whole courfe of his imprisonment; and only wished that his life had been taken from him in a more honourable manner. To this Colonel Hewfon anfwered, that he might fave his life if he pleased, only by declaring at that present to the people, that his first taking arms was by virtue of a commiffion under the broad feal of King Charles the firft: but Sir Phelim replied, that he would not fave his life by fo bafe a lye, by doing fo great an injury to that prince. 'Tis true, he faid, that he might the better perfuade the people to come unto him, he took off an old feal from an old deed, and clapt it to a commiffion that he had forged, and fo perfuaded the people that what he did was by the king's authority, but he never really had any commiffion from the king. This, adds Mr. Carte, the bishop told me, he heard him fay." " 7 Sir Phelim O'Nial is never mentioned in any history of this infurrection, but as a monster of cruelty, perfidy, fidy, and rebellion. I mean not to reprefent him as quite innocent in any of these refpects; but I am inclined to think, that thefe charges have been greatly aggravated in his particular; (for, fays Mr. Carte, "he had not the character of being an ill-natured man ;"") as we find, they have certainly been, with regard to his affociates in this war. At his trial he fervently declared," that divers outrages committed by his officers and foldiers, though contrary to his intention, preffed his confcience very much," h And indeed, his F 2 7 Macpherson's Hift. Great Britain, vol. iil. p. 280. 9 Ib. Carte: whole "He declared, that his confcience was already oppreffed by the outrages of his followers, and that he could not add to the feverity of his prefent feelings by an unjuft calumny of the king. Even at his execution, he was again tempted, and returned the answer above-mentioned aloud." Lel. Hift. of Irel. vol. iii. p. 395. "He is generally accufed of having given orders for the killing Lord Caulfield, on feizing his caftle of Charlemount; but he was on the contrary, fo highly provoked at that villainy, committed by fome of his brutal followers, that in February, 1642, whole conduct on this melancholy occafion, feems to afcertain the fincerity of that declaration. In this charitable light, I am apt to confider that unfortunate gentleman, with refpect to his past life; but when I compare his behaviour in this laft fcene of it, with that of his judges, I am at a lofs to determine, which fhould be deemed greateft, the heroifm of the former, or the villainy of the latter." CHAP. having discovered fix of the murderers, he ordered them to be firft hanged, and afterwards beheaded." MSS. Irish Jour. written by his chaplain. He appears to have been apprehended by Lord Charlemont's fucceffor, who applied to the house of commons, in 1662, for a reward for taking him, " confideration being had of the great fufferings of the Lord Caulfield and his family, and of the great service by him performed in apprehending Sir Phelim O'Ñial, and bringing him to justice, as alfo regard being had to a reward promised by the lords juftices in the time of his late majesty, to fuch perfons as fhould bring the head of the faid Sir Phelim.” (1000l.) Borl. f. 84. "Refolved, it fhould be reported to the houfe as their opinion, that the faid Lord Caulfield, who brought the faid Sir Phelim to juftice, fhall be confidered for that his fervice, out of the ufes intended to be fatisfied out of the money intended to be raised by bill." Com. Jour. vol. ii. f. 22. Notwithstanding the confeffed truth of the above relation of the trial and execution of Sir Phelim O'Nial, a late learned historian cenfures Mr. Carte, as rather uncharitable for faying, "that they would have pardoned and rewarded him, if he had been profligate enough to have falfely accused the late king." And he even afferts on this occafion, that Sir Phelim " was not tempted to accufe the king: and that his pardon was not promifed on any fuch condition, but that he was to purchase it by producing a material and authentic proof of his guilt." Lel. Hift. of Irel. vol. ii. p. 395. Now I cannot comprehend, what, or whofe guilt is here to be understood. Sir Phelim O'Nial had already confeffed himself guilty of the infurrection, but still denied that the king had given him a commiffion for commencing it. It is not to be fuppofed that they would have pardoned and rewarded him, for producing material and authentic proof of that guilt, which he had already confeffed; it therefore remains, that they wanted him to confefs, and produce proof of the king's guilt in granting him the commiffion in question, which he could not do, because CHA P. IV. Henry Cromwell's administration in Ireland. HAD Henry Cromwell, fecond fon to Oliver Crom a well, been placed earlier in the government of Ireland; or when he was fo placed, had he been fuffered to follow the bent of his own humane difpofition, the Irifh of that period would have had much fewer and lefs grievous caufes of complaint than were then given them; for to his favourable representation and influence it was entirely owing, that the protector's council did not add new grievances, and oppreffions, to those they already fuffered. His letters in Thurloe's collection thew his abilities and skill in governing.' As chancellor * Bate's Elenchus Motuum Nuperor. in Anglia, part ii. p. 57. because no fuch commiffion had been granted. And it is fuffi ciently evident, from all the circumstances of his trial and execut tion, that had he been profligate enough to yield to their importunity, by producing any