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diff --git a/6633-0.txt b/6633-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..071a4ea --- /dev/null +++ b/6633-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15283 @@ + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Popular History of Ireland Volume 2, by Thomas D'Arcy McGee + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: A Popular History of Ireland Volume 2 + +Author: Thomas D'Arcy McGee + +Release Date: January 6, 2003 [EBook #6633] +Last updated: June 26, 2019 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A POPULAR HISTORY OF IRELAND *** + + + + +This etext was produced by Gardner Buchanan with help from +Charles Aldarondo and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + +A Popular + +History of Ireland: + + +from the + + +Earliest Period + +to the + + +Emancipation of the Catholics + + +by Thomas D'Arcy McGee + + + +In Two Volumes + + + + + +Volume II + + +CONTENTS—VOL. II + + + BOOK VIII. (Continued from Volume I) + CHAPTER IV.—Sir Henry Sidney's Deputyship—Parliament of +1569—The Second "Geraldine League"—Sir James Fitzmaurice + CHAPTER V.—The "Undertakers" in Ulster and Leinster—Defeat and +Death of Sir James Fitzmaurice + CHAPTER VI.—Sequel of the Second Geraldine League—Plantation of +Munster—Early Career of Hugh O'Neil, Earl of Tyrone—Parliament of +1585 + CHAPTER VII.—Battle of Glenmalure—Sir John Perrott's +Administration—The Spanish Armada—Lord Deputy +Fitzwilliam—Escape of Hugh Roe O'Donnell from Dublin Castle—The +Ulster Confederacy formed + CHAPTER VIII.—The Ulster Confederacy—Feagh Mac Hugh +O'Byrne—Campaign of 1595—Negotiations, English and +Spanish—Battle of the Yellow Ford—Its Consequences + CHAPTER IX.—Essex's Campaign of 1599—Battle of the Curlieu +Mountains—O'Neil's Negotiations with Spain—Mountjoy Lord Deputy + CHAPTER X.—Mountjoy's Administration—Operations in Ulster and +Munster—Carew's "Wit and Cunning"—Landing of Spaniards in the +South—Battle of Kinsale—Death of O'Donnell in Spain + CHAPTER XI.—The Conquest of Munster—Death of Elizabeth, and +Submission of O'Neil—"The Articles of Mellifont" + CHAPTER XII.—State of Religion and Learning during the Reign of Elizabeth + + BOOK IX. + CHAPTER I.—James I.—Flight of the Earls—Confiscation of +Ulster—Penal Laws—Parliamentary Opposition + CHAPTER II.—Last years of James—Confiscation of the Midland +Counties—Accession of Charles I.—Grievances and +"Graces"—Administration of Lord Strafford + CHAPTER III.—Lord Stafford's Impeachment and Execution—Parliament +of 1639-'41—The Insurrection of 1641—The Irish Abroad + CHAPTER IV.—The Insurrection of 1641 + CHAPTER V.—The Catholic Confederation—Its Civil Government and +Military Establishment + CHAPTER VI.—The Confederate War—Campaign of 1643—The +Cessation + CHAPTER VII.—The Cessation and its Consequences + CHAPTER VIII.—Glamorgan's Treaty—The New Nuncio +Rinuccini—O'Neil's Position—The Battle of Benburb + CHAPTER IX.—From the Battle of Benburb till the Landing of Cromwell at +Dublin + CHAPTER X.—Cromwell's Campaign—1649-1650 + CHAPTER XI.—Close of the Confederate War + CHAPTER XII.—Ireland under the Protectorate—Administration of +Henry Cromwell—Death of Oliver + + BOOK X. + CHAPTER I.—Reign of Charles II. + CHAPTER II.—Reign of Charles II. (Concluded) + CHAPTER III.—The State of Religion and Learning in Ireland during the +Seventeenth Century + CHAPTER IV.—Accession of James II.—Tyrconnell's Administration + CHAPTER V.—King James to Ireland—Irish Parliament of 1689 + CHAPTER VI.—The Revolutionary War—Campaign of 1639—Sieges of +Derry and Enniskillen + CHAPTER VII.—The Revolutionary War—Campaign of 1690—Battle +of the Boyne—Its Consequences—the Sieges of Athlone and Limerick + CHAPTER VIII.—The Winter of 1690-91 + CHAPTER IX.—The Revolutionary War—Campaign of 1691—Battle of +Aughrim—Capitulation of Limerick + CHAPTER X.—Reign of King William + CHAPTER XI.—Reign of Queen Anne + CHAPTER XII.—The Irish Soldiers Abroad, during the Reigns of William and +Anne + + BOOK XI. + CHAPTER I.—Accession of George I.—Swift's Leadership + CHAPTER II.—Reign of George II.—Growth of Public Spirit—The +"Patriot" Party—Lord Chesterfield's Administration + CHAPTER III.—The Last Jacobite Movement—The Irish Soldiers +Abroad—French Expedition under Thurot, or O'Farrell + CHAPTER IV.—Reign of George II. (Concluded)—Malone's Leadership + CHAPTER V.—Accession of George III.—Flood's +Leadership—Octennial Parliaments Established + CHAPTER VI.—Flood's Leadership—State of the Country between 1760 +and 1776 + CHAPTER VII.—Grattan's Leadership—"Free Trade" and the Volunteers + CHAPTER VIII.—Grattan's Leadership—Legislative and Judicial +Independence Established + CHAPTER IX.—The Era of Independence—First Period + CHAPTER X.—The Era of Independence—Second Period + CHAPTER XI.—The Era of Independence—Third Period—Catholic +Relief Bill of 1793 + CHAPTER XII.—The Era of Independence—Effects of the French +Revolution in Ireland—Secession of Grattan, Curran, and their Friends, +from Parliament, in 1797 + CHAPTER XIII.—The United Irishmen + CHAPTER XIV.—Negotiations with France and Holland—The Three +Expeditions Negotiated by Tone and Lewines + CHAPTER XV.—The Insurrection of 1798 + CHAPTER XVI.—The Insurrection of 1798—The Wexford Insurrection + CHAPTER XVII.—The Insurrection elsewhere—Fate of the Leading United +Irishmen + CHAPTER XVIII.—Administration of Lord Cornwallis—Before the Union + CHAPTER XIX.—Last Session of the Irish Parliament—The Legislative +Union of Great Britain and Ireland + + BOOK XII. + CHAPTER I.—After the Union—Death of Lord Clare—Robert +Emmet's Emeute + CHAPTER II.—Administration of Lord Hardwick (1801 to 1806), and of the +Duke of Bedford (1806 to 1808) + CHAPTER III.—Administration of the Duke of Richmond (1807 to 1813) + CHAPTER IV.—O'Connell's Leadership—1813 to 1821 + CHAPTER V.—Retrospect of the State of Religion and Learning during the +Reign of George III + CHAPTER VI.—The Irish Abroad, during the Reign of George III + CHAPTER VII.—O'Connell's Leadership—The Catholic +Association—1821 to 1825 + CHAPTER VIII.—O'Connell's Leadership—The Clare +Election—Emancipation of the Catholics + + + +HISTORY OF IRELAND + + + +BOOK VIII. +THE ERA OF THE REFORMATION. +(Continued from Volume I) + + + +CHAPTER IV. +SIR HENRY SIDNEY'S DEPUTYSHIP—PARLIAMENT OF 1569—THE SECOND "GERALDINE +LEAGUE"—SIR JAMES FITZ-MAURICE. + +Sir Henry Sidney, in writing to his court, had always reported John +O'Neil as "the only strong man in Ireland." Before his rout at Lough +Swilly, he could commonly call into the field 4,000 foot and 1,000 +horse; and his two years' revolt cost Elizabeth, in money, about +150,000 pounds sterling "over and above the cess laid on the +country"—besides "3,500 of her Majesty's soldiers" slain in battle. The +removal of such a leader in the very prime of life was therefore a +cause of much congratulation to Sidney and his royal mistress, and as +no other "strong man" was likely soon to arise, the Deputy now turned +with renewed ardour to the task of establishing the Queen's supremacy, +in things spiritual as well as temporal. With this view he urged that +separate governments, with large though subordinate military as well as +civil powers, should be created for Munster and Connaught—with +competent Presidents, who should reside in the former Province at +Limerick, and in the latter, at Athlone. In accordance with this +scheme—which continued to be acted upon for nearly a century—Sir Edward +Fitton was appointed first President of Connaught, and Sir John +Perrott, the Queen's illegitimate brother, President of Munster. +Leinster and Ulster were reserved as the special charge of the Lord +Deputy. + +About the time of O'Neil's death Sidney made an official progress +through the South and West, which he describes as wofully wasted by +war, both town and country. The earldom of the loyal Ormond was far +from being well ordered; and the other great nobles were even less +favourably reported; the Earl of Desmond could neither rule nor be +ruled; the Earl of Clancarty "wanted force and credit;" the Earl of +Thomond had neither wit to govern "nor grace to learn of others;" the +Earl of Clanrickarde was well intentioned, but controlled wholly by his +wife. Many districts had but "one-twentieth" of their ancient +population; Galway was in a state of perpetual defence. Athenry had but +four respectable householders left, and these presented him with the +rusty keys of their once famous town, which they confessed themselves +unable to defend, impoverished as they were by the extortions of their +lords. All this to the eye of the able Englishman had been the result +of that "cowardly policy, or lack of policy," whose sole maxims had +been to play off the great lords against each other and to retard the +growth of population, least "through their quiet might follow" future +dangers to the English interest. His own policy was based on very +different principles. He proposed to make the highest heads bow to the +supremacy of the royal sword—to punish with exemplary rigour every sign +of insubordination, especially in the great—and, at the same time, to +encourage with ample rewards, adventurers, and enterprises of all +kinds. He proposed to himself precisely the part Lord Stafford acted +sixty years later, and he entered on it with a will which would have +won the admiration of that unbending despot. He prided himself on the +number of military executions which marked his progress. "Down they go +in every corner," he writes, "and down they shall go, God willing!" He +seized the Earl of Desmond in his own town of Kilmallock; he took the +sons of Clanrickarde, in Connaught, and carried them prisoners to +Dublin. Elizabeth became alarmed at these extreme measures, and Sidney +obtained leave to explain his new policy in person to her Majesty. +Accordingly in October he sailed for England, taking with him the Earl +and his brother John of Desmond, who had been invited to Dublin, and +were detained as prisoners of State; Hugh O'Neil, as yet known by no +other title than Baron of Dungannon; the O'Conor Sligo, and other +chiefs and noblemen. He seems to have carried his policy triumphantly +with the Queen, and from henceforth for many a long year "the dulce +ways" and "politic drifts" recommended by the great Cardinal Statesman +of Henry VIII. were to give way to that remorseless struggle in which +the only alternative offered to the Irish was—uniformity or +extermination. Of this policy, Sir Henry Sidney may, it seems to me, be +fairly considered the author; Stafford, and even Cromwell were but +finishers of his work. One cannot repress a sigh that so ferocious a +design as the extermination of a whole people should be associated in +any degree with the illustrious name of Sidney. + +The triumphant Deputy arrived at Carrickfergus in September, 1568, from +England. Here he received the "submission," as it is called, of +Tirlogh, the new O'Neil, and turned his steps southwards in full +assurance that this chief of Tyrone was not another "strong man" like +the last. A new Privy Council was sworn in on his arrival at Dublin, +with royal instructions "to concur with" the Deputy, and 20,000 pounds +a year in addition to the whole of the cess levied in the country were +guaranteed to enable him to carry out his great scheme of the +"reduction." A Parliament was next summoned for the 17th of January, +1569, the first assembly of that nature which had been convened since +Lord Sussex's rupture with _his_ Parliament nine years before. + +The acts of this Parliament, of the 11th of Elizabeth, are much more +voluminous than those of the 2nd of the same reign. The constitution of +the houses is also of interest, as the earlier records of every form of +government must always be. Three sessions were held in the first year, +one in 1570, and one in 1571. After its dissolution, no Parliament sat +in Ireland for fourteen years—so unstable was the system at that time, +and so dependent upon accidental causes for its exercise. The first +sittings of Sidney's Parliament were as stormy as those of Sussex. It +was found that many members presented themselves pretending to +represent towns not incorporated, and others, officers of election, had +returned themselves. Others, again, were non-resident Englishmen, +dependent on the Deputy who had never seen the places for which they +claimed to sit. The disputed elections of all classes being referred to +the judges, they decided that non-residence did not disqualify the +latter class; but that those who had returned themselves, and those +chosen for non-corporate towns, were inadmissible. This double decision +did not give the new House of Commons quite the desired complexion, +though Stanihurst, Recorder of Dublin, the Court candidate, was chosen +Speaker. The opposition was led by Sir Christopher Barnewall, an able +and intrepid man, to whose firmness it was mainly due that a more +sweeping proscription was not enacted, under form of law, at this +period. The native Englishmen in the House were extremely unpopular out +of doors, and Hooker, one of their number, who sat for the deserted +borough of Athenry, had to be escorted to his lodgings by a strong +guard, for fear of the Dublin mob. The chief acts of the first session +were a subsidy, for ten years, of 13 shillings 4 pence for every +ploughland granted to the Queen; an act suspending Poyning's act for +the continuance of _that_ Parliament; an act for the attainder of John +O'Neil; an act appropriating to her Majesty the lands of the Knight of +the Valley; an act authorizing the Lord Deputy to present to vacant +benefices in Munster and Connaught for ten years; an act abolishing the +title of "Captain," or _ruler_ of counties or districts, unless by +special warrant under the great seal; an act for reversing the +attainder of the Earl of Kildare. In the sittings of 1570 and '71, the +chief acts were for the erection of free schools, for the preservation +of the public records, for establishing an uniform measure in the sale +of corn, and for the attainder of the White Knight, deceased. Though +undoubtedly most of these statutes strengthened Sidney's hands and +favoured his policy, they did not go the lengths which in his official +correspondence he advocated. For the last seven years of his connection +with Irish affairs, he was accordingly disposed to dispense with the +unmanageable machinery of a Parliament. Orders in council were much +more easily procured than acts of legislation, even when every care had +been taken to pack the House of Commons with the dependents of the +executive. + +The meeting of Parliament in 1569 was nearly coincident with the formal +excommunication of Elizabeth by Pope Pius V. Though pretending to +despise the bull, the Queen was weak enough to seek its revocation, +through the interposition of the Emperor Maximilian. The high tone of +the enthusiastic Pontiff irritated her deeply, and perhaps the +additional severities which she now directed against her Catholic +subjects, may be, in part, traced to the effects of the +excommunication. In Ireland, the work of reformation, by means of civil +disabilities and executive patronage, was continued with earnestness. +In 1564, all Popish priests and friars were prohibited from meeting in +Dublin, or even coming within the city gates. Two years later, _The +Book of Articles_, copied from the English Articles, was published, by +order of "the Commissioners for Causes Ecclesiastical." The articles +are twelve in number:—1. The Trinity in Unity; 2. The Sufficiency of +the Scriptures to Salvation; 3. The Orthodoxy of Particular Churches; +4. The Necessity of Holy Orders; 5. The Queen's Supremacy; 6. Denial of +the Pope's authority "to be more than other Bishops have;" 7. The +Conformity of the Book of Common Prayer to the Scriptures; 8. The +Ministration of Baptism does not depend on the Ceremonial; 9. Condemns +"Private Masses," and denies that the Mass can be a propitiatory +Sacrifice for the Dead; 10. Asserts the Propriety of Communion in Both +Kinds; 11. Utterly disallows Images, Relics and Pilgrimages; 12. +Requires a General Subscription to the foregoing Articles. With this +creed, the Irish Establishment started into existence, at the command +and, of course, with all the aid of the civil power. The Bishops of +Meath and Kildare, the nearest to Dublin, for resisting it were +banished their sees; the former to die an exile in Spain, the latter to +find refuge and protection with the Earl of Desmond. Several Prelates +were tolerated in their sees, on condition of observing a species of +neutrality; but all vacancies, if within the reach of the English +power, were filled as they occurred by nominees of the crown. Those who +actively and energetically resisted the new doctrines were marked out +for vengeance, and we shall see in the next decade how Ireland's martyr +age began. + +The honour and danger of organizing resistance to the progress of the +new religion now devolved upon the noble family of the Geraldines of +Munster, of whose principal members we must, therefore, give some +account. The fifteenth Earl, who had concurred in the act of Henry's +election, died in the year of Elizabeth's accession (1558), leaving +three sons, Gerald the sixteenth Earl, John, and James. He had also an +elder son by a first wife, from whom he had been divorced on the ground +of consanguinity. This son disputed the succession unsuccessfully, +retired to Spain, and there died. Earl Gerald, though one of the Peers +who sat in the Parliament of the second year of Elizabeth, was one of +those who strenuously opposed the policy of Sussex, and still more +strenuously, as may be supposed, the more extreme policy of Sidney. His +reputation, however, as a leader, suffered severely by the combat of +Affane, in which he was taken prisoner by Thomas, the tenth Earl of +Ormond, with whom he was at feud on a question of boundaries. By order +of the Queen, the Lord Deputy was appointed arbitrator in this case, +and though the decision was in favour of Ormond, Desmond submitted, +came to Dublin, and was reconciled with his enemy in the chapter house +of St. Patrick's. A year or two later, Gerald turned his arms against +the ancient rivals of his house—the McCarthys of Muskerry and +Duhallow—but was again taken prisoner, and after six months' detention, +held to ransom by the Lord of Muskerry. After his release, the old feud +with Ormond broke out anew—a most impolitic quarrel, as that Earl was +not only personally a favourite with the Queen, but was also nearly +connected with her in blood through the Boleyns. In 1567, as before +related, Desmond was seized by surprise in his town of Kilmallock by +Sidney's order, and the following autumn conveyed to London on a charge +of treason and lodged in the Tower. This was the third prison he had +lodged in within three years, and by far the most hopeless of the +three. His brother, Sir John of Desmond, through the representations of +Ormond, was the same year arrested and consigned to the same ominous +dungeon, from which suspected noblemen seldom emerged, except when the +hurdle waited for them at the gate. + +This double capture aroused the indignation of all the tribes of +Desmond, and led to the formidable combination which, in reference to +the previous confederacy in the reign of Henry, may be called "the +second Geraldine League." The Earl of Clancarty, and such of the +O'Briens, McCarthys, and Butlers, as had resolved to resist the +complete revolution in property, religion, and law, which Sidney +meditated, united together to avenge the wrongs of those noblemen, +their neighbours, so treacherously arrested and so cruelly confined. +Sir James, son of Sir Maurice Fitzgerald of Kerry, commonly called +James Fitz-Maurice, cousin-germain to the imprisoned noblemen, was +chosen leader of the insurrection. He was, according to the testimony +of an enemy, Hooker, member for Athenry, "a deep dissembler, passing +subtile, and able to compass any matter he took in hand; courteous, +valiant, expert in martial affairs." To this we may add that he had +already reached a mature age; was deeply and sincerely devoted to his +religion; and, according to the eulogist of the rival house of Ormond, +one whom nothing could deject or bow down, a scorner of luxury and +ease, insensible to danger, impervious to the elements, preferring, +after a hard day's fighting, the bare earth to a luxurious couch. + +One of the first steps of the League was to despatch an embassy for +assistance to the King of Spain and the Pope. The Archbishop of Cashel, +the Bishop of Emly, and James, the youngest brother of Desmond, were +appointed on this mission, of which Sidney was no sooner apprised than +he proclaimed the confederates traitors, and at once prepared for a +campaign in Munster. The first blow was struck by the taking of +Clogrennan Castle, which belonged to Sir Edmond Butler, one of the +adherents of the League. The attack was led by Sir Peter Carew, an +English adventurer, who had lately appeared at Dublin to claim the +original grant made to Robert Fitzstephen of the moiety of the kingdom +of Cork, and who at present commanded the garrison of Kilkenny. The +accomplished soldier of fortune anticipated the Deputy's movements by +this blow at the confederated Butlers, who retaliated by an abortive +attack on Kilkenny, and a successful foray into Wexford, in which they +took the Castle of Enniscorthy. Sidney, taking the field in person, +marched through Waterford and Dungarvan against Desmond's strongholds +in the vicinity of Youghal. After a week's siege he took Castlemartyr, +and continued his route through Barrymore to Cork, where he established +his head-quarters. From Cork, upon receiving the submission of some +timid members of the League, he continued his route to Limerick, where +Sir Edmond Butler and his brothers were induced to come in by their +chief the Earl of Ormond. From Limerick he penetrated Clare, took the +Castles of Clonoon and Ballyvaughan; he next halted some time at +Galway, and returned to Dublin by Athlone. Overawed by the activity of +the Deputy, many others of the confederates followed the example of the +Butlers. The Earl of Clancarty sued for pardon and delivered up his +eldest son as a hostage for his good faith; the Earl of Thomond—more +suspected than compromised—yielded all his castles, with the sole +exception of Ibrackan. But the next year, mortified at the +insignificance to which he had reduced himself, he sought refuge in +France, from which he only returned when the intercession of the +English ambassador, Norris, had obtained him full indemnity for the +past. Sir James Fitzmaurice, thus deserted by his confederates, had +need of all that unyielding firmness of character for which he had +obtained credit. Castle after castle belonging to his cousins and +himself was taken by the powerful siege trains of President Perrott; +Castlemaine, the last stronghold which commanded an outlet by sea, +surrendered after a three months' siege, gallantly maintained. The +unyielding leader had now, therefore, no alternative but to retire into +the impregnable passes of the Galtees, where he established his +head-quarters. This mountain range, towering from two to three thousand +feet over the plain of Ormond, stretches from north-west to south-east, +some twenty miles, descending with many a gentle undulation towards the +Funcheon and the Blackwater in the earldom of Desmond. Of all its +valleys Aharlow was the fairest and most secluded. Well wooded, and +well watered, with outlets and intricacies known only to the native +population, it seemed as if designed for a nursery of insurrection. It +now became to the patriots of the South what the valley of Glenmalure +had long been for those of Leinster—a fortress dedicated by Nature to +the defence of freedom. In this fastness Fitzmaurice continued to +maintain himself, until a prospect of new combinations opened to him in +the West. + +The sons of the Earl of Clanrickarde, though released from the custody +of Sidney, receiving intimation that they were to be arrested at a +court which Fitton, President of Connaught, had summoned at Galway, +flew to arms and opened negotiations with Fitzmaurice. The latter, +withdrawing from Aharlow, promptly joined them in Galway, and during +the campaign which followed, aided them with his iron energy and +sagacious counsel. They took and demolished the works of Athenry, and, +in part, those of the Court of Athlone. Their successes induced the +Deputy to liberate Clanrickarde himself, who had been detained a +prisoner in Dublin, from the outbreak of his sons. On his return—their +main object being attained—they submitted as promptly as they had +revolted, and this hope also being quenched, Fitzmaurice found his way +back again, with a handful of Scottish retainers, to the shelter of +Aharlow. Sir John Perrott, having by this time no further sieges to +prosecute, drew his toils closer and closer round the Geraldine's +retreat. For a whole year, the fidelity of his adherents and the +natural strength of the place enabled him to baffle all the President's +efforts. But his faithful Scottish guards being at length surprised and +cut off almost to a man, Fitzmaurice, with his son, his kinsman, the +Seneschal of Imokilly, and the son of Richard Burke, surrendered to the +President at Kilmallock, suing on his knees for the Queen's pardon, +which was, from motives of policy, granted. + +On this conclusion of the contest in Munster, the Earl of Desmond and +his brother, Sir John, were released from the Tower, and transferred to +Dublin, where they were treated as prisoners on parole. The Mayor of +the city, who was answerable for their custody, having taken them upon +a hunting party in the open country, the brothers put spurs to their +horses and escaped into Munster (1574). They were stigmatized as having +broken their parole, but they asserted that it was intended on that +party to waylay and murder them, and that their only safety was in +flight. Large rewards were offered for their capture, alive or dead, +but the necessities of both parties compelled a truce during the +remainder of Sidney's official career—which terminated in his +resignation—about four years after the escape of the Desmonds from +Dublin. Thus were new elements of combination, at the moment least +expected, thrown, into the hands of the Munster Catholics. + + + +CHAPTER V. +THE "UNDERTAKERS" IN ULSTER AND LEINSTER—DEFEAT AND DEATH OF SIR JAMES +FITZMAURICE. + +Queen Elizabeth, when writing to Lord Sussex of a rumoured rising by +O'Neil, desired him to assure her lieges at Dublin, that if O'Neil did +rise, "it would be for their advantage; for there will be estates for +them who want." The Sidney policy of treating Ireland as a discovered +country, whose inhabitants had no right to the soil, except such as the +discoverers graciously conceded to them—begat a new order of men, +unknown to the history of other civilized states, which order we must +now be at some pains to introduce to the reader. + +These "Undertakers," as they were called, differed widely from the +Norman invaders of a former age. The Norman generally espoused the +cause of some native chief, and took his pay in land; what he got by +the sword he held by the sword. But the Undertaker was usually a man of +peace—a courtier like Sir Christopher Hatton—a politician like Sir +Walter Raleigh—a poet like Edmund