THE LIFE
OF
JAMES DUKE OF ORMOND;
CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OP
THE MOST REMARKABLE AFFAIRS OF HIS TIME,
AND PARTICULARLY
OF IRELAND UNDER HIS GOVERNMENT
WITH
AN APPENDIX
AND
A COLLECTION OF LETTERS,
SERVING TO
VERIFY THE MOST MATERIAL FACTS IN THE SAID HISTORY.
A NEW EDITION,
CAREFULLY COMPARED WITH THE ORIGINAL MSS.
VOLUME II.
OXFORD:
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
M.DCCC.LI.
Dfi
4
CONTENTS OF VOL. II.
BOOK III CONTINUED.
THE earl of Ormond made lieutenant general of the army 192
His proposal for suppressing the re- bellion 194
His repartee to sir W. Parsons in the council 195
An account of the rebellion sent to the parliament of England . . ibid.
The prejudice it did the king's af- fairs 196
The king endeavours to send suc- cours to Ireland 197
Proceedings of the parliament of England 198
Their endeavours to asperse the king as favouring the Irish rebel- lion 207
The state of the provinces of Ireland at the end of November 1641. 210
A character of the earl of Clanri- card 212
His proceedings in the county of Galway 213
Causes of the general defection of the kingdom 216
Prorogation of the parliament . . 221
Debates about its meeting .... 222
Passages in parliament 224
Measures of the English parliament affecting Ireland 233
The rebels advance to Drogheda, 238 and defeat 600 men sent to suc- cour the place 239
Delay of succours from England 241
Sir Charles Coote's expedition into
Wicklow 242
He is made governor of Dublin ibid.
The defection of the English pale 243 Reflections on the occasidh of the
defection of the pale 253
A letter of the lords justices, Dec.
14 260
An insurrection in Munster ... 264 The lord Mountgarret's march into
Munster 270
The siege of Drogheda 271
ANNO 1642. The proceedings of the lords justices
to convict the rebels 275
Arrival of succours from England 277 The earl of Ormond's expedition to
the Naas ibid.
His resentment at sir C. Coote's
hanging F. Higgins 278
His answer to lord Gormanston's
message 280
His vindication from Wishart's and
other calumnies ibid.
The distress of the troops about
Dublin 282
The earl of Ormond drives the rebels
from Kilsaghlan 283
Debates about raising the siege of
Drogheda ibid.
His march into the pale 284
He is recalled from pursuing the
rebels 287
Treatment of the gentlemen of the
pale that submitted upon the
king's proclamation 291
Views of the lords justices in racking
prisoners 293
Hugh Mac Mahon put to the rack,
295. and colonel Read .... ibid. a 2
IV
CONTENTS OF VOL. II.
An offer of the lords of the pale to submit 297
The treatment of the earl of Castle- haven 298
Mr. Barnwall of Kilbrew racked 300
An act of parliament for adventurers towards the relief of Ireland . 301
The king's offer of going in person to Ireland against the rebels . 303
The parliament treat with the Scots to send succours to Ireland . . 308
Proceedings of the Scots' forces in Ulster 309
The earl of Ormond's services ac- knowledged by the parliament of England 312
His expedition to Maryborow . . 313
The battle of Kilrush 314
Synodical acts of the Romish clergy to encourage the rebellion ... 316
The lord Lisle's expedition into the King's County 317
The great caution of the state in • giving orders 318
Distress of the army 319
Supplies arrived from England . 320
The state of Connaght ibid.
The defection of Galway, 321. and submission 322
The state disapprove of it, and forbid all submissions 323
The lord Clanricard's endeavours to secure the county of Galway .324
Attempts to break the pacification ib.
The earl of Ormond's expedition to Athlone 325
He takes bail for Mr. Nicholas Plun- ket 326
Proceedings of the Irish parlia- ment 328
A declaration for making new penal laws 330
The earl of Ormond's dispute with the lord lieutenant, 333. decided in fa- vour of the earl of Ormond,336. who is created marquis of Ormond 337
An attempt to engage the Irish army in the interest of the parlia- ment 338
The marquis of Ormond's instruc- tions to sir P. Wemyss 339
An inquiry about the supplies sent by the parliament to Ireland, 339 into Munster ibid.
The fort of Limerick taken by the rebels 341
The lord Forbes refuses to assist lord Inchiquin 342
The battle of Liscarrol 343
The state of Connaght, 345. and of Galway ibid.
The lord Forbes arrives at Galway, 346. and declines to attempt Slego 347
The state of Ulster upon Owen O'Neile's landing 348
An account of the supplies sent to Leinster 350
Particulars of the supplies sent . 352
The use made of the Irish rebellion by the parliament of England 353
English affairs preparatory to the re- bellion in England 354
The war breaks out in England 360
The lords justices of Ireland unwill- ing to obey the king's orders, 362 they obstruct the marquis of Or- mond's command of the army 364
The marquis of Ormond falls sick 365
A dispute about the command of the Laggan forces ibid.
Preston lands supplies for the Irish 367
A general assembly of the rebels at Kilkenny 368
They draw up a remonstrance of grievances 370
Passages in the Irish parliament in August, 371. in November . . 375
Proceedings about Jerome .... 377
The rebels' oath of association. . 380
They take Burros, Birr, and fort
Falkland 381
ANNO 1643.
The condition of the earl of Clan- ricard and the county of Gal- way 382
The lord Ranelagh accused .... 383
CONTENTS OF VOL. II.
Major Woodhouse sent with the complaints of the army to the
king 384
A commission sent to the marquis of Ormond to receive the propositions of the Irish recusants 390
The lord Lisle, and Reynolds, and Goodwin admitted by the lords justices into the privy-council 393
The parliament committee leaves Dublin 394
The marquis of Ormond declines the post of lord lieutenant 395
The treaty previous to the congress at Trim 396
The reasons of the expedition to Ross 398
Custodiums a great detriment to the service 400
The marquis of Ormond marches to Ross 402
The battle of Ross 404
The marquis of Ormond returns to Dublin, then in great distress for want of provisions 407
A remonstrance of the rebels deli- vered at Trim 408
The king's instructions about the grievances of the recusants . . 409
A letter of the lords justices dissuad- ing a peace 410
The marquis of Ormond's motion to send the king an account of the state of the kingdom rejected by the lords justices 413
Complaints of the officers of the army 414
They petition the house of lords 415
The parliament prorogued .... 416
A letter of the lord chancellor on that subject ibid.
The condition of the forces about Dublin 417
Sir Henry Tichburne made lord jus- tice in the place of sir W. Par- sons 420
Sir W. Parsons's imperious manner of treating the council 421
The king's letter to the council of Ireland not to obey any orders but his own 422
Petitions of the prisoners in Dublin castle to be bailed ibid.
The king sends orders to the mar- quis of Ormond to treat for a ces- sation 424
The state of Munster ibid.
No hopes of relief from the parlia- ment 426
The king sends the marquis of Or- mond a commission to conclude a cessation 427
The success of the rebels in Leinster, 428. in Connaght, 429. and in Munster 431
Owen O'Neile routed by sir Robert Stewart 432
The state solicit the parliament in vain for succours 434
The marquis of Ormond's proceed- ings towards a cessation . . . ibid.
His motions at the council board 437
The treaty begins, ibid, and is broken
off 439
The marquis of Ormond tries in vain
to fight Preston ibid.
Sir W. Parsons and others of the council attached to the parliament
imprisoned 440
The charge against them 441
Their letters intercepted 442
The Scots declare for the parliament and raise an army against the
king % 443
The king repeats his orders for a
cessation 446
Debates at Kilkenny about the cessa- tion 447
The strength of the rebels 448
Distress of the state 449
The treaty renewed ibid.
The cessation concluded 450
AN HISTORY
AN HISTORY
OF
THE LIFE OF
JAMES THE FIRST DUKE OF ORMOND,
AND OF
THE AFFAIRS OF IRELAND IN HIS TIME.
BOOK III. CONTINUED.
68 HP HE earl of Ormond was at his house of Carrick upon A the Sure in the county of Tipperary when the rebel- lion broke out. He had resolved to be at Dublin at the meeting of the parliament, which was adjourned to the 9th of November; and the necessity of his presence there was a reason which hindered him from waiting upon his majesty in Scotland. The liberties of the county palatine of Tipperary, which had been granted by king Edward III, and confirmed to the house of Ormond by various succeeding kings of England, had been seized by king James, upon a judgment of the King's Bench of Ireland given on pretence of a default of Walter, the present earl's grandfather, when for refus- ing to stand to that prince's arbitration of the dispute between him and Richard earl of Desmond, he was clapped up at London a close prisoner in the Fleet, and neither had notice nor liberty of appearing. The seizure was only in the nature of a distress ; and the proceedings were so illegal that nothing but that king's extravagant fondness for his Scotch favourites could have drawn him
VOL. II. B
2 The earl of Ormond made HI. 68.
into so unjust a severity. King Charles was a prince of great justice and humanity, and the earl of Ormond made no question but he was sufficiently disposed to 193 do him right. All the doubt was, whether his majesty would not refer it to his council to judge of the expe- diency and fitness of leaving such privileges in the hands of a subject ; they had never been abused to the pre- judice of the crown, and had been exercised with such moderation towards the subject, that the inhabitants of the county found great ease and comfort from them. This was the point at which the matter stuck, when his grandfather petitioned for dissolving the seizure ; the council having then been for retrenching some of the franchises, which that nobleman insisted should be re- stored entire according to right. The proofs of this right were incontestable ; and in confidence thereof, the now earl had presented a petition, which was referred at last to the earl of Strafford, then lord lieutenant ; but before his report was made, the troubles of Scotland came on, and other more important affairs prevented the determination of this. The earl of Ormond thought it a proper time to revive his suit, and being not able to go in person, sent about the middle of September sir Patrick Wemyss to Scotland, with a petition, which he was instructed to present, if he found the matter of it might be granted by an order of his majesty alone, with- out being referred at all He had no reason to think that either of the privy- councils of England or Ireland, as then composed, would be ready to do him justice ; his zeal for the king's service, and friendship with the earl of Strafford, having rendered him unacceptable to both ; nor did he care, for a matter of mere honour without any profit, to be at the vast expense which would necessarily attend the formalities of proceeding in a tedious circuit of references and certificates. If sir Patrick therefore found a reference absolutely necessary,
68. lieutenant-general of the army . (1641.) 3
he was not to offer the petition, unless it might be re- ferred to the house of lords of Ireland, or (if it was a more regular way) to the parliament there ; before which at their meeting was to be laid an act about Tipperary, which had been transmitted by the council of Ireland, and by that of England in the May before referred to the attorney- general, who had made no alteration in it, nor any exception to the saving of the earl of Ormond's rights, which was provided for therein. Sir Patrick Wemyss was at Edinburgh executing this commission, when the king received from the lord Chichester an ac- count of the rebellion in the north of Ireland". His majesty, glad to have so faithful and able a servant in that kingdom in such a time of trial, immediately ap- pointed the earl of Ormond lieutenant-general of his army, and despatched away sir Patrick with a letter, desiring him to accept the charge, as a great renewed testimony of the affection which he bore to his service. The lords justices had wrote to him on Oct. 24, and that letter miscarrying, or being delayed, they sent an- other on Nov. 2, desiring him to provide for the safety of the country, as well as he could, and to come up to Dublin with his troop, and they sent down soon after a commission for his lordship ; and the lord Mountgar- ret, to govern the county of Kilkenny, and provide for the peace and security thereof. The earl sent to the lords of Ikeryn and Upper Ossory, the principal gentle- men, and the corporations within the county, who rea- dily promised their service. The gentlemen meeting at Kilkenny, undertook to raise two hundred and forty foot, and a troop of fifty horse for the defence of the country; Callan offered to muster and maintain one hundred men for their guard, and other towns made the like offers ; but they wanted arms and ammunition, which they were ready to pay for ; and the earl, after * See Collection of Letters, No. XXXI. B 2
4 The earl's proposal III. 68—
he got to Dublin at the end of the first week in Novem- ber, obtained w a warrant, on Nov. 9, from the lords justices (who would spare none out of the stores) to buy and import them from England or Holland. Sir Patrick Wemyss arriving on the tenth of that month, and the lords justices having received his majesty's designation 1 94 of the earl of Ormond to that employment, they (without waiting for the earl of Leicester's orders, who had de- sired him to accept of the same charge) signed a com- mission the next day, appointing him lieutenant-general of all the forces within the kingdom, with power to govern them, and punish the rebels according to martial law ; but with a salvo to the authority of the lord lieu- tenant.
69 The earl of Ormond was of opinion, that the rebels ought to be immediately attacked ; and not allowed time to make themselves pikes, or to be supplied with arms from abroad ; that being naked and unarmed, (which was one reason why they were beat every where by the small parties, that sir Robert and sir W. Stewart got together in Ulster,) and almost all foot and undisciplined, they could never stand before a body of horse, and of well armed foot ; that it would be easier to reduce them then with two thousand men, than with three times that num- ber, if they deferred attacking the rebels till after the arrival of forces from England ; and therefore proposed to march against them immediately, with his own and five other troops of horse, and a body of two thousand five hundred foot, (which by filling up the old companies to one hundred might well be spared,) and with a supply of arms for such volunteers as would attend him from Dublin, or join him in his march, and power to take up meat and drink in the country for the sustenance of his forces ; and thus provided, he did not doubt of reducing them in the space of three weeks. The lords justices
w B. 15.
— 69. for suppressing the rebellion. (1641.) 5
had before the end of October raised three new regi- ments of one thousand men each, out of the inhabitants of Dublin, arid of those many thousands of despoiled English that had fled thither from the north; one of which regiments they had sent on Nov. 2 with sir Henry Tichburne to secure Drogheda, then by the taking of Atherdee (but seven miles distant from it) become a frontier garrison. They had since received all the com- panies of the standing army, except three that were left for the guards of as many forts in Munster, lord Clan- rickard's and Ranelagh's, sir Charles Coote's and sir Fr. Willoughby's, that were in Connaught ; and about six or seven more, that were either surprised by the rebels, or quartered and in service in Ulster ; so that they could not have less than one thousand five hundred old well disciplined foot about Dublin. The earl of Ormond, by their directions, as soon as he was made lieutenant-gene- ral, granted commissions to lord Lambert, sir Charles Coote, and sir Piers Crosby, to raise three regiments more of one thousand men each, and to others for thirteen inde- pendent companies of one hundred each : which were full in a few days. Sir Thomas Lucas, commissary-ge- neral of the horse, had lately brought the best part of his troop out of England, and now filled it up ; captain Arm- strong had a commission for another, which he soon raised ; and captain Yarner, sent over by the lord lieutenant to raise another, completed it to one hundred in a few days. There was in the stores of the castle a fine train of field artillery, ammunition of all sorts in great quantities, arms (as hath been said) for above ten thousand men, tents, and necessaries of all sorts for the march and provision of an army ; all which had been prepared by the earl of Strafford for the Scotch expedition. Whoever considers these things, with the defeats given to sir Phelim O'Neil's forces in Ulster, and the ill condition in which the rest of the rebels were in the county of Louth, where they
6 The earl's proposal for suppressing the rebellion. III. 69 —
had drawn their greatest strength, and lay at Atherdee with four thousand men under colonel Mac Brian ; but so miserably provided and disheartened, that sir H. Tich- burne* desired leave to surprise them with a party of his garrison of Drogheda, and did not question effecting it with little hazard, will be amazed at the lords justices de- nying of their consent to the earl of Ormond's proposal. What were their real motives for this denial is hard to 195 say ; but the only reason assigned by them for it was the want of arms for the service of the soldiers that were to take the field, as well as of those that were to remain in Dublin; a pretence so notoriously false, that it could only be made use of to cover motives which they were ashamed of confessing. Whether they were so horribly afraid of their own persons, that they thought the old army and all the new raised forces little enough for their security, and durst not send them out of the sight of Dublin, which was sir W. St. LegerV opinion of them ; whether by directions from the faction in the English house of commons, or by their own hopes of greater gains from forfeited estates by the spreading of the rebellion, they did not care to have it crushed in the bud, which there is too much reason, from a consideration of all parts of their conduct, to suspect, was the truth of the case ; or whether they envied the glory which the earl of Or- mond would gain by that success, and were jealous it would be rewarded with the government of Ireland; which the lord Strafford had advised, and the king had been inclined to confer upon him ; cannot be affirmed with so much certainty, as it may, that they never in all the time of their government embraced or took one vigorous step to improve any opportunity that was offered of suppressing the rebellion ; and that in all their con- duct towards the earl of Ormond they shewed an aver-
* See his letter to the earl of Ormond, Nov. 1 6, 1641. Y See
Collection of Letters, Nos. XXXIV, XXXV, XXXVII—XXXIX.
— 71. His repartee to sir W. Parsons in the council. (1641.) 7
sion to his person, and did all they could to make his command of the army disagreeable, and shackle him in the exercise of it.
70 I must not on this occasion omit a passage which happened on Dec. 13 next following at the council-table2; where, besides the justices, were present the archbishop of Dublin, the lords Valentia and Dillon of Kilkenny West, sir Adam Loftus, sir John Temple, sir Charles Coote, sir Piers Crosby, and sir Robert Meredith. Sir W. Parsons proposed the calling of a court martial about captain Wingfield ; the earl of Ormond had seen how dangerous the exercise of martial law had been to the late lord lieutenant, and how highly it had been censured by the English and Irish parliaments ; he knew that he did not want enemies to lay hold on any matter that could be made the ground of a complaint and impeach- ment against him, and3 had been advised that a com- mission under the broad seal for the exercise of that and the like powers, in the absence of the lord lieutenant, was either necessary or highly expedient in the present situation of affairs, and therefore said, he had not power, as he conceived, to call a court martial, and knew not but he might be questioned for it. Sir William was of an overbearing temper, and his heat, on sudden and un- expected occasions, often got the better of his cunning ; so that in the impatience of having a proposal of his dis- puted, he told his lordship, that the thing ought to be done for the common safety ; and if he did not do it, he should be questioned for greater matters, for no less than losing the kingdom. The earl of Ormond, who never was at a loss in his days for an answer equally decent and poignant, replied, " I believe, sir, you will do as much towards losing the kingdom, as I ; and I am sure, I will do as much as you for saving it."
71 The great hopes of the lords justices in Ireland lay in 7- A. p. 278. a Ibid. p. 137.
8 The prejudice the rebellion did 111.71-
the parliament of England. They had on Oct. 25 sent by Owen O'Conally the discoverer, an account of the rebellion to the lord lieutenant, who had, on Nov. i, com- municated the same to the house of commons there ; who immediately appointed a select committee of fifty-two of their body in conjunction with twenty-six lords to take into consideration the affairs of Ireland, to provide for the raising and sending of men and ammunition thither to suppress the rebels, and of ships to guard the coast of that kingdom. This committee sat every morning in the painted chamber, and to them the lord lieutenant com- 196 municated all the letters he received to be first consulted on there, and from thence reported to the two houses, which were hereby possessed of a large power and de- pendance; all men (as blord Clarendon observes) "apply- ing themselves to them, that is, to the chief leaders, for their preferments in that war : the mischief whereof, though in the beginning little taken notice of, was after- wards felt by the king very sensibly." Two or three days afterwards a like account was sent them by the king from Scotland, where he had on Oct. 28 received the letters of the lord Chichester on the same subject. 72 Never was any intelligence so unwelcome to his ma- jesty as this, which absolutely ruined all his affairs, and defeated all the measures which he had taken to retrieve them. He had come into Scotland purely to settle that kingdom in peace, and resolving to leave them entirely satisfied, had consented to every act that was proposed by that parliament, however contrary to his religious sen- timents, or derogatory to his royal prerogative. By giving the Scots this contentment, he flattered himself that he should have only the mutinous and factious spirits in England to struggle wth ; and these had given so many proofs of their ambition and private interest, which they covered under public pretences, and had thereby lost so b Clarendon, vol. i. book iv. par. 30. edit. 1849.
