CHA P. VI. Puritan bishops in Ireland. DURING Sir Arthur Chichester's government, feveral of the established clergy were puritanically affected, if not puritans profeffed. Of this number was the famous doctor, afterwards primate, Ufher; for when in the year 1605, he was Provost of the College of Dublin, "the whole doctrine of Calvin' was, by his management, received as the public belief of the Irish church, and ratified by Chichester in the king's name. It was, in fhort, he that drew up thofe Calvinistical articles then agreed to in convocation; which were afterwards condemned and abolished by Lord Deputy Wentworth, containing arrant Brownism, and confirming not only the Lambeth-articles, fuppreffed by queen Elizabeth, and afterwards rejected by king James, but also feveral particular fancies and notions of his own." "After the repeal of the Irish act against the bringing in of the Scots, retaining them, and marrying with them, the Scottish prefbyters came over to Ireland in great numbers. Thefe the Irifh bifhops condefcended to ordain, not as perfoming the function of bifhops, for they would not receive ordination from them as fuch, but as mere presbyters, affifting with fome of their own ministers, in order to qualify them to enjoy benefices in the church. And these bifhops were fo exceedingly complaifant, on fuch occafions, that they left out all thofe expreffions in the established form of ordination which thefe minifters excepted against; inferting Carte's Ormond. ferting and ufing fuch others as they confented to and approved of. After this method Mr. Blair was publicly ordained by Dr. Ecclin, bishop of Down, in the church of Bangor; and all thofe of the prefbyterian perfuafion, who were ordained in Ireland between the years 1622 and 1642, were ordained after the fame method; and all of them fo ordained enjoyed the churches and tythes, though they remained prefbyterians ftill, and ufed not the liturgy. And there was, adds my author, a civil comprehenfion between them, and a fort of an ecclefiaftical comprehenfion too; for they frequently met, and confulted with the bifhops about the affairs of common concernment to the intereft of religion; and fome of them were members of the convocation in 1634." The fame author informs us," that these prefbyters employed themselves in their minifterial work, to the approbation of all the moderate and fober epifcopalians, and particularly of the great primate Ufher, from whom they had great applaufe.", Warm contests in the Irish house of commons. IN the year 1613, a parliament was called, wherein a the a The only parliament that was held in Ireland fince the year 1586. Ware's Annals. "About the 18th of May 1613, the lord deputy, with all the peers of the realm, and the clergy, both bifhops and archbifhops, attired in fcarlet robes very fumptuoufly, with found of trumpets; the Lord David Barry, Viscount Buttevant, bearing the fword of ftate, and the Earl of Thomond bearing the cap of maintenance; and after all thefe, the lord deputy (now Baron of Belfast) followed, riding upon a moft ftately horse, very richly trapped, himself attired in a very rich and ftately robe of purple-velvet, which the king's majefty had fent him, having his train borne up by eight gentlemen of worth. They rode from the caftle of Dublin to the cathedral church of St. Patrick, to hear divine fervice, and a fermon preached by the reverend father in God, Chriftopher Hamptom, archbishop of Armagh, and the attainder and outlawry of the noblemen and gentlemen of Ulfter, for the before-mentioned pretended confpiracy, together with feveral other acts, injurious to the religion and property of the natives, were intended to be paffed. "The Irifh," fays Mr. Carte,' "on this occafion, were apprehenfive that fome further penal laws, particularly against harbouring Jefuits and feminary priests, and for obliging not only magiftrates in corporations, but alfo profeffors of the law and others, to take the oath of fupremacy, would be enacted." And that apprehenfion was but too well founded. Knox, a Scotch puritan, and bishop of Raphoe, had informed the deputy, that the only fure Life of Ormond, vol. i. means and primate of all Ireland. But as many of the nobility of Ireland (adds my author) as were recufants, went not into the church, neither heard divine fervice or fermon, notwithftanding that they were lords of the parliament-houfe; but they ftayed without during the time of fervice and fermon. Now when fervice was done, the lord deputy returned back to the castle, these recufant lords joining themselves again with the rest of the estate, and rode to the caftle in manner as they came from thence (where the parliament was held) this was the firft day of its meeting." Defider. Curiof. Hibern. vol. i. p. 166-7. b While this act of attainder was under debate in this feffion, we are told in the Journals, that " doubts arose in some scrupulous confciences, that Tirone was oppreffed, that he complained and was not redressed, and therefore requifite to fly out." To which the anfwer was, "that for religion or juftice, no man ought to rife againft the prince; and that the law of repelling force by force took place only where there was a parity, not otherwife." Comm. Journ. vol. i. fol. 16. Does not this answer imply a confeffion of the wrongs which Tirone complained of? There was actually a bill of that kind fent over by the deputy, concerning which the king tells him and