Spencer, or a spy and forger like +Richard Boyle, first Earl of Cork. He came, in the wake of war, with +his elastic "letters patent," or, if he served in the field, it was +mainly with a view to the subsequent confiscations. He was adroit at +finding flaws in ancient titles, skilled in all the feudal quibbles of +fine and recovery, and ready to employ the secret dagger where hard +swearing and fabricated documents might fail to make good his title. +Sometimes men of higher mark and more generous dispositions, allured by +the temptations of the social revolution, would enter on the same +pursuits, but they generally miscarried from want of what was then +cleverly called "subtlety," but which plain people could not easily +distinguish from lying and perjury. What greatly assisted them in their +designs was the fact that feudal tenures had never been general in +Ireland, so that by an easy process of reasoning they could prove +nineteen-twentieths of all existing titles "defective," according to +their notions of the laws of property. + +Sir Peter Carew, already mentioned, was one of the earliest of the +Undertakers. He had been bred up as page to the Prince of Orange, and +had visited the Courts of France, Germany, and Constantinople. He +claimed, by virtue of his descent from Robert Fitzstephen, the barony +of Idrone, in Carlow, and one half the kingdom of Desmond. Sir Henry +Sidney had admitted these pretensions, partly as a menace against the +Kavanaghs and Geraldines, and Sir Peter established himself at +Leighlin, where he kept great house, with one hundred servants, over +one hundred kerne, forty horse, a stall in his stable, a seat at his +board for all comers. He took an active part in all military +operations, and fell fighting gallantly on a memorable day to be +hereafter mentioned. + +After the attainder of John the Proud in 1569, Sir Thomas Smith, +Secretary to the Queen, obtained a grant of the district of the Ards of +Down, for his illegitimate son, who accordingly entered on the task of +its plantation. But the O'Neils of Clandeboy, the owners of the soil, +attacked the young Undertaker, who met a grave where he had come to +found a lordship. A higher name was equally unfortunate in the same +field of adventure. Walter Devereux, Earl of Essex (father of the Essex +still more unfortunate), obtained in 1573 a grant of one moiety of +Farney and Clandeboy, and having mortgaged his English estates to the +Queen for 10,000 pounds, associated with himself many other +adventurers. On the 16th of August, he set sail from Liverpool, +accompanied by the Lords Dacre and Rich, Sir Henry Knollys, the three +sons of Lord Norris, and a multitude of the common people. But as he +had left one powerful enemy at court in Leicester—so he found a second +at Dublin, in the acting deputy, Fitzwilliam. Though gratified with the +title of President of Ulster and afterwards that of Marshal of Ireland, +he found his schemes constantly counteracted by orders from Dublin or +from England. He was frequently ordered off from his head-quarters at +Newry, on expeditions into Munster, until those who had followed his +banner became disheartened and mutinous. The O'Neils and the Antrim +Scots harassed his colony and increased his troubles. He attempted by +treachery to retrieve his fortunes. Having invited the alliance of Con +O'Donnell, he seized that chief and sent him prisoner to Dublin. +Subsequently his chief opponent, Brian, lord of Clandeboy, paid him an +amicable visit, accompanied by his wife, brother, and household. As +they were seated at table on the fourth day of their stay, the soldiers +of Essex burst into the banquet hall, put them all, "women, youths and +maidens," to the sword. Brian and his wife were saved from the +slaughter only to undergo at Dublin the death and mutilation inflicted +upon traitors. Yet the ambitious schemes of Walter of Essex did not +prosper the more of all these crimes. He died at Dublin, two years +afterwards (1576), in the 36th year of his age, as was generally +believed from poison administered by the orders of the arch-poisoner, +Leicester, who immediately upon his death married his widow. + +It is apparent that the interest of the Undertakers could not be to +establish peace in Ireland so long as war might be profitably waged. +The new "English interest" thus created was often hostile to the +soundest rules of policy and always opposed to the dictates of right +and justice; but the double desire to conquer and to convert—to +anglicize and Protestantize—blinded many to the lawless means by which +they were worked out. The massacre of 400 persons of the chief families +of Leix and Offally, which took place at Mullaghmast in 1577, is an +evidence of how the royal troops were used to promote the ends of the +Undertakers. To Mullaghmast, one of the ancient raths of Leinster, +situated about five miles from Athy in Kildare, the O'Moores, O'Kellys, +Lalors, and other Irish tribes were invited by the local commander of +the Queen's troops, Francis Cosby. The Bowens, Hartpoles, Pigotts, +Hovendons, and other adventurers who had grants or designs upon the +neighbouring territory were invited to meet them. One of the Lalors, +perceiving that none of those who entered the rath before him emerged +again, caused his friends to fall back while he himself advanced alone. +At the very entrance he beheld the dead bodies of some of his +slaughtered kinsmen; drawing his sword, he fought his way back to his +friends, who barely escaped with their lives to Dysart. Four hundred +victims, including 180 of the name of O'Moore, are said to have fallen +in this deliberate butchery. Rory O'Moore, the chief of his name, +avenged this massacre by many a daring deed. In rapid succession he +surprised Naas, Athy, and Leighlin. From the rapidity with which his +blows were struck in Kildare, Carlow, and Kilkenny, he appeared to be +ubiquitous. He was the true type of a guerilla leader, yet merciful as +brave. While Naas was burning, he sat coolly at the market cross +enjoying the spectacle, but he suffered no lives to be taken. Having +captured Cosby, he did not, as might be expected, put him to death. His +confidence in his own prowess and resources amounted to rashness, and +finally caused his death. Coming forth from a wood to parley with a +party of the Queen's troops led by his neighbour, the Lord of Ossory, a +common soldier ran him through the body with a sword. This was on the +last day of June, 1578—a day mournful through all the midland districts +for the loss of their best and bravest captain. + +While these events occupied the minds and tongues of men in the North +and East, a brief respite from the horrors of war was permitted to the +province of Munster. The Earl of Desmond, only too happy to be +tolerated in the possession of his 570,000 acres, was eager enough to +testify his allegiance by any sort of service. His brothers, though +less compliant, followed his example for the moment, and no danger was +to be apprehended in that quarter, except from the indomitable James +Fitzmaurice, self-exiled on the continent. No higher tribute could be +paid to the character of that heroic man than the closeness with which +all his movements were watched by English spies, specially set upon his +track. They followed him to the French court, to St. Malo's (where he +resided for some time with his family), to Madrid, whence he sent his +two sons to the famous University of Alcala, and from Madrid to Rome. +The honourable reception he received at the hands of the French and +Spanish Sovereigns was duly reported; yet both being at peace with +England, his plans elicited no open encouragement from either. At Rome, +however, he obtained some material and much moral support. Here he +found many zealous advocates among the English and Irish refugees—among +them the celebrated Saunders, Allen, sometimes called Cardinal Alien, +and O'Mulrian, Bishop of Killaloe. A force of about 1,000 men was +enlisted at the expense of Pope Gregory XIII., in the Papal States, and +placed under an experienced captain, Hercules Pisano. They were shipped +at Civita Vecchia by a squadron under the command of Thomas Stukely, an +English adventurer, who had served both for and against the Irish +Catholics, but had joined Fitzmaurice in Spain and accompanied him to +Rome. On the strength of some remote or pretended relationship to the +McMurroghs, Stukely obtained from the Pope the titles of Marquis of +Leinster and Baron of Idrone and Ross; at Fitzmaurice's urgent +request—so it is stated—he was named Vice-Admiral of the fleet. The +whole expedition was fitted out at the expense of the Pope, but it was +secretly agreed that it should be supported, after landing in Ireland, +at the charge of Philip II. Fitzmaurice, travelling overland to Spain, +was to unite there with another party of adventurers, and to form a +junction with Stukely and Pisano on the coast of Kerry. So with the +Papal benediction gladdening his heart, and a most earnest exhortation +from the Holy Father to the Catholics of Ireland to follow his banner, +this noblest of all the Catholic Geraldines departed from Rome, to try +again the hazard of war in his own country. + +This was in the spring of the year 1579. Sir Henry Sidney, after many +years' direction of the government, had been recalled at his own +request; Sir William Drury was acting as Lord Justice; and Sir Nicholas +Malby as President of Munster. Expectation of the return of +Fitzmaurice, at the head of a liberating expedition, began to be rife +throughout the south and west, and the coasts were watched with the +utmost vigilance. In the month of June, three persons having landed in +disguise from a Spanish ship, at Dingle, were seized by government +spies, and carried before the Earl of Desmond. On examination, one of +them proved to be O'Haly, Bishop of Mayo, and another a friar named +O'Rourke; the third is not named. By the timid, temporizing Desmond, +they were forwarded to Kilmallock to Drury, who put them to every +conceivable torture, in order to extract intelligence of Fitzmaurice's +movements. After their thighs had been broken with hammers, they were +hanged on a tree, and their bodies used as targets by the brutal +soldiery. Fitzmaurice, with his friends, having survived shipwreck on +the coast of Galicia, entered the same harbour (Dingle) on the 17th of +July. But no tidings had yet reached Munster of Stukely and Pisano; and +his cousin, the Earl, sent him neither sign of friendship nor promise +of co-operation. He therefore brought his vessels round to the small +harbour of Smerwick, and commenced fortifying the almost isolated rock +of _Oilen-an-oir_—or golden island, so called from the shipwreck at +that point of one of Martin Forbisher's vessels, laden with golden +quartz, some years before. Here he was joined by John and James of +Desmond, and by a band of 200 of the O'Flaherties of Galway, the only +allies who presented themselves. These latter, on finding the expected +Munster rising already dead, and the much-talked-of Spanish auxiliary +force so mere a handful, soon withdrew in their own galleys, upon which +an English ship and pinnace, sweeping round from Kinsale, carried off +the Spanish vessels in sight of the powerless little fort. These +desperate circumstances inspired desperate councils, and it was decided +by the cousins to endeavour to gain the great wood of Kilmore, near +Charleville—in the neighbourhood of Sir James' old retreat among the +Galtee Mountains. In this march they were closely pursued by the Earl +of Desmond, either in earnest or in sham, and were obliged to separate +into three small bands, the brothers of the Earl retiring respectively +to the fastnesses of Lymnamore and Glenfesk, while Fitzmaurice, with "a +dozen horsemen and a few kerne," made a desperate push to reach the +western side of the Shannon, where he hoped, perhaps, for better +opportunity and a warmer reception. This proved for him a fatal +adventure. Jaded after a long day's ride he was compelled to seize some +horses from the plough, in the barony of Clanwilliam, in order to +remount his men. These horses were the property of his relative, Sir +William Burke, who, with his neighbour, Mac-I-Brien of Ara, pursued the +fugitives to within six miles of Limerick, where Fitzmaurice, having +turned to remonstrate with his pursuers, was fired at and mortally +wounded. He did not instantly fall. Dashing into the midst of his +assailants he cleft down the two sons of Burke, whose followers +immediately turned and fled. Then alighting from his saddle, the +wounded chief received the last solemn rites of religion from the hands +of Dr. Allen. His body was decapitated by one of his followers, that +the noble head might not be subjected to indignity; but the trunk being +but hastily buried was soon afterwards discovered, carried to +Kilmallock, and there hung up for a target and a show. This tragical +occurrence took place near the present site of "Barrington's bridge," +on the little river Mulkern, county of Limerick, on the 18th day of +August, 1579. In honour of his part in the transaction William Burke +was created Baron of Castleconnell, awarded a pension of 100 marks per +annum, and received from Elizabeth an autograph letter of condolence on +the loss of his sons: it is added by some writers that he died of joy +on the receipt of so many favours. Such was the fate of the glorious +hopes of Sir James Fitzmaurice. So ended in a squabble with churls +about cattle, on the banks of an insignificant stream, a career which +had drawn the attention of Europe, and had inspired with apprehension +the lion-hearted Queen. + +As to the expedition under Stukely, its end was even more romantic. His +squadron having put into the Tagus, he found the King of Portugal, Don +Sebastian, on the eve of sailing against the Moors, and from some +promise of after aid was induced to accompany that chivalrous Prince. +On the fatal field of Alcacar, Stukely, Pisano, and the Italians under +their command shared the fate of the Portuguese monarch and army. +Neither Italy nor Ireland heard of them more. + +Gregory XIII. did not abandon the cause. On the receipt of all these +ill-tidings he issued another Bull, highly laudatory of the virtues of +James Fitzmaurice "of happy memory," and granting the same indulgence +to those who would fight under John or James of Desmond, "as that which +was imparted to those who fought against the Turks for the recovery of +the Holy Land." This remarkable document is dated from Rome, the 13th +of May, 1580. + + + +CHAPTER VI. +SEQUEL OF THE SECOND GERALDINE LEAGUE—PLANTATION OF MUNSTER—EARLY +CAREER OF HUGH O'NEIL, EARL OF TYRONE—PARLIAMENT OF 1585. + +We must continue to read the history of Ireland by the light of foreign +affairs, and our chief light at this period is derived from Spain. The +death of Don Sebastian concentrated the thoughts of Philip II. on +Portugal, which he forcibly annexed to the Spanish crown. The progress +of the insurrection in the Netherlands also occupied so large a place +in his attention, that his projects against Elizabeth were postponed, +year after year, to the bitter disappointment of the Irish leaders. It +may seem far-fetched to assert, but it is not the less certainly true, +that the fate of Catholic Munster was intimately involved in the change +of masters in Portugal, and the fluctuations of war in the Netherlands, + +The "Undertakers," who had set their hearts on having the Desmond +estates, determined that the Earl and his brothers should not live long +in peace, however peaceably they might be disposed. The old trick of +forging letters, already alluded to, grew into a common and familiar +practice during this and the following reign. Such a letter, purporting +to be written by the Earl of Desmond—at that period only too anxious to +be allowed to live in peace—was made public at Dublin and London. It +was addressed to Sir William Pelham, the temporary Lord Justice, and +among other passages contained this patent invention—that he (the Earl +and his brethren) "had taken this matter in hand with great authority, +both from the Pope's holiness and King Philip, who do undertake to +further us in our affairs, as we shall need." It is utterly incredible +that any man in Desmond's position could have written such a +letter—could have placed in the hands of his enemies a document which +must for ever debar him from entering into terms with Elizabeth or her +representatives in Ireland. We have no hesitation, therefore, in +classing this pretended letter to Pelham with those admitted forgeries +which drove the unfortunate Lord Thomas Fitzgerald into premature +revolt, in the reign of Henry VIII. + +Sir John of Desmond had been nominated by the gallant Fitzmaurice in +his last moments as the fittest person to rally the remaining defenders +of religion and property in Munster. The Papal standard and benediction +were almost all he could bequeath his successor, but the energy of +John, aided by some favourable local occurrences, assembled a larger +force for the campaign of 1579 than had lately taken the field. Without +the open aid of the Earl, he contrived to get together at one time as +many as 2,000 men, amongst whom not the least active officer was his +younger brother, Sir James, hardly yet of man's age. Drs. Saunders and +Allen, with several Spanish officers, accompanied this devoted but +undisciplined multitude, sharing all the hardships of the men, and the +counsels of the chiefs. Their first camp, and, so to speak, the nursery +of their army, was among the inaccessible mountains of Slievelogher in +Kerry, where the rudiments of discipline were daily inculcated. When +they considered the time ripe for action, they removed their camp to +the great wood of Kilmore, near Charleville, from which they might +safely assail the line of communication between Cork and Limerick, the +main depots of Elizabeth's southern army. Nearly half-way between these +cities, and within a few miles of their new encampment, stood the +strong town of Kilmallock on the little river Lubach. This famous old +Geraldine borough, the focus of several roads, was the habitual +stopping place of the Deputies in their progress, as well as of English +soldiers on their march. The ancient fortifications, almost obliterated +by Fitzmaurice eleven years before, had been replaced by strong walls, +lined with earthworks, and crowned by towers. Here Sir William Drury +fixed his head-quarters in the spring of 1579, summoning to his aid all +the Queen's lieges in Munster. With a force of not less than 1,000 +English regulars under his own command, and perhaps twice that number +under the banner of the Munster "Undertakers" and others, who obeyed +the summons, he made an unsuccessful attempt to beat up the Geraldine +quarters at Kilmore. One division of his force, consisting of 300 men +by the Irish, and 200 by the English account, was cut to pieces, with +their captains, Herbert, Price, and Eustace. The remainder retreated in +disorder to their camp at Athneasy, a ford on the Morning Star River, +four miles east of Kilmallock. For nine weeks Drury continued in the +field, without gaining any advantage, yet so harassed day and night by +his assailants that his health gave way under his anxieties. Despairing +of recovery, he was removed by slow stages to Waterford—which would +seem to indicate that his communications both with Cork and Limerick +were impracticable—but died before reaching the first mentioned city. +The chief command in Munster now devolved upon Sir Nicholas Malby, an +officer who had seen much foreign service, while the temporary vacancy +in the government was filled by the Council at Dublin, whose choice +fell on Sir William Pelham, another distinguished military man, lately +arrived from England. + +Throughout the summer and autumn months the war was maintained, with +varying fortune on either side. In the combats of Gortnatibrid and +Enagbeg, in Limerick, the final success, according to Irish accounts, +was with the Geraldines, though they had the misfortune to lose +Cardinal Allen, Sir Thomas Fitzgerald and Sir Thomas Browne. Retiring +into winter quarters at Aharlow, they had a third engagement with the +garrison of Kilmallock, which attempted, without success, to intercept +their march. The campaign of 1580 was, however, destined to be +decisive. Sir John of Desmond, being invited to an amicable conference +by the Lord Barry, was entrapped by an English force under Captain +Zouch, in the woods surrounding Castle Lyons, and put to death on the +spot. The young Sir James had previously been captured on a foray into +Muskerry, and executed at Cork, so that of the brothers there now +remained but Earl Gerald, the next victim of the machinations which had +already proved so fatal to his family. Perceiving at length the true +designs cherished against him, the Earl took the field in the spring of +1580, and obtained two considerable advantages, one at Pea-field, +against the English under Roberts, and a second at Knockgraffon against +the Anglo-Irish, under the brothers of the Earl of Ormond, the recusant +members of the original league. Both these actions were fought in +Tipperary, and raised anew the hopes of the Munster Catholics. An +unsuccessful attempt on Adare was the only other military event in +which the Earl bore a part; he wintered in Aharlow, where his Christmas +was rather that of an outlaw than of the Lord Palatine of Desmond. In +Aharlow he had the misfortune to lose the gifted and heroic Nuncio, Dr. +Saunders, whose great services, at that period, taken together with +those of Cardinal Allen, long endeared the faithful English to the +faithful Irish Catholics. + +The sequel of the second Geraldine League may be rapidly narrated. In +September, 1580, the fort at Smerwick, where Fitzmaurice had landed +from Galicia, received a garrison of 800 men, chiefly Spaniards and +Italians, under Don Stephen San Joseph. The place was instantly +invested by sea and land, under the joint command of the new +Lieutenant, Lord Grey de Wilton, and the Earl of Ormond. Among the +officers of the besieging force were three especially notable men—Sir +Walter Raleigh, the poet Spenser, and Hugh O'Neil, afterwards Earl of +Tyrone, but at this time commanding a squadron of cavalry for her +Majesty Queen Elizabeth. San Joseph surrendered the place on +conditions; that savage outrage ensued, which is known in Irish history +as "the massacre of Smerwick." Raleigh and Wingfield appear to have +directed the operations by which 800 prisoners of war were cruelly +butchered and flung over the rocks. The sea upon that coast is deep and +the tides swift; but it has not proved deep enough to hide that horrid +crime, or to wash the stains of such wanton bloodshed from the memory +of its authors! + +For four years longer the Geraldine League flickered in the South. +Proclamations offering pardon to all concerned, except Earl Gerald and +a few of his most devoted adherents, had their effect. Deserted at +home, and cut off from foreign assistance, the condition of Desmond +grew more and more intolerable. On one occasion he narrowly escaped +capture by rushing with his Countess into a river, and remaining +concealed up to the chin in water. His dangers can hardly be paralleled +by those of Bruce after the battle of Falkirk, or by the more familiar +adventures of Charles Edward. At length, on the night of the 11th of +November, 1584, he was surprised with only two followers in a lonesome +valley about five miles distant from Tralee, among the mountains of +Kerry. The spot is still remembered, and the name of "the Earl's road" +transports the fancy of the traveller to that tragical scene. Cowering +over the embers of a half-extinct fire in a miserable hovel, the lord +of a country, which in time of peace had yielded an annual rental of +"40,000 golden pieces," was despatched by the hands of common soldiers, +without pity, or time, or hesitation. A few followers watching their +_creaghts_ or herds, farther up the valley, found his bleeding trunk +flung out upon the highway; the head was transported over seas, to rot +upon the spikes of London Tower. + +The extirpation of the Munster Geraldines, in the right line, according +to the theory of the "Undertakers" and the Court of England in general, +vested in the Queen the 570,000 acres belonging to the late Earl. +Proclamation was accordingly made throughout England, inviting "younger +brothers of good families" to undertake the plantation of Desmond—each +planter to obtain a certain scope of land, on condition of settling +thereupon so many families—"none of the native Irish to be admitted." +Under these conditions, Sir Christopher Hatton took up 10,000 acres in +Waterford; Sir Walter Raleigh 12,000 acres, partly in Waterford and +partly in Cork; Sir William Harbart, or Herbert, 13,000 acres in Kerry; +Sir Edward Denny 6,000 in the same county; Sir Warham, St. Leger, and +Sir Thomas Norris, 6,000 acres each in Cork; Sir William Courtney +10,000 acres in Limerick; Sir Edward Fitton 11,500 acres in Tipperary +and Waterford, and Edmund Spenser a modest 3,000 acres in Cork, on the +beautiful Blackwater. The other notable Undertakers were the Hides, +Butchers, Wirths, Berklys, Trenchards, Thorntons, Bourchers, +Billingsleys, &c., &c. Some of these grants, especially Raleigh's, fell +in the next reign into the ravening maw of Richard Boyle, the so-called +"_great_ Earl of Cork"—probably the most pious hypocrite to be found in +the long roll of the "Munster Undertakers." + +Before closing the present chapter, we must present to the reader, in a +formal manner, the personage whose career is to occupy the chief +remaining part of the present Book—Hugh O'Neil, best known by the title +of Earl of Tyrone. We have seen him in the camp of the enemies of his +country, learning the art of war on the shores of Dingle Bay—a witness +to the horrors perpetrated at Smerwick. We may find him later in the +same war—in 1584—serving under Perrott and Norris, along the Foyle and +the Bann, for the expulsion of the Antrim Scots. The following year, +for these and other good services, he received the patent of the +Earldom originally conferred on his grandfather, Con O'Neil, but +suffered to sink into abeyance by the less politic "John the Proud," in +the days when he made his peace with the Queen. The next year he +obtained from his clansmen the still higher title of O'Neil, and thus +he contrived to combine, in his own person, every principle of +authority likely to ensure him following and obedience, whether among +the clansmen of Tyrone, or the townsmen upon its borders. + +O'Neil's last official act of co-operation with the Dublin government +may be considered his participation in the Parliament convoked by Sir +John Perrott in 1585, and prorogued till the following year. It is +remarkable of this Parliament, the third and last of Elizabeth's long +reign, that it was utterly barren of ecclesiastical legislation, if we +except "an act against sorcery and witchcraft" from that category. The +attainder of the late Earl of Desmond, and the living Viscount of +Baltinglass, in arms with the O'Byrnes in Glenmalure, are the only +measures of consequence to be found among the Irish statutes of the +27th and 28th of Elizabeth. But though not remarkable for its +legislation, the Parliament of 1585 is conspicuously so for its +composition. Within its walls with the