who had entered into the Roman catholic confederacy before the peace of 1646. Whoever had at any time adhered to the nuncio's or clergy's party, or papal power, in opposition to the king's authority, or, having been excommunicated for adhering to his majesty's authority, had afterwards owned his offence in so doing, and been thereupon relaxed from his excommunication; whoever derived the title to his estate from any that died guilty of the aforesaid crimes, or pleaded the articles of the peace for his estate, or living in the English quarters held a correspondence with the rebels; whoever before the peace in 1646, or that in 1648, sat in any of the confederate Roman catholic assemblies or councils, or acted upon any commissions or powers derived from them; whoever employed agents to treat with any foreign papal power for bringing into Ireland foreign forces, or acted in such negotiations, or had harassed the country as tories before the marquis of Clanrickard left the government; whoever came under any of these denominations, was not to be deemed an innocent papist. One of these qualifications was certainly very rigorous, and the rigour of the law in many cases can hardly be distinguished from injustice. Abundance of Roman catholics, well affected 221 to the king, and very averse to the rebellion of their countrymen, lived quietly in their own houses, within the quarters of the rebels, who, out of reverence to their virtues, or favour to their religion, allowed them to do so, though they never took arms or engaged in any hostile act in opposition to his majesty. Such of them as had offered to take shelter in Dublin were by the lords justices banished thence on pain of death by public proclamation, and ordered to retire thence to their own houses in the country, where they could not help falling into the power of the rebels; and if these suffered them to live there in quiet, an equitable man, who considers the circumstances of those times, and the condition of all

36

countries that are in a state of war, will hardly see any such iniquity in the receiving of that mercy, or in the unavoidable necessity they were under of living in their own houses, as should bring upon those persons a forfeiture of their estates.

The commissioners for executing the declaration sat at Dublin, and published proclamations, requiring all adventurers, &c., within forty days, to bring in the particulars of their estates, and all persons to enter their claims before the first of May. But very little was done in these respects, for want of a law to warrant the proceedings of the commissioners; the judges having declared their opinion, that the declaration, being only an act of state, was no warrantable rule to walk by in the disposing of men's estates, very few or none of the Irish entered their claims; which was owing to the little advantage they could receive thereby, since no person could be outed of his possession till a reprisal was assigned him, and there was scarce any prospect of land for such reprises. This, with an expectation of some more favourable instructions from his majesty, restrained them from making any application to the commissioners. The lords justices, to avoid the odium which the delay of restoring the Irish for want of a law to authorize the declaration was likely to bring upon them, ventured to order the restoring of the earls of Clanrickard, Westmeath, Fingal, and Clancarty, the lords Dillon, Taaffe, and Gallmoy, colonel Richard Butler, and colonel Fitz-Patrick. But by this time the stock of reprisable lands was in a manner exhausted; and they left the rest of the nominees and others to be provided for by the parliament, which was summoned to meet on May 8.

37

The adventurers and soldiers being kept in possession of their lands and tenements, most of the members elected for the lower house were of their party. They so much outnumbered the old protestant proprietors in

the kingdom, that they had a great advantage of them
in the elections; there was not one Roman catholic and
but few fanatics returned. The chancellor, sir M. Eustace,
being one of the lords justices before whom the par-
liament was to be held, could not sit in the house of
lords, so that a speaker was wanting to that house. The
chancellor proposed sir James Barry lord Santry; but
the earls of Orrery and Mountrath, having some excep-
tions to him, prevailed with the lord primate Bramhall
to accept a charge, which might afford him opportunities
of doing service to the church of Ireland. The parlia-
ment met on the day appointed in the usual manner,
riding on horseback in great solemnity to St. Patrick's
church to hear a sermon from the bishop of Down, and
from thence to Chichester-house, the place of their sit-
ting. There were warm debates in the house of com-
mons about the choice of a speaker, which post sir Aud-
ley Mervyn was so desirous of, that, hearing the king
had recommended sir W. Domville, his attorney general,
for that post, he wrote into England, representing his
own merits in having been thrice imprisoned for his af-
fections to the crown; pretending, that when he was,
during sir James Barry's illness, called by the late con-
vention to the chair, they had promised, whenever they
sat in a parliament, to choose him speaker; and desiring 222
for these reasons that his majesty would not interpose in
the case, but leave the commons to their free choice.
The king granted his request, and the primate, when he
directed that house to elect a speaker, telling them that
the king did not insist on his recommendation, Mervyn
was chose. Sir W. Domville was suspected of favouring
the Irish, as the other was of being inclined to the pres-
byterians. Mervyn was zealously supported by all the
interest of the adventurers; but as the soldiers did not
so well like him, it was thought Domville would have
carried it, had not the king's receding from his recom-

38

mendation been deemed a determination in favour of his rival.

The first thing that the lords did was, at the motion of the lord Montgomery, (soon after made earl of MountAlexander,) to order a declaration to be drawn up, requiring all persons to conform to the church-government by episcopacy, and to the liturgy, as established by law. They went upon this matter so early, lest it should be opposed by the presbyterians and other sectaries, (of which there were too many among the commons,) if deferred till they were fully secured in their estates. The declaration so timed, being sent down to the lower house, was readily agreed to, and sent back to the lords without alteration. They concurred with the like readiness in censuring the Covenant, the Engagement, and the Oaths of Association, which they ordered to be burnt in all the market towns of the kingdom: the lords did not so readily join with the commons in their motion about the adjournment of the term, lest outlawries should be reversed, and the adventurers and soldiers be outed of their lands, to which they had no legal title, but only a title of possession, which, though allowed by his majesty, could not be taken notice of by the judges, who were bound to proceed according to law. The judges being consulted on the subject declared, that by keeping the courts of justice open, none of the inconveniences supposed could arise thence, for no adventurer could lose his possession by judgment in any of the courts that term, unless it were by consent of parties or by confession, and in that case they would take care that no prejudice should be done to either adventurer or soldier. This did not quiet the fears of the commons in a point where their interest was concerned; their estates lay at stake, and they resolved to guard against all possibility of danger. They saw the Irish were proceeding in a course of law, reversing their outlawries, taking out writs of

ejectment against the possessors of their estates, and suing for commissions to find offices post mortem, in order to prove their descent and title of inhreitance, and so to recover the possession of lands which had formerly belonged either to themselves or their ancestors. Dreading the worst, they resolved to address the lords justices on the subject, and did [it] with the better success, because the lords at last joined with them, after a long debate, in which all the temporal lords (except such as were particularly interested in new acquisitions) opposed the motion, but were overpowered by the votes of the bishops' bench. The reason of their opposition was founded, not only upon such adjournments being a deviation from the course of law, but upon its being (as was evidently proved in the house) of vast prejudice to the old protestants, the most considerable body of people in the nation, and who had suffered most in his majesty's service. Thus both houses desiring that the courts of law might be shut till Michaelmas term, that a stop might be put to the issuing of commissions for a certain time, and that what commissions had been already issued might be superseded and taken off the file, the justices gratified them in both particulars; but did not so readily give in to the proceedings of the commons upon some other occasions. 39 The adventurers and soldiers, who called themselves the English interest, were solicitous about nothing so much as the excluding of the Irish from sitting in par- 223 liament; well knowing, that if that assembly was formed to their mind, they should easily secure all their claims, when the declaration came to be passed into a law. The council of Ireland had been sworn on Jan. 1, and being composed almost entirely of persons in their interest, when bills were to be transmitted by them into England, in order to the calling and opening of a parliament, one was sent, among the rest, for imposing an oath, which would have disqualified all the Roman catholics. It was