"

ON the other hand, that thefe people merited far different treatment from the crown of England, is manifeft from hence, that when they were at laft ad- mitted to the condition of fubjects, under James I. they gave many fignal proofs of their dutifulnefs. and obedience ; and as the fame knowing, and impartial witnefs whom I have hitherto quoted, then vouched for them (4), 44 would gladly continue in that condition, as long as they might be protected, and juftly governed, without oppreffion on the one hand, or impunity on the other; there being, in his opinion, no nation under the fun that did love equal, and indifferent (c), Juftice, better than the Irifh, or that would reft better fa-

tisfied

(2) Sir John Davis's Hiflorical Relations, D. Ed. p. 16. (3) Id. ib. p. 52. (4) Id. ib. p. 123.

(b] So ridiculoufly, as well as tyrannoufly, was this " man fhould be found among the Englifh, contrary diftinclion kept up, " That no man was to be taken for " thereunto, it was lawful to feize him, and his goods, " an Englifhman, who had not his upper lip fhaven :" " as an Irifh enemy." Sir John Davis, Ib. p. 92. (which, it feems, the Irifh had not.) " And, if any

(c) " I dare affirm," fays Sir John Davis, Attorney " cuit of fix /hires, namely, the Weftern circuit of General in Ireland, in the reign of James I. " that " England. For the truth is, that in time of peace, " for the fpace of five years laft paft, there have not " the Irifh are more fearful to offend the law, than " been found fo many malefactors, worthy of death, " the Englifh, or any other nation whatfoevej." Hift. " in all the fix circuits of this realm, which is now Relat. p. u6.

" divided into thirty-fix ihires at large, as in one cir-

Ch.H. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. 3

tisfied with the execution thereof, altho' it were againft themfelves; fo as they might have the protection, and benefit of the law, when upon a juft caufe they did defire it."

CHAP. II.

The State of the Irifb, at the Beginning of the Reformation of Religion.

IN this condition of abfolute flavery, the Irifh remained during the reigns of Henry VIII. Edward VI and Q; Elizabeth j when the new reformed religion was firft introduced among them ; a circumftance not at all likely to induce them to embrace it, even tho' they had been willing to part with their old religion, which was far from being the cafe. This obftacle to their refor- mation, was accompanied with others flill greater ; their new paftors were to- tally ignorant of the Irifh language, as their flocks, for the moft part, were of the Englifh(0); befides, the inferior clergy, in thofe days, who had the immediate cure of fouls, were men of no parts, or erudition j and, what was much worfe, they were full as immoral, as they were illiterate (i). " The " clergy in Ireland," fays Mr. Spencer (b\ writing of this period, " excepting " the grave fathers, who are in high places about the ftate, and fome few " others, who are lately planted in the new college, are generally bad, licen- " tious, and moil difordered."

SUCH were the men, whofe new religious do&rine, and difcipline, thefe people were required to embrace, againft the conviction of their confciences, and at the peril of their liberties, fortunes, and lives.

AT the fame time that the ignorance, and immorality of the reforming mif- fionaries caufed the Irifh to hate, and defpife their doctrine, thefe people held

B 2 the

(i) Spencer's State of Ireland, Dub. Ed.

(«) " Even within the Englilli pale," (viz. the " terfected the Englifh fettlements, no other language

counties of Dublin, Meath, Lowth, and Kildare,) " was at all known ; fo that here the wretched flock

" the Irifh language was become fo predominant, that " was totally inacceffible to thofe (bangers, who were

" laws were repeatedly enacted to reftrain it, but in " become their paftors." Leland's Hift. of Ireland,

«' vain. — In thofe tracts of Irifh territory, which in- Dub. Ed. 410. Vol. ii. p. 194.

(1} He was Secretary to Lord Leonard Gray, De- mon clergymen. And befides thefe, they have

puty of Ireland, in the reign of Eli7abeth. " What- particular enormities ; they neither read the fcrip-

ever diforders," adds he, on this occafion, " are tures, nor preach to the people, only they take the

in the church of England, may be feen in that of tythes and offerings, and gather what fruit they can

Ireland, and much more; namely, grofs fimony, off their livings,which they convert as badly." State

greedy covetoufnefs, flefhly incontinency, carelefs of Ireland, p. 131. floth, and generally all difordered life in the com-

4 HISTORICAL REVIEW or THE Bkl.

the perfons of their own clergy, in the higheft efteem and veneration (c). Of this, I fhall mention one remarkable inftance, out of many others, that occur in their hiftory(2). " Towards the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, her Ma- " jefty's forces befieging the caftle of Cloghan, and underftanding that in the " fame there was a Rornifh prieft," (to which order of men they never gave quarter,) " having alfo in their hands, the brother of the Conftable, who had " the charge of the caftle, the commanding officer fent him word, that if he " did not prefently furrender the Caftle to him, he would hang his brother in " their fight. But to fave the prieft, whofe life they tendered, they perfever- " ed obftinately not to yield : whereupon the officer, in their fight, hanged " the Conftable' s brother. Neverthelefs, within four days afterwards, the *' prieft being fhifted away in fafety, the Conftable fued for a protection, and " rendered the caftle. I do relate this accident," adds my author, " to the " end the reader may the more clearly fee, in what reverence, and eftimation, " thefe ignorant fuperftitious Irifh do hold a Popifh prieft ; in regard of whofe " fafety, the Conftable was content to fuffer his brother to perifh."

H

P.

III.

The Conduct of the Englijb Chief Governors of Ireland ', towards the Natives.

MR. OSBURNE informs us (i), that in England, during Q. Elizabeth's reign, to be a Catholic was thought to fignify nothing elfe, but an enemy to God, and the Prince. The like prejudice prevailed alfb, at the fame time, in Ireland ; and the name of Irifhman, or Papift, was deem- ed a fufficient juftification of any act of cruelty, or injuftice, committed on the perfon who bore it I fay not this, merely on the teftimony of Irifhmen, and Papifts; but on that alfo, of Englishmen, and Proteftants; fome of whom were eye-witneffes of the fads they relate, and had the virtue to publifh their deteftation of them.

IN

(2) Pacata Hibernia, fol. 358.

(<r) " It's a great wonder," fays the fame Mr. Spencer, " to fee the odds, which is between the zeal of Popifh priefts and the minifters of the Gof- pel. For they fpare not to come out of Spain, from Rome, and from Rheims, by long toil and dange- rous travelling hither; where they know peril of death awaiteth them, and no reward, or riches to be found, only to draw the people to the church of

(i) Ofburne's Woiks.

Rome. Whereas, fome of our idle minifters, hav- ing a way for credit and eftimation thereby opened, and having livings of the country offered to them, without pains, and without peril, will neither for the fame, nor for any love of God, or zeal of religion, be drawn forth from their warm nefts, to look out into God's barveft." Ib, p. 114.

Ch.III. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. 5

IN a (2) Memorial prefented to_ her Majefly and Council, by an (a) of- ficer, who had ferved feveral years in her army in Ireland; fome of thofe unconfcionable courfes are fet forth, particularly thofe frequent breaches of publick faith, and the infecurity of any pardon granted to thefe people, on their fubmitting to the government; who, fays the Memorial ift, "with- out being guilty of any new crime, and eyen without a legal trial, were afterwards condemned, and executed, to the great dishonour of her Majefty4 and difcredit of her Laws."

IT would be equally (hocking, and tedious, to recite all thofe well-attefted acts of cruelty and perfidy, which were perpetrated on thefe people, by the order,, or connivance, of her Majesty's principal Minifters in that kingdom. Two, or three inflances only, which include hundreds of fuiferers, will fuf- fice for the prefent.

WHEN, in the year 1583 (3), the- garrifon of Srnerwick, in Kerry, furren- dered,. upon mercy, to . Lord Deputy Gray (b), he ordered upwards of feven hundred of them to be put to the fword (c\ or hanged (4). " Wingfieldwas com-r miflioned to difarm them ; and when this fervice was performed, an Englifh company, was. fent into the fort, and the garrifon was butchered in cold blood, nor is it without pain that we find a fervice ib horrid, and deteftable, commit-: ted to Sir Walter Raleigh. The ufual, and obvious excufes for this feverity, could not efface the odioufnefs of it; on the Continent it was received with horror."

ABOUT the fame time (5), "Walter: Earl of Eflex, on the conclufion of a peace,, invited Bryan O'Neal of Claneboy, with a great number of his relations-, to an entertainment, where they lived together in great harmony, making

good

(2) Manufcript in Trinity College* Dublin. See .Append. No. i. (3) Borlnfe's Reduction of Ireland, p. 136. (4) Leland's Hift. of Ireland, Vol. ii. p. 383. (5) MSS. Irilh Chronicle in Trinity College, Dub.

(a) The author, in the body of his Memorial, of- themfelves. But, if it pleafe your Highnefs to ap-

fers the following trial and proof of his veracity, point Commiflioners in that realm for the trial y if I

" I defire not that your Majefty fhould either fimply prove not directly all that ever I have declared, let

credit me, in this my plain dealing, in detecting them," melofeyour gracious favour for ever." (her Minifters in Ireland,) " nor them in excufing ,

(1} " Repeated complaints were made of the in- barbarity, that little was left in Ireland for her Ma- human rigor practiced by this Deputy, and his officers, jefty to reign over, but afhes, and dead carcafies;." The Queen was aflured, that he tyrannifed with fuch Lei. Hift. of Ireland, Vol. ii. p. 287.

(<•) " The Italian General, and fome officers, were ed in cold blood." Leland's Hift. of Ireland, Vol. ii. ajade prifoners of war, but the garrifon was butcher- p. 283.

6 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. I.

good cheer for three days and nights ; when, on a fudden, O'Neal was furprif- ed with an arreft, together with his brother and wife, by the Earl's order (d). His friends were put to the fword before his face j nor were the women and children fpared: he was himfelf, with his brother and wife, fent to Dublin^ where they were cut in quarters. This encreafed the difaffe&ion, and pro- duced the deteftation of all the Irifh -, for this Chieftain ofClaneboy, was the fenior of his family, and as he had been univerfally efteemed, he was now as univerfally regretted."

WE don't find, however, that any remarkable commotion was excited on this account; or that any immediate provocation on the part of the Irifh, was fo much as pretended, for fo barbarous an ad of perfidy. " After the i gih year of Queen Elizabeth, viz. anno, 1577, the Lords of Conaght, and O'Rorke," fays (6) Morriffon, " made a compofition for their Lands, with Sir Nicholas Malby, governor of that province; wherein they were content to yield the Queen fo large a rent, and fuch fervices, both of labourers to work upon occafion of fortifying, and of horfe and foot, to ferve upon occafion of war, that their minds feemed not yet to be alienated from their wonted awe, and reverence for the crown of England." Yet, in that fame year, an horrible maffacre was committed by the Englifh, at Mulloghmafton, on fome hundreds of the moft peaceable of the Irilh gentry, invited thither on the public faith, and under the protection of government.

THE fa& is thus literally ^tranflated from (7) the Irifh annals of Queen Elizabeth's reign. " The calends of January, on Tuefday, 1577. In this year the Englifh of Leinfter and Meath, committed horrid murders on fuch of the O'Mores and O'Conors, and others of the King's and Queen's county as kept the peace, fued for protection, and held no correfpondence with thofe of their kindred, whoitill flood out in arms againft the Englifh government."

" THE Englifh published a proclamation, inviting all the well-afFeded Irifh to an interview on the Rathmore, at Mulloghmafton ; engaging, at the fame time, for their fecurity, and that no evil was intended. In confequence of this engagement, the well-affected came to the Rathmore aforefaid} and foon

after

(6) Hiftory of Ireland, fol. Ed. p. 3. (7) MSS. Trin. Co!. Dub.

(d] " Such relations," as Doctor Leland juflly hiftories, except in the minutenefs with which they obierves on this occafion, " would be more fufpicious, record the local tranfatHons, and adventures of th$ ifthefe annals in general exprefTed great virulence Irifh. And fome times they exprefsly condemn their againft the Eiigliih, and their government. But they countrymen, for their rebellions againft their Prince." do not appeal to differ efiemially from the printed Hift. of Ireland, Vol. ii. p. 258.

(e) By my learned, and very worthy friend, Charles O'Conor, of Balanegare, Efq; as likewife the former.

Ch.IV. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. 7

after they were afTembled, they found themfelves furrounded by three or four lines of English and Irifh horfe and foot, completely accoutred, by whom they were ungeneroufly attacked, and cut to pieces ; and not a lingle man efcaped."

To this maiTacre, the Memorialift beforementioned, probably alluded, when he complained (8), " that her Majefty's fervants, who were placed in authority, to protect men for her fervice, had drawn unto them, by fuch pro- tection, three or four hundred of the Irifh, under colour to ferve her Majefty ;, and brought them to a place of meeting, where her garrifon-foldiers were ap- pointed to be; who there, moft dishonourably, put them all to the fword. This, adds he, was done by the confent, and practice, of the Lord Deputy for the time being."

CHAP, IV.

Motives for the general Difcontent in Uljhr.

IN the year 1 589 (r), " When Sir William Fitzwilliams entered upon the government, Ireland was in the beft eftate that it had been in for a long time, not only peaceable and quiet, but fo as any. the greateft Lord, called by letter, or meffenger, readily came to the State ; and none of them were known to be any way difcontent. But, within three months after his taking the fword, having been informed, that the Spaniards lately (a) wrecked upon the coafts of Conaught, and ULfter, had left with the inhabitants great ftore oftreafure, and other riches, he greedily fought to get it into his hands, pre- tending the Queen's fervice, as appeared by a commiiTion, by which he firfl effayed to feize the fame; but that not taking effect, he made a journey him- felf, into thefe parts, where, altogether failing of his purpofe, he brought thence with him, as prifoners, two of the befl affected gentlemen to the State, that were in thofe parts, whom he deemed to poffefs the great eft part of the treafure, namely. Sir Owen Mac Tooly, father-in-law to the Earl of Tyrone, who had long enjoyed a penfion of two hundred pounds a year from the Queen, and Sir John O'Dogherty. The former refufing to pay for his en- largement, continued prifoner till the beginning of Sir William RufTell's go- vernment,

(8) Lee's Memorial, MSS. Trin. Col. Dub. ( i ) MoriC Hift. of Ireland, fol. 4.

(a) " Thofe (Spaniards) who were fKipwrecked tence made ufe of, to excufe this barbarity."

in Ireland, and caft aftiore, were all put to the fword, 'Tis faid, that on the coaft of Ireland, feventeen (hips,

or perifhed by the hands of the Executioner ; the Lord and five thoufand three hundred and ninety four men

Deputy, by whofe orders it was done, fearing they were then deftroyed. Rapin's Hilt of Eng. Vol. ix.

would fide with the Rebels j at leaft this was the pre- p. 122. Note.

8 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk.I.

vernment, who in pity difcharged him ; but the old gentleman's heart was firft broken, fo as fhortly after he died. The latter was releafed, after two years reftraint .; but not without paying for his liberty. At this hard ufuage of thefe two Ulfter gentlemen, all the great men of the Irifh, efpecially in thofe Northern parts, did much repine. " The loyal Irifh," fays Doctor Leland, " on this occafion, trembled for their own fafety, and the difaffecled were con- firmed in their inveteracy."

"ABOUT the year 1590(2), died M'Mahon, Chieftain of Monaghan, who, in his life-time had furrendered his country into her Majefty's hands, and re- ceived a re-grant thereof, under the broad feal of England, to him and his heirs male ; and in default of fuch, to his brother Hugh Roe M'Mahon, with other remainders. And this man dying without irTue-male, his faid brother came up to the State, that he might be fettled in his inheritance, hoping to be counte- nanced and cherifhed, as her Majefty's Patentee. But he found, as the (b) Irifh fay, he could not be admitted, until he promifed fix hundred cows, for fuch, and no other, were the Irifh bribes. He was afterwards imprifoned for failing in part of his payment ; and in a few days enlarged, with promife that the Lord Deputy himfelf, would go and fettle him in his country of Monaghan • whither his Lordfhip took his journey fhortly after, with M'Mahon in his company. At their firft arrival, the gentleman was clapt into bolts; and in two days after, he was indided, arraigned, and executed at his own door; all done, as the Irifh faid, by fuch officers, as the Lord Deputy carried with him, for that purpofe, from Dublin. The treafon for which he was condemned, was, becaufe, two years before, he pretending a rent due unto him, out of Ferney, levied forces, and made a diftrefs for the fame; which, by the Englifh law, adds my Author, may, perhaps, be treafon ; but in that country, never before fubjed to law, it was thought no rare thing, nor

great

(2) Id. ib. fol. 10.

(b} On occafion of this manner of exprefilng him- without the "fcandal of hiftorical-integrity, be'ng ob-

felf, which Morrilfon often mates ufe of, the reader je&ions frequently made by the rebels, for expufe of

is defired to take notice of the following paflage. their difloyalty, as well in all their petitions, astrea-

" This\fays he, I write of hearfay ; but, as in the ties of peace." Morif. Hift. of Ireland, f. 8. He af-

general relation following, 1 purpofe to write nothing terwards, indeed, mentions, in its due place, what he

which is not warranted, either by relations prefented calls an honourable anfwer of the Deputy, to part of

to (he Queen by the principal Councellors of Ireland, this charge, in which anfwer it is affirmed, " that the

cr by letters interchanged between the ftates of Eng- country feemed gla'd of M'iMahon's execution." But

land and Ireland, or like authentical writings ; fo for this, Morriflbn himfelf, in the fame page, flatly contra-

the particular of tne above i>arm-d Lord 'Deputy, if, df£ts. Ib. f.i I. And he further protefts, " that he would

perhaps, fome may ihiiik any thing obferved by me to moil willingly have inferted his full juftification, if

derogate from him, I proteft, that whatfoever I write, any fuch memorial had come to his hands. "^ i?> in like forr, warranted, and may not be oirmred Ibid. fol. 3.

Ch. V. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. 9

great offence. The Marfhal, Sir Henry Bagnall, had part of the country ; Captain Hensflower was made Senefchall of it, and had M'Mahon's chief houfe, and part of the land ; and to divers others, fmaller portions of land were afligned ; and the Irifh fpared not to fay, that thefe men were all the contri- vers of his death j and that every one was paid fomething for his fhare. " Cer- tain it is," fays the fame (3) Hiftorian, " that, upon M'Mahon's execution, heartburnings, and loathings of the Englifh government, began to grow in the Northern Lords ; and they fhunned, as much as they could, to admit any Sheriffs, or any Englifh among them (c}"

C H A P. V.

