of this was, that they had granted out all the lands appointed for reprisals to their own friends, under the notion of cautionary reprisals, or reprisals de bene esse. No practice could be more unwarrantable and irregular; for there was not a word about cautionary reprisals in the declaration; and yet under this palpable fraud, manifestly designed to obstruct justice, the whole stock of reprisable lands became vested in half a dozen persons. Thus the earl of Mountrath and the lords Massarene and Kingston had got into their hands most of the lands in the counties of Dublin, Louth, and Kildare, and the barony of Barrimore. Hence the lords justices, to stop the clamours of the earl of Fingall and others, who were not restored according to their orders, were forced to give them pensions out of the exchequer, which just enabled them to subsist. The house of lords thought it necessary to put a stop to such a scandalous abuse of power, and to direct their agents to beseech his majesty to revoke and annul all such cautionary and previous reprisals, that his declaration might be more duly and better executed; which was accordingly done in the October following. 52 In an house, of which the bishops made so considerable a part, it is natural enough to imagine that it would be recommended to their agents to take a particular care of the interests of the church; but it was a generous part in that noble body to take the loyal, meriting, and suffering officers, who had served before 1649, (whose cause being the best, was the most neglected of any,) under their protection. Thus their agents were instructed to move his majesty, "that the whole security assigned in his declaration for the satisfaction of their arrears, might be preserved entirely for that use, so as no part thereof should be otherwise disposed of, or restored subsequent to the said declaration, till reprisals for the same were first legally assigned and set out for their security, as was 231 by the declaration provided for in the case of adven

turers and soldiers; that in order thereto, a third part of the forfeited lands in the county of Dublin, and such part of the lands as would accrue to his majesty upon the doubling ordinance, or by the discovery of false admeasurements and concealments, as his majesty should judge fit, might be added to the said security by way only of reprisal, in case it should be lessened and infringed by the restoration of any person according to the declaration; and that no forfeited charters might be renewed or restored till the security of those officers was thoroughly settled."

53 The forfeited lands and houses in corporations were part of the security, and the king's intention therein was to put the great towns (the importance of which sufficiently appeared in the late troubles) into the hands of persons well affected to his service, and of whose loyalty he had received such signal testimonies; but this did not suit the views of the commons. That house consisted of two hundred and sixty members, of which number all but sixty-four were burgesses, and Cromwell having filled the corporations with a set of people of his own stamp, their representatives did not care the boroughs should now fall into honester hands. Such being the state of corporations throughout the kingdom, it is easy to account for the strength of that prevailing party in the house of commons which laboured to make good all the estates of adventurers and soldiers whatsoever, the forty-nine men only excepted; intending, when they were satisfied, to give the rest, if any thing were left, to such of the persons, whom the king had declared restorable, as they should like best. This was their view, in the sending of commissioners into England, and in their choice of the persons. Sir A. Mervyn, a confident, verbose, pompous pretender to oratory, was chosen on purpose to be a bold champion for the doubling ordinance; which some of the great ones embarked in that cause hoped his arguments

or vehemence would make good, notwithstanding the king's pleasure lately therein declared. Their expectations in this respect were the greater, because of the assistance he would receive from lord Massarene, and also from lord Kingston, who having at this time made purchases of lands set out upon that ordinance, did not question but he should be able to provide for their security. 54 They were much flattered in this hope by the encouragement they received out of England, whence letters daily came from great men, assuring them of being supported in their endeavours to fix, what they called, an English interest in the kingdom. They were not however so sure of this, but they thought it necessary to make a noise of the trifling informations before mentioned, which had been given to some members of the house of commons, about meetings of the Irish. Hence the house, to throw an odium upon that nation, and prejudice them in the opinion of the world, as well as of his majesty, before whom their all lay at stake, would needs infer a formed design of an insurrection. All the foundation for this insinuation was, that there had been of late meetings of the poor Irish at masses, in order to partake of a jubilee, which the pope had sent them; but the whole kingdom knew they were in no condition to rebel, nor was it likely they should attempt it at a time when they were suing for grace and favours from his majesty. Sir M. Eustace, the lord chancellor, a man of great virtue and integrity, who wished well to a true loyal English interest, and not to a pretended one of disaffected and unconformable upstarts, was persuaded of the injustice as well as the design of this charge against the Irish; and to discover what ground there was for it, directed the judges in their circuits to cause the matter to be inquired into by the grand juries of the several counties 232 through which they passed. The finding of those juries was alike in all places; there being a great calm every

where, no preparation for a rising, nor so much as a rumour of any new troubles. Nothing could be more frivolous and void of proof than the paper which the commons drew up on this subject, and presented to the lords justices, who yet thought fit to send it enclosed in their letters to Mr. secretary Nicholas; signifying at the same time their opinion, that it would be destructive to the English interest to admit the Irish to settle and trade in corporate towns, or to allow the Roman catholic lawyers to practise in their profession, both which had positively [been] allowed by his majesty's letters. A more extraordinary use was made of it in the house of lords, where it served to usher in a motion of lord Conway's, that all the Irish peers should be removed out of the house, and some course taken by the lords justices to exclude them from sitting. Never was such a motion made upon so slight grounds; yet it was seconded by the earl of Mountrath, though strongly opposed by the lord chancellor. But the house would not so tamely part with their privileges, and the motion was rejected with indignation. 55 The bill of settlement had been presented to the lords justices several weeks before they transmitted it into England, being all that time employed in adjusting clauses and provisos which they thought proper to insert therein. At last they resolved to send it over by some persons who they designed should continue about court, and act there as their commissioners. These were the bishop of Cork, the lord Kingston, and Mr. Pigot, master of the wards. This served for a pretence to the adventurers' party in the house of lords, upon occasion of a message from the commons to move on July 18 for an address to his majesty to be sent by the bishop and the lord his colleague; thinking it more for their purpose than the vote which had passed in the house about the declaration. If this had been agreed to, it would have been represented as needless to send any other commissioners. But the

house finding the drift of the motion, defeated the design, and resolved to send their addresses to his majesty by the agents already named. These were the most material passages about the settlement of Ireland, which passed in parliament till July 31, when it was prorogued to Sept. 6.

56 London was from this time the scene of disputes upon this affair; and thither agents were sent by the Irish to plead their cause; which they did under great disadvantages. The earls of Orrery and Mountrath took care to raise privately among the adventurers and soldiers between twenty and thirty thousand pounds to be disposed of properly, without any account by way of recompense to such as should be serviceable to the English interest. The Irish had no such sums to command, few friends about the court, and no means of procuring any. The English nation had heard nothing of the rebellion but what gave them horror, and possessed them with the worst opinion of the whole Irish nation. Those of the council before whom they were to plead their cause knew little of the conduct of particular persons who deserved favour, but were ready to involve every body in the general guilt of the massacre as well as the rebellion. The only person capable or inclined to assist them in their exigence was the duke of Ormond; it was his interest to save from ruin a nation for which he had so often exposed his person, and in which he had a plentiful fortune, a numerous kindred, and a large stock of friends and dependants, who were in danger of being rooted out to make way for a new colony of strangers, whose ways of acting had been different from his own, and whose future dependance was likely to be upon those who were retained to support their interest. He was a witness of every man's behaviour during the troubles; he best knew all the circumstances of their case, the early attempts 233 which the most considerable part of their nobility and