— 72. the king's affairs. (1641.) 9
much of their sway in the house of commons, that he had just reason to expect, that he should, upon his return to London, find his parliament there in such a temper, as might dispose them to concur with him in proper mea- sures, for quieting the distractions of the nation, for sup- pressing the riots, tumults, and disorders, that had been too much encouraged of late, for establishing the throne on a just foundation, and for the support of the constitu- tion in church and state. But he now saw his hopes deceived, and another of his kingdoms (notwithstanding all his care to prevent an insurrection there, and all his endeavours to remove the discontents of the people by his many gracious concessions for the redress of their grievances) embroiled by a furious rebellion, and in im- minent danger of being lost ; and (what was still more unhappy) he saw himself in no condition to save it. The parliament had stripped him of the most profitable branches of his legal revenue, with great professions at the same time of improving it ; they had made him re- nounce all claim to tonnage and poundage, which his predecessors had ever enjoyed ; under pretence of vesting it in him in a surer and more legal manner, when they could get time to regulate that matter. But that time had never come, and in the meanwhile they caused it to be collected by their own receivers, and applied it not to the support of his majesty's household, but to csuch pur- poses as they were pleased to appoint by special orders of their own ; and (what was still more provoking) though the king had received no benefit at all by any tax they had laid, or by any grant which they had made in parlia- ment, nor had any officers of his the receipt of any of the money raised thereby, yet they, with a solemn mockery and a taunting sauciness, (whereof none of the body could in their single capacity have been capable,) re- counted from time to time the obligations which they c Nalson, vol. ii. p. 757.
10 The king endeavours to III,
had laid upon him by such grants, and upbraided him with them, as so many gifts and favours to himself. In this extremity, without money or means of raising it, and impatient to have a rebellion quelled immediately, which he foresaw, if spread and continued, would be the deso- lation of that kingdom, and perpetuate the distractions of this, and probably prove in the end the overthrow of his government in both, he had recourse to the first, and (as he imagined) the readiest method that offered itself of relief, and took the fatal step of applying for assistance to those, who found their interest in embroiling and dis- tressing him more and mored ; and sent a message to the 197 two houses of the English parliament ; wherein, after ac- quainting them with the rebellion of Ireland, he adds, that " he recommended to them the care of those affairs, and expected their advice what course was fittest to be taken for the reducing of that kingdom." Such were the terms of Mr. Secretary Vane's letter of Oct. 28, which was communicated to the two houses, and upon which they pretended to the sole management of the Irish war, even exclusive of his majesty ; who in vain desired their ad- vice in those affairs, if he meant to have nothing to do in them, and who certainly never intended to renounce the right and duty, inseparably incident to a king, of protect- ing his subjects, and of providing by such means as his power enabled him to use, and the necessities of the times required, for the peace, security, and happiness of his people.
73 The king had no sooner sent away this message, than ehe repaired to his parliament of Scotland, and the same day communicated to them lord Chichester's letter, which was publicly read in the house. He naturally expected some return for his late graces to them, upon which they had made him promises as extravagant as his concessions to them had been. They had five thousand men still on
d Nalson, vol. ii. p. 599. e Rushworth, vol. iv. p. 407.
—74-
send succours to Ireland. ( 1 64 1 .)
11
foot, and might easily have called together a greater num- ber of those that had been disbanded a little before ; but these, if sent away immediately, (the passage to the north of Ireland being so short, and the transportation so very easy,) would have put at once an effectual stop to those commotions. But neither their pretended zeal for reli- gion, nor the bleeding condition of that kingdom, nor the danger of their countrymen in it, nor the entreaties of their natural sovereign, nor the shame of failing in their own promises the very moment they were making them, could prevail with the Scots to afford any succours in this general calamity. They had lately found the sweets of a treaty with the English parliament, and had now an opportunity of making greater gains, and of procuring further advantages to themselves. They resolved to em- brace it; and therefore would contribute nothing to- wards suppressing the Irish insurrection, "without the knowledge and consent of their brethren of England ; though if the parliament there thought their aid neces- sary, as they lay very convenient for the service, they would then be ready to shew their dutiful respects to his majesty's service, and their affections to his loyal subjects of England and Ireland."
74 So cold an answer in such a cause, so ungrateful a re- fusal of immediate supplies, and so destructive a delay in an exigence, wherein every moment was precious, and the loss of time might be supposed to be fatal, as well as irreparable, might well enough surprise the king ; but it did not discourage him from trying all other means in his power for the speedy relief of Ireland. There were a good number of brave and experienced officers that had served in the Scotch army, which was actually break- ing at this very time ; and his majesty knowing well the contagious nature of rebellion, and the mischiefs that would flow from its continuing unrepressed, engaged as many of these as he could to gather their old soldiers, and transport them as fast as was possible to the north
12 The king endeavours to send succours to Ireland. III. 74 —
of Ireland, to make up or reinforce the regiments which he directed to be raised there by the lords Clandeboyes, Ardes, and Chichester, sir James Montgomery, sir Ro- bert and sir William Stewart, and others, to whom he sent men, arms, and ammunition, and what money he could get by the assistance of the duke of Lenox. His majesty was so zealous in this affair, and used so much diligence and expedition therein, that he had ordered some away by the first of November ; and before he left Scotland, about the middle of it, he had sent away one thousand five hundred men into Ireland, as he acquainted 198 the two houses upon his coming to London at the latter end of that month.
75 fHe sent orders at the same time for supplies of men to be sent also out of England ; and conceiving that the rebellion of Ireland was fomented from abroad, and that the rebels expected some supply from foreign parts, he directed the earl of Northumberland, the lord high ad- miral, to send some ships for the guarding of the Irish coasts, and others to keep the narrow seas. The king could possibly do no more, unless he had gone himself into Ireland, which would (as appeared afterwards plainly enough by all circumstances) have effectually prevented at least the spreading of the rebellion, and probably have quenched it at once. But the Scotch parliament denying him their assistance, he could not go like a great king ; he wanted money to support those that would follow him voluntarily; and it was a step too dangerous to be taken in the then situation of England, after the commons had expressed so much uneasiness at his journey into Scot- land, raised so many jealousies on that occasion, and £ pushed to have the earl of Essex appointed custos regni during his majesty's absence in that kingdom, with power to pass any acts which they should deem necessary for
f See Collection of Letters, No. XXXII. and Nalson, vol. ii. p. 622. K Nalson, vol. ii. p. 424.
•7 6. Proceedings of the parliament of England. ( 1 64 1 .) 13
the safety of the kingdom, without loss of time in consult- ing his majesty ; and there were but too good grounds to suppose (what was threatened afterwards) that if he had gone into Ireland, the two houses would have taken upon them immediately to have seized all his forts and maga- zines, and have disposed of the government of England at their pleasure.
76 The parliament were not so hasty in their preparations for an effectual suppressing of the rebellion, as they were warm in their declarations against it ; and whilst both houses expressed the utmost detestation of so enormous a wickedness, the heads of the faction in the lower in- wardly rejoiced at an event which would enable them to execute their schemes for the subversion of the monarchy and church of England ; and resolved to make use of it for that purpose. When they had no longer any griev- ances to complain of, they had & alarmed the nation with the fears of foreign invasions, with conspiracies in the army to offer violence to the parliament, and with an in- finite number of sham plots; which were received and had their influence before the particulars thereof were known ; and some of them, senseless and ridiculous as they appeared to every man of common sense, were yet examined into with as much solemnity and gravity as the senate of Rome ever used in the extremest dangers of their commonwealth. The odium of all was thrown upon the papists, because the generality of the nation, in their abhorrence of popery, would readily swallow any thing that was suggested to the prejudice of that sect, without examining either the possibility of the design charged upon them, or the truth of the pretences em- ployed to countenance that charge. Hence arose those many orders of the commons, conferences with the lords, and addresses to the kingh, for putting the laws in exe-
g Clarendon, vol. i. bookiii. par. 207. edit. 1849.
h Rushworth, vol. iv. p. 157, 158. 188. 299. 301. 277, &c.
14 Proceedings of the parliament of England. III. 74 —
cution against popish recusants, and for proceeding not only against the convict, but against such as were not convicted ; for the judges in their circuits to press the execution of these laws, and to make report to the par- liament ; for the execution of popish priests condemned for the exercise of their religion, upon statutes made only in terrorem, and never intended to be executed, except on such as should be found dabbling in some secret trea- sonable conspiracy (the state of England having thought proper at all times before to vindicate themselves from the imputation of enacting sanguinary laws in matters of religion) ; for prohibiting the resort of papists to the chapels of foreign ambassadors in London for divine wor- 199 ship; for removing all priests of what country soever from about the queen, and all English ladies that were recusants from about the court ; for disarming the papists in all the counties of the kingdom, and for securing their persons ; all calculated to create and keep up fears and apprehensions in the people of terrible dangers and de- signs. But * not withstanding all the arts of the faction, there appeared at last so little foundation for these fears, that considerate men began to suspect some mischievous designs were carrying on by those who were so indus- trious in raising them on such trifling occasions; and some very unwarrantable proceedings of the committee that sat during the recess, or of Mr. Pym, who presided in the chair of that committee, and who issued out va- rious orders concerning the church in favour of innova- tions and seditious lecturers, had given so much offence and scandal, that the members were like to meet toge- ther with more temper and less inclination to novelties than they had parted with. But the news of a rebellion of Irish papists raised the spirits of the faction which were sunk before, and animated them to resume with
i Clarendon, vol. i. book iv. par. 2, 15, &c. edit. 1849.
•7 7 • Proceedings of the parliament of England. ( 1 64 1 .) 15
vigour the designs which they had almost despaired of executing. That fact made the world suspect there was more in the other pretended plots than they had ever imagined before, and laid a foundation of credit for every fiction which should be forged afterwards to frighten people out of their wits, even for that plot which Beal said he overheard two unknown persons talking of in the fields, of one hundred and eight fellows being hired to assassinate as many members of parliament at the rate of forty shillings a man ; so that the minds of men being again unsettled and disquieted, and, as klord Clarendon observes, " knowing little ; and so doubting much ; every day produced a new discovery of some new treason and plot against the kingdom. One day a letter ' from be- yond seas, of great forces prepared to invade England ;' then, * some attempt upon the life of Mr. Pym ;' and no occasion omitted to speak of the evil council about the king ; when scarce a counsellor durst come near him, or be suspected to hear from him."
77 This gave encouragement to the faction to bring in, contrary to the laws of parliament, the bill which had been before rejected for taking away the bishops' votes in parliament, and to go on with their impeachment of thirteen of that order for making canons in the convoca- tion of 1 640 ; though the crime of the act was so un- known in the law, that in the debate on that occasion they could not (even with the assistance of their lawyers, whom they sent for out of Westminster-hall for that pur- pose) find out a name whereby to denominate it; and when Mr. Denzil Hollis was for making it treason, (the common charge at that time for every act of uncommon duty to the king,) the professors of the law said he might as justly call it adultery. This emboldened them to frame, and enabled them to carry Jthat fatal remon-
k Clarendon, vol. i. book iv. par. 32. edit. 1849.
. Par- 49-
16 Proceedings of the parliament of England. HI. 77 —
strance, wherein, to render the king and his government odious to his people, they loaded him with a volume of reproaches for what others had done amiss, and he him- self had already reformed ; exalted their own merits, de- preciated the king's graces ; and, to alarm the whole king- dom, made loud but general complaints of designs to introduce popery, and of the danger that threatened the nation from the influence of evil counsellors, when they could not produce a single instance, nor assign a reason of exception against any that were employed and trusted by his majesty, but that they did not like them. To make the world imagine that the house of commons itself was in danger, they upon this occasion ordered a guard to be set for their security; mand to point out whence this and the like dangers came, they renewed 200 their prosecution against the papists; "making fresh or- ders for putting the laws in execution against them, for the seizing of priests, and for executing seven of them at a time, notwithstanding the intercession of foreign am- bassadors in their behalf, and the consideration of the ill effect this unreasonable severity might have in Ireland, (which was prudently urged by the French minister,) and without vouchsafing any reasons to the lords, who desired to know them before they would join in an address for so needless a cruelty, and for securing all gentlemen that were recusants in every county of England, actually taking up °the principal and most considerable of them, Prequiring foreign ambassadors to deliver up such priests as were the king's subjects, and lived in their houses, i breaking open by violence the doors, and intercepting and opening the letters of such ministers, in violation of the law of nations. I must not on this occasion omit
m Nalson, vol. ii. pp. 595, 687, 688, 802, 832, 793.
" Ib. pp. 615, 653, 647, 731, 732, 740, 814, 667, 524.
0 Ib. pp. 662, 667. P Ib. pp. 607, 608. q Ib. pp. 596, 640, 645.
•78. Proceedings of the parliament of England. (1641.) 17
taking notice of their r order of Nov. 8 for tendering the oaths of allegiance and supremacy to all Irish gentlemen suspected to be recusants, that were students, and lived in the inns of court or chancery ; for expelling such as were found upon that search, and forbidding the admis- sion of any for the future, upon any pretences whatso- ever; because it was of greater consequence than any- body, unacquainted with the situation of Ireland, or the particular sentiments of the Roman catholic lawyers of the Irish committee, sent over to prosecute the earl of Strafford, and solicit the redress of grievances, can readily conceive.
78 The commons had already got the privy council, the great offices of state, and the household, and almost all the lesser posts and commissions through the kingdom, filled with their partisans and creatures ; and there was not a civil officer but crouched to their power, and sub- mitted to obey their orders, how unprecedented, arbi- trary, or illegal soever. Thus they were entirely masters of the civil power; and now they resolved to lay hold upon the sovereign power of the sword, which the guilt of the heads of the faction had made them think, neces- sary to protect them from their own fears of a future reckoning in calmer times, and without which they could not hope to destroy the monarchy and the church of England. With this view8, on Nov. i, the very day that they were first informed of the Irish rebellion, they began with attempting to take away the government of the Isle of Wight from the earl of Portland, to whom the king- had intrusted it, and to sequester it into the hands of a confident of their own. They next ordered a bill to be brought in for the pressing of men for the particular ser- vice of Ireland ; which being prepared according to direc- tion, was read in the house on the fourth, the day on
r Nalson, p. 613. s Ib. p. 6^5, and Rushworth, vol. iv. p. 415.
VOL. II. C
1 8 Proceedings of the parliament of England. III. 7 8 ,
which his majesty's desire of their assistance and advice for the reducing of Ireland was communicated to them. i There was no occasion for such a bill, because there was no scarcity of men, and the northern army having been disbanded not three months before, it was easy to raise as many soldiers as were necessary for the Irish war; but, as lord Clarendon observes, " their business was to get power, not men ; and therefore this stratagem was used, to transfer the power of impressing men from the king to themselves ; and to get the king, that he might be now able to raise men for Ireland, to disenable himself from pressing upon any other occasion. For, in the preamble of this bill, which they sent up to the lords, (as they had done before in the first act for tonnage and pound- age,) they declared, that the king had, in no case, or upon any occasion, but the invasion from a foreign power, authority to press the freeborn subject; which could not consist with the freedom and liberty of his person." This doctrine being new to the lords, contrary to the usage and custom of all times, and seeming to them a great diminution of that regal power which was aoi necessary for the preservation of his own subjects and for the assistance of his allies, which in many cases he was bound to yield, they did not readily concur in the bill. This delay provoked the commons, with an unusual li- berty, to tell the lords very plainly, uthat they were only so many particular persons, and sat in parliament in a par- ticular capacity, whereas the lower house were the repre- sentatives of the whole kingdom ; and to declare that, if they would not consent to the passing of this and other bills which they had sent up to them, and deemed neces- sary for the preservation of the kingdom, they would, in conjunction with such of the lords as were more sensible of the safety of the kingdom, take such measures as were
* Clarendon, vol. i. book iv. par. 88. edit. 1849. u Nalson, vol. ii. p. 712.
7 8 . Proceedings of the parliament of England. ( 1 64 1 .) 19
proper for that end. So early did the commons manifest their design of engrossing the whole power of the govern- ment to themselves, exclusive of the peers, as well as of the king; and though the vote pronouncing the upper house useless was not passed in form till some years after- wards, yet it is clear that the foundation of its authority was destroyed by this declaration, (which was tamely di- gested, if not without private resentment, at least with- out public complaint,) and that in all the intermediate time the lords were upon their good behaviour, and acted only under the good pleasure of the commons, ready to be cast off and laid aside whenever they should offer to enfranchise themselves from a servile dependance on the latter, and refuse to be subservient to their purposes. In vvain did the king offer over and over to raise pre- sently ten thousand volunteers: they would never give any answer to the message he sent for that purpose, nor confer with the lords about it ; and when, after waiting some time for their answer, drums were actually beat, and men raised, they appointed a committee to inquire by what warrant this was done, and took up colonel Hill and others as delinquents for doing it, putting thereby an effectual stop to the raising of volunteers in England. Whereupon his majesty, seeing no good to be done there, sent commissions to the north of Ireland for the raising of six thousand foot, and a regiment of six hundred horse, under colonel Hill, in those parts. They had another bill of the same nature for the pressing of seamen, which they had sent up also to the lords, and insisted that they should pass them both speedily, wfor without them they con- ceived Ireland could not be saved ; and they went so far as xto discharge their committee from meeting any more about Irish affairs till this was done; so that the king, out of his earnest desires to relieve his good subjects, and
v Nalson, pp. 789, 793, 794, 801, 874. ^ ib. p. 789.
x Clarendon, vol. i. book iv. par. 89, 93. edit. 1849.
c 2
20 Proceedings of the parliament of England. 111.78 —
suppress the rebels in that kingdom, was forced to pass the bills, and for a prospect of immediate supplies, (for it proved little more than a prospect,) to sacrifice to them a considerable branch of his royal authority. 79 This however did not satisfy them who aimed at the whole, and resolved to have it by force, if other means failed ; and therefore soon after they had sent up the pressing bill to the lords, they ordered another to be brought in to settle the militia, in such hands as they should think fit to appoint ; determining not to be satis- fied till they had all the military force and all the gar- risons and forts of the kingdom in their power. As this was too much to be carried at once and on a sudden, they endeavoured in the mean time to get it by piece- meal, and enable themselves by force to obtain the whole. This was the reason of the ^bill for making a lord general and lord admiral of their own nomination ; this was their view in desiring that sir John Byron (though a person of great worth, and liable to no objec- tion) might be removed from the command of the Tower, and sir John Conyers be put in his stead. This was the end aimed at in their investing the Tower with an armed force, to hinder all provisions from being carried in for the sustenance of the warders, in order to reduce 202 it by famine (as the covenanters in Scotland had starved the castle of Edinburgh) till the king was forced to comply with them in this point, lest they should get it at last by force into their hands, as they had done Hull ; and this was their meaning in moving the lords on Nov. 1 6, that the kingdom might be put into a posture of defence, and that all the forts and castles thereof might be secured ; and in their making orders after- wards, that neither Portsmouth, (which was under a favourite governor of theirs,) nor any other castles, forts,
Y Nalson, vol. ii. pp. 719, 835, 844, 649, 833, 847, 852, 84 j.
— 8o. Proceedings of the parliament of England. ( 1 64 1 . ) £ I
or magazines should be delivered up without his ma- jesty's authority, signified by both houses of parliament, i. e. without an order of their own, exclusive of his ma- jesty ; for so they had declared in sir John Byron's case, (when he pleaded the king's command not to stir out of the Tower, in excuse of his not attending at their bar, without first having his majesty's leave,) that the king's command was always supposed to be in an order of the houses.
