King)' "there, was not one of these corporations found to have forfeited, by a legal trial; fo that all the corporations in the kingdom were diffolved without any reason, or pretence of abuse of privilege."

2

a

"But will any man believe, that lawyers (and fome of them, this author acknowledges, understood their profeffion) would bring a quo-warranto against a charter, and not fo much as pretend any abufe, or forfeiture?

'State of the Proteft. p. 68.

2 Lesley's Anfw.

a "Nangle (attorney general) arrived to a good perfection in the ftudy of the law, and was employed by many proteftants." King's State of the Proteftants, &c. p. 55. "Mr. Stephen Rice was (to give him his due) a man of the best sense among them (the popith lawyers), and well enough verfed in the law." Ib. p. 54.

It was before him (when chief baron of the Exchequer) all the charters in the kingdom were damned." Id. ib. Mr. Daly (afterwards judge) though a Roman catholic, yet understood the common law well, and behaved himself impartially." Ib. p. 55.

The feveral corporations in Ireland having forfeited their charters by miscarriages, misdemeanors, and other offences during the rebellion in 1641, and fince, Charles II. had empowered his chief governor of that kingdom to grant new charters to fuch of these corporations as he fhould think fit; and for such of them as should not make application for renewing their charters, to iffue quo-warrantos against them for avoiding the fame. And King James being informed that very few had made fuch application, directed his deputy Tyrconnel to cause these quo-warrantos to be iffued, by which their former charters were made void, and new ones given them with additional franchifes." See Harris's Life of King William. It appears from Lord Clarendon, " that King James's intention in all this was nothing more than that religion fhould be no hindrance to the natives from enjoying the benefit of being freemen, and holding offices, as the rest of his subjects did." State Lett. vol. ii. p. 8.

But Dr. King was of a different opinion, and would have that benefit monopolized in the hands of proteftants alone, excluding the papifts from freedom, and votes in the corporations.' State of the Protest. p. 66.

"Upon much less provocation, Capel Earl of Effex, lord lieutenant of Ireland, (that celebrated champion for liberty, and who was faid to have fallen a martyr to it) thought the bringing of quo-warrantos against the charter of Dublin neceffary. That chief governor, in a letter to Secretary Coventry, in 1674-5, on occafion of a trifling difpute between the aldermen and com

mons

forfeiture? Of Mr. Nangle, the then attorney general, who was chiefly employed in that bufinefs, Lord Clarendon makes very honourable mention in feveral of his letters, and in one of them mentions him,' as a man of great knowledge, very able in his profeffion, and of the best reputation for learning, as well as honefty, amongst that people." "

d

3 66

But Dr. King's precipitate paffion, or rather prejudice, against these popifh judges and lawyers, feems to have fo far transported him, that he has entirely miftaken, or mifreprefented, this tranfaction. "Lord Tyrconnel," he tells us, "knowing that the protestants would not give up their charters, did endeavour to prevail with them, to admit papifts to freedom and offices in their corporations, that, by their means, he might have their charters furrendered; but," adds he," the refolution of the lord mayor of Dublin fpoiled that defign, and forced the king to bring quo-warrantos against them." Harris, in his life of

King

4 State of the Proteft. p. 67.

3 Vol. i. p. 72. vol. ii. p. 373. mons of that city, fays, " in my own thoughts, I am of opinion, and have been long fo, that nothing will reduce this city to a due composure, unless it be the avoiding their charter by quowarranto, and granting them a new one; for the body of the commons are so numerous, and most of them being extreme poor men, are continually mutinous and factious; whereas, if they had a new charter, and the number reduced to fewer, and thofe named out of the moft fubftantial chief trading men of the city, whofe intereft it is to be quiet, I am confident, it would be the only way to bring them into order and peace." Effex's Letters, p. 114.

And in another letter of May 30th, 1686, he fays, " in the lift of the perfons added to the privy council, I find Mr. Richard Nangle; he is a very learned and an honeft man." State Lett. P. 226.

Dr. King, was fo ridiculously prejudiced against such natives of Ireland, as were afterwards appointed to city-offices under Tyrconnel's government, that not content to represent them as poor and unworthy, (the contrary of which can be proved) he tells us, "their very names spoke barbarities." State of the Proteftants, p. 69. So much it feems were the doctor's delicate ears offended with the harsh found of Irish surnames,

King William, has retailed this ftory from King, and dates it in the year 1686, in the mayoralty of Sir John Knox. But it is manifeft, from Lord Clarendon's authentic account of these matters, that the lord mayor and aldermen of Dublin, and many other corporations, had been prevailed upon before Tyrconnel's time, to admit papists to freedom and offices among themselves; 5" for his lordship had himself dispensed with no less than fifteen Roman catholic merchants of Limerick, according to the king's order, from taking the oath of fupremacy, when admitted to the common-council of that city and, in a letter to Lord Sunderland, July 6th, in this very year, his excellency fays," "that he had fent letters to all the corporations for giving their freedoms to all the Roman catholics as to his majefty's other fubjects, without tendering them the oath of fupremacy; and for presenting to him fuch as should be chofen into offices, that he might dispense with their taking the faid oath according to the rules; that he had then received returns from about twenty of the corporations, all full of duty and obedience; and that, in fome places, where they had two bailiffs, which are there the chief magiftrates, they had, without any conteft, chofen one of each religion."