The firflCaufes of TyroneV Infurre&ion.

UPON(i) the execution of M'Mahon, and the jealoufy thence conceived againft the Englifh, Maguire, a Northern Lord, about the year 1593, began to declare himfelf difcontent, and to fland upon his defence. He al- leged, that he had given three hundred Cows, to free his country from a Sheriff, during the Lord Deputy's government ; and that, notwithstanding, one Captain Willis^ was made Sheriff of Fermanagh, having, for his guard, one hundred men; and leading about fbme hundreds of women and boys, all living upon the fpoil of the country : upon which, fays my Author, Maguire, who was Chieftain of Fermanagh, taking his advantage, fet upon them and drove them into a church, where he would have put them all to the fword, if the Earl of Tyrone had not interpofed his authority, and made competition for their lives, upon condition that they fhould all leave the country. Upon

C this

(3) Ib. (i) Morif. ib..fol. 12.

(<r) " The unhappy iVI'Mahon,fbr an offence com- to Sir Henry Bagnall, and other adventurers, together

mitted, before the Law, which declared it capital, with four of the old Irifh fept. The condemnation

had been eflablifhed in his country, was tried, con- of this Chieftain, confirmed the Irifh in their averfion

demned by a jury, faid to be formed of private fol- to the Englifh polity; which they confidered as a fyf-

diers, and executed in two days, to the utter confter- tern of hateful cruelty and tyranny." Lei. Hift. of

nation of his countrymen. His eftate was diftributed Ireland, Vol. ii. p. 317.

(a) " A great part of that unquietnefs of O'Don- all ; which bred fuch a difcontent, as that the whole

nel's country, came by Sir William Fitzwilliam's country was up in arms againft them, fo as if the Earl

placing one Willis there 10 be Sheriff, who had with of Tyrone had not refcued and delivered him, and

him three hundred of the very rafcals, and fcum of them, out of the country, they had been all put to

that kingdom, which did rob and fpoil that people, the fword." Lee's Letter to Queen Elizabeth, MSS,

ravifh their wives and daughters, and made havock of in Trinity College.

io HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. I.

this occalion, the Lord Deputy Fitzwilliams fent the Queen's (b) forces into Fermanagh, won Maguire's caftle of Ennifkillen, and proclaimed him a traitor. The Irifh avow, that his Lordfhip let fall fome fpeeches againft the Earl of Tyrone hi mfelf, calling him a traitor alfo, (notwithstanding his late fervice,) which fpeeches coming to that Earl's hearing, he ever after faid, were the firft caufes that moved him to mifdoubt his fafety, and to ftand upon his de- fence ; now firft combining himfelf with O'Donnell, and the other Lords of the North, to defend, adds Mr. Morriflbn, their honours, eftates, and liberties.

THIS combination, however, was for fome time kept fecret j for (2) Ty- rone ftill ferved, with the Queen's forces, againft Maguire, and once valiant- ly fighting, was wounded in the thigh (3). " But he ceafed not to complain daily of the Lord Deputy's, and Marshall's, envy againft him; and of wrongs done him by the (c) garrilbn foldiers : and thefe wrongs not being redreffed, together, with the ill government of the church, the extortions of Sheriffs, and the army's opprefling the fubjecl, and by that means, driving many daily into rebellion, made him at laft refolve to temporize (d) no longer." But what it was, that firft provoked him to break out into open acts of hoftility againft the government, I fhall now briefly relate.

IN the year 1594, Sir William Fitzwilliams being recalled into England, Sir William Ruifell fucceeded him in the government of Ireland. To this new Deputy, the Queen had been prevailed upon to give private orders (4), to feize upon Tyrone, and make him a prifoner, if ever he fhould get him in

his

(2) Id. ib. fol. 13. (3) Id. ib. (4) Cambden's Eliz. p. 634.

(1} The Earl of Tyrone had, at that time, in con- mandof all the Queen's forces fent againft Maguire. junction with the Englifh Marshall of Newry, the com- It ifh Annals.

(c) The Queen had long before this, frequently, ter, wherein we look to have redrefs) but give you but in vain, ordered this grievance to be removed, an efpecial charge, to fee that our garritons ferving " For that our fubjefts of that realm," fays fhe, in there, be kept in better difcipline than heretofore they her inftruRions to Sir John Perror, anno 1583, have been.— And that fuch abufes as have been hi- *' have been very grievoufly opprefled by the out- therfo committed by fuch Captains, as have had here- rages, and infolences committed by certain ill-affecled tofore more regard to their particular profit, than to of our garrifons ferving there, which hath been partly the difcharge of their duties, may be met withal, and a caufe of the alienation of the good-will, which they the party offending, feverely punilhed." Dtfiderata before bare unto us, we cannot (as a principal mat- Curiofa Hibern. Vol. i. p. 36.

(d) " Where it was your Majefty's pleafure," all means and policies to aggravate matters againft him fays Lee, in his Memorial to the Queen, " He (Ty- to your Majefty ; which is credibly made known unto rone) fhould have great encouragement given him, by him : and more, that upon what fecurity foever, he thnnks foi his laft great fervice againft Maguire, it iliould come in, your Majefty's pleafure is to have was held from him ; and inftead of that, they devifed him detained." Defid. Curiof. Hib. Vol. i. p. i io.

Ch. V. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. n

his power. Tyrone had often refufed to come to Dublin, on the invitation of the late Lord Deputy, from a diftruft of his Lordfhip's honour, and on ac- count of his known enmity to him ; but Sir William Ruffell having fent him (5) a protection, which was an affurance of fafety on public faith j he fbon appeared before him at the caftle, and declared, that the reafon of his not hav- ing obeyed the like orders from the late Deputy, was becaufe he knew, " that he had laid fnares for his life, which it was but natural for him to avoid." He added, " that the accufations againft him, were falfe and malicious j that he defired nothing more, than a fair and impartial trial, by which, he was con- fident, his innocence would fully appear; and, for that purpofe, he declared, (as if, fays Cambden, he thought himfelf fufficientl^r fecured by the teftimony of a good confcience,) that he would- renounce all claim to his letters of pro- tection, in cafe the aforefaid accufations of his enemies could be proved againft him."

THIS (6) matter being ferioufly debated in the Council, fome of that board were of opinion, that O'Neal fhould be then made a prifoner, notwithftand- ing his protection, in order to anfwer a charge of High Treafbn, which his known, and inveterate enemy, (e) Sir Henry Bagnall, had newly prepared againft him. But the majority of the council, either, fays my (7) Author, out of &(f) vain fcrupje of violating the public faith, or thro' fome fecret affection for Ty- rone, declared, that he ought, in juftice and honour, to be then difmiffed ; and that his trial fhould be deferred to another time. Of the fubject of this debate, Tyrone was privately informed by the (g) Earl of Ormond, and thereupon, im-

C 2 mediately

(5) Id. ib. (6) Id. ib. (7) Cambden, ib.

(*) This fame Bagnall, had formeily urged Tome ar- wrote that he had fufficiently anfwered them. Where-

ticles of treafon againft him, " which, lays Morrif- upon, the Lords of England wrote to the Earl of Ty-

fon, were believed in England, till Tyrone offered, rone, that they approved his anfvvers, and that, in

by his letters, to (rand to his trial either in England or their opinion, he had wrong to be fo charged. — At

Ireland. Accordingly, adds my Author, he anfwered the fame time, their Lordfhip's wrote to the Deputy,

to the faid articles, before ihe Lord Deputy and taxing him and the Marfhal (Bagnall) that they had

Council, at Dundaik, in fuch fort, as they who had ufed the Earl of Tyrone againft law and equity." Hift.

written into England againft him, now to the contrary, of Ireland, fol. 12.

(f) Some Englifh officers having allured certain but here, the only favour granted was, that they were Iriih Chiefs, that upon furrendering themfelves to the not brought to immediate execution. They were government, they would obtain their pardon. " Thefe committed to priion, their lands declared forfeit, and Chiefo embraced the council, fubmitted, and confented granted to thofe, by whofe council they had furren- to attend the Lord Deputy St. Leger into England: dered." Lei. Hift. of Ireland, Vol. ii. p. 189.

(g) This Earl had fome time before, received the fo far from obeying them, that he wrote a letter to like private orders, with refpect to fome Irifh gentle- Lord Treafurer Burleigh, in which he told him, that men to whom he had granted protection ; but he was thefe orders appeared very ftrange to him -, that the

Irifh

j>a HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. I.

mediately fled from Dublin ; and although he was quickly followed by the Deputy's order to flop him, which was fent to all the towns through which it was. thought he was to pafs, yet by the afliftance of his friends, and the fwiftnefs of his horfes, he efcaped in £afety to Ulfter.

ODoNN ELL'S firft caufe of difafFeclion to the government, happened very- early (8). While he was yet a lad, of the age of twelve, or fifteen years, a fhip freighted with feveral curiofities, was, by the then Lord Deputy's order, fent to the bay of Tyrconnell ; where the Mailer having found O'Donnellv and fbme of his companions, feduced them, with a difplay of his curiofities, to come on board his veflel ; and after entertaining them there for fome time, with much feeming affection, and refpecl, he privately ordered his mariners to fail back for Dublin, having got the prey they came for. As foon as they arrived there, O'Donnell, and his companions, were clofely confinsd in the caftle of that city, where they remained prifoners, under many wants and cruel (h) reftraints, for more than feven years ; and at laft, made a defperate at- tempt to efcape, which by the afliftance of their friends, and their own refoluti- on fucceeded ; though not without the lofs of the life of one of O'Donnell's com- panions, and the extreme danger of his own. It was immediately upon his ar- rival in Ulfter, after this efcape, that he entered into the before mentioned combination with Tyrone, being then not more than twenty years old.

THE (9) Queen was much difpleafed that her commands, with refpecl: to Tyrone, were not executed ; and the (10) Lords of the Englifh council fharply rebuked the Deputy for having fo eafily fuflered him to efcape out of his hands. And although Sir William Ruflell afterwards, frequently invited him, in the moil ibothing manner, to come to Dublin, he could never be again prevailed upon, by any promife of fafety, to put himfelf in his power ; but imme- diately betook himfelf to open ads of hoflility : the firft of which, was, (after having defeated a great body of the Queen's forces) his aflaulting, arid demo-

lifhing,

(8) Lombard. Irifti Annals. (9) Cambden's Eliz. p 635. (10) Morriflbn's Hift.

Irifh gemlemen in queflion had, according to her Ma- much ; and whofoever gave the Queen advice thus to

jefty's intimations, delivered pledges to do good fer- write, is fitter to execute fuch bafe fervice than I am.

vice, and pur in aiTurances of their loyalty ; and then Saving my duty to her Majefty, I would I were to

he declares his refolution in thefe words : " My Lord, have revenge by my fword, of any man that thus per-

.1 will never ufe treachery to any man, for it will both fuadeth the Queen to write to me." Carte's Orm. Vol.

touch her Highnefs's honour, and my own credit too i. fol. Ivi.

(/>) " His manner of ufage,fays Lee, was moft diflio- him, as if he had been a notable traitor and malefac-

nomable and difcommendable, and neither allowable tor, and kept (till amongft thofe, who were ever no-

before God or man. — For he (O'Donnell) being young, torious traitors to your Majefty." Memorial to th«

and being taken by this ftratagem, having never offended, Queen, Defid. Hib. Vol. i. p. 96. was imprifoned with great fe verity, many irons laid upon

Ch. V. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. 13

lifting, in the year 1595, the fort of Black Water, which was built upon the pafTage into Tyrone. " In this viclory, fays Burlace ( 1 1 ), the (i) like of which, the Irifh never gained, fince the Englifh firfl fet foot in Ireland, Tyrone's implacable enemy, Marfhal Bagnall, with others, was (lain (k) (I)"

THE feveral fubmiflions, which he afterwards made, with apparent fince- rity, were but of fhort duration; becaufe the conditions promifed him onthefe occaflons, were never fulfilled ; of which breach of articles, he frequently com- plained ; but was only anfwered (i 2), " That the benefit of his pardon was Ib great, that it ihould have counterpoifed his wrongs, and ftill kept him in his duty (m.).n

(ii) ReducY. of Ireland, -p. 1.78;

(i) The Earl of Tyrone ordered, that the dead of the enemy fhould be interred. 2500 were left, with their General, on the field of battle: among

(k)f About this time, one hundred and forty-four barrels of' gun -powder, fent from the Queen to Dublin, were ftored in Winetavern-ftreet, and took

(1) In this action, one of the Queen's foldiers, by accident, fet fire to a barrel of gun powder, and that fet fire to a number of others ranged along the line. The explofion was terrible, and deftroyed a great

(m) The report which Lee, in his memorial to Q^ Elizabeth makes of Tyrone's loyalty, power, and fervices, is very remarkable. For mentioning the de- figns of his enemies, " Let," fays he, " thofe devices take effect, or otherwife have him cut off, your Ma- jefty's whole kingdom there would moan it moft piti- fully ; for there was never man bred in thofe parts, who hath done your Majefty greater fervice than he, with often lofs of his blood, upon notable enemies of your Majefty. Yea, more often than all the other nobles of Ireland. And what quietnefs your Majefty has had thefe many years pall, in the Northern parts of that kingdom, its neither your forces there placed (which have been but fmal),) nor their great fervice who commanded them, but only, the honeft difpofi- tion, and carriage of the Earl, hath made them obe- dient in thefe parts to your Majefty.— If he werefo bad

(12) Morrif. Hilt:

whom were 18 captains, and many other gentlemen, whofe names were unknown. Irifh Ann.

fire by accident, on the i3th of March. Numbers were loft, and that part of the town greatly damaged by the explofion. Iri/h Annals.

number of the Queen's men ; and the remains of the defeated army marched back to Ardmagh in diforder.

Ibid.

as they wou-ld fain enforce, as- many as know him, and the ftrength of his country, will witnefs thus much with me, that he might very eafily cut oft many of your Majefty's forces, which are laid in garrifon in final! troops, in divers parts bordering upon his coun- try ; yea, and over run all your Engliih pale, to the utter ruin thereof j yea, and camp, as long as ihould pleafe him, under the walls of Dublin, for any ftrength your Majefty hath yet in that kingdom to remove him." Lee's Letter, MSS. See Append. No. i.

" The Rebel's forces, fays Borlace, when Tyrone was proclaimed a traitor, amounted to 1000 hoife, and 62,80 foot, in Ulfter, and 2300 in Conaught ; all at Tyrone's beck : whereas before, 800 foot, and 300 horfe, were efteemed, on the government's fide, an invincible army," Reduft. of Ireland, p. 175-6.

CHAP.

i-4 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. I.

CHAR VI.

Defmond' J Infurre&ion.

t • ^ H E Earl of Defmond's vaft eftate in the province of Munfter, had been X an irrefiftible temptation to former Chief Governors, in this reign, to make, or to proclaim him, a rebel, their prey being enfured to them, in either cafe, by his forfeiture. And, indeed, it does not appear, that this Earl, before he was proclaimed, had committed any over-act of treafon; unlefs his private -family-quarrels with the Earl of Ormond, about their refpeclive powers, and limits, can be deemed fuch. About a month before he was proclaimed, his Countefs'had delivered up their only fon, together with Patrick O'Haly, Bifhop of Mayo, and Con. O'Rorke, a Francifcan Friar, both nobly defcended, and who had fled to her for protection, to Sir William Drury, Lord Juftice at Limerick, as hoftages, and pledges of the Earl's loyalty -, nor can I find, that any thing but (a) meer fufpicion was then alleged againft him, and that only becaufe he refufed, or delayed, to draw out his forces againft his brother John of Defmond, who was in arms againft the Queen (i). u Whilft he held off," fays the Bifhop of Chicefter, " with delays, and delufions, he was declared a traitor, in the beginning of December, 1579, after which proclamation, the Chief juftice Drury appointed the war to be profecuted againft him, by the Earl of Ormond." But certainly, fuch fufpicion ought, in all equitable judg- ment, to have been removed, by his confenting to have his only fon delivered upas a pledge of his future loyalty; who, though but an infant, was carried to London, and detained a prifoner in the tower there, for many years after. It is no fmall confirmation of his being previoufly innocent of any over-ad of

treafon,

(i) Thankful Remembrance, p. 43.

(a) " When the Earl of Defmond attended Drury's he refufed to comply, but ftill profefled his loyalty,

fummons to Kilmalock, "with a well appointed He was then ordered to deliver up one of his caftles,

company of hoile and foot, he was committed to cuf- as a pledge of his fidelity, (his fon was delivered up

tody on bare fufpicion ; but, upon making the moft as fuch, before,) his anfwer confided of complaints

iblemn promifes of loyalty, and fidelity, he obtained of injuries. He was therefore, by proclamation, de-

his liberty, retired from the camp, but refufed to at- clared a traitor, if within twenty days he fhould not

tend the Deputy ; and, therefore, was ftill considered fubmit. In the mean time, his territories were, pur-

as a favourei of foreign invaders, and their caufe. pofely, made the feat of war, and expofed to all the

Upon this bare fufpicion, Malby attacked his town of ravages of a neceiTuous army. Defmond, in revenge,

Rathkeal. This the Earl confidered as an unprovok- appeared before the town ofYoughall, took it, cut

ed, and unwarrantable attempt, which he was juftified off a detachment fent to its relief ; and, then firft de-

in repairing. Malby prepares to reduce his caftles, clared for the Catholic caufe." See Lei. Hift. of

but Drury's death prevents him. Defmond was now Ireland, Vol. ii. from p. 259 to 277. fummonsd by Sir William Pelhani (Drury's fucceffor)

Ch.VI. CIVIL WARS i N I R E L A N D. 15

treafbn, that, when it was refblved in council, to proclaim him a traitor (2^ ; the Lords Gormanftown and Delvin, refufed to fign the proclamation, \\ith the other counfellors, for. which they incurred her Majefty's difpleafure.

BUT what ever excefTes Defmond committed after he was proclaimed, it is certain, that he forely (b) regretted them ; as appears by the. following letter, written by him to the Earl of Ormond; who, though his near relation, had long been his rival and enemy, and was now appointed his judge (c).