80 On these and indeed on all other occasions, when any shameful point was to be carried, the Irish rebellion was still brought in. z If the lords declined joining with the commons in addressing for the removal of sir Thomas Lunsford from the government of the Tower, it was imputed to the influence of the malignant party, encou- raged by the papists' rebellion in Ireland. If the bishops and Roman catholic peers (who were always coupled together in such clamorous complaints) were not turned out of the house of lords, the Irish rebels were said to receive advantages from the delays and interruptions thereby occasioned ; if the popish recusants in general, without grounds of suspicion against any one in parti- cular, were to be taken up; or if they wanted to con- tinue guards under the earl of Essex about their house, whilst the king had none for the security of his own person from those tumultuous and seditious assemblies of the rabble, which they encouraged to insult him, the Irish rebellion was still assigned as a cause. In a word, this was the burden of every petition, for the new mo- delling of religion, for the subverting of episcopacy, for the putting the nation in a state of defence, and for the removing of the dangers arising, either from evil counsellors, or from the papists and their adherents, which (in the sense then fixed upon the last word) com-
z Nalson, vol. ii. pp. 778, 654, 687.
22 Proceedings of the parliament of England. III. 80 —
prehended all the gentry and clergy that were loyal and orthodox in the kingdom.
8 1 Whilst the faction was making this use of the Irish rebellion, it was fit that they should make a show at least of doing something towards suppressing it. They therefore, on the first news of it, voted a supply of two hundred thousand pounds, of which fifty thousand pounds was to be borrowed of the city of London, and twenty thousand pounds of that sum to be sent away immedi- ately. They resolved that six thousand (which number was afterwards increased to ten thousand) foot, and two thousand horse, should be raised for that service ; and the lord lieutenant z, on Nov. 6, was empowered to grant commissions for levying three thousand five hundred foot and six hundred horse, part of these forces ; but was first to present a list of such officers as he proposed to employ in that work, to the house for their approba- tion ; and the lord admiral was desired to take care of providing ships at Bristol, Chester, and other ports for transporting the men, with arms, ammunition, and provisions, into Ireland. The two houses were never conceived to have a power of levying men, or of raising forces, or of granting commissions, and had never exer- cised such power before : it was a thing entirely new ; but as it was the most convenient one for their purpose, and what the faction most wished, in order to carry on their schemes to effect, they were very glad to exert it on this occasion, and prepare the nation for their exer- cise thereof, in opposition to his majesty's authority, by exercising it now without him ; for which they had so fair a pretence as the absence of the king, which allowed 203 them to suggest, " that his royal commission could not be so soon obtained, as the necessity of Ireland required the more speedy opposing the wicked and traitorous at-
z Nalson, vol. ii. p. 606.
—8 1 . Proceedings of the parliament of England. ( 1 641 .) 23
tempts of the rebels there, and his majesty's having especially recommended to them the care of the pre- servation of that kingdom." These are the reasons as- signed by the two houses in the preamble to their ordi- nance ; but it seems they were not such as convinced the earl of Leicester of the legality of so unprecedented an authority as he was directed to exercise. He was afraid that he could not give commissions to levy men for the service of Ireland, without a better warrant ; and that the said order was not of sufficient validity without a confirmation from his majesty under the great seal. He a communicated, on Nov. 9, these his scruples to the houses, who resolved " that he should go on to raise men upon their order ; and on Nov. 1 6 undertook to be suitors to his majesty to confirm the authority given to his lordship by the king and parliament under the great seal of England, and promised that they would be always ready to avow his proceedings upon the said order in the mean time." This seems to have satisfied the earl of Leicester ; for thereupon he presented the form or copy of a commission, such as he intended to give to commanders, which was read and approved. The earl of Northumberland had no reason to be troubled with such scruples ; his commission of lord high admiral was a legal and sufficient authority for him to do what was desired, and he had received likewise positive orders from his majesty to send ships for the service of Ireland ; so that if he had any scruples, they were of a quite different nature, and related not to the validity, but the exercise of his authority. He had on a former occa- sion made very mean court to the faction in the house of commons, at the expense of his own gratitude, and by the sacrifice of his brother's honour ; and he seems on this to have doubted, whether his executing the king's
a Nalson, vol. ii. pp. 614, 652.
2 4 Proceedings of the pa riia merit of England. III. 8 1 —
orders for sending ships to guard the Irish coasts and the narrow seas, would be agreeable to the two houses. Pursuant to this notion, on b Nov. 10, he acquainted the house of lords with these orders of the king, and desired to have the directions of the parliament what to do therein. The lords immediately desired a conference with the commons on this subject, and his lordship was allowed to send away some ships, with such instructions to the commanders as he received from the two houses. But surely the king must be very ill served, and have very little authority left, when a servant, whom he had so constantly and so singularly favoured, and laid such extraordinary obligations upon, as (lord Clarendon shews he had) on the earl of Northumberland, would not exe- cute his orders in a service so very popular, as the relief of the distressed protestants in Ireland, and of no less importance than the saving of a kingdom, without ask- ing leave of the houses, and receiving instructions from persons, who were raising to themselves a reputation by loading his majesty with reproaches, who founded their hopes of power in the distress of his affairs, and who could never attain what they grasped at, but by the ruin of his royal authority. An c order was likewise made, empowering the lord lieutenant (though he had not been invested in the formality of his place by the receiving of the sword in Ireland) to give command to the lords justices there, to seize upon the persons of any that were suspected, until they should clear themselves to the satis- faction of the justices ; a command very welcome to those gentlemen, who desired nothing more than to exe- cute it in such a manner, as might most recommend them to the favour of that power from whence it was originally derived. A d declaration was also made on Nov. 4, and published both in Ireland and England, in
b Nalson, vol. ii. p. 622. c i^d p. 643. d Ibid. p. 601.
—82.
Proceedings of the parliament of England. ( 1 641 .) 25
the name of both houses, expressing their " detestation 204 of the rebellion raised in Ireland, for the bloody massa- cre and destruction of all the protestants there, and of others his majesty's loyal subjects of English blood, though of the Romish religion, being ancient inhabitants in se- veral parts of that realm, who had always in former rebellions given testimony of their fidelity to the crown, and for the utter depriving of his royal majesty and the crown of England from the government of that king- dom ; and declaring their intention to serve his majesty with their lives and fortunes for the suppressing thereof, in such a way as should be thought most effectual by the wisdom and authority of parliament ; that they had provided for a present supply of money, and for raising the full number of men desired by the lords justices and council, with a resolution to add such further succours as the necessity of those affairs should require ; that they had resolved of providing arms, ammunition, stores of victuals, and other necessaries to be transported thither, as there should be occasion, from Bristol, Chester, and a port in Cumberland, where magazines of provisions should be kept for the supply of Ireland ; that they would mediate with his majesty to reward such English or Irish as should at their own charges raise any number of horse and foot for his service against the rebels, with lands of inheritance in Ireland according to their merits ; concluding with recommending to the lord lieutenant and lords justices, according to their power by his ma- jesty's commission, to offer pardon to all such rebels as within a convenient time (to be by them declared) should return to their duty; and likewise to bestow such rewards as they should think fit to publish upon all those who should arrest the persons or bring in the heads of such traitors as should be personally named in any proclamation published by the state there." 82 There was one step very proper, and in truth very
26 Proceedings of the parliament of England. III. 8 2 —
necessary, to be taken on this occasion, I mean the despatching away of the lord lieutenant to his charge in Ireland. The inconveniences attending a division of the military and civil power being very great, and a general of an army being disabled by the strict orders of the latter, from improving many opportunities offered of good service necessarily to be embraced on the in- stant, but lost whilst recourse is had to the state for fresh orders. The power of government in that king- dom is always greater in the hands of a lord lieutenant than in those of justices, (a sort of temporary governors, all whose authority ceases upon the arrival of the lieu- tenant, and was at this time daily expected so to ter- minate,) and exercised with greater despatch. Besides, the very reputation of his coming would have contri- buted to intimidate the rebels, and might have sus- pended for a time, if not entirely prevented, the despe- rate counsels of those, who, in the heat of resentment at the conduct of the lords justices, ran headlong into the rebellion, and spread the contagion of it over the whole kingdom ; insomuch e that the earl of Ormond, for these and other reasons, which a modest and wise man would rather hint than express, thought himself obliged, by the duty he owed his country, and the zeal he ever had for the king's service, to represent to sir Henry Vane, and to the lord lieutenant himself, the absolute necessity there was of his lordship's coming over, as " what would be of more avail than half an army." But this, however obvious and reasonable a means it appeared to be, was scarce so much as mentioned, the earl of Leicester being unwilling to go, unless he was well supported and able to do service ; and the house of commons, to whom he was otherwise very acceptable, not caring, for the sake of his particular honour and reputation, to furnish him with such supplies as would enable him to quell a rebel- e See Collection of Letters, No. XL.
— 84- Proceedings of the parliament of England. ( 1 64 1 .) 27
lion, upon which they were building such structures of power and authority for themselves, and upon which their leaders had formed measures, which nothing but the continuance of that rebellion could afford them suf- ficient means of executing with success.
83 The resolutions of the commons made a tolerable figure in the votes ; but were of little use any where else. They knew very well that nothing was so much wanted in Ireland as money, and that the state was reduced to great extremity more by that than any other want ; yet they proposed only twenty thousand pounds to be sent away immediately ; a sum much too little for the present necessity, and yet even this inconsiderable sum was sent in a manner so slow and disadvantageous, that it will never be imputed to a zeal for the service. It was to be remitted by two merchants (Henley and Hawkridge) in Spanish money, and certificates were to be produced of the landing thereof in Ireland, (where it passed at an higher rate than its value, to the great dissatisfaction and oppression of the army, as will appear hereafter,) but they were not obliged fto remit above six thousand pounds of this money till fourteen days after they had received fifteen thousand pounds of it from the chamber of Lon- don, which the commons did not so much as order to be paid till £Nov. 2,3, and what time would be spent after- wards in that tempestuous season of the year, before it could be landed in Ireland, if it should escape all acci- dents at sea, is easier to imagine than ascertain. Wise men are never guilty of great oversights but through the corruption of their heart or the strength of their passions ; and yet there could not well be one more gross, than to expose to such uncertainties the fate of a kingdom that was likely in all appearance to be lost by the least delay.
84 By good luck indeed no accident happened, the wind
Nalson, vol. ii. p. 624.
g Commons' Journal, Nov. 23.
Proceedings of the parliament of England.
III. 84-
(which was so continually and so strong in the west all the months of January and February following, that a packet could not get from Holyhead to Dublin in seven weeks) chancing to sit fair to carry ships from England to Ireland all the month of December ; so that Mr. Hawk- ridge made a shift to land at Dublin in the beginning of that month (which sir J. Temple thought little less than a miracle of Providence) with the Spanish money he was allowed to transport thither; which instead of twenty thousand pounds amounted only to h sixteen thousand five hundred and ninety pounds sterling ; so that whether his expedition in carrying it over so immediately after his receipt of the fifteen thousand pounds was owing to a laudable zeal for the cause, or to the temptation of the exorbitant gain made by the remittance, is a great ques- tion.
85 Their backwardness in sending supplies of men has been already mentioned, and will further appear, when I have occasion to speak of the arrival of those forces in Ireland. The other succours, which they professed to send, were of arms, ammunition, and provisions ; and the like slowness was observed in the sending of these. They were ready enough in truth to order them, being pleased with an opportunity of taking them out of the king's hands, of weakening his power, and of raising a reputa- tion of merit to themselves at his expense. They ordered them all therefore out of the king's stores to be sent to Chester, or to be delivered to persons of their particular confidence ; and though they were his majesty's private property, bought with his own money, without any aid of parliament, 'and he called upon them (after his return to Scotland) to replace a like number and quantity in his stores, that he might be in a condition to defend the
h Letter of the lords justices to the lord lieutenant, Dec. 14, 1641. ' Nalson, vol. ii. pp. 799, 877.
— 85 . Proceedings of the parliament of England. ( 1 64 1 .) 29
kingdom in case of an invasion, they never took care to do it ; not thinking it worth their while to restore part of a prince's property whom they intended to strip of the 206 whole. This treatment did not hinder his majesty from doing what he could for the relief of Ireland, though to the weakening of himself and exhausting of his stores in England, which he was in no condition to fill again ; and yet had too much reason to fear he should soon have occasion to use. kThus for the service of Munster and Ulster, he gave the earl of Newport warrants for the delivering of one thousand five hundred muskets, with all things thereto belonging, five hundred pikes and cors- lets, and two thousand swords out of his Tower of Lon- don, and arms for five hundred horse out of the magazine of Hull, with a proportionable quantity of ammunition. Yet when the earl would have sent them away, (as he signified to the house of lords on Jan. 15,) he could not, for want of money and ships to convey them, which the commons had not taken care to provide, or thought fit to order. Their business was not so much to send them into Ireland, as to get them into their own power; and therefore (except what the king sent from Scotland) some months passed before any of them arrived in that king- dom. Hence ]on Nov. 6 they ordered the earl of Leices- ter, or such persons as he should appoint to receive the same, the full number of arms for one thousand horse and eight thousand foot, with ten last of powder, and such other munition, tents, and provisions of all sorts as should be needful for the service, according to a list an- nexed. Hence they ordered, first, on Nov. 4, mone thou- sand three hundred arms, which, with a quantity of am- munition and some ordnance, were (when the garrison and sir F. Willoughby's regiment were broke) left in the magazine at Carlisle, to be sent from thence to Carrick-
k Nalson, vol. ii. pp. 791, 792, 799, 860, 877. l Ibid. p. 606.
m Rushworth, vol. iv. p. 405.
30 Proceedings of the parliament of England. III. 85.
fergus; and afterwards, on the 5th of January following, ordered them to be disposed of as the lord lieutenant should direct. Hence on the same Jan. 5, they ordered for the arming of the regiments of lord Conway and sir John Clotworthy, (officers in whom they had a perfect confidence,) to be sent from the Tower n one thousand muskets, with bullet and match proportionable, one thou- sand five hundred swords, and ten last of powder ; with a like quantity of powder, match, and bullet for Munster, to be likewise delivered and disposed of, as the lord lieu- tenant should think fit. Hence, on Nov. 13, °they ordered the king's magazine of arms and ammunition at Hull (where the arms of sixteen thousand men of the army, which the king had raised in the spring of A.D. 1640, were laid up at their disbanding) to be removed to the Tower of London, whilst it was in the hands of sir W, Balfour ; and when he was soon after, to their great sur- prise, removed from that post, left them to continue where they were at Hull. Hence likewise, when sir John Byron was governor of the Tower, Jan. 17, Hhey ordered captain White, who had brought by order of the house of commons the arms and ammunition that had been left at Berwick, in order to have them placed in the Tower, ready (as was pretended) to be sent to Ireland, (though the king had thought it much the better way to have them carried directly thither from Berwick,) to fall down the river with his ship, beyond the command of the Tower, and to lie there, suffering it so to continue at their* expense till sir John was removed, rather than direct the master to carry it with the lading to Ireland, where it was so much wanted. This is the sum of the orders made by the parliament for the providing of arms, am- munition, and warlike stores, (for all other mention thereof in any act or resolution of theirs still refers to, or is in-
n Nalson, vol. ii. pp. 642, 824. o ibid. p. 643. p Ibid. p. 893.
.
85 • Proceedings of the parliament of England. ( 1 64 1 . ) 31
eluded in these,) under pretence of the service of Ireland, till Jan. 17, when ^they took the militia of London out of the hands of the lord mayor and the lieutenancy, and put it under the command of sergeant-major-general Skip- pon, (who had by their command beleaguered and be- sieged the Tower in the Scotch fashion,) " with power to defend and offend, in case of violence, to beat up drums ; 207 to raise not only the trainbands, but all other forces of the city ; and to govern not only these, but all citizens or others that would mount on horseback, and put them- selves under his command, the chamber of London being to issue out ammunition of all sorts in such proportion as Skippon should think fit and direct." From that day, they were so much taken up with preparations for an in- surrection (which by that action seemed already com- menced) in England, that we cannot expect they should give themselves much trouble about the relief of Ireland ; to which country, in the terrible distress that Ulster, Con- naught, and Munster were in, for want of arms and am- munition, they had not actually at that time sent any quantity of either. In vain did the king press them by letters out of Scotland, and by repeated and moving messages after his return to London, to use greater care and despatch in sending of supplies to Ireland ; in vain did the Irish council by their despatches to the lord lieu- tenant urge the same thing, and represent the miserable condition, the terrible wants, and the extreme danger of that kingdom ; rin vain did the Irish lords and gentle-- men then in London (by their petition to the house of commons on Dec. 21) make the like representation, and use the same instances for speedy relief; in 8 vain did the Scotch commissioners, who brought proposals of send^ ing over supplies from that kingdom to Ireland, after twenty days attendance in London, and no one of their
<1 Nalson, vol. ii. p. 878. r Ibid. p. 769.
s Ibid. pp. 738, 745, 749, 763, 769, 771, 778, 874.
32 The parliament of England III.
propositions answered, complain (on Dec. 20) of their shameful delays ; as the king had done from time to time before, and continued to do afterwards ; all signified nothing ; the service of Ireland was entirely neglected ; the parliament was satisfied with getting the king's arms and ammunition into their possession ; things of great use for the game that they had to play in England ; which it was in a manner their whole business, as it was their great design to inflame.
86 To this purpose it served much better to make a bluster and noise about the rebellion of Ireland, than to take any effectual means to suppress it; which would have dried up the main source of their pretences of fears and dangers. With this view they endeavoured to persuade the nation, that it had been concerted with the know- ledge and consent of the papists in England ; and to that end, (as there never wanted in those times a parcel of vile delators and informers, the most detestable pests of the commonwealth, for any purpose,) upon the information of one William Shales, Hhey took up sir Henry Beding- field of Oxborough-hall in Norfolk, to whom Shales had been formerly a falconer, but being discharged turned soldier, and got to be a sergeant in sir Arthur Loftus's company of foot in Ireland. It was sir Henry's good fortune, that he had company with him in his garden at the time that he accidentally saw the fellow there, who heard all the discourse which passed between them, (and which related only to hawking in Ireland,) and proved the falsehood of the informer's relation so clearly and un- deniably, that sir Henry was immediately dismissed. And yet upon the credit of this information, and of some ge- neral vaunting speeches of the Irish rebels, (who had de- clared they stuck at no lies which they believed would advance their cause,) some late historians, who have wrote of those times, have thrown an unjust aspersion upon the
1 Nalson, vol. ii. pp. 66 r, 690.
-8;.
endeavour to asperse the king. (1641.)
33
English Roman catholics, as if they had been privy to the Irish rebellion.
87 With the same view, the English commons catched at another of those rebels' equally false and impious pre- tences, of being authorized by the king and queen in what they had [done] ; and (though the rebels had bragged like- wise of authority and assistance from the parliament of England, and the state of Ireland ; which the lords jus- tices' proclamation of Oct. 30 was issued to refute) pro- 208 pagated that monstrous calumny with all the industry and art imaginable. Few ages have more abounded, than that we are speaking of, in wickednesses of all sorts ; but the most distinguishing iniquity of this was hypocrisy. Never was a more bitter rancour of heart covered with smoother words ; never were more disloyal and insulting remonstrances couched in more humble and dutiful ex- pressions ; nor more fatal designs against the crown and person of a king attended with stronger professions of loyalty, and finer promises of duty and service, than we see in all the acts and proceedings of the faction in the English commons at this time. In this course of hypo- crisy, they first began to spread the vile aspersion against the king, insinuating at the same time, as if there were ill designs on foot to the prejudice of the nation; for this was the meaning of the order of the house of com- mons on Nov. 30, " uThat a declaration be drawn for clearing of his majesty's honour from false reports cast upon him by the rebels in Ireland ; and a provision to be made, that there be no conclusion of that war to the pre- judice of this kingdom ;" an order, which, however pre- tended to be made out of a tenderness for the king's reputation, was undoubtedly intended to divulge the scandal at once to the whole nation. Their declarations, whatever was the occasion or the pretence thereof, ever had some sting or other in them (like the preamble to
u Nalson, vol. ii. p. 689, VOL. II. D
34 The English parliament endeavour to asperse the Icing, III. 87—
their grant of tonnage and poundage) to the prejudice of the king; vsuch was that, which under colour of prevent- ing all scandalous reports and apprehensions of her ma- jesty's favouring and encouraging the Irish, they drew up to be made by the queen upon a petition of both houses, for publishing and declaring her abhorrence and detesta- tion of the perfidious and traitorous proceedings of the rebels in Ireland ; but this project was spoiled, as far as it could be, by the lords declining to join in the petition. 88 Finding the suggestion work, as they wished, among the populace, exceedingly to the king's prejudice, they soon proceeded to insinuate it in such a manner as might induce the world to believe that the house gave credit thereunto. The lords justices and council of Ireland, to prevent the rebels seducing people to their party under pretence of his majesty's name, and being themselves so generally suspected of abusing it, that their proclamation of Oct. 30 had met with little credit, bethought them- selves of an expedient to convince the deluded, by the king's publishing a proclamation in his own name, (which otherwise in Ireland always ran in the name of the lords justices or lieutenant), and (whereas in other cases he used only to sign one, from whence the printed copies were taken) they now on this occasion desired him to sign twenty copies with his own hand, and the privy signet annexed to them, that they might be sent to dif- ferent parts of the kingdom, to convince every body of the imposture of the rebels by an irrefragable proof under his majesty's own hand and privy signet. This expedi- ent, so different from all former methods practised with regard to proclamations, was suggested by the lords jus- tices in a letter of theirs, of Dec. 14, to the earl of Leicester. The wind was then contrary, and had been so for many days, insomuch that their letters of Dec. 3 were still detained in the port of Dublin ; so that the v Nalson, vol. ii. p. 73 7.
