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open the doors in a violent manner. On these occasions the fury of his passion had made him vent seditious words 438 against the king, abuse Mrs. Cramer with scurrilous language, and beat her to such a degree that she was in danger of her life. He was from time to time continually committing some outrage or other, which exposed him to divers prosecutions. One of them was for killing of Laghlin Brenan, but the jury found it only manslaughter; the words against the king were found, but not treasonable, as was charged; and for his treatment of Mrs. Cramer being by the rule of court to find security for his good behaviour, nobody would be his surety. At last, as he was riding on the road, observing Mr. Balthasar Cramer son of Toby, and a justice of the peace, alone, and unarmed in the grounds, at some distance from the house of Ballifoyle, he fell upon him, wounded, threatened to murder him, and perhaps might have effected it, if he had not been prevented by the seasonable relief of some [of] the family. This happened in 1671, and Purcel was forced to fly the country.

He came to London at the time that Nolan's complaint was before the council, and, encouraged by that example, petitioned the king that he might be restored to his estate, alleging that he was restorable for his own merits as well as his father's and brother's, the latter of which had been killed in his service. The next day he petitioned the duke of Ormond, representing that the king had promised him relief, but he wanted money to carry on his suit, but if his grace would befriend him, and furnish him with so much as would manage his business, he would not only compound with him for Coolecullen-duffe, (that was the denomination of the land in the duke's possession,) but, having neither child nor brother or sister, he would settle the reversion of his whole estate upon his grace and heirs. Coming afterwards to Clarendon-house for an answer to this petition, and finding none, he would needs come into the house to speak with the duchess of

Ormond, and the porter denying him admittance, he fell foul upon him, but being drunk, had the worst of the combat. Upon this he went in a fury to court, and there behaved himself like a madman, declaring before all the world that he would kill the duke of Ormond, and telling the king himself as much in a new petition which he presented. This occasioned his immediate committal by lord Arlington's warrant to the Tower; which soon appeared to be an improper place for him; and being found, by several extravagancies which he there committed, to be really distracted, was removed to Bethlehem hospital, where he was visited by three of his grace's enemies then great at court. He was there so far recovered by Dr. Allen's care, that the governors petitioned for his removal, representing that they had some months' experience of his being restored to the use of his reason and senses. Not being able to find sureties for his good behaviour, he was committed to Newgate, and, by an order of council on Nov. 27, 1674, had a weekly allowance ordered for his subsistence. The duke of Ormond was at that time in Ireland, but returning in the next year to England, he soon after procured the man's enlargement, upon his promising to transport himself abroad; where his grace's bounty bought him a place among the gens d'armes of France, and with a small estate of thirty-six pounds a year that Purcel had still left, afforded him a competent and creditable maintenance.

141 The commissioners for reviewing the settlement of Ireland, were in the mean time carrying on their inquiries, to the great uneasiness of all the protestant interests in that kingdom. The English house of commons at last took notice of their proceedings, and by an address on March 26, 1673, petitioned his majesty, that for establishing and quieting the possessions of his subjects in Ireland, he would be pleased to maintain the acts of settlement and explanation, and to recall his commission of inquiry into Irish affairs, as containing many new

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and extraordinary powers, not only to the prejudice of 439 particular persons, whose estates and titles were thereby made liable to be questioned, but in a manner to the overthrow of the said acts, and also such as, if pursued, would shake the peace and security of the whole kingdom; and that colonel R. Talbot, who had notoriously assumed to himself the title of agent general of the Roman catholics of Ireland, might be immediately dismissed out of all command either civil or military, and forbid all access to court.