GREAT is my grief, when I think how heavily her Majefty is bent to disfavour me; and, howbeit I carry the name of an undutiful fubjecl, yet God knoweth, that my heart, and mind, are always moft loyally inclined to ferve rny moft loving Prince, fo it may pleafe her Highnefs to remove her difpleafure from me. As I may not condemn myfelf of diflayalty to her Majefty, fo I cannot excufe my faults, but muft confefs I have incurred her Majefty's indig- nation; yet when the caufe, and means, which were found, and devifed to make me commit folly, fhall be known to her, Highnefs,, I reft in an aflured hope, that her moft gracious Majefty will think of me as my heart deferveth ; as alfo of thofe, who wrung me into undutifulnefs. From my heart, I am forty that folly, bad councils, flights, or any other things, have made me to forget my duty ; and therefore, I am moft defirous to get conference with your Lordfhip, to the end I may open, and declare to you how tirannoufly I

was

(2) Abbe Geoghegan?s Hift. of Ireland, Vol. iii. p. 434. (3) Scrinia Sacra.

(I) Defmond now fa w his whole extent of terri- by the fword, rather than thus condemned to \vafle in

tory ravaged, and depopulated without mercy ; and, famine." — In this ditmal fltuaiion of the cnce great

like an abjed outlaw, was compelled to take iTieher Earl of Defmond, " His Coumefs fell upon her knees

in his woods. Hrs miferable vaffals were abandoned before the Lord Deputy, and, with tears petitioned,

to daily flaughter, or to the ftill more horrid calamity but in vain, that htr liufband fliouid be received to

of famine. When, at-the- time that their lives were mercy. His force, as a rebel, was now foo incorr-

fpared, they were frequently bereft of all means of fideiable, aisd his pofTeffions to be forfeited were of

fupport, Hook aflures us, that they were teen follow- too princely an extent, for the Queen's miniflers to ad-

ing the army, with their wives and children; and mit of pardon, or fubmiflion." Lei. Hift. of Ireland,

begging that all might be refcued from their mifeties Vol. ii. p. 278-9.

(c) Spencer's defcription of the calamities brought crying out of their graves, they did eat the dead car- on the people of Munfter, by this war is really fhock- rions, happy were they could find them, yea, and ing. " Notwithftanding," fays he, " that the fame one another foon after ; infomuch, as the very car- was a moft rich, and plentiful country, full of corn, cafies they fpared not to fcrape out of their graves, and cattle. — Yet* ere one year and an half, they were and, if they found a plot of watercress or fhamrocks, brought to fuch wretchednefs, as that any ftony heart there they flocked as to a feaft for the time, yet not would have rued the fame. Out of every corner of able to continue there withal; that in fhort the woods and glynns, they came creeping forth upon fpace, there was none almoft left, and a moft popu- their hands, for their legs could not bear them ; they lous-and plentiful country fuddenly left void oi man, ooked like anatomies of death j they fpake like ghofts and bead.'" Stale of Ireland, p. 1 58.

16 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. I.

was ufed ; humbly craving, that you will vouchfafe to appoint fome time, and place, where and when I may attend your honour ; and then I doubt not to make it appear, how dutiful a mind I carry ; how faithfully I have, at my own charge, ferved her Majefty, before I was proclaimed; how forrowful I am for my offences, and how faithfully I am affeded ever hereafter to ferve her Majefty ; and fo I commit your Lordfhip to God.

(Subfcribed,) GIRALD DESMOND.

WHETHER the conference fo earneftly defired in this letter was obtained, or not, does not appear. We only know (4), " that Kelly of Morierta, (of whom the Earl of Ormond had taken affiirance of his righting againft the re- bels) with twenty five of his kearn, did in the night-time affault the Earl of Defmond in his cabbin, then deferted by all his friends. Kelly entering the hut found that all were fled, but one man of venerable afped, ftretched lan- gtiidly before a fire. The leader affailed, and wounded him. He ex- claimed, " Spare me, for I am the Earl of Defmond." Kelly fmote off his head, and brought it to the Earl of Ormond ^ by whom it was conveyed to the Queen, and impaled on London bridge (d) (e}"

UPON

{4) Carte's Ormond, Vol. i. Leland's Hift. of Ireland, Vol. ii. p. 288.

'(J) The Irifh analifts, and other Roman Catholic churche", that the town's-men were all Catholics, writers, do not fcruple to fay, " That the vengeance and containing their hands from plunder, were re- of God was fignal in this event," on account of this proved by fome of that wicked company, for that Earl's having committed great cruelties on his taking they took not pait of the fpoil, as others did; but ofYoughall, " which he gave up to plunder, not they anfwered, that they ought not to rob or fpoil (paring even the churches, and whatfoever was facred, better chriftians than themfelves; and one of the faid which his foldiers polluted and defiled, biinging every Spaniards cut his cloak, as St. Martin did, in five thing to utter confufion and defolation, and making parts, and diftributed the fame upon five children, havock, as well of facred veftments and chalices, as that were ftripped of their cloaths, and left naked by of any other chattle. Certain Spaniards, adds my fome of the Reams." Theatre of Catholic and Pro- author, who were with them, at that wicked exploit, teftant religion, p. 436. perceiving by the furniture and ornaments of the

(e) Mr. Spencer relates the firft caufe of difaffec- the crown of England; to whom the M'Swiney's,

tion, in the Defmond family, to the crown of England, M'Shee's, and M'Mahon's, being then fervants, and

as follows ; " In the reign of King Edward the IVth, followers, did the like, and have ever fithence fo

Thomas Earl of Defmond, being through falfe fubor- continued. And with them, (they fay) all the peo-

nation (as they fay) of the Queen, for fome offence pie of Munfter went out, and many other of them,

by her againft him conceived, brought to his death which were mere Englifli, thenceforth joined with

at Tredagh (Drogheda) moft unjuftly, notwithftand- the Irifli againft the King, and termed themfelves

ing that he was a very good and found fubjeft to the very Irifli, taking on them Irifli habits and cuftoms,

King; thereupon all his kinfmen of the Geraldines, which never fince could be clean wiped away, but the

which then was a mighty family in Munfter, in revenge contagion hath remained ftill among their pofterity." of that huge wrong, rofe in arms againft the King, State of Ireland, p. 102.

and utterly renounced, and forfook all obedience to

Ch. VI. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. 17

UPON the attainder of this Earl, and his confederates (5), not lefs than 574,628 acres of land, Englifh meafure, fell to the crown, and were difpofed of by Queen Elizabeth, to Englifh undertakers.

THAT Queen having long determined to fend James, the only fon and heir of this EarlofDefmond, (who, as we have obferved(6), from his infancy had been kept a prifoner in the tower, as a pledge of his father's loyalty) ;o Ireland, in hopes that his prefence there would draw off his father's followers from James Fitzthomas, who had ufurped the title of Defmond, and gave her Ma- jefty's forces much oppofition, did in the year 1600, put that defign in execu- tion. The young Earl landed at Youghall, October I4th, and was conducted from thence, by Captain Price, to the President of Munfler at Moyallo ; the Captain prefented him to his Lordfhip, together with her Majefty's letter, and letters patent under the great feal of England, for his reftitution in blood and honour.

" THE Lord Prefident of Munfler, in order to make trial of the affections of the Earl's Kindred, and followers, confented, at his own requeft, that he fhould make a journey from Moyallo into the county of Limerick; the Earl came to Killmalock of a Saturday in the evening; and by the way, and at his entrance into the town, there was a mfghty concourfe of people, infomuch, that all the ftreets, doors, and windows, yea, the very gutters, and tops of houfes were filled with them ; and they welcomed him with all expreffions, and figns of joy ; every one throwing upon him wheat and fait, according to an ancient ceremony ufed in that province. That night, the Earl was invited tofup with Sir George Thornton, and although he had a guard of foldiers, who made a lane from his lodgings to Sir George's houfe, yet the confluence of peo- ple was fo great, that he could not, in half an hour, make his pafTage thro' the crowd. After fupper, he had the fame encounters in his return to his lodgings. The next day being Sunday, the Earl went to church to hear divine fervice; and all the way his countrymen ufed loud, and rude, dehortations to keep him from church ; unto which he lent a deaf ear ; but after fervice and the fermon, were ended, the Earl coming forth of the church, was railed at, and fpit upon, by thofe, that before his going to church, were fb defirous to fee, and falute him ; infomuch, as after that public profeflion of his religion, the town was cleared of the multitude of ftrangers; and the Earl, from thence forwards, might walk as quietly, and freely, and as little in effect followed,

D or

• (5) -MbrKff Hift. fol. 4. (6) Pacata Hibernia, fol. 90.

i8 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk, I.

or regarded, as any other private gentleman ; nor did any of his father's fol- lowers, except fome of the meaneft fort' of freeholders, after that, refort un- to him."

As nothing can excufe the barbarous incivility of thefe Irifh to the young Earl of Defmond on that occafion, fo this pafTage furnifhes no ill proof of the miftaken policy of the then government of Ireland, which coniifted in profe~ Jyting by force, or fedudion, to the eftablifhed religion, the heirs of the prin- cipal Irifh families, with a view of drawing their followers, and dependents after them. " For the truth is," as my (7) Author well obferves in the fame place, " the young Earl's religion, being a Proteftant, was the only caufe that bred this coynefs in them all; for, if he had been a Romifh Catholic, the hearts, and knees, of all degrees in the province, would have bowed ua- to him."

CHAR VII.

Lord Deputy MountjoyV, and Lord VerulamV opinions of the Government of

Ireland in 1602.

AND, indeed, all thinking men faw, and regretted, that the policy of the government of Ireland, at this jundure, was as weak, as it was wicked. Lord (i) Deputy Mountjoy (2), in a letter to the Lords of the Council in England, feems to impute to its fraud, and feverity, the continuance of the war even to that time. " All the Irifh," fays he, " that are now obftinate, are fo only out of their diffidence to be (a) fafe in any forgivenefs ; and though they are weary of the war, they are unwilling to have it ended, for fear left, upon a peace, there would enfue a fevere reformation of religion. They have the antient fwelling, and defire of liberty, in their countrymen, to work upon ; their fear to be rooted out, and to have their old faults punifh- ed upon particular difcontents ; and, generally, all over the kingdom (£), their

fear

(7) Ib. (i) In 1600. (2) Pacat. Hibern. in fine.

(a) " When feme one, who hath been a bad mem- hath been order given, without any trial at all, for

ber, pardoned by your Majefty, hath heard himfelf the execution of him. And fo he has loft his life to

exclaimed upon to be a notable thief after his pardon ; the great diihonour of your Majefty, and difcredit of

and hath (imply come in, without any bonds, or any your laws. — And this di/honeft practice has been by

enforcement, to an open fefllon, to take his trial by confent of your Deputies." Lee's Memorial to Q^

your Majefty's laws, if any could accufe him j not- Elizabeth, MSS. College Library, withstanding his coming in after this manner, there

(*) " All the Irifh Chieftains concurred in the fame general demand of a free exercife of religion."

Lei, Hift of Ireland, Vol. ii. p. 335.

Ch.VII. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. 19

fear of a perfecution for religion. The leaft of which, alone, have been many times fufficient to drive the beft, and moft quiet, dates into fudden confufion." Nay he even feemed to apprehend, that thefe fears, and their diffidence to be fafe in any forgivenefs (c), " would keep all fpirits from fettling, breed new combinations, and even ftir the towns themfelves, to folicit foreign aid, with promife to caft themfelves into their protection." In order to pre- vent which, he fubmits, to their Lordfhips confideration, the following particulars.

" As all pain, and anguifh. impatient of the prefent, doth ufe change for a remedy, fo (fays his Lordfhip) will it be impoflible for us to fettle the minds of thofe people into a peace, or reduce them unto order, while they feel the fmart of thefe fenfible griefs, and apparent fears, which I have remembered to your Lordfhips, without fome hopes of redrefs, and fecurity." After which, he tells them, " that they fhould be advifed, how they punifhed in their bo- dies, and goods, fuch, merely for religion, as did profefs to be faithful fub- jeclsj and againft whom the contrary could not be proved; that it would as much avail the fpeedy fettlement of Ireland, as any thing, if it would pleafe her Majefty, to deal liberally with the Irifh Lords of the country, or fuch as were of good reputation among them, in the diftribution of fuch lands, as they formerly poffeffed, or fuch as the ftate could make little ufe of for her Majefty. If they continue (adds his LordQiip) as they ought to do, and yield the Queen as much commodity, as fhe may otherwife expecl, fhe hath made a good pur- chafe of fuch fubjecls for fuch lands." Lord Verulam (3), • in a letter to Se- cretary Cecil, about the fame time, earneftly recommended the like lenity, and forbearance, with refpect to thefe people. " I think," fays he, " that much letting of blood in the decline of the defeafe, is againft all method of cure ; that it will but exafperate neceffity, and defpair ; and, perchance0 difco- ver the hollownefs of that which is done already ; which none blazeth to the

D 2 beft

(3) Scrinia "Sacra.

(c) " When there have been notable traitors in have been fecret commiflions given for the murthering

arms againft your Majefty," fays the before-me-ntion- of thofe men. They have been often let upon by the

ed Memorialift, " and fums of money offered for their fheriffj of (hires, to whom the commiflions were di-

heads, yet could by no means be compafled, they reeled, in fundry of which /hires, fome of them have

have in the end, of their own accord, made means for been killed, and others have hardly efcaped. And,

their pardon, and have put in lureties for their good after all this, they have (imply come, without pardon,

behaviour, offering to do great fervice, which they or protection, to fubmit themfelves to your Majefty's

have accordingly performed, to the contentment of laws, where they have been put to their trial upon

the State, and thereupon received pardon, and have feveral enditements, of all which they have been ac-

put in fureties for their good behaviour, and to be quitted, and fet at liberty." Lee's Memorial to the

anfwerable at all times at ailizes, and fefllons, when Queen, Defid. Curiof. Hib. Vol. i. p. 92. they fhould be called. Yet, notwithftanding, there

20 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk I.

beft fhew. But of all other points, to my underftanding, the moil effectual is the well expreffing, or impreffing, of the defign of England on that mifer- able, and defolate nation ; that the Queen feeketh not an extirpation of the people, but a reduction ; and now that fhe hath chaftifed them by royal power, and arms, according to the neceffity of the occafion, that her Majefty taketh no- pleafure in the effufion of blood, and the difplanting of antient generation."

AND then, as to the matter of religion, " All divines," proceeds his Lord- fhip, " do agree that, if confcience be to be enforced (wherein they differ) yet two things muft precede its enforcement j the one, mean's of information, the other, time of operation j neither of which they (the Irilh) have yet had. And there is no doubt, but to wreftle with them is directly oppofite to their reclaim, and cannot but continue their alienation from the government ; and, therefore, a toleration of religion, for a time not definite, feems to me to be a matter warrantable by religion, and in policy of abfomte neceflity: anct the hefitation of this, I think, hath been a great caftine back of affairs ia Ireland."

CHAP. VIIL

Proclamation of Pardon in the Province of Munfter.

.

THE Irifh, during the whole time of this war, feem to have acted chief- ly on the defenfive, notwithftanding the vaft deftruction by fire, fword, and famine, which the Chief Governors of Ireland flill carried through every part of their country. Of this deftruction, the Qpeen herfdf expreffed a very fenfible feeling, when fhe declared on that occafion (i), " That fhe feared the fame reproach might be made to her, which was formerly made by Bato to Tiberius, viz. It is you ! you ! that are to blame for thefe things, who have committed your flocks, not to fhepherds, but to wolves."

THIS private declaration of pity, her Majefty, fbon after, feconded, by a public act of trujy royal beneficence, in facilitating, and inviting, fome of thefe mifguided people's fpeedy return to their duty. But her gracious inten- tions, and commands, in that refpect, were in a great Meafure, neglected, or difobeyed, by her principal Ministers in that kingdom.

IN

(i) Cambd. Eliz. circa Initium.

Ch.IX. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. 2r

" IN (2) December 1600, the Queen difpatched an order to Lord Deputy; Mountjoy, to grant a general pardon to all, and every, the inhabitants of Munfter, of what condition, or ftate foever ; thereby to remove from them all fufpicion of impeachment for their former offences j" " whereunto," adds her Majefty, " the greateft part of them have been violently carried, rather by the power of the arch-traitors (whom fhe, therefore, excepts from pardon,) than by any wilful defection in their loyalty." And to the end the people, wafted with the mifery of thefe wars, might not be burthcned with the expences in the obtaining their pardons, or putting in fecurity for the peace, even when needful, her pleafure was, that the fees of the feal, ihould be either wholly remitted, or ib moderated by the Lord Deputy and council, that her fubje£ts might have caufe the more dutifully, and gladly, to embrace her princely cle- mency, and bounty, in.that her gracious and free pardon."

i IN lefs than two months after the publication of this order, upwards{3) of

four thoufand of the inhabitants of that province fubrnitted, for, protection, to the Lord Prefident All thefe, however, contrary to her Majefty's exprefs commands, " his (4) Lordfhip obliged to put in fuch pledges, as no governor in former times ever had done the like." How little he obferved her Majefty's commands of forgivenefs, in other refjpecls, appears from an hiftory, . which he himfelfhas left us, of the two laft years of this war. Whence we may very probably conclude, that he who was not artiamed to publifh fuch inhu- man actions of his own, as are there recorded, did not fcruple to order, or £ommit, others, if poffible, more inhuman, which he took care to fupprefs.

C H A P. IX.

'

The Spaniards invade Ireland.

IN the 23d of September, 1601, the Spaniards, under (i) Don Juan D'Aguila, landed at Kinfale, full of confidence, that they would be im- mediately joined, in their hoftile attempts on the kingdom^ by all the difcon- tented Irifh. But, herein, they were greatly difappointed ; (2) for u no Irifh of account," fays MorrhTon, " repaired to them^ except fome dependents of Florence M'Carty, who was then in prifon, and had invited them over." And, although Don Juan, immediately after his landing (3), publifhed a manifefto, wherein he folemnly declared, that his defign in this expedition, was to refcue

them

(2) Pacat. Hibern.fol. 116. (3) Id. ib. fol. 121. (4). Id. ib.

(i) Id. ib. fol. 136. (2) Id. ib. (3) Id. ib. fol. 200.

