declared, in his own and Clanrickard's name," that, "upon a. full examination of the whole proceedings of Preston and his army, they were most confident, that upon this engagement of theirs, they deserved to be trusted, as having originally never had any intention of hostility against his excellency; but on the contrary that they had purposely delayed and kept off from him the mischief that would otherwise long before have overwhelmed him. That if his excellency had expressed a confidence even in words, without engagement, he might have employed Preston's forces instantly, upon what other design he thought best; and have deferred the admitting any of them into his garrisons, until their service against the Nuncio's party, had confirmed his confidence in them. In short, that he could not, but with astonishment, receive the strange invective against them in his excellency's letter; wherein" adds his lordship, "all the reason of your dislike to the whole business seems to be founded."

CHAP. XV.

Ormond consents to the engagement.

THE marquis of Ormond, thus warmly and frequently im portuned, and perhaps ashamed totally to reject an expedient first moved by himself, condescended at last to write' two letters, one to general Preston ratifying and confirming the engagement made by him with Clanrickard; and the other to Clanrickard himself, which was to be shewn to Preston's officers and contained likewise his excellency's agreement to the engagement now mentioned, with some flattering expressions of his confidence in the valor and fidelity of these officers.*

1 See Cart. Orm. vol. iii. fol. 332.

• Clanrickard during this treaty with Preston, "found that Preston and his officers had been wrought on by two conclusions, which had been speciously infused into them; the first was, that the lord lieutenant was so great an enemy to their religion, that though they should obtain any conditions from the king to their advantage in that particular, he would oppose and not consent unto the same: the other, that the king was in the hands of the Scots, who were not like to approve that peace had been made, all of that nation in Ulster refusing to submit to it; and if they should be able to procure any order from his majesty to disavow it, the lord lieutenant

1

Soon after this, Ormond and Digby found means to inform the king of the conclusion of this engagement with general Preston, and of the breaking off of the late treaty with the English parliament. On which occasion his majesty sent his excellency the following letter of the 27th of December.

" ORMOND,2

"This is chiefly to confirm that which I wrote to you the 5th of this month, whereby I approved of what you have done, both concerning your London treaty and that with general Preston; shewing you, also, the great necessity of my affairs, that you should re-piece the peace with the Irish."

But the marquis of Ormond, instead of endeavoring to repiece his peace with the Irish (by which the Nuncio's and O'Nial's party only can be understood, because they alone were then unengaged) soon found a plausible pretence for breaking his engagement with Preston himself. We have already seen, that his obstinate refusal of the free exercise of religion to the confederates, was what principally delayed the conclusion of the peace, until it became both useless to his majesty and insecure to them. The case was much the same, with respect to his engagement with general Preston; his delay and unwillingness to ratify that engagement; Preston's knowledge, perhaps, that he was still carrying on this treaty with "those traitors of the covenant," the Scots of Ulster ; but above all, his not having

2 Id. ib. vol. ii. Append. fol. 13.

would undoubtedly obey it." Borl. Irish Reb. fol. 222. From Clarendon."This treaty was concluded about the end of November, 1646, at sir Nicholas White's castle, at Leixlip.”—Id. ib. fol 223.

In his letter of the 5th of that month, here referred to, his majesty says, "I really and heartily approve of all you have done hitherto, and in particular concerning Preston. But, for further directions, I can only say, that, upon no terms, you must submit to the C. W. C. K. and that you endeavor what you can, to re-piece your peace with the Irish." Warn. Irish Rebel. Nothing else can possibly be meant by the above cypher, consistently with the context, but the English parliament.-Warn. ib. † Ormond himself confessed, that he was negociating with the Scots in Ulster at the very time he was drawing out his forces to join gen. Preston, pursuant to this engagement, See Cart. Orm. vol. iii. fol. 569.—And in fact, this whole treaty with Preston on the part of Ormond, seems to have been a mere delusion; for on the 10th of November, 1646, on Digby's pressing

received any of Preston's forces into his garrisons as he promised he would, caused that general to suspect the sincerity of his professions of trust and confidence in him and his officers. These motives coinciding with the Nuncio's threatened censure, of which he was too scrupulously fearful, made him relapse, in shew at least, to his former connection with that dogmatical ecclesiastic. He, however, immediately apprised the marquis of Ormond of this change in his resolution,† by several letters and messages,3" lest his excellency (as he told him), who was then on his march to join him, might, by advancing too far, expose himself to some insult from the Nuncio's party." On this occasion, he assured his excellency,+ « that he would not have failed to meet him, according to their appointment, but that his commanders and the rest in general, were wholly withdrawn from their first resolution; that, however, he had caused notice

him to conclude it, he excuses himself by saying, " You know I cannot close with the Irish or any party of them, till there be an end of the treaty with the parliament, though to keep off the present danger I may discourse with them." Id. ib. fol 512.—And two days after the date of this letter, he writes to the same Digby, "I have not heard from my messenger employed to the Scots (in Ulster), but I hope well of his business." Id. ib. fol. 513.-Lord Digby writing to Ormond on this subject, says, you will have occasion to draw some of Preston's forces to Dublin, which, on my soul, you may rely on."-Id. ib. fol. 519.