—89. as favouring the Irish rebellion. (1641.) 35
latter did not arrive at London till about the end of that month; and upon the lord lieutenant's communicating the desire of the justices to his majesty, he immediately ordered twenty copies of the very form of a proclamation, which the lords justices had sent along with their letter (though it might justly have been excepted against) to be printed, and having signed and caused the signet to be put to them on Jan. i, they were all transmitted to Ire- land by the lord lieutenant in his letters of Jan. 4 ; as 1 209 find by the justices' answers to his lordship's letters of that date. Who would think that this proceeding should be made an handle to insinuate any thing to his majesty's prejudice ? Yet the house of commons, either having a wrong intimation of the nature of the thing, before the arrival of the lord lieutenant's packet, or being wilfully resolved to mistake it — in the one case, with a rashness unworthy of such an assembly, and in the other, with a malice and injustice to be detested in any body — thought fit to pass a vote on Dec. 29, wthat "one of the obstruc- tions to the relief of Ireland was the want of a procla- mation under the great seal of England, declaring the Irish papists in arms and their adherents to be rebels and traitors ; which was the more necessary, because the said Irish had given out as if they had some authority for what they did ;" and a committee was appointed to draw up a declaration on this (which signified nothing to the purpose) and the other heads then debated, concerning the obstructions of the relief of that kingdom. 89 Another handle of aspersing the king in this respect they took from an order of their own, made Nov. 10, that no Irishman should pass out of England into Ireland without a license from the committees of both houses for Irish affairs, the privy-council, or the lord lieutenant. His majesty being then in Scotland, and knowing no- thing of this order, (though if he had, it could not be
w Rushworth, vol. iv. p. 466. D 2
36 TJmr endeavours to asperse the king, III. 89 —
supposed to tie up his hands in that particular,) had granted a license to sir George Hamilton, a younger brother of James earl of Abercorne, and brother-in-law to the earl of Ormond ; as he had also to the lord Delvin, eldest son to the earl of Westmeath, Mr. Thomas Net- terville, a younger son of the lord Netterville's, and co- lonel John Butler, brother to the lord Mountgarret, (as the house styles him,) and uncle to the earl of Ormondy as the king calls him. This was handle enough for Mr. Pym to say in a speech, which the house ordered to be printed, that " since the stop of the ports against all Irish papists, many of the chief commanders now in the head of the rebels have been suffered to pass by his majesty's immediate warrant." There never was a more groundless and false accusation than this ; his majesty required the house to name the persons, or to do justice to his honour by publishing their mistake. They did not care to do either; but being most averse to the last, named the four gentlemen above mentioned, not one of which ever entered into the rebellion or took the oath of association ; and who were so far from being actually concerned in it, that they were then in custody in England. Yet these, with the passes to the earl of Clanrickard and his ser- vants, and one Tyrrell, a poor but honest man, were all the passes that the king had granted for above a twelve- month before. They had none of them been in Ireland since the rebellion, nor for a considerable time before; but being seized in their way thither, xMr. Netterville was, by an order of the house of lords of Jan. 17, brought up from Chester, where he was stopped by the mayor ; colonel Butler was also brought up (I suppose) by an order of the same house, y because his petition is directed to them, and he acknowledgeth their lordships' favour in committing him to so comfortable a place as the lord
* Nalson, vol. ii. p. 877. y A. 225. B. 146, and 257.
— 9°- as favouring the Irish rebellion. (1641) 37
mayor of London's house, where he enjoyed every thing but the liberty of stirring abroad. He was a very gallant and loyal man ; had served with great reputation and ho- nour in the king's troops and in those of foreign princes ; where he had been so constantly employed, that he had not been in Ireland for twenty-three years past. He was with his majesty in Scotland when the rebellion broke out, and was afterwards going over into Ireland to the earl of Ormond his nephew (being z recommended by sir 210 Henry Vane to the lords justices for an employment suitable to his known merit) to serve against the rebels, and was very capable, as well as confident, of doing con- siderable services in reclaiming some, and in suppressing the rest. He was kept in this restraint till the latter end of April 1642, when, upon the earl of Ormond's being bound for him that he should go into foreign parts, (which the parliament insisted on,) he was set at liberty, and went accordingly. Sir George Hamilton was brought up by order of the house of commons, who, on April 6 following, admitted him to bail. He had at this time a company in the army ; but the king having in the March following ordered that no papist should hold a commis- sion, it was taken from him, and given to the earl of Ormond; yet sir George still continued loyal, and did his majesty afterwards very eminent service, as the earl of Westmeath and lord Delvin did. This will appear more particularly in the course of this history; which will fully shew the falsehood of this aspersion on the king ; though I was willing now to take notice of these two particulars, because they could not otherwise be brought in without interrupting the thread of the nar- ration.
90 The weakness as well as falsehood of these pretences (all that the parliament could find out to found their calumny upon) shews the virulence of their spirit, and
38 State of the provinces of Ireland 111.90 —
the eagerness of their desires to asperse the king, as well as their utter inability to make good the charge ; and affords very just grounds for those complaints which his majesty so feelingly makes of this treatment, when he says, that "his a enemies did him the honour to think moderate injuries not proportionate to him, nor compe- tent trials, either of his patience under them, or of his pardon of them, and therefore (adds he) with exquisite malice they have mixed the gall and vinegar of falsity and contempt with the cup of my affliction ; charging me not only with untruths, but such as wherein I have the greatest share of loss and dishonour by what is com- mitted. Whereas in all policy, reason, and religion, hav- ing least cause to give the least consent, and most grounds of utter detestation, I might be represented by them to the world the more inhuman and barbarous, like some Cyclopic monster, whom nothing will serve to eat and drink but the flesh and blood of my own subjects, in whose common welfare my interest lies as much as some men's doth in their perturbations ; who think they can- not do well but in evil times, nor so cunningly as in lay- ing the odium of those sad events on others, wherewith themselves are most pleased, and whereof they have been not the least occasions."
91 I have been the more particular in giving this account of what passed in England with regard to the rebellion, because it will be useful to account for the progress of it in Ireland, where it spread more than anybody expected, or there was any reason at first to imagine. Though Ul- ster was up in arms, yet all the other provinces were generally quiet till Nov. 1 2, when the Byrnes began to stir in the county of Wicklow, and were joined on the aist by the Tooles and Cavenaghs in that and the ad- joining counties of Wexford and Catherlogh. This was no great surprise to the state, because these were septs
a ELK<OV BacriAiK?/, cap. I 2.
— 9 l • ®t the end of November •, 1 641 . ( 1 641 .) 39
of old Irish, and had suffered much in their estates by the late plantations in those parts; and the first were more particularly exasperated by the remembrance of the terrible persecution of Phelim M'Pheagh and his sons, formerly mentioned; so that they were sufficiently dis- posed to encourage and join in any insurrection raised within the realm, as their ancestors in all times before them had done, without any such provocation, incited 311 purely by their love of rapine, and by the security which the strength and situation of their country afforded them. They were the rather invited to it now by an opportunity they had of seizing fort Gary, (a fort erected in the time of lord Falkland's government to keep them in awe and •subjection,) b which was left destitute of a garrison by the lords justices drawing thence the foot company, that used to be there quartered, to Dublin ; so that there were left in it only a few English of the neighbourhood, and those naked and unarmed. The state was sending them arms to enable them to make as good a defence as could be expected from such unexperienced men ; but these arms (being sent without a convoy) were intercepted in the way by those septs, who immediately invested the place and took it. Animated by this success, they made in- roads into the counties of Catherlogh and Kilkenny, making terrible havock in the adjoining parts of both, and up to the very walls of Catherlogh and Kilkenny; and their numbers increasing, they reduced the castle of Archloe, Limerick, lord Esmond's house, and fort Chi- chester ; places of strength and importance, but not pro- vided with garrisons and arms for resistance. Thus they soon possessed themselves of all the castles and houses of the English in the counties of Wexford and Wicklow, (except the castle of Wicklow,) and confiding in their numbers, made excursions, and swept away great droves of cattle, within four miles of Dublin.
b See Collection of Letters, No. XXXIX.
40
State of the privinces of Ireland
III. 92—
92 This added much to the fright of the lords justices, who scarce thought themselves safe in that metropolis, with all the forces they had new raised, and with an in- crease of the old companies of the standing army to one hundred men each, which doubled their number. They proposed nothing to themselves but to secure that city and Drogheda till they received supplies of forces out of England ; and their extreme solicitude for the preserva- tion of these places made them leave the rest of the king- dom disfurnished of every thing necessary for its defence. This was temptation enough to idle loose fellows to get together in small parties, and pillage their neighbours, as well Irish as English ; yet these having no other de- sign but plunder, the peace of the provinces was well enough preserved till the end of November, the Irish gentlemen in Munster and Connaught continuing firm, and no one man of quality or estate, descended of Eng- lish blood, in all that month appearing to join and coun- tenance the rebels.
93 Munster, upon the suppression of the great rebellion, raised therein by the earl of Desmond and others against queen Elizabeth, (to whom their lands were forfeited upon that occasion,) had been very well planted, and much improved by English undertakers. They were very numerous in that province, and would have got together in a body sufficient to have secured the quiet thereof, and to have deterred all sorts of people from attempting to disturb it; but they were utterly destitute of arms, and all the solicitations and instances of the lord presi- dent could not prevail with the lords justices to spare them any. Sir William St. Leger, a gallant old soldier, of good experience and great activity, was the president at this time, and did all that was possible for man to do with a single troop ; which was all the guard left for the defence of that large province; and which was scarce sufficient to repress the insolencies and depredations of
— 94 at the end of November, 1641. (1641.) 41
common robbers in a time of perfect peace, much less in a season when the distractions, disturbances, and spoils in other parts of the kingdom excited loose and disor- derly fellows to commit the like in that country. But all the gentry, as well Irish as English, using their endea- vours to keep the peace and prevent disorders, the pro- vince still continued generally quiet.
94 The case of the province of Connaught was very dif-2i3 ferent in regard of the strength of the English protest- ants: there were not above one hundred and forty of these in all the county of Sligo, about as many in Mayo, not one thousand in all the large county of Galway, and about a like number in that of Roscommon. This defect was one of the reasons assigned for the intended planta- tion of that province, the apprehensions of which had kept the gentlemen, and indeed all the inhabitants thereof, in a continual inquietude for twenty-five years past ; and these general fears were scarce allayed by his majesty's late promise of laying that design aside, and of confirming all their estates in such a manner as to secure their title for ever from being questioned by act of par- liament, when these disturbances happened in the king- dom to revive them. Sir Roger Jones viscount Ranelagh was the lord president and governor of all the province, (except the county of Galway,) having for the defence thereof his own troop of horse and three companies of foot. To ease him in that charge, the county of Mayo was by the state committed to Thomas lord viscount Dil- lon of Costello, and Miles Bourke viscount Mayo, both of them by profession protestants, who kept it for some months free from all disturbances, without any assistance from the state. Lord Ranelagh's care was hereby con- fined to the counties of Roscommon, Sligo, and Ley- trim ; the last of which, being a planted country, was risen in arms, had joined with the Ulster rebels, set up an O'Rourke to be their chieftain, (though Brian
42 Character of the earl of Cl.an ricka / III . 94 —
O'Rourke, who had the best title to that honour, was living in England,) had taken all the fortresses in the country, except Mannour Hamilton, Carrick-drumruske, and James Town, which last they had invested with a body of two thousand men, and from the fastnesses of their own, made excursions into the adjoining counties of Sligo and Roscommon, plundering the well-affected natives as well as the British inhabitants. But all the gentlemen, both Irish and English, joining with the lord president to put a stop to these devastations, and prevent further mischiefs, those counties were as yet preserved free from all disturbances within them, and in perfect obedience to the government.
95 Ulick Burke, earl of Clanrickard and St. Alban's, was by a peculiar commission governor of the county and town of Galway, a post which was enjoyed by his father before him, in whose lifetime this earl was by a joint patent (dated 7 Nov. 1625) appointed to succeed him. He was descended of a very noble and ancient family of English race, which came over into Ireland at the time of the conquest, in which they had a considerable hand. His ancestors seated themselves in this county, where they had vast possessions, and had been ever loyal to the crown of England, doing, in all insurrections that were made in those parts, great services against the rebels. His father, Richard earl of Clanrickard, had distinguished himself eminently in this respect during Tyrone's rebel- lion, which had gained him a great reputation in his country, and given him a just title to the favours of the crown. Coming afterwards into England, he married Frances, sole daughter of sir Francis Walsingham, and widow of Robert Devereux earl of Essex, the unhappy favourite of queen Elizabeth, and was by king James created baron of Somerhill (a manor of the earl's near Tunbridge in Kent) and earl of St. Alban's ; English ho- nours. By that marriage he had this his only son, and a
— 95- Character of the earl of Clanrickard. (1641.) 43
daughter Honora, who was second wife to John marquis of Winchester. Ulick his son was bred in England, where he married the lady Anne Compton, daughter of Wil- liam earl of Northampton. He was a man of great piety and strict virtue, regular in his devotion, exemplary in his life, and considerate in all his actions : his natural parts were very good, and much improved by study, ob- servation, and reflection ; but whatever were the accom- plishments of his head, the perfections of his heart were still more eminent. He had a greatness of mind, a noble- ness of sentiments, and an integrity of heart, that were 213 not to be corrupted by any temptation, or biassed by any selfish, mean, or unworthy views: compassionate in his temper, sincere in his professions, true and constant in his friendships, and delicate (if possible, to an excess) in the point of honour: no man ever loved his country more, or his friend better, than he did, being ready on all occasions to sacrifice himself for either. He was na- turally grave, and even thoughtful, yet was very pleasant in conversation ; and, with the best good nature, with an affability which flowed towards all persons, and with the most engaging good manners in the world, he had a spirit which nothing could daunt, and a firmness of resolution that was not to be staggered or moved by any arts of per- suasion or terror. In a word, he was truly wise, truly good, and truly honourable; and ought to be conveyed down to posterity as one of the most perfect and rarest patterns of integrity, loyalty, constancy, virtue, and ho- nour that the age he lived in or any other has produced. He was, by an hereditary inclination, derived from his ancestors, and animated by their constant example, as well as by his own principles, strongly attached to the crown, and had received particular favours from the king, which he remembered with a gratitude not common in those days, and which adding a warmth to the affection he bore the king's person, added likewise a zeal and
44 ClanricJcarcTs proceedings in III. 95 —
activity to his duty. His majesty had entertained a great opinion of his merit; and the earl having passed many years about his court, had contracted an acquaintance with most of the English nobility, by whom he was gene- rally beloved and esteemed. His living there had been attended with expenses, which made it proper for him (after his return from attending the king in his northern expedition against the Scots in 1 640) to think of looking after the management of his estate in Ireland. He ar- rived there in the summer this year with his family ; and going to his seat of Portumna, began to form an acquaintance with the gentlemen of that county, when the rebellion broke out. His presence was very useful on that occasion; for besides the authority which his commission of governor gave him, he was the first man of quality in the county, and the most considerable gen- tlemen of it were related to him by blood or alliance, and many of the rest held lands under him, and had a dependance on him by their tenure. He had also, as heir of the Mac -Williams and captain of Clanrickard, a great influence upon the Irish, who were fond of those titles, and paid even more deference to them than they did to the royal authority invested in him. 96 As soon as he heard of the rising in the north, che took all the measures that prudence could suggest, or his power enable him to take, for the security of the country, which was under a terrible consternation at the first news of the rebellion. The archbishop of Tuam, struck with a panic terror, deserted his castle, though a place of good strength, flying for refuge to the fort of Galway ; and most of the gentlemen kept themselves in a terrible state of uncertainty and fear in their own houses, expecting the event, and dreading the worst. d They were apprehensive, that this insurrection of others
e See his Memoirs. d See Collection of Letters, No. XXXVI.
—97-
the county of Galway. ( 1 641 .)
45
would be made use of as an handle for stopping the current of the king's graces to themselves, and prevent the performance of those promises which he had made of confirming to them the possession of their estates, and securing their title by an act to be passed in the ap- proaching session of parliament, which the lords justices upon this occasion had prorogued, and thereby deferred, if not quite destroyed, their hopes of a bounty so essen- tial to their quiet. The earl, to remove their apprehen- sions, gave them all the comfort and assurance he could, that whoever stood firm and discharged his duty in that time of danger, might be confident, not only of obtaining those graces, but to receive them with addition from 80214 just and gracious a prince ; and without any delay in so important a matter, and at so critical a juncture, made his application to the court for a declaration to that effect, which he conceived to be of great advantage to the king's service, and which his majesty agreed to with all the readiness that could be desired, and sent accord- ingly with as much despatch as could be used in trans- mitting it.
