priest-catchers, discoverers, and informers, these commons had before taken care to resolve unanimously," "that the prosecuting and informing against papists, was an honorable service to the government." Such was the good faith, good sense, and avowed honor of those bigotted times!

How very different from this, has been the state and condition of the protestants in Germany, ever since the famous treaty of Munster, in 1648? which was concluded with them by the emperor Ferdinand, for liberty of religious worship; and guaranteed by their most christian and catholic majesties, and other Roman catholic princes and states in Italy and Germany. By this treaty," not only all their immunities, lands, territories, and dignities, together with the absolutely free and uncontrouled exercise of their religion, but also power to bear offices, and enjoy church livings, even bishoprics and archbishoprics were granted, and for ever secured to these protestants."

"From hence, it appears," to use the words of the same writer, "how unstudied those men are in the great book of the world, who think that popish princes will not go on in the course of their politics, though the pope should assume a temporal jurisdiction to obstruct them." Yet some there are, presuming to call themselves the only truet protestants, who, not 6 Com. Jour, f. 319. 7 Sir Peter Pet's Happy Future State of Engl. Pref.

8 Ib.

• "Informers (says a distinguished Law Lord in the British House of Peers) are an infamous and odious set of people; and in fact, the Irish pepery laws, and the construction put upon them by the Irish lawyers and courts of justice, are a confused heap of oppression and nonsense, and have very much contributed to corrupt the morals of the people of that country."

"And whereas another author among our brethren the dissenters, hath very justly complained, that by this persecuting test act, great numbers of true protestants have been forced to leave the kingdom, and fly to the plantations, rather than stand here branded with an incapacity for civil and military employments. We do affirm, that the catholics can bring many more instances of the same kind; some thousands of their religion having been forced by the sacramental test, to retire into other countries, rather than live here under the incapacity of wearing swords, sitting in parliament, and getting that share of power and profit which belongs to them as fellow christians, whereof they are deprived merely upon account of conscience, which would not allow them to take the sacrament after the

content with Roman catholics abjuring all civil power and temporal jurisdiction in popes over other princes, insist that it is absolutely necessary for the safety of every protestant govern, ment, under which they are suffered to live, that they should also renounce the pope's spiritual supremacy (the belief of which is an essential article of their religion, and has not the least connexion with, or relation to the temporal dominion of other princes); at the same time that those men, under a false notion of their christian liberty, and a strange presumption that they are authorised to interpret the scriptures in their own private sense, and to square their conduct accordingly, even in the highest political affairs, have themselves often usurped a spiritual authority (not controulable by any earthly power, as imagined to be founded on sacred writ), in virtue of which they have often excited, and afterwards justified, the most dan gerous tumults and commotions; I may say, the subversion of government, civil and ecclesiastical.

Persecution of the catholics in the reign of queen Anne.

DURING all queen Anne's reign, the inferior civil officers, by order of the government, were incessantly hampering the Roman catholics with oaths, imprisonments, and forfeitures, without any other visible cause, but that of their religious profession; but the conduct of these people was still found so blameless, that it sometimes made their very persecutors ashamed of their severity. In the year 1708, on the bare ru, mour of an intended invasion of Scotland by the pretender,* manner prescribed in the liturgy. Hence it clearly follows, in the words of the same author [Reasons against the Test], that if we catholics are incapable of employments, we are punished for our dissent, that is, for our conscience, which wholly turns upon political considerations.”—Swift's Works, vol. viii. p. 56-7.

* This persecution of the catholics of Ireland, had no other foundation but the pretender's being of the same religion with them; at the same time that the Irish presbyterians were highly favored by government; al, though it appears from Mr. Hook's authentic memoirs, that "the presby terians in the western and southern counties (of Scotland), namely, in

"no fewer than forty-one Roman catholic noblemen and gen tlemen were imprisoned in the castle of Dublin." And when they were afterwards set at liberty, "because they had acted nothing against the government," the state was so sensible of the wrong done them by their long and irksome confinement, "that it remitted their fees, though they amounted to eight hundred and odd pounds."

What pitiful occasions were then taken, from every trifling circumstance of their religion, to persecute the persons of these unhappy people, appears, among numberless other instances, from the following passage; which, however inconsiderable in itself, has acquired some weight and importance from the remarkable notice taken of it by the Irish commons. It seems there is a place of pilgrimage with them in the county of Meath, called St. John's well, which had been frequented every summer from time immemorial, by infirm men, women, and children of that persuasion, in hopes of being relieved from their several disorders, by performing certain acts of devotion and penance there. This the Irish commons deemed an object worthy of their most serious consideration, and a matter of the greatest national concern; and accordingly passed a vote, that these sickly devotees, "were assembled in that place to the great hazard and danger of the public peace, and safety of the kingdom." In consequence of which, fines, imprisonments, and whipping were made the penalties of "such Clydesdale, Nithsdale, Galloway, Air, Kirkudbright, with those of the provinces of Tiviotdale, Tweedale, and the Forest, were (at that juncture) resolved to take arms, and declare for the king (the pretender), and to raise 13,000 men, whom they were in a condition to be able to maintain; that they were ready to join themselves to the friends of the king, whe ther catholics or episcopals; that they would begin, and thereby give an opportunity to the rest to rise; and that they would put the strong castle of Dunbarton, on the river Clyde, into the hands of the person named by the king; that they had a correspondence with the north of Ireland, and were certain that the Scots who inhabit that province, would declare for them; that they were ready to declare unanimously for king James; that all they asked was liberty of conscience for themselves, as well as the catholics."-Hook's Mem. p. 40, 41, 42.

