in the hearts of his people, long before they brought him to the scaffold.

Neither were the miscreants content with blasting his Majesty's reputation during his life only, but pursued the same malice several years after his death; for in 1653 when they took Sir Phelim O'Neill prisoner, and got him condemned in Dublin by their high court of justice, although they looked upon him at the same time, as the chief promoter of all the murders they fancied to have been committed upon the Protestants in Ulster, which yet was so far from being true, that none could be more severe than himself upon those murderers, of whom he caused several to be hanged for their inhuman dealings; nevertheless, these implacable enemies of kings and kingly government, believing the gentleman undeniably guilty of all this bloodshed, offered him his life in case he would but own that the northern insurrection was acted by commission from King Charles the First. But he like a man of honour choosing rather to die with a safe conscience than basely to redeem his Jile by belying his innocent Prince in the grave, not only slighted the proposal, but publicly cleared his Majesty, even at the place of execution; As

my

Lord Maguire did some nine years before in London, notwithstanding all the offers and endeavours of the RUMP PARLIAMENT.

But to return from this melancholy digression, although the confederate Catholics had thus united themselves for their own preservation, yet they never intended to hold out against the King, or to disown

See his speech printed Anno. 1644.

of

disown their allegiance to him; and therefore finding by this time that the war was broke out between the King and parliament in England, and that his Majesty at last thought fit to lay aside their inveterate enemies, the parliametarian Lords Justices, and to appoint the Earl of Ormond LordLieutenant of the kingdom, they immediately concluded a cessation with him on the 15th September 1643, and furnished him with thirty thousand eight hundred pounds sterling to enable to transport into England the Protestant army then under his command, since to prove himself a more zealous Protestant than a wise or able minister of state, be refused the offer of their Catholic army, and would hardly allow them to send 2000 of their men into Scotland to reinforce the King's party there under the command of the Marquis of Montrose. Soon after, they dispatched the Lord Muskery Sir Nicholas Plunket, and others, into England to solicit his Majesty for redress of several grievances, relating as well to the Catholic religion, as to their temporal freedoms. These agents after a favourable hearing, were refe, red back to the Lord Lieutenant to whom his Majesty at the same time seriously recommended to come ade a peace with the confederate Catholics but pressed him afterwards, more earnestly, by severa fetters and messages, to make a speedy end of the war of Ireland, declaring that it his Irish subjects would be content with the free exercise of

eir own religion, and the repeal of Poyning's act, over and above a general amnesty for the past;

* The cessation concluded.

he

he would think it no hard bargain: adding with all, that he would have a peace concluded with them whatever it cost.

Ormond nevertheless, proved deaf to all this and never could be induced, notwithstanding hi; master's repeated commands, to conclude a peace with the Irish, who earnestly desired it, until the King's affairs were in a manner past retrieve in England, after the battle of Naseby, and the several other losses the royal party sustained that campaign. Then and not till then, could he be brought to, a treaty; and even in those very cir cumstances so unwilling he was to put an end to the war, that although the articles were agreed on in March following between him and certain commissioners appointed for that purpose, yet he puts off the exchanging of them for that time, and so deferred it from day to day, until the king finding his army in no condition to keep the field that summer, unfortunately put himself in the beginning of May 546, into the hands of the Scotch rebels then before Newark, by whom he was soon after prevailed upon to recall, by his letter to Ormond of the 11th of June from Newcastle, all the powers he had formerly given him for concluding a peace with the Irish. The supreme council of the confederate Catholics wondering at these delays, sent at last to Ormond about midsummer, to know his final resolution concerning the peace, who answered, that he could proceed no further, in that treaty because he had received his Majesty's commands to the contrary. Neverthe

The treaty called, the peace of 46.

less

less having upon second thoughts hit upon a new knack of policy for imposing upon the confederates he sends to them in some weeks after, and renews the treaty; for he considered, that he might on the one hand proceed to the exchange of the articles and get the peace proclaimed, because he was thereby sure to make himself master of all the strong holds then possessed by the Irish, and on the other hand, that he should not be concluded by it, if he found his interest the other way, because his power was recalled before the articles were exchanged; and upon this account he proceeds to conclude the peace, and gets it proclaimed in August following.

But the Pope's Nuncio, and the prelates then convened at Waterford, seeing that his Majesty had disowned the Earl of Clanmorgan's commission, and proceedings with them on which they solely relied, as to the affairs of the church, and finding no sufficient provision made in that peace for liberty of conscience or the Catholic Religion, they openly protested against it; and withal they issued forth a Comminatory Excommunication against the acceptors of it, as being guilty of wilful perjury because in the beginning of their association, an oath was framed for their better union, and taken by all the confederates, that none of them would accept of any terms of peace, without the consent of the rest, in a general assembly of the whole nation, which ordinarily met once a year, to settle all public affairs. This wrought

See Castlehaven's Memoira.

wrought so much upon the officers of the army, and the gentry of the whole kingdom, that the peace was generally rejected; whereupon Ormond, who in hopes of being received, pursuant to the peace, was come as far as Kilkenny, thought convenient to retire hastily to Dublin, soon after the general assembly of the confederates met, where the articles of the peace were fully examined, and after several debates, rejected for the reasons aforesaid; and the commissioners who concluded the same, as having exceeded their commission, were censured and imprisoned.

During these transactions the Scottish army were bargaining with the English parliament about the disposal of the King's person, to whom they sold him at last for two hundred thousand pounds Sterling on the eighth of February, 1646, and in a few months after, Ormond delivers up Dublin, the King's Sword, and all the Ensigns of royalty there, to commissioners from the parliament, for which good service he was presented by them in London with a Chain and Medal of Gold, together with 13000 Lib Sterl, in money, as the Earl of Anglesy, one of the Commissioners has since publickly averred.

In the mean time the confederate Catholics went on vigorously with the war against the parliamentarians, and possessed themselves entirely of all Ireland, except Dublin and Londonderry; and being informed that the King was made a close prisoner in England, and his son the Prince of Wales C forced

The peace of 48,