And although, in the year 1686, fome feeming oppofition, in that refpect, was made by the lord mayor and aldermen of Dublin; or rather, as Lord Clarendon expreffes it," "not fo fpeedy a compliance given to the king's commands as he expected;" yet it is by no means true, that they were so very refolute, or uncomplying in that particular as King and Harris have represented them. On the contrary, it appears, that they afterwards not only complied with the king's orders, but alfo made a proper and reafonable apology for their not having done fo fooner. For his excellency having fent for the lord mayor of Dublin to come to him, he, with the aldermen, expreffed great readiness to obey the king in any thing he should command them; but

8

5 State Lett. vol. i.
7 Ib.

6 Ib. p. 304.
8 Ib.

but faid, that it being their conftitution, that freemen fhould be elected only at certain terms, they could not prevail with the commons, without whofe confent that rule could not be altered, though they tried twice, by his lordship's pofitive directions, to admit any freemen, till the ufual time; and when that time came," adds his lordship, "all the Roman catholics, who made application, were admitted." f

CHA P.

f The following extracts from papers relating to the admitting of papists into corporations, and fent by Secretary Coventry to Lord Effex, in 1674, chief governor of Ireland, may throw fome light on this affair.

"In most of the corporations of Ireland, the freemen were generally papists in the year 1641, and fo continued till about the year 1652; and although most of the perfons who were then free, may now be prefumed to be dead, yet there being a cuftom in most corporations, that all the fons of freemen are also free of the corporations whereof their fathers were free, there cannot but be now very many papifts living, who are intitled to their freedoms in their several corporations. In the ufurper's time, all the papists, that were freemen, were hindered from enjoying the benefit of their freedom.

"Since the king's restoration, many disputes have happened concerning the papists (in Ireland) who were formerly free, being admitted again into the corporations.

By a letter from the king, dated the 22d of May, 1661, his majesty declared his pleasure, that the refpective former inhabitants, natives and freemen, and fuch as had a right to be freemen in any of the cities or towns in this kingdom (Ireland), fhould be forthwith reftored to their accustomed privileges and immunities, and admitted to trade, in the said respective cities and towns, as freely as heretofore, without making any national distinction, or giving any interruptions, upon pretence of difference of judgment, or opinion, in matters of religion. Notwithstanding this letter, many of the antient freemen, that were papifts, were kept out of feveral of the corporations.

"His majefty afterwards, by his letters bearing date 26th February, 1671, in the time of Lord Berkley's government, did again declare his pleasure that all the antient freemen of the refpective corporations fhould enjoy their former freedoms and privileges. Yet in fome of the corporations, in which the number of proteftants is great, many of the papifts are ftill kept out, and hindered from their freedoms. If they fhould be hindered from their freedoms, they will complain that there is no law

to

С НА Р. VI.

The behaviour of the Irish priests, and new recruits, under King James, impartially confidered.

HAD Dr. King been as candid in his relation of

a

facts, as he ought, and as he folemnly profeffed to be; at the fame time that he reproached the papifts of Ireland, with the forwardnefs of fome of their clergy, and the infolence of the new recruits, at this period, in Dublin; he would have given us, at least, fome intimation of the provocations, which both of them had received from the protestant inhabitants of that city; which indeed were fo great and notorious, that Lord Clarendon takes frequent notice of them in his dispatches into

England.

to take that benefit from them; that it is against the king's pleasure exprefsly declared in his feveral letters, and fince made public by proclamation; that by the rules, papifts, who are foreigners, may be admitted to be free in the corporations, and that it will be hard to bar papists, who are natives, from enjoying that freedom which has been already granted them." Lord Effex's Letters, p. 185-6-7, &c.

In the heads of the bill to prevent the further growth of popery in 1703, we find thefe words," and whereas many perfons, fo profeffing the popish religion, have if in their power to raise divifions among proteftants, by voting in elections for members of parliament, &c." Com. Jour. vol. iii. f. 130.

These recruits were far from being fuch defpicable creatures as Dr. King has reprefented them. "They feemed to Lord Clarendon to be very good men, well-fized, and as adroit (in their exercises) as could be expected of new men." State Lett. vol. ii. p. 54.

Thefe recruits were mostly Roman catholic natives: Of whom his excellency in another letter fays, " if the king will have one half of the Irish army to be natives, and the other half English, good God, why fhould not the chief governor be trufted with it, and why fhould it not be orderly done, which would make it well-digefted, and not frighten people out of their wits!" Ib. p. 392. He alludes here to Tyrconnel's rafhly, interfering in these matters, even during his excellency's government of Ireland.