peers, knights, and burgesses of +the anglicized counties, sat almost all the native chiefs of Ulster, +Connaught, and Munster. The Leinster chiefs recently in arms, in +alliance with the Earl of Desmond, generally absented themselves, with +the exception of Feagh, son of Hugh, the senior of the O'Byrnes, and +one of the noblest spirits of his race and age. He appears not to have +had a seat in either House; but attended, on his own business, under +the protection of his powerful friends and sureties. + + + +CHAPTER VII. +BATTLE OF GLENMALURE—SIR JOHN PERROTT'S ADMINISTRATION—THE SPANISH +ARMADA—LORD DEPUTY FITZWILLIAM—ESCAPE OF HUGH ROE O'DONNELL FROM DUBLIN +CASTLE—THE ULSTER CONFEDERACY FORMED. + +In pursuing to its close the war in Munster, we were obliged to omit +the mention of an affair of considerable importance, which somewhat +consoled the Catholics for the massacre at Smerwick and the defeat of +the Desmonds. We have already observed that what Aharlow was to the +southern insurgents, the deep, secluded valley of Glenmalure was to the +oppressed of Leinster. It afforded, at this period, refuge to a +nobleman whose memory has been most improperly allowed to fall into +oblivion. This was James Eustace, Viscount Baltinglass, who had +suffered imprisonment in the Castle for refusing to pay an illegal tax +of a few pounds, who was afterwards made the object of a special, +vindictive enactment, known as "the Statute of Baltinglass," and was in +the summer of 1580, on his keeping, surrounded by armed friends and +retainers. His friend, Sir Walter Fitzgerald, son-in-law to the chief +of Glenmalure, and many of the clansmen of Leix, Offally and Idrone, +repaired to him at Slieveroe, near the modern village of Blessington, +from which they proceeded to form a junction with the followers of the +dauntless Feagh McHugh O'Byrne of Ballincor. Lord Grey, of Wilton, on +reaching Dublin in August of that year, obtained information of this +gathering, and determined to strike a decisive blow in Wicklow, before +proceeding to the South. All the chief captains in the Queen's +service—the Malbys, Dudleys, Cosbys, Carews, Moors—had repaired to meet +him at Dublin, and now marched, under his command, into the +neighbouring highlands. The Catholics, they knew, were concentrated in +the valley, on one of the slopes of which Lord Grey constructed a +strong camp, and then, having selected the fittest troops for the +service, gave orders to attack the Irish camp. Sir William Stanley, one +of the officers in command, well describes the upshot, in a letter to +Secretary Walshingham: "When we entered the glen," he writes, "we were +forced to slide, sometimes three or four fathoms, ere we could stay our +feet; it was in depth, where we entered, at least a mile, full of +stones, rocks, logs and wood; in the bottom thereof a river full of +loose stones, which we were driven to Cross divers times * * * * before +we were half through the glen, which is four miles in length, the enemy +charged us very hotly * * * * it was the hottest piece of service that +ever I saw, for the time, in any place." As might have been expected, +the assailants were repulsed with heavy loss; among the slain were Sir +Peter Carew, Colonel Francis Cosby of Mullaghmast memory, Colonel Moor, +and other distinguished officers. The full extent of the defeat was +concealed from Elizabeth, as well as it could be, in the official +despatches; but before the end of August private letters, such as we +have quoted, conveyed the painful intelligence to the court. The action +was fought on the 25th day of August. + +Lord Grey's deputyship, though it lasted only two years, included the +three decisive campaigns in the South, already described. At the period +of his recall—or leave of absence—the summer of 1582, that "most +populous and plentiful country," to use the forcible language of his +eloquent Secretary, Edmund Spenser, was reduced to "a heap of carcasses +and ashes." The war had been truly a war of extermination; nor did +Munster recover her due proportion of the population of the island for +nearly two centuries afterwards. + +The appointment of Sir John Perrott dates from 1583, though he did not +enter on the duties of Lord Deputy till the following year. Like most +of the public men of that age, he was both soldier and statesman. In +temper he resembled his reputed father, Henry VIII.; for he was +impatient of contradiction and control; fond of expense and +magnificence, with a high opinion of his own abilities for diplomacy +and legislation. The Parliament of 1585-6, as it was attended by almost +every notable man in the kingdom, was one of his boasts, though no one +seems to have benefited by it much, except Hugh O'Neil, whose title of +Earl of Tyrone was then formally recognized. Subordinate to Perrott, +the office of Governor of Connaught was held by Sir Richard +Bingham—founder of the fortunes of the present Earls of Lucan—and that +of President of Munster, by Sir Thomas Norris, one of four brothers, +all employed in the Queen's service, and all destined to lose their +lives in that employment. + +The most important events which marked the four years' administration +of Perrott were the pacification of Thomond and Connaught, the capture +of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, and the wreck of a large part of the Spanish +Armada, on the northern and western coasts. The royal commission issued +for the first-mentioned purpose exemplifies, in a striking manner, the +exigencies of Elizabeth's policy at that moment. The persons entrusted +with its execution were Sir Richard Bingham, the Earls of Thomond and +Clanrickarde; Sir Turlogh O'Brien, Sir Richard Bourke (the McWilliam), +O'Conor Sligo, Sir Brian O'Ruarc, and Sir Murrogh O'Flaherty. The chief +duties of this singular commission were, to fix a money rental for all +lands, free and unfree, in Clare and Connaught; to assess the taxation +fairly due to the crown also in money; and to substitute generally the +English law of succession for the ancient customs of Tanistry and +gavelkind. In Clare, from fortuitous causes, the settlement they +arrived at was never wholly reversed; in Connaught, the inhuman +severity of Bingham rendered it odious from the first, and the +successes of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, a few years later, were hailed by the +people of that province as a heaven-sent deliverance. + +The treacherous capture of this youthful chieftain was one of the +skilful devices on which Sir John Perrott most prided himself. Although +a mere lad, the mysterious language of ancient prophecy, which seemed +to point him out for greatness, give him consequence in the eyes of +both friends and foes. Through his heroic mother, a daughter of the +Lord of the Isles, he would naturally find allies in that warlike race. +His precocious prowess and talents began to be noised abroad, and +stimulated Perrott to the employment of an elaborate artifice, which, +however, proved quite successful. A ship, commanded by one Bermingham, +was sent round to Donegal, under pretence of being direct from Spain. +She carried some casks of Spanish wine, and had a crew of 50 armed men. +This ship dropped anchor off Rathmullen Castle on Lough Swilly, in +which neighbourhood the young O'Donnell—then barely fifteen—was staying +with his foster-father, McSweeny, and several companions of his own +age. The unsuspecting youths were courteously invited on board the +pretended Spanish ship, where, while they were being entertained in the +cabin, the hatches were fastened down, the cable slipped, the sails +spread to the wind, and the vessel put to sea. The threats and promises +of the astonished clansmen as they gathered to the shore were answered +by the mockery of the crew, who safely delivered their prize in Dublin, +to the great delight of the Lord Deputy and his Council. Five weary +years of fetters and privation the young captives were doomed to pass +in the dungeons of the Castle before they breathed again the air of +their native North. + +But now every ship that reached the English or Irish ports brought +tidings more and more positive of the immense armada which King Philip +was preparing to launch from the Tagus against England. The piratical +exploits of Hawkins and Drake against the Spanish settlements in +America, the barbarous execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the open +alliance of Elizabeth with the Dutch insurgents, all acted as +stimulants to the habitual slowness of the Spanish sovereign. Another +event, though of minor importance, added intensity to the national +quarrel. Sir William Stanley, whose account of the battle of Glenmalure +we lately quoted, went over to Philip with 1,300 English troops, whom +he commanded as Governor of Daventer, and was taken into the counsels +of the Spanish sovereign. The fleet for the invasion of England was on +a scale commensurate with the design. One hundred and thirty-five +vessels of war, manned by 8,000 sailors, and carrying 19,000 soldiers, +sailed from the Tagus, and after encountering a severe storm off Cape +Finesterre, re-assembled at Corunna. The flower of Spanish bravery +embarked in this fleet, named somewhat presumptuously "the invincible +armada." The sons of Sir James Fitzmaurice, educated at Alcala, Thomas, +son of Sir John of Desmond, with several other Irish exiles, laymen, +and ecclesiastics, were also on board. The fate of the expedition is +well known. A series of disasters befell it on the coasts of France and +Belgium, and finally, towards the middle of August, a terrific storm +swept the Spaniards northward through the British channel, scattering +ships and men helpless and lifeless on the coasts of Scotland, and even +as far north as Norway. On the Irish shore nineteen great vessels were +sunk or stranded. In Lough Foyle, one galleon, manned by 1,100 men, +came ashore, and some of the survivors, it is alleged, were given up by +O'Donnell to the Lord Deputy, in the vain hope of obtaining in return +the liberation of his son. Sir John O'Doherty in Innishowen, Sir Brian +O'Ruarc at Dromahaire, and Hugh O'Neil at Dungannon, hospitably +entertained and protected several hundreds who had escaped with their +lives. On the iron-bound coast of Connaught, over 2,000 men perished. +In Galway harbour, 70 prisoners were taken by the Queen's garrison, and +executed on St. Augustine's hill. In the Shannon, the crew of a +disabled vessel set her on fire, and escaped to another in the offing. +On the coasts of Cork and Kerry nearly one thousand men were lost or +cast away. In all, according to a state paper of the time, above 6,000 +of the Spaniards were either drowned, killed, or captured, on the +north, west, and southern coasts. A more calamitous reverse could not +have befallen Spain or Ireland in the era of the Reformation. + +It is worthy of remark that at the very moment the fear of the armada +was most intensely felt in England—the beginning of July—Sir John +Perrott was recalled from the government. His high and imperious +temper, not less than his reliance on the native chiefs, rather than on +the courtiers of Dublin Castle, had made him many enemies. He was +succeeded by a Lord Deputy of a different character—Sir William +Fitzwilliam—who had filled the same office, for a short period, +seventeen years before. The administration of this nobleman was +protracted till the year 1594, and is chiefly memorable in connection +with the formation of the Ulster Confederacy, under the leadership of +O'Neil and O'Donnell. + +Fitzwilliam, whose master passion was avarice, had no sooner been sworn +into the government than he issued a commission to search for treasure, +which the shipwrecked Spaniards were supposed to have saved. "In hopes +to finger some of it," he at once marched into the territory of O'Ruarc +and O'Doherty; O'Ruarc fled to Scotland, was given up by order of James +VI., and subsequently executed at London; O'Doherty and Sir John +O'Gallagher, "two of the most loyal subjects in Ulster," were seized +and confined in the Castle. An outrage of a still more monstrous kind +was perpetrated soon after on the newly elected chieftain of Oriel, +Hugh McMahon. Though he had engaged Fitzwilliam by a bribe of 600 cows +to recognize his succession, he was seized by order of the Deputy, +tried by a jury of common soldiers, on a trumped up charge of +"treason," and executed at his own door. Sir Harry Bagnal who, as +Marshal of Ireland, had his head-quarters at Newry, next to Fitzwilliam +himself, profited most by the consequent partition and settlement of +McMahon's vast estates. Emboldened by the impunity which attended such +high-handed proceedings, and instigated by the Marshal, Fitzwilliam +began to practise, against the ablest as well as the most powerful of +all the Northern chiefs, who had hitherto been known only as a courtier +and soldier of the Queen. This was Hugh O'Neil, Earl of Tyrone, another +of Sir Henry Sidney's "strong men," with the additional advantage of +being familiar from his youth with the character of the men he was now +to encounter. + +O'Neil, in the full prime of life, really desired to live in peace with +Elizabeth, provided he might be allowed to govern Ulster with all the +authority attached to his name. Bred up in England, he well knew the +immense resources of that kingdom, and the indomitable character of its +queen. A patriot of Ulster rather than of Ireland, he had served +against the Desmonds, and had been a looker on at Smerwick. To suppress +rivals of his own clan, to check O'Donnell's encroachments, and to +preserve an interest at the English Court, were the objects of his +earlier ambition. In pursuing these objects he did not hesitate to +employ English troops in Ulster, nor to accompany the Queen and her +Deputy to the service of the Church of England. If, however, he really +believed that he could long continue to play the Celtic Prince north of +the Boyne, and the English Earl at Dublin or London, he was soon +undeceived when the fear of the Spanish Armada ceased to weigh on the +Councils of Elizabeth. + +A natural son of John the Proud, called from the circumstances of his +birth "Hugh of the fetters," communicated to Fitzwilliam the fact of +Tyrone having sheltered the shipwrecked Spaniards, and employed them in +opening up a correspondence with King Philip. This so exasperated the +Earl, that, having seized the unfortunate Hugh of the fetters, he +caused him to be hanged as a common felon—a high-handed proceeding +which his enemies were expert in turning to account. To protect himself +from the consequent danger, he went to England in May, 1590, without +obtaining the license of the Lord Deputy, as by law required. On +arriving in London he was imprisoned, but, in the course of a month, +obtained his liberty, after signing articles, in which he agreed to +drop the Celtic title of O'Neil; to allow the erection of gaols in his +country; that he should execute no man without a commission from the +Lord Deputy, except in cases of martial law; that he should keep his +troop of horsemen in the Queen's pay, ready for the Queen's service, +and that Tyrone should be regularly reduced to shire-ground. For the +performance of these articles, which he confirmed on reaching Dublin, +he was to place sureties in the hands of certain merchants of that +city, or gentlemen of the Pale, enjoying the confidence of the Crown. +On such hard conditions his earldom was confirmed to him, and he was +apparently taken into all his former favour. But we may date the +conception of his latter and more national policy from the period of +this journey, and the brief imprisonment he had undergone in London. + +The "profound dissembling mind" which English historians, his +cotemporaries, attribute to O'Neil, was now brought into daily +exercise. When he discovered money to be the master passion of the Lord +Deputy, he procured his connivance at the escape of Hugh Roe O'Donnell +from Dublin Castle. On a dark night in the depth of winter the youthful +chief, with several of his companions, succeeded in escaping to the +hills in the neighbourhood of Powerscourt; but, exhausted and +bewildered, they were again taken, and returned to their dungeons. Two +years later, the heir of Tyrconnell was more fortunate. In Christmas +week, 1592, he again escaped, through a sewer of the Castle, with Henry +and Art O'Neil, sons of John the Proud. In the street they found +O'Hagan, the confidential agent of Tyrone, waiting to guide them to the +fastness of Glenmalure. Through the deep snows of the Dublin and +Wicklow highlands the prisoners and their guide plodded their way. +After a weary tramp they at length sunk down overwhelmed with fatigue. +In this condition they were found insensible by a party despatched by +Feagh O'Byrne; Art O'Neil, on being raised up, fell backward and +expired; O'Donnell was so severely frost-bitten that he did not recover +for many months the free use of his limbs. With his remaining companion +he was nursed in the recesses of Glenmalure, until he became able to +sit a horse, when he set out for home. Although the utmost vigilance +was exercised by all the warders of the Pale, he crossed the Liffey and +the Boyne undiscovered, rode boldly through the streets of Dundalk, and +found an enthusiastic welcome, first from Tyrone in Dungannon, and soon +after from the aged chief, his father, in the Castle of Ballyshannon. +Early in the following year, the elder O'Donnell resigned the +chieftaincy in favour of his popular son, who was, on the 3rd of May, +duly proclaimed the O'Donnell, from the ancient mound of Kilmacrenan. + +The Ulster Confederacy, of which, for ten years, O'Neil and O'Donnell +were the joint and inseparable leaders, was now imminent. Tyrone, by +carrying off, the year previous to O'Donnell's escape, the beautiful +sister of Marshal Bagnal, whom he married, had still further inflamed +the hatred borne to him by that officer. Bagnal complained bitterly of +the abduction to the Queen, charging, among other things, that O'Neil +had a divorced wife still alive. A challenge was in consequence sent +him by his new brother-in-law, but the cartel was not accepted. Every +day's events were hastening a general alliance between the secondary +chieftains of the Province and the two leading spirits. The O'Ruarc and +Maguire were attacked by Bingham, and successfully defended themselves +until the Lord Deputy and the Marshal also marched against them, +summoning O'Neil to their aid. The latter, feeling that the time was +not yet ripe, temporized with Fitzwilliam during the campaign of 1593, +and though in the field at the head of his horsemen, nominally for the +Queen, he seems to have rather employed his opportunities to promote +that Northern Union which he had so much at heart. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. +THE ULSTER CONFEDERACY—FEAGH MAC HUGH O'BYRNE—CAMPAIGN OF +1595—NEGOTIATIONS, ENGLISH AND SPANISH—BATTLE OF THE YELLOW FORD—ITS +CONSEQUENCES. + +In the summer of 1594 the cruel and mercenary Fitzwilliam was succeeded +by Sir William Russell, who had served the Queen, both in Ireland "and +in divers other places beyond sea, in martial affairs." In lieu of the +arbitrary exaction of county cess—so grossly abused by his +predecessor—the shires of the Pale were to pay for the future into the +Treasury of Dublin a composition of 2,100 pounds per annum, out of +which the fixed sum of 1,000 pounds was allowed as the Deputy's wages. +Russell's administration lasted till May, 1597. In that month he was +succeeded by Thomas, Lord Borough, who died in August following of the +wounds received in an expedition against Tyrone; after which the +administration remained in the hands of the Justices till the +appointment of the Earl of Essex. + +On the arrival of Russell, Tyrone for the last time ventured to appear +within the walls of Dublin. His influence in the city, and even at the +Council table, must have been considerable to enable him to enter the +gates of the Castle with so much confidence. He came to explain his +wrongs against the previous Deputy, to defend himself against Bagnal's +charges, and to discover, if possible, the instructions of Russell. If +in one respect he was gratified by a personal triumph over his +brother-in-law, in another he had cause for serious alarm, on learning +that Sir John Norris, brother of the President of Munster, a commander +of the highest reputation, was to be sent over under the title of Lord +General, with 2,000 veterans who served in Brittany, and 1,000 of a new +levy. He further learned that his own arrest had been discussed at the +Council, and, leaving Dublin precipitately, he hastened to his home at +Dungannon. All men's minds were now naturally filled with wars and +rumours of wars. + +The first blow was struck at "the firebrand of the mountains," as he +was called at Court, Feagh Mac Hugh O'Byrne. The truce made with him +expired in 1594, and his application for his renewal was not honoured +with an answer. On the contrary, his sureties at Dublin, Geoffrey, son +of Hugh, and his own son, James, were committed to close custody in the +Castle. His son-in-law, Sir Walter Fitzgerald, had been driven by +ill-usage, and his friendship for Lord Baltinglass, to the shelter of +Glenmalure, and this was, of course, made a ground of charge against +its chief. During the last months of 1594, Mynce, Sheriff of Carlow, +informed the Lord Deputy of warlike preparations in the Glen, and that +Brian Oge O'Rourke had actually passed to and fro through Dublin city +and county, as confidential agent between Feagh Mac Hugh and Tyrone. In +January following, under cover of a hunting party among the hills, the +Deputy, by a night march on Glenmalure, succeeded in surprising +O'Byrne's house at Ballincor, and had almost taken the aged chieftain +prisoner. In the flight, Rose O'Toole, his wife, was wounded in the +breast, and a priest detected hiding in a thicket was shot dead. Feagh +retired to Dromceat, or the Cat's-back Mountain—one of the best +positions in the Glen—while a strong force was quartered in his former +mansion to observe his movements. In April, his son-in-law, Fitzgerald, +was taken prisoner, near Baltinglass, in a retreat where he was laid up +severely wounded; in May, a party under the Deputy's command scoured +the mountains and seized the Lady Rose, who was attainted of treason, +and, like Fitzgerald, barbarously given up to the halter and the +quartering knife. Two foster-brothers of the chief were, at the same +time and in the same manner, put to death, and a large reward was +offered for his own apprehension, alive or dead. + +Hugh O'Neil announced his resort to arms by a vigorous protest against +the onslaught made on his friend O'Byrne. Without waiting for, or +expecting any answer, he surprised the fort erected on the Blackwater +which commanded the highway into his own territory. This fort, which +was situated between Armagh and Dungannon, about five miles distant +from either, served, before the fortification of Charlemont, as the +main English stronghold in that part of Ulster. The river Blackwater on +which it stood, from its source on the borders of Monaghan to its +outlet in Lough Neagh, watered a fertile valley, which now became the +principal theatre of war; for Hugh O'Neil, and afterwards for his +celebrated nephew, it proved to be a theatre of victory. General +Norris, on reaching Ireland, at once marched northward to recover the +fort lately taken. O'Neil, having demolished the works, retreated +before him; considering Dungannon also unfit to stand a regular siege, +he dismantled the town, burnt his own castle to the ground, having +first secured every portable article of value. Norris contented himself +with reconnoitring the Earl's entrenched camp at some distance from +Dungannon, and returned to Newry, where he established his +head-quarters. + +The campaign in another quarter was attended with even better success +for the Confederates. Hugh Roe O'Donnell, no longer withheld by the +more politic O'Neil, displayed in action all the fiery energy of his +nature. Under his banner he united almost all the tribes of Ulster not +enlisted with O'Neil; while six hundred Scots, led by MacLeod of Ara, +obeyed his commands. He first descended on the plains of +Annally-O'Farrell (the present county of Longford), driving the English +settlers before him: he next visited the undertaker's tenants in +Connaught, ejecting them from Boyle and Ballymoate, and pursuing them +to the gates of Tuam. On his return, the important town and castle of +Sligo, the property of O'Conor, then in England, submitted to him. Sir +Richard Bingham endeavoured to recover it, but was beaten off with +loss. O'Donnell, finding it cheaper to demolish than defend it, broke +down the castle and returned in triumph across the Erne. + +General Norris, having arranged his plan of campaign at Newry, +attempted to victual Armagh, besieged by O'Neil, but was repulsed by +that leader after a severe struggle. He, however, succeeded in throwing +supplies into Monaghan, where a strong garrison was quartered, and to +which O'Neil and O'Donnell proceeded to lay siege. While lying before +Monaghan they received overtures of peace from the Lord Deputy, who +continually disagreed with Sir John Norris as to the conduct of the +war, and lost no opportunity of thwarting his plans. He did not now +blush to address, as Earl of Tyrone, the man he had lately proclaimed a +traitor at Dublin, by the title of the son of a blacksmith. The Irish +leaders at the outset refused to meet the Commissioners—Chief Justice +Gardiner and Sir Henry Wallop, Treasurer-at-War—in Dundalk, so the +latter were compelled to wait on them in the camp before Monaghan. The +terms demanded by O'Neil and O'Donnell, including entire freedom of +religious worship, were reserved by the Commissioners for the +consideration of the Council, with whose sanction, a few weeks +afterwards, all the Ulster chiefs, except "the Queen's O'Reilly," were +formally tried before a jury at Dublin, and condemned as traitors. + +Monaghan was thrice taken and retaken in this campaign. It was on the +second return of General Norris from that town he found himself +unexpectedly in presence of O'Neil's army, advantageously posted on the +left bank of the little stream which waters the village of Clontibret. +Norris made two attempts to force the passage, but without success. Sir +Thomas Norris, and the general himself, were wounded; Seagrave, a +gigantic Meathian cavalry officer, was slain in a hand to hand +encounter with O'Neil; the English retreated hastily on Newry, and +Monaghan was again surrendered to the Irish. This brilliant combat at +Clontibret closed the campaign of 1595. General Norris, who, like Sir +John Moore, two centuries later, commanded the respect, and frankly +acknowledged the wrongs of the people against whom he fought, employed +the winter months in endeavouring to effect a reconciliation between +O'Neil and the Queen's Government. He had conceived a warm and +chivalrous regard for his opponent; for he could not deny that he had +been driven to take up arms in self-defence. At his instance a royal +commission to treat with the Earl was issued, and the latter cheerfully +gave them a meeting in an open field without the walls of Dundalk. The +same terms which he had proposed before Monaghan were repeated in his +_ultimatum_, and the Commissioners