97 To provide for the defence of the county, he sent himself to the principal gentlemen, and ordered Miles Burke the high sheriff to give notice to all that held of the king to be ready at twenty- four hours' warning to attend him for his majesty's service, recommending to them in the mean time to take particular care of the lives and goods of the English ; and dividing the several baronies thereof, assigned each to some particular per- sons, that they might provoke one another to an emu- lation of distinguishing themselves, and he be the better enabled to observe their respective forwardness and abi- lities. The fort of Galway was a place of great import- ance, but indifferently stored with provisions : his lord- ship, with the assistance of sir Richard Blake, prevailed with the corporation of Galway to supply it with victuals
46 ClanricJcarcTs proceedings in III. 97.
for two months, and took care that the town also was put into a good posture of defence. There was a ship lay ready in that port, hired to carry a regiment to Spain, under sir Theobald, afterwards lord Taaffe: the men were marching through the country by the direc- tions of major Lucas Taaffe, in order to embark. It was proper to have so many idle fellows out of the way, lest there being no employment for them in the king's ser- vice, they should be tempted to seek it among the rebels ; and he took his measures so well for their orderly passage and their embarkation, without entering either into the town or fort, that nobody was molested, and no disturbance happened in the country on that occasion. He took the like care to secure officers in foreign service, and arms that should come from abroad. All the standing force he had was his own company of fifty foot quartered at Loghreagh : there was not a troop of horse in the whole county ; and though it was abso- lutely necessary for the defence thereof against any sud- den incursion, and he was the only governor of a coun- try that was without one ; yet the justices, either out of a groundless jealousy, or for some other reason, did not think fit to gratify him in a motion which he made purely for the advantage of his majesty's service ; nor did they even vouchsafe to recommend his request into England. Far from allowing him to raise a troop, they did not for some time so much as empower him to fill up his company to one hundred men, when every other company in the kingdom (pursuant to a vote of the house of commons of England on Nov. 12) was doubled, and they had, by his lordship's canal, sent particular or- ders for captain Willoughby to fill up his. It was neces- sary however to have a better standing force always on foot, and in a readiness to repel any enemy that should invade the country or rise up within it, the summoning of the king's tenants requiring too much time to prevent
97« the county of Galway. (1641.) 47
sudden attempts; he therefore called a meeting of the noblemen, gentlemen, and freeholders of the county at Loghreagh, who all expressed a great detestation of the proceedings of the rebels, and very forward desires of being employed against them, to shew their loyalty and affection to his majesty. They agreed at this meeting to raise eight companies, making four hundred foot, and two troops, amounting to one hundred horse, and to applot the money necessary to maintain them for forty days upon the country ; and they continued them after- wards for a longer time. Thomas Bourke viscount Clan- morris and Mr. Richard Burke of Kilcoine commanded the horse ; Mr. Francis Bermingham grandson and heir to the lord Athenry, Edmund son of sir Ulick Burke, and six other of the principal gentlemen of the county, were captains of the foot. There were ablebodied men enough for the service, so that the companies were full 215 and mustered in a few days ; but there was a great want of arms and ammunition. He applied to the lords justices for a supply of one thousand five hundred arms from Dublin, or for what could be spared out of the magazine at Limerick ; but they excused themselves : as to the first, from their own want, till they had received a fresh supply out of England ; and as to the second, from the length of time that the coming of arms from Limerick would require, and the danger they would run of being spoiled in the carriage, when they might easily have been brought from thence in a day by water to Portumna, (which lies upon the Shannon,) and been landed at the garden door of his castle. They allowed him to take what arms he could find in the storehouse at Galway, but these were only a hundred calivers and as many pikes ; and upon trial, half of both sorts proved unserviceable. In this distress, he was forced to take out of his own store the arms which he had for the necessary defence of his house and family, and set men
48 Clanric1card'ls proceedings in III- 97 —
at work to make horsemen's lances and pikes ; and thus he equipped the troops and companies in the best man- ner he could, though but very indifferently. He next resolved to make a progress round the county, to visit all the borders, observe the passes, and see the condition of the castles and parts most exposed ; and to make some figure in this survey, he formed a party of fifty horse of his servants and tenants, armed some with pis- tols, and the rest with carbines, to serve him for a guard, and went attended with a train of gentlemen, who with their servants made one hundred more. In all his pro- gress he did not find a gentleman ill-affected ; which gave him some satisfaction, whilst he suffered from the apparent distrust and neglect of the state. But he was desirous to be powerful as well as active in the king's service, and proposed not only to preserve a perfect peace and obedience within his own government, but to con- tribute also to the quiet of the neighbouring counties ; and did not question keeping them and the rest of Con- naught in order, if he were only assisted with one thou- sand five hundred arms. These he desired the lords justices would recommend to the lord lieutenant to be sent him from England by sea to Galway : but I cannot find by all their letters that they ever moved it, (even when they pressed from time to time the sending of supplies of arms and ammunition to Munster and Ul- ster,) and it is certain that they were never sent. Un- der these disadvantages, and without the least assistance from any other quarter, by his own prudence, diligence, and activity, by the universal and high esteem in which he was held, and by the opinion, rather than the reality, of his power, he preserved his own county in peace and subjection longer than any other in the kingdom, and found means to render considerable services to his neigh- bours. 98 Those of the King's County, in the beginning of De-
— 99- the county of Galway . (1641.) 49
cember, were alarmed by the insurrection of great bers of the old Irish in those parts of it which had been planted some years before. The hopes of plunder, and a fury for destroying the English plantations in Kill- coursy, Fox's and Coghlan's countries, drew them toge- ther, and they came in a body of one thousand two hun- dred before Birr ; but retired upon a rumour of lord Clanrickard's advancing against them, and would have been soon entirely dispersed, (being only a tumultuous rabble, and no gentlemen appearing at their head,) had it not been for the general defection which followed soon after all over the kingdom,
99 No one man of quality or gentleman of English race had as yet joined with the rebels ; but all in general, and many of the old Irish too, expressed the utmost abhorrence of their cruelties and proceedings. Some of the leading Roman catholics, and who made afterwards a very considerable figure in the supreme council and general assemblies of the confederates, such as Mr. Pa^- trick Darcy, Mr. Geffrey Browne, and Mr. Richard Marv tin, men of very good sense, and generally esteemed, wrote from Dublin, after the rebellion broke out, to the 21 6 earl of Clanrickard, letters expressing their detestation of it, full of zeal for his majesty's service, and of careful advices to him for preserving the county of Galway (which they had known all their lives, it being the place of their constant residence, where their estates lay, and for which they served in parliament) in peace and se- curity, importuning him much to make farther offers of service to the state. There is no manner of reason to suspect the sincerity, either of the professions or the in- stances of these gentlemen in their letters to a friend, who was capable of doing those services, which they desired of him with so much earnestness, for the peace of the kingdom and the service of his majesty, to whom in all probability they had a mind to recommend them*
VOL. II. E
50 Causes of the general defection III. 99 —
selves by the merits of that nobleman, the most consi- derable for quality, rank, and fortune of any that pro- fessed their religion in the kingdom, that they might not be deprived of the benefit of those graces of which they had so lately obtained a promise. They were men eminent for their knowledge and skill in the laws of the land, one of them a member of the committee sent into England for the redress of grievances, and the others leading men in the house of commons, as generally known and esteemed as any in the kingdom, and as well qualified to know and speak, and even to direct, the general sense of the Roman catholics of English descent throughout the kingdom ; so that how their sentiments came to change, and what were the causes, occasion, or motives of that general defection, which ensued in a little time after, is a subject that well deserves a parti- cular inquiry.
ioo Christopher Plunket earl of Fingall, Nicholas Preston viscount Gormanston, Thomas Fitz -Williams viscount Meryon, Nicholas viscount Netterville of Dowth, and William Fleming, Nicholas St. Lawrence, and Patrick Plunket, barons of Slane, Houth, and Dunsany, all no- blemen of the English pale, came to Dublin as soon as they heard of the rebellion, most of them on Oct. 24, and waited on the lords justices, with great professions of their loyalty to his majesty, and their readiness to assist in suppressing it. But they wanted arms ; and desiring to be supplied in that particular, the justices, who were in a dreadful fright at this time, and glad to catch at any help that was offered, readily put some into their hands ; but in so small a proportion as was barely necessary for the defence of their houses ; excusing the not supplying them in a more plentiful manner, by rea- son of their ignorance whether they had enough in the stores to arm the garrison necessary for the guard of Dublin. The excuse, either through the ill opinion con-
— ioo. of the kingdom of Ireland. (1641.) 51
ceived of the lords justices, or because it was well known how large a quantity was in the stores, had not the good fortune to be well received by those lords, who had likewise other occasions of uneasiness. In the pro- clamation, published immediately upon the discovery of the conspiracy against the rebels, the lords justices had not confined the charge of treason and disaffection to the old Irish, the only persons that had risen in arms ; but had involved in it all the Irish papists, without dis- tinction of any. This looked like a charge against their religion, for (except some bragging speeches of the re- bels, which equally lay against the state of Ireland and parliament of England, and the threatening confession of colonel Mac Mahon, which sir John Borlase for some reason or other would not sign) they had no reason to suspect those honourable persons ; whose religion might not now hinder them, any more than it had their ances- tors on the like occasions, from venturing their lives and shedding their blood in the service of the crown of England against the old Irish rebels. This proclamation gave great uneasiness to the Roman catholics in general all over the kingdom, who began to apprehend some terrible mischief designed against them, as lord Clan- rickard informed the justices was the case in his county of Galway. The lords of the pale made a like repre-si; sentation, and as they were none of the old Irish, nor of their faction, but utterly averse to all their designs, insisted that they might be publicly cleared from the imputation of any confederacy with them. The lords justices were unwilling either to confess a blunder, or own their ill-will to them, yet at last issued out, on Oct. 29, another proclamation, explaining their meaning in the former, that " they did not intend thereby any of the old English of the pale, nor of any other parts of the kingdom, being well assured of their fidelities to the crown, and having experience of the good affections and
52 Causes of the general defection III. 100 —
services of their ancestors in former times of danger and rebellion." The protestants of Ireland were gene- rally of the puritan stamp, (occasioned by the heat which opposition, hurrying people into extremes, usually creates, and by the dangers which their fears caused them con- tinually to apprehend,) violent in their hatred of the persons as well as religion of the papists, suspecting and judging the worst of both. They were not well pleased with this condescension of the lords justices, much less with the confidence that had been placed in the few Roman catholics who had been furnished with arms ; they arraigned this proceeding in their discourses, charg- ing all the papists with being concerned in or wishing well to the conspiracy, not sparing in their censures even the loyalty and honour of the earl of Clanrickard d, who having so just reason to complain of those aspersions, few else could hope to escape them. These suspicions and censures made the gentlemen of the pale uneasy ; and the second proclamation had not entirely removed the apprehension they had, that the state, which had been so hasty to publish the former, were too much dis- posed to encourage those suspicions, and represent the sentiments, intentions, and conduct of the Roman catho- lics in the worst light.
101 I do not find that any of the lords above mentioned were intrusted with arms, except lord Gormanston, who lay most exposed to their fury, as living nearest to the rebels, who, having taken Dundalk and Atherdee, were ready to fall into the county of Meath. For the defence of that county, immediately after the taking of those towns, lord Gormanston was empowered to raise forces, to kill and destroy the rebels, and execute them accord- ing to martial law, by a commission e (dated Nov. 2) from the lords justices, who furnished him with five hundred
d See his letter to the lords justices, Dec. 4. « See sir R. Cox, Appendix, No. VIII.
• i o i . of the kingdom of Irelan rf. ( 1 64 1 .) 53
arms, part muskets, and the rest pikes ; a quantity no way proportionate to the greatness of the work, and very unequal to the service expected from him ; a failure wherein was very unreasonably objected to him after- wards, by such as wanted a better reason to excuse their own conduct. Sir John Temple f says, that commissions for martial law were granted to Mr. Valerian Wesley for the same county, Mr. Henry Talbot for that of Dublin, Mr. John Bellew for Lowth, Mr. Richard Dalton and James Fuite for Westmeath, and Mr. James Talbot in the county of Cavan ; that commissions (the same as lord Gormanston's) for raising forces were likewise directed to Mr. Walter Bagnal for that of Catherlogh, to sir James Dillon for Longford, sir Robert Talbot and Garret Byrne for Wicklow, sir Thomas Nugent for Westmeath, sir Christopher Bellew for Lowth, and Mr. Nicholas Barne- well for the county of Dublin ; and that three hundred arms were assigned to each of the three counties last named, and as many for that of Kildare, which was put under the command of the earl of that name, who, not- withstanding his zeal and affections to the English name and protestant cause, was not thereby enabled to do better service than the rest. Whatever show of trust in those gentlemen appeareth in this action, (if it were fact as to others, though it was not with regard to sir Robert Talbot,) the lords justices seem to have done it rather 218 out of fear than any real confidence, and repented of it as soon as it was done, resolving to revoke their trust, and get back the arms upon the first opportunity. They had wrote into England for supplies of men, money, arms and ammunition ; their letters to the lord lieutenant were read in the house of commons, who had voted the sup- plies desired, and made a declaration that they would add further succours, as occasion required, and serve his
f History of the Irish Rebellion, p. 55 and 60, and p. 9, 21.
54 Causes of the general defection III. 101
majesty with their lives and fortunes for suppressing the rebellion. This resolution and declaration the lords jus- tices received on Nov. 10, #and having caused it to be printed the next day, dispersed it all over the kingdom. Elated with expectation of powerful succours out of England, they thought they had no further occasion for any assistance within the kingdom, nor any measures to keep with the Roman catholics of Ireland. In h conse- quence hereof, and of their lordships' apprehensions of the power of the rebels, they sent an order to sir Henry Tich- burne to fetch away the five hundred arms lent to lord Gormanston ; which was done on the 1 7th of that month early in the morning, and they were brought under the convoy of two companies of foot from his lordship's house to Drogheda. The three hundred for Lowth, the county most exposed of any, were fetched back at the same time. They recalled likewise the other arms which they had delivered out ; but these being more dispersed, could not be so easily recovered out of the hands of private men, into which they had been put; so that (it is said) they got back but nine hundred and fifty of them. 102 On Nov. 1 1, the next day after the receipt of the said declaration, they issued out a proclamation, for the im- mediate removal of all persons from Dublin, and from all places within two miles of the city, that were not con- stant inhabitants, or had not necessary cause of residence there, (to be approved of by the council of war,) ordering them to quit the place in twenty-four hours, and repair to their respective homes, the inhabitants being obliged, under pain of death, to give in accounts of such as did not remove. The reason assigned for this was, " that by the great concourse of people thither, the country was
g Letter of the lords justices to 1641, B. 33, and letter of the
lord Clanrickard, Nov. 24. justices, Nov. 22.
h See sir H. Tichburne's letter i Borlase, Appendix, No. IV. to the earl of Ormond, Nov. 18,
— 103. of the kingdom of Ireland. (1641.) 55
deprived of defence, and left open to the rapine and de- predation of the rebels, and the poor of those parts desti- tute of succour and relief." This was very inconvenient to abundance of gentlemen, particularly of the pale, who had retired to Dublin as the only place of security for their persons, wliilst their houses and cattle were plun- dered by those very poor, who, taking1 advantage of the troubles, got together to spoil their richer neighbours, no one gentleman in any of the counties of the pale appear- ing at their head. These gentlemen were now forced to return to their respective dwellings, without arms or means of defence, exposed to the violence of those rob- bers, and to the mercy of the rebels, who soon after pos- sessed the country with forces too strong for any thing but an army to oppose. Unable to make good their houses, they were forced to submit, having only the sad choice left them, either of suffering the cruel treatment which the rebels threatened to all that would not join them, or (if they were suffered to live quietly at home within their quarters) of paying them contributions, and having a perpetual intercourse with them, which in the eye of the law is treason.
103 It may not be amiss to illustrate this matter by ka par- ticular instance, within the duke of Ormond's particular knowledge, and duly proved by authentic testimonies. As soon as the rebellion broke out in Ulster, the Byrnes, Tooles, and other septs in the county of Wicklow, (a great part of whose territory had been planted some years 319 before,) being the likeliest men to rise and begin a rebel- lion in Leinster, sir Robert Talbot of castle Talbot in that county, repaired immediately to Dublin, and offered to - sir W. Parsons (in the presence of dean Buckeley, who lived to attest it after the restoration) to secure the chief heads of those septs, if he would give him commission to do so; insisting that those septs would not stir, whilst
k Ireland, duke of Ormond, 2. p. 288 and 290.
56 Causes of the genefal defection 111.103
their chieftains were in custody as so many hostages for their fidelity ; and that it was the most effectual way to prevent an insurrection in Leinster. Sir William abso- lutely refused to give him a commission ; and those septs presently after breaking out into rebellion, sir Robert Talbot engaged against them in defence of the English in that and the adjoining county of Catherlogh, and convoyed most of them, with their goods and stocks, safe to Dub- lin. He had the lords justices' thanks for this service, but it cost him dear ; for in revenge thereof, two of his best houses (Cartan and Liscartan) were then burnt by the Irish ; who increasing daily in power, he found it necessary to bring his lady and family to Dublin, in order to reside there. He then tendered his service to the lords justices, offering to raise men, if they would furnish him with arms, to fight against the rebels; but these were denied him, nor could either his offers or his late service prevail for leave to continue in Dublin. He was forced by the proclamation upon pain of death to leave the city in twenty- four hours, and having no sure place of retreat, he was forced to skulk and live privately for a long time for fear of the Irish, till the breach between the king and the parliament of England, when he entered into the Roman catholic confederacy, doing howevef, during all the time of the troubles, all the good offices in his power, sometimes with the hazard of his life, to pre- serve the English, and to dispose the Irish to submit to the cessation first, and afterwards to the peaces of 1646 and 1648, to which he constantly adhered. I04 The parliament in their declaration had recommended the putting of a price upon the heads of the chief rebels, and the offering of a general pardon to such of the rest as should submit to mercy within a certain time ; leaving in the first case the nomination of the persons and sums, and in the other, the limitation of the time, to the dis- cretion of the lords justices, who thought fit to use that
— JO4- of the kingdom of Ireland. (1641.) 57
discretion with regard to the whole. Whether it was by secret instructions from others, or in pursuance of their own views, or whether in their judgment upon the par- ticular circumstances in Ireland, they really thought a method, allowed by the wisdom, and confirmed by the experience of all ages and states, as a very prudent and successful step for quelling insurrections in their infancy in all other countries, to be very improper for that in its then situation, they took no notice of either of these points, thus recommended to them, in any of their de- spatches to the lord lieutenant, which were constantly communicated to the committees of both houses for Irish affairs ; nor did they do anything at all therein till the 8th of February following, when the rebellion being in its greatest strength, they by public proclamation offered certain rewards to such as should kill or seize the per- sons of the principal and most inveterate rebels. When that was done, they in their next despatch (of Feb. 12) excused their not offering a general pardon, by the little effect which their proclamations of Oct. 30 and Nov. i had wrought upon the rebels. The former of these was chiefly intended to vindicate the crown, the parliament of England, and the state of Ireland from the rebels' false and seditious reports of being authorized or favoured by them ; and for the reclaiming of such as had been deluded thereby, and so had become involved in their guilt, a charge was given them to quit the company of those con- spirators, and to submit to his majesty's authority ; but without any positive and direct assurance of mercy. The latter indeed did contain a promise of pardon, but con- 220 fined in respect of place and persons, and limited to cer- tain conditions. It did not extend to Ulster, or to the rebels in any county of the kingdom, except in those of Longford, Lowth, Meath, and Westmeath, in the two last of which no body of the rebels had yet appeared ; only a parcel of loose, idle, disorderly, and needy rascals
58 Causes of the general defection III. 104 —
had committed some depredations, the usual prelude to a more open insurrection. Nor did it extend to all in those four counties; all freeholders, all that had shed blood in the action, and all that were then in prison for any spoil or depredation, being expressly excepted. The time for the submission to be made was stinted to ten days after the publishing of the proclamation, and the goods that had been wrongfully taken away, and in con- sequence thereof dispersed into various hands, were to be brought back ; without the performance of which condition, and this within the time prefixed, no particular person could be entitled to pardon. The lords justices, who had never in any letter mentioned these proclama- tions, before they transmitted them thus by way of apo- logy for their omission of what was directed by so high an authority, imputed their want of success to the "in- veterate malignity of the rebels and their adherents against the British and protestants, and to the hopes they had framed, that at any time, after much more spoil got- ten by them to the destruction of all the estates of the British and protestants, they might obtain a general par- don, and so sit down peaceably possessed of the wealth they had wickedly gotten." The world will judge whe- ther these proclamations were adequate to the evil, and intended to strike at the root of the rebellion, or whether they were a just excuse for not observing the directions of the English parliament. It is at least certain, that offers of mercy published under such an authority were likely to have a greater influence, than any that could be made by the lords justices, whose persons were unaccept- able to the nation, and whose designs were generally suspected ; and that a general pardon must in all reason be supposed to produce a much better effect, than could be expected from one which was restrained to a few in- considerable persons, and expressly excluded all men of estates and fortunes who had any interest in their country.