The king had, by his letters of Feb. 20, 1671-2, granted an indulgence to Irish Roman catholics to live in corporations; by others, of Nov. 5, 1672, he had suspended the execution of the rules and directions formerly made for regulating corporations; and on Jan. 14 following had approved of the election of nine or ten Roman catholics by the mayor of Dublin into the common council of that city, by the sole nomination of that magistrate. Peter Talbot had distinguished himself by his persecuting the remonstrating clergy, and to suppress them more effectually, had called in the assistance of the civil magistrate to supply the defects of his ecclesiastical power; lord Dungan and other Roman catholic laymen, who were in the commission of the peace, making use of their authority to imprison and prosecute the remonstrants. The commons, alarmed at these proceedings, and apprehensive that they might be followed by others still more mischievous, moved in the same address, that his majesty would give order that no papist be either continued or hereafter admitted to be judges, justices of the peace, sheriffs, coroners, mayors, sovereigns or port-reeves in that kingdom; that the titular popish archbishops, bishops, vicars-general, abbots, and all others exercising ecclesiastical jurisdiction by the pope's authority, and in particular Peter Talbot pretended archbishop of Dublin, for his notorious disloyalty and disobedience and contempt of the laws, be

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commanded by proclamation to depart forthwith out of Ireland, and all his majesty's dominions, or otherwise to be prosecuted according to law; that all convents, seminaries, and public popish schools be dissolved and suppressed, and the regular priests commanded to depart under the like penalty; that no Irish papist be admitted to inhabit in any corporation of that kingdom, unless duly licensed according to the acts of settlement, and that his majesty's letters and proclamation giving them a general license for that purpose, might be recalled; that all the Irish papists might be disarmed, and no papist be either continued or admitted to be a commander or soldier in that kingdom; and that his majesty would give such further directions as might best conduce to the encouragement of the English planters and protestant interest there, and the suppression of the insolencies and disorders of the Irish papists, by whose practices, and particularly of the said Richard and Peter Talbot, the peace and safety of that kingdom had been so much of late endangered.

This address produced a revocation of the letters and proclamation therein mentioned. The case of the lord mayor of Dublin's naming nine or ten papists to be of the common council was reexamined, and the nomination being found irregular, the twenty-one protestants afterwards chosen were confirmed. The king declared that he was resolved to preserve the settlement of Ireland, and not to disturb any thing that was confirmed by the acts of settlement and explanation. The commission of review was examined by all the members of the council, and the clause in it concerning the perusal of writings, evidences, (without exception of private evidences,) was deemed likely to occasion great jealousy. The words in the declarative clause in the commission, that the declaration is the most positive and fundamental rule for the establishment of that kingdom, might be understood to weaken the acts of settlement, and had therefore better been

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omitted. The powers given the commissioners in the 440 clause concerning the sign manual; that of issuing proclamations upon their desire, and those intended for the sub-commissioners to administer oaths, without authority under the great seal, were judged to be new and extraordinary. A report being made on July 2 to this effect, the commission of review was thereupon superseded. Thus ended this attempt to overthrow the acts of settlement; and with it all the hopes the Irish had of redress. The case of the nominees and some other particular persons, was undoubtedly very hard; and every body in the council of England was so disposed at this time to give them relief, that they might easily have obtained it; but by attempting more than could reasonably be desired, they lost all that might otherwise have been carried in their favour. The king indeed when he superseded the abovementioned commission, appointed a committee of council for the affairs of Ireland to consider how the ends of it might most properly be attained; but all that it produced was an addition of two thousand pounds a year to the concordatum money, to be distributed in pensions to the earl of Westmeath, and others of the nominees.

The duke of Ormond, in his opposition to this attack on the settlement of Ireland, acted purely out of regard to the general good of the kingdom, which, in case the acts had been repealed, would have been thrown back into all the confusions out of which they had been so lately delivered; the consequences whereof would have been the more fatal, because the repeal of what had been so long and maturely considered, settled at last with the consent of all parties, and enacted with so much solemnity, would have left every body in utter despair of ever seeing any final settlement. He was otherwise favourably inclined to the Irish, and desirous to ease them of their grievances; as appeared not long after in the case of the lapsed money. The act 17 Car. provided, that the money