22 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. I.

them from that oppreffion and flavery, which they had fo long groaned under, on account of their religion, (which alfo, he promifed to re-eftablifh in a free and flourishing ftate,) yet he found the generality of thefe people, and even many of their (a) clergy, fo unwilling to aflat him, even for thefe defirable purpofes(4), " that he conceived a juft difdain and fpleen, againft the na- tion." This is confirmed by Lord Deputy Mountjoy himfelf, who informed the Englifh council (5), " that Don Juan, and his Spaniards, conceived' ma- lice againft the Irifh, in whofe aid they too late difcovered no confidence could be placed." It is fcarcely credible, and yet we have the fame Lord Deputy's teftimony for it, that this Spanifh general offered (6) fix (hillings a day to every horfeman among the Irifh, that would join his ftandard. " So that," adds his Lordfhip, " it is a wonder unto us, that from prefent ftaggering, they fall not to flat defection." And, what increafes the wonder ftill more, is, that not- withftanding all this, much the (7) greater part of the Queen's army, which then befieged him in Kinfale, confifted of the Irifh. But fo very few of thefe people were feduced to that defection, by thefe tempting offers and declara- tions ; and fo ridiculoufly incenfed were the Spaniards againft them, on that account, and thought them fo little worthy to be faved in any fenfe, that one of their officers publickly declared (8), " That he believed, Chrift did not <lie for them."

As for thofe few Irifh, who joined the Spaniards on their firft arrival, Sir George Carew himfelf, feems to have made their apology (9), by faying " that little wonder was to be made thereat, confidering what power religion and gold have in the hearts of men, both which the Spaniards brought with them into Ireland."

IMMEDIATELY before the furrender of Kinfale, which was occafioned (b) by the entire defeat of the Northern Irifh under Tyrone, who came to relieve it, her Majefty's army, being in purfuit of the routed enemy (10), " continued

the

(4) Id. ib. fol. 224. (5) Morrif. Hift. fbl, 192. (6) Id. rb. fol. 144. (7) Pacat. Hibern. fol. 213. <8) Pacat. Hibern. (9) Id. ib. fol. 224. (10) Id. ib. fol. 144.

(a) " Candour obliges us to acknowledge, that advantageous point of view) that a considerable party

the Romifh clergy, at this time, did not uniformly among the clergy, recommended a. dutiful fubmitfion

concur in exciting the Irifh to insurrections. Sullivan to the government, and oppofed the practices of their

himfelf, confefles (although it was his bufmefs to re- more intemperate brethren." Leland's Hift. of Ire-

prefent the religious zeal of his countrymen in the moft 4and, Vol. ii. p. 306.

(£) Morriffon affirms, " that the reafon moving in whofe aid, they too late difcovered, no confidence Don Juan to make the furrender of Kinfale, was the could judicially be placed." Hift. of Ireland, f. 193. malice, he and the Spaniards had againft the Irifh ;

Ch. IX. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. 23

execution a mile and an half, and left it there only becaufe they were tired of killing :" " Alid had it not been," fays ( 1 1 ) MorrifTon, who was then on the fpot, " for fome impediments from the wearinefs of the men, and the ill condition of the horfes for want of feeding, we had cut the throats of all the rebels there affembled." " The Earl of Clanrickard killed (12), with his own hand, above twenty Irifh ; and cried out to fpare no rebels : for which the Deputy knighted him in the field, among the dead bodies. There were fome of the Irifh taken prifoners, who offered great ranfoms, but upon their bringing to the camp, they were all hanged."

MORRISSON informs us of one particular, concerning the defeat of the Irifh at the battle of Kinfale ; which, for its oddity at leaft, defer.ves fome notice (i 3). ' On the fame day," fays he, " an old written book was fhewn to the Lord Deputy, wherein was a prophecy, naming the ford and hill, where this battle was given ; and foretelling a great overthrow to befall the Irifh in that place." Sir George Carew has given a more circumftantial account of this prophecy (14). " He had often .heard the Earl of Thomond fay, that in an old book of Irifh prophecies, which himfeif had feeii, it was reported, that towards the latter days, a battle fhould be fought between the Englifh and the Irifh, in a place which the book named, near unto Kinfale ; and the Earl coming out of Eng- land, and landing at Kinfale, in the time of the fiege, Sir George, and divers others, heard him report the prophecy, and name the place, where, according to it, the battle fhould be fought. The day on which the vidory was obtain- ed, he and the Earl rode out to fee the dead bodies of the vanquished, and afked fome that were there prefent, by what name that ground was called •, they not knowing to what end the queftion was afked, told the tnie name thereof; which was the fame, that the Earl had before reported to him. " I befeech the reader," continues the Prefident, " to believe me, for I de- liver nothing but truth j but as one fwallow makes no fummer, fo fhall not this one true prophecy iacreafe my credulity in old predictions of that kind."

(H) Hift. of Ireland, fol. 178. (12) Pacat. Hibern. (13) Ubi fupra fol. 179,

(14) Pacat. Hibern, fol. 235-

CHAP.

24 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. L

CHAP. X. '

'The Cruelty of the Englifb Army in Munfter.

ff

IN December 1 600, about nine months before the arrival of the Spaniards ( i ), " There was not, as has already been obferved, in the whole province of Munfter (a), one caftle that held out againft the Queen ; nor was it known that there were five rebels in a company there/' And afterwards, at the bat- tle of Kinfale (2), almoft all the infnrgents of the other provinces, who were there attended under Tyrone, were totally (b) difperfed. Yet the unceafing cruelty of the victors, which increafed in proportion to the weaknefs of the vanquifhed, provoked thefe latter to have recourfe, once more, to arms for their natural defence. After that battle, the Englifh feemed determined to deftroy, indifcriminately, all the remaining Irifh, that came in their way ; which they had fometimes done with fuch circumftances of barbarity, that the Irifh, in defpair, were often tempted to prevent them, by deftroying them- felves. Thus, at the taking of the caftle of Dunboy, " the (3) Lord Prelidenr, fuppofing that the befieged in their extremity would leap into the fea, which was near, polled fbmeof the officers there with boats, who had the killing of about thirty of them, that attempted it." That garrifon had fent out a mef- fenger offering to furrender the caftle, if they might have aflurance of their lives; but the Lord Prefident, inftead of granting that affurance, turned the meflenger over to the Marfhal, by whofe direction he was (4) executed."

NOTHING

(i) Pacat. Hibern. (2) Id. ib. (3) Ib. fol. 320. (4) Ib.

i

fa) " And now (December, 1600) there was not loofe vagabonds difperfed in all corners." Morrif. Hift. a caftle in Munfter held for the rebels, nor any com- of Ireland, fol. 94. pany of ten rebels together, though there wanted not

(b) We are told by a contemporary Roman Catholic Englifh, by reafon of fo many great overthrows given

writer, that Tyrone's defeat at the battle of Kinfale, unto them, were broken, and put to flight by a few

was a judgment from God, on account " of his fol- horfe-men, that iffued out of the Engliih camp ; be-

diers, in their march thither to relieve the Spaniards, ing thereunto folicited, and procured by the Earl of

having robbed and fpoiled the monafteries of Tirana- Clanrickard, an Irifh (Roman Catholic) Earl, then in

lage, and Kilcrea ; and prophaned other churches. the Engliih camp. Wherefore," adds my author,

For, fays that writer, the Queen's army confiiled, for " the faid Earl of Tyrone, returning from that over-

themoftparr, of Irifh Catholic Soldiers; the Englifh throw, faid, that it was the vengeance of the Mighty

being altogether, faving a very few, confumed by Hand of God, and his mod juft judgment, which

cold and fau)ine, being unable to endure the toil and ought to be executed upon fuch wicked, and facrile-

labour of fo unfeafonable a winter campaign. Yet gious foldiers, that perpetrated fuch outrages upon

Tyrone's army exceeding the other in multitude of facred places." Theatre of religion, p. 423. people, and ever before that lime, terrible to the

Ch. X. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. 25

j

NOTHING can better fhew the implacable Fury of thefe Englifti comman- ders, and the defpair to which that fury drove the Irifh, than fome particulars of this fiege, which are thus related by the Lord Prefident himfelf (5). " M'Geoghegan, chief commander of the caftle, being mortally wounded with divers fhots in his body, the garrifon made choice of one Thomas Taylor to be their chief; who, having nine barrels of powder, threw himfelf and it into the vault, and there fate down by it, with a lighted match in his hand; vowing, and protefling to fet it on fire, and blow up the caftle, himfelf, and all the reft, except they might have promife of life, which was by the Lord Prefident refufed. His Lordfhip intending to bury them in the ruins, and en- tering amongft them into the caftle, the reft of the garrifon conftrained Taylor to furrender fimply ; who, with eight and forty more, being ready to come forth, and the Lord Prefident's officers having entered to receive them, they found the above-mentioned M'Geoghegan lying there mortally wounded ; but perceiving Taylor, and the reft, ready to furrender themfelves, he (M'Geoghe- gan) raifing himfelf up from the ground, and fnatching a lighted candle, ftaggered therewith to a barrel of powder, which, for that purpofe, was unheaded; of- fering to caft it into the fame; but Captain Power took him, and held him in his arms, until he was by our men inftantly killed. The whole number of the ward," continues my author, " confifted of one hundred and forty three feleded men ; being the beft choice of all their forces, of the which no one man efcaped, but were either (lain, executed, or buried in the ruins ; and fo obftinate a defence hath not been feen within this kingdom."

IF any of the Irifh that were in arms, intruded into the dwellings of their peaceable countrymen ; or compelled them to pay them contribution (which they durft not refufe) thefe latter were always considered as harbourers, and abbettors, of rebels, and forfeited their lives, and properties, for having yield- ed to a force, which they could not refift. Thus we find, that the Lord Pre- fident " having (6) heard, that the Munfter fugitives were harboured in certain parts of that province, diverted his forces thither, burnt all the houfes and corn, taking great preys, and harafling the country, killed all man-kind that •were found therein. From thence, he went to other parts, where he did the like ; not leaving behind him man or beaft, corn or cattle, except fuch as had been conveyed into caftles."

E " THE

(5) Ib. fol. 318. (6) Pacat. Hibern. fol. 106.

26 HISTORICAL REVIEW OP THE Bk. I.

" THE (7) ward of Caftle-Liftoel, eighteen in number, when befieged by Sir Charles Wilmot, came forth upon their knees, and begged for mercy. The women and children (fays my author^, Sir Charles fuffered to depart; but; of the weaponed men, he hanged nine; the refidue he detained till he had acquainted the Lord Prefident with what he had done, who gave prefent or- ders for the execution of the reft."

THE fame Sir Charles Wilmott, having at another time gone to feek the enemy in their camp, " entered (8)," fays the fame hiftorian, u without any refiftance; for there he found nothing but hurt, and fick men; whofe lives, and pains, by the foldiers, were both determined."

ONE would immagine, from the virulence of the expreilions, and the bar- barity of the actions, mentioned in this hiftory, that it was written rather by an enemy, than a chief commander of her Majefty's forces; or that the Irifh had, at this time, given fome new, and extraordinary, provocation for fuch inhuman actions, and expreffions. But it is manifeft, even from this hiftory, that, during the laft two years of this war, thefe Irifh were in no fort aggref- fors, or afTailants ; for the author himfelf affures us, from his own know- ledge (9), " That, ever fince the fiege of Kinfale, they were fo much afraid of the Queen's forces, that they lived in their faftneffes, fupporting themfelves with their own victuals, and the wines that had been fent them out of Spain."

CHAP. XI.

A dreadful Famine in Ireland.

THUS did her Majefty's Minifters in Ireland execute her orders of clemency, and forgivenefs, towards thefe mifguided people. Nor were even thefe inceffant acts of cruelty fufficient to appeafe their enmity. That deftruction, which their fwords had left unfinifhed, they now induftrioufly compleated by a general famine. Mr. Morriffon mentions this method of ending the war, with a feeming complacency, at leaft, without diflike. But the eFects of it were too horrible to be unfeelingly related, even by an enemy. " Becaufe(i)," fays he, " I have often made mention formerly, ofourde- ftroying the rebels corn, and uilng all means to famifh them, let me now, by

two

• Id. ib. (8) Ib. (9) Ib.fol. 377.

(i) Hiftory of Ireland, fol. 272.

Ch. XL CIVIL WARS i N I R E L A N D. 27

two or three examples, fhew the miferable eftate to which they were there- by reduced." He then, after telling us, that Sir Arthur Chichefler, Sir Richard Morriflbn, and other commanders, faw a moft horrid fpeclacle of three chil- dren, whereof the eldeft was not above ten years old, feeding on the flefh of their dead mother, with circumftances too (hocking to be repeated ; and that the common fort of rebels were driven to unfpeakable extremities, beyond the records of any Hiftories, that he had ever read in that kind; he mentions an horrid ftratagem of fome of thefe wretched people, to allay the rage of hunger, in the following manner. " Some old women (2)," fays he, " about the Newry, ufed to make a fire in the fields, and divers little children driving out the cattle in the cold mornings, and coming thither to warm themfelves, were by thefe women furprifed, kiHed, and eaten ; which was at laft difco- vered by a great girl, breaking from them by the ftrength of her body ; and Captain Trevor fending out foldiers to know the truth, they fo'und the chil- drens fculls and bones, and apprehended the old women, who were executed for the fad. No fpeclacle," adds MorrifTon, " was n^ore frequent in the ditches of towns, and efpecially in wafted countries, than to fee multitudes of thefe poor people dead, with their mouths all coloured green by eating nettles, docks, and all things they could rend up above ground."

THE Lord Deputy and Council (3), in a letter to the Lords in England concerning their receiving the fubmiflions of fome Irifh chiefs, acquainted them, " That they had received thefe fubmiflions, partly for the good of the fervice, and partly out of human commiferation -, having with our own eyes (fay they) daily feen the lamentable jftate of the country, wherein we found every where men dead of famine;" They add, " that they had been credibly informed, that in the fpace of a few months, there were above three thoufand ilarved in Tyrone."

(2) Morrif. ib. foi. 273. (3) Ib. fol. 237.

E2 CHAP.

28 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. I.

C H A P. XII.

The greater, and better Part of the Iri/b in this War, fought for the Queen again/I their Countrymen. The hard Terms of their being received

to Mercy.

•^.

IN thelriih parliament of 1614, the Catholic members, in order to obtain a fufpenfion of fome penal ftatutes, then put in ftrid execution againft thofe of their religion, alleged their, anceftors fignal fervices, 'exhibited in the royal army, during the wars of the former reign (i). " Chronicles of blood," faid a member of that houfe of commons, " fhew the glory of our progenitors, as the Queen's army was full of natives." Nay it was openly affirmed, in the fame parliament, and might have been then eafily contradided if untrue (2), " That the gentlemen of Ireland had fpent as much in that war, as the Queen herfelf; and that one gentleman, of only three hundred pounds a year, expended ten thoufand pounds on that occafion." Moft certain it is, that the principal nobility, and gentry:of the kingdom, and all the cities and cor- porate towns, perfifted in their allegiance to her Majefty, notwithstanding the many tempting offers made them by the Spaniards, in order to withdraw them from it. It is alfo certain (3), that more than one half of that gallant army under Lord Mountjoy, which fo fuccefsfully attacked, and at laft en- tirely defeated Tyrone, was Irifh; nor did their having (4) lefs pay than the Englifh, or their being expofed to endure the brunt in every action, " leffen their zeal, or activity, in the fervice." Yet the terms on which the fubmit- ting Irifh were received to mercy, feem to have been calculated, not fo much to reclaim them, as to make them ftill continue defperately in action. For, befides the ufual pledges of their wives and children, with other cautions, which, contrary to her Majefty's merciful order of December, 1600, (before recited) were exacted from them; as a further proof of their fincere fubmi£- fion, and previous to their pardon, it was alfo required, that they fhould perform what was called, fome iignal fervice on their own people j which, in reality, was nothing lefs, than that they fhould bafely betray, or perfi- dioufly murder, fome of their neareft kindred, or former frknds. Mr. Mor- rifon acquaints us (5), " that Lord Mountjoy never received any to mercy, but fuch as had fo drawn blood on their fellow-rebels. Thus," fays (6) he,

" M'Mahon,

(i) Commons Journal, Vol. i. (a) Ib. (3) Morrif. Hift. fol. iao. (4) Id. ib, fol. 208.

(5) Ib, fol. 43. (6) Ib, fol. 77.

Ch. XII. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. ^

" M'Mahon, and M'Artmoyle, offered to fubmit ; but neither could be re- ceived, without the other's head." But barbarous as thefe terms of accept- ance were, they were fometimes reluctantly complied with. " J (7) have- made," fays Lord Mountjoy himfelf, " fome of the fubjecls, already, reclaim- ed, and in thefe times fufpeded, put themfelves in blood already; for evea now I hear, that Lord Mountgarret's fons have killed fome of Cloncare's, and fome of Tyrrill's followers, iince I contefted with their father about fomewhat I heard fufpicious of them." I fhall mention one notable inftance of this kind of fervice, contrived, and related, by the Lord Prefident of Munfter himfelf.

" ABOUT (8) this time," fays he, " Nugent came to make his fubmiffion to the Prefident; by whom he was told, that as his crimes and offences were extraordinary, he could not hope for pardon, unlefs he would deferve it by fome extraordinary fervice •, .which, faid the Prefident, if you fhall perform, you may deferve not only pardon for your faults, committed heretofore, but alfo fome ftore of crowns to relieve your wants hereafter. Nugent, who was valiant and daring, and in whom the rebels repofed great confidence, prefent- ly promifed not to be wanting in any thing that one man could accomplrfh ; and, in private, made offer to the Prefident, that, if he might be well recompenfed, he would ruin, within a fhort time, James Fitzthomas, the then reputed Earl of Defmond, or his brother John. But the Prefident, hav- ing before contrived a plot for James, gave him in charge to undertake his brother John. Accordingly, fome few days after this, Nugent riding in com- pany with John Fitzthomas, and one Mr. Copinger, permitted this great cap- tain to ride a little before him, minding, his back being turned, to, fhoot him through with his piftol, which, for the purpofe, was well charged with two, balls. The opportunity offered, the piftol bent, both heart and hand ready to do the deed, when Copinger, at the inftant, {hatched the piftol from him, crying Treafon! wherewith John Fitzthomas turning himfelf about, perceived his intent. Nugent thinking to efcape by the goodnefs of his horfe, fpurred hard, the horfe ftumbled, and he was taken; and the next day, after exami- nation, and confeflion of his intent, hanged. In his examination, he freely confeffed the whole intent, which was to have difpatched John Fitzthomas, and immediately after, to have pofted to his brother James, to carry the firft. news thereof; intending to call him afide in fecret manner, to relate the par- ticulars of his brother's murder, and then to execute as much upon him alfo; adding, that although they fhould take away his life, which he would not intreat them to fpare, yet was their own fafety never the more afTured; for

that

(7) Id. ib. fol. 132, (8) Pacat. Hibern. fol. 37'8.

