66 was effentially advantageous to the British empire." "But," fays his lordship, admitting the principle of this declaration in its fullest extent, it is impoffible to defend the acts of fettlement and explanation, by which it 66 was carried into effect."* · "The act of fettlement profeffes to have for its object, the execution of "his majesty's gracious declaration for the fettlement of his kingdom of "Ireland, and the fatisfaction of the feveral interefts of adventurers, foldiers, "and other his fubjects there: and after reciting the rebellion, the enor"mities committed in the progrefs of it, and the final reduction of the "rebels, by the king's English and Proteftant fubjects, by a general fweeping "claufe vefts in the king, his heirs and fucceffors, all eftates real and per"fonal, of every kind whatfoever in the kingdom of Ireland, which at any time from the 21ft of October, 1641, were feized or fequeftered into the hands, or to the ufe of Charles I. or the then king, or otherwise difpofed of, fet out or fet apart, by reafon or on account of the rebellion, "or which were allotted, affigned, or diftributed, to any perfon or perfons "for adventures, arrears, reprifals, or otherwife, or whereof any foldier, "adventurer, or other perfon was in poffeffion, for or on account of the "rebellion. And having thus, in the first instance, vefted three fourths "of the lands and perfonal property of the inhabitants of this island in "the king, commiffioners are appointed with full and exclusive authority, to hear and determine all claims upon the general fund, whether of officers "and foldiers for arrears of pay, of adventurers who had advanced money for carrying on the war, or of innocent Papifts, as they are called, in "other words, of the old inhabitants of the island, who had been difpoffeffed by Cromwell, not for having taking a part in the rebellion against the English crown, but for their attachment to the fortunes of Charles II.: "but with refpect to this clafs of fufferers, who might naturally have ex"pected a preference of claim, a claufe is introduced, by which they are poftponed after a decree of innocence by the commiffioners, until previous reprifal fhall be made to Cromwell's foldiers and adventurers, who had "obtained poffeffion of their inheritance. I will not detain the house "with a minute detail of the provisions of this act: but I with gentlemen, who "call themselves the dignified and independent Irish nation, to know, that 66 66 * Speech of Lord Clare. "feven millions eight hundred thousand acres of land were fet out, under "the authority of this act, to a mottley crew of English adventurers, civil "and military, nearly to the total exclufion of the old inhabitants of the "ifland. Many of the latter clafs, who were innocent of the rebellion, lost "their inheritance, as well from the difficulties impofed upon them by the "court of claims, in the proofs required of their innocence, as from a deficiency in the fund for reprifal to English adventurers, arifing principally from a profufe grant made by the crown to the Duke of York. "The parliament of Ireland, having made this fettlement of the island in "effect on themselves, granted an hereditary revenue to the crown, as an indemnity for the forfeitures thus relinquished by Charles II." 66 66 Certain it is, that strong prepoffeffions are entertained by many to this day, in favour of Ormond and his conduct both to the king and his countrymen. Hiftorical juftice can judge only from facts either fatisfactorily proved, or admitted on all hands. We have traced his conduct up to the present period. When the fympathy and juftice of his royal mafter balanced between the claims of the English Proteftants, and the Irish Catholics, Ormond's efforts to bias the king in favour of the former, could not fail to be fuccefsful with a Stuart, because the latter had been ever faithful to his interests, and the former had been the avowed enemies of himself and family. So far was Ormond from having fuffered by these rebellions, infurrections, or civil wars in Ireland, that we read in a letter from the Earl of Anglesey* to the Earl of Castlehaven, published in the latter's memoirs during Ormond's own life (A. D.1681); "that his grace (he was then raised to the dignity "of a duke)† and his family, by the forfeiture and punishment of the Irish, were * This authority is the stronger by how much the intimacy and friendship of Lord Anglesey were the greater for Ormond; and we are informed by Leland, after Carte, that when the Duke of Buckingham was endeavouring to fupplant Ormond in the king's favour, and made overtures to the Earl of Anglesey for that purpose, the earl rejected these overtures with indignation, and gave Ormond notice of the defigns formed against him. 3 Lel. p. 453. It will however, be candid to apprize the reader of what Ormond himself had to offer in justification of his own conduct, which he has done in the letter he wrote to his majesty, with his reason for quitting the government of Ireland, for which fee the App. No. XL. † An anonymous writer in 1674, in a pamphlet called the Unkind Deserter, afferted, that "Ormond's eftate before the war cleared but 7000l. per annum, it was fo heavily charged with "annuities and leafes, but that it was worth 40,000l. per annum, and that it was at that time " (1674) "were the greatest gainers of the kingdom, and had added to their inhe"ritance vaft fcopes of land, and a revenue three times greater than what his 66 paternal estate was before the rebellion, and that most of his encrease "was out of their eftates, who adhered to the peaces of 1616, and 1648, " or ferved under his majesty's enfigns abroad."* During the remainder of Charles's reign, many malicious attempts were made to ftigmatize the Irish with fresh rebellions: which always ferved as pretexts for enforcing the execution of the penal laws against the Catholics.