agreed to give him a positive answer +by the 2nd day of April. On that day they attended at Dundalk, but +O'Neil did not appear. The Commissioners delayed an entire fortnight, +addressing him in the interim an urgent remonstrance to come in and +conclude their negotiation. On the 17th of the month they received his +reasons for breaking off the treaty—the principal of which was, that +the truce had been repeatedly broken through by the English +garrisons—and so the campaign of 1596 was to be fought with renewed +animosity on both sides. + +Early in May the Lord Deputy made another descent on Ballincor, which +Feagh Mac Hugh had recovered in the autumn to lose again in the spring. +Though worn with years and infirm of body, the Wicklow chieftain held +his devoted bands well together, and kept the garrison of Dublin +constantly on the defensive. In the new chieftain of the O'Moores he +found at this moment a young and active coadjutor. In an affair at +Stradbally Bridge, O'Moore obtained a considerable victory, leaving +among the slain Alexander and Francis Cosby, grandsons of the commander +in the massacre at Mullaghmast. + +The arrival of three Spanish frigates with arms and ammunition in +Donegal Bay was welcome news to the Northern Catholics. They were +delivered to O'Donnell, who was incessantly in the field, while O'Neil +was again undergoing the forms of diplomacy with a new royal commission +at Dundalk. He himself disclaimed any correspondence with the King of +Spain, but did not deny that such negotiations might be maintained by +others. It is alleged that, while many of the chiefs had signed a +formal invitation to the Spanish King to assume their crown, O'Neil had +not gone beyond verbal assurances of co-operation with them. However +this may be, he resolved that the entire season should not be wasted in +words, so he attacked the strong garrison left in Armagh, and recovered +the primatial city. According to the Irish practice, he dismantled the +fortress, which, however, was again reconstructed by the English before +the end of the war. Some other skirmishes, of which we have no very +clear account, and which we may set down as of no decisive character, +terminated the campaign. + +In May, 1597, Lord Borough, who had distinguished himself in the +Netherlands, replaced Russell as Lord Deputy, and assumed the +command-in-chief, in place of Sir John Norris. Simultaneously with his +arrival Feagh Mac Hugh O'Byrne, was surprised in Glenmalure by a +detachment from Dublin, and slain; he died as he had lived, a hero and +a free man. O'Neil, who was warmly attached to the Wicklow chief, +immediately despatched such succour as he could spare to Feagh's sons, +and promised to continue to them the friendship he had always +entertained for their father. Against Tyrone the new Lord Deputy now +endeavoured to combine all the military resources at his disposal. +Towards the end of July, Sir Conyers Clifford was ordered to muster the +available force of Connaught at Boyle, and to march into Sligo and +Donegal. A thousand men of the Anglo-Irish were assembled at Mullingar, +under the command of young Barnewell of Trimbleston, who was instructed +to effect a junction with the main force upon the borders of Ulster. +The Lord Deputy, marching in force from Drogheda, penetrated, +unopposed, the valley of the Blackwater, and entered Armagh. From +Armagh he moved to the relief of the Blackwater fort, besieged by +O'Neil. At a place called Drumfliuch, where Battleford Bridge now +stands, Tyrone contrived to draw his enemies into an engagement on very +disadvantageous ground. The result was a severe defeat to the new +Deputy, who, a few days afterwards, died of his wounds at Newry, as his +second in command, the Earl of Kildare, did at Drogheda. Sir Francis +Vaughan, Sir Thomas Waller, and other distinguished officers, fell in +the same action, but the fort, the main prize of the combatants, +remained in English hands till the following year. O'Donnell, with +equal success, held Ballyshannon, compelled Sir Conyers Clifford to +raise the siege with the loss of the Earl of Thomond, and a large part +of his following. Simultaneously, Captain Richard Tyrrell of +West-Meath—one of O'Neil's favourite officers—having laid an ambuscade +for young Barnewell at the pass in West-Meath which now bears his name, +the Meathian regiment were sabred to a man. Mullingar and Maryborough +were taken and sacked, and in the North, Sir John Chichester, Governor +of Carrickfergus, was cut off with his troop by MacDonald of the Glens. + +These successes synchronize exactly with the expectation of a second +Spanish Armada, which filled Elizabeth with her old apprehensions. +Philip was persuaded again to tempt the fortune of the seas, and +towards the end of October his fleet, under the Adelantado of Castille, +appeared off the Scilly Islands, with a view to secure the Isle of +Wight, or some other station, from which to operate an invasion the +ensuing spring. Extraordinary means were taken for defence; the English +troops in France were recalled, new levies raised, and the Queen's +favourite, the young Earl of Essex, appointed to command the fleet, +with Raleigh and Lord Thomas Howard as Vice-Admirals. But the elements +again fought for the northern island; a storm, which swept the channel +for weeks, drove the English ships into their ports, but scattered +those of Spain over the Bay of Biscay. In this second expedition sailed +Florence Conroy, and other Irish exiles, who had maintained for years a +close correspondence with the Catholic leaders. Their presence in the +fleet, the existence of the correspondence, and the progress of the +revolt itself, will sufficiently account for the apparent vacillations +of English policy in Ulster in the last months of 1597. Shortly before +Christmas, Ormond, now Lord Lieutenant, accompanied by the Earl of +Thomond, attended only by their personal followers, visited Dungannon, +and remained three days in conference with O'Neil and O'Donnell. The +Irish chiefs reiterated their old demands: freedom of worship, and the +retention of the substantial power attached to their ancient rank. They +would admit Sheriffs, if they were chosen from among natives of their +counties, but they declined to give hostages out of their own families. +These terms were referred to the Queen's consideration, who, after much +protocoling to and fro, finally ratified them the following April, and +affixed the great seal to O'Neil's pardon. But Tyrone, guided by +intelligence received from Spain or England, or both, evaded the royal +messenger charged to deliver him that instrument, and as the late truce +expired the first week of June, devoted himself anew to military +preparations. + +In the month of June, 1598, the Council at Dublin were in a state of +fearful perplexity. O'Neil, two days after the expiration of the truce, +invested the fort on the Blackwater, and seemed resolved to reduce it, +if not by force, by famine. O'Donnell, as usual, was operating on the +side of Connaught, where he had brought back O'Ruarc, O'Conor Sligo, +and McDermot, to the Confederacy, from which they had been for a season +estranged. Tyrrell and O'Moore, leading spirits in the midland counties +were ravaging Ormond's palatinate of Tipperary almost without +opposition. An English reinforcement, debarked at Dungarvan, was +attacked on its march towards Dublin, and lost 400 men. In this +emergency, before which even the iron nerve of Ormond quailed, the +Council took the resolution of ordering one moiety of the Queen's +troops under Ormond to march south against Tyrrell and O'Moore; the +other under Marshal Bagnal, to proceed northward to the relief of the +Blackwater fort. Ormond's campaign was brief and inglorious. After +suffering a severe check in Leix, he shut himself up in Kilkenny, where +he heard of the disastrous fate of Bagnal's expedition. + +On Sunday, the 13th of August, the Marshal reached Newry with some +trifling loss from skirmishes on the route. He had with him, by the +best accounts, six regiments of infantry, numbering in all about 4,000 +men and 350 horse. After resting a day, his whole force marched out of +the city in three divisions; the first under the command of the Marshal +and Colonel Percy, the cavalry under Sir Calisthenes Brooke and +Captains Montague and Fleming; the rear guard under Sir Thomas +Wingfield and Colonel Cosby. The Irish, whose numbers, both mounted and +afoot, somewhat exceeded the Marshal's force, but who were not so well +armed, had taken up a strong position at Ballinaboy ("the Yellow +ford"), about two miles north of Armagh. With O'Neil were O'Donnell, +Maguire, and McDonnell of Antrim—all approved leaders beloved by their +men. O'Neil had neglected no auxiliary means of strengthening the +position. In front of his lines he dug deep trenches, covered over with +green sods, supported by twigs and branches. The pass leading into this +plain was lined by 500 kerne, whose Parthian warfare was proverbial. He +had reckoned on the headlong and boastful disposition of his opponent, +and the result showed his accurate knowledge of character. Bagnal's +first division, veterans from Brittany and Flanders, including 600 +curassiers in complete armour, armed with lances nine feet long, dashed +into the pass before the second and third divisions had time to come +up. The kerne poured in their rapid volleys; many of the English fell; +the pass was yielded, and the whole power of Bagnal debouched into the +plain. His artillery now thundered upon O'Neil's trenches, and the +cavalry, with the plain before them, were ordered to charge; but they +soon came upon the concealed pitfalls, horses fell, riders were thrown, +and confusion spread among the squadron. Then it was O'Neil in turn +gave the signal to charge; himself led on the centre, O'Donnell the +left, and Maguire, famous for horsemanship, the Irish horse. The +overthrow of the English was complete, and the victory most eventful. +The Marshal, 23 superior officers, with about 1,700 of the rank and +file fell on the field, while all the artillery baggage and 12 stand of +colours were taken: the Irish loss in killed and wounded did not exceed +800 men. "It was a glorious victory for the rebels," says the +cotemporary English historian, Camden, "and of special advantage: for +hereby they got arms and provisions, and Tyrone's name was cried up all +over Ireland as the author of their liberty." It may also be added that +it attracted renewed attention to the Irish war at Paris, Madrid, and +Rome, where the names of O'Neil and O'Donnell were spoken of by all +zealous Catholics with enthusiastic admiration. + +The battle was over by noon of the 15th of August; and the only effort +to arrest the flight of the survivors was made by "the Queen's +O'Reilly," who was slain in the attempt. By one o'clock the remnant of +the cavalry under Montague were in full career for Dundalk, closely +pressed by the mounted men of O'Hanlon. During the ensuing week the +Blackwater fort capitulated; the Protestant garrison of Armagh +surrendered; and were allowed to march south, leaving their arms and +ammunition behind. The panic spread far and wide; the citizens of +Dublin were enrolled to defend their walls; Lord Ormond continued shut +up in Kilkenny; O'Moore and Tyrrell, who entered Munster by O'Neil's +order, to kindle the elements of resistance, compelled the Lord +President to retire from Kilmallock to Cork. O'Donnell established his +head-quarters at Ballymoate, a dozen miles south of Sligo, which he had +purchased from the chieftain of Corran for 400 pounds and 300 cows. The +castle had served for thirteen years as an English stronghold, and was +found staunch enough fifty years later to withstand the siege trains of +Coote and Ludlow. From this point the Donegal chieftain was enabled to +stretch his arm in every direction over lower Connaught. The result +was, that before the end of the year 1598, nearly all the inhabitants +of Clanrickarde and the surrounding districts were induced, either from +policy or conviction, to give in their adhesion to the Northern +Confederacy. + + + +CHAPTER IX. +ESSEX'S CAMPAIGN OF 1599—BATTLE OF THE CURLIEU MOUNTAINS—O'NEIL'S +NEGOTIATIONS WITH SPAIN—MOUNTJOY, LORD DEPUTY. + +The last favourite of the many who enjoyed the foolish, if not guilty, +favours of Elizabeth was Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, son of that +unfortunate nobleman spoken of in a previous chapter as the +"undertaker" of Farney and Clandeboy. Born in 1567, the Earl had barely +reached the age of manhood when he won the heart of his royal mistress, +already verging on threescore. Gifted by nature with a handsome person, +undoubted courage, and many generous qualities, he exhibited, in the +most important transactions of life, the recklessness of a madman and +the levity of a spoiled child; it was apparent to the world that +nothing short of the personal fascination which he exercised over the +Queen could so long have preserved him from the consequences of his +continual caprices and quarrels. Such was the character of the young +nobleman, who, as was afterwards said, at the instigation of his +enemies, was sent over to restore the ascendancy of the English arms in +the revolted provinces. His appointment was to last during the Queen's +pleasure; he was provided with an army of 20,000 foot and 2,000 horse; +three-fourths of the ordinary annual revenue of England (340,000 pounds +out of 450,000 pounds) was placed at his disposal, and the largest +administrative powers, civil and military, were conferred on him. A new +plan of campaign in Ulster was decided upon at the royal council table, +and Sir Samuel Bagnal, brother of the late Marshal, and other +experienced officers, were to precede or accompany him to carry it into +execution. The main feature of this plan was to get possession by sea +and strongly fortify Ballyshannon, Donegal, Derry, and the entrance to +the Foyle, so as to operate at once in the rear of the northern chiefs, +as well as along the old familiar base of Newry, Monaghan, and Armagh. + +Essex, on being sworn into office at Dublin, on the 15th of April, +1599, immediately issued a proclamation offering pardon and restoration +of property to such of the Irish as would lay down their arms by a +given day, but very few persons responded to this invitation. He next +despatched reinforcements to the garrisons of Wicklow and Naas, menaced +by the O'Moores and O'Byrnes, and to those of Drogheda, Dundalk, Newry, +and Carrickfergus, the only northern strongholds remaining in +possession of the Queen. The principal operations, it had been agreed +before he left England, were to be directed against Ulster, but with +the waywardness which always accompanied him, he disregarded that +arrangement, and set forth, at the head of 7,000 men, for the opposite +quarter. He was accompanied in this march by the Earls of Clanrickarde +and Thomond, Sir Conyers Clifford, Governor of Connaught, and O'Conor +of Sligo, the only native chief who remained in the English ranks. In +Ormond he received the submission of Lord Mountgarrett, son-in-law to +Tyrone, and took the strong castle of Cahir from another of the +insurgent Butlers. After a halt at Limerick, he set out against the +Geraldines, who the previous year had joined the Northern league, at +the instance of Tyrrell and O'Moore. Although the only heir of the Earl +of Desmond was a prisoner, or ward of Elizabeth in England, James +Fitzgerald, son of Thomas Roe, son of the fifteenth Earl by that +marriage which had been pronounced invalid, assumed the title at the +suggestion of O'Neil, and was recognized as the Desmond by the greater +portion of the relatives of that family. Fitzmaurice, Lord of Lixnaw, +the Knight of Glynn, the White Knight, the Lord Roche, Pierce Lacy of +Buree and Bruff, the last descendant of Hugh de Lacy and the daughter +of Roderick O'Conor, with the McCarthys, O'Donohoes, O'Sullivans, +Condons, and other powerful tribes, were all astir to the number, as +Carew supposes, of 8,000 men, all emulous of their compatriots in the +North. Issuing from Limerick, Essex marched southward to strengthen the +stronghold of Askeaton, into which he succeeded, after a severe +skirmish by the way, in throwing supplies. Proceeding to victual Adare, +he experienced a similar check, losing among others Sir Henry Norris, +the third of those brave brothers who had fallen a victim to these +Irish wars. In returning to Dublin, by way of Waterford and Kildare, he +was assailed by O'Moore at a difficult defile, which, to this day, is +known in Irish as "the pass of the plumes" or feathers. The Earl forced +a passage with the loss of 500 lives, and so returned with little glory +to Dublin. + +The next military incident of the year transpired in the West. We have +spoken of O'Conor Sligo as the only native chief who followed Essex to +the South. He had been lately at the English Court, where he was +treated with the highest distinction, in order that he might be used to +impede O'Donnell's growing power in lower Connaught. On returning home +he was promptly besieged by the Donegal chief in his remaining castle +at Colooney, within five miles of Sligo. Essex, on learning this fact, +ordered Sir Conyers Clifford to march to the relief of O'Conor with all +the power he could muster. Clifford despatched from Galway, by sea, +stores and materials for the refortification of Sligo town, and set out +himself at the head of 2,100 men, drafted from both sides of the +Shannon, under twenty-five ensigns. He had under him Sir Alexander +Radcliffe, Sir Griffin Markham, and other experienced officers. Their +rendezvous, as usual, was the old monastic town of Boyle, about a day's +march to the south of Sligo. From Boyle, the highway led into the +Curlieu mountains, which divide Sligo on the south-east from Roscommon. +Here, in the strong pass of Ballaghboy, O'Donnell with the main body of +his followers awaited their approach. He had left the remainder, under +his cousin and brother-in-law, Nial Garve (or the _rough_), to maintain +the siege of Colooney Castle. O'Ruarc and the men of Breffni joined him +during the battle, but their entire force is nowhere stated. It was the +eve of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, and the first anniversary +of the great victory of the Yellow Ford. The night was spent by the +Irish in fasting and prayer, the early morning in hearing Mass, and +receiving the Holy Communion. The day was far advanced when the head of +Clifford's column appeared in the defile, driving in a barricade +erected at its entrance. The defenders, according to orders, discharged +their javelins and muskets, and fell back farther into the gorge. The +English advanced twelve abreast, through a piece of woodland, after +which the road crossed a patch of bog. Here the thick of the battle was +fought. Sir Alexander Radcliffe, who led the vanguard, fell early in +the action, and his division falling back on the centre threw them all +into confusion. O'Ruarc arriving with his men at the critical moment +completed the rout, and pursued the fugitives to the gates of Boyle. +The gallant Clifford, scorning to fly, was found among the slain, and +honourably interred by his generous enemies in the monastery of Lough +Key. On his head being shown to O'Conor at Colooney, he at once +surrendered to O'Donnell, and entered into the Northern Confederacy. +Theobald Burke, the commander of the vessels sent round from Galway to +fortify Sligo, also submitted to O'Donnell, and was permitted to return +to the port from which he had lately sailed, with very different +intentions. + +Essex, whose mind was a prey to apprehension from his enemies in +England had demanded reinforcements before he could undertake anything +against Ulster. It seems hardly credible that the 15,000 regular troops +in the country at his coming should be mostly taken up with garrison +duty, yet we cannot otherwise account for their disappearance from the +field. He asked for 2,000 fresh troops, and while awaiting their +arrival, sent a detachment of 600 men into Wicklow, who were repulsed +with loss by Phelim, son of Feagh, the new Chief of the O'Byrnes. Essex +was thrown into transports of rage at this new loss. The officers who +retreated were tried by court-martial, and, contrary to his usually +generous temper, the surviving men were inhumanly decimated. + +Early in September, the reinforcement he had asked for arrived with a +bitterly reproachful letter from the Queen. He now hastened to make a +demonstration against Tyrone, although, from some cause unexplained, he +does not seem to have drawn out the whole force at his disposal. From +Newry he proceeded northward towards Carrickfergus, with only 1,300 +foot and 300 horse. On the high ground to the north of the river Lagan, +overlooking Anaghclart Bridge, he found the host of O'Neil encamped, +and received a courteous message from their leader, soliciting a +personal interview. Essex at first declined, but afterwards accepted +the invitation, and at an appointed hour the two commanders rode down +to the opposite banks of the river, wholly unattended, the advanced +guard of each looking curiously on from the uplands. O'Neil spurred his +horse into the stream up to the saddle girth, and thus for an hour, +exposed to the generous but impulsive Englishman, the grievances of +himself and his compatriots. With all the art, for which he was +distinguished, he played upon his knowledge of the Earl's character: he +named those enemies of his own whom he also knew to be hostile to +Essex, he showed his provocations in the strongest light, and declared +his readiness to submit to her Majesty, on condition of obtaining +complete liberty of conscience, an act of indemnity to include his +allies in all the four Provinces; that the principal officers of state, +the judges, and one half the army should in future be Irish by birth. +This was, in effect, a demand for national independence, though the +Lord Lieutenant may not have seen it in that light. He promised, +however, to transmit the propositions to England, and within presence +of six principal officers of each side, agreed to a truce till the 1st +of May following. Another upbraiding letter from Elizabeth, which +awaited him on his return to Dublin, drove Essex to the desperate +resolution of presenting himself before her, without permission. The +short remainder of his troubled career, his execution in the Tower in +February, 1601, and Elizabeth's frantic lamentations, are familiar to +readers of English history. + +In presenting so comprehensive an ultimatum to Essex, O'Neil was +emboldened by the latest intelligence received from Spain. Philip II., +the life-long friend of the Catholics, had, indeed, died the previous +September, but one of the first acts of his successor, Philip III., was +to send envoys into Ireland, assuring its chiefs that he would continue +to them the friendship and alliance of his father. Shortly before the +conference at Anaghclart, a third Armada, under the Adelantado of +Castile, was awaiting orders in the port of Corunna, and England, for +the third time in ten years, was placed in a posture of defence. The +Spaniards sailed, but soon divided into two squadrons, one of which +passed down the British Channel unobserved, and anchored in the waters +of the Sluys, while the other sailed for the Canaries to intercept the +Hollanders. At the same time, however, most positive assurances were +renewed that an auxiliary force might shortly be expected to land in +Ireland in aid of the Catholics. The non-arrival of this force during +the fortunate campaign of 1599 was not much felt by the Catholics; and +was satisfactorily explained by Philip's envoys—but the mere fact of +the existence of the Spanish alliance gave additional confidence and +influence to the confederates. That fact was placed beyond all question +by the arrival of two Spanish ships laden with stores for O'Neil, +immediately after the interview with Essex. In the summer or autumn +ensuing, Mathew of Oviedo, a Spaniard, consecrated at Rome, Archbishop +of Dublin, brought over 22,000 crowns towards the pay of the Irish +troops, and a year afterwards, Don Martin de la Cerda was sent to +reside as envoy with Tyrone. + +The year 1600 was employed by Hugh O'Neil, after the manner of his +ancestors, who were candidates for the Kingship of Tara, in a +visitation of the Provinces. Having first planted strong garrisons on +the southern passes leading into Ulster, he marched at the head of +3,000 men into West-Meath, where he obliged Lord Delvin and Sir +Theobald Dillon to join the Confederation. From Meath he marched to +Ely, whose chief he punished for a late act of treachery to some Ulster +soldiers invited to his assistance. From Ely he turned aside to +venerate the relic of the Holy Cross, at Thurles, and being there he +granted his protection to the great Monastery built by Donald More +O'Brien. At Cashel he was joined by the Geraldine, whom he caused to be +recognized as Earl of Desmond. Desmond and his supporters accompanied +him through Limerick into Cork, quartering their retainers on the lands +of their enemies, but sparing their friends; the Earl of Ormond with a +corps of observation moving on a parallel line of march, but carefully +avoiding a collision. In the beginning of March the Catholic army +halted at Inniscarra, upon the river Lee, about five miles west of +Cork. Here O'Neil remained three weeks in camp consolidating the +Catholic party in South Munster. During that time he was visited by the +chiefs of the ancient Eugenian clans—O'Donohoe, O'Donovan, and +O'Mahoney: thither also came two of the most remarkable men of the +southern Province, Florence McCarthy, Lord of Carberry, and Donald +O'Sullivan, Lord of Bearehaven. McCarthy "like Saul, higher by the head +and shoulders than any of his house," had brain in proportion to his +brawn; O'Sullivan, as was afterwards shown, was possessed of military +virtues of a high order. Florence was inaugurated with O'Neil's +sanction as McCarthy More, and although the rival house of Muskerry +fiercely resisted his claim to superiority at first, a wiser choice +could not have been made had the times tended to confirm it. + +While at Inniscarra, O'Neil lost in single combat one of his most +accomplished officers, the chief of Fermanagh. Maguire, accompanied +only by a Priest and two horsemen, was making observations nearer to +the city than the camp, when Sir Warham St. Leger, Marshal of Munster, +issued out of Cork with a company of soldiers, probably on a similar +mission. Both were in advance of their attendants when they came +unexpectedly face to face. Both were famous as horsemen and for the use +of their weapons, and neither would retrace his steps. The Irish chief, +poising his spear, dashed forward against his opponent, but received a +pistol shot which proved mortal the same day. He, however, had strength +enough left to drive his spear through the neck of St. Leger, and to +effect his escape from the English cavalry. Saint Leger was carried +back to Cork where he expired; Maguire, on reaching the camp, had +barely time left to make his last confession, when he breathed his +last. This untoward event, the necessity of preventing possible +dissensions in Fermanagh, and still more, the menacing movements of the +new Deputy, lately sworn in at Dublin, obliged O'Neil to