proof, however immaterial and unauthentic, or even by fimply avowing that calumny in any public manner, it would have gone very far towards contenting them. Dean Ker, who was prefent, teftifies exprefsly, "that on the fecond day of his trial, fome of the judges told him, that if he could produce any material proof, that he had fuch a commiffion from Charles Stewart (for fo they called his late majefty,) to declare and prove it, before sentence of death was paffed against him, and that the said Sir Phelim should be restored to his eftate and liberty." See Nalf. Collect. Cart. Orm. "Doctor William Sheridan, formerly bishop of Kildare," fays Mr. Carte," and the late Mr. Locke, a very worthy man, and member of parliament, were prefent at the fame time; and have, to many gentlemen now living, confirmed the truth of Dean Ker's relation." Life of Orm. vol. ii. "The affeffments which the Irish paid were above a fourth as much as those of all England and Wales; which, he told his father, in one of his letters, was ten times more than in due proportion they ought to be; and that they paid incomparably more other charges, owing to the devaftations in the civil war, than any other of the three nations." Warn. Irish Rebel. p. 567. lor of Trinity College, he took that feminary into his particular care and patronage, inftituting anew all the literary exercifes, together with the long neglected degrees in arts, and the feveral profefforships; and prefented the college with Primate Ufher's noble library, which he had purchafed with his own money. He was eafy of access, and affable to all; often entertaining at his table, even fequeftered perfons, and remitting to them one half of thofe large fums with which they were taxed for their loyalty. Far · from being maddened with the enthusiasm of the times, he restored religion to fome fort of decency; gave back fome churches, which were occupied by the Anabaptifts, to the former incumbents; and even had a newborn child of his own publicly baptized in the cathedral of Dublin, a ceremony not feen there of a long time before." Had he been endowed with fortitude equal to his justice and benevolence, his government would have been fignalized by an act, that would have made fome atonement for his father's ufurpation, and parricide. He once promised to declare for the king; the city of Dublin had undertaken to ftand by him, and the Lord of Ards engaged to draw twenty thoufand men together in the North, in fupport of that defign; but, upon the receipt of letters from England, the very next day after he had made the promife, his fpirits failed him. The king's friends in Dublin juftly complained on that occafion," that no commiffions had been fent them, nor any perfons appointed to command them in füch an attempt. If thefe precautions had been used, they could have eafily, at that juncture, feized upon the caftle."' Of his integrity and difinterestedness, he gave many fignal proofs, during his administration; but none fo fignal, or indeed fo unprecedented, as that which appeared at the conclufion of it. "For upon his recali from Ireland, although he had held the government 4 of 2. Sir Ed. Hyde's Lett. to the Marquis of Orm. Cart. Coll. vol. + Warn. Irish Rebel. ii. p. 242. 3 Id. ib. of that kingdom four years, he was not mafter of money enough, after all, to carry him back to England; and was, therefore, under the neceffity to crave fome from thence for that purpose." 5 What pity it was, that fuch a man as this, fhould be placed at the head of a nation, without any other power but merely that of executing defigns planned for its deftruction in another kingdom! To enforce ordinances, by which thofe who dared to profefs the religion of their confciences, or had not manifefted their conftant good affections to the ufurpation; and also the constant good affections of thofe ancestors from whom any eftates defcended to them, and had not already proved the fame, and obtained judgment thereof, were adjudged rebels convict, attainted of high treason, and to have forfeited all their honours, eftates and preferments. With what regret muft fuch a chief governor have beheld thofe numerous rapines, and murders, that 5 Hughes's Abridgment, p. 33. were In those days, the name of Irifhman and rebel was thought to fignify the fame thing. For whenever the Cromwellians met any of the poor country people abroad, or discovered them lurking from their fury in dens and caverns, they killed them on the fpot, if fome unufual or whimsical circumftance did not happen to fave them. Thus Ludlow tells us, "that being on his march, an advanced party found two of the rebels; one of whom, fays he, was killed by the guard before I came up; the other was faved, and being brought before me, I asked him, if he had a mind to be hanged? And he only answered, if you please. So infenfibly stupid, adds he, were many of these poor creatures." Mem. vol. i. At another time he tells us, he found fome poor people retired within a hollow rock; "which," he says, "was fo thick that he thought it impoffible to dig it down upon them, and therefore refolved to reduce them by fmoak. After fome of his men had spent most part of the day in endeavouring to smother those within by fire placed at the mouth of the cave, they withdrew the fire; and the next morning fuppofing the Irish to be made incapable of refiftance by the fmoak, fome of them crawled into the rock; but one of the Irish, with a pistol, shot the first of his men, by which he found the smoak had not taken the defigned effect; because though a great smoak went |