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necessitated to remain alone for two years in Ireland for their arrangement; and when this was effected in 1655, she went over to England for her children. There she was further afflicted by the imprisonment of her eldest son, the earl of Ossory, of whose growing reputation Cromwell was so jealous, that after giving him leave to go abroad, he suddenly changed his mind, and ordered him to the Tower. Having sent the rest of the children to Acton, she remained in London to solicit the enlargement of the earl. She addressed her petition to Cromwell in the presence of his crowded court; the Protector "hoped that she would excuse him in that respect, and told her that he had more reason to be afraid of her than of any body." The high-spirited lady marchioness, understanding him more seriously than he intended, replied without embarrassment, "that she desired no favour, and thought it strange that she, who was never concerned in any plot, and never opened her mouth against his person or government, should be represented to him as so formidable a person.' "No, madam," answered Cromwell, "that is not the case; but your worth has gained you so great an influence on all the commanders of our party, and we know so well your power over the other party, that it is in your ladyship's breast to act what you please."* Such civil evasions were all she could for a long time obtain; but the Protector's compliments were founded in truth, and so great was the ascendancy of the character of the marchioness, that he always treated her with a degree of deferential respect which he seldom showed to others, never refusing her an audience, though he did not like the object, and when she retired never failing to attend her to her coach. The earl of Ossory was at last set free upon his falling ill of an ague; but did not receive his discharge till the following spring, when the marchioness sent him to Holland to join his father.

The death of Cromwell brightened the hopes of the king and of his supporters; storms which afforded ample promise of change soon began to arise in England, and the continental powers contemplating the amendment of his fortunes, began to assume a more complacent tone, and to be more in earnest in their offers of aid to the king. These details we must here omit. The marquess was sent to Paris, where the king's affairs began to wear a favourable aspect, to further the advantages to be hoped for from the friendly professions of Turenne, and also to effect a reconciliation between the king and his mother, the queen-dowager Henrietta. So much activity was used on this occasion, that all was soon in readiness for a descent upon the English coast, when news of the unfortunate termination of Boothes' insurrection caused them to postpone their effort to another occasion, which none doubted would soon occur, as, by the death of Cromwell, England was left without an efficient government. The history of the intrigues and cabals of Wallingford house, and the deposition of Richard Cromwell, we have noticed in our memoir of lord Broghill.

Among the anxious proceedings of the royal party at this juncture, the only one we are here concerned to mention, is the conference between the marquess of Ormonde and the cardinal Mazarin. The

*Carte.

king had made a pressing application for an interview with the cardinal, who being yet apprehensive of the English parliament, declined such a meeting, under the pretence that it would prejudice his efforts for the king. It was then arranged that he should meet the marquess as if by accident, and confer with him upon the king's affairs. The cardinal, according to the concerted arrangement, rode out upon the 12th November, 1659, and was met by the marquess, who represented to him strongly the state of faction in England-the general disposition of the people in favour of the king-the actual engagements of many persons of leading interest-and all the strong probabilities of a restoration, if France would take the part which ought to be expected, on every just consideration to the claims of kindred or to the cause of all constitutional authority. But the cardinal's favourite object was the depression of the power of England, and arguments drawn from principles of equity or general expediency had no weight in his counsels. He continued firm to his policy, which may be here sufficiently comprehended from the single fact, that he offered to support Fleetwood with money and other aids, upon the condition of his perseverance in those courses which were adopted for the maintenance of the commonwealth against the efforts of the royalists.

But a re-action too broad and deep for the machinations of a wornout faction, had been for some time making its progress in England, and at length began to flow in an authoritative channel. By the natural, though seemingly accidental concurrence of circumstances, which it belongs to the English historian to detail, a commander of just and sagacious understanding, who was capable of perceiving and entering with just discrimination into the feeling of the time, and the course which all circumstances render expedient, was placed at the head of the army, and from that moment all things paved the way for the restoration of the house of Stuart. While the king was yet in some uncertainty as to the conduct of Monk, he received an intimation that Sir G. Downing, lately arrived from England, desired a conference with some authorized person on the part of his majesty, and expressed a strong wish that the marquess of Ormonde might be the person. On this the marquess was sent to the Hague, when Downing, who was there as the British resident, met him secretly, and informed him of the real state of affairs in England.