return home +earlier than he intended. Soon after reaching Dungannon he had the +gratification of receiving a most gracious letter from Pope Clement +VIII., together with a crown of phoenix feathers, symbolical of the +consideration with which he was regarded by the Sovereign Pontiff. + +A new Deputy had landed at Howth on the 24th of February, 1600, and was +sworn in at Dublin the day following. This was Charles Blount, Lord +Mountjoy, afterwards Earl of Devonshire, a nobleman now in his 37th +year. He had been the rival, the enemy, and the devoted friend of the +unfortunate Essex, whom he equalled in personal gifts, in courage, and +in gallantry, but far exceeded in judgment, firmness, and foresight. He +was one of a class of soldier-statesmen, peculiar to the second half of +Elizabeth's reign, who affected authorship and the patronage of letters +as a necessary complement to the manners of a courtier and commander. +On the 2nd of April, Mountjoy, still at Dublin, wrote to her Majesty +that the army had taken heart since his arrival, that he had no fear of +the loss of the country, but was more anxious for Connaught than any +other Province. He deplored the capture of Lord Ormond by the O'Moores, +but hoped, if God prospered her arms during the summer, either "to bow +or to break the crooked humours of these people." The three succeeding +years of peace granted to England—interrupted only by the mad _emeute_ +of Essex, and the silly intrigues of the King of Scotland—enabled +Elizabeth to direct all the energies of the State, which had so +immensely increased in wealth during her reign, for the subjugation of +the Irish revolt. + +The capture of Ormond by the O'Moores took place in the month of April, +at a place called Corroneduff, in an interview between the Earl, the +President of Munster, and Lord Thomond, on the one part, and the +Leinster Chief on the other. Ormond, who stood out from his party, had +asked to see the famous Jesuit, Father Archer, then with O'Moore. The +Priest advanced leaning on his staff, which, in the heat of a +discussion that arose, he raised once or twice in the air. The +clansmen, suspecting danger to the Jesuit, rushed forward and dragged +the Earl from his horse. Lord Thomond and the President, taking the +alarm, plied their spurs, and were but too glad to escape. Ormond +remained a prisoner from April to June, during which interval he was +received by Archer into the Church, to which he firmly adhered till the +day of his death. On his liberation he entered into bonds for 3,000 +pounds not to make reprisals, but Mountjoy took vengeance for him. The +fair, well-fenced, and well-cultivated land of Leix was cruelly ravaged +immediately after Ormond's release—the common soldiers cut down with +their swords "corn to the value of 10,000 pounds and upwards," and the +brave chief, Owny, son of Rory, having incautiously exposed himself in +an attack on Maryborough, was, on the 17th of August, killed by a +musket shot. + + + +CHAPTER X. +MOUNTJOY'S ADMINISTRATION—OPERATIONS IN ULSTER AND MUNSTER—CAREW'S "WIT +AND CUNNING"—LANDING OF SPANIARDS IN THE SOUTH—BATTLE OF KINSALE—DEATH +OF O'DONNELL IN SPAIN. + +The twofold operations against Ulster, neglected by Essex, were +vigorously pressed forward by the energetic Mountjoy. On the 16th of +May, a fleet arrived in Lough Foyle, having on board 4,000 foot and 200 +horse, under the command of Sir Henry Dowcra, with abundance of stores, +building materials, and ordnance. At the same moment, the Deputy forced +the Moira pass, and made a feigned demonstration against Armagh, to +draw attention from the fleet in the Foyle. This feint served its +purpose; Dowcra was enabled to land and throw up defensive works at +Derry, which he made his head-quarters, to fortify Culmore at the +entrance to the harbour, where he placed 600 men, under the command of +Captain Atford, and to seize the ancient fort of Aileach, at the head +of Lough Swilly, where Captain Ellis Flood was stationed with 150 men. +The attempt against Ballyshannon was, on a nearer view, found +impracticable, and deferred; the Deputy, satisfied that the lodgment +had been made upon Lough Foyle, retired to Dublin, after increasing the +garrisons at Newry, Carlingford, and Dundalk. The Catholic chieftains +immediately turned their attention to the new fort at Derry, appeared +suddenly before it with 5,000 men, but failing to draw out its +defenders, and being wholly unprovided with a siege train and +implements—as they appear to have been throughout—they withdrew the +second day, O'Donnell leaving a party in hopes to starve out the +foreigners. This party were under the command of O'Doherty, of +Innishowen, and Nial Garve O'Donnell, the most distinguished soldier of +his name, after his illustrious cousin and chief. On the 28th of June, +a party of the besieged, headed by Sir John Chamberlaine, made a sally +from the works, but were driven in with loss, and Chamberlaine killed. +On the 29th of July, O'Donnell, who had returned from his annual +incursion into Connaught and Thomond, seized the English cavalry +horses, and defeated the main force of the besieged, who had issued out +to their rescue. From this affair Dowcra was carried back wounded into +Derry. + +But treason was busy in the Irish camp and country among the +discontented members of the neighbouring clans. The election of chiefs +for life, always a fruitful source of bickering and envy, supplied the +very material upon which "the princely policie" of division, +recommended by Bacon to Essex, might be exercised. Dowcra succeeded in +the summer in winning over Art O'Neil, son of Turlogh, the early +adversary of the great Hugh; before the year was over, by bribes and +promises, he seduced Nial Garve, in the absence of his chief in +Connaught, and Nial, having once entered on the career of treason, +pursued it with all the dogged courage of his disposition. Though his +wife, sister to Red Hugh, forsook him, though his name was execrated +throughout the Province, except by his blindly devoted personal +followers, he served the English during the remainder of the war with a +zeal and ability to which they acknowledged themselves deeply indebted. +By a rapid march, at the head of 1,000 men, supplied by Dowcra, he +surprised the town of Lifford, which his new allies promptly fortified +with walls of stone, and entrusted to him to defend. Red Hugh, on +learning this alarming incident, hastened from the West to invest the +place. After sitting before it an entire month, with no other advantage +than a sally repulsed, he concluded to go into winter quarters. Arthur +O'Neil and Nial Garve had the dignity of knighthood conferred upon +them, and were, besides, recognized for the day by the English +officials as the future O'Neil and O'Donnell. In like manner, "a +Queen's Maguire" had been raised up in Fermanagh, "a Queen's O'Reilly" +in Cavan, and other chiefs of smaller districts were provided with +occupation enough at their own doors by the "princely policie" of Lord +Bacon. + +The English interest in Munster during the first year of Mountjoy's +administration had recovered much of its lost predominance. The new +President, Sir George Carew, afterwards Earl of Totness, was brother to +that knightly "undertaker" who claimed the moiety of Desmond, and met +his death at Glenmalure. He was a soldier of the new school, who prided +himself especially on his "wit and cunning," in the composition of +"sham and counterfeit letters." He had an early experience in the Irish +wars, first as Governor of Askeaton Castle, and afterwards as +Lieutenant General of the Ordnance. Subsequently he was employed in +putting England in a state of defence against the Spaniards, and had +just returned from an embassy to Poland, when he was ordered to join +Mountjoy with the rank of Lord President. He has left us a memoir of +his administration, civil and military, edited by his natural son and +Secretary, Thomas Stafford—exceedingly interesting to read both as to +matter and manner, but the documents embodied in which are about as +reliable as the speeches which are read in Livy. Some of them are +admitted forgeries; others are at least of doubtful authenticity. After +escaping with Lord Thomond from the scene of Ormond's capture, his +first act on reaching Cork was to conclude a month's truce with +Florence McCarthy. This he did, in order to gain time to perfect a plot +for the destruction of O'Neil's other friend, called in derision, by +the Anglo-Irish of Munster, the _sugane_ (or straw-rope) Earl of +Desmond. + +This plot, so characteristic of Carew and of the turn which English +history was about to take in the next reign, deserves to be +particularly mentioned. There was, in the service of the Earl, one +Dermid O'Conor, captain of 1,400 hired troops, who was married to lady +Margaret Fitzgerald, daughter to the late, and niece to the new-made +Earl of Desmond. This lady, naturally interested in the restoration of +her young brother, then the Queen's ward or prisoner at London, to the +title and estates, was easily drawn into the scheme of seducing her +husband from his patron. To justify and cloak the treachery a letter +was written by Carew to the _sugane_ Earl reminding him of _his_ +engagement to deliver up O'Conor; this _letter_, as pre-arranged, was +intercepted by the latter, who, watching his opportunity, rushed with +it open into the Earl's presence, and arrested him, in the name of +O'Neil, as a traitor to the Catholic cause! Anxious to finger his +reward—1,000 pounds and a royal commission for himself—before giving up +his capture, O'Conor imprisoned the Earl in the keep of Castle-Ishin, +but the White Knight, the Knight of Glynn, Fitzmaurice of Kerry, and +Pierce Lacy, levying rapidly 2,000 men, speedily delivered him from +confinement, while his baffled betrayer, crest-fallen and dishonoured, +was compelled to quit the Province. The year following he was attacked +while marching through Galway, and remorselessly put to death by +Theobald Burke, usually called Theobald of the ships. + +Another device employed to destroy the influence of O'Neil's Desmond +was the liberation of the young son of the late Earl from the Tower and +placing him at the disposal of Carew. The young nobleman, attended by a +Captain Price, who was to watch all his movements, landed at Youghal, +where he was received by the Lord President, the Clerk of the Council, +Mr. Boyle, afterwards Earl of Cork, and Miler Magrath, an apostate +ecclesiastic, who had been the Queen's Archbishop of Cashel. By his +influence with the warders, Castlemaine, in Kerry, surrendered to the +President. On reaching Kilmallock, he was received with such enthusiasm +that it required the effort of a guard of soldiers to make way for him +through the crowd. According to their custom the people showered down +upon him from the windows handfuls of wheat and salt—emblems of plenty +and of safety—but the next day, being Sunday, turned all this joy into +mourning, not unmingled with anger and shame. The young lord, who had +been bred up a Protestant by his keepers, directed his steps to the +English Church, to the consternation of the devoted adherents of his +house. They clung round him in the street and endeavoured to dissuade +him from proceeding, but he continued his course, and on his return was +met with hootings and reproaches by those who had hailed him with +acclamations the day before. Deserted by the people, and no longer +useful to the President, he was recalled to London, where he resumed +his quarters in the Tower, and shortly afterwards died. The capture of +the strong castle of Glynn from the knight of that name, and the +surrender of Carrigafoyle by O'Conor of Kerry, were the other English +successes which marked the campaign of 1600 in Munster. On the other +hand, O'Donnell had twice exercised his severe supremacy over southern +Connaught, burning the Earl of Thomond's new town of Ennis, and +sweeping the vales and plains of Clare, and of Clanrickarde, of the +animal wealth of their recreant Earls, now actively enlisted against +the national confederacy. + +The eventful campaign of 1601 was fought out in almost every quarter of +the kingdom. To hold the coast line, and prevent the advantages being +obtained, which the possession of Derry, and other harbours on Lough +Foyle gave them, were the tasks of O'Donnell; while to defend the +southern frontier was the peculiar charge of O'Neil. They thus fought, +as it were, back to back against the opposite lines of attack. The +death of O'Doherty, early in this year, threw the succession to +Innishowen into confusion, and while O'Donnell was personally +endeavouring to settle conflicting claims, Nial Garve seized on the +famous Franciscan monastery which stood at the head of the bay, within +sight of the towers of Donegal Castle. Hugh Roe immediately invested +the place, which his relative as stoutly defended. Three months, from +the end of June till the end of September, the siege was strictly +maintained, the garrison being regularly supplied with stores and +ammunition from sea. On the night of the 29th of September an explosion +of gunpowder occurred, and soon the monastery was wrapped in flames. +This was the moment chosen for the final attack. The glare of the +burning Abbey reflected over the beautiful bay, the darkness of night +all round, the shouts of the assailants, and the shrieks of the +fugitives driven by the flames upon the spears of their enemies, must +have formed a scene of horrors such as even war rarely combines. +Hundreds of the besieged were slain, but Nial Garve himself, with the +remainder, covered by the fire of an English ship in the harbour, +escaped along the strand to the neighbouring monastery of Magherabeg, +which he quickly put into a state of defence. All that was left to +O'Donnell of that monastery, the burial place of his ancestors, and the +chief school of his kinsmen, was a skeleton of stone, standing amid +rubbish and ashes. It was never re-inhabited by the Franciscans. A +group of huts upon the shore served them for shelter, and the ruined +chapel for a place of worship, while they were still left in the land. + +While Hugh Roe was investing Donegal Abbey the war had not paused on +the southern frontier. We have said that Mountjoy had made a second and +a third demonstration against Armagh the previous year; in one of these +journeys he raised a strong fort at the northern outlet of the Moira +pass, which he called Mount Norris, in honour of his late master in the +art of war. This work, strongly built and manned, gave him the free +_entree_ of the field of battle whenever he chose to take it. In June +of this year he was in the valley of the Blackwater, menaced O'Neil's +castle of Benburb, and left Sir Charles Danvers with 750 foot and 100 +horse in possession of Armagh. He further proclaimed a reward of 2,000 +pounds for the capture of Tyrone alive, or 1,000 pounds for his head. +But no Irishman was found to entertain the thought of that bribe. An +English assassin was furnished with passports by Danvers, and actually +drew his sword on the Earl in his own tent, but he was seized, +disarmed, and on the ground of insanity was permitted to escape. Later +in the summer Mountjoy was again on the Blackwater, where he laid the +foundation of Charlemont, called after himself, and placed 350 men in +the works under the command of Captain Williams, the brave defender of +the old fort in the same neighbourhood. There were thus quartered in +Ulster at this period the 4,000 foot and 400 horse under Dowcra, +chiefly on the Foyle, with whatever companies of Kerne adhered to +Arthur O'Neil and Nial Garve; with Chichester in Carrickfergus there +were 850 foot and 150 horse; with Danvers in Armagh, 750 foot and 100 +horse; in Mount Norris, under Sir Samuel Bagnal, 600 foot and 50 horse; +in and about Downpatrick, lately taken by the Deputy, under Moryson, +300 foot; in Newry, under Stafford, 400 foot and 50 horse; in +Charlemont, with Williams, 300 foot and 50 horse; or, in all, of +English regulars in Ulster alone, 7,000 foot and 800 horse. The +position of the garrisons on the map will show how firm a grasp +Mountjoy had taken of the Northern Province. + +The last scene of this great struggle was now about to shift to the +opposite quarter of the kingdom. The long-looked for Spanish fleet was +known to have left the Tagus—had been seen off the Scilly Islands. On +the 23rd of September the Council, presided over by Mountjoy, was +assembled in Kilkenny Castle: there were present Carew, Ormond, Sir +Richard Wingfield, Marshal of the Queen's troops, uncle to Carew, and +founder of the family of Powerscourt; also Chief Justice Gardiner, and +other members less known. While they were still sitting a message +arrived from Cork that the Spanish fleet was off that harbour, and soon +another that they had anchored in Kinsale, and taken possession of the +town without opposition. The course of the Council was promptly taken. +Couriers were at once despatched to call in the garrisons far and near +which could possibly be dispensed with for service in Munster. Letters +were despatched to England for reinforcements, and a winter campaign in +the South was decided on. + +The Spanish auxiliary force, when it sailed from the Tagus, consisted +originally of 6,000 men in fifteen armed vessels and thirty transports. +When they reached Kinsale, after suffering severely at sea, and parting +company with several of their comrades, the soldiers were reduced to +3,400 men—a number inferior to Dowcra's force on the Foyle. The +General, Don Jaun del Aguila, was a brave, but testy, passionate and +suspicious officer. He has been severely censured by some Irish writers +for landing in the extreme South, within fourteen miles of the English +arsenal and head-quarters at Cork, and for his general conduct as a +commander. However vulnerable he may be on the general charge, he does +not seem fairly to blame for the choice of the point of debarkation. He +landed in the old Geraldine country, unaware, of course, of the events +of the last few weeks, in which the _sugane_ Earl, and Florence +McCarthy, had been entrapped by Carew's "wit and cunning," and shipped +for London, from which they never returned. Even the northern chiefs, +up to this period, evidently thought their cause much stronger in the +South, and Munster much farther restored to vigour and courage than it +really was. To the bitter disappointment and disgust of the Spaniards, +only O'Sullivan Beare, O'Driscoll, and O'Conor of Kerry, declared +openly for them; while they could hear daily of chiefs they had been +taught to count as friends, either as prisoners or allies of the +English. On the 17th of October—three weeks from their first +arrival—they were arrested in Kinsale by a mixed army of English and +Anglo-Irish, 15,000 strong, under the command of the Deputy and +President, of whom above 5,000 had freshly arrived at Cork from +England. With Mountjoy were the Earls of Thomond and Clanrickarde, more +zealous than the English themselves for the triumph of England. The +harbour was blockaded by ten ships of war, under Sir Richard Leviston, +and the forts at the entrance, Rincorran and Castlenepark, being taken +by cannonade, the investment on all sides was complete. Don Juan's +messengers found O'Neil and O'Donnell busily engaged on their own +frontiers, but both instantly resolved to muster all their strength for +a winter campaign in Munster. O'Donnell _rendezvoused_ at Ballymote, +from which he set out, at the head of 2,500 men, of Tyrconnell and +Connaught, on the 2nd day of November. O'Neil, with McDonnell of +Antrim, McGennis of Down, McMahon of Monaghan, and others, his +suffragans, marched at the head of between 3,000 and 4,000 men, through +West-Meath towards Ormond. Holy Cross was their appointed place of +meeting, where they expected to be joined by such of the neighbouring +Catholics as were eager to strike a blow for liberty of worship. +O'Donnell reached the neighbourhood first, and encamped in a strongly +defensible position, "plashed on every quarter" for greater security. +Mountjoy, anxious to engage him before O'Neil should come up, detached +a numerically superior force, under Carew, for that purpose: but +O'Donnell, evacuating his quarters by night, marched over the mountain +of Slieve Felim, casting away much of his heavy baggage, and before +calling halt was 32 _Irish_ miles distant from his late encampment. +After this extraordinary mountain march, equal to 40 of our present +miles, he made a detour to the westward, descended on Castlehaven, in +Cork, and formed a junction with 700 Spaniards, who had just arrived to +join Del Aguila. A portion of these veterans were detailed to the forts +of Castlehaven, Baltimore, and Dunboy, commanding three of the best +havens in Munster; the remainder joined O'Donnell's division. + +During the whole of November the siege of Kinsale was pressed with the +utmost vigour by Mountjoy. The place mounted but three or four +effective guns, while 20 great pieces of ordnance were continually +playing on the walls. On the 1st of December a breach was found +practicable, and an assault made by a party of 2,000 English was +bravely repulsed by the Spaniards. The English fleet, ordered round to +Castlehaven on the 3rd, were becalmed, and suffered some damage from a +battery, manned by Spanish gunners, on the shore. The lines were +advanced closer towards the town, and the bombardment became more +effective. But the English ranks were considerably thinned by disease +and desertion, so that on the last day of December, when the united +Irish force took up their position at Belgoley, a mile to the north of +their lines, the Lord Deputy's effective force did not, it is thought, +exceed 10,000 men. The Catholic army has generally been estimated at +6,000 native foot and 500 horse; to these are to be added 300 +Spaniards, under Don Alphonso Ocampo, who joined O'Donnell at +Castlehaven. + +The prospect for the besiegers was becoming exceedingly critical, but +the Spaniards in Kinsale were far from being satisfied with their +position. They had been fully three months within walls, in a region +wholly unknown to them before their allies appeared. They neither +understood nor made allowance for the immense difficulties of a winter +campaign in a country trenched with innumerable swollen streams, thick +with woods, which, at that season, gave no shelter, and where camping +out at nights was enough to chill the hottest blood. They only felt +their own inconveniences: they were cut off from escape by sea by a +powerful English fleet, and Carew was already practising indirectly on +their commander his "wit and cunning," in the fabrication of rumours, +and the forging of letters. Don Juan wrote urgent appeals to the +northern chiefs to attack the English lines without another day's +delay, and a council of war, the third day after their arrival at +Belgoley, decided that the attack should be made on the morrow. This +decision was come to on the motion of O'Donnell, contrary to the +judgment of the more circumspect and far-seeing O'Neil. Overruled, the +latter acquiesced in the decision, and cheerfully prepared to discharge +his duty. + +A story is told by Carew that information was obtained of the intended +attack from McMahon, in return for a bottle of _aquavitae_ presented to +him by the President. This tale is wholly unworthy of belief, told of a +chief of the first rank, encamped in the midst of a friendly country. +It is also said—and it seems credible enough—that an intercepted letter +of Don Juan's gave the English in good time this valuable piece of +information. On the night of the 2nd of January, new style (24th of +December, O.S.