3o HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bkl.

that there were many others, whom himfelf perfectly knew to have fworn unto the Prefident, to effedt as much as he intended : this confeffion, being fealed with his death, did ftrike fearful terror into the two brethren ; and although the plot attained not fully the defired fuccefs, yet it proved to be of great confequence."

YET thefe fubmitting Irifli, who upon very light fufpicion, were obliged to comply with fuch cruel injunctions, were eminently ferviceable to Lord Mountjoy, in the profecution of this war. His Lordfhip acknowledges, in feveral letters to the Englifh Council, the great affiftance they had given him ; and, in one of them exprefsly fays, " That (9), if thefe fubmittees had not furnifhed his army with beeves, it would have been in great diftrefs." " Yet the commanders of that army often took their cattle (10), without payment in ready money ; which," fays MorrhTon, " grieved them :" or, if they meant to fhew them particular favour, " they paid them in the new bafe coin, then made current by proclamation, in afhilling of which, there was not more (i i) than two pence value in filver."

CHAP. XIII.

Tyrone fues for Pardon, and obtains it.

LORD Mountjoy was highly ambitious of putting an end to this war; an honour, which his predecefTors in the government had in vain en- deavoured to attain. For this purpofe, he had received the fubmilfions of many of the well-difpofed Irifh chiefs ; and by fire, famine, and the fword, had weakened, or ruined, mod of thofe, who ftill continued obftinate. He had reduced Tyrone himfelf to great extremity ; having taken, or deftroyed, moft of his fortrefTes ; and (what perhaps was more mortifying to him) having broken in pieces (i) the chair of ftone, wherein, for many centuries, the O'Neals of his family had been invefted with more than kingly authority. His Lordfhip had narrowly enquired into the conduct of former chief gover- nors; and finding that the principal caufes of their ill fuccefs, in the reduclion of this people, were their inceffant cruelties, and frequent breaches of the public faith, he abftained, in fome meafure, from (a) the former ; and, with

refpeft

(9) Morrif. Hift. fol. 115. (10) Id. ib. (n) Id. ib. fol. 23. (i) Id. ib. foJ. 236.

(a) The friendly, and honourable manner of his paflage reJated by his Secretary Morriflbn. " The receiving, and entertaining fome of the fubmitting 23d of April, his Lordfliip," fays he, " kept St. chieftains of the Irifh, may be feen in the following George's feaft at Dublin, with foleran pomp, the cap- tains

Ch. XIII. . CIVIL. WARS IN IRELAND. 51

refpeft to the latter, altho' he was not very punctual to his word in his private dealings, yet he found it abfolutely neceffary, for obtaining his great end, to obferve it ftri£tty in his promifes of pardon, and in all public matters, wherein the honour of the ftate was concerned (2). *' He kept his word inviolably in public affairs," fays his Secretary Morriffon, " without which he never could have been intrufted by the Irifh; but, otherwife, in his promifes he was dilatory, and doubtful; fo as, in all events, he was not without his evaflon."

BY thefe means, the tranquillity of Ulfter was fo far reftored, in Au^uft 1602, that the Deputy told Cecil, in a letter of that date (3), " That, except things fell out much contrary to what he had. good reafon to expect, he pre- iumed, if the Queen kept the Irilh garrifons ftrong, and well provided for ail the enfuing winter, fhe might, before the next fpring, fend into Ireland pro- per perfons, with her pleafure how much, and in what manner, every man fhould hold his land ; and what laws fhe would, have current there ; and he was confident, they would be obeyed. And after this winter," adds his Lord- fhip, ".I think fhe may withdraw her garrifons, only leaving wards in their places; and if I be not much deceived, you fhall find, that thefe men will be the laft of all Ireland that will forfake the Queen's party ; and, I prefume, after this winter, they will do the Queen good fervice againft the Spaniards, if they come."

ON (4) the 30th of March following, Tyrone came to Mellifont, where be- ing admitted to the Lord Deputy's chamber, he kneeled at the door humbly, for a long fpace, making his penitent fubmiflion to her Majefty. And the next day he made a moft humble fubmiflion in writing, figned with his own hand; wherein, after abfolutely cafting himfelf on her Majefty's mercy, with- out prefuming to juftify his difloyal proceedings, he among other things, moft forrowfully, and earneftly defired, that it might pleafe her Majefty, rather in fbme meafure to mitigate her jufl indignation againft him, in that he did re- ligioufly vow, that the firft motives of his rebellion were neither practice, ma- lice, nor ambition; but that he was induced firft by fear of his life, which, he conceived, was fought by his enemies practice, to ftand upon his guard." This

fubmiflion

(2) Morriflbn, ib. fol. 236. (3) Id. ib. (4) Id. ib.

tains bringing up his meat, and fome of the colonels Spaniagh, chief of the Cavanaghs in Leinfier. Thefe," attending on his perfon at the table, to which feaft, adds my author, " were entertained with plenty of the rebels were invited, whom his Lord/hip had late- wine, and all kindnefs ; his Lordlhip alluring them, ly received to mercy, under her Majefty's protection, that as he had been a fcourge to them in rebellion, fo till their pardons might be figned ; namely, Turlogh he would now be a mediator for them to her Majefty, M'Henry, captain of the Fews, Ever M'Cooley, in their ftate of fubjecls, they ftanding firm and con- chief of the Fearney, O'Hanlon, a Lord of Ulfter, flant to their obedience." Hift. of Ireland, p. 99. Pfaeiim M'Feagb, chief of the O'Byrnes, and Donell

32 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. I.

fubmifllon in writing (adds Mr. MorrifTon) was prefented by the Earl of Ty- rone, kneeling before the Lord Deputy and Council, and in the prefence of a great affembly, whereupon the Lord Deputy, in the Queen's name, promifed to the Earl, for himfelf, and his followers, her Majefty's gracious pardon. And to himfelf the reftoring of his dignity of the Earldom of Tyrone, and of his blood j and likewife new letters patent for all his lands, which, in his for- mer letters patent, had been granted to him, before his rebellion (5). " Thus had the Queen's army under Lord Mountjoy, broken, and abfolutely fubdued, "all the Lords and chieftains of the Irifhry. Whereupon, the multitude being "brayed, as it were, in a mortar, with fword, famine, and peftilence together, -fubmitted themfelves to the Englifh government, received the laws, and Ma- •giflrates, and moft gladly embraced the * King's pardon, and peace, in all parts x>f th& realm, with demonftrations of joy, and comfort."

(5) Sir John Davis's Hift. Relations. * James I.

BOOK

HISTORICAL. AND CRITICAL

E V I E W

OF. THE

BOOK II.

CHAP. I.

Tbe State of the Irijh under King James I.

O ME few years before Queen Elizabeth's death, King James was at (i) the utmofl pains to gain the friendfhip of Roman Catholic Princes, as a neceffary precaution to facilitate his accefllon to the Englilh Throne. Lord Home, who was himfelf a Roman Catholic, was entrufted with a fecret com- miffion to the Pope ; the Archbifhop of Glafcow, another Roman Catholic, was very adive with thofe of his own religion. Sir James Lindfay made great progrefs in gaining the Englifh Papifts." And as it feems to have been part of that King s policy, in order to pave the way to his fucceffion (2), " to wafte the vigour of the ftate of England, by fome infenfible, yet powerful, means," he had his agents in Ireland, fomenting Tyrone's war, ( " The Scots daily car- rying munition to the rebels in Ulfter.") So that the Queen was driven to an almoft incredible (a) expence in carrying it on, and her enemies Hill encouraged by James's fecret afliftance, and promifes.

F " IT

(i) Robenfon's Hift. of Scotland, &c. (z) Secret Correfpondence between King James and Sir Robert Cecil, p. 75.

{a) " The Queen's charge for Ireland," faysMor- thoufand, fix hundred and feventy-three pounds, nine- riiTon, " from the iftof April 1600, to the 2gth of teen fhillings and four-pence halfpenny." Hift. of March 1602, was two hundred and eighty-three Ireland, fol. 197.

34. HISTORICAL REVIEW or THE Bk.IL

"!T (3) is certain," fays Mr. Ofburne, " that the promife, King James made to Roman Catholics, was regiftered, and amounted fo high at leaft, as a tolera- tion of their religion."

" OF(4)thefe intrigues, Qjieen Elizabeth received obfcure hints from feve- ral quarters (5)." Her Majefty in a letter to the King himfelf in i 599, gave him to underftand, " that there were many letters from Rome, and elfewhere, which told the names of men, &uthorifed by him (tho* (he hoped falfely) to allure his conformity "as time might ferve, to eftablifh the dangerous party, and fail his own."

THE Roman Catholics, in the different provinces of Ireland, were, on James's acceffion, fo much elated with the hopes of.the above-mentioned tole- ration,, kad bad takeft tip fuch an opinion, that the King himfelf was a Catho- lic, that they ran into fome exceifes, which have been fmce, unfairly repre- fented by Hiftorians, as fo many overt acts of treafon, and rebellion. For, on that miftaken notion, they> exercifed their religion {[Sublickly, and even feized on fome churches for their own ufe. The Mayors of Cork, and Waterford, are faid to have refufed to proclaim the King, becaufe they did not proclaim himprecifely at the time appointed by his excellency; and the citizens of Cork would not, it feems, fuffer the King's munition, and artillery, which was en- trufted to their keeping, lo be conveyed to a new fort, built within their fran- chifes, but againft their confent. But we can eafily make it appear,, that thefe paffages admit of a much more favourable interpretation, than what has been given them. For it is not furely probable, that men, who had prefer ved their allegiance under a fevere perfectition of their religion, during all the time of Qjieen Elizabeth's reign, would, without any fcew caufe, all at once, become rebels to a Prince, from whom they hourly expeded a toleration of it; and whom they generally believed to be privately of their own way of think- ing in that fefpe£t. They excu fed their 'delay in proclaiming the King, by afering his Excellency, that it was occafioned (6), " Only -by their defire of doing it with the greater folemnity;" which excufe appears to have been accepted; for when they had, foon after, proclaimed his Majefty, in the folemn manner they intended^ l?ord Mountjoy told them (7), " That in regard of their joyful, arid folemn way of domg.it, he was wiling to interpret their adions to the beft, and took their good performance'fbr an excufe/' And, as tb the hindering the munition, and artHlery to be carried to the fort, they

alleged

(3) Ofburne's Works. (4) Robertfon «bi fupra. (5) Sanndcrfbn King James. (6) Morriflbn's

Kiftorj. O) M- »b-

Ch.L CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. 3$

alleged (8), " That the fort was commanded by a perfon, who hacj, on feveral occafions, {hewn great contempt, and enmity to their city ; and that the fol- diers there had offered them many abufes, fhooting at their fifhermen, and at the boats fent out for provifion ; and ufing them at their pleafure." And they made it their reqeuft to his Excellency, that, as the fort waa Ipuilt within their franchifes, they might have the keeping of it for his Majefty, which they would do to their utmoft peril. They had, betides, another excufe, which was not altogether difapproved of by his Lordfhipj they knew, that the Deputy's power had determined with the Queen's life j but they did not know, that it was renewed by her fucceffor (9), " It may be," fays his. Excel- lency, in his letter to them on this occasion, " that yqu have rafhly, and un- advifedly done this, upon fome opinion of the ceafing of authority in the pub- lic government, upon the death of our late fovereign, which is (bmewhat more, though no way in true, and fevere judgment, excufable ; and, I think otherwife, you never would have been fo foolifh." And it was then only that he firft undeceived them as to that matter, by telling them(io), " That his authority, as Lord Deputy, was renewed, and confirmed by his then Ma- jefty's royal letters patent, under his feal ; requiring them, upon their alle- giance, to pay obedience to it ;" and adding, " that if he ihould find they did fo, he would be glad to have occafion to interpret all things paft in the better part, and take as little notice, as he could thereof."

BUT his Lorfhip feems not to have waited for the effects of this letter, which is dated April the 27th j for on the firft of the following month, he marched out with an army towards Munfter, and on the 4th entered at a place called Gracedieu, near the city of Waterford ; the citizens of which re- fufed, at firft, to receive his army into the town, being authorifed thereto by their charter ; but they offered to give free and prompt admittance to his Lord- fliip, and his retinue, the Chief of them having, for that purpofe, come forth, and attended him in his camp.

WHAT Lord Mountjoy feemed principally torefent in thefe people, to fuch a degree as thus fuddenly to draw down the army upon them, was the bold- nefs of feveral of the towns, and corporations (i i), " in fetting up, of their own heads, the public exercife of the Popifh worfhip." For, in all his letters to the magiftrates of that province, he takes particular notice of that boldnefs ; frequently alluring them (12), " That his Majefty wras a good Proteftant; and even threatening one of thefe towns (13), " that if they did not defift from the public breach of his Majefty's laws, in the celebration of the Mais, he

F 2 would

(8)Id.ib. (9) Id. ib. fol. 188. (10) lb. (u)Idib. (12) Id. ib. . • (ij-J-Id. ib.

36 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. II.

would think them fit to be profecuted with the revenging fword of his Majefty's forces."

AND in truth, his Excellency, in this expedition to Waterford, appears, at firft fight, to have acted the part, rather of a meek and zealous Proteflant miffioner, than that of an incenfed leader of an hoflile army. For, upon the citizens coming forth to pay their refpecls to him in his camp (14), he imme- diately required them to bring unto him one Doctor White, a famous Jefuit of that city, " With whom," fays MorrifTon(i5), " he difputed againft fbme erroneous pofitions of popery ; all which," adds my Author, " his Lordfhip did (as no layman, I think, could better do) moft learnedly confute." It is but juftice to obferve, that his Lordfhip, at the fame time, did as learnedly confute an erroneous pofition in the citizens charter, granted by King John ; by which they fuppofed themfelves privileged to deny his foldiers entrance into their city. But his Lordfhip told them roundly, without entering into the merits of the matter (16), " That if they did not prefently open their ports to him, and his army, he would cut King John's charter in pieces with King James's fword ; and that, if he entered the town by force, he would ruin it, and ftrew fait upon the ruins (b)"

CHAP. II.

A general A6t of Oblivion.

KING James fucceeded to the Englifh throne without oppofition j and his Catholic fubjecls, throughout the three kingdoms, made fignal re- joicings on that account. Upon this occafion, he not only confirmed Ty- rone's pardon, but alfo received him in England, (whither he was conducted by Lord Deputy Mountjoy) with fingular marks ( i ) of favour ; and fbon after, fent him back with (a) honour, to take pofTeffion of his eftates in Ireland j

having

(14) Id. ib. (is)Id. ib. (i6)Id.ib. (i) Morrif. ubi fupra.

(b) " But this ftorm," fays an adverfe writer, "as Hibern. Vol. i. p. 416. Such privileges were after-

foon as the Lord Deputy prefented himfelf with an wards granted them, " That the Juftices of aflize

army before their walls, was appeafed ; and not long having no authority to hold their aflizes there, the

after, larger liberties and immunities were granted un- Jaws of religion (againft recufants) could not be e«-

lo them, than formerly they had." Defid. Curiof. cuted." Ib. Vol. i. p. 359.

(a) Tyrone's reception by the people of Beaumor- him, with bitter words. And when he was to return,

ris, where he landed, was very different. *' For no he durft not pafs by thefe parts, without directions to

refpecl to the Lord Deputy," fays Morriflbn, " m the Sheriffs to convey him, with troops of horfe,

whofe company he rode up to London, could contain from place to place, till he was fafely embarked.*'

many women in thefe parts, who had loft hufbandi, Morrif. Hift, of Ireland) fol. 296. and children in the Jrifh war, from flinging dirt at

Ch.II. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. 37

having fet forth a proclamation, forbidding all perfons to reproach him, at any time after, with the rebellion formerly raifed by him, and then happily fupprefTed.

BUT (2) although, by the fuppreffion of this rebellion, the minds of the people were broken, and prepared to obedience, yet the ftate, upon good reafon, did conceive, that the public peace could, not be fettled, till the hearts of the people were alfo quieted, by fecuring them from the danger of the law, which moft of them had incurred, one way or other, in that great and general confufion; therefore, by a general ad of ftate, called the Ad of Oblivion, publifhed by proclamation, under the great feal, all offences againft the crown, and all particular trefpafTes between fubjed and fubjed, were to all fuch as would come into the juftices of affize, by a certain day, and claim the benefit of this ad, pardoned, remitted, and utterly extinguished (b), never to be re* vived, or called in queftion. And by the fame proclamation, all the Irifhry, who for the moft part, had no defence, or juftice, from the crown, were re- ceived into his Majefty's immediate protedion. " This," continues my Author, ** bred fuch comfort, and fecurity in the hearts of all men, as thereupon enfued the calmeft, and moft univerfal peace, that ever was feen in Ireland."

YET, in the midft of this moft calm, and univerfal peace, his Majefty, quite unmindful of all his former promifes of favour to his Roman Catholic fubjeds, ordered a proclamation to be publifhed, ftridly forbidding the exer- cife of their religion to thofe of Ireland^ banifhing their clergy, and inflicting ievere penalties on all fuch, as fhould be found to harbour, or entertain them ; enjoining, alfo, the immediate execution of the ad of uniformity of the fecond of Elizabeth; which ad, tho' pretended to have been patted in the Irifh parliament forty years before, was then firft folemnly pub- lifhed

BY this ad, all Roman Catholics are obliged to aflift a,t the Proteftant ehurch-fervice, every Sunday and Holyday, on the penalty of twelve pence, and of what, indeed, was infinitely more grievous, the cenfures of the Eccle- fiaftical courts, for each default. A, method of proceeding very inconfiftent with the fundamental principles of that religion, which this ad was intended to introduce, viz. freedom of con fcience, and. the right of private judgment.

Heylin

(a) Sir John Davis's Hiftorical Relations.