The restoration immediately followed. The king was accompanied into England by the marquess of Ormonde in the end of May, 1660. After the public ceremonials attendant upon the king's arrival were over, he was sworn a member of the privy council, and made steward of the household: he was also appointed lieutenant of the county of Somerset, and high steward of Westminster, Kingston, and Bristol. He was also restored to his estates, of which part had been arbitrarily seized by king James, and the remainder by the parliament-an act of justice, which can hardly be viewed as compensation for the heavy debts contracted, and the accumulated losses of ten years' deprivation: but the marquess was superior to the considerations by which ordinary minds are wholly swayed, and was content, although not relieved from embarrassments, which accompanied him through life. More worthy of commemoration was the restoration to his office

of chancellor to the university of Dublin, and the changes made with his usual decision for the purpose of redeeming that seat of learning from the effects of parliamentary interference. Henry Cromwell, whose political conduct in Ireland exhibited discretion and political tact, had acted with less than his usual justice towards the university, into which he introduced persons wholly destitute of any pretension but those of factious politics and schismatical tenets. The marquess proceeded with caution and zeal to restore that eminent seat of knowledge to its efficient functions as the moral and intellectual light of Ireland, and as one of the great leading protestant seminaries in Europe. He had Dr Seele appointed to the provostship, and most of the fellows who had been displaced for non-compliance with the parliament reinstated in their fellowships. We shall have, hereafter, to enter in detail upon this subject.

The marchioness of Ormonde came over to England to meet her lord, and the earl of Ossory also arrived from Holland with his bride ; and his whole family, after so many trying years of adversity, collected to meet the marquess in London.

The marquess had soon an opportunity, of which he availed himself, to ward off a ruinous blow from many of the best old families in Ireland. Some time before the arrival of the king, the English parliament had brought in a bill of indemnity, in which a clause was introduced, that "this act should not extend to license or restore to any person or persons (other than the earl of Ormonde and the protestants of Ireland,) any estate sold or disposed of by both or either of the houses of parliament, or any convention assuming the style or name of a parliament, or any person or persons deriving authority from them," &c., &c. Lord Aungier, however, prevailed to have this clause postponed until the marquess might be consulted. The marquess strongly and effectually opposed it, and received in return the general acknowledgment of the Irish nation; for few old families had wholly escaped the effects of parliamentary usurpation.

It would prolong this memoir, which we have been vainly endeavouring to reduce within our ordinary bounds, to a length quite inconsistent with the limits assigned to this work, were we to detail the train of circumstances connected with the state of the protestant church in Ireland, when the marquess, by the free and prompt exertion of his great influence, was the instrument to save it from destruction. These facts will find an appropriate place in the next division of this period. It may now be sufficient to state briefly that the property of the church had passed into the hands of the parliamentary ministers, or into forfeiture; while, at the same time, insidious attempts were made to mislead the king into grants and alienations, by which he would be deprived of the means of restitution. An address from the primate and eight bishops was transmitted to the marquess, who exerted himself effectually to arrest the evil, and in the course of a few years placed that respectable and useful body on a secure and permanent basis.

On the 13th February, 1661, the marquess was joined in commission with the duke of Albemarle and other lords, to determine on the claims usually advanced at coronations, preparatory to the coronation of Charles, at which ceremony, having been created duke of Ormonde

on the 30th of March, he assisted, bearing king Edward's crown before the king, in his office of high steward of England.