— 1 05. of the kingdom of Ireland. (1641.) 59
The Irish will ever follow in war the gentlemen on whom they are used to depend in peace ; several gentlemen, engaged in the insurrection, heartily detested the cruel- ties committed and encouraged by sir Phelim O'Neile and others of the rebels, and did all that was in their power to save and relieve the spoiled and imprisoned English ; but being once embarked, there was no retreat- ing without hopes of pardon. It is not easy to perceive any inconvenience that could have followed from such a general pardon to all gentlemen that had not been con- cerned in any massacre, murder, or deliberate act of cru- elty, not attended with bloodshed, (for plunder was ge- nerally the prey, as it was the bait to the common Irish,) nor does any reason appear, why such a defection of gen- tlemen from the body of the rebels should not produce that distraction of councils, that jealousy of one another, those thoughts of providing each man for his particular safety, that uncertainty, diffidence, irresolution, and con- fusion in all their actions and proceedings, among the Irish rebels, (under a ringleader of so little courage and conduct as sir Phelim, and unsupported by those foreign succours, of which he had given them assurance, and on which they had fully but in vain depended,) which have in the histories of all ages been found by constant experience to happen in the like case in all other re- bellions.
105 Whatever reasons, the lords justices had to mislike this, it could not be improper for them (by whose advice and informations, as best knowing the kingdom, those in England were to regulate their measures) to suggest a better or some other method to suppress the rebellion already raised, or at least to prevent its spreading fur- ther; but they are entirely silent on this head in all their despatches. It was the great misfortune of Ireland at this time, and has been its cruel fate for some ages past, to be generally governed by persons, who, coming
60 Causes of the general defection of the kingdom. III. 105 —
strangers thither, had no natural affection for that coun- try, nor any stake or interest therein. The Irish have suffered so long and so much in this respect, that if any nation upon earth have reason to wish preferments to be confined to the natives, they certainly have ; and it is no wonder, that it was in these troubles so strongly insisted on, as necessary to remove the main source of all their grievances. It was an ordinary, and, in truth, a pretty sure way of raising a fortune for an Englishman, who wanted one in his own country, to transplant himself thither, and by some way or other of making interest, to get into some post of authority, (which it was not diffi- cult to do, the salaries of the best not being considerable, and the arts of improving the profit of them not well known in England, or, if they were, not very fit to be matter of choice,) and from thence at last into the privy- council, making in every part of his progress all the ad- vantages which the measure of his power could enable him to take, under pretence of concealed rights of the crown, forfeited recognisances, penal statutes, unperform- ed conditions, fraudulent grants, and defective titles, in a country where the prerogative was irresistible and unli- mited, and in an age when it was even ridiculous to have any scruple about the manner of getting into possession of Irish lands. Too many of the council, constantly re- sident in Dublin, and thereby having the chief hand in the management of affairs, were of this sort of men, and had this way of thinking ; and being now sure of support, and of reducing the whole kingdom, though all the force thereof was united together, were possibly the less con- cerned at the progress of the rebellion and the increase of forfeitures, in which they at the helm could not fail of having a share, and were likely to make the most ad- vantage.
106 The parliament of Ireland had sat late in the past summer, expecting the transmission of bills, with the
— io6.
Prorogation of the Irish parliament. (1641.)
61
graces promised by the king, from England ; and at last, tired out with the tediousness of the delay, and being uncertain of the return of their committees, the two houses had in the beginning of August, with the consent of the lords justices to continue the session till the graces had passed into acts, adjourned to the 9th of November. Parliaments had formerly, on less urgent occasions, and in times of more dangerous rebellions, been often called in Ireland : such rebellions were indeed (as sir John Davys observes) the general cause of holding them, in all ages, especially in the reigns of king Henry VIII and queen Elizabeth, when religion was the constant pretence of insurrections, and the houses were for the most part composed of Roman catholic members. The lords justices now thought it improper for the two houses to meetk, "for fear lest a concourse of people on that occasion should afford disaffected persons an opportunity of taking new counsels, when their former were in some part dis- appointed, and of contriving further danger to the state and people of Ireland :" and therefore by proclamation upon the first breaking out of the rebellion, had, without waiting for his majesty's directions, prorogued the parlia- ment to the 2,4th of February next following ; a proceed- ing contrary to the practice and received maxims of Eng- land, where rebellions are never conceived to be so dan- gerous as in the intervals of sessions of parliament ; and accordingly, sometimes when the danger hath not been generally evident, extraordinary measures have been taken for the security of the nation against any insurrec- tion at home, or invasion from abroad, in such intervals. This prorogation of the parliament gave a general dis- taste, particularly to the Roman catholics, who were like 222 to be the greatest sufferers thereby, and to lose the benefit of those graces which were intended for their particular
k See their letter of Oct. 25 to the lord lieutenant, Nalson, vol. ii. p. 518.
62 Prorogation of the Irish parliament : III. i o<5—
relief. JThe legality of it was called in question : some of the members that were lawyers, as Mr. Browne and Mr. Darcy, declared, that unless the two houses met the day to which they were adjourned, the parliament would be dissolved, notwithstanding the said proclama- tion ; and to prevent that evil, it was necessary that at least some small number of both should meet on the day to which the houses stood adjourned ; and then they might adjourn to the day fixed by the proclamation. This being a point of law, the lords justices consulted about it with the judges and some of the king's council, who were doubtful in the case ; but conceived, that such meeting and adjournment was the safest way to clear all disputes that might arise concerning the continuance of the parliament. Some of the committee of the house of commons that were lately returned out of England with the bills for the graces that had been there approved, and attended in Dublin to solicit the despatch of others which the state was ordered to transmit to be passed in form in the privy council of England, which had agreed to the matter of them, arraigned the expediency of the prorogation, as an obstruction to the graces so much de- sired by the whole nation, and so necessary for their sa- tisfaction in so distempered a time, and as an injury done to the kingdom, hindering them from expressing their loyal affections to his majesty, and shewing their desires to quell so dangerous a rebellion ; and proceeded so far as to say, that the nation ought to resent it, and complain to the king thereof, as a point of high injustice. Mr. Thomas Bourke, son of Mr. Walter Bourke of Turlogh, a gentleman of very good parts and judgment, a lover of his country, and well affected to the king's service, a friend and near relation to the earl of Clanrickard, (whose niece Lettice, daughter of sir Henry Shirley by the lady
1 See the lords justices' letter of Nov. 25, 1641, to the lord lieutenant, and sir J. Temple, p. 4.
—107. debates about its meeting. ( 1 64 1 .) 63
Dorothy, the younger daughter of Robert earl of Essex that was beheaded, he had married,) and who much es- teemed him for his great abilities and unquestionable loyalty, and one of the members of that committee, ex- pressed himself very feelingly upon this subject to Robert lord Dillon of Kilkenny- West, son to the earl of Ros- common, a privy-counsellor, who acquainted the board therewith. Mr. Bourke was presently sent for, and ex- pressed himself to the same effect, though with great modesty.
107 The council thereupon fell into a debate what was fit to be done, and how far it might be thought reasonable to condescend to the desires of the members of that committee. The earl of Ormond, the lord Dillon of Costelogh, and some others, were of opinion that it was fit to disannul the proclamation, and to give them leave to sit and continue the parliament according to the ad- journment in August. Besides the supplies of money which the commons might give, which would procure credit as soon as they were voted, and might be actually raised and collected (as had been done in the last year) by Dec. i, much sooner than they could be sure of re- ceiving them from another quarter, they urged the very ill condition of the whole kingdom in regard of the northern rebellion, which had already infected some coun- ties in Leinster, and was spreading into Connaught ; that all the nation was in great expectation of the graces, and would be strangely uneasy if they were not confirmed by parliament ; that the ill humours afloat made it dan- gerous to exasperate a people, and this prorogation might peradventure so irritate the pale, and have such an in- fluence upon Munster, as might raise them into arms, and so put the whole kingdom into a general combustion. By which means the rebels would receive a vast addition of strength, the war would be drawn into length, not to be ended without an infinite expense of blood and trea-223
64} Prorogation of the Irish parliament. III. 107
sure, and time be given for the coming in of foreign sup- plies to the rebels, who would then be enabled to main- tain a war, though they were easily to be suppressed at present, if that work was but attempted. mThe earl of Ormond was so fully satisfied of the ease with which it might be done, that on this occasion he told the council that he would undertake to reduce them in a month, if they would but supply him with arms for such volunteers as would follow him, and give him power in his march to take up victuals in the country. But the lords justices and their party in the council voted strongly for the holding of the prorogation according to the time prefixed by the proclamation. The reasons which they alleged for this opinion were, that it would highly trench upon the gravity and wisdom of the board to alter a resolution taken there, and made known to the whole kingdom by proclamation ; and that it would be of dangerous conse- quence to bring a number of people to the city in such dangerous times ; that several of the protestant members for Ulster were dispersed, or so shut up or employed, that they could not repair to the present meeting ; and that therefore the Roman catholics (who perad venture might bring ill affections with them) would be superior in number and voices, and so carry all things according to their own humour. These reasons, founded chiefly upon mere jealousies and fears, for which there did not seem to be any just grounds, when so many Roman ca- tholic members were likewise absent, and there was no danger to be apprehended from such as were present, in a city whence all strangers were banished by proclama- tion, and in which there was now a garrison of four or five thousand men, did not satisfy the others ; but upon a vote, the majority declared themselves for sticking to the prorogation. It was however thought proper that
m See Mr. Pat. Darcy's letter to lord Clanrickard, (Memoirs, p. ''24,) received Nov. 17, and R. R. p. 198.
debates about its meeting. (1641.)
65
some endeavours should be used to make it palatable to those who were most averse to it, that they might be reconciled to it in some measure. And after a long de- bate of all particular circumstances, it was resolved that the earl of Ormond, sir John Temple, and sir Piers Crosby, all members of the board, should have a meeting with Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bourke, and some others of the most active and powerful members of the house of commons, and let them know from the council, that being informed of their good affections and desires to do something in the house that might tend to the suppression of the pre- sent rebellion, they approved very well thereof ; and though they could by no means absolutely remove the proroga- tion, yet they would comply so far for their satisfaction as to limit it to a shorter time ; and that at present they would give them leave to sit one whole day, in case they would immediately fall upon the work of making a pro- testation against the rebels ; and that they should have liberty (if they pleased) to depute some members of their own house to treat with the rebels about their laying- down of arms; and that the council would be ready to receive whatever grievances those rebels had to complain of, and would transmit them over to his majesty for a speedy redress. Such was the result of this debate, which was finally determined in the interval between Nov. 9, when the two houses met, and the i6th of that month, to which, without entering upon any business, they had adjourned ; and was accordingly put in execution. The meeting was in the gallery at Cork-house : those of the house of commons were exceedingly troubled when they found that the council would not alter the prorogation ; but seeing no remedy, they were forced to take up with what was offered, since they could not get what they de- sired. They were not without some hopes that the two houses when met in a body might by a joint address pre- vail with the state for leave to continue sitting longer, or VOL. n. F
66 Passages in parliament. III. 107
at least for shortening the prorogation to a nearer day than was proposed; and that the treaty to be entered 224 into with the rebels, if it produced nothing to necessitate a speedy meeting of the parliament, might yet contribute something to prevent further mischief during the recess. Their hopes, which were faint enough in this respect, were however better founded in another : they thought that a sitting upon business would afford the two houses an opportunity of taking some measures for the satisfac- tion of the people, the safety of the kingdom, and put- ting a stop to the progress of the rebellion ; and that a representation to his majesty (which by the inflexibility of the lords justices was now the only method left them of redress) in the name of the whole parliament, would have a much greater weight than any that could be made by the members of either or both houses in their single capacity. In prospect of this advantage, they seemed at last to rest indifferently contented, and undertook to make the protestation in as full and ample manner as was desired, and that they would fall upon it immedi- ately, and make it the work of the whole day. 108 On Tuesday, Nov. 16, the lords and commons met in parliament, which was held in the castle of Dublin, the usual place of their assembly in those days. The garrison was put under arms, and the lords justices appointed a guard of musketeers to attend during the time of their meeting, not to infringe the freedom of the houses' de- bates, but to provide a remedy against their own fears. The houses were the thinner by reason of the proclama- tion for prorogation, which prevented the Munster and Connaught lords and gentlemen from coming up, and of the rebellion, which intercepted the repair of most of the bishops (except John Lesly, bishop of Rapho) and gentle- men of Ulster. They took immediately into their consi- deration the state of the nation, and the framing of a protestation against the rebels. Some debates happened
• — io8. Passages in parliament. (1641.) 67
on this occasion : the lords justices were unalterably re- solved not to make an offensive war, but to confine them- selves purely to the defence of Dublin and Drogheda till the arrival of succours out of England. This resolution exposed all the houses and estates of the lords and gen- tlemen in the country as a prey to the rebels ; and as well for this reason, as because, when they were enter- ing upon a treaty for healing of a breach, the doing of any thing to widen it did not seem very correspondent to the nature of that proceeding, and might raise doubts of the sincerity of their intentions, and so defeat one great end proposed by it, that of gaining time till they were better armed to resist the rebels, and in a condition of suppressing them by open force, it was not thought advisable to irritate them unnecessarily. There was rea- son on the other side to fear, that if they were not de- clared rebels, such an omission would be interpreted a seeming approbation of the insurrection. Rejecting there- fore some more virulent expressions, that could not pos- sibly do any good, and only served to inflame, (which some persons out of an unadvised heat or worse designs proposed,) they contented themselves with declaring them rebels in such words as the law adopts in indictments of treason, the charge of which, if couched in terms less of- fensive than some people wished, was yet expressed with as much force and clearness as was needful in the pro- testation. The two houses declared therein, " their de- testation and abhorrence of the disloyal rebellious pro- ceedings and abominable actions of the persons, ill-af- fected to the peace and tranquillity of the realm, who, contrary to their duty and loyalty to his majesty, and against the laws of God and the fundamental laws of the realm, have traitorously and rebelliously raised arms, and seized upon some of his majesty's forts and castles, and dispossessed many of his faithful subjects of their houses, lands, and goods, and have slain many of them, and com-
F 2
68 Passages in parliament. III. 108— ~
mitted other cruel and inhuman outrages and acts of hos- tility within this realm ; and that they shall and will to their uttermost power maintain the rights of his majesty's crown and government of this realm, and the peace and 225 safety thereof, as well against the persons aforesaid, their abettors and adherents, as also against all foreign princes, potentates, and other persons and attempts whatsoever ; and in case the persons aforesaid do not repent of their actions, and lay down arms, and become humble suitors to his majesty for grace and mercy in such convenient time and in such manner and form as by his majesty or the chief governors and council of this realm shall be set down, they further protest and declare, that they will take up arms, and will with their lives and fortunes sup- press them and their attempts in such a way, as by the authority of the parliament of this kingdom, with his majesty's or the chief governor's approbation, shall be thought most effectual."
109 The two houses joined likewise in an ordinance (which they ground on the petition of the rebels of the county of Cavan to the lords justices, which hath been before recited) empowering the earls of Antrim and Fingall, the viscounts Gormanston, Moore, and Baltinglas, the lords Slane, Dunsany, and Lambart, with the bishop of Kilmore, sir Charles Coote, sir Piers Crosby, sir Richard Barnewall, sir Luke Fitzgerald, sir Lucas Dillon, sir James Dillon the elder, sir Christopher and John Bel- lew, Mr. Nicholas Plunket, Mr. Richard Belling, Patrick Barnwall of Killbrue, Hugh Rochford and other com- moners, (first receiving directions and authority from his majesty or the chief governors and council,) to confer with the rebels in Ulster and other parts, touching the causes of their taking arms, and such other matters as they should be so directed and authorized to confer about, (the rebels being charged to abstain from all hos- tilities during the said conference,) to report all matters
— in. Passages in parliament. ( 1 64 1 . ) 69
to his majesty, the council, or the parliament, and to proceed therein according to the king's pleasure, or the council's directions.
Ijo These things, so necessary in the then situation of af- fairs, could not be despatched in one day ; so that they continued sitting the next, to the great uneasiness of the justices11, whom both hocuses desired in a very earnest manner to allow them a longer session ; but in vain, meeting with a peremptory denial. Failing in this re- quest, they presented another, which the justices had before promised in general to grant ; and they urged with much earnestness, that the prorogation might not be to so long a time as Feb. 24. The justices, impatient to get rid of them, seemed to comply a little in this respect, and on the xytli at night prorogued them to Jan. 1 1, resolving however at the same time that they should not meet at that day; and accordingly in their next despatch (of Nov. 22) they desired to have the opinion of the judges and king's council in England, whether the Irish parliament being once prorogued may not again be prorogued by proclamation before they sat ; or whether it was of necessity that they must sit again, and the parliament to be prorogued the houses sitting.
in The parliament, offended as they were at the conduct of the lords justices, did not yet forget what they owed to their country; and though they had reason to com- plain that they were debarred from taking effectual mea- sures to suppress the rebels, and in so critical a time not allowed to express, as they wished, their duty to the crown, and their affections to the king's service and the peace of the kingdom ; yet wishing the good work to be done at any rate, and by any other hands as well as by their own, their resentment against the justices (of whom they had an ill opinion enough) did not carry them so far as to keep them from contributing what n Lords justices' letter, Nov. 25.
70 Passages in parliament. III. in —
they could, in the hurry of so short a meeting, to enable those their governors to do it. Both houses therefore 226 joined in ordinance empowering the lords justices and council, " to raise the posse of what counties they saw fit ; to make a speedy levy of forces as well for the defence of his majesty's crown and dignity, and the per- sons and estates of his majesty's faithful subjects, as for the opposing and suppressing of the rebellious disturbers of the general peace and quiet of the land ; to continue on foot such a convenient number of armed men of horse and foot, during the present troubles and distem- pers of the realm, and under such commanders, as the several counties should respectively agree to ; and to assess, collect, and levy, as equally as they could, money for providing arms and ammunition, and for such com- petent maintenance for the support of the said horse and foot, in every of the said counties respectively, and in such manner and form, as every and each of the said counties in their discretions should think fit, whilst they should continue in their proper counties respectively."
During these two days, the houses not trusting en- tirely to their protestation and order for a conference, which however they hoped might pacify matters for a time, considered likewise of more effectual methods to quell the rebellion, to prevent its growth, to remove the discontents of the nation, and restore the peace of the kingdom. They drew up their sentiments on this sub- ject, in a representation to his majesty; and in certain instructions given by a committee of their body, to Thomas viscount Dillon of Costelogh ; who was charged with presenting it. This nobleman had been one of the lords' committee sent into England, and was a member of the privy- council of Ireland, a protestant, a man of very good parts, and great activity, generally beloved and esteemed, well affected to the crown, and very ac- ceptable to his majesty, who had lately received and
— 113. Passages in parliament. ( 1 64 1 .) 71
treated him with great marks of esteem and kindness °. When he was chosen to carry this representation, it was proposed in the house, that a request should be added to it in his favour, that he might have the military com- mand of the four counties as yet remaining untainted in Connaught ; but the earl of Ormond opposing it, as in- consistent with the patents, which the earl of Clan- rickard had for the government of the county of Gal- way, and the lord Ranelagh for the rest of that province, it was only recommended in general, that he might have some command or other in those parts, where his power and interest were considerable.