(I) Happy, indeed, had it been for the proprie- thernot fo fcandaloufly broken, in a few years after, tors of fix entire counties in Ulfter, had this folemn as we fliall prefently fee it was, promife of oblivioa been faithfully obferved j or ra-

38 H I S T O R I C A L R E V I E W o F THE Bk. IL

Heylin has juftly obferved another abfurdity in this ftatute. " The (3) Irifh," fays he, " were obliged, under feveral penalties, to be prefent at the reading of the Engliih Liturgy, which they underftood no more than they did the Mafs ; by which means, they were not only kept in conti- nual ignorance, as to the dodrines, and devotions, of the church of England, but alfo were furnifhed with an excellent argument againft ourfelves, for hav- ing the Divine Service celebrated in fuch a language, as the people did not underftand (c)"

C H A P. III.

Some Confederations on the two Statutes of Supremacy and Uniformity.

THE execution of the penal ad laft mentioned, and of the preceding ftatute of fupremacy, was the more grievous, and unjuftifiable, as they were both well known to have been impofed upon the nation by force, or fraud, though under the plaufible appearance of parliamentary fandion.

As for the ftatute of fupremacy, there is no queftion but the Irifh chief- tains were previoufly awed, and broken, by a military force, in order to (a) gain their confent to it(i). " Lord Leonard Gray, to prepare the minds of the people to obey this ftatute, began firft, (fays Sir John Davis,) with a mar- tial courfe, by making a victorious circuit round the kingdom, whereby the principal fepts of the Irifhry were all terrified, and moft of them broken ; and then, after this preparation thus made, he firft propounded, and pafTed thofe laws, which made the great alteration in the ftate ecclefiaftical."

OF

(3) Eliz. (i) Sir John Davls's Hiftorical Relat.

(c)To remedy this inconvenience, " In the reign of faid to fome of his friends, " In

James I. it was ordered, that the Bible and Common- we had Englifh Bibles, and Iriili Minifters ; but now

prayer fhould be tranflated into the Irifh language ; we have Minifters come out of England unto us, and

which "was done: and every parifh church was obliged Irifh Bibles with them." — Moft of the benefices and

to pay ten Shillings for an Irifh bible, when not one church-livings in Ireland, were beftowed upon Eng-

amongft an hundred could read, or underftand it. And lilh and Scottish Minifters, not one of them having;

therefore," adds my Author, "an Irifh Proteftant three words' of the Irifh tongue'.'" Theatre of Calk

Bifhop did laugh at this ftrange kind of ahcrarion, and and Proteft. Religion, p. 245.

.

(a) Yet even when it came to be propofed in par- fup;emacy." And fp formidable, at leaft Co conficer-

liament, "Lords and Common? joined in erprelring able was this party, u that' the Archbifhop (Brown)

'.heir abhorrence of the fpiritual authority affiimed by would not venture to fill up their benefices until he

the King." Lei. Hift. of Ireland, Vol. ii. p. 165. had confulted his patron Lord Cromwell." Id. ib. p.

" But fear," fays the fame writer, " ferved to allay 167. Thefe incumbents objected to the legality of

the violence of thofe, who could not be perfuaded." that ftatute, becaufe, " two Prodrors from each

However, " in defpite of legislative authority, they Diocefs, had been ufually fummoned and claimed to

ftill oppofed that law with indefatigable zeal. Several be a member of the leglflative body, and to have a

incumbents of the diocefs of Dublin, chofe to refign full right of fuffrage in every queftion ; and becaufe-,

their benefices, rather than acknowledge the 'King's in this cafe, their claim was rejected." Ib. p. 165-6

ClUII. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND.

39

OF the ftatxite of uniformity, of the 2d of Elizabeth, all the Irifh writers at, or near, that period, unanimoufly affirm, that it was furreptitioufly or forcibly obtained. Mr. Lynch in his Cambrenfis Everfus, informs us (2), " That it was pafTed by the artifice of one Mr. Stanyhurft of CordufT, then Speaker of the Irifh Commons, who being in the reforming Intercft, privately got together, on a day when the houfe was not to fit (b)^ a few fuch members as he knew to be favourers of that intereft, and confequently, in the abfence ofallthofe, who, he believed, would have oppofed it. But that thefe abfent members, having underftood what had paiTed in this fecret convention, did, foon after, in a full and regular meeting of parliament, enter their protefts againft it; up- on which the Lord Lieutenant allured many of them, in particular, with protections, and oaths, that the penalties of that ftatute ihould never be in- flicted j which they too eafily believing, fuffered it to remain as it was. This, adds my author, I have often heard for certain truth, from many antient peo- ple, who lived at that time; and I am the more inclined to believe it, becaufe the Lord Lieutenant's promife was fo far kept, that this law was never gene- rally executed, during the remainder of Queen Elizabeth's reign " which was more than forty years ; that is, until all, or moft of thofe members were, pro- bably, dead, to whom fuch promife had been given.

" IN (3) the very beginning of that parliament, January I2th, 1559, rhoft of the nobility, and gentry, were fo divided in opinion about ecclefiaftrcal go- vernment," fays Sir James Ware, " that the Earl ofSuffex, then Lord Lieu- tenant, thought proper to diffolve it, in the beginning of the following month." We find alfo(4), that his excellency, upon difTolving the Parliament, went to England, to confult her Majefty on the affairs of the kingdom ; that, in a few months after; having returned to Ireland, he received orders to call an ailem- bly of the clergy, for the eftablifhment of the Proteftant religion; and that, after this aiTembly had difperfed themfelves, William Walfli, Bifhop of Meath, not content with what offers her Majefty had propofed, was, for preaching againft the book of Common-prayer, firft jmprifoned, and afterwards depofed, by order of her Majefty."

Now,

(2) P- (3) Annals. (4) Id. ib.

(1) " In this Houfe of Commons, we find there- little wonder, that in defpite of cJamour, and oppo-

prefentatives fummoned for ten counties only; the fition, in a fcffion of a few weeks, the whole eccle-

reft, which made up the number of feventy-fix, were fiaftical fyftem of Queen Mary was entirely reverfed."

citizens and burgefles of thefe towns, in which the Leland's Hift. of Ireland, Vol. ii. p. 224. Royal authority was predominant. It ia therefore,

40 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. II.

Now, as under the words, " Ecclefiaftical Government," the whole pur- port, and tendency of this a£t of uniformity are plainly comprehended, may we not reafonably conclude, from Lord SufTex's diffolving the parliament, on account of the jarring opinions of the members concerning that ftatute ; and from the order, which he foon after received, to call an alTembly of the clergy, " for the eftablifhment of the Proteftant religion," (which order, had that act being duly and legally pafTed, would have been needlefs, if not abfurd) that the ftatute in queftion was not openly, and regularly carried ; but that it was forcibly, or clandeftinely impofed, in the manner before- mentioned (c) ?

CHAP. IV.

Sir Arthur ChichefterV Government.

IN the year 1605, Lord Deputy Chichefter, (" who (i) had been a pupil of the famous Arch-puritan (a) Cartwright, and was himfelf a great patron, and encourager of that feel,") " having (2) ordered the Roman Catholic Alder- men, and fomeof the principal citizens of Dublin, to be called before the coun- cil, exemplified under the great feal, and publifhed, the above-mentioned aft of uniformity ; in regard," fays my Author, " there was found to be a mate- rial difference between the original record, and printed copies j that none might pretend ignorance of the original record j and added thereto the King's injunction for the obfervance of it."

Mr.

(0 Prefbyterian Loyalty. (2) Harris's Hift. of Dublin.

(c) We are told t>y a contemporary hiftorian, that a the oppofers were likely to be abfenf, viz. Early in fimilar artifice was fuccefsfully made ufe of, the year the morning, before the ordinary hour of refort of before, to get the -like aft of uniformity pafled in Eng- Knights, Citizens, and Burgefles, to the parliament- land ; which, probably, was confidered as a good houfe, and upon a day unlocked for, the ftatifts pro- predecent for pafling the I-rtfti act in the fame manner, cured the faid bill to be fuddenly, and moil unjuftly " The bill," fays my Author, " met many rubs and (tho* not without fome difficulty) pafled by the great- lets among the members of the Commons ; whereup- cr number of voices : the rather bccaufe of the ab- on, by watching an opportunity to fummon the fa- fence, and fubtle circumvention of the reft of their vourers of it together, at one unexpected hour, when fellow- members." Hift. of the reformation, Vol. i.

(a) This Cartwright was fo (launch a non-confor- «« that in his prayer before his fermons," he ufed to

mift, even as to ceremonials, that in his reply to fay, " becaufe they (meaning the Bifliops) which

Archbifhop Whitgift, he makes ufe of thefe words : ought to be pillars of the church, do band themfelves

'• Certain of the things we ftand upon, are fuch, that agairfft Chrift, and his Truth, therefore, O Lord,

if every hair of our heads were a life, we ought to af- give us grace, and power, as one man, to fet oui-

ford them, for the defence of them " Sir George felves againft them." p. 47. Paul, in hi« life of Archbifliop Whitgift, tells us,

Ch. IV. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. 41

MR. (3) Carte has difcovered no lefs ignorance, than partiality, in his man- ner of juftifying the execution of this penal ftatute, at that juncture. " The Irifh Catholics," fays he, " became accidentally fubject to the fmall pecuniary penalties of it, forty years after it was made, upon their feparation from the public worfhip of the (eftablifhed) church of Ireland; and it was reafonable to imagine, that fuch a fudden defection fhould have irritated the government, and put them upon fome(b) wholefome feverities, to flop it in the beginning." Here is a caufe afligned for inflicting this penalty, which never exifted but in the Hiftorian's brain. For their feparation, and fudden defection, from the public worfhip of the church of Ireland, necefTarily fuppofes their for- mer agreement, and conformity to it; but this he could not fuppofe of the Irifh in general, without a barefaced contradiction to known facts. For fo ftedfaftly did thefe people adhere to their antient religion in that, and the former reign, notwithftanding the many alluring offers, and terrifying punifh- ments, made ufe of to withdraw them from it, that Chichefler himfelf, who had often employed both means of feduction, was heard to exclaim, in the rage of difappointment (4), " That he believed the very air, and foil of Ireland, were infected with popery." The barbarous incivility, already men- tioned, which the young Earl of Defmond met with from his countrymen, and followers, after they were convinced of his conformity to the public worfhip of the church of Ireland, is a fufficient refutation of this miftake.

THE King about this time (5), fent inftructions to the ftate, for miniftring the oath of fupremacy to the Catholic Lawyers and Juftices of Peace ; and for putting the laws againft recufants in ftrict execution. Accordingly (6), " of fixteen Aldermen, and citizens of Dublin, fummoned before the Privy Coun- cil, nine werecenfured in the caftle chamber ; and fix of the Aldermen were fined, each in one hundred pounds ; and the other three, in fifty pounds a-piece ; and they were all committed prifoners to the caftle, during the pleafure of the court. It was^ at the fame time, ordered, that none of the citizens fhould bear offices, until they had conformed (c)"

G HARD

(3) Life of Ormond, Vol. i. (4) Analefta Sacra. (5) Carle ubi fupra. Vol. j. fol. 21.

(6) Harris ubi fupra.

(b) Yet, in another place, he owns, " That the executed (adds he) it would be a force upon the con- penalties of this aft were raifed for the private gain fciences of the poor ignorant Irifh, as they Itood in- of minifters j and had always occafioned a clamour formed." Cart. Oim. Vol. i. fol. 523.

abroad, of a terrible perfecuiion; and if rigoroufly

(c) On this occafion, " all the old Englifh fami- denied the legality of the fentence by which thefe fe- lies of the pale, took the alarm, and boldly remon- verities were inflicted, and urged, that by the ftatute firated agaiaft the feverity of thefe proceedings. They of zd of Elizabeth, the crime of recufancy had its

punifhinent

HISTORICAL REVIEW or THE

Bk

HARD as this treatment of the Catholic laity was, (amidft " the calmeft, andmoftuniverfal peace that was ever known in Ireland,") that of their clergy was ftill more rigorous. To omit many other inftances, the cafe of Robert Law- ler deferves particular notice. When this poor man was thrown into prifon, for exercifing the function of a Roman Catholic prieft, he (7), in order to re- move all fufpicion of his maintaining, or teaching any feditious dodrines, made the following confelfion, before the Lord Deputy and Council ; and af- terwards confirmed it on oath, viz. " That he did acknowledge his ibvereign, King James, to be his lawful chief, and fupreme governor, in caufes as well ecclefiaftical, as civil ; that he was bound in confcience to obey him, in all faid caufes j and that neither the Pope, nor any other foreign Prelate, or Po- tentate, had power to controul the King, in any caufes ecclefiaftical, or civil, within that kingdom, or in any other of his Majefty's dominions." Yet this extreme condefceufion could not, it feems, prevent his condemnation. The only pretence for this feverity was, his having denied, privately, to fome of his friends, who vifited him in prifon, that he had ever made fuch confeffion, as was derogatory to the fpiritual authority of the Roman Pontiff; for, he told them, " that he had not acknowledged, that the King was fupreme gover- nor in fpiritual caufes, but in ecclefiaftical." Whether this diftin&ien, cal- culated for the private fatisfac~Hon of his friends, was well or ill founded, I fhall not take upon me to determine; but certain it is, that it cancelled all the merit of his public confeffion.

(7) Sir John Davis's Reports in fine.

punifliment afcertained, and that any extenfion of the penalty was illegal, and unconstitutional. — Their re- monftrance was prefented to the Council by an unu- fual concourfe of people, but the chief petitioners were confined to the caftle of Dublin ; and Sir Pa- trick BarnweH, their great agent, was, by the King's command, fent in cuftody into England." Lei. Hift. of Ireland, Vol. ii. p. 421-2.

The King, on this fubjeft, wrote to Chichefter, " That he thought, both the order he had taken for

reformation, and the punifliment he had inflidled upon fome of the Aldermen of Dublin, and certain others whom his letters mention, for their contempt, to be not only juft, but neceflary.-— And that he conceived hope, that many, by fuch means, will be brought to conformity (in religion) who perhaps hereafter will find caufe to give thanks to God, and him, for being drawn by fo gentle a conftrainr, to their own good." Defid. Curiof. Hib. Vol. i. p. 465.

CHAR

Ch. V. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND.

CHAP. V.

43

The Confpiracy , and Flight of the Ear Is.

THESE feverities not having produced the defired effecl, which, pro- bably, was a new infurrec"lion, and confequently new forfeitures, ano- ther expedient was made ufe of, which had been (a) fbmetimes fuccefsful, viz. private information of an intended confpiracy of the Irifh, by means of an anonymous letter. But that there was in fad no fuch confpiracy, and that this letter was meerly a ftate-trick, to enfnare the innocent, by forged accu- fations, we have as good proof, as can poffibly be had of a negative, in the manifeft abfurdity, and contradiction, of the different accounts, which have been left us of it.

THE firft of thefe accounts, which is taken from Do£tor Henry Jones, Bifhop of Meath, and formerly Scout-mafter General to Cromwell's army, runs thus(i), " Anno 1607, there was a providential difcovery of another rebellion in Ire- land ; the Lord Chichelter being Deputy ; the difcoverer not being willing to appear, a letter from him, not being fubfcribed, was fuperfcribed to Sir Wil- liam Ufher, clerk of the Council, and dropt in the council-chamber, then held in the caftle of Dublin •, in which was mentioned a defign for feizing that caftle and murthering the Deputy, with a general revolt, and dependance on Spanifh forces ; and this alfo for religion ; for particulars whereof, adds the Bifhop, I refer to that letter, dated March the igth, 1607." Hence it appears, that the firft difcovery of this confpiracy arofe from the anonymous letter above-mentioned.

DOCTOR Carlton, Bifhop of Chichefter, a cotemporary writer, has left us a prolix account of the difcovery of this confpiracy, in which, however, there is no mention made of this anonymous letter. The fubftance of his account is what follows.

G 2 "MONTGOMERY,

(i) Preface to Borlafe's Hiftory of the Irifli Rebellion.

(a) This was then thought to have been a contri- niflers, when, and how to make ufe of them agimft

vance of Secretary Cecil, whom Ofburne calls " an Catholics. The original of thefe inftrucli ns, in Ct-

adept in ftate tricks " and who two years before, cil's own hand-wiiting, was formerly in the keeping of

found the like expedient to have fucceeded in rhe af- the infamous Judge Bradfliaw, by whom it was fliewn

fair of the Gun powder Treafon. (See an Eflay to- to bir William Percival, who communicated it to a

wards a new hiftory of that treafon.) " Cecil," fays gentleman of great worth, who died anno 1697,. and

Mr. Dod, " was an adept in framing fiflitious plots, left it among other papers of remarks upon the times."

and has left inftrudiotis behind him to fucceeding mi- Ecclefiaft. Hilt. Vol. iii. fol. 196.

44 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. 11

" MONTGOMERY (2), Bifhop of Derry," fays he, " fufpecled, or was told, that Tyrone had gotten into his hands the greateft part of the lands of his Bifhoprick ; which he intended, in a lawful courfe, to recover ; and finding ther^ was no man could give him better light, or knowledge of thefe things, than O'Cahane (who was great with Tyrone) made ufe of fuch means, that he (O'Cahane) came to him of his own accord, and told him, he could help him to the knowledge of what he fought j but that he was afraid of Tyrone j yet he engaged, to reveal all that he knew of that matter, provided the Bifhop would promife to fave him from Tyrone's violence, and not deliver him into England, which the Bifhop having promifed, he brought O'Cahane to the Council in Dublin, to take his confelfion there. Upon this, procefles were fent to Tyrone, to warn him to come up to Dublin, at an appointed time, to anfwer the fuit of the Lord Bifhop of Derry. There was no other intention but, in a peaceable way, to bring the fuit to a trial ; for the Council then knew nothing of the plot. But Tyrone having entered into a new confpiracy, of which O'Cahane was, began to fufpecl, when he was ferved with a procefs to anfwer the fuit, that this was but a plot to draw him in, and that furely the treafon was revealed by O'Cahane. Upon this bare fufpicion, Tyrone with his confederates, fled out of Ireland, and loft all thofe lands in the North." Dodor Carlton adds, " that he had this account of the difcovery of the con- fpiracy from the Bifhop of Derry himfelf The reader will pleafe to recollect, that, according to the Bifhop of Meath's ftory, the iirft difcovery of this plot was made to the Council by an anoymous letter dropt in the council-chamber ; but, by the Bifhop of Derry's account, the actual flight of the Earls, and their confederates, out of the kingdom, was what alone excited in them the firft fufpicion of the confpiracy.

