dience to his majesty's proclamation, they, and other united lords and gentlemen,, had laid down their arms; to intimate which to the state they had fent, one Lieutenant Colonel Read, from whom, they had not heard; and that nevertheless, daily their own and their tenants houfes were burnt, their goods taken, and people killed. They defired that I would mediate with the state for a ceffation of arms; and that a place might be appointed, where they and their confederates might meet to draw up their grievances, and fo have free accefs, by way of petition, to prefent them to his majesty. With this letter, I prefently fent another from myself to the state, wherein I seemed to with fome good return might be made, but it happened otherwise; for answer to their lordships, they would make none at all, alledging they were rebels and traitors, and after many frivolous exceptions taken to my letter, as one, that I did not alfo call them rebels and traitors, they admonished me to have nothing to do with them, and instead of licenfing me to go for England, they commanded I should not depart the kingdom without leave. All this while from the first opening the ways from Dublin to my houfe, I was frequently at the English garrifons, and had always with me, either troops or troopers of the English army.

And now finding my unhappiness, that how candid or fincere foever my actions or meaning was, I muft ftill be mistaken; I packed up all I could conveniently carry, and refolved prefently to go to Dublin, where I would make my abode, till I had leave to pafs for England. But fome few days before my intended departure, news was brought me, that by chance fome of my friends at Dublin had discovered, that I ftood indicted of high treafon; for it was done with great fecrecy of d now in od fum

Amazed at this fad and unexpected news, the next morning by five of the clock, I pofted for Dublin, giving order, that all my beft furniture and linen should be prefently fent after, which accordingly was done: My stock of all forts (as the Marquis of Ormond and Sir Arthur Loftus well know) I beftowed for the ufe of the English army, and defired nothing in recompence, but only that my people, with the remainder of my goods, might be brought fafe to Dublin, where I was now gone to purge myself.

But I continued there for many days, without any notice taken of me; though I prefently acquainted the lords juftices, and many of the council, of my arrival, and the caufe; fo that it. was then thought, and may yet be believed, that they hoped by that indictment, rather to have frighted me, as they had donc thousands of others, into 'rebellion, as they term it, than that they had any good evidence against me.ro 32;༠གས་

But I, not willing to lie long under that title of infamy, went myfelf to the council, took notice of my charge, and defired that with all convenient: fpeed,..I might be brought to my put

gation.

gation. Hitherto it is evident, I thought not of my escape. The council, after fome debate, confined me to master Woodcock's houfe, one of the fheriffs of Dublin. From whence, after a day or two, I fent a petition to the state, and it was to this effect, laying down by many particulars the improbability of my affociating myself in this war, as that I was a peer of England, that the main of my estate lay there, and the little intereft or power I had in this kingdom; that my accufers were of bafe condition, and would have been taken off for a small fum of money, and that two of them, namely, Ennis and his fon, ran away from the English colours with their arms, and afterwards ferved against them at the battle of Kilrush; and the third, William Collis, had been fadler to fome of the Irish army, whereby it is most evident, that befide what other reward those men might be promised, they were made fure of their lives; that the jury who found this indictment, on the evidence of these men, were perfons of the fame nature and condition, as particularly one Francis Dade, who affociated himself with the Irish, changed his religion, and went to mafs. This man having forfeited his life, according to their rule, they make a leading juryman, and I believe a witness, he not daring to deny what they would have him do or fay. In fine, that there was not one gentleman, or scarce a landed-man amongst them. For thefe reafons, and for that it had been frequently granted to others in the like cafe, I defired to be bailed. Anfwer was returned to this modeft petition, that the witneffes were no rebels, but efpies; so that what I had faid, was no impeachment to their testimonies, and in general they thought not fit to grant the pe tition. Well, though I thought that as well this anfwer, as the whole proceedings, fomewhat harsh, yet I did not much weigh it; for fhortly after was to follow Trinity term. At which time I affured myself, that by my innocency I should be set free both from prifon and blame.