—in use among the English), the Irish army left their +camp in three divisions, the vanguard led by Tyrrell, the centre by +O'Neil, and the rear by O'Donnell. The night was stormy and dark, with +continuous peals and flashes of thunder and lightning. The guides lost +their way, and the march, which, even by the most circuitous route, +ought not to have exceeded four or five miles, was protracted through +the entire night. At dawn of day, O'Neil, with whom were O'Sullivan and +Ocampo, came in sight of the English lines, and, to his infinite +surprise, found the men under arms, the cavalry in troop posted in +advance of their quarters. O'Donnell's division was still to come up, +and the veteran Earl now found himself in the same dilemma into which +Bagnal had fallen at the Yellow Ford. His embarrassment was perceived +from the English camp; the cavalry were at once ordered to advance. For +an hour O'Neil maintained his ground alone; at the end of that time he +was forced to retire. Of Ocampo's 300 Spaniards, 40 survivors were, +with their gallant leader, taken prisoners; O'Donnell at length +arrived, and drove back a wing of the English cavalry; Tyrrell's +horsemen also held their ground tenaciously. But the rout of the centre +proved irremediable. Fully 1,200 of the Irish were left dead on the +field, and every prisoner taken was instantly executed. On the English +side fell Sir Richard Graeme; Captains Danvers and Godolphin, with +several others, were wounded; their total loss they stated at 200, and +the Anglo-Irish, of whom they seldom made count in their reports, must +have lost in proportion. The Earls of Thomond and Clanrickarde were +actively engaged with their followers, and their loss could hardly have +been less than that of the English regulars. On the night following +their defeat, the Irish leaders held council together at Innishanon, on +the river Bandon, where it was agreed that O'Donnell should instantly +take shipping for Spain to lay the true state of the contest before +Philip III.; that O'Sullivan should endeavour to hold the Castle of +Dunboy, as commanding a most important harbour; that Rory O'Donnell, +second brother of Hugh Roe, should act as Chieftain of Tyrconnell, and +that O'Neil should return into Ulster to make the best defence in his +power. The loss in men was not irreparable; the loss in arms, colours, +and reputation, was more painful to bear, and far more difficult to +retrieve. + +On the 12th of January, nine days after the battle, Don Juan +surrendered the town, and agreed to give up at the same time Dunboy, +Baltimore, and Castlehaven. He had lost 1,000 men out of his 3,000 +during a ten weeks' siege, and was heartily sick of Irish warfare. On +his return to Spain he was degraded from his rank, for his too great +intimacy with Carew, and confined a prisoner in his own house. He is +said to have died of a broken heart occasioned by these indignities. + +O'Donnell sailed from Castlehaven in a Spanish ship, on the 6th of +January, three clays after the battle, and arrived at Corunna on the +14th. He was received with all the honours due to a crown prince by the +Conde de Caracena, Governor of Galicia. Among other objects, he visited +the remains of the tower of Betanzos, from which, according to Bardic +legends, the sons of Milesius had sailed to seek for the Isle of +Destiny among the waves of the west. On the 27th he set out for the +Court, accompanied as far as Santa Lucia by the governor, who presented +him with 1,000 ducats towards his expenses. At Compostella the +Archbishop offered him his own palace, which O'Donnell respectfully +declined: he afterwards celebrated a Solemn High Mass for the Irish +chief's intention, entertained him magnificently at dinner, and +presented him, as the governor had done, with 1,000 ducats. At Zamora +he received from Philip III. a most cordial reception, and was assured +that in a very short time a more powerful armament than Don Juan's +should sail with him from Corunna. He returned to that port, from which +he could every day look out across the western waves that lay between +him and home, and where he could be kept constantly informed of what +was passing in Ireland. Spring was over and gone, and summer, too, had +passed away, but still the exigencies of Spanish policy delayed the +promised expedition. At length O'Donnell set out on a second visit to +the Spanish Court, then at Valladolid, but he reached no further than +Simancas, when, fevered in mind and body, he expired on the 10th of +September, 1602, in the 29th year of his age. He was attended in his +last moments by two Franciscan Fathers who accompanied him, Florence, +afterwards Archbishop of Tuam, and Maurice Donlevy, of his own Abbey of +Donegal. His body was interred with regal honours in the Cathedral of +Valladolid, where a monument was erected to his memory by the King of +Spain. + +Thus closed the career of one of the brightest and purest characters in +any history. His youth, his early captivity, his princely generosity, +his daring courage, his sincere piety won the hearts of all who came in +contact with him. He was the sword as O'Neil was the brain of the +Ulster Confederacy; the Ulysses and Achilles of the war, they fought +side by side, without jealousy or envy, for almost as long a period as +their prototypes had spent in besieging Troy. + + + +CHAPTER XI. +THE CONQUEST OF MUNSTER—DEATH OF ELIZABETH, AND SUBMISSION OF +O'NEIL—"THE ARTICLES OF MELLIFONT." + +The days of Queen Elizabeth were now literally numbered. The death of +Essex, the intrigues of the King of Scotland, and the successes of +Tyrone, preyed upon her spirits. The Irish chief was seldom out of her +mind, and, as she often predicted, she was not to live to receive his +submission. She was accustomed to send for her godson, Harrington, who +had served in Ireland, to ask him questions concerning Tyrone; the +French ambassador considered Tyrone's war one of the causes that +totally destroyed her peace of mind in her latter days. She received +the news of the victory of Kinsale with pleasure, but, even then, she +was not destined to receive the submission of Tyrone. + +The events of the year, so inauspiciously begun for the Irish arms, +continued of the same disastrous character. Castlehaven was surrendered +by its Spanish guard, according to Del Aguila's agreement. Baltimore, +after a momentary resistance, was also given up, but O'Sullivan, who +considered the Spanish capitulation nothing short of treason, threw a +body of native troops, probably drawn from Tyrrell's men, into Dunboy, +under Captain Richard Mageoghegan, and Taylor, an Englishman, connected +by marriage with Tyrrell. Another party of the same troops took +possession of Clear Island, but were obliged to abandon it as +untenable. The entire strength of the Dunboy garrison amounted to 143 +men; towards the end of April—the last of the Spaniards having sailed +in March—Carew left Cork at the head of 3,000 men to besiege Dunboy. +Sir Charles Wilmot moved on the same point from Kerry, with a force of +1,000 men, to join Carew. In the pass near Mangerton Wilmot was +encountered by Donald O'Sullivan and Tyrrell, at the head of then +remaining followers, but forced a passage and united with his superior +on the shores of Berehaven. On the 1st of June the English landed on +Bear Island, and on the 6th opened their cannonade. They were 4,000 +men, with every military equipment necessary, against 143. After eleven +days' bombardment the place was shattered to pieces; the garrison +offered to surrender, if allowed to retain their arms, but their +messenger was hanged, and an instant assault ordered. Over fifty of +this band of Christian Spartans had fallen in the defence, thirty +attempted to escape in boats, or by swimming, but were killed to a man +while in the water. The remainder retreated with Mageoghegan, who was +severely wounded, to a cellar approached by a narrow stair, where the +command was assumed by Taylor. All day the assault had been carried on +till night closed upon the scene of carnage. Placing a strong guard on +the approach to the crypt, Carew returned to the charge with the +returning light. Cannon were first discharged into the narrow chamber +which held the last defenders of Dunboy, and then a body of the +assailants rushing in, despatched the wounded Mageoghegan with their +swords, having found him, candle in hand, dragging himself towards the +gunpowder. Taylor and fifty-seven others were led out to execution; of +all the heroic band, not a soul escaped alive. + +The remaining fragments of Dunboy were blown into the air by Carew on +the 22nd of June. Dursey Castle, another island fortress of +O'Sullivan's, had fallen even earlier; so that no roof remained to the +lord of Berehaven. Still he held his men well together in the glens of +Kerry, during the months of Summer, but the ill-news from Spain in +September threw a gloom over those mountains deeper than was ever cast +by equinoctial storm. Tyrrell was obliged to separate from him in the +Autumn, probably from the difficulty of providing for so many mouths, +and O'Sullivan himself prepared to bid a sad farewell to the land of +his inheritance. On the last day of December he left Glengariffe, with +400 fighting men, and 600 women, children, and servants, to seek a +refuge in the distant north. After a retreat almost unparalleled, the +survivors of this exodus succeeded in reaching the friendly roof of +O'Ruarc, at Dromahaire, not far from Sligo. Their entire march, from +the extreme south to the almost extreme north-west of the island, a +distance, as they travelled it, of not less than 200 miles, was one +scene of warfare and suffering. They were compelled to kill their +horses, on reaching the Shannon, in order to make boats of the hides, +to ferry them to the western bank. At Aughrim they were attacked by a +superior force under Lord Clanrickarde's brother, and Captain Henry +Malby, but they fought with the courage of despair, routed the enemy, +slaying Malby, and other officers. Of the ten hundred who left the +shores of Glengariffe, but 35 souls reached the Leitrim chieftain's +mansion. Among these were the chief himself, with Dermid, father of the +historian, who at the date of this march had reached the age of +seventy. The conquest of Munster, at least, was now complete. In the +ensuing January, Owen McEgan, Bishop of Ross, was slain in the midst of +a guerilla party, in the mountains of Carberry, and his chaplain, being +taken, was hanged with the other prisoners. The policy of extermination +recommended by Carew was zealously carried out by strong detachments +under Wilmot, Harvey, and Flower; Mr. Boyle and the other "Undertakers" +zealously assisting as volunteers. + +Mountjoy, after transacting some civil business at Dublin, proceeded in +person to the north, while Dowcra, marching out of Derry, pressed +O'Neil from the north and north-east. In June, Mountjoy was at +Charlemont, which he placed under the custody of Captain Toby Caufield, +the founder of an illustrious title taken from that fort. He advanced +on Dungannon, but discovered it from the distance, as Norris had once +before done, in flames, kindled by the hand of its straitened +proprietor. On Lough Neagh he erected a new fort called Mountjoy, so +that his communications on the south now stretched from that great lake +round to Omagh, while those of Dowcra, at Augher, Donegal, and Lifford, +nearly completed the circle. Almost the only outlet from this chain of +posts was into the mountains of O'Cane's country, the north-east angle +of the present county of Derry. The extensive tract so enclosed and +guarded had still some natural advantages for carrying on a defensive +war. The primitive woods were standing in masses at no great distance +from each other; the nearly parallel vales of Faughan, Moyala, and the +river Roe, with the intermediate leagues of moor and mountain, were +favourable to the movements of native forces familiar with every ford +and footpath. There was also, while this central tract was held, a +possibility of communication with other unbroken tribes, such as those +of Clandeboy and the Antrim glens on the east, and Breffni O'Ruarc on +the west. Never did the genius of Hugh O'Neil shine out brighter than +in these last defensive operations. In July, Mountjoy writes +apologetically to the Council, that "notwithstanding her Majesty's +great forces, O'Neil doth still live." He bitterly complains of his +consummate caution, his "pestilent judgment to spread and to nourish +his own infection," and of the reverence entertained for his person by +the native population. Early in August, Mountjoy had arranged what he +hoped might prove the finishing stroke in the struggle. Dowcra from +Derry, Chichester from Carrickfergus, Danvers from Armagh, and all who +could be spared from Mountjoy, Charlemont, and Mount Norris, were +gathered under his command, to the number of 8,000 men, for a foray +into the interior of Tyrone. Inisloghlin, on the borders of Down and +Antrim, which contained a great quantity of valuables, belonging to +O'Neil, was captured. Magherlowney and Tulloghoge were next taken. At +the latter place stood the ancient stone chair on which the O'Neils +were inaugurated time out of mind; it was now broken into atoms by +Mountjoy's orders. But the most effective warfare was made on the +growing crops. The 8,000 men spread themselves over the fertile fields +along the valleys of the Bann and the Roe, destroying the standing +grain with fire, where it would burn, or with the _praca_, a peculiar +kind of harrow, tearing it up by the roots. The horsemen trampled crops +into the earth which had generously nourished them; the infantry shore +them down with their sabres, and the sword, though in a very different +sense from that of Holy Scripture, was, indeed, converted into a +sickle. The harvest month never shone upon such fields in any Christian +land. In September, Mountjoy reported to Cecil, "that between +Tulloghoge and Toome there lay unburied a thousand dead," and that +since his arrival on the Blackwater—a period of a couple of +months—"there were about 3,000 starved in Tyrone." In O'Cane's country, +the misery of his clansmen drove the chief to surrender to Dowcra, and +the news of Hugh Roe's death having reached Donegal, his brother +repaired to Athlone, and made his submission to Mountjoy, early in +December. O'Neil, unable to maintain himself on the river, Roe, retired +with 600 foot and 60 horse, to Glencancean, near Lough Neagh, the most +secure of his fastnesses. His brother Cormac McMahon, and Art O'Neil, +of Clandeboy, shared with him the wintry hardships of that last asylum, +while Tyrone, Clandeboy, and Monaghan, were given up to horrors, +surpassing any that had been known or dreamt of in former wars. +Moryson, secretary to Mountjoy, in his account of this campaign, +observes, "that no spectacle was more frequent in the ditches of towns, +and especially in wasted countries, than to see multitudes of these +poor people dead, with their mouths all coloured green, by eating +nettles, docks, and all things they could rend above ground." + +The new year, opening without hope, it began to be rumoured that O'Neil +was disposed to surrender on honourable terms. Mountjoy and the English +Council long urged the aged Queen to grant such terms, but without +effect. Her pride as a sovereign had been too deeply wounded by the +revolted Earl to allow her easily to forgive or forget his offences. +Her advisers urged that Spain had followed her own course towards the +Netherlands, in Ireland; that the war consumed three-fourths of her +annual revenue, and had obliged her to keep up an Irish army of 20,000 +men for several years past. At length she yielded her reluctant +consent, and Mountjoy was authorized to treat with the arch-rebel upon +honourable terms. The agents employed by the Lord Deputy in this +negotiation were Sir William Godolphin and Sir Garrett Moore, of +Mellifont, ancestor of the Marquis of Drogheda—the latter, a warm +personal friend, though no partizan of O'Neil's. They found him in his +retreat near Lough Neagh early in March, and obtained his promise to +give the Deputy an early meeting at Mellifont. Elizabeth's serious +illness, concealed from O'Neil, though well known to Mountjoy, hastened +the negotiations. On the 27th of March he had intelligence of her +decease at London on the 24th, but carefully concealed it till the 5th +of April following. On the 31st of March, he received Tyrone's +submission at Moore's residence, the ancient Cistercian Abbey, and not +until a week later did O'Neil learn that he had made his peace with a +dead sovereign. + +The honourable terms on which this memorable religious war was +concluded were these: O'Neil abjured all foreign allegiance, especially +that of the King of Spain; renounced the title of O'Neil; agreed to +give up his correspondence with the Spaniards, and to recall his son, +Henry, who was a page at the Spanish Court, and to live in peace with +the sons of John the Proud. Mountjoy granted him an amnesty for himself +and his allies; agreed that he should be restored to his estates as he +had held them before the war, and that the Catholics should have the +free exercise of their religion. That the restoration of his ordinary +chieftain rights, which did not conflict with the royal prerogative, +was also included, we have the best possible evidence: Sir Henry Dowcra +having complained to Lord Mountjoy that O'Neil quartered men on O'Cane, +who had surrendered to himself, Mountjoy made answer—"My Lord of Tyrone +is taken in with promise to be restored, as well to all his lands as to +his honour and dignity, and O'Cane's country is his, and must be +obedient to his commands." That the article concerning religion was +understood by the Catholics to concede full freedom of worship, is +evident from subsequent events. In Dublin, sixteen of the principal +citizens suffered fine and imprisonment for refusing to comply with the +act of uniformity; in Kilkenny the Catholics took possession of the +Black Abbey, which had been converted into a lay fee; in Waterford they +did the same by St. Patrick's Church, where a Dominican preacher was +reported to have said, among other imprudent things, that "Jesabel was +dead"—alluding to the late Queen. In Cork, Limerick, and Cashel, the +cross was carried publicly in procession, the old Churches restored to +their ancient rites, and enthusiastic proclamation made of the public +restoration of religion. These events having obliged the Lord Deputy to +make a progress through the towns and cities, he was met at Waterford +by a vast procession, headed by religious in the habits of their order, +who boldly declared to him "that the citizens of Waterford could not, +in conscience, obey any prince that persecuted the Catholic religion." +When such was the spirit of the town populations, we are not surprised +to learn that, in the rural districts, almost exclusively Catholic, the +people entered upon the use of many of their old Churches, and repaired +several Abbeys—among the number, Buttevant, Kilcrea, and Timoleague in +Cork; Quin Abbey in Clare; Kilconnell in Galway; Rosnariell in Mayo, +and Multifarnham in West-Meath. So confident were they that the days of +persecution were past, that King James prefaces his proclamation of +July, 1605, with the statement—"Whereas we have been informed that our +subjects in the kingdom of Ireland, since the death of our beloved +sister, have been deceived by a false rumour, to wit, that we would +allow them liberty of conscience," and so forth. How cruelly they were +then undeceived belongs to the history of the next reign; here we need +only remark that the Articles of Limerick were not more shamefully +violated by the statute 6th and 7th, William III., than the Articles of +Mellifont were violated by this Proclamation of the third year of James +I. + + + +CHAPTER XII. +STATE OF RELIGION AND LEARNING DURING THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH. + +During the greater part of the reign of Elizabeth, the means relied +upon for the propagation of the reformed doctrines were more +exclusively those of force and coercion than even in the time of Edward +VI. Thus, when Sir William Drury was Deputy, in 1578, he bound several +citizens of Kilkenny, under a penalty of 40 pounds each, to attend the +English Church service, and authorized the Anglican Bishop "to make a +rate for the repair of the Church, and to distrain for the payment of +it"—the first mention of Church rates we remember to have met with. +Drury's method of proceeding may be further inferred from the fact, +that of the thirty-six executions ordered by him in the same city, "one +was a blackamoor and two were witches, who were condemned by the law of +nature, for there was no positive law against witchcraft [in Ireland] +in those days." That defect was soon supplied, however, by the statute +27th of Elizabeth, "against witchcraft and sorcery." Sir John Perrott, +successor to Drury, trod in the same path, as we judge from the charge +of severity against recusants, upon which, among other articles, he was +recalled from the government. Towards the end of the sixteenth century, +however, it began to be discovered by the wisest observers that violent +methods were worse than useless with the Irish. Edmund Spenser urged +that "religion should not be forcibly impressed into them with terror +and sharp penalties, as now is the manner, but rather delivered and +intimated with mildness and gentleness." Lord Bacon, in his +"Considerations touching the Queen's Service in Ireland," addressed to +Secretary Cecil, recommends "the recovery of the hearts of the people," +as the first step towards their conversion. With this view he suggested +"a toleration of religion (for a time not definite), except it be in +some principal towns and cities," as a measure "warrantable in +religion, and in policy of absolute necessity." The philosophic +Chancellor farther suggested, as a means to this desired end, the +preparation of "versions of Bibles and Catechisms, and other works of +instruction in the Irish language." In accordance with these views of +conversion, the University of Trinity College was established by a +royal charter, in the month of January, 1593. The Mayor and Corporation +of Dublin had granted the ancient monastery of All Hallows as a site +for the buildings; some contributions were received from the Protestant +gentry, large grants of confiscated Abbey and other lands, which +afterwards yielded a princely revenue, were bestowed upon it, and the +Lord Treasurer Burleigh graciously accepted the office of its +Chancellor. The first Provost was Archbishop Loftus, and of the first +three students entered, one was the afterwards illustrious James Usher. +The commanders and officers engaged at Kinsale presented it with the +sum of 1,800 pounds for the purchase of a library; and at the +subsequent confiscations in Munster and Ulster, the College came in for +a large portion of the forfeited lands. + +Although the Council in England generally recommended the adoption of +persuasive arts and a limited toleration, those who bore the sword +usually took care that they should not bear it in vain. A High +Commission Court, armed with ample powers to enforce the Act of +Uniformity, had been established at Dublin in 1593; but its members +were ordered to proceed cautiously after the Ulster Confederacy became +formidable, and their powers lay dormant in the last two or three years +of the century. Essex and Mountjoy were both fully convinced of the +wisdom of Bacon's views; the former showed a partial toleration, +connived at the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice, even in the capital, +and liberated some priests from prison. Mountjoy, in answer to the +command of the English Council "to deal moderately in the great matter +of religion," replied by letter that he had already advised "such as +dealt in it for a time to hold a restrained hand therein." "The other +course," he adds, "might have overthrown the means of our own end of a +reformation of religion." This conditional toleration—such as it +was—excited the indignation of the more zealous Reformers, whose +favourite preacher, the youthful Usher, did not hesitate to denounce it +from the pulpit of Christ Church, as an unhallowed compromise with +antichrist. In 1601, Usher, then but 21 years of age, preached his +well-known sermon from the text of the forty days, in which Ezekiel +"was to bear the iniquity of the house of Judah—a day for a year." +"From this year," cried the youthful zealot, "will I reckon the sin of +Ireland, that those whom you now embrace shall be your ruin, and you +shall bear their iniquity." When the northern insurrection of 1641 took +place, this rhetorical menace was exalted, after the fact, into the +dignity of a prophecy fulfilled. After the victory of Kinsale, however, +the Ultra Protestant party had less cause to complain of the +temporizing of the civil power; the pecuniary mulct of twelve pence for +each absence from the English service was again enforced at least in +Dublin, and several priests, then in prison, were, on various +pretences, put to death. Among those who suffered in the capital was +the learned Jesuit, Henry Fitzsimons, son of a Mayor of the city, the +author of _Brittanomachia_, with whom, while in the Castle, Usher +commenced a controversy, which was never finished. But the terms agreed +upon at Mellifont, between Mountjoy and Tyrone, again suspended for a +short interval the sword of persecution. + +Notwithstanding its manifold losses by exile and the scaffold, the +ancient Church was enabled, through the abundance of vocations, and the +zeal of the ordained, to keep up a still powerful organization. Philip +O'Sullivan states, under the next reign that the government had +ascertained through its spies, the names of 1,160 priests, secular and +regular, still in the country. There must have been between 300 and 400 +others detained abroad, either as Professors in the Irish Colleges in +Spain, France, and Flanders, or as ecclesiastics, awaiting major +orders. Of the regulars at home, 120 were Franciscans, and about 50 +Jesuits. There are said to have been but four Fathers of the Order of +St. Dominick remaining at the time of Elizabeth's death. The reproach +of Cambrensis had long been taken away, since every Diocese might now +point to its martyrs. Of these we recall among the Hierarchy the names +of O'Hely, Bishop of Killala, executed at Kilmallock in 1578; O'Hurley, +Archbishop of Cashel, burned at the stake in Dublin in 1582; Creagh, +Archbishop of Armagh, who died a prisoner in the Tower in 1585; +Archbishop McGauran, his successor, slain in the act of ministering to +the wounded in the engagement at Tulsk, in Roscommon, in 1593; McEgan, +Bishop of Ross, who met his death under precisely similar circumstances +in Carberry in 1603. Yet through all these losses the episcopal +succession was maintained unbroken. In the early part of the next reign +O'Sullivan gives the names of the four Archbishops, Peter Lombard of +Armagh, Edward McGauran of Dublin, David O'Carny of Cashel, and +Florence Conroy of Tuam. On the other hand, the last trying half +century had furnished, so far as we can learn, no instance of apostacy +among the Bishops, and but half a dozen at most from all orders of the +clergy. We read that Owen O'Conor, an apostate, was advanced by letters +patent to Killala in 1591; that Maurice O'Brien of Ara was, in 1570, by +the same authority, elevated to the See of Killaloe, which he resigned +in 1612; that Miler Magrath, in early life a Franciscan friar, was +promoted by the Queen to the Sees of Clogher, Killala, Anchory and +Lismore successively. He finally settled in the See of Cashel, in which +he died, having secretly returned to the religion of his ancestors. For +the rest, "the Queen's Bishops" were chiefly chosen out of England, +though some few natives of the Pale, or of the walled towns, educated +at Oxford, may be found in the list. + +Of the state of learning in those troubled times the brief story is +easily told. The Bardic Order still flourished and was held in honour +by all ranks of the native population. The national adversity brought +out in them, as in others, many noble traits of character. The Harper, +O'Dugan, was the last companion that clung to the last of the Desmonds; +the Bard of Tyrconnell, Owen Ward, accompanied the Ulster chiefs in +their exile, and poured out his Gaelic dirge above their Roman graves. +Although the Bardic compositions continued to be chiefly personal, +relating to the inauguration, journeys, exploits, or death of some +favourite chief, a large number of devotional poems on the passion of +our Lord and the glories of the Blessed Virgin are known to be of this +age. The first forerunners of what was destined to be a numerous +progeny, the controversial ode or ballad, appeared in Elizabeth's +reign, in the form of comparisons between the old and new religions, +lamentations over the ruin of religious houses, and the apostacy of +such persons as Miler Magrath and the son of the Earl of Desmond. The +talents of many of the authors are admitted by Spenser, a competent +judge, but the tendency of their writings, he complains, was to foster +the love of lawlessness and rebellion rather than of virtue and +loyalty. He recommended them for correction to the mercies of the +Provost Marshal, whom he would have "to walk the country with half a +dozen or half a score of horsemen," in quest of the treasonable poets. + +As this was the age of the general diffusion of printing, we may +observe that the casting of Irish type for the use of Trinity College, +by order of Queen Elizabeth, is commonly dated from the year 1591; but +as the College was not opened for two years later, the true date must +be anticipated. John Kearney, Treasurer of St. Patrick's Church, who +died about the year 1600, published a Protestant Catechism from the +College Press, which, says O'Reilly, "was the first book ever printed +in Irish types." In the year 1593, Florence Conroy translated from the +Spanish into Irish a catechism entitled "Christian Instruction," which, +he states in the preface, he had no opportunity of sending into Ireland +"until the year of the age of our Lord 1598." Whether it was then +printed we are not informed, but there does not seem to have been any +Irish type in Catholic hands before the foundation of the Irish College +at Louvain in 1616. + +The merit of first giving to the press, in the native language of the +country, a version of the Sacred Scriptures, belongs clearly to Trinity +College. Nicholas Walsh, Bishop of Ossory, who died in 1585, had +commenced, with the assistance of John Kearney, to translate the Greek +Testament into Gaelic. He had also the assistance of Dr. Nehemiah +Donnellan, and Dr. William Daniel, or O'Daniel, both of whom +subsequently filled the See of Tuam. This translation, dedicated to +King James, and published by O'Daniel in 1603, is still reprinted by +the Bible Societies. The first Protestant translation of the Old +Testament, made under Bishop Bedel's eye, and with such revision of +particular passages as his imperfect knowledge of the language enabled +him to suggest, though completed in the reign of Charles I., was not +published before the year 1680. It was Bedel, also, who caused the +English liturgy to be recited in Irish, in his Cathedral, as early as +1630. + +Ireland and her affairs naturally attracted, during Elizabeth's reign, +the attention of English writers. Of these it is enough to mention the +Poet Spenser, Secretary to Lord Grey de Wilton, Fynes Moryson, +Secretary to Lord Mountjoy, and the Jesuit Father, Campian. Campian, +early distinguished at Oxford, was employed as Cambrensis had been four +centuries earlier, and as Plowden was two centuries later, to write +down everything Irish. He crossed the Channel in 1570, and composed two +books rapidly, without accurate or full information as to the condition +or history of the country. The nearer view of Catholic suffering and +Catholic constancy exercised a powerful influence on this accomplished +scholar; he became a convert and a Jesuit. For members of that order +there was but one exit out of life, under the law of England: he +suffered death at Tyburn in 1581. Richard Stanihurst, son of the +Recorder of Dublin, and uncle of Archbishop Usher, went through +precisely the same experiences as his friend Campian, except that he +died, a quarter of a century later, Chaplain to the Archdukes at +Brussels, instead of expiring at the stake. His English hexameters are +among the curiosities of literature, but his contributions to the +history of his country, especially his allusions to events and +characters in and about his own time, are not without their use. +Stanihurst wrote his historical tracts, as did Lombard the Catholic and +Usher the Protestant Primate, O'Sullivan, White, O'Meara, and almost +all the Irish writers of that age, without exception, in the Latin +language. The first Latin book printed in Ireland is thought to be +O'Meara's poem in praise of Thomas, Earl of Ormond and Ossory, +published in 1615. The earliest English books printed in Ireland are +unknown to me; the collection of Anglo-Irish statutes, ordered to be +published while Sir Henry Sidney was Deputy, was the most important +undertaking of that class in the reign of Elizabeth. + +As to institutions of learning, if we except Trinity College, which +increased rapidly in numbers and reputation under the patronage of the +Crown, and the College of Saint Nicholas, at Galway—protected by its +remote situation on the brink of the Atlantic—there was no famous seat +of learning left in the island. In the next reign 1,300 scholars are +stated to have attended that western "school of humanity," when the +Ecclesiastical Commissioners despotically ordered it to be closed, +because the learned Principal, John Lynch, "would not confirm to the +religion established." But the greater number of the children of +Catholics, who still retained property enough to educate them, were +sent beyond seas, a fact with which King James, soon after his +accession, reproached the deputation of that body. A proclamation +issued by Lord Deputy Chichester, in 1610, alludes to the same custom, +and commands all noblemen, merchants, and others, whose children are +abroad for educational purposes, to recall them within one year from +the date thereof; and in case they refuse to return, all parents, +friends, &c., sending them money, directly or indirectly, will be +punished as severely as the law permits. It was mainly to guard against +this danger that "the School of Wards" was established by Elizabeth, +and enlarged by James I., in which the great Duke of Ormond, Sir Phelim +O'Neil, Murrogh, Lord Inchiquin, and other sons of noble families, were +educated for the next generation. Early in the reign of James there +were not less than 300 of these Irish children in the Tower, or at the +Lambeth School,—and it is humiliating to find the great name of Sir +Edward Coke among those who gloried in the success of this unnatural +substitution of the State for the Parent in the work of education. + + + +BOOK IX. +FROM THE ACCESSION OF JAMES I. TILL THE DEATH OF CROMWELL. + + + +CHAPTER I. +JAMES I.—FLIGHT OF THE EARLS—CONFISCATION OF ULSTER—PENAL +LAWS—PARLIAMENTARY OPPOSITION. + +James the Sixth of Scotland was in his 37th year when he ascended the +throne under the title of "James the First, King of Great Britain and +Ireland." His accession naturally excited the most hopeful expectations +of good government in the breasts of the Irish Catholics. He was son of +Mary Queen of Scots, whom they looked upon as a martyr to her religion, +and grandson of that gallant King James who styled himself "Defender of +the Faith," and "_Dominus Hiberniae_" in introducing the first Jesuits +to the Ulster Princes. His ancestors had always been in alliance with +the Irish, and the antiquaries of that nation loved to trace their +descent from the Scoto-Irish chiefs who first colonized Argyle, and +were for ages crowned at Scone. He himself was known to have assisted +the late Catholic struggle as effectually, though less openly than the +King of Spain, and it is certain that he had employed Catholic agents, +like Lord Home and Sir James Lindsay, to excite an interest in his +succession among the Catholics, both in the British Islands and on the +Continent. + +The first acts of the new sovereign were calculated to confirm the +expectations of Catholic liberty thus entertained. He was anxious to +make an immediate and lasting peace with Spain; refused to receive a +special embassy from the Hollanders; his ambassador at Paris was known +to be on terms of intimacy with the Pope's Nuncio; and although +personally he assumed the tone of an Anglican Churchman, on crossing +the border he had invited leading Catholics to his Court, and conferred +the honour of Knighthood on some of their number. The imprudent +demonstrations in the Irish towns were easily quieted, and no immediate +notice was taken of their leaders. In May, 1603, Mountjoy, on whom +James had conferred the higher rank of Lord Lieutenant, leaving Carew +as Lord Deputy, proceeded to England, accompanied by O'Neil, Roderick +O'Donnell, Maguire, and other Irish gentlemen. The veteran Tyrone, now +past threescore, though hooted by the London rabble, was graciously +received in that court, with which he had been familiar forty years +before. He was at once confirmed in his title, the Earldom of +Tyrconnell was created for O'Donnell, and the Lordship of Enniskillen +for Maguire. Mountjoy, created Earl of Devonshire, retained the title +of Lord Lieutenant, with permission to reside in England, and was +rewarded by the appointment of Master of the Ordnance and Warden of the +New Forest, with an ample pension from the Crown to him and his heirs +for ever, the grant of the county of Lecale (Down), and the estate of +Kingston Hall, in Dorsetshire, He survived but three short years to +enjoy all these riches and honours; at the age of 44, wasted with +dissipation and domestic troubles, he passed to his final account. + +The necessity of conciliating the Catholic party in England, of +maintaining peace in Ireland, and prosecuting the Spanish negotiations, +not less, perhaps, than his own original bias, led James to deal +favourably with the Catholics at first. But having attempted to enforce +the new Anglican Canons, adopted in 1604, against the Puritans, that +party retaliated by raising against him the cry of favouring the +Papists. This cry alarmed the King, who had always before his eyes the +fear of Presbyterianism, and he accordingly made a speech in the Star +Chamber, declaring his utter detestation of Popery, and published a +proclamation banishing all Catholic missionaries from the country. All +magistrates were instructed to enforce the penal laws with rigour, and +an elaborate spy system for the discovery of concealed recusants was +set on foot. This reign of treachery and terror drove a few desperate +men into the gunpowder plot of the following year, and rendered it +difficult, if not impossible, for the King to return to the policy of +toleration, with which, to do him justice, he seems to have set out +from Scotland. + +Carew, President of Munster during the late war, became Deputy to +Mountjoy on his departure for England. He was succeeded in October, +1604, by Sir Arthur Chichester, who, with the exception of occasional +absences at Court, continued in office for a period of eleven years. +This nobleman, a native of England, furnishes, in many points, a +parallel to his cotemporary and friend, Robert Boyle, Earl of Cork. The +object of his life was to found and to endow the Donegal peerage out of +the spoils of Ulster, as richly as Boyle endowed his earldom out of the +confiscation of Munster. Both were Puritans rather than Churchmen, in +their religious opinions; Chichester, a pupil of the celebrated +Cartwright, and a favourer all his life of the congregational clergy in +Ulster. But they carried their repugnance to the interference of the +civil magistrate in matters of conscience so discreetly as to satisfy +the high church notions both of James and Elizabeth. For the violence +they were thus compelled to exercise against themselves, they seem to +have found relief in bitter and continuous persecution of others. +Boyle, as the leading spirit in the government of Munster, as Lord +Treasurer, and occasionally as Lord Justice, had ample opportunities, +during his long career of forty years, to indulge at once his avarice +and his bigotry; and no situation was ever more favourable than +Chichester's for a proconsul, eager to enrich himself at the expense of +a subjugated Province. + +In the projected work of the reduction of the whole country to the laws +and customs of England, it is instructive to observe that a Parliament +was not called in the first place. The reformers proceeded by +proclamations, letters patent, and orders in council, not by +legislation. The whole island was divided into 32 counties and 6 +judicial circuits, all of which were visited by Justices in the second +or third year of this reign, and afterwards semi-annually. On the +Northern Circuit Sir Edward Pelham and Sir John Davis were accompanied +by the Deputy in person, with a numerous retinue. In some places the +towns were so wasted by the late war, pestilence, and famine, that the +Viceregal party were obliged to camp out in the fields, and to carry +with them their own provisions. The Courts were held in ruined castles +and deserted monasteries; Irish interpreters were at every step found +necessary; sheriffs were installed in Tyrone and Tyrconnell for the +first time; all lawyers appearing in court and all justices of the +peace were tendered the oath of supremacy—the refusal of which +necessarily excluded Catholics both from the bench and the bar. An +enormous amount of litigation as to the law of real property was +created by a judgment of the Court of King's Bench at Dublin, in 1605, +by which the ancient Irish customs, of tanistry and gavelkind, were +declared null and void, and the entire Feudal system, with its rights +of primogeniture, hereditary succession, entail, and vassalage, was +held to exist in as full force in England. Very evidently this decision +was not less a violation of the articles of Mellifont than was the +King's proclamation against freedom of conscience issued about the same +time. + +Sir John Davis, who has left us two very interesting tracts on Irish +affairs, speaking of the new legal regulations of which he was one of +the principal superintendents, observes that the old-fashioned +allowances to be found so often in the Pipe-Rolls, _pro guidagio et +spiagio_, into the interior, may well be spared thereafter, since "the +under sheriffs and bailiffs errant are better guides and spies in time +of peace than they were found in time of war." He adds, what we may +very well believe, that the Earl of Tyrone complained he had so many +eyes upon him, that he could not drink a cup of sack without the +government being advertised of it within a few hours afterwards. This +system of social _espionage_, so repugnant to all the habits of the +Celtic family, was not the only mode of annoyance resorted to against +the veteran chief. Every former dependent who could be induced to +dispute his claims as a landlord, under the new relations established +by the late decision, was sure of a judgment in his favour. Disputes +about boundaries with O'Cane, about the commutation of chieftain-rents +into tenantry, about church lands claimed by Montgomery, Protestant +Bishop of Derry, were almost invariably decided against him. Harassed +by these proceedings, and all uncertain of the future, O'Neil listened +willingly to the treacherous suggestion of St. Lawrence and Lord Howth, +that the leading Catholics of the Pale, and those of Ulster, should +endeavour to form another confederation. The execution of Father +Garnet, Provincial of the Jesuits in England, the heavy fines inflicted +on Lords Stourton, Mordaunt, and Montague, and the new oath of +allegiance, framed by Archbishop Abbott, and sanctioned by the English +Parliament—all events of the year 1606—were calculated to inspire the +Irish Catholics with desperate councils. A dutiful remonstrance against +the Act of Uniformity the previous year had been signed by the +principal Anglo-Irish Catholics for transmission to the King, but their +delegates were seized and imprisoned in the Castle, while their +principal agent, Sir Patrick Barnwell, was sent to London and confined +in the Tower. A meeting, at Lord Howth's suggestion, was held about +Christmas, 1606, at the Castle of Maynooth, then in possession of the +dowager Countess of Kildare, one of whose daughters was married to +Christopher Nugent, Baron of Delvin, and her granddaughter to Rory, +Earl of Tyrconnell. There were present O'Neil, O'Donnell, and O'Cane, +on the one part, and Lords Delvin and Howth on the other. The precise +result of this conference, disguised under the pretext of a Christmas +party, was never made known, but the fact that it had been held, and +that the parties present had entertained the project of another +confederacy for the defence of the Catholic religion, was mysteriously +communicated in an anonymous letter, directed to Sir William Usher, +Clerk of the Council, which was dropped in the Council Chamber of +Dublin Castle, in March, 1607. This letter, it is now generally +believed, was written by Lord Howth, who was thought to have been +employed by Secretary Cecil, to entrap the northern Earls, in order to +betray them. In May, O'Neil and O'Donnell were cited to attend the Lord +Deputy in Dublin, but the charges were for the time kept in abeyance, +and they were ordered to appear in London before the feast of +Michaelmas. Early in September O'Neil was with Chichester at Slane, in +Meath, when he received a letter from Maguire, who had been out of the +country, conveying information on which he immediately acted. Taking +leave of the Lord Deputy as if to prepare for his journey to London, he +made some stay with his old friend, Sir Garrett Moore, at Mellifont, on +parting from whose family he tenderly bade farewell to the children and +even the servants, and was observed to shed tears. At Dungannon he +remained two days, and on the shore of Lough Swilly he joined O'Donnell +and others of his connexions. The French ship, in which Maguire had +returned, awaited them off Rathmullen, and there they took shipping for +France. With O'Neil, in that sorrowful company, were his last countess, +Catherine, daughter of Magenniss, his three sons, Hugh, John, and +Brian; his nephew, Art, son of Cormac, Rory O'Donnell, Caffar, his +brother, Nuala, his sister, who had forsaken her husband Nial _Garve_, +when he forsook his country; the lady Rose O'Doherty, wife of Caffar, +and afterwards of Owen Roe O'Neil; Maguire, Owen MacWard, chief bard of +Tyrconnell, and several others. "Woe to the heart that meditated, woe +to the mind that conceived, woe to the council that decided on the +project of that voyage!" exclaimed the Annalists of Donegal, in the +next age. Evidently it was the judgment of their immediate successors +that the flight of the Earls was a rash and irremediable step for them; +but the information on which they acted, if not long since destroyed, +has, as yet, never been made public. We can pronounce no judgment as to +the wisdom of their conduct, from the incomplete statements at present +in our possession. + +There remained now few barriers to the wholesale confiscation of +Ulster, so long sought by "the Undertakers," and these were rapidly +removed. Sir Cahir O'Doherty, chief of Innishowen, although he had +earned his Knighthood while a mere lad, fighting by the side of Dowcra, +in an altercation with Sir George Paulett, Governor of Derry, was +taunted with conniving at the escape of the Earls, and Paulett in his +passion struck him in the face. The youthful chief—he was scarcely one +and twenty—was driven almost to madness by this outrage. On the night +of the 3rd of May, by a successful stratagem, he got possession of +Culmore fort, at the month of Lough Foyle, and before morning dawned +had surprised Derry; Paulett, his insulter, he slew with his own hand, +most of the garrison were slaughtered, and the town reduced to ashes. +Nial _Garve_ O'Donnell, who had been cast off by his old protectors, +was charged with sending him supplies and men, and for three months he +kept the field, hoping that every gale might bring him assistance from +abroad. But those same summer months and foreign climes had already +proved fatal to many of the exiles, whose co-operation he invoked. In +July, Rory O'Donnell expired at Rome, in August, Maguire died at Genoa, +on his way to Spain, and in September, Caffar O'Donnell was laid in the +same grave with his brother, on St. Peter's hill. O'Neil survived his +comrades, as he had done his fortunes, and like another Belisarius, +blind and old, and a pensioner on the bounty of strangers, he lived on, +eight weary years, in Rome. O'Doherty, enclosed in his native +peninsula, between the forces of the Marshal Wingfield and Sir Oliver +Lambert, Governor of Connaught, fell by a chance shot, at the rock of +Doon, in Kilmacrenan. The superfluous traitor, Nial Garve, was, with +his sons, sent to London, and imprisoned in the Tower for life. In +those dungeons, Cormac, brother of Hugh O'Neil, and O'Cane also +languished out their days, victims to the careless or vindictive temper +of King James. Sir Arthur Chichester received, soon after these events, +a grant of the entire barony of Innishowen, and subsequently a grant of +the borough of Dungannon, with 1,300 acres adjoining; Wingfield +obtained the district of Fercullan near Dublin, with the title of +Viscount Powerscourt; Lambert was soon after made Earl of Cavan, and +enriched with the lands of Carig, and other estates in that county. + +To justify at once the measures he proposed, as well as to divert from +the exiles the sympathies of Europe, King James issued a proclamation +bearing date the 5th of November, 1608, giving to the world the English +version of the flight of the Earls. The whole of Ulster was then +surveyed in a cursory manner by a staff over which presided Sir William +Parsons as Surveyor-General. The surveys being completed early in 1609, +a royal commission was issued to Chichester, Lambert, St. John, +Ridgeway, Moore, Davis, and Parsons, with the Archbishop of Armagh, and +the Bishop of Derry, to inquire into the portions forfeited. Before +these Commissioners Juries were sworn on each particular case, and +these Juries duly found that, in consequence of "the rebellion" of +O'Neil, O'Donnell, and O'Doherty, the entire six counties of Ulster, +enumerated by baronies and parishes, were forfeited to the Crown. By +direction from England the Irish Privy Council submitted a scheme for +planting these counties "with colonies of civil men well affected in +religion," which scheme, with several modifications suggested by the +English Privy Council, was finally promulgated by the royal legislator +under the title of "Orders and Conditions for the Planters." According +to the division thus ordered, upwards of 43,000 acres were claimed and +conceded to the Primate and the Protestant Bishops of Ulster; in +Tyrone, Derry, and Armagh, Trinity College got 30,000 acres, with six +advowsons in each county. The various trading guilds of the city of +London—such as the drapers, vintners, cordwainers, drysalters—obtained +in the gross 209,800 acres, including the city of Derry, which they +rebuilt and fortified, adding _London_ to its ancient name. The grants +to individuals were divided into three classes—2,000, 1,500, and 1,000 +acres each. Among the conditions on which these grants were given was +this—"that they should not suffer any labourer, that would not take the +oath of supremacy," to dwell upon their lands. But this despotic +condition—equivalent to sentence of death on tens of thousands of the +native peasantry—was fortunately found impracticable in the execution. +Land was little worth without hands to till it; labourers enough could +not be obtained from England and Scotland, and the Hamiltons, Stewarts, +Folliots, Chichesters, and Lamberts, having, from sheer necessity, to +choose between Irish cultivators and letting their new estates lie +waste and unprofitable, it is needless to say what choice they made. + +The spirit of religious persecution was exhibited not only in the means +taken to exterminate the peasantry, to destroy the northern chiefs, and +to intimidate the Catholics of "the Pale" by abuse of law, but by many +cruel executions. The Prior of the famous retreat of Lough Derg was one +of the victims of this persecution; a Priest named O'Loughrane, who had +accidentally sailed in the same ship with the Earls to France, was +taken prisoner on his return, hanged and quartered. Conor O'Devany, +Bishop of Down and Conor, an octogenarian, suffered martyrdom with +heroic constancy at Dublin, in 1611. Two years before, John, Lord Burke +of Brittas, was executed in like manner on a charge of having +participated in the Catholic demonstrations which took place at +Limerick on the accession of King James. The edict of 1610 in relation +to Catholic children educated abroad has been quoted in a previous +chapter, _apropos_ of education, but the scheme submitted by Knox, +Bishop of Raphoe, to Chichester in 1611 went even beyond that edict. In +this project it was proposed that whoever should be found to harbour a +Priest should forfeit all his possessions to the Crown—that quarterly +returns should be made out by counties of all who refused to take the +oath of supremacy, or to attend the English Church service—that no +Papist should be permitted to exercise the function of a schoolmaster; +and, moreover, that all churches injured during the late war should be +repaired at the expense of the Papist inhabitants for the use of the +Anglican congregation. + +Very unexpectedly to the nation at large, after a lapse of 27 years, +during which no Parliament had been held, writs were issued for the +attendance of both Houses, at Dublin, on the 18th of May, 1613. The +work of confiscation and plantation had gone on for several years +without the sanction of the legislature, and men were at a loss to +conceive for what purpose elections were now ordered, unless to invent +new penal laws, or to impose fresh burdens on the country. With all the +efforts which had been made to introduce civil men, well affected in +religion, it was certain that the Catholics would return a large +majority of the House of Commons, not only in the chief towns, but from +the fifteen old, and seventeen new counties, lately created. To +counterbalance this majority, over forty boroughs, returning two +members each, were created, by royal charter, in places thinly or not +at all inhabited, or where towns were merely projected on the estates +of leading "Undertakers." Against the issue of writs returnable by +these fictitious corporations, the Lords Gormanstown, Slane, Killeen, +Trimbleston, Dunsany, and Howth, signed an humble remonstrance to the +King, concluding with a prayer for the relaxation of the penal laws +affecting religion. The King, whose notions of prerogative were +extravagantly high, was highly incensed at this petition of the +Catholic peers of Leinster, and Chichester proceeded with his full +approbation to pack the Parliament. At the elections, however, many +"recusant lawyers" and other Catholic candidates were returned, so that +when the day of meeting arrived, 101 Catholic representatives assembled +at Dublin, some accompanied by bands of from 100 to 200 armed +followers. The supporters of the government claimed 125 votes, and six +were found to be absent, making the whole number of the House of +Commons 232. The Upper House consisted of 50 Peers, of whom there were +25 Protestant Bishops, so that the Deputy was certain of a majority in +that chamber, on all points of ecclesiastical legislation, at least. +Although, with the facts before us, we cannot agree with Sir John Davis +that King James I. gave Ireland her "first free Parliament," it is +impossible not to entertain a high sense of admiration for the +constitutional firmness of the recusant or Catholic party in that +assembly. At the very outset they successfully resisted the proposition +to meet in the Castle, surrounded by the Deputy's guards, as a silent +menace. They next contended that before proceeding to the election of +Speaker the Council should submit to the Judges the decision of the +alleged invalid elections. A tumultous and protracted debate was had on +this point. The Castle party argued that they should first elect a +Speaker and then proceed to try the elections; the Catholics contended +that there were persons present whose votes would determine the +Speakership, but who had no more title in law than the horseboys at the +door. This was the preliminary trial of strength. The candidate of the +Castle for the Speakership was Sir John Davis; of the Catholics, Sir +John Everard, who had resigned his seat on the bench rather than take +the oath of supremacy framed by Archbishop Abbott. The Castle party +having gone into the lobby to be counted, the Catholics placed Sir John +Everard in the Chair. On their return the government supporters placed +Sir John Davis in Everard's lap, and a scene of violent disorder +ensued. The House broke up in confusion; the recusants in a body +declared their intention not to be present at its deliberations, and +the Lord Deputy, finding them resolute, suddenly prorogued the session. +Both parties sent deputies to England to lay their complaints at the +foot of the throne. The Catholic spokesmen, Talbot and Lutrell, were +received with a storm of reproaches, and committed, the former to the +Tower, the other to the Fleet Prison. They were, however, released +after a brief confinement, and a Commission was issued to inquire into +the alleged electoral frauds. By the advice of Everard and others of +their leaders, a compromise was effected with the Castle party; members +returned for boroughs incorporated after the writs were issued were +declared excluded, the contestation of seats on other grounds of +irregularity were withdrawn, and the House accordingly proceeded to the +business for which they were called together. The chief acts of the +sessions of 1614, '15, and '16, beside the grant of four entire +subsidies to the Crown, were an act joyfully recognizing the King's +title; acts repealing statutes of Elizabeth and Henry VIII., as to +distinctions of race; an act repealing the 3 and 4 of Philip and Mary, +against "bringing Scots into Ireland," and the acts of attainder +against O'Neil, O'Donnell, and O'Doherty. The recusant minority have +been heavily censured by our recent historians for consenting to these +attainders. Though the censure may be in part deserved, it is, +nevertheless, clear that they had not the power to prevent their +passage, even if they had been unanimous in their opposition; but they +had influence enough, fortunately, to oblige the government to withdraw +a sweeping penal law which it was intended to propose. An Act of +oblivion and amnesty was also passed, which was of some advantage. On +the whole, both for the constitutional principles which they upheld, +and the religious proscription which they resisted, the recusant +minority in the Irish Parliament of James I. deserve to be held in +honour by all who value religious and civil liberty. + + + +CHAPTER II. +LAST YEARS OF JAMES—CONFISCATION OF THE MIDLAND COUNTIES—ACCESSION OF +CHARLES I.