113 What was the substance of this representation and of these instructions is not so well known, both instruments being taken and suppressed by the parliament of Eng- land. There is no doubt to be made but that they chiefly related to the establishment of the graces, and contained certain advice about the proper methods of quelling the rebellion, which were not agreeable, either to the interest or views of those who presided in the government of Ireland, or who were leaders of the fac- tion that governed in the house of commons of Eng- land ; though we may be well assured, they were such as could not be excepted against, nor wrested to an ill sense, so as to found thereupon any aspersion against the king, or to raise any clamour against the papists. If this had not been the case, there is no doubt, but when they came into the hands of that faction, they would not have been concealed so carefully as they were ; but would rather have been made the subject of debate in the house, and published as usual to the world, with comments proper to foment the jealousies and distrac- tions of the kingdom of England. They probably con- tained some truths, which it was not for the purpose of
0 See Mr. Bourke's letter to lord Clanrickard in his Memoirs.
72 Passages in parliament . III. 113 —
that faction, or the interest and credit of their Irish" friends, to have known to his majesty and the public; as certainly they did great complaints against the lords justices, whose removal was strongly recommended. For one particular therein we have undoubted evidence ; and if all the other methods proposed were as proper for re- ducing the rebels as that was, there will be no grounds of objecting to the reasonableness of them. They de- sired that the government of Ireland might be put into the earl of Ormond's hands, in whose love of their coun- try they were as well satisfied, as his majesty was of his fidelity and affection to the crown ; if this step were taken, and the other methods pursued, the fears and uneasiness of the nation would be removed, and the re- bellion soon suppressed, for which they would be answer- able with their lives and fortunes, even though (as the lords justices say was contained in these instructions) no help was sent them from England for that purpose. There is no doubt but this Irish parliament might have given the king supplies sufficient to reduce the rebels, and they offered it, if they might be allowed to sit ; a less force than what they raised before against the Scotch covenanters would have done the work ; and as to their inclinations, there did not then appear any rea- son to suspect them ; for the parliament was composed of English families ; there had been a great animosity between them and the old Irish ever since the conquest, kept up by acts of hostility in times of war, and not yet extinct; not one gentleman of estate of English race had yet joined the rebels, but all in general ex- pressed an abhorrence of their proceedings ; the old Irish were the only persons concerned in the rebellion ; their fury fell upon the English plantations and improvements, as well as their persons ; and their constant and public declarations were, that they would extirpate all the Eng- lish (without distinction) out of the nation, and take
— 1J4- Passages in parliament. (1641.) 73
the government of it into their own hands. But if this offer had taken place, the lords justices would have lost their power, and been defeated of the gains they pro- posed by the forfeitures of rebels ; the king would have been enabled to restore the peace of one of his realms without a slavish and fatal dependance on the English commons for their assistance ; and the faction in that house would have been deprived of all those means of distressing his majesty, and of providing for an insur- rection in England, which the Irish rebellion and the management of that war afforded them. 114 To prevent these inconveniences and obstructions to both their schemes, the lords justices had recourse to their friends in the English commons, by an agent sent on purpose to negotiate with them, and in a private despatch under the charge of secresy to the earl of Lei- cester, the lord lieutenant, signed by themselves, and those of their junto in the council. There were then in Dublin several other members of the council, who used to join in all the public despatches sent to the lord lieutenant, (which were usually communicated to his majesty, as well as to the committee of the two houses of parliament,) and several of them had signed the de- spatch of the night before, which was sent away in the same packet, with the private letter dated Nov. 26, of which I am now speaking ; but the justices did not think fit to consult with them on this occasion. Those absent members of the council had made a vigorous effort to save their country from ruin, in pressing for the parliament to meet, and continue sitting, to take proper and effectual measures to restore its quiet; and though they were overpowered by numbers, or over- ruled by power, yet the weight of the reasons which they alleged in the debate had given great trouble and uneasiness to the justices, who resolved for the future to transact all their private affairs and intrigues without
74 Passages in parliament. III. 114 —
their concurrence or knowledge. As the justices in this letter insinuate things to the prejudice of those noble and honourable persons, (by the reason or justice of which we may see what credit is to be given to their suggestions in other cases,) it will not be improper here to give a list of their names. They were, sir Richard 228 Bolton, the lord chancellor, Lancelot Bulkeley archbi- shop of Dublin, the earl of Ormond, Anthony Martin bishop of Meath, John Lesly bishop of Rapho, (who passed through Charlemont the very morning that sir Phelim O'Neile surprised that castle in his way to Dub- lin, and maintained a company, both officers and soldiers, all the war against the rebels at his own charge, till the execrable murder of king Charles,) and Robert lord Dillon of Kilkenny West, afterwards earl of Roscommon, sir Gerard Lowther lord chief justice of the common pleas ; names and characters so well known and esta- blished, that the reasonable world will be apt to suspect there was some vile design carrying on by those who would not consult them, rather than from such a mean suggestion imagine any thing injurious to the memory of persons, whose virtue, integrity, public spirit, and zeal for the rights of the crown, and the good of the pro- testant religion, appeared in the whole course of their lives.
JI5 The justices in this letter tell the lord lieutenant, " that though by their late public despatches, they had given his lordship advertisement of occurrences, yet some other things were needful to be made known to him, which (say they) we could not safely mention in that despatch ; whereby you may, in some degree, perceive a part of our misfortune, that we cannot (even at the council-board) open ourselves with that freedom which becomes the duty and loyalty of faithful servants and counsellors to the king our master ; which we crave leave to impart to your lordship under that secresy,
— 1 1 6. Passages in parliament. ( 1 64 1 .) 75
which, from a person of so great honour and wisdom, we have reason to expect, and who (we hope) will so dispose of this private advertisement, as not only to pre- vent inconvenience to the peace and future safety of the kingdom, being that we aim at, but also prejudice to our persons, who (in our zeal to the future good of the kingdom) expose ourselves to this danger." 116 They go on to tell him, "they had received informa- tion, that the lord viscount Dillon of Costelogh, em- ployed by the lords house of parliament to repair into Scotland to attend his majesty, either carried along with him, or was to have sent after him a writing, signed by many papists of the nobility and gentry of Ireland, im- porting (as they were informed) a profession of loyalty to his majesty, and offer of themselves by their power to repress the rebellion, without aid of men forth of England, or to some such purpose ; which, if there be any such, his lordship, though a member of the board, had not communicated to them the justices. But if the lord Dillon's private instructions or his own counsels should tend in any sort to stay the succours intended to be sent out of England, or to possess his majesty with a belief that the lords or others could raise sufficient forces to reduce the kingdom to its former peace and tranquillity, they crave leave to say that those noblemen and gentlemen misunderstand the nature and height of the rebellion, and the proposition would prove unhappy and dangerous to England as well as Ireland ; and de- clare their opinion, that without forces from England the English in Ireland would quit the kingdom, and the rebels would gain the point which they principally aimed at, namely, the total and final extirpation of all the Eng- lish and protestants ; and then the sole power and sway in all magistracy must be put into the hands of the Irish, which would enable them at their pleasure to shake off the English government ; and considering like-
76 Passages in parliament. III. 116 —
wise, that the estates and fortunes of any subjects (how specious soever their undertaking might be) could not (in their judgment) counterbalance the evils that would fall on the kingdom by staying the supplies, they hoped the state of England would not, to save a little charge, expose both kingdoms to the unhappiness which might arise from embracing the proposition. For the charge 229 (far from being lost) would be abundantly recompensed, not only in a firmer peace (which would be for the strength and safety of England) than ever yet was set- tled there, and in reducing the kingdom to civility and religion ; but also in raising a far more considerable revenue to the crown, than formerly, out of the estates of those that were actors in the present mischiefs ; and if they had an army of some strength, some of the old English would be fit to be employed, and would doubt- less fight well for suppressing the rebellion, though till they were so strengthened they could not judge whom to trust." And then conjuring his lordship again to secresy, recommend to him the bearer Richard Fitz- gerald, esq., whom they desired him to hear at large, as a person who had long experience there, and was able to inform his lordship in many particulars very needful to his knowledge at that time.
117 This Mr. Fitzgerald had been one of the committee sent over by the Irish commons, to assist the faction in the house of commons of England in their prosecution of the earl of Strafford ; and being there acquainted with the leaders, was now sent to negotiate and settle mea- sures in concert between them and the lords justices ; for which purpose he resided after this constantly in London, attending the committee for Irish affairs, receiving from them, and communicating to the justices, such secret advices and directions, as were not proper for a public despatch, nor fit to be imparted to the whole council. This letter was signed by the lords justices, and by the
— 1 1 8 . Passages in parliament. ( 1 64 1 .) 77
lord Lambart, sir Adam Loftus, sir George Shurley, sir John Temple, sir Francis Willoughby, sir James Ware, and sir Robert Meredith ; all either of the cabal with the lords justices, or depending upon them by their offices, which, their estates being wasted or seized by the rebels, was all that they had to subsist on in these times. The justices were the more solicitous to prevent any credit being given to the notion that there was force enough within Ireland to reduce the rebels, not only because it was the judgment of the earl of Ormond, and the best and most experienced officers in the army, as sir William St. Leger and sir Henry Tichburne, (which was a great countenance to what they imagined lord Costelogh was charged to represent on that head,) but also because they found by advertisements out of England that it was the opinion of many there. To guard against it, they in all their letters insist on the deference that ought to be paid to their own judgment, who were intrusted with the state, and knew best the circumstances of the kingdom ; and urge the necessity of sending over, not only ten thousand foot and two thousand horse from England, but (what was still more odious to the Irish nation) ten thousand men also from Scotland ; a necessity which they do not support by any fact or reason, but merely by their fears of future possibilities.
n8 After the letter above cited, and Mr. Fitzgerald's being sent to make it by his solicitations the more effectual, nobody will be surprised at lord Dillon's fate. He em- barked (says sir John Temple) a few days after the pro- rogation, in order to go for England ; but being driven by a storm as far as Scotland, landed there, and making all the haste he could to London, was (with lord Taaffe who accompanied him) seized on the road at Ware by order of the house of commons, all his papers taken away, and the persons of the two lords secured. They remained in custody several months, till it was of no consequence
78 Passages in parliament. III. 118-
to keep them longer in restraint ; and then being negli- gently guarded, they made their escape, and went to the king, who was then at York, too late to offer a remedy, when the rebels were strengthened with foreign supplies, and the rebellion was become in a manner universal, up Of all the causes which concurred to make it so, no- 230 thing contributed so much to it, as this prorogation of the parliament, and the obstinate resolution of the lords justices not to allow the two houses to sit. They were in all times the natural resource in all the difficulties and distresses of the nation, and the likeliest power to take proper measures for the good of a kingdom, in whose welfare their own was involved, and to find out ways for removing discontents, pacifying disturbances, and restor- ing the peace and tranquillity of the country. The mem- bers which composed the houses were persons of the most considerable estates and the greatest credit in their several counties, that never could propose to make a for- tune by the rebellion, (as the lords justices and many of the council might,) and in truth did not need it : but as they had all much to lose, and a great part of them (being under the lash of penal laws, and subject to every hard- ship, which the suspicions, or views of those in power could put upon them) had much to fear from a rebellion and the consequences thereof, they could not in reason be deemed improper persons to be advised with about the means of suppressing one. The very appearance and credit of their declaring against it, attended with resolu- tions and measures to suppress it, would have been of great use : at least the supplies of money, which they might have given, would have done great service ; and according to the methods of applotting and raising them then practised in Ireland, might have been depended on with more certainty, and collected with greater expedi- tion than any that were expected, or to be remitted, out of England. There were scarce five members, and those
•120.
79
only of the old Irish, concerned in the rebellion : there was no reasonable ground to suspect the rest, or to ima- gine that they would not, to clear themselves from such suspicion, exert their power on this occasion with a zeal, which, whether real or feigned, would have equally con- tributed to relieve the great necessity of the state, which was want of money. Every body knows, and experience has sufficiently shewed, the great advantage and power which the discovery of a conspiracy gives a government ; and as the two parties of Roman catholics and puritans were before pretty equally balanced in the house of com- mons, the servants and officers of the crown being able to turn the scale, there is no doubt but the justices might with ease have carried in parliament every thing that was really for the service of the crown, and proper to ex- tinguish a rebellion, when none (if there were peradven- ture any that secretly favoured it) durst openly oppose any motion that was made for those ends. Nothing is so easy at all times, and nothing was a more common cover for ill designs in that age, than to pretend fears and jealousies : but surely these were never alleged with a worse grace, than by the justices in the case of the sit- ting of a parliament, under a guard of their own appoint- ment, and in a garrison, where the persons of the members were as so many hostages, for their own good behaviour, for the peace of the country, and for the obedience of their relations and dependants.
120 There never could be stronger and more pressing rea- sons for the sitting of a parliament than there were at this time. For to say nothing of the rebellion, the graces lately granted by the king, and so much desired by the nation, which arrived in Ireland too late to be passed in the last session, were to be enacted in this, and were ex- pected with great impatience, by the merchants, who were to be eased in the rates of customs and licenses of exportation ; by the gentlemen, for the security of their
80 Passages in parliament. III. 120 — •
estates against the avarice and rapine of needy ministers and projectors (by which they had been plagued and ha- rassed for forty years past) ; and indeed by all sorts of men throughout the nation, who were in one respect or other to find relief, convenience, and advantage thereby. The late clamours about grievances had quickened every body's sense of them ; they were uneasy every moment till they were redressed, and to disappoint them in the 231 height of their eager expectations was enough to make them furious and desperate, and could not fail of produc- ing more mischiefs and real dangers than their fears could suggest of imaginary ones to arise from any other cause. The justices, if they knew the state of the nation, (as they insisted in all their despatches that they did better than any body else, or even than the parliament itself,) could not but know this ; and if they had any regard to the service of the prince by whom they were intrusted, or to the welfare of the kingdom over which they pre- sided, they would have taken some care to prevent the ill consequences which must otherwise necessarily follow from a prorogation, so contrary to the desires of parlia- ment and the sense of the nation, and from a disappoint- ment of the body of a people in matters of great import- ance and general concern, at a time when the fire of rebellion was broken out, and there was so much pre- disposed matter in all parts to catch and spread the flame. Instead of taking this care, they dismissed the parliament without saying a word about the graces, or giving them the least comfortable assurance, to keep up some faint and distant hopes in the nation of their being passed in another session. Such an assurance, though they never intended to make it good, might have answered the end for which they proposed a conference with the rebels, and was in truth the more likely means of the two to gain them time till the arrival of succours out of Eng- land. The graces, those especially which limited the
—i2i. Passages in parliament. ( 1 64 1 .) 81
king's title to sixty years, and confirmed the gentry in the possession of their estates, could never be agreeable to any selfish minister, because they prevented those pre- tences of defective titles, by which such ministers had generally amassed wealth and obtained grants of estates in Ireland ; but the justices (though in their letters to the king they had actually remonstrated against them) might have given some such assurance or hopes of passing them in another session, without a greater breach of sin- cerity than they were guilty of in agreeing to a shorter prorogation, and fixing it to PJan, 1 1, when, on the night before this was done, they had brought them, by sir Thomas Lucas, the king's directions (pursuant to their own advice) for proroguing the parliament to the latter end of February or the beginning of March ; which they forbore to impart to the two houses.
121 The breaking up of the parliament in such a manner, and the strange aversion which the lords justices had shewn to its sitting at all, threw a great part of the na- tion into despair. The Roman catholics, with too much reason, gave over all expectation of the graces, nobody doubting but that the present rebellion would be made a pretence to defeat them of the benefit thereof, and pro- bably to lay them under further pressures. This worked and stirred up ill humours to the farthest part of the kingdom : it required all the earl of Clanrickard's pru- dence and credit to keep his own county of Galway quiet. He saw the mischief likely to ensue, and, like a faithful servant of the king's, assured the gentlemen that they might depend on his majesty's goodness for extending the benefit of the graces to all that continued loyal, and kept free from the guilt of rebellion. He applied to the king by the canal of Mr. Secretary Vane, and the media- tion of other friends ; and his majesty readily transmitted
P Lords justices' letter, Nov. 22. VOL. II. G
82 Passages in parliament . III. 121 —
the desired assurance under his own hand, to be published in the country. Had the justices taken the same method, or given the like assurance at their prorogation of the parliament, much of the evils which followed so soon after might have been prevented. But their neglect in this respect, and their other proceedings, hurried people into desperate courses, before his majesty's declaration on this head, (dated Dec. 18,) occasioned, not by the ad- vice of the justices, but by this information of lord Clan- rickard, could reach Ireland ; for, by the slowness of the conveyance, his lordship did not receive it till the loth of January. The justices received it likewise, together with his majesty's positive orders to publish it ; which (whether they disapproved the thing, or thought such a grace improper to proceed out of their own mouth, or for some other reason) they caused to be done by sir Maurice Eustace, speaker of the house of commons, at the prorogation of the houses on Jan. 1 1 following. 122 The rebels, who were ^before disheartened, resumed new courage upon this conduct of the justices : Roger More, who was with colonel Brian Mac Mahon, at the head of a body of about two thousand five hundred, (not the third part of them armed,) about Atherdee and Dun- dalk, saw very well the advantages thereby offered them, and no longer questioned the success of their affair. To these, as the most advanced of any party of the rebels, the deputies of parliament, appointed by a commission under the great seal, were sent to enter upon a treaty : but they, grown insolent by the prospect of those advantages, received the commissioners very coldly, tore the order of parliament and the letter sent them in a contemptu- ous manner, and returned a scornful answer, refusing all overtures towards an accommodation. The justices had likewise employed some Roman catholic priests to a like
q Sir H. Tichburne's letter, Nov. 1 1, to the earl of Ormond.
— 123. Passages in parliament. ( 1 64 1 .) 83
purpose, but with as little effect, the rebels now riot doubting but that, in the universal discontent given by the late proceedings, they should carry the whole king- dom before them.
123 To make all possible use of this circumstance of the nation, and to curry favour with the discontented, Roger More (much the wisest man of his party, and the chief director of their counsels) persuaded the Irish to refrain from their declarations against the English, and put the whole merits of their cause upon the subject of religion, which was in danger of being extirpated, and the pre- tence of which was the likeliest means, as well of gaining the Roman catholics of English race, as of procuring them succours from foreign princes, whose catholic zeal might prompt them to send assistances for the defence of it in Ireland, at a time when they had no interest of their own to induce them to encourage insurrections in the dominions of a prince in amity with them. For this purpose, he framed an roath of association, to be first taken by all his followers, and sent over the kingdom to draw in others by the inoffensive appearance of the mo- tives upon which they acted, and of the ends proposed in that combination ; which was to be followed by an insur- rection, for the preservation of their religion, and defence of his majesty's rights and prerogatives, and the just liber- ties of the subject. This, with a specious declaration, published about the same time, and assigning the like motives for their taking arms, had a wonderful effect in conciliating the minds of the Roman catholics of English race, whose rooted aversion to the old Irish was in a good measure diverted by their resentment of the mani- fest jealousy expressed of them by the state, the recent provocations they had received, and the greater hardships they dreaded from that quarter, and was at last quite got over by the common danger of their religion ; which r Clan. Mem. pp. 88, 89. Nalson, vol. ii. p. 901. G 2
84 Measures of the English parliament III. 123 —
(they thought) as in a sinking vessel, called upon all hands for their assistance to preserve it.
124 Lord Clanrickard had early foreseen, and earnestly laboured to prevent, these inconveniences. He had, on Nov. 14, wrote to this purpose into England, and had solicited his brother, the earl of Essex, to use his care, power, and interest with the parliament to prevent or redress any sudden declaration, grounded upon reports, that might cast an aspersion or imputation upon the 233 loyalties or consciences of any of his majesty's faithful subjects in Ireland, in a time of general service ; the first proclamation of the state at Dublin having struck a deep and sad impression in the minds of men, and nothing being like to prove so fatal, as the doing any thing to countenance the notion of this being a war of religion.
125 This wise and honest advice did not suit with the schemes of the faction in the English parliament ; it was their interest to have it thought in England a war of re- ligion, and to have it kept up till they had inflamed their own nation, and put themselves in a condition of raising an insurrection there. With this view, and upon occa- sion of the rebellion of the old Irish, they fell with new fury upon the English Roman catholics, as if they had been confederated therein ; making the orders, and exe- cuting the severities, which, having been mentioned al- ready, need not, for the most part, be recounted here. Yet it cannot be improper to take particular notice of one or two of them, which had a more immediate rela- tion to the situation and affairs of Ireland.