Oh! but here I was much deceived. For this term must be otherwise employed. For though, through hanging, racking, and barbarous treating of such as submitted on the king's proclamation, thousands had declared themselves for the country, who were in all post hafte going to Dublin, to put themselves under the protection of the ftate; yet there were as many more that stood at a gaze, as most unwilling to run the common course, and yet loth to be handled after this rude manner. Against these, must bills of indictment presently be drawn, and grand-jury-men picked for the purpose. And to ftrike the bufinefs dead in the eye, fearing thefe men were not wicked enough, the judges of the king's chief place, on the bench delivered, as part of their charge, that they must not be fcrupulous; for that common. fame was now evidence enough to find a bill of indictment. Notwithstanding

Notwithstanding this great and holy employment of these reverend fathers of the law, they must yet do fomething more to fhew their grandeur; that was, I by a habeas corpus must be brought into the court before them, where after I had been fufficiently looked at by their lordships and the people, I was remanded back to the place whence I came, without any thing faid unto me. This term finished, and the jury-men having well acted their parts, fome of the judges are difpatched for England, to fhew there, that the pen in Ireland had been as active as the fword, and that now, for the deftruction of at least all the prifoners, there wanted little, but that old saying, Hangman, do your office.

It is no great wonder that now, how innocent foever I was, my head should begin to ake. Yet a fellion of parliament.being fhortly to follow, I conceived good hope of fair play there: but when I faw the compofure of this great tribunal; that the upper-house confifted of no more than five or fix temporal lords, and fome bishops; "the houfe of commons (anciently the reprefentative body of the kingdom) for the major part of clerks and clerks-men, few having any land, and thofe illegally chofen, as by musketteers, and a rabble of fuch like freeholders; I began to think that fuch a kind of parliament might err, and feared nothing more than a trial there. And furely I had reafon when nothing would ferve their turns, but a ceffation of Poyning's act, during that feffion; by which they were freed from tranfmitting their bills into England, and fo might make laws, as in their difcretions they thought fit; and I have too great caufe to believe, they would have made one for attainting me, and the reft of the prifoners.

All this while, no means are untried to make matter against me; for, as before, witneffes were rewarded, by giving them their lives, being forfeited; fo now to others, rough language must be used. One John Bird being examined before Sir Robert Meredith, concerning me, and not anfwering as was expected, the faid Sir Robert demanded his religion, the honeft man replied, a proteftant: Ah! quoth he, by thy answers thou fhouldest have a little pope in thy belly.

And now, having by many fuch indirect ways, furnifhed themselves with plenty of evidence, they begin to affront me, by difarming my men, by pulling one mafter Henry Slingsby out of my chamber, coming by accident with a gentlewoman to vifit me, faying he was a Romifh popifh Jefuit, it being well known, he was no fuch man; and fo carried him to prifon.

And lastly, the sheriff's houfe is now thought too weak for fo great a traitor. Hereupon a writ is iffued to the fheriff, to bring me with a strong guard to the inns, where the judges were, being near half a mile from whence I must be sent to the caftle, a loathfome prison of itself; but the inhumanity of the gaoler, by

name

name Manwaring, after Hell, makes it the fecond place for mifery and affliction. Well, I thought it now high time, as the judges had fummoned my body, 1 fhould recollect my wits. And as I ftood confidering my cafe, a paffage in the Earl of Strafford's trial occurred to my memory. He ftood much upon his juftification, and demanded the benefit of the law, but mafter St. John replied, that to hares, deer, and other innocent creatures, law was afforded; but to wolves, foxes, and other fuch like vermin, any means might be fought for their destruc tion. Now, I finding myself hitherto dealt with as one of these, although I waved the malice of the wolf, I made fome little ufe of the fox's craft, and for that prefent feigned myself fick, and on information thereof given, my attendance on the judges was fpared till the morrow.