Yet in his private treaty with these traitors of the covenant, he offered to receive part of their forces into Drogheda, with an assurance, that there, or “wheresoever they should chuse to be, they should be admitted to use their own form of service, and have their own ministers and a church assigned to them, saving the incumbent his right.”—Belling's MSS.

In the before-mentioned letter to general Preston, he, among other things, “ desires him and his officers to believe that he would employ him and them in all trusts, both in the field and in his garrisons, with as much freedom and assurance as he would any whatsoever."—Cart. Orm. vol. iii.

332.

Rather his officers' resolution: for the words of his letter to Clanrickard on this occasion are to this effect," that his officers, not being excommunication-proof, were fallen from him to the Nuncio's party; and therefore he wished that the lord lieutenant would proceed no further, but expect the issue of a general assembly that would be shortly convened at Kilkenny, where he doubted not but that things would be set right by the consent of the whole kingdom, which he said would be much better for his majesty's service, than to attempt forcing the peace on those who were averse to it."-Borl. Hist. fol. 224, Claren.

to be given to his excellency in a second letter, two hours after the former, by an express messenger, that his excellency might not advance further, on doubtful uncertainties; whereby (adds he) your excellency may perceive how right my intentions have ever been and how studious I was to give you the means of avoiding inconvenience, by that intelligence." And indeed, of the rectitude of his intentions, and of his sincere and zealous attachment to his majesty's service, he soon after gave unquestionable, but melancholy proof. For the marquis of Ormond, having (as we shall presently see) shamefully surrendered his out-garrison to the parliament commissioners, began to repent of what he had done; and in concert with lord Digby, entered into a new, but secret treaty with the confederates, in order, by their assistance, to recover the possession of them; to which the confederates having readily agreed, "dispatched immedi`ate orders to general Preston to march his whole army, consisting of between seven and eight thousand men, into English quarters; which he accordingly did, took Naas and Maynooth by assault; and afterwards sat down before Trim; where, being attacked by Michael Jones, with superior forces from Dublin, he was totally defeated ;* having had four thousand men killed on the place, and almost all his commanders taken pri soners, himself hardly escaping."+

5 Leyburne's Memoirs, p. 60.

* In this battle, “there were slain upon the place, (says Borlase) five thousand four hundred and seventy (Irish); of our (adds he) some were wounded, but not above twenty slain.”—Irish Rebel. fol. 242,

This was called the battle of Dungan's-Hill, and it is somewhat remarkable, that although Preston then fought for the king against Jones, governor of Dublin, for the parliament, and that by the secret advice and instigation of Ormond and Digby, yet we find the following resolution of a committee, August 14th, 1697, in Jones's favor: "Resolved, that it is the opinion of this committee, that this house, by an address to their excellencies the lords justices, do recommend to them the signal services of Lieutenant-general Jones, in reducing the rebels, commanded by general Preston, at Dungan's-Hill, in the year 1647, to the obedience of England," (i. e. the rebel parliament of England.) Com. Jour. vol. ii. fol. 861. This was done to obtain some provision for his nephew, Dr. Michael Jones, then living, and in a poor condition; which was granted.-18.

+"General Preston had, after the restoration, conferred upon him by the king, the title of lord viscount Taragh, with £.800 a year in lands, to support the honor.”—Cart. Orm, vol. ii. fol. 64,

CHAP. XVI.

Ormond resumes his treaty with the English parliament.

2

HIS excellency either was, or affected to be, so much provoked by Preston's seeming tergiversation (for lord Digby was confident it was not real), "that he publicly resumed his treaty with the English parliament, (notwithstanding the king's late order forbidding him to submit to them, “on any terms,") offering to put his majesty's garrisons into their hands, upon the same conditions they had formerly proposed; which," as we have already observed from Mr. Carte, "no protestant could accept without forfeiting his allegiance." And in order to induce them, for the present, to give him the command of some of their men, provisions, and ammunition in Ulster, till they could send him more, he promised to deliver hostages for the performance of what he had undertaken; and 3 accordingly, on the 16th of March, 1646, he sent over as such, the earl of Roscommon, colonel Chichester, sir James Ware, and sir Richard Butler, afterwards earl of Arran, one of his own

sons.

Soon after this, Mr. Leyburne, under the assumed name of * Winter Grant, arrived in Ireland, with letters from the queen and prince, to the lord lieutenant. " After I had delivered (says that gentleman) such letters as I had for the marquis of Ormond, I said, I was sure they expressed civilities from the queen and prince, much better than I could; that, by my instructions, when decyphered, his lordship would find the confidence her majesty and the prince had in him; which was so great as no reports could shake, though we had, weekly, news of treaties with the parliament, for delivering up those places which were under his command. To which his lordship re

* Concerning this gentleman's arrival, lord Digby wrote to Ormond from Leixslip, May 12th, 1647, at two o'clock in the morning, what fol lows: "Mr. Grant is come hither this night with such dispatches to your excellency, as makes me think it necessary that I should wait upon you presently; but I think it not fit that he should come to you."-Cart. Orm. vol. iii. fol. 553.