126 There was not in that kingdom a more powerful body of men than the Roman catholic lawyers. The noblemen and principal gentry of that religion, not being capable of offices of trust and power in the state, generally bred up their younger sons in that profession; who thereby were enabled to raise considerable estates to themselves, and being, in proportion to their eminency in the pro-
— 126. affecting Ireland. ( 1 641 .) 85
fession, consulted by all the noblemen and gentlemen of their religion, had a general acquaintance and a great in- terest with them ; to which the dignity of their families, the mutual relations between the great houses of that country, and the opinion conceived of their knowledge, experience, and wisdom much contributed. These gen- tlemen of the law had for many years been passion- ately desirous of two things ; the one, a liberty of plead- ing at the bar without taking the oath of supremacy; the other, the having of some inns of court erected at Dublin for the education and instruction of young gen- tlemen in that profession, that they might not be at the expense of passing some years in England to learn the knowledge and practice of it. The whole nation in a manner joined with them in a desire of these privileges ; and the king, among his late graces, had indulged them in the first point ; and when they were full of hopes to see that grace established by law, the late prorogation and the proceedings of the lords justices made them ut- terly despair of it. Instead of having any hopes of the other, they found themselves entirely debarred of any education at all in the way of the law, even in England, by the late order of the English parliament for tendering the oath of supremacy to all Irishmen in the inns of court and chancery at London, for expelling all that re- fused it, and admitting none for the future that would not take it. This order affected all the considerable fa- milies in Ireland, and deprived them of the only means hitherto allowed them of providing for younger children in their own country, as well as of the best advisers, whom they could consult for defending the titles of their estates against the flaws which rapacious ministers and projectors were perpetually finding therein. The lawyers themselves, though naturally averse to war, yet not being allowed to exert themselves in parliament for the speedy suppression of it, seeing now no other way of obtaining
86 Measures of the English parliament III. 126—
the graces for which they had contended in the house of commons, and which they had solicited at court with some effect, as they once thought ; and despairing of what they so much wished, did not exert their power and credit to keep the gentlemen from having recourse to (what they imagined was) the only method of redress now left them in the way of arms ; but some of them earlier, others later, engaged in the rebellion ; and though they did not take upon them military commands, or enter into action in the field, were very serviceable to the rebels in form- 234 ing the model of their government, and became the lead- ing members of their supreme council and general assem- blies, still retaining their inclinations to peace, and pro- moting it as opportunities offered.
12 7 Their power lay chiefly among the gentry of the king- dom ; the common people were more under the influence of the Roman catholic clergy; and these the English house of commons had given reason to apprehend every thing that is dreadful to human nature. They had caused the laws against recusants to be put in execution all over England ; and though what was done in other parts might be little known, yet what passed in London could not fail of being public. Eight Roman catholic priests had been there taken up for saying mass, and the proof fail- ing as to one, the other seven were condemned. The king, averse to the putting of any man to death merely for religion, had reprieved them. The commons were offended at it, and made loud clamours upon this subject against his majesty, whom they pressed to sign the warrant to have all the eight executed, not knowing that one of them was acquitted at his trial. The French ambassador interceded in their behalf, and desired they might be only banished ; which at this time he conceived to be good policy, considering the commotions of Ireland, and the desperate courses such a terrible severity might occa- sion there. But neither that, nor the consideration of
127. affecting Ireland. ( 1 64 1 .) 87
foreign protestants, who were alike at the mercy of the laws in several popish countries abroad, could stop the fury of the commons, who, after a debate upon the re- quest of the ambassador, passed a vote (in which they desired the concurrence of the lords) that execution should be done upon five of them, whom they particu- larly named. fThe lords thereupon desired a conference, to know the reasons that induced the commons to be of opinion that five should be executed and two saved. The commons, in a strange sort of fury at the lords' hesita- tion in the matter, instead of giving them reasons, de- sired them to join in a petition to his majesty that all the seven might be executed ; and insisted so strongly on it, that the lords complied ; and nothing would satisfy them till the king had left them to their mercy, to order the execution whenever they saw fit. If the persecution of Romish priests was pushed on with so much fury, and proceeded to such cruel extremities in England, where the Roman catholics were universally quiet, and too weak to be dangerous, where no disturbances had happened from them, nor was there the least pretence (but what mere imagination or wicked policy suggested) to fear any, what treatment less than extirpation could the Irish Ro- man catholic priests expect, in a country where they had an absolute power over almost nine parts in ten of the people, and where a bloody rebellion was broken out, and already imputed to them, though not above two or three of their number appeared to know any thing of the con- spiracy ? When men have every thing to dread in peace, and much to hope from a war, it is natural for them to choose the latter, and use their utmost endeavours to make it successful : nor is it any wonder that those priests, in such a situation of affairs, should have recourse to arms for the safety of their lives, and despairing of an indul-
s Nalson, vol. ii. pp. 731, 736, 740.
88 Measures of the English parliament III. 127 —
gence in quiet times, should seek in troublesome ones for an establishment, never to be obtained but by the prevailing force of an insurrection.
128 They could not want arguments to persuade their flocks to engage in it ; the English commons had by their vio- lent proceedings against the papists in England furnished them very plentifully in that respect ; and as if all that hath been already mentioned on that subject was not enough, Hhey now took occasion from the Longford letter (which, as hath been said, was presented to the council 235 of Ireland on Nov. 10, and transmitted to the lord lieu- tenant) to pass a vote that no toleration of the Romish religion should be allowed in Ireland ; and to get the house of lords to join with them in an address to the king that he would make a public declaration to that effect. However convenient such a declaration might be for their purposes in England, it was certainly very un- seasonable with regard to Ireland, where it could serve to no other end than to inflame matters, to countenance the new pretences which the rebels had taken up to put a gloss on a rebellion, begun by the descendants and re- mains of the old rebels of the mere Irish to recover the forfeited estates of their ancestors, and rendered detest- able to all the world by a thousand acts of inhumanity and horror; to make it, in a word, be thought (what all good men, who did not wish the desolation of their country, would fain have avoided) a war of religion ; which notion, however odious the rebellion had been in its beginning, would hallow it so in its progress, that ca- tholic princes might deem it not unworthy of their en- couragement, and the bulk of the Irish nation be drawn in to support it as a common cause, wherein the con- science of every man was concerned.
J-9 These violent proceedings of the English parliament
t Nalson, vol. ii. p. 737-
— 130- affecting Ireland. (1641.) 89
caused the Roman catholics generally to apprehend a formed design of extirpating them, unless they would re- nounce their religion. It was an age of fears and jea- lousies, credulous passions, which readily swallow all re- ports that flatter them without examination, and are kept up by the force of imagination, rather than by the light of reason. An infinite number of reports were continu- ally flying about, and alarming the Roman catholics with the danger of their religion, and the design of an extir- pation ; which the more easily found credit, by reason of those undoubted facts already mentioned, which gave too much countenance to that notion, and were too public to be either unknown or denied. Letters, in consequence of these reports, were written and sent, of a like tenor, either suggested by the fears of the writer, or invented out of artifice, to drive people to the extremest counsels and desperate methods of defence and relief. Speeches were thrown out by persons of figure and power in public assemblies, either insinuating or expressing the like ter- rible design ; all which, whether arising from a furious zeal, violent passion, or wicked policy, could not, in the circumstances of the Irish nation at that time, but work powerfully upon the minds of the Roman catholic gen- tlemen, and, when they saw no other present means of safety and redress left, move them to take that which was already offered of an insurrection. 3° "Thus a letter was intercepted, coming from Scotland to one Freeman of Antrim, giving an account, " that a covenanting army was ready to come for Ireland, under the command of general Lesly, to extirpate the Roman catholics of Ulster, and leave the Scots sole possessors of that province ; and that to this end a resolution had been taken in their private meetings and councils to lay heavy fines upon such as would not appear at their kirk for the
u Ireland, vol. i. p. 453-
90 Measures of the English parliament 111.130 —
first and second Sunday, and on failure the third, to hang without mercy all such as were obstinate at their own doors." This notion (as appears from a multitude of de- positrons taken before Dr. H. Jones and other commis- sioners) prevailed universally among the rebels, and was chiefly insisted on by them as one of the principal rea- sons of their taking arms. vlt was confidently averred that sir John Clotworthy, who well knew the designs of the faction that governed in the house of commons of England, had declared there in a speech, " that the con- version of the papists in Ireland was only to be effected by the Bible in one hand and the sword in the other ;" 236 and Mr. Pym gave out, " that they would not leave a priest in Ireland." To the like effect wsir William Par- sons, out of a strange weakness or detestable policy, posi- tively asserted before many witnesses, at a public enter- tainment in Dublin. " that within a twelvemonth no ca- tholic should be seen in Ireland." He had sense enough to know the consequences which would naturally arise from such a declaration, which, however it might contri- bute to his own selfish views, he would hardly have ven- tured to make so openly and without disguise, if it had not been agreeable to the politics and measures of the English faction whose party he espoused, and whose di- rections were the general rule of his conduct. is1 From that quarter (and probably with a design of making the insurrection general) came originally those suggestions of extirpation, which I have seen expressed in pamphlets printed at that time in England, stuffed with falsehoods to serve the parliament cause, and in which, by a villany ordinary in those days, the names of men of quality and reputation were impudently made use of, without their knowledge, to gain credit to the rela- tions. Of this sort was the pretended letter of Richard
v Nalson, vol. ii. p. 536. w Ib. p. 557.
— 132. affecting Ireland. ( 1 64 1 . ) 91
lord Dungarvan, afterwards earl of Cork and Burlington, (a nobleman of great merit and irreproachable conduct, and very far from any cruel or oppressive counsels,) to sir Arthur Magenis in London, but wrote by one utterly ignorant of the affairs of Ireland, and published by John Hammond, in which it is affirmed, "that perpetual war was to be expected in Ireland, and that country would never be free from insurrections, except all papists were banished the land, and that kingdom inhabited by other British subjects, that were protestants." To the same source does the king ascribe them, when he says in his excellent book, in the chapter upon this subject, that " certainly it was thought by many wise men, that the preposterous rigour and unreasonable severity which some men carried before them in England, was not the least incentive that kindled, and blew up into those horrid flames, the sparks of discontent which wanted not pre- disposed fuel for rebellion in Ireland; where despair being added to their former discontents, and the fears of utter extirpation to their wonted oppressions, it was easy to provoke to an open rebellion a people prone enough to break out to all exorbitant violence, both by some principles of their religion, and the natural desires of liberty, both to exempt themselves from their present restraints, and to prevent those after-rigours, wherewith they saw themselves apparently threatened by the co- vetous zeal and u ncharitable fury of some men, who think it a great argument of the truth of their religion to en- dure no other but their own."
132 Having thus seen what the Irish Roman catholics had to fear if they remained peaceable, it is proper to con- sider what they had to hope from an insurrection. In this point nothing struck their imagination so much, or filled it so constantly, as the late example of Scotland, where the covenanters had gained all their desires by a rebellion ; and the king, notwithstanding his real zeal
92 Measures of the English parliament 111.132 —
for religion, and his known affection to the constitution of the church of England, had been forced to consent, not only to the abolishing of the liturgy, but to the sub- version of episcopacy itself; they had observed x that this compliance of his majesty had raised such an expectation in England, that he intended at his return to alter the government of that church, and reduce it to the Scotch form, that he was forced by his letter of Oct. 1 8 to as- sure his own servants that he would be constant to the discipline and doctrine of the church of England, and resolved to die in the maintenance thereof. They had seen all the cruel outrages and newfangled reformation 237 of the covenanters so well approved by the house of com- mons in England, that with an inhumanity, not usual in that nation, they had madey an order, that none of the episcopal clergymen so divested of their livings, plundered, and in other respects barbarously treated in Scotland, should be admitted to any benefice either in England or Ireland. They knew the Scots' design to labour with all their might the establishment of their covenant and pres- byterian constitution in both those kingdoms, and that, however averse the king might be to such an innovation, the English faction were obstinately resolved to intro- duce it ; and a petition, after the late Scotch fashion, full of bitter, but general invectives, unsupported by any par- ticular fact, against bishops, had been presented to the English commons, received and printed in the name of some thousands of the protestant inhabitants of the coun- ties of Antrim, Down, Tyrone, and other parts of Ulster in the kingdom, praying in express terms the utter extir- pation of episcopacy ; to which, for rendering it the more odious, the popish prelacy and hierarchy was joined. When the church of England was to be destroyed, they thought they had as fair pretences for getting an esta-
x Nalson, vol. ii. p. 683. y Rush worth, vol. iv. p. 153.
— 133. affecting Ireland. (1641.) 93
blishment in Ireland as the covenanters had in Scotland ; and as the king had already sacrificed Scotland, to be the better able to oppose his enemies, and support the church in England, they vainly hoped he might be forced to sa- crifice Ireland too for the same reason ; and that the par- liament, in order to carry their schemes (on which they were violently set) in the former kingdom, might be the more indifferent as to what was done in the latter. Hence they fancied, that by following the Scots' example, they had reason to expect, if not an establishment which those had obtained, yet at least a repeal of the penal laws, 2 Eliz., which inflicted fines upon such as did not con- form to the liturgy, and disqualified all persons from pre- ferments that would not take the oath of supremacy ; the former of which affected the Roman catholics of all degrees, as the latter was the great grievance of such men of quality and estates as were recusants. 133 They had seen the king, in his late visit to Scotland2, confirm all that the covenanters had done against his authority ; make the lord Loudon, the principal manager of the rebellion, chancellor of that kingdom; confer honours on their generals and others who had fought against him in the field ; dispose of preferments and dig- nities on persons, not according to their merit, but the capacity and ability they had in doing him mischief, and (whilst his faithful servants and subjects were barely suf- fered to live, upon the condition of not coming near his presence) give all the lands of the church, which had de- volved to him by its ruin, to those rebels who had most contributed to that ruin ; to whom he had made, as it were, a deed of gift of that kingdom, and left the dis- posal of the chief offices and places of trust and honour. This encouraged the Irish Roman catholic gentlemen to hope, that by a like rebellion, they might obtain the like
2 Clarendon, vol. i. book iv. par. 46. edit. 1849.
94 Measures of the English parliament 111.133—
advantages, and if they did not get the government of the nation so absolutely into their hands, they might at least prevail for a capacity of being admitted to offices of trust and honour, to which their quality and fortunes in the kingdom entitled them, and which they so passion- ately wished, that they thought no grievance so insup- portable, as their present legal disqualification for those offices, and the being reduced to the necessity of living always in a private condition, liable to be taken up at the will, and subject to the control and dominion of others, who were naturally their inferiors. J34 These hopes, which were much strengthened by the distracted condition of the kingdom of England at this time, by the extremity of the weather in a season of the 238 year which seemed scarce to allow the sending of any forces or supplies from thence till the spring, (by which time they might well expect succours from abroad,) by the shameful backwardness which the Scotch parliament had openly shewed, when so earnestly pressed by the king to lend their assistance for the immediate suppres- sion of the rebellion, and by the resolution, which that body had formally taken, to do nothing therein without the concurrence of their brethren in the parliament of England, who were carrying on matters with so much violence and to such extremity against the king, that all the reasonable world already apprehended it would end at last (as soon after proved to be the case) in an open rupture and rebellion there, were great encouragements to the body of the Roman catholics of Ireland to embark in the insurrection z. The rebels confidently gave out, that no succours would be sent from either of those kingdoms to the state of Ireland, and the strange delay in sending them did but too much countenance that notion. This, with the manifest signs of fear shewn in
7 Lords justices' letter to the earl of Leicester, Dec. 14, 1641.
—134- affecting Ireland. (1641.) 95
the proceedings of the lords justices, in their not allow- ing either the earl of Ormond to raise an army, and take the field against them, or sir H. Tichburne a to attack an advanced party of Irish, that lay secure and half armed at Atherdee, though he urged it as an enterprise attended with little or no hazard in the attempt, and very easy in the execution; in letting b a company of the common, loose, naked Irish, spoil and waste the country under their very nose and in the neighbourhood of Dublin, where all the strength of his majesty's army was, without so much as attempting any thing against them ; in their obstinately resolving not to make an offensive war, and confining all their care and views solely to the defence of Drogheda and Dublin, gave such spirits to the rebels, that though they were not able to maintain their ground in the north, against the small bodies that were got together under colonel Chichester, lord Montgomery, sir W. Cole, sir Ralph Gore, sir William and sir Robert Stewart, they yet drew down a considerable force towards the south in order to form the siege of Drogheda. Their numbers struck terror into all parts whither they ad- vanced, and the country, being forced to submit to them wherever they came, still added to those numbers. The county of Lowth was the most exposed of any to their fury, and the three hundred arms assigned to Mr. John Bellew, high sheriff and knight of the shire, for the de- fence of it, had been recalled by the state before they were delivered to him, so that it lay entirely at the mercy of the rebels who overflowed it. The gentlemen thereof, banished Dublin by three successive proclamations, on pain of death, and ordered to repair to their own houses, unable to make resistance, and seeing not any even the least prospect of relief or succour, opened their defence- less habitations to the enemy; which gave the lords
a Sir H. Tichburne's letter to the earl of Ormond, Nov. 1 1. *> See Collection of Letters, No. XXXVIII.
96 The rebels advance to Drogheda, and defeat III. 134—
justices c occasion to complain, " that the rebels were har- boured and lodged in the gentlemen's houses of that county, as freely as if they were good subjects." This correspondence, however necessitated it was at first, involving them in the guilt of rebellion, according to the rigour of law, which they had no reason to think would be relaxed on account of their unhappy situation by any favour or tenderness they might hope from the then government, made the gentlemen in general, and the high sheriff in particular, to join with the rebels, and put the fate of their persons arid fortunes upon the issue of the rebellion.
J35 This detached body of the northern rebels appeared on Nov. 21 in sight of the town of Drogheda, within four miles of it, presuming (as was imagined) upon some party 239 within the place. Sir H. Tichburned, governor of Drog- heda, had the week before sent a party of fifteen horse and twenty-two foot to Mellefont, (formerly an abbey of Bernardine monks, founded by Donagh O'Carrol, prince of Ergall about A. D. 1 142, but then an house of the lord viscount Moore's, three miles from the town,) as well to secure that place from the incursions of roving parties, as to keep abroad continual centinels and scouts, that might inform him of the rebels' motions. His orders were not well observed, nor this party so vigilant as they ought to have been; for on the 2ist the rebels on a sud- den encompassed the house, and (after the soldiers' pow- der was spent) took it with the loss of some one hundred and twenty of their own number, (among which were Owen Mac Mahon and another captain,) and eleven of the soldiers, with most of the arms. As the Irish were breaking into the house on all sides, the troopers, causing the great gate to be opened, sallied out, and opening themselves a way through the body of the rebels, got
c In their letter to the earl of Leicester, Nov. 22, 1641. d See his letters to the earl of Ormond, Nov. 22 and 23.
J7- th& forces sent to succour the place. ( 1 64 1 .) 97
safe with the rest of the foot soldiers sore wounded to Drogheda.
136 The lords justices had on the 2oth given orders for sir Charles Coote to march with a small party to Navan, for the safety of those parts ; but having the next day from sir H. Tichburne advice of the rebels' approach to Drog- heda, they assigned him his own regiment and two troops of horse for that service ; and ordered commissions to be given out for making a new levy of four regiments (con- sisting each of one thousand men under the command of the lord Lambart, sir Charles Coote, sir Piers Crosby, and the earl of Ormond) and four independent companies of foot. Sir Henry6, in case he was to wait a siege, desired orders for burning all the corn and houses on the north side of the town, in order to deprive the enemy of so much food, and the conveniency of warm lodging, ima- gining that their being exposed to the bare fields, without tents to cover them, would be a great abatement of their courage; but conceived it still more advisable to join all the forces together in one army, and to fight the re- bels in the field. The justices did not care to run the hazard of a battle ; but ordered a body of six hundred foot under major Roper, and fifty horse of the earl of Ormond's troop, commanded by sir Patrick Wemyss, to reinforce the garrison of the place f. The foot were raw men, lately raised, for the most part out of the despoiled English, and undisciplined ; but however were as well trained as the enemy, and much better armed. The earl of Ormond, taking a view of them before they marched, did not like their countenances, nor think them a fit con- voy for the ammunition and provisions sent for supply of the town ; but the justices would not revoke or alter their order.
*37 They began their march on Nov. 27, the same day on
e See his letters of Nov. 23 and 25. f See Collection of Letters, Nos. XL. and XLI.
VOL. II. H
98 The rebels advance to