b army, or benefice in the church; but fwear thus, or you fhall have no house to put your head in, no bread to fuftain yourselves, your wives, and your children.” In the fame year (1652) the parliament commiffioners at Dublin, published a proclamation, figned Charles Fleetwood, Edmund Ludlow, and John Jones; printed by William Bladen; wherein the act of the 27th of Elizabeth was made of force in Ireland, and ordered to be most strictly put in execution. By this act," every Romish prieft, fo found, was deemed guilty of rebellion, and fentenced to be hanged until he was half dead; then to have his head taken off, and his body cut in quarters; his bowels to be drawn out and burnt; and his head fixed upon a pole in fome public place." The punishment of those who entertained a priest, was, by the fame act, confiscation of their goods and chattels, and the ignominious death of the gallows. This edict was renewed the fame year, with the additional cruelty of making even the private exercise of the Roman catholic religion, a capital crime. And again repeated in 1657, with the fame penalty, of confifcation and death to all those who knowing where a priest was hid, did not make difcovery to the government. Of the ftrict execution of thefe barbarous edicts, many fhocking examples were daily feen among these unhappy people, infomuch, that to use the words of a contemporary writer and eye witness, "neither the Ifraelites were more cruelly perfecuted by Pharaoh, nor the innocent infants by Herod, nor the Chriftians by Nero, or any of the other pagan tyrants, than were the Roman catholics of Ireland, at that fatal juncture, by these favage commiffioners." 4 The fame price (five pounds fterling) was fet by thefe commiffioners on the head of a Romish priest, and on that of a wolf; the number of which latter 4 Morriffon. Thren. p. 14. was Is not this the cafe, at this day, of the Irish catholics, with refpect to the operations of the prefent popery-laws? was then very confiderable in Ireland; and although the profeffion or character of a Romish priest could not, one would think, be fo clearly ascertained, as the fpecies of a wolf, by the meer inspection of their heads thus fevered from their bodies, yet he bare affeveration of the beheaders was, in both cafes, equally credited and rewarded by these commiffioners. So inveterate was their malice and hatred to that order of men! Many inftances might be produced of the barbarous iniquity of the courts of juftice; but I fhall mention only one, which was exhibited at the trial of Sir Phelim O'Nial, in February 1652, when an infamous attempt was made by his judges to blacken the memory of their deceased king, with the fame mock-appearance of justice, though not with the fame fuccefs with which their masters in England had lately murdered his royal perfon. Sir Phelim O'Nial, one of the principal leaders in the infurrection of 1641, confcious that nothing would more effectually induce the Irish to join in his defigns, than their belief that they were approved of and authorised by the king, counterfeited his majefty's commiffion for that purpofe; and having furprifed the caftle of Charlemount, he there found an old patent, the feal of which he ordered to be torn off, and affixed to that commiffion. The Irifh infurgents believed the authority real, and, therefore, entered heartily into his meafures. The English rebels, for a while, either believed, or pretended to believe, the fame; and from thence had taken occafion to heap infinite reproaches on the king, who thereby loft the affections of many of his otherwife well-difpofed fub jects. Such was the indifcriminate and glaring injuftice of these courts, that, although in different parts of Ireland, they contrived to condemn about two hundred perfons, as guilty of murder, on forged, corrupt, or no evidence; " yet in the northern province, which had been the great scene of barbarity, not one was brought to justice but-Sir Phelim O'Nial." Lel. Hift. vol. iii. p. 394. jects. Thus the fame credulity, real or affected, of these two contending parties, by increasing their numbers, equally anfwered their different purposes. But the motives, by which it operated in each, were very different; that of the infurgents being an honest, though misguided, intention of ferving his majesty against a factious and disloyal administration; and that of the others, an avowed defign to carry on and foment the rebellion against him. But the regicides, having now gotten into their hands the known author of the forgery, and imagining that he would not hesitate to accept of any conditions that might extricate him from his prefent dangerous fituation, expected to be able to convince the world, by his own teftimony, that he had levied and carried on that war, by a real commiffion from his majesty; hoping, by that means, to wipe away, or at least extenuate, their own guilt, in the late king's murder; as if they had only by that act, rid the world of the author and abettor of a rebellion, which they every where reprefented as moft odious and deteftable. Full of these hopes, they privately offered him his pardon, and the reftitution of his eftate, if he would make public confeffion and proof, of