was an humble confident of the Duke of Ormond: by whom it was immediately prefented to his majefty, and moft graciously received. Walsh having foon after come to Ireland, in order to get this remonstrance figned by all the Roman catholic clergy, nobility and gentry of the kingdom (as many of them as were at London, when it was prefented, having figned it there) fucceeded fo well, as to obtain, in a fhort time, the signatures" of fixty-nine of the clergy, fecular and regular; five earls, fix viscounts, two barons, twenty-four colonels and baronets, and fixty efquires and gentlemen." But 2 lb. schal or steward to the bishop of Winchester (it being usually given, in antient times, to fome of the most powerful of the nobility, who were thereby engaged in the protection of the See) by a patent from bishop Morley, with the fee of one hundred pounds a year, had settled it upon him for his fubfiftence. This was all Walth had to live on. He received it duly, and enjoyed it till his death, which happened a little before the Duke of Ormond's." Orm. vol. ii. f. 548. The fame hiftorian informs us, "that Walsh having urged his grace to turn Roman catholic towards the latter part of his life, the duke told him, among other things," that he wondered, if the condition wherein he was appeared fo dangerous to him, why fo good a friend did not admonish him fooner thereof." "Walth foon saw there was no good to be done, and did not venture on a second attempt." Ib. The following paffage from Lord Castlehaven, further illuftrates this Irish friar's character. His lordship, after having told "that he had received a long letter by a trumpet from Ireton, fetting forth the great value he had for his person, and offering him, if he would retire from the king's fervice and live in England privately, he fhould not only enjoy his estate, but remain in safety with the esteem and favour of the parliament;" adds, “I immediately fhewed this letter to Father Peter Walsh, my then ghostly father, whom I had always found faithful to the king, and a lover of his country. With his advice, by the fame trumpet, I answered all his points, and rejected his propofition concerning my own perfon; defiring him withal to fend no more trumpets with fuch errands, if perhaps, he would not have the meffenger ill treated. From this time, there was an end of all meffages, and letters between us." Memoirs, p. 127. us, But the Duke of Ormond now returned to his government, and but too well acquainted with the late diffentions and animofities among the Irifh clergy, (which, it will hereafter appear, he then intended to revive) affected to believe, that there could be no certain reliance on any declaration of loyalty from the catholic laity, until the whole body of their clergy had firft unanimously fubfcribed it. He therefore wrote a letter to Walfh, which was to be fhewn to all those ecclefiaftics who were backward in fubfcribing, wherein he told him," that, confidering how well his majesty received the subscriptions to the proteftation prefented to him in England, he did not a little wonder, that the example had not been more readily and frequently followed in Ireland. That he had no other end in wishing it should, than that those of loyal and peaceable difpofitions might thereby be diftinguished from others, for their own advantage; that the fubfcribers were more likely to find fuch advantage than the refufers; and that he defired to know who had already subscribed, and who had refused." His grace already knew, that as this proteftation had been cenfured by fome ministers of the court of Rome, on account of its fomewhat intrenching on the pope's fpiritual authority, it would be hardly poffible to prevail on fuch of the Irifh clergy, as had expectations from that court, to fubfcribe it, in the fame offenfive terms, in which it was conceived. For their chief, if not only objection, was to thefe terms; as Walsh himself owns,* "that none at all fcrupled about what he calls the catholicnefs of it;" and that these non-fubscribers had repeatedly offered to draw up and fign a proteftation of their own, equally loyal to his majesty in point of civil b 3 Walsh's Hift. of the Irish Remonftrance, f. 94. obedience, + Ib. "I must defire the reader," fays he, " to take notice here, that fince the year 1661, till this prefent, about the end of the year 1666, there was not, among fuch a number of pretences and excufes, any one alleged, by any at all, of unlawfulness, unconfcionablenefs or uncatholicnefs in point of faith, religion or morality, in the fubfcription of that remonftrance, or declaration of allegiance." Hift. of the Irish Remonf. f. 42. obedience, and lefs liable to mifconftruction, with respect to their spiritual fubjection to the Pope. But all their propofals of that kind were conftantly rejected... 