BUT let us reflect a moment on the obvious incredibility of this latter Bifhop's tale. O'Cahane, a prime Catholic gentleman, poffefTed of a very large eftate, enters into a confpiracy with Tyrone, againft the Proteftant religion, and go- vernment of Ireland ; and yet, at the fame time, he comes, " of his own ac- cord," to a Proteflant Bifhop, to put him in a way to deprive the perfon, who was to be his chief leader in that confpiracy, of a great part of his eftate, the lofs of which muft have proportionally leffened that leader's power to carry it on i and this he does for no other recompence, but a promife from the Bifhop, that he will fave him from Tyrone's violence ; that is to fay, from the violence of a man, with whom he was not only great, but alfo joined in a plot agaiat the government. Now fuppofing that O'Cahane only knew that Tyrone was engaged in fuch a confpiracy, without being himfelf an accom- plice

(2) Thankful remembrance, &c. p. 168,

Ch. V. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. 45

plice in it, would he not have thought fuch knowledge of his guilt a much better fecurity, and defence, againft Tyrone's violence, (as it put him abfolute- ly in his power,) than any promife of protection from the Bifhop could be ? But as it is fuppofed, that he was actually concerned with Tyrone in that con- fpiracy, what can be more abfurd, than to imagine, that he would, of his own accord, and without any fuitable recompencc, have thus provoked his leader, to feek revenge, and his own pardon by revealing his (O'Cahane's) guilt ? For it is not even pretended, that O'Cahane had any thoughts, all thia while, of difcovering the plot; and how he could have expected to carry it on, in con- cert with Tyrone, after having thus provoked and injured him, is, indeed, a a myftery not eafily unravelled (b).

SIR John Temple's account (3) of this confpiracy is much fhorter than that of either of thefe Bifhops, but equally incoherent and abfurd. " In this ftate," fays he, " the kingdom continued under fome iadifferent terms of peace and tranquillity, until the (c) Earl of Tyrone took up new thoughts of riflng into arms. And into this rebellious defign he drew the whole province of Ulfter, then entirely at his devotion. But his plot failed j and finding himfelf not able to get together, any confiderable forces, he, with the principal of his adherents, quitting the kingdom, fled into Spain."

THE contradi&ion of Tyrone's having drawn the whole province of Ulfter. into his rebellious defigns, and at the fame time, his not being able to get to- gether any conliderable forces, is too glaring, to need any further animad- vcrfio-n.

THESE are the only written accounts I have yet met with, after a very diligent fearch, of this confpiracy of the Earls, from which, I prefume, the candid reader will conclude, that there never was any fuch confpiracy; and that

thefe

(3) See his HUlorj of the Iriili Rebellion.

(I) Incredible as thefe* things are, yet m order to that would not do, his Majeily was p'eafcd, that he

carry on thg farce thoroughly, and to garble up fliould ufe his difcretion in drawing down fome force

O'Cahane's great eftate, among the reft, O'Cahane upon him." This letter is dared Jnnuaiy 24th, 1607.

himfelf was afterwards feized, as one of the confpira* And in another letter of the zoth of November fbl-

tors, and forfeited, like the other gentlemen of Ulfter. lowing, they fay, " but for O'Cahane, whom it feem-

The King and Council, however, difcovered fome eth, you have imprifoned, we like well of the couife

tendernefs, with refpecl to him, befoie his actual you have taken with him. — And we allow alfo, very

feifure. For they defired the Deputy " to bring him well of your placing his fon in the college." Defide-

to conformity, by {baking the rod over him ; but if rata Curiofa Hibern. p. 508-13.

(c) Tyrone was, at this time, fo clofely looked not drink a full caroufe of fack, but the ftate was ad- after, " that he was he'ard to complain, that he had vertifed thereof, within a few hours." Sir Jt>hnDa- fo many eyes watching over him, as that he could vis's Hift. Relat. p. 117.

46 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. II.

thefe accounts were then framed, however injudicioufly, to give fome colour of right to public ads of flander, oppreffion, and rapine.

DOCTOR Leland has juftly obferved on this occafion(4), " That it feems extraordinary, that the Northerns, who were ftill fmarting with the chaftife- mentthey had received, in the late rebellion ; whofe confequence, and influ- ence, were confiderably diminifhed ; and who were very lately reconciled to government, and inverted with their honours and eftates, fhould precipitately involve themfelves in a new rebellion (d)" Such an event indeed, in thefe circumftances, not only feems extraordinary, but actually is, at leaft in a moral fenfe, utterly incredible.

H

P.

VI.

Puritan Bi/hops in Ireland.

DURING Sir Arthur Chichefter's government, feveral of the eftablifhed clergy were puritanically affected, if not puritans profefTed. Of this number, was the famous Doctor, afterwards Primate, Ufher; for when in the year 1605, he was Provoft of the College of Dublin, " the whole doctrine (i) of

Calvin

(4) Hift. of Ireland, Vol. if. (i) Carte's Ormond.

(d) But the fame writer endeavours to refute the Only traditional account which has been hitherto hand- ed down to us of it, (viz. that the flight of the Earls was occafioned by the treachery of one of the family of St L aurence ;) by meerly fuppofing, " that, if any art, or treachery had been ufed to render the Earls obnoxious to the law, they would themfelves have explained the deep fcheme, and have left fome me- morials, in vindication of their conduct, either in Spain or Rome, where they were entertained, and protected. But, as no fuch memorials (fays he) have appeared, they feem fo have acquiefced in the charge ofconfpiracy againft the Englifh government." But to this it may be anfwered, on a much more probable fuppofition, that thefe noblemen were not, perhaps expert at drawing up memorials ; or rather, that they were in too defponding, and necellitous a condition," to do more than relate their misfortunes, and the manner in which they wese brought on them, verbally, in order to obtain a fubfiftence from thofe courts, to which they fled for refuge ; and that this traditional account was originally detived, and uniformly handed down to us, from fuch verbal relation. But let us trj the force of this negative reafoning on the oppo-

fite fide of the queftion. The King feems to have been fo apprehenfive, that this affair of the Earls " might blemifli" (as he exprefles it) " the reputa- tion of that friefldfhip which ought to be mutually ob- ferved between him and other Princes, that he thought it not amifs, to publifh fome fuch matter, by way of proclamation, as might better clear mens judgments concerning the fame." At the fame time, fofemnly promifing, '• that it fhould appear to the world as clear as the fun, by evident proof, that the only ground, and motive of thefe Earls departure was the private knowledge and inward terror of their own guiltinefs." Ib. p. 425 But neither in that, nor in any other au- thentic inftrument, nor in any manner whatever, did his Majefty deign, ever after, to enlighten the world, even with the leaft glimpfe of evident proof, that fuch was the motive of thefe Earls departure. And I (hall leave it to the deciiion of every candid reader, whether this non -performance of his Majefty's folemn promife, be not a better negative proof of the nullity, and fic- tion of this confpiracy of the Earls, than the barenon- appearance of a memorial in their vindication, can be deemed of its real itjr?

Ch.VH. .CIVIL WARS IN -IRELAND.

Calvin was, by his management, received as the public belief of the Irirti church, and ratified by Chiehefter in the King's name (2). It was, in fliort, be that drew up thofe Calviniftical articles, then agreed to in convocation, which were afterwards condemned, and abolifhed by Lord Dc-p-iiy Wcnt- worth, containing arrant Brownifm, and. confirming not only the Lambeth- articles, fuppreffed by Queen, Elizabeth, and afterwards reje&ed by King, James j but alfo feveral particular fancies and notions of. his own."

** AFTER (3) the repeal of the Irifh a£t againft the bringing in. of > he Scots, retaining them, and marrying with them, the Scottifh Prefbyttrs came over to Ireland in great Numbers, Thefe the Irifh Bifhops condefcended to ordain, not as performing the function of Bifhops, for they would not receive ordina- tion from them as fuch, but as meer Prefbyters, alTifting with fome of their> own Minifters, in order to qualify them to enjoy benefices in the church. And thefe Bifhops were fo exceedingly complaifant, on fuch occafions, that they left out all thofe. expreffions in the eflablifhed form of ordination, which thefe Ministers excepted againft; inferting and ufing fuch others, as they con- fented to, and approved of. After this method, Mr. Blair was p-ublickly or- dained by Doctor Eccl in, Bifhop of Down, in the church of Bangor; and all thofe of the Prefbyterian perfuafion, who were ordained in Ireland, between the years 1622, and 1642, were ordained after the fame method; and all of them- fo ordained, enjoyed the churches and tythes, though they remained Prefbyterians ftillr, and ufed not the Liturgy. And there was, adds my Au- thor, a civil comprehenfion between them, and a fort of an ecclefiaftica! com- prehenfion too; for they frequently met, and confulted with the Bifhops,, about the affairs of common concernment to: the intereft of religion ; and fome- of them were members of the convocation in 1634." The fame author in- forms us, " that thefe Prefbyters employed themfelves in their minifterial work, to the approbation of all the moderate, and fober Epifcopalians; and particularly,, of the great Primate Ufher, from whom; they had great, ap^ plaufe."

C H A P: VII.

Warm Contefts in the Irijh Houfe of Commons*

IN the year 1613, a parliament was called, wherein the, attainder, and outlawry, of the noblemen and gentlemen of Ulfter, together with feveral other ads, injurious to the religion, and property, of the natives, were intend- ed to be palTed " The Irifh," fays Mr.(i) Carte, " on this occafion, were

apprehenfive

(2) Id. ib. Vol. i. fol. 73, (3) Prelbytcrian Loyalty. (i) Life of Crraond, Vol. i.

48 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. II.

apprehenfive that fome further penal laws, particularly againft harbouring^ Jefuits, and feminary priefts, and for obliging not only Magiftrates in corpo- rations, but alfo profefTors of the law, and others to take the oath of fupre^ rnacy, would be enacted." And that apprehenfion was but too well founded. Knox, a Scotch Puritan, and Bifhop of Raphoe, had informed the Deputy, that the only fure means of extirpating Popery out of Ireland, was by the death, or banifhment of the perfons, and the confifcation of the properties, of Papifts. And, although neither of thefe humane alternatives was fully adopted by his Excellency, yet, from that malignant infinuation, he certainly meditated ibme new, and fevere parliamentary reflriclions upon them at that junfture. For this purpofe, feveral new boroughs were haftily (b) created in Munfter, and Conaught ; fome, and thofe not a few, even after the writs had been if- fued. And from the antient boroughs and towns, many undue returns of aliens, and other unqualified perfons, were openly procured.

UNDER thefe circumflances, when, on the firft day of the fe:flion(2), Sir John Davis was propofed for Speaker, Sir James Geogh obferved, " That he faw (c) many perfons in the houfe, who had had no right to fit as members ;

and

(2) Reeves in Analeft. Part ii. p. 14.

(a) There was a&ually a bill of that kind fent over by the Deputy, concerning which, the King tells him and the Council, in returning the other bills, " We think it a fit ti-.iie to difpatch from hence, Sir John Davis, our Attorney General of that kingdom, with thofe bills which were firft tranfmitted thiiher, under

(b) " The Deputy" fays Doftor Leland, " conti- nued to increafe the new boroughs to the number of forty ; of which feveral weie not incorporated, until the writs for fummoning a parliament had already if- fued. — This awakened the fears of the numerous party ofrecufants; fome additional feverities againft thofe who refufed to abandon theRomifh communion ; fome additional penal ftatutes, or at leaft the revival of thofe already made, were naturally dreaded." Hiftoflrc-

(t) The Lords of the pale, in their humble remon- ftrance to his Majefty on this occafion, obferve, a- roong other things, " That the managing elections for that parliament, had generally bred fo grievous an apprehenfion, as is not in their power to exprefy, arj>- fing from a fearful fufpicion, that the projttt of erect- ing fo many corporations in places that fcarcely pafs the rank of the poor villages of the pooreft country in Chriftcndom, do tend to nought elfe, but that by the voices of a few, fele&ed for that purpofe under the

the great feal of England, and were lately fent for hither again, by our fpecial direction, to the End that the bill againft the Jefuits, &c. might be taken away from the reft, to be further considered by us ; which w« ourfelves have done with our own Hands." De- fid. Cutiof. Hib. Vol. i. p. 325.

land, Vol. ii. p. 445. The fame author had before informed us, " That thefe new boroughs being moft of them inconfiderable, and many too poor to afford wages to their reprefentatives, muft have been entirely influenced by government, and retftrned its creatures, and immediate dependents j and that they were re- prefented by Attorneys clerks, and the fervants of the Lord Deputy." Ib. p. 443.

name of BurgeiTes, extreme penal laws fhould be im- pofed on his Majefty's fubje&s. — That his Majefty's fubjecls of Ireland, in general, did very much diftafte and exclaim againft the depofing of fo majiy Magif- trates in the cities, and boroughs of that kingdom, for not fparing the oath of fupremacy, in fpiritual and ecclefiaftical caufes, they prot-efting a firm pro- feflion of loyalty, and of all kingly jurifdi'ftion in his Highnefs." Defid. Curiof. Hiber. Vol. i. p. t6c.

Ch. VII. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. 49

and therefore moved, that their votes might be a while fufpended, until a Speaker was chofen; after which the legality of their elections fhould be duly enquired into. But this motion being foon rejected, and Sir James urged, by the oppofite party, to proceed directly in the chufing of a Speaker, he named (d) Sir John Everard, and was feconded by Sir Chriftopher Nugent, Mr. William Talbot, and feveral other refpeclable members. But Sir Oliver St. John, and Sir Thomas Ridgeway infifting tumultuoufly, that Sir John Davis was chofen Speaker, by a majority of voices ; and the other party calling out, as loudly, to place Sir John Everard in the chair, great confufion arofe among them ; fo that the number of votes, on either fide, could not be determined, until Sir John Davis's friends having followed him to another room, thofe who remained within, agreed to put Sir John Everard in the chair, fuppofing him to be duly elected, as in truth he was by a real majority of legal voices, notwithftanding the greater number of nominal votes on the other fide. But the court-members, on their return, finding him there, and confcious of their greater numbers (3) dragged him violently thence, and fixed (eJSir John Davis in his place. They were emboldened to commit this out- rage, by the prefence of a band of foldiers completely armed, with lighted matches in their hands, who were placed, for that purpofe, at the entrance into parliament. Alarmed at thefe proceedings, the Catholic members quitted the houfe, having firft openly protected againft the authors of fuch unheard-of violence, as invaders of the liberties of their country, and of the rights and privileges of parliament.

H NOT

(3) Analecla Sacra. Reeves ubi fupra.

(d) " A Recufant of refpeftable characler, who dulged with a penfion." Leland's Hift. of Ireland, bad been a Juftice of the King's bench, and, on re- Vol. ii. 447.

(igning his ftation rather than take the oaths, was in-

(e) A cotemporary writer, in a trail addrefled to chair of the Speaker ; but when the Proteftanrs faw Sir Arthur Chichefter himfelf, relates this conteft in that, they quietly pulled Sir John Everard out of the the following manner. " There were," fays he, " two chair, and held Sir John Davis therein ; and thus, elections, viz. thofe of rhe recufant feel had chofen with great contention, the fecond and third days (of Sir John Everard, Knight, for the Speaker; and the parliament) were fpent ; but rhe recufants prevailed therefore in no wife would accept of Sir John Davis ; not therein, for Sir John Davis was maintained in the and in this divifion, grew an uncertainty, who had place. — Then did the recufants of both houfes of par- moft voices, whereupon, Sir John Davis with all liament withdraw themfelves, and reforted not thither thofe of the Proteltancy, went ouc to be numbered, any more, notwithftanding that they were often fent and before they came in again, thofe of the recu fancy for by the Lord Deputy." Dcfid. Curiof. Hibern. had ihur. the door, and had fet Sir John Everard in the Vol. i. p. 168.

5o HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. II.

NOT content with this proteftation, thefe feceding members (f) fent four of the moft confiderable of their own body into England, with their com- plaints to the King. Thefe were accompanied from the Houfe of Lords, by David Roche, Vifcount Fermoy; James Plunkett, Baron of Killeen, after- wards Earl of Fingall ; and by the Lord Baron of Delvin, afterwards Earl of Weftmeath 5 together with Sir Patrick Barnwell, and four lawyers.

BUT thefe noblemen and gentlemen, inftead of obtaining redrefs of the in- jury complained of, were, in the end, fent (g) back and infulted, with this quaint and evafive anfwer (4), " That as Papifts, they were but half fubjedls, and therefore, ihould have but half privileges $" which, by the way, was an indirect confeffion of the wrong done them. Nay, it appears by a public fpeech, which his Majefty made on this occafion, that he would not allow them to be even half fubj eels ; which by a new quirk of Royal logic, he en- deavoured to prove thus: " As men, ye confift of bodies and fouls; now your fouls, which are the nobler parts, ye devote to the Pope ; to me ye fubmit nothing but your bodies, nor yet your bodies entire ; for thofe ye divide be- tween me and the King of Spain ; him ye ferve with your bodies armed, leav- ing to me only your naked, ufelefs, and unarmed bodies (b)"

WITH this curious anfwer, he remanded them back to Ireland, ordering them at their peril, to attend the bufinefs of parliament, which was chiefly that of railing large fupplies for his Majefty. And, indeed, in that refpecl, thefe half-fubjecls always fhewed themfelves abundantly more ufeful, than thofe he called his whole-fubjecls ; as, on account of their far greater number, and opulence, they contributed more than feven-eights, in all the loans, and fubfidies, that were required by him, during his whole reign. And for their chearful concurrence in granting this laft fupply, we fhall prefently find his

Majefty

(4) Cox's Hift. Irel. Vol. ii. p. z j.

(f) After having obtained leave from his Majefty, Killine, Delvin, Slane, Trimblefton, Donboyne, in confequence of an humble addrefs figned by the Lowth, Cahyr." See that Addrefs, Append. Lords Buttevant, Gormanfton, Fermoy, Mountgarret,

(g) " Two of their agents, Talbot and Lutterel, were committed piifoners, one to the Towcrr and the other to the Fleet." Lei. Hift. Irel. Vol. ii. p. 451.