† Ormond was worked out of favour by the intrigues of the Duke of Buckingham, and the Earl of (1674) close upon 80,000l. per annum. Now the first part of his new great revenues, is the "king's grant of all those lands of his own eftates which were leafed or mortgaged: the reft were "grants of other men's eftates and other gifts of his majesty. His gifts and grants are thought to "amount to 630,000l." p. 161-2. All these gifts were confirmed by parliament. The printer of this pamphlet was imprisoned at the fuit of Ormond, but no answer to it was ever attempted. * From whence his lordship juftly concluded, "that his grace could not have been very fincere "in making either of these peaces with the Irish: but that whatever moved him thereto, whether "compaffion, natural affection, or any thing elfe, he was in judgment and confcience against “them: and so has he fince appeared and hath advantage by their laying afide." Caft. Mem. ubi fupra. † Ormond, who probably was confcious of the king's difpofition and fecret wishes to favour the Catholics, did all he could to raise divifions amongst them, by dividing the clergy upon a punctilious form of oath, by which it was then in contemplation to allow the Catholics to express their allegiance to their fovereign. The declaration of the great body of the clergy, which Ormond rejected, may be seen in the App. No. XLI. Not contented with the indignant rejection of the clergy's remonftrance, he ordered them to disperse, and foon after banished them out of the nation: and fo rigorously was this effected, that when Ormond quitted the government, there were only three Catholic bithops remaining in the kingdom; two of them were bedridden, and the third kept himself concealed. If the public conduct of great men may be fometimes traced to their private feelings and paffions, it may here be proper to inform the reader, that Walsh (the historian) who was an apoftate Franciscan friar, then under the interdi&t or excommunication of his own bishop, was the particular favourite, creature, and penfioner of Ormond: that Walsh was the most violent oppofer of Talbot, the titular archbishop of Dublin, and the reft of the petitioning and remonftrant clergy: that Talbot was the brother of Colonel Richard Talbot, (afterwards Earl of Tyrconnel) who had been sent to the tower in London, for having challenged Ormond for duplicity of conduct in relation to the Irish Catholics, an agent for whom the colonel was; Ormond in complaining to the king, afked his majefty, if it were his pleasure that at this time of day he should put off his doublet to fight duels with Dick Talbot. This conduct of Ormond towards Talbot, did not much raise the duke in the estimation or affection of his countrymen. And the king, who by dying in the Catholic communion, has proved to pofterity, that he was long before favourably disposed towards his Catholic fubjects, could not much relish this severity of Ormond towards them. Orrery: Orrery: he was first fucceeded by Lord Robarts, and then the Earl of Effex:* and was at last taken again into the favour of his fovereign, and restored to the government of Ireland, which he retained till the demife of Charles II.; though this king a very fhort time before his death, had intimated to the Duke of Ormond, his intention of fending over the Earl of Rochefter to affume the government in his ftead: his grace's removal was one of the first acts of his fucceffor, James II. * Whilst this nobleman was lord lieutenant in 1674, he thus expreffed himself upon the subject of Ormond's gains by the rebellions: "My Lord Duke of Ormond has received above 300,0001. " in this kingdom, besides all his great places and emoluments, and I am sure the loffes of his pri"vate eftates, have not been equal to those I have fuffered (in the preceding civil war,) and yet he "is fo happy as no exception is taken to it: (St. Let. p.213.) CHAP. CHAPTER VI. THE REIGN OF JAMES THE SECOND. THE fhort reign of this unfortunate monarch was pregnant with events of the deepest importance to the Irish nation. That the joy and exultation of the Irish Catholics at the acceffion of a Catholic prince to the throne should be exceffive and even intemperate was to be expected. The turn of the scale of politics in this kingdom was rapid and complete. However differently the few years of James the second's reign are represented by our own and the Irish hiftorians, great allowances must be made for the violence of those party prepoffeffions, under which they have both written.* I shall advert folely to * The great book of authority which our authors look up to, and of which the Irish loudly complain, is, The State of the Protestants of Ireland under the late king James's government, in which their carriage towards him is juftified, and the abfolute neceffity of their endeavouring to be freed from his government, and of fubmitting to their prefent majefties is demonftrated. It was written, as by the title fufficiently appears immediately after the revolution, to make court to King William, and is attributed to Doctor King, who was made Bishop of Derry in 1690, and tranflated to the fee of Dublin in 1702. Doctor Lesley, the famous Protestant divine, wrote an answer to this book, in which he proves moft of Doctor King's charges to be either abfolutely falfe or grofsly exaggerated. Leflie's answer was never replied to, and by the turn of politics it was fuppreffed even in the first edition, whereas Dr. King's has gone through several editions. It is curious to attend to what Swift has faid of Dr. Lefley, who was a firm non-juror. Swift was as little difpofed to favor Popery or Papists, as Puritans or Republicans. (Swift's Preface to Burnet's Introduction to his Hiftory of the Reformation). "Without doubt Mr. Lesley is unhappily mifled in his politics: but he has "given the world fuch a proof of his foundnefs in religion, as many a bishop ought to be proud of. "I never faw the gentleman in my life: I know he is the son of a great prelate, who upon several "accounts, was one of the most extraordinary men of his age. I verily believe he acted from a "miftaken confcience (in refufing to fwear allegiance to King William) and therefore I diftin"guish between the principles and the perfon. However it is fome mortification to me, when I "fee an avowed non-juror contribute more to the confounding of Popery, than could ever be done by an hundred thousand fuch introductions." It should also be added, that Dr. King had been before the revolution in favor with James, and had expreffed fentiments of the ftaunchest toryifm: but on being detected in a correspondence with the Prince of Orange and the northern rebels, was committed to prison: from whence he was discharged upon Lord Chief Juftice Herbert's undertaking to answer for his loyalty to King James: at which his lordship was afterwards much vexed. uncontroverted Ꮓ |