these troubles, attempted to present our humble complaynts unto your royal view, but we are frustrated of our hopes therein by the power and vigilance of our adversaryes (the now lords justices and other ministers of state in this kingdom), who by the assistance of the malignant partie in England, now in armes against your royall person, with less difficultie to obtain the bad ends they proposed to themselves, of extirpateing our religion and nation, have hitherto debarred us of any access to your majesty's justice, which occasioned the effusion of so much innocent blood, and other mischiefs in this your kingdom; and that otherwise might well bee prevented. And whereas of late notice was sent unto us of a commission granted by, your majesty to the Right Honourable the Lord Marques of Ormond, and others, authorizing them to heare what we shall say or propound, and the same to transmit to your majestie in writing, which your majestie's gratious and princely favour, wee finde to be accompanyed with these words, viz. albeit wee dae extreamly detest the odious rebellion, which the recusants of Ireland have, without ground or colour, raised against us, our crown and dignitie); which words wee doe in all humilitie conceive to have proceeded from the misrepresentations of our adversaries, and therefore do protest, we have been therein maliciously traduced to your majestie, having never entertained any rebellious thought against your majesty, your crowne or dignitie, but allways have been, and ever will continue, your majestie's most faithfull and loyall subjects, and doe most humbly beseech your majestie soe to owne and avowe us, and as such wee present unto your majestie these ensueing grievances and causes of the present distempers.

Imprimis. The Catholiques of this kingdome, whom no reward could invite, no persecution could inforce, to forsake that religion professed by them and their ancestors for thirteen hundred years or thereabouts, are since the second yeare of the reigne of Queen Elizabeth, made incapable of places of honour or trust, in church or commonwealth, their nobles become contemptible, their gentry debarred from learning in universities, or public schools within this kingdom, their younger brothers put by all manner of employment in their native country, and necessitated (to their great discomfort and impoverishment of their land) to seek education and fortune abroad, misfortunes made incident to the said Catholiques of Ireland only (their numbers, qualitie, and loyaltie considered) of all the nations of Christen

dome.

2dly. That by this incapacitie, which in respect of their religion was imposed upon the said Catholiques, men of mean condition and qualitie, for the most part, were, in this kingdome, employed in places of the greatest honour and trust, who being

to begin a fortune, built it on the ruins of the Catholic natives, at all times lying open to be discountenanced, and wrought upon, and who (because they would seeme to be carefull of the government) did from tyme to tyme suggest false and malicious matters against them, to render them suspected and odious in England; from which ungrounded informations, and their many other ill offices, these mischiefs have befallen the Catholiques of Ireland. First, the opposition given to all the graces and favours, that your majestie or your late royall father promised or intended to the natives of this kingdom; secondly, the procuring false inquisitions, upon feigned titles of their estates against many hundred years possession, and no travers or petition of right admitted thereunto, and jurors denying to find such offices were censured even to publique infamie and ruin of their estates, the finding thereof being against their consciences and their evidences, and nothing must stand against such offices taken of great and considerable parts of the kingdome, but letters pattent under the great seale; and if letters patent were produced (as in most cases they were) none must be allowed valid, nor yet sought to be legally avoided, soe that of late times by the underhand working of Sir William Parsons, knight, now one of the lords justices here, and the arbitrary illegal power of the two impeached judges in parliament and others drawn by their advise and counsell, one hundred and fifty letters pattents were avoyded one morning, which course continued untill all the patents of the kingdome, to a few, were by them and their associates declared void; such was the care those ministers had of your majestie's great seale, being the publique faith of the kingdome. This way of service in shew only pretended for your majestie, proved to your disservice and to the immoderate, and too tymely advancement of the said ministers of state and their adherents, and nearly to the utter ruin of the said Catholiques.

3dly. That whereas your majestie's late royall father, King James, having a princely and fatherly care of this kingdome, was graciously pleased to.graunt severall large and beneficiall commissions, under the great seale of England, and several instructions, and letters under his privie signett, for passing and securing the estates of his subjects here by letters pattents. under the great seale, and letters pattents accordingly were thereof passed, fynes payed, old rentes encreased, and new rents reserved to the crowne; and the said late king was further gratiously pleased, att several tymes, to send divers honourable persons of integritie, knowledge and experience, to examine the grievances of this kingdome, and to settle and establish a course for redress thereof: and whereas your majestie was gratiously pleased, in the fourth yeare of youre reign, to vouch

safe a favourable heareing to the grievances presented unto you, by agents from this kingdome, and thereupon did grant many graces and favours unto your subjects thereof, for securities of their estates and redress for remove of those heavy pressures, under which they have long groaned; which acts of justice and grace extended to this people by your majestie, and your said royal father, did afford them great content, yett, such was, and is yett the immortall hatred of some of the said ministers of state, and especially of Sir William Parsons, the said impeached judges and their adherents to any welfare and happiness of this nation, and their ambition to make themselves still greater and richer, by the total ruine and extirpation of this people, that under pretence of your majestie's service, the public faith involved in those grants were violated, and the grace and goodness intended by two glorious kings successively, to a faithful people, made unprofitable.