the council, in returning the other bills, "We think it a fit time to dispatch from hence, Sir John Davis, our attorney general of that kingdom, with thofe bills which were first tranfmitted thither, under the great feal of England, and were lately fent for hither again, by our fpecial direction, to the end that the bill against the Jefuits, &c. might be taken away from the reft, to be further confidered by us; which we ourselves have done with our hands." Defid. Curiof. Hib. vol. i. p. 325. means of extirpating popery out of Ireland, was by the death or banishment of the perfons, and the confifcation of the properties of papists. And although neither of thefe expedients was fully adopted by his excellency, yet, from that malignant infinuation, he certainly meditated fome new and fevere parliamentary restrictions upon them at that juncture. For this purpose, several new boroughs were haftily created in Munfter and Connaught; fome, and those not a few, even after the writs had been iffued; and from the ancient boroughs and towns, many undue returns of aliens, and other unqualified perfons, were openly procured. d Under "The deputy," fays Dr. Leland, "continued to increase the new boroughs to the number of forty; of which feveral were not incorporated, until the writs for fummoning a parlia ment had already issued. This awakened the fears of the numerous party of recufants; fome additional feverities against those who refused to abandon the Romith communion, fome additional penal statutes, or at least the revival of those already made, were naturally dreaded." Hift. of Ireland, vol. ii. p. 445. The fame author had before informed us, "That these new boroughs being most of them inconfiderable, and many too poor to afford wages to their reprefentatives, must have been entirely influenced by government, and returned its creatures and immediate dependents; and that they were represented by attornies clerks, and the fervants of the lord deputy." Ib. P. 443. The new boroughs were forty. Sir John Davis's Speech, Defid. Cur. p. 190. e The Roman catholics complained, on this occafion, that they were put in fear of their lives, by a great number of foldiers, drawn from the diftant garrifons into the castle of Dublin, where the parliament was then held. On the other hand, the deputy pretended, that he drew these foldiers to Dublin on "his foreseeing that there would be an extraordinary number and concourfe of people to the city in the parliament-time, and that if any great difturbance or broil happened, he might want men to reprefs the fame." Def. Cur. Hib. v. i. p. 356-7. The commiffioners fent by the king, to enquire into the foundation of these and other complaints of the Irish, though they discover prejudice enough against the catholics, reported to his majefty," that upon their having examined fome of the recufant members, they Under thefe circumftances, when, on the first day of the feffion, Sir John Davis was propofed for speaker, Sir James Geogh faid, "That he obferved many persons in the house,' who had no right to fit there as members; and therefore moved, that their votes might be for a time fufpended, until a fpeaker was chofen; after 2 Reeves in Analect. part ii. p. 14. they did affirm upon their oaths, that the diforders in the house of parliament on the first day of its meeting, caused them to apprehend a fear of fome danger to their perfons, feeing so many fwords-men in the house, and themselves, for the most part, in gowns, without weapons." Ib. p. 356. "That the deputy caufed one hundred foldiers to be drawn out of four feveral garrifons, on the pretence before mentioned." Ib. p. 357. But that having examined the lords and others, concerning that matter, they did not understand that any of the lords, knights, citizens, or burgeffes came to town with any extraordinary number of men or followers, only the Lord Vifcount Gormanfton came to the city with one hundred horse (as was confeffed) whereof there were not twenty of his own retinue; the rest were his friends and kinsmen, that went out of Dublin to meet him, the rather because his lady came in his company; but it is confeffed, there were great numbers of people in the town at that time, who, as they faid, came from all parts to behold that affembly." Ib. p. 38. And 'tis no wonder their curiofity was fo great on that occafion, for there had not been any parliament held in Ireland before that, fince the year 1586. Ware's Annals. f The lords of the pale, in their humble remonftrance to his majefty on this occafion, obferve, among other things, "That the managing elections for that parliament, had generally bred fo grievous an apprehenfion, as is not in their power to express, arifing from a fearful fufpicion, that the project of erecting fo many corporations in places that fcarcely pafs the rank of the poor villages of the poorest country in Chriftendom, do tend to nought elfe, but that by the voices of a few, felected for that purpose under the name of burgeffes, extreme penal laws fhould be imposed on his majesty's fubjects. That his majesty's fubjects of Ireland, in general, did very much distaste and exclaim against the depofing of fo many magiftrates in the cities and boroughs of that kingdom, for not fwearing the oath of fupremacy, in fpiritual and ecclefiaftical caufes, they protesting a firm profeffion of loyalty, and of all kingly jurisdiction in his highnefs." Defid. Curiof. Hiber. vol. i. p. 160. |