the genuineness and authenticity of this commiffion; but they being answered," that it was impoffible for him to do fo," refolved to try what the terror of their high court of justice would do; and therefore brought him to his trial,' where his judges publicly repeated the fame VOL. II. tempting F 5 Nalfon's Hiftoric. Colle. "By this artifice (fays a contemporary writer) they murdered the king in the hearts of his fubjects, by ftifling therein all fentiments of respect and duty, long before they brought him to the block." Sale and Settlement, &c. "He had been frequently folicited thereunto by fair promises and great rewards, while he was in prifon.' Carte's Orm. vol. ii. fol. 181. "Sir Richard Kennedy, made baron of the exchequer of Ireland by king Charles II. who attended Sir Phelim in prifon, as his counfel, ufed frequently to mention this as told him there by Sir Phelim, with great detestation of the offer." Id. ib. Note. tempting offer, and enforced it with fhameless importunity; but he perfifting refolutely in his denial of the fact, his fentence was deferred till the next day; and then again, for the fame reafon, poftponed to the third, in order, as his judges told him,' to give him time to reflect on their friendly propofal. But Sir Phelim ftill acquitting his majesty of having any hand in that commiffion, and even calling witneffes to prove, that he had himself fixed the feal to it in the manner beforementioned, sentence of death was pronounced against him. But even then they did not ceafe to tempt him; for at the very place of execution, and after he had mounted the ladder, Ludlow fent him an offer of his life, and eftate, if he would then accuse his majesty of having given him that commiffion. But he calmly anfwered," I thank the lieutenant general for his intended mercy; but I declare, good people, before God and his angels, and all you that hear me, that I never had any commiffion from the king, for what I have done, in levying and profecuting this war." More of his fpeech, fays Dean Ker, who was prefent at both his trial and execution, "I could not hear, the guards beating off those that stood near the place of execution." Dr. Sheridan, the deprived bishop of Kilmore, told Mr. Carte, May 20th, 1711, that he was present at the execution of Sir Phelim O'Nial in Ireland, for being the chief actor in the Irish maffacre; and that Colonel Hewfon coming towards the ladder, Sir Phelim made his public acknowledgments to him in a grateful manner, for the civil treatment he had met with during the whole • Nalfon's Hiftoric. Collect. "His trial (fays Mr. Carte) was drawn out into a length of feveral days, in hopes that the criminal might in that time be wrought upon to fave his life, by blackening the memory of the late king." Orm. vol. ii. fol. 181. "Lord Macguire, alfo, who was privy to all the tranfactions of the infurgents, denied it to the laft (in 1644), with more fenfe of confcience, (faith his majefty in his anfwer to the parliament's two laft papers concerning Ireland,) than they who examined him expected." Borl. Irish Rebel. fol. 45. whole course of his imprisonment; and only wished that his life had been taken from him in a more honourable manner. To this Colonel Hewfon anfwered, that he might fave his life if he pleased, only by declaring at that present to the people, that his first taking arms was by virtue of a commiffion under the broad feal of King Charles the first: but Sir Phelim replied, that he would not fave his life by fo base a lye, by do. ing fo great an injury to that prince. 'Tis true, he faid, that he might the better perfuade the people to come unto him, he took off an old feal from an old deed, and clapt it to a commiffion that he had forged, and fo perfuaded the people that what he did was by the king's authority, but he never really had any commiffion from the king. This, adds Mr. Carte, the bishop told me, he heard him fay.' Sir Phelim O'Nial is never mentioned in any hiftory of this infurrection, but as a monster of cruelty, perfidy, and rebellion. I mean not to represent him as quite innocent in any of these respects; but I am inclined to think, that these charges have been greatly aggravated in his particular; (for, fays Mr. Carte, "he had not the character of being an ill-natured man;"") as we find, they have certainly been, with regard to his associates in this war. At his trial he fervently declared," that divers outrages committed by his officers and foldiers, though contrary to his intention, preffed his confcience very much." h And indeed, his F 2 7 Macpherson's Hift. Great Britain, vol. iil. p. 280. 9 Ib. Carte. whole h" He declared, that his confcience was already oppreffed by the outrages of his followers, and that he could not add to the severity of his prefent feelings by an unjuft calumny of the king. Even at his execution, he was again tempted, and returned the answer above-mentioned aloud." Lel. Hift. of Irel. vol. iii. p. 395. "He is generally accufed of having given orders for the killing Lord Caulfield, on feizing his caftle of Charlemount; but he was on the contrary, fo highly provoked at that villainy, committed by fome of his brutal followers, that in February, 1642, having |