" alarm to the catholic nobility and gentry of the kingdom, who knew themselves to be perfectly innocent, and entirely unconscious, of any such conspiracy. The earl of Clanrickard, who had arrived in Ireland some short time before, tells us, that he was at first, on a sudden, surprised with the fatal news of a desperate rebellion in the North, and a rumour of a general combination and conspiracy all over the kingdom. But we begin to recover our wits, scared away by the first reports; and do discern, that none appears in this detestable conspiracy, or enters into action, but the remains of the antient Irish rebels in the North, and some of the planted county of Leitrim. "'* The rebellion furnished the English rebels with further weapons against his majesty; first, by calumniating him, as authorizing it, even after he had, in order to clear himself from the foul charge, surrendered the management of the Irish war and executive into their hands: Secondly, by fanaticizing the multitude, with hideous tales of massacres, committed on protestants by Irish papists; and an avowed intention of massacring every British man, woman and child. To gain greater credit for these falsehoods, they were communicated to the English commons by the earl of Leicester, lord lieutenant, the lord keeper, &c. Though these scandalous fictions had their day, and executed their mischief, their falsehood is so notorious, as to be owned by writers other wise prejudiced. * Clarendon's Memoirs. "Both the lord keeper in the house of lords, and the lord lieutenant in the house of commons, did exceed the informations that had been given, either in the letters, or in the examinations transmitted over. No historian hath taken notice of this falsification: and yet one cannot believe that it was owing in both these lords to accident or mistake. The lord keeper hath said, that the rebels had committed divers murders; and the lord lieutenant, besides affirming that they had information of shedding much blood of the protestants there, added moreover, that the design of the rebels was to kill the lords justices, and all the king's privy-council; whereas neither in the letters, nor the examinations, is there a single word of any murder being committed; nor was there the least thought among the conspirators, for any thing that appears, of killing, particularly, the lords justices and the king's privycouncil. And the council in their letters, after having given an account of several robberies, burning of houses and villages, and seizing some forts and castles, expressly say, and this, though too much, is all that we yet hear is done by them."* "It is worthy of notice, that about this time, viz. before the end of October, 1641, Temple himself confesses, "that the rebels had got possession of all the towns, forts, castles, and gentlemen's houses within the counties of Tyrone, Donegal, Fermanagh, Armagh, Cavan, Londonderry, Monaghan, and half the county of Down; Warner's History of the Rebellion. except the cities of Londonderry and Colerain, the town and castle of Enniskillen, and some other places and castles. And that besides the above-mentioned, these rebels had taken a multitude of other castles, houses of strength, towns and villages, all abundantly peopled with British inhabitants."* Yet in none of those places does it appear, from Temple's account, that any massacre or murder was committed by the insurgents within that space of time. If men of the first quality could, in both houses of parliament, for the evil purposes of faction, circulate shocking lies, what stress is to be laid on the evidences of the meaner sort, influenced by prejudice, revenge, exasperated by suffering, bewildered by reports, or looking for compensation? Yet such are the only testimonies of the Irish massacre; such as Sir Richard Musgrave cites in his affidavit history. Let us take, for instance, the evidence of the protestant ghosts, appearing on the river Ban, crying out for vengeance against the bloody papists. Were the evidence cross-examined, his tale would be found at war with his creed. Whence did his protestant ghosts come from? From heaven. No revengeful spirit issues from that abode of happiness, charity and peace. From purgatory? A protestant disowns such a place. We know but a third place mentioned, a doleful residence for ghosts of any description, whose tenants are not admissible as valid witnesses. One of the libellers' (Sir John Temple) account of the * Temple's Hist. of the Irish Rebellion. 543 rebellion is so disgraced and self-confuted by glaring contradictions, that he appears to have been ashamed of it hisself. "This we gather from a letter of Capel, earl of Essex, lord lieutenant of Ireland, Jan. 1674-5, to Mr. secretary Coventry, wherein we find these words: "I am to acknowledge the receipt of yours of the 22nd of December, wherein you mention a book that was newly published, concerning the cruelties committed in Ireland, at the beginning of the late war. Upon further enquiry I find Sir John Temple, master of the rolls here (Ireland,) author of that book, was, this last year, sent to by several stationers of London, to bave his consent to the printing thereof; but he assures me, that he utterly denied it, and whoever printed it, did it without his knowledge. Thus much I thought fit to add to what I formerly said upon this occasion, that I might do this gentleman right, in case it were suspected he had share any in publishing this new edition."* We have already observed the different provocations to insurrection, deliberately and perseveringly given, by the king's enemies, as well as his friends, to his Irish subjects; provocations, sufficient to dusturb the peace of the best settled country;t horrible denunciations of ex*State Letters, page 2. + The heads of the causes which moved the northern Irish, and catholics of Ireland to take arms, anno 1611, from Desiderata Curiosa Hibernica, vol. ii. p. 78. 1. It was plotted and resolved by the puritans of England, Scotland and Ireland, to extinguish quite the catholic religion, and the professors and maintainers thereof, out of all VOL. II. 3 z terminating papists and popery, published in acts of parliament, and in the solemn league and covenant, first signed in Scotland, and lately by their covenanting partizans in great Britain and Ireland. Various petitions to the same effect from different parts of England, and also from those kingdoms; and to put all catholics of this realm to the sword, that would not conform themselves to the protestant religion. 2. The state of Ireland did publiekly declare, that they would root out of this realm all the natives, and make a total second conquest of the land, alledging, that they were not safe with them. 3. All the natives here were deprived of the benefit of the antient fundamental laws, liberties, and privileges, due by all laws and justice to a free people and a nation, and more particularly due by the municipal laws of Ireland. 4. That the subjects of Ireland, especially the Irish, were thrust out forcibly from their ancient possessions, against law, without colour or right; and could not have propriety or security in their estates, goods, or other rights, but were wholly subject to an arbitrary power, and tyrannical government, these forty years past, without hope of relief or redress. 5. Their native youth here, debarred by the practice of state, from all learning and education, in that the one only university here excludes all catholics thence; neither are they suffered to acquire learning or breeding beyond seas, of pur pose to make them rude and ignorant of all letters. 6. The catholics of this realm are not admitted to any dignity, place, or office, either military or civil, spiritual or temporal, but the same conferred upon unworthy persons, and men of no quality, who purchase it for money, or favour, and not by merit. 7. All the trading, traffick, shipping, and riches of this whole isle, by the corruption of the state, are engrossed by the Dutch, Scottish, and English, not residing here, who exclude the natives wholly from the same; and who return the |