66

They are certain, that the inhabitants alone of the north of Ireland, who are Scots, will directly furnish 20,000 men, completely armed, under commander of great reputation among them, who has thereto engaged himself."-Id. ib. p. 4.

dangerous and tumultuous assemblies." A penance much more severe than, probably, these poor people intended to inflict on themselves; and from which they could hardly obtain any other cure of their disorders, but that never-failing one, death; which, in those times of religious rancour, frequently happened, by the extreme rigor of their punishment.

The scheme of the original framers of this law seems to have been, to drive the Roman catholic natives out of the kingdom* (which effect it certainly produced on great numbers), and to introduce foreign protestants in their room. Accordingly, in the year 1709, at the request of the lords and others of the council, eight hundred and twenty-one protestant Palatine families were brought over to Ireland, and the sum of twentyfour thousand eight hundred and fifty pounds, five shillings and sixpence, appointed for their maintenance, out of the revenue, on a resolution of the commons, "that it would much contribute to the security of the kingdom, if the said Palatines were encouraged and settled therein." But the error of that policy was soon after discovered; for the lords, in their address to the queen, in 1711, thankfully acknowledge, "that her majesty's early care had even prevented their own endeavors to free the nation of that load of debt, which the bringing over numbers of useless and indigent Palatinest had brought upon them." It is remarkable that only four, out of this great number of protestant strangers brought over for the security of the kingdom, enlisted in her majesty's army, though she was then actually engaged in a war with France.

* And even such of the Roman catholic natives, as were afterwards willing to return, were not permitted. For in 1713, the commons ordered, that "an address should be made to her majesty, to desire her, that she would be pleased not to grant licences to papists to return into the kingdom."-Com. Jour, vol. iii.

It was even dangerous for them to attempt, or endeavor to hear, what passed in the house of commons concerning themselves. For in the same year, an order was made there, “that the serjeant at arms should take into custody all papists, that were or should presume to come into the gal leries."-Ib. f. 976.

"In the same year the house of commons in England, says Burnet, came to a sudden vote, that those who had encouraged, and brought over the Palatines, were enemies to the nation. They even repealed a bill for the naturalization of all protestants, which had passed two years before, pretending that it gave the encouragement to the Palatines to come over."-Hist. of his own Times, vol. ii. f, 338.

CHAP. VII.

Penal laws of discovery and gavel-kind enacted.

IN May 1709, was introduced into the house of commons, by Mr. Serjeant Caulfield, a bill for explaining and amending an act, intitled an act to prevent the further growth of popery. This bill was passed and transmitted into Great Britain, in due form, on the 20th of June following, and got the royal assent from Thomas, earl of Wharton, lord lieutenant of Ireland, on the 30th of August in the same year.

As this second act to prevent the further growth of popery did, indeed, complete the misery of these people, without even the pretence of any recent provocation on their part; it will probably throw light on this dark and iniquitous transaction, to give some sketches of the character of that chief governor, by whose influence and management, this new calamity was brought upon them, which I shall now do from the account left us of him and his administration here, by that real and venerable patriot, Dr. Jonathan Swift, who was personally ac quainted with him.

"Thomas lord Wharton, by the force of a wonderful constitution, had passed, by some years, his grand climacteric, without any visible effects of old age, either on his body, or his mind; and in spite of a continual prostitution to those vices, which usually wear out both. His behaviour is in all the forms of a youg man at five and twenty; whether he walks, or whistles, or swears, or talks baudy, or calls names, he acquits himself in each beyond a templar of three years standing.-He goes constantly to prayers in the forms of his place, and will talk baudy or blasphemy at the chapel door. He is a presby. terian in politics, and an atheist in religion; he had imbibed his father's principles of government, and took up no other in its stead, excepting that circumstance, he is a firm presbyterian. It was confidently reported, as a conceit of his, that talking upon the subject of Irish bishops, he once said, with great plea. sure, he hoped to make his we a bp.

"He is perfectly skilled in all the arts of managing at elections, as well as in large baits of pleasure, for making converts of young men of quality, upon their first appearance; in which