The restitution of the duke's estates, though apparently a liberal act of royal and national consideration for his real services, was yet far below his actual claims, had he condescended to put forward any claims upon this occasion. The estates which were restored to him were of two main classes, of which the first were those lands held by his vassals on the feudal tenure of military service, and which were legally determined by their taking arms against him in the rebellion. The second consisted of those lands which were in the hands of government or of military adventurers, who on the change of affairs had no hope of retaining them, and gave them up freely and without a murmur. He was largely indebted to the crown, under very peculiar circumstances; as the debts were incurred in the service of the crown, and had devolved to it by the forfeiture of creditors, such debts were ordered to be discharged. The duke's claim is indeed so well stated in the king's letters for putting him in possession of his estates, that we think it fit to insert the preamble here:-"It having pleased Almighty God in so wonderful a manner to restore us to our dominions and government, and thereby into a power not only of protecting our good subjects, but of repairing by degrees the great damages and losses they have undergone in the late ill times by their signal fidelity and zeal for our service, which we hold ourself obliged in honour and conscience to do, as soon and by such means as we shall be able: nobody can wonder or envy that we should, as soon as is possible, enter upon the due consideration of the very faithful, constant and eminent service performed to our father of blessed memory and ourself, upon the most abstracted considerations of honour, duty, and conscience, and without the least pause or hesitation, by our right trusty, and right entirely beloved cousin and counsellor, James, marquis of Ormonde, lord steward of our household, who from the very beginning of the rebellion in Ireland, frankly engaged himself in the hardest and most difficult parts of our service, and laying aside all considerations or thought of his own particular fortune and convenience, as freely engaged that, as his person, in the prosecution and advancement of our interest; and when the power of our enemies grew so great that he was no longer able to contend with it, he withdrew himself from that our kingdom, and from that time attended our person in the parts beyond the sea, with the same constancy and alacrity, having been never from us, but always supporting our hopes and our spirits in our greatest distresses with his presence and counsel, and in many occasions and designs of importance, having been our sole counsellor and companion. And therefore we say all good men would wonder, if being restored to any ease in our own fortune, we should not make haste to give him ease in his, that is so engaged and broken for us, and which his continual and most necessary attendance about us must still keep him from attending himself with the care and diligence he might otherwise do; we knowing well besides the arrears due to him, during the time he commanded the army, and before he was lordlieutenant of Ireland, that from the time he was by our royal father put into the supreme command of that kingdom, and during the whole

time that he had the administration thereof, but wholly supported himself and our service upon his own fortune and inheritance, and over and above borrowed and supplied great sums of money upon the engagement or sale of his own lands, and disbursed the same upon carrying on the publick service, as well during the time of his being there under our royal father, as since under us."

In addition to the restoration of his estates, the duke obtained his ancient perquisite of the prizage of wines, which his ancestors had held immemorially, until Cromwell seized upon this right, and converted it into a branch of excise.

The settlement of Ireland was soon found less practicable than had been expected. There was a confusion of parties, whose inconsistent claims were grounded, some in pledges real or implied, some on right, some on possession, some on merits, and more than all, many on their power to give trouble and create perplexity. For the satisfaction of these, so far as such a result was consistent with the nature of things, the means were absolutely wanting, and a course of intrigue and litigation, violence, and misrepresentation commenced. Ireland, in which the hatred and terror of its recent and long disorders had not subsided, was filled with the noise of complaint: the numbers who had been ejected from their possessions looked for a speedy reinstatement; those who had obtained possession by authorized means claimed to be confirmed; and those who were possessed by usurpation feared to be deprived. The king was more desirous to conciliate those who might become formidable, than to satisfy the claims either of gratitude or justice. To the confederates he was pledged by a treaty of peace, concluded in his name and by his authorized lieutenant: the protestant army had the merit of a seasonable declaration in his favour, and of being the efficient instruments of wresting Ireland from the Cromwellians, numbers too were creditors, and had advanced their money on the consideration of Irish lands: many who had rebelled at home had served him abroad: but above all, there were those who had never for a moment, through so many dreadful trials of their constancy and loyalty, lost sight of their allegiance, and whose claims were therefore the most undoubted on every consideration. To satisfy these various demands, and to extricate himself from the weariness of business and the vexatious intrusion of complaint, the king was willing to sacrifice his own lands in Ireland. By the exertions of the earl of Orrery and others, a calculation of disposable lands was presently made, and a declaration already noticed,* published by the king. It was transmitted to the lords-justices, with instructions for putting it into execution. Its effect was to produce general dissatisfaction and remonstrance: those who had least claim to consideration were those who had most reason for content, as it was rather framed for conciliation than for justice. Among those whose case included the severest hardships, was a large portion of the Roman Catholic body, which had either taken no part, or a part manifestly enforced in the rebel

*Vol. ii. pp. 359.-We take this occasion to correct an error in the page here quoted. By some mistake not now to be accounted for, the earl of Orrery is subtituted for the earl of Ossory in the above-mentioned calculation.

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