4th. The legal, arbitary, and unlawfull proceedings of the said Sir William Parsons, and one of the said impeached judges, and their adherents and instruments, in the court of wards, and the many wilfully erroneous decrees and judgments of that cort, by which the heirs of Catholique noblemen and other Catholiques were most cruelly and tyrannically dealt withall, destroyed in their estates, and bred in dissolution and ignorance, their parents debts unsatisfied, their younger brothers and sisters left wholly unprovided for, the auncient and appearing tenures of mesne lords unregarded, estates valid in law and made for valuable considerations avoyded against law, and the whole land filled upp with the frequent swarms of exheators, feodaryes, pursuivants, and others, by authoritie of that court.

5th. The said Catholiques, notwithstanding the heavy pressures beforementioned, and other grievances in part represented to your majestie by the late committees of both houses of parliament of this kingdome, (whereunto they humbly desire that relation being had, and redress obtained therein) did readyly and without reluctance or repineing contribute to all the subsidies, loanes, and other extraordinary graunts made to your majestie in this kingdome, since the beginning of your reigne, amounting unto well neare one million of poundes, over and above your majestie's revenue, both certain and casual, and although the said Catholiques were in parliament and otherwise the most forward in graunting the said summes, and did beare nine parts of ten in the payments thereof, yet such was the power of their adversaryes, and the advantage they gained by the opportunity of their continuall address to your majesty, to encrease their reputation by getting in of those monies, and their authoritie in the distribution thereof to your majestie's

great disservice, that they assumed to themselves to be the procurors thereof, and represented the said Catholiques as obstinate and refractory.

6th. The army raised for your majestie's service here, at the great charge of the kingdome, was disbanded by the pressing importunitie of the malignant partie in England, not giving way, that your majestie should take a desire therein with the parlia ment here, alledging the said army was Popish, and therefore not to be trusted, and although the world could witness the unwarrantable and unexampled invasion made by the malignant partie of the parliament of England, upon your majestie's honour, rights, prerogatives, and principal flowers of your crown; and that the said Sir William Parsons, Sir Adam Loftus, knight, your majestie's vice-treasurer of this kingdome, and others their adherents, did declare, that an army of ten thousand Scots was to arrive in this kingdome, to force the said Catholiques to change their religion, and that Ireland could never doe well without a rebellion, to the end the remaine of the natives thereof might be extirpated, and wagers were laid at a general assize and publique meetings by some of them then and now employed in places of greate profit and trust in this kingdome, that within one yeare no Catholique should be left in Ireland; and that they saw the ancient and unquestionable privileges of the parliament of Ireland unjustly and against law encroached uppon, by the orders, acts and proceedings of both houses of parliament in England in sending for and questioning to and in that parliament, the members of the parlia ment of this kingdome, sitting the parliament here; and that by speeches, and orders printed by authoritie of both houses in England, it was declared, that Ireland was bound by the statutes made in England, if named; which is contrary to knowen truth, and the laws here settled for foure hundred years and upwards; and that the Catholiques were thoroughly informed of the protestation of both houses of parliament of England against Catholiques, and of their intention to introduce lawes for the extirpation of Catholique religion in the three kingdomes, and that they had certain notice of the bloody execution of priests there, only for being priests, and that your majesty's mercy and power could not prevaile with them to save the lyfe of one condemned priest, and that the Catholiques of England being of their own flesh and blood, must suffer or depart the land, and consequently others not of so neere a relatione to them, if bound by their statutes, and within their power. These motives, although very strong and powerfull to produce apprehensions and fears in the said Catholiques, did not prevaile with them to take defensive armes, much less offensive; they still expecting, that

your majesty in your high wisdome might be able in a short tyme to apply seasonable cures, and apt remedies unto those evils and innovations.

7th. That the committees of the lords and commons of this kingdome, having attended your majestie for the space of nine months, your majestie was gratiously pleased, notwithstanding your then weightie and urgent affaires in England and Scotland, to receive, and very often with very great patience to hear their grievances, and many debates thereof at large; during which debates, the said lords justices, and some of your privy councill of this kingdome and their adherents, by the malitious and untrue informations conveyed to some ministers of state in England (who since are declared of the malignant partie), and by their continuall solicitation of others of the said privy councill, gone to England, of the purpose to cross and give impediment unto the justice and grace your majestie was inclined to afford to your subjects of this realme, did as much as in them lay, hinder the obtaining of any redress for the said grievances, and not prevailing therein by your majestie, as they expected, have by their letters and instruments, laboured with many leading members of the parliament there, to give stopp and interruption thereunto and likewise transmitted unto your majestie, and some of the state of England, sundry misconstructions and misrepresentations of the proceedings and actions of your parlia ment of this kingdome, and thereby endeavoured to possess your majestie with an evil opinion thereof, and that the said parliament had no power of judicature in capitall causes (which is an essential part of parliament), thereby aymeing at the importunitie of some of them, and others, who were then impeached of high treason, and at the destruction of this parliament, but the said lords justices and privy councell observing, that no art or practice of theirs could be powerfull to withdraw your majestie's grace and good intentions from his people, and that redress graunted of some particular grievances was to be passed as acts of parliament, the said lords justices and adherents, with the height of malice, envying the good union long before settled and continued between the members of the House of Commons, and their good correspondence with the Lords, left nothing unattempted, which might rayse discord and disunion in the said house, and by some of themselves and some instruments of theirs in the Commons House, private meetings of greate numbers of the said house were appointed of purpose to rayse distinction of nation and religion, by meanes whereof a faction was made there, which tended much to the disquiet of the house and disturbance of your majestie's and the publiques service, and after certain knowledge, that the said committees were by the waterside in England, with sundry important and beneficial