(b) The manner in which he juftified to thefe roughs? My Councrl may confider the fitneft, if I re- agents, his having granted a commiflion for creating quire it; but, what if I had created forty noblemen, thefe new boroughs is ftill more extraordinary. " It and four hundred boroughs ? The more the merrier, was never before heard," faid he, " that any good the fewer the better cheer." Defid. Curbf. Hibern. fubj efts did difpute the King's power HI this point. Vol. i. p. 220. What is it to you, whether I make many or few bo-

Ch.VII. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. 51

Majefty thanking them, with the reft of the Irifh Commons, in a feemingly gracious and grateful manner.

THE Catholics, however, on their return to parliament, ftill infifted on queftioning the aforefaid elections, before any other bufmefs was proceeded upon; and they prevailed fo far, that an order was then parted, and repeated in the following feffion (5), " That the exceptions taken to thefe elections fhould be duly examined, at a more convenient opportunity." But we don't find, that fuch opportunity was ever after afforded them (i). In this parliament, fo compofed, and managed, the act of attainder, and outlawry, againft the no- blemen and gentlemen of the fix intire counties in Ulfter, for the before-men- tioned pretended confpiracy, was fuffered to be paffed.

IT is well worthy of notice, that this act: of the attainder of the Earls does not fpecify any particulars of the confpiracy lately imputed to them ; not even their flight, which was the only proof, and that meerly prefump- tive, that was alleged for it. It barely recites, in general, as the grounds of it (6), " Thefe noblemens having committed, and perpetrated, acts of treafbn againft his Majefty (which, as we have already feen, they were only fufpecled, or accufed, of having intended to commit,) and their own and anceftors former rebellion againft Queen Elizabeth," (for which, as we have alfo already feen, they had all received his Majefty's free, and abfolute (k), pardon, at his acceffion.) It is therefore, no wonder, that while this act was under debate, a committee of the Commons was appointed to wait on the Lord Deputy (7), " to acquaint him with a fcruple, that was moved, whether that attainder did look back to treafons committed before the King's time, or only fmce." But no other anfwer appears, on the part of the Deputy, but the paffing of the bill.

(5) Commons Journal. Vol. i. (6) See Irifh Statutes. (7) Com. Jour. Vol. i. fol. 45, 47.

(i) His Mnjefty, however, foon after fent inftnic- houfe, unlefs they fhould be again duly elected."——

tions to the Deputy, " That the Burgefles returned And alfo, " that the Burgcfles returned from the

upon the new charters, fromTallagh, Lifmore, Ca- towns of Clogher, Athlone, and Gouran, fhould, for-

terlogh, Cionkiltie, Fetherd, Augher, Belfaft, and bear to fit in the houfe of parliament." Defid. Curiof.

Charlemount ; as alfo thofe from Kildare and Cavan, Hib. Vol. i. p. 324-5. being falfely returned, fhould forbear to tit in that

(k) In one of his Majefty's letters of inflruflions ferve private ends ; a matter fb odious to our na-

to Sir Arthur Chichefter, when firft appointed Depu- ture, to whom generally that people have carried

Ty, we find thefe words. " We think it not amifs, themfelves as becometh natural and loving fubjecls,

as well for making known, that we are careful of that that we would have it one of the firft works you

fiate (Ireland) ; as alfo to root out jealoufies, which fliould do, to lecure them from ever being called in

have been formerly conceived, that daily advantage queftion for any offence done, either before, or in

fhould be fearched for by the Minifters of that realm, the precedent rebellion." Defid. Curiof. Hiber. Vol. i.

to moleft, and opprefs them for old offences, only to p. 448.

H2 CHAP.

52 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF -THE Bk. II.

CHAP. VIII.

Tht King thanks the Irijhfor their Supply, but orders the Penal Laws to be put

in Force againft them.

AFTER the before-mentioned fupplies had been granted by parliament, his Majefty wrote to the Deputy, (and ordered his letter to be publick- ly read in the houfe) that (i), " underftanding, that the bills of fubfidies were, upon the firft propounding, received, and patted, with fuch univerfal confent and chearfulnefs, that there feemed to arife an affectionate emulation between them, who Ihould exprefs moft love, and forwardnefs therein unto him ; he took that evident demonstration of their dutiful zeal and affection, in fuch good part, that he commanded him to give them thanks in his name, and to let them know, that he was much better pleafed with the free manner of that prefent of their affections unto him, than if they had given him ten times the value of the money, with unwilling hearts." Upon this occafion, Sir John Everard obferved to the houfe (2), " that, as neither in Opeen Elizabeth's time, nor in his then Majefty's, any fubfidies had been fo regularly granted, there being no denial, he did, on the knees of his heart, humbly pray in be- half of his country, that the flatute of the 2d of Queen Elizabeth might be fomething moderated for a time; which being granted," added he, " if the King were willing to demand two, three, or four fubfidies, he doubted not of any denial hereafter." And, in the fame leflion, the whole houfe, among other grievances which they had laid before the Deputy, again mentioned that ftatute-, and humbly prayed (3), " That, in the execution thereof, the clerks of the crown and peace, might not be permitted to take fuch exceffive fees, as they did ; but that thefe fees might be altogether forbidden to be taken, or elfe that the fame might be drawn down, and moderated, and that, by an act of ftate to be obferved throughout the kingdom." They further prayed (4), " That, whereas the recufant lawyers were debarred from (a) their

practice,

(0 Ib. (2) ib. (3) ib. (4) ib.

(a) " In 1614, an the Councellors of law that to church, is put ftiiftly in execution in many places:

were in Ireland, who would not take the oath of but the faid money, being a great matter of value

•/upremacy, were put from pleading of caufes in any over the whole kingdom, is not employed upon the

of the four courts, or elfewhere, to fpeak for clients, poor according to the ftatute, but brought into the

Likewife, fuch as were penfioners, that would not hands of the clerks of thefe courts, but how they dif-

fake the faid oath, were difcharged of their penfions." pofe of it, the pariftiioners, or church-wardens know

Defid. Curiof. Hiber. Vol. i. p. 320. not." Petition of the Lords and Commons Agents,

" The ftatute made the 2d of Eliz. laying a penal- 1613. Defid. Curiof. Vol. i. p. 249.

ty of izd. every Suuday and Holyday, for not going ** Lord

Ch. VJIT. CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND. 5.-;

practice, by fpecjal directions from his Majefty : and, forafmuch as the Commons did find by experience, that the fubjecls of the realm did fufFer no fmall prejudice in their caufes, for want of learned Counfel, efpecially at the affizes, that his Lordlhip would be a means to his Majefty, that fuch, and fo many of the faid lawyers might be reftored to their praclice, as his Lordfhip in his judgment fhould think fit, for the difpatch of faid caufes." To which his Lordfhip anfwered, " That the Lords of the Council in England had fig- nified his Majefty's pleafure for filencing them, until they had taken the oath (of fupremacy) but that he would acquaint their Lordfhips with what the Commons had fignified, and with their defire." But that no redrefs follow^ ed, appears from, hence, that in the enfuing feffion of May i 6th, 1615, tne fame Commons humbly addreffed the Lord Deputy to know, " Whether his Lordfhip had received any anfwer touching the practice of the Irifh lawyers ; and prayed, that they might be, by his Lordfhip'.s recomendation, again re- ftored unto praclice." To. which we find no anfwer returned.

IMPRISONMENTS, on account of recufancy, were then fo frequent, and grievous, that the Commons in this fame feifion, annexed to their long lift of grievances (5), a prayer, " That his Lordfhip would be pleafed to releafe all thofe, that lay in, upon excommunications ;" and at the fame time acquainted him, " that a great number of the houfe defired, that he would recommend to his Majefty, that fome fufpenfion might be had of the ftatute of the 2d of Elizabeth."

THE Catholics of Ireland, on account of their number, and opulence, had contributed more liberally to the above-mentioned, and all other fupplies, than all the reft of his Majefty 's fubjeds of that kingdom; and yet the King, inftead of redreffing their prefent grievances, did, in a few months after the date of his letter of thanks before-mentioned, not only continue, but increafe them; by giving particular inftruclions to Sir Oliver St. John, then going over Lord De- puty, to put this ftatute of the zd of Elizabeth, and all other penal ftatutes, in ftricl execution; inftru&ions, which (6) Sir Oliver feemed very well inclined

to

(5) Commons Jour. Vol. i. (6) Carte's Orrn, Vol. i. fol. 37,

" Lord Deputy Chichefter confefles, " that the The reafon Chichefter gives for not diflrflxuc-

Juftices of aflize (1613) for the fpace of two or three ing the money collected from Catholics, lor not

years paft, had bound over divers juries to the ftar- going to church on Sundays and Holydays, to the

chamber, for their refufing to prefent recufants upon poor, as the ftatute 2d of Eliz. directs, is, " becaule

the teftimony of the witneffes, that they come not to the poor of the parifhes are not fit to receive the faqie,

church, according to the law. — All which jurors have being recufants, (Catholics,) and therefore ougfct tu

been punifhed in the ftar-charnber, by fine and im- pay the like penalty." Ib. p. 275, prifonmeot." See Cbicheft. Anf, Def. Cur. ib. p. 262.

54 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. II.

to(b) pursue: for, at his entering on the government, he did indeed proceed with vigour, in the execution of that ftatute ; and caufed prefentments to be made of fuch as neglected coming to church, in different parts of the kingdom. The effects of this vigour were very difmal, and extenfive ; the treafures of the rich were thereby foon exhaufted ; and the poor, every where, not being able to pay this tax on their confciences, fled into dens, and ca- verns, from the cruel collectors of it, whither they were fometimes purfued by furious blood-hounds, fet on, and followed by a Sheriff, and his poffe of difbandvfd foldiers, equally furious and unrelenting (7). Mr. Rooth, a cotem- porary writer, informs us, that in the poor county of Cavan alone, not lefs than (c) eight thoufand pounds were levied, in one year, by means of this tax ; ecclefiaftical cenfures, on the fame account, were feverely executed, in every part of the kingdom. Thole who lay under them, when found abroad, were conftantly thrown into jails ; and great numbers of merchants and arti- ficers, being thus confined at home, and hindered to tranfact bufinefs publick- ly, and in the way of open commerce, were fuddenly reduced to poverty and diftrefs. Even their dead bodies did not efcape the cruelty of thefe cenfures ; for if they happened to die, while they yet lay under them, they were denied Chriftian burial, and their corpfes thrown into holes, dug in the highways, with every mark of ignominy, that could be devifed, and inflicted, by their cruel and bigoted judges.

CHAP. IX.

Some Account of the Ecclefiaftical Courts at that juncture in Ireland.

BISHOP Burnet, in his life of Dodor Bedel, Bifhop of Kilmore, hath left us a very fhocking defcription of thefe ecclefiaftical courts in Ireland. " They were," fays his Lordfhip, " often managed by a Chancellor, that bought his place, and fo thought he had a right to all the profits he could make out of it. And their whole bufinefs feemed to be nothing but opprefllon, and

extortion 5

(7) Anale&a Sacra.

(1) " Sir Oliver St. John feemed to be actuated to feize the liberties and revenues of Waterford, be- with peculiar zeal againft Popery." Lei. Hift. Irel. caufe the magiftrates refufed the oath of fupremacy." Vol. i. p. 561. " A commiffion was ifliied by him Id. ib. p. 462.

(c) This will not fee m ft range, when we confider with no induftry, and for the moft part wafted, above

what Lord Deputy Mountjoy fays in a letter to Secre- four fcore thoufand pounds by the year." Morrif. ubt

tary Cecil, viz. " That in the time of Tyrone's war, fupra. fol. 234. that Earl did raife upon I1 liter, ill- inhabited as it wa»,

Ch. DC. CIVIL WARS JN IRELAND. $$

extortion ; the folemneft, and facredeft, of all church-cenfures, which was ex- communication, went about in fo fordid, and bafe a manner, that all regard to it, as it was fpiritual cenfure, was loft ; and the effects it had in law, made it be cried out upon, as a moft intolerable piece of tyranny. The officers of the court thought they had a fort of right to opprefs the natives ; and that all was well got, that was wrung from them. Primate Ufher himfelf, feemed fo fenfible of thefe abufes, that he told Archbifhop Laud(i), " ftich was then the venality of all things facred in Ireland, that he was afraid to mention any thing about them;" and that, upon fome of the adverfe party's having afked him, " where he had. heard, or read before, that religion and mens fouls were fet to fale, after that manner?" His Grace was obliged to have recourfe to a pitiful witticifm for an anfwer, viz. " That there was another place, where both Heavea and God himfelf, were fet to fale," Which whether true or falfe, (and falfe it moft certainly is) was a tacit confeffion of the juftice of the charge of public corruption againft thefe courts. But we fhall prefently fee, that Primate Ufher's own court was not a whit lefs cor-p- rupt, in the opinion of the good Bifhop Bedel, . than thofe of the other Irifh Biihops.

THESE corruptions were ib flagrant, and long continued, that even ior 1640, the diffenters in Ulfter, on whom the epifcopal clergy had, as we have feen, conferred many fignal favours, made fevere animadversions upon them. In their remonftrance to the Englifh parliament of that year, they obferv- ed, among other abu-fes of thefe courts (2), " That the commutation of penance (which Burnet calls the worft of fimony) which either fhould not. at all be exacted, or if exacted, fhould be fet apart for the poor, and other pious ufes, came either to. the Prelate's kitchen, or the Commif- fary's purfe, or to bothj and that, though the officers of thefe courts pretended themfelves to be the advancers of virtue, and punifhers of vice, yet they ufually, without further fatisfaclion, abfolved the moft fcandalous perfons for a fum of money, and often queftioned not at. all fuch, from whom they privately beforehand; had received fuch fum"

Burnet ubi fupra. (a) Rrya's Antipathy to JBifliops, Part ii.p 374.

CHAP.

$6 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE Bk. II

CHAP. X.

The Patience, and Submijfion, of the Natives.

WHILE the nobility and gentry of Ulfter were, by the late ad of at- tainder, ftript of their pofTeflions, for crimes that were either never committed, or were formerly pardoned, another defign was fet on foot, to feize on the eftates of the natives in the other provinces, under the pretence of a judicial enquiry into defective titles. This enquiry caufed SifaJ general alarm thro' every part of the kingdom; inafmuch as(i), " no title of lineal defcent, or long pofTeilion, though for feveral hundred years, nor even letters patent, could fecure the proprietors againft the predatory efFe&s of it." But as this bufinefs was profecuted with greateft violence in the enfuing reign, under Lord Wentworth's government, I fhall defer the confideration of it till I some to fpeak of that period.

ONE would imagine, that fome caufe had been given by the Irifh, or at leaft pretended by their enemies, for fuch continued feverity ; but nothing of that kind appears to have been the cafe ; for all hiftorians agree, that, except O'Dogherty's fhort-lived tumult, and the forged plot of the Earls, there was not the lead commotion in Ireland, during that whole reign j although, had the Irifh been difpofed to rife, it is certain, that no people could have a more tempting opportunity, or a more plaufible (b) pretence, than they then had (2),

" for

(j) Remonftrance from Trim. (2) Carte's Orra. Vol. i. fol. 45.

(a) It was rigoroufly profecuted by Sir Arthur rants of lands, coming within any title of conceal- Chichefter, tho' the King in his inftru&ions to him, ment j becaufe he hoped that, thereby, b.nh his upon his firft appointment to the Lieutenancy of Ire- people would receive contentment, and his coffers land, told him, '* That he had directed a commif- feme augmentation, by the compofition with the te- fion to compound with hi's fubjects of that kingdom nants of fuch Lauds." Defid. Curiof. Hib. Vol. i. for defective and imperfect titles; and dial he had p. 455-6.

refolved, from thenceforth, to grant no more war-

(b) The Commiflioners fent about this time from they took up. That, befides meat and drink, they England, by the King, to enquire into the numerous extorted money from the poorer people, where they grievances complained of by the Irifli agents, fet forth were cefTed ; three ^Killings for every night's lodging in their report to his Majefty, " That out of the par- for an horfe-man, and two for a foot-man, fometimes ticular inftances (being many) of opprefiion, and ex- more. As alfo certain petty fums for their boys, and tortions of the foldiers, provoft-marfhals, and others, attendants, befides victuals; and thefe foldiers took they had fele&ed three fcore. That in counties, money, nor only for themfelves, but likewife for other where the compofition, in lieu of the cefs was paid, foldiers abfent, which the country called black men, the foldiers did extort on his Majefty's fubjeds, by becaufe they were not feen. That, in all thefe cafes, neither paying money, nor giving tickets, for what when the people had not money, they took forcibly

fome

Ch. X.

CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND.

57

" for King James never kept up a greater force in that kingdom, than one thoufand feven hundred and thirty five foot, and two hundred and twelve horfej and thefe in a miferable condition, Ibmetimes three years unpaid; and not a penny of money in the hands of either of the Treafurers, or any to be borrowed from private perfons. Yet he was, all this time, fettling the plan- tations in different parts of the kingdom ; changing the (c) properties of lands, tranfplanting the old inhabitants, and fettling colonies of ftrangers; while the old Irifh captains, and petty Lords, were difcontented at the lofs of their an- tient power ; and while there were, in remote parts of the kingdom, numbers of idle young, and active fellows, who being unprovided for a livelihood, and not caring to earn it by the fweat of their brow, were full of complaints, and eager for alterations. In Conaught alone there were feven thoufand of thefe idle fellows booked down by officers, and given in a lift to the Lord Deputy, that were fit for nothing but arms ; and who then living on their friends, and relations, muft have been forced to feek, and pufh their fortunes."

Come of their cattle or houfehold-ftuff, for pawns, in lieu thereof; that the officers of the army did the lame ; that Sheriffs did fuffer their men, and bailiffs, and followers, to take both money, and victuals from the country. And that the reafon the people did not

(c) We are told on this occafion, " That there are not wanting proofs of the mod iniquitous practices, of hardened cruelty, of vile perjury, and fcandalous

complain to the Deputy of all thefe oppreflions and extortions, was for fear of being worfe ufed by the foldiers at other times ; and becaufe the charges of the complaint would far exceed the damages." See that Report, in Defid. Curiof. Hiber. Vol. ii. p-365-4-3.

fubornation, employed to defpoil the fair, and unof- fending proprietor of his inheritance." Lei. hift. of Irel. Vol. ii. p. 470.

AN

A N

HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL

R E V I E

O F T H E

CIVIL WARS IN IRELAND.

BOOK III.

CHAP. </