5 But the Irifh nobility and gentry were not quite fo fcrupulous in this refpect; for in order to convince the Duke of Ormond, that the refufal of any number of their clergy should be no hindrance to their fubfcribing, in terminis, to the first remonftrance," they afsembled together at Lord Clanrickard's house in Dublin; where, after Lord Tyrconnel had declared, that their agreement to, and concurrence in, that addrefs, was wholly and folely their own act; that it was originally propofed by the Earls of Clancarty, Carlingford, and himself; and feconded, in very good earneft, by the Earl of Inchiquin, as many noblemen and gentlemen as were then prefent, and had not fubfcribed at London," in number thirty-three, put their names to it; which number being joined to the London fubfcribers, made, in all, one hundred and twenty-one, whereof twenty-one were earls, viscounts, and barons." 7 Not content with this, they at the fame time drew up a letter, praying and inviting the unanimous, chearful and speedy fubfcriptions of all the reft of the catholic noblemen and gentlemen of the kingdom. This letter was figned by the Earls of Caftlehaven, Clancarty, Clanrickard, Fingall, Tyrconnel, and Carlingford; and expreffed their hopes, that the fame prudential, chriftian, catholic, and obvious reasons, which had induced themfelves to fign that remonftrance, would prevail upon them alfo to do the like, as these reasons imported no lefs than the clearing of their holy religion from the imputation of most unholy tenets; the affuring his majesty ever more of their loyal thoughts, hearts and hands, in all contingencies whatsoever; and the opening of a door to their own liberty and future eafe, from thofe, rigorous penal laws, under which they, and their predeceffors, had fadly groaned during an hundred years past. That That as they hoped they could not think, they would even for these defirable ends, fwerve in the least tittle from the true, pure, and unfeigned profeffion of the Roman catholic faith, nor from the reverence due unto his Holiness the Bishop of Rome, or the catholic church in general; fo they believed, that they would rest satisfied, that nothing contained in this remonftrance reflected at all on the fpiritual jurifdiction, power, or authority of the Pope, or church; whole tenor of it afferting only the fupreme temporal power in the prince to be independent of any but God alone, and the fidelity and obedience due to him in temporal affairs, to be indifpenfable by any power on earth, spiritual or civil.” 8 the Two and thirty copies of this letter (one for each county in the kingdom) were figned by these noblemen. "And questionless," fays Walsh," had they been fent away, as defigned, the hands of all the catholic noblemen and gentlemen of Ireland would have been fubfcribed to the remonftrance, in less than fix months." But the Duke of Ormond, who had been made acquainted with the drawing up and figning of this letter, affected to have it believed, that, as there was then lately difcovered a plot of the fanatics to feize the castle of Dublin, if any papers were known to be carried about by catholics for getting fubfcriptions, their good intentions might be easily misinterpreted, and even a confpiracy imputed to them on that account; fo❝his grace was pleased," fays Walsh,' to countermand, for that time, and to fufpend ever fince, the fending about of these letters, expecting it might be done more feasonably, when the clergy had figned firft." 66 CHA P. Walsh's Hift. of the Irish Remonft. f. 96. 9 Ib. f. 97. CHA P. XIII. The Irish clergy's remonstrance of loyalty. His grace still perfifting in his demand of a general and uniform subscription of all the Irish clergy to the remonftrance firft delivered by Walsh (which he was privately affured, would not be obtained *), procured his majesty's confent, to fuffer them to meet in a national fynod at Dublin; which, notwithstanding its favourable appearance, he clearly forefaw, would only ferve to increase thofe diffentions already sprung up among them, on that fubject. For, notwithstanding all Walsh's prolix and learned harangues at this meeting, to prove the great expediency, and even abfolute neceffity, of their general compliance, the majority of the fynod still refused to fubfcribe to that particular addrefs; not, as they all declared, that they thought it contained any thing repugnant to the Roman catholic faith; nor yet, "that they meant thereby to decline or difavow the fubftance of it; but because they be lieved One of the reafons, among many others, affigned by the non-subscribers, was, "that none of either the laity or clergy who had subscribed, were more favoured, or more at liberty than others; the lay-proprietors not, therefore, restored to their eftates, though several of them could, befides, according to the laws, plead innocency; and all of them, public articles both of war and peace for their faid eftates, and for the public and free exercise of their religion too. "Nor were the clergy, who had fubfcribed, fuffered to enjoy even one chapel, without daily hazards of imprisonments, and even men's lives, as appeared by a late perfecution, when both on St. Stephen's and new-year's day, in 1662, the chapel of the Franciscans in Dublin, who had been all fubfcribers, and wherein Walsh himself did officiate, was, by guards of soldiers and whole companies with naked fwords, affaulted, the altar rifled, the priests carried prifoners to Newgate, and many both men and women grievously hurt, fome flashed and wounded forely, even to the great endangering of their lives." Walsh's Hift. of the Irish Remonft. f. 26. |