Having thus gained time, I well pondered all which hath been before related, together with, If I were a traitor, to whom it was? The king himself, I found pursued both with men and sword, by an army of his own people; whofoever followed or adhered unto him, declared rebels and traitors; the queen, his royal confort, flying from place to place, like an exiled or banished woman; and, by Mr. Martin's, and divers the like fpeeches in the house of commons in England, that his facred majesty was not fit to bear the office of a king, and that he might be depofed; and much more to this effect, as may be seen in divers printed papers : which language in that place going unpunished, I could not conceive that the authors of fuch infolencies, or the fwaying malignant part of the ftate here, who from time to time took their directions from them, could adjudge any thing against his majesty treason. O, but I remember, that in a book of the king's, relating truly all the paffages, from the first of this parliament to the twelfth of Auguft, he complains of two great officers, lately fet up in England, who ufurped the regal power, the one is a general for the land, the other admiral of the sea: but to these I never owed allegiance, and fo confequently could be no traitor to them. I then began to confider the condition of this kingdom, as that the ftate did chiefly confift of men of mean birth and quality; that most of them fteered by the influence and power of those who were in arms against the king: that they had by cruel maffacring, hanging and torturing, been the flaughter of thousands of innocent men, women, and children, better fubjects than themselves; that they, by all their actions fhew, looked at nothing but the extirpating of this nati on, the deftruction of monarchy, and by the utter fuppreffing of the ancient catholic religion, to fettle and establish puritaniẩm. To thefe I could be no traitor. Near about the time of this my exigency, I was much cheared by a vifit I received from Sir Arthur Loftus, fon to Sir Adam Loftus, a leading inftrument in all wicked defigns against his majesty, telling me (as joyful news) that the parliament had lately given the king a total overthrow; VOL. II.

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and that he was now reduced to foʻlow a condition, that by the next, we fhould certainly hear the king had fubmitted to the parliament, and till that were done, things would never do well. Here I took my refolution, with God's help, not tamely to die. butchered, and fo to have my innocency fmothered; but to preferve my life, I hoped more to the honour of God, and fervice of king Charles, and that by efcape. Now forasmuch, as the most immediate way into England was blocked up, I refolved upon a trial, to gain a paffage by Wexford into France, and from thence into England; conceiving, I fhould have been forthwith able to have put myfelf into a fum of money, to have borne my charges, by the fale of such plate, goods, and stock, as I had in the country: but I was not many hours out of Dublin, before I was purfued by fome troops of horse, Sir Arthur Loftus leading them, who that night came to my house in the county of Kildare, and mifling me, killed fome of my fervants, hurt divers, and, after having rifled the house, they set it, and all about it, on fire and befides all my fervants prifoners, they carried away more than the worth of five thousand pounds in plate, and other goods.

Here my wings being clipt, all that I had to carry me abroad, or keep me at home, being thus taken from me, together with the distractions in England, fo that I could make little or no ac count of my estate there; in this ftreight, I thought fit to apply myfelf to the great affembly of the kingdom of Ireland, who having given me full fatisfaction for their affembling, and that their taking arms was but natural, as to defend themselves and theirs from those aforefaid barbarous cruelties; and that they defired (as may appear by many of their inftruments in writing) nothing but the free exercise of their ancient religion, their just liberties, and the prefervation of this crown unto his majefty, I having fome intereft both in honour and eftate in the country, affociated myself with them; and they, after fome time that I was amongst them (more out of charity than merit in me) offered me the generalfhip of their horfe, of the province of Leinfter, which I thankfully accepted: and now in my colours bear this device, Sagittæ tuæ acute in corda inimicorum regis. For the executing whereof, I defire God no longer to profper my actions, than my heart, hand, fword, and prayers, fhall be readily and chearfully employed therein.

Having, with much trouble to the reader, endeavoured to vindicate myfelf in this remonftrance, I conceive it both proper and charitable, in this place, to labour to acquit him, who, I understand, hath unjustly fuffered for my fake, I mean sheriff Allen. The proteftant theriff Woodcock, to whofe custody only I was committed, went unpunished for my escape, as really he knew nothing thereof. But fheriff Allen being a catholick, who had no charge of me, nor acquaintance with me, other

than