—GRIEVANCES AND "GRACES"—ADMINISTRATION OF LORD STRAFFORD. + +From the dissolution of James's only Irish Parliament in October, 1615, +until the tenth of Charles I.—an interval of twenty years—the +government of the country was again exclusively regulated by arbitrary +proclamations and orders in Council. Chichester, after the unusually +long term of eleven years, had leave to retire in 1616; he was +succeeded by the Lord Grandison, who held the office of Lord Deputy for +six years, and he, in turn, by Henry Carey, Viscount Falkland, who +governed from 1622 till 1629—seven years. Nothing could well be more +fluctuating than the policy pursued at different periods by these +Viceroys and their advisers; violent attempts at coercion alternated +with the meanest devices to extort money from the oppressed; general +declarations against recusants were repeated with increased vehemence, +while particular treaties for a local and conditional toleration were +notoriously progressing; in a word, the administration of affairs +exhibited all the worst vices and weaknesses of a despotism, without +any of the steadiness or magnanimity of a really paternal government. +Some of the edicts issued deserve particular notice, as characterizing +the administrations of Grandison and Falkland. + +The municipal authorities of Waterford, having invariably refused to +take the oath of supremacy, were, by an order in Council, deprived of +their ancient charter, which was withheld from them for nine years. The +ten shilling tax on recusants for non-attendance at the Anglican +service was rigorously enforced in other cities, and was almost +invariably levied with costs, which not seldom swelled the ten +shillings to ten pounds. A new instrument of oppression was also, in +Lord Grandison's time, invented—"the Commission for the Discovery of +Defective Titles." At the head of this Commission was placed Sir +William Parsons, the Surveyor-General, who had come into the kingdom in +a menial situation, and had, through a long half century of guile and +cruelty, contributed as much to the destruction of its inhabitants, by +the perversion of law, as any armed conqueror could have done by the +edge of the sword. Ulster being already applotted, and Munster +undergoing the manipulation of the new Earl of Cork, there remained as +a field for the Parsons Commission only the Midland Counties and +Connaught. Of these they made the most in the shortest space of time. A +horde of clerkly spies were employed under the name of "Discoverers," +to ransack old Irish tenures in the archives of Dublin and London, with +such good success, that in a very short time 66,000 acres in Wicklow, +and 385,000 acres in Leitrim, Longford, the Meaths, and King's and +Queen's Counties, were "found by inquisition to be vested in the +Crown." The means employed by the Commissioners, in some cases, to +elicit such evidence as they required, were of the most revolting +description. In the Wicklow case, courts-martial were held, before +which unwilling witnesses were tried on the charge of treason, and some +actually put to death. Archer, one of the number, had his flesh burned +with red hot iron, and was placed on a gridiron over a charcoal fire, +till he offered to testify anything that was necessary. Yet on evidence +so obtained whole baronies and counties were declared forfeited to the +Crown. + +The recusants, though suffering under every sort of injustice, and kept +in a state of continual apprehension—a condition worse even than the +actual horrors they endured—counted many educated and wealthy persons +in their ranks, besides mustering fully ninety per cent, of the whole +population. They were, therefore, far from being politically powerless. +The recall of Lord Grandison from the government was attributed to +their direct or indirect influence upon the King. When James Usher, +then Bishop of Meath, preached before his successor from the text "He +beareth not the sword in vain," they were sufficiently formidable to +compel him publicly to apologise for his violent allusions to their +body. Perhaps, however, we should mainly see in the comparative +toleration, extended by Lord Falkland, an effect of the diplomacy then +going on, for the marriage of Prince Charles to the Infanta of Spain. +When, in 1623, Pope Gregory XV. granted a dispensation for this +marriage, James solemnly swore to, a private article of the marriage +treaty, by which he bound himself to suspend the execution of the Penal +laws, to procure their repeal in Parliament, and to grant a toleration +of Catholic worship in private houses. But the Spanish match was +unexpectedly broken off, immediately after his decease (June, 1625), +whereupon Charles married Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henry IV. of +France. + +The new monarch inherited from his father three kingdoms heaving in the +throes of disaffection and rebellion. In England the most formidable of +the malcontents were the Puritans, who reckoned many of the first +nobility, and the ablest members of the House of Commons among their +chiefs; the restoration of episcopacy, and the declaration by the +subservient Parliament of Scotland, that no General Assembly should be +called without the King's sanction, had laid the sure foundations of a +religious insurrection in the North; while the events, which we have +already described, filled the minds of all orders of men in Ireland +with agitation and alarm. The marriage of Charles with Henrietta Maria +gave a ray of assurance to the co-religionists of the young Queen, for +they had not then discovered that it was ever the habit of the Stuarts +"to sacrifice their friends to the fear of their enemies." While he was +yet celebrating his nuptials at Whitehall, surrounded by Catholic +guests, the House of Commons presented Charles "a pious petition," +praying him to put into force the laws against recusants; a prayer +which he was compelled by motives of policy to answer in the +affirmative. The magistrates of England received orders accordingly, +and when the King of France remonstrated against this flagrant breach +of one of the articles of the marriage treaty (the same included in the +terms of the Spanish match), Charles answered that he had never looked +on the promised toleration as anything but an artifice to secure the +Papal dispensation. But the King's compliance failed to satisfy the +Puritan party in the House of Commons, and that same year began their +contest with the Crown, which ended only on the scaffold before +Whitehall in 1648. Of their twenty-three years' struggle, except in so +far as it enters directly into our narrative, we shall have little to +say, beyond reminding the reader, from time to time, that though it +occasionally lulled down it was never wholly allayed on either side. + +Irish affairs, in the long continued suspension of the functions of +Parliament, were administered in general by the Privy Council, and in +detail by three special courts, all established in defiance of ancient +constitutional usage. These were the Court of Castle Chamber, modelled +on the English Star Chamber, and the Ecclesiastical High Commissioners +Court, both dating from 1563; and the Court of Wards and Liveries, +originally founded by Henry VIII., but lately remodelled by James. The +Castle Chamber was composed of certain selected members of the Privy +Council acting in secret with absolute power; the High Commission Court +was constituted under James and Charles, of the principal Archbishops +and Bishops, with the Lord Deputy, Chancellor, Chief Justice, Master of +the Rolls, Master of the Wards, and some others, laymen and jurists. +They were armed with unlimited power "to visit, reform, redress, order, +correct and amend, all such errors, heresies, schisms, abuses, +offences, contempts and enormities," as came under the head of +spiritual or ecclesiastical jurisdiction. They were, in effect, the +Castle Chamber, acting as a spiritual tribunal of last resort; and were +provided with their own officers, Registers and Receivers of Fines, +Pursuivants, Criers and Gaolers. The Court of Wards exercised a +jurisdiction, if possible, more repugnant to our first notions of +liberty than that of the High Commission Court. It retained its +original power "to bargain and sell the custody, wardship and +marriage," of all the heirs of such persons of condition as died in the +King's homage; but their powers, by royal letters patent of the year +1617, were to be exercised by a Master of Wards, with an Attorney and +Surveyor, all nominated by the Crown. The Court was entitled to farm +all the property of its Wards during nonage, for the benefit of the +Crown, "taking one year's rent from heirs male, and two from heirs +female," for charges of stewardship. The first master, Sir William +Parsons, was appointed in 1622, and confirmed at the beginning of the +next reign, with a salary of 300 pounds per annum, and the right to +rank next to the Chief Justice of the King's Bench at the Privy +Council. By this appointment the minor heirs of all the Catholic +proprietors were placed, both as to person and property, at the +absolute disposal of one of the most intense anti-Catholic bigots that +ever appeared on the scene of Irish affairs. + +In addition to these civil grievances an order had lately been issued +to increase the army in Ireland by 5,000 men, and means of subsistence +had to be found for that additional force, within the kingdom. In reply +to the murmurs of the inhabitants, they were assured by Lord Falkland +that the King was their friend, and that any just and temperate +representation of their grievances would secure his careful and instant +attention. So encouraged, the leading Catholics convoked a General +Assembly of their nobility and gentry, "with several Protestants of +rank," at Dublin, in the year 1628, in order to present a dutiful +statement of their complaints to the King. The minutes of this +important Assembly, it is to be feared, are for ever lost to us. We +only know that it included a large number of landed proprietors, of +whom the Catholics were still a very numerous section. "The entire +proceedings of this Assembly," says Dr. Taylor, "were marked by wisdom +and moderation. They drew up a number of articles, in the nature of a +Bill of Rights, to which they humbly solicited the royal assent, and +promised that, on their being granted, they would raise a voluntary +assessment of 100,000 pounds for the use of the Crown. The principal +articles in these 'graces,' as they were called, were provisions for +the security of property, the due administration of justice, the +prevention of military exactions, the freedom of trade, the better +regulation of the clergy, and the restraining of the tyranny of the +ecclesiastical courts. Finally, they provided that the Scots, who had +been planted in Ulster, should be seemed in their possessions, and a +general pardon granted for all offences." Agents were chosen to repair +to England with this petition, and the Assembly, hoping for the best +results, adjourned. But the ultra Protestant party had taken the alarm, +and convoked a Synod at Dublin to counteract the General Assembly. This +Synod vehemently protested against selling truth "as a slave," and +"establishing for a price idolatry in its stead." They laid it down as +a dogma of _their_ faith that "to grant Papists a toleration, or to +consent that they may freely exercise their religion and profess their +faith and doctrines, was a grievous sin;" wherefore they prayed God "to +make those in authority zealous, resolute, and courageous against all +Popery, superstition, and idolatry." This declaration of the extreme +Protestants, including not only Usher, and the principal Bishops, but +Chichester, Boyle, Parsons, and the most successful "Undertakers," all +deeply imbued with Puritan notions, naturally found among their English +brethren advocates and defenders. The King, who had lately, for the +third time, renewed with France the articles of his marriage treaty, +was placed in a most difficult position. He desired to save his own +honour, he sorely needed the money of the Catholics, but he trembled +before the compact, well organized fanaticism of the Puritans. In his +distress he had recourse to a councillor, who, since the assassination +of Buckingham, his first favourite, divided with Laud the royal +confidence. This was Thomas, Lord Wentworth, better known by his +subsequent title of Earl of Strafford, a statesman born to be the +wonder and the bane of three kingdoms. Strafford (for such for +clearness we must call him) boldly advised the King to grant "the +graces" as his own personal act, to pocket the proposed subsidy, but to +contrive that the promised concessions he was to make should never go +into effect. This infamous deception was effected in this wise: the +King signed, with his own hand, a schedule of fifty-one "graces," and +received from the Irish agents in London bonds for 120,000 pounds, +(equal to ten times the amount at present), to be paid in three annual +instalments of 40,000 pounds. He also agreed that Parliament should be +immediately called in Ireland, to confirm these concessions, while at +the same time he secretly instructed Lord Falkland to see that the +writs of election were informally prepared, so that no Parliament could +be held. This was accordingly done; the agents of the General Assembly +paid their first instalment; the subscribers held the King's autograph; +the writs were issued, but on being returned, were found to be +technically incorrect, and so the legal confirmation of the graces was +indefinitely postponed, under one pretext or another. As evidence of +the national demands at this period, we should add, that beside the +redress of minor grievances, the articles signed by the King provided +that the recusants should be allowed to practise in the courts of law; +to sue the livery of their lands out of the Court of Wards, on taking +an oath of civil allegiance in lieu of the oath of supremacy; that the +claims of the Crown to the forfeiture of estates, under the plea of +defects of title, should not be held to extend beyond sixty years +anterior to 1628; that the "Undertakers" should have time allowed them +to fulfil the conditions of their leases; that the proprietors of +Connaught should be allowed to make a new enrollment of their estates, +and that a Parliament should be held. A royal proclamation announced +these concessions, as existing in the royal intention, but, as we have +already related, such promises proved to be worth no more than the +paper on which they were written. + +In 1629 Lord Falkland, to disarm the Puritan outcry against him, had +leave to withdraw, and for four years—an unusually long interregnum—the +government was left in the hands of Robert Boyle, now Earl of Cork, and +Adam Loftus, Viscount Ely, one of the well dowered offspring of Queen +Elizabeth's Archbishop of Dublin. Ely held the office of Lord +Chancellor, and Cork that of Lord High Treasurer; as Justices, they now +combined in their own persons almost all the power and patronage of the +kingdom. Both affected a Puritan austerity and enthusiasm, which barely +cloaked a rapacity and bigotry unequalled in any former administration. +In Dublin, on Saint Stephen's Day, 1629, the Protestant Archbishop, +Bulkley, and the Mayor of the city, entered the Carmelite Chapel, at +the head of a file of soldiers, dispersed the congregation, desecrated +the altar, and arrested the officiating friars. The persecution was +then taken up and repeated wherever the executive power was strong +enough to defy the popular indignation. A Catholic seminary lately +established in the capital was confiscated, and turned over to Trinity +College as a training school. Fifteen religious houses, chiefly +belonging to the Franciscan Order, which had hitherto escaped from the +remoteness of their situation, were, by an order of the English +Council, confiscated to the Crown, and their novices compelled to +emigrate in order to complete their studies abroad. A reprimand from +the King somewhat stayed the fury of the Justices, whose supreme power +ended with Stafford's appointment in 1633. + +The advent of Stafford was characteristic of his whole course. The King +sent over another letter concerning recusants, declaring that the laws +against them, at the suggestion of the Lords Justices, should be put +strictly in force. The Justices proved unwilling to enter this letter +on the Council book, and it was accordingly withheld till Stafford's +arrival, but the threat had the desired effect of drawing "a voluntary +contribution" of 20,000 pounds out of the alarmed Catholics. Equipped +partly with this money Stafford arrived in Dublin in July, 1633, and +entered at once on the policy, which he himself designated by the one +emphatic word—"THOROUGH." He took up his abode in the Castle, +surrounded by a Body Guard, a force hitherto unknown at the Irish +Court; he summoned only a select number of the Privy Council, and, +having kept them waiting for hours, condescended to address them in a +speech full of arrogance and menace. He declared his intention of +maintaining and augmenting the army; advised them to amend their grants +forthwith; told them frankly he had called them to Council, more out of +courtesy than necessity, and ended by requiring from them a year's +subsidy in advance. As this last request was accompanied by a positive +promise to obtain the King's consent to the assembling of Parliament, +it was at once granted; and soon after writs were issued for the +meeting of both Houses in July following. + +When this long-prayed-for Parliament at last met, the Lord Deputy took +good care that it should be little else than a tribunal to register his +edicts. A great many officers of the army had been chosen as Burgesses, +while the Sheriffs of counties were employed to secure the election of +members favourable to the demands of the Crown. In the Parliament of +1613 the recusants were, admitting all the returns to be correct, +nearly one-half; but in that of 1634 they could not have exceeded +one-third. The Lord Deputy nominated their Speaker, whom they did not +dare to reject, and treated them invariably with the supreme contempt +which no one knows so well how to exhibit towards a popular assembly as +an apostate liberal. "Surely," he said in his speech from the throne, +"so great a meanness cannot enter your hearts, as once to suspect his +Majesty's gracious regard of you, and performance with you, once you +affix yourselves upon his grace." His object in this appeal was the +sordid and commonplace one—to obtain more money without rendering value +for it. He accordingly carried through four whole subsidies of 50,000 +pounds sterling each in the session of 1634; and two additional +subsidies of the same amount at the opening of the next session. The +Parliament, having thus answered his purpose, was summarily dissolved +in April, 1635, and for four years more no other was called. During +both sessions he had contrived, according to his agreement with the +King, to postpone indefinitely the act which was to have confirmed "the +graces," guaranteed in 1628. He even contrived to get a report of a +Committee of the House of Commons, and the opinions of some of the +Judges, against legislating on the subject at all, which report gave +King Charles "a great deal of contentment." + +With sufficient funds in hand for the ordinary expenses of the +government, Strafford applied himself earnestly to the self-elected +task of making his royal master "as absolute as any King in +Christendom" on the Irish side of the channel. The plantation of +Connaught, delayed by the late King's death, and abandoned among the +new King's graces, was resumed as a main engine of obtaining more +money. The proprietary of that Province had, in the thirteenth year of +the late reign, paid 3,000 pounds into the Record Office at Dublin, for +the registration of their deeds, but the entries not being made by the +clerk employed, the title to every estate in the five western counties +was now called in question. The "Commissioners to Inquire into +Defective Titles" were let loose upon the devoted Province, with Sir +William Parsons at their head, and the King's title to the whole of +Mayo, Sligo and Roscommon, was found by packed, bribed, or intimidated +juries; the grand jury of Galway having refused to find a similar +verdict, were summoned to the Court of Castle Chamber, sentenced to pay +a fine of 4,000 pounds each to the Crown, and the Sheriff that +empanelled them, a fine of 1,000 pounds. The lawyers who pleaded for +the actual proprietors were stripped of their gowns, the sheriff died +in prison, and the work of spoliation proceeded. The young Earl of +Ormond was glad to compound for a portion of his estates; the Earl of +Kildare was committed to prison for refusing a similar composition; the +Earl of Cork was compelled to pay a heavy fine for his intrusion into +lands originally granted to the Church; the O'Byrnes of Wicklow +commuted for 15,000 pounds, and the London Companies, for their Derry +estates, paid no less than 70,000 pounds: a forced contribution for +which those frugal citizens never forgave the thorough-going Deputy. By +these means, and others less violent, such as bounties to the linen +trade, he raised the annual revenue of the kingdom to 80,000 pounds a +year, and was enabled to embody for the King's service an army of +10,000 foot and 1,000 horse. + +These arbitrary measures were entirely in consonance with the wishes of +Charles. In a visit to England in 1636, the King assured Strafford +personally of his cordial approbation of all he had done, encouraged +him to proceed fearlessly in the same course, and conferred on him the +higher rank of Lord Lieutenant. Three years later, on the first rumour +of a Scottish invasion of England, Strafford was enabled to remit his +master 30,000 pounds from the Irish Treasury, and to tender the +services of the Anglo-Irish army, as he thought they could be safely +dispensed with by the country in which they had been thus far recruited +and maintained. + + + +CHAPTER III. +LORD STRAFFORD'S IMPEACHMENT AND EXECUTION—PARLIAMENT OF 1639-'41—THE +INSURRECTION OF 1641—THE IRISH ABROAD. + +The tragic end of the despot, whose administration we have sketched, +was now rapidly approaching. When he deserted the popular ranks in the +English House of Commons for a Peerage and the government of Ireland, +the fearless Pym prophetically remarked, "Though you have left us, I +will not leave you while your head is on your shoulders." Yet, although +conscious of having left able and vigilant enemies behind him in +England, Strafford proceeded in his Irish administration as if he +scorned to conciliate the feelings or interests of any order of men. By +the highest nobility, as well as the humblest of the mechanic class, +his will was to be received as law; so that neither in Church, nor in +State, might any man express even the most guarded doubt as to its +infallibility. Lord Mountnorris, for example, having dropped a casual, +and altogether innocent remark at the Chancellor's table on the private +habits of the Deputy, was brought to trial by court martial on a charge +of mutiny, and sentenced to military execution. Though he was not +actually put to death, he underwent a long and rigorous imprisonment, +and at length was liberated without apology or satisfaction. If they +were not so fully authenticated, the particulars of this outrageous +case would hardly be credible. + +The examples of resistance to arbitrary power, which for some years had +been shown by both England and Scotland, were not thrown away upon the +still worse used Irish. During the seven years of Strafford's iron +rule, Hampden had resisted the collection of ship money, Cromwell had +begun to figure in the House of Commons, the Solemn League and Covenant +was established in Scotland, and the Scots had twice entered England in +arms to seal with their blood, if need were, their opposition to an +episcopal establishment of religion. It was in 1640, upon the occasion +of their second invasion, that Strafford was recalled from Ireland to +assume command of the royal forces in the North of England. After a +single indecisive campaign, the King entertained the overtures of the +Covenanters, and the memorable Long Parliament having met in November, +one of its first acts was the impeachment of Strafford for high crimes +and misdemeanors. The chief articles against him related to his +administration of Irish affairs, and were sustained by delegates from +the Irish House of Commons, sent over for that purpose: the whole of +the trial deserves to be closely examined by every one interested in +the constitutional history of England and Ireland. + +A third Parliament, known as the 14th, 15th and 16th Charles I., met at +Dublin on the 20th March, 1639, was prorogued till June, and adjourned +till October. Yielding the point so successfully resisted in 1613, its +sittings were held in the Castle, surrounded by the viceregal guard. +With one exception, the acts passed in its first session were of little +importance, relating only to the allotment of glebe lands and the +payment of twentieths. The exception, which followed the voting of four +entire subsidies to the King, was an Act ordaining "that this +Parliament shall not determine by his Majesty's assent to this and +other Bills." A similar statute had been passed in 1635, but was wholly +disregarded by Strafford, who no doubt meant to take precisely the same +course in the present instance. The members of this Assembly have been +severely condemned by modern writers for passing a high eulogium upon +Strafford in their first session and reversing it after his fall. But +this censure is not well founded. The eulogium was introduced by the +Castle party in the Lords, as part of the preamble to the Supply Bill, +which, on being returned to the Commons, could only be rejected _in +toto_, not amended—a proceeding in the last degree revolutionary. But +those who dissented from that ingenious device, at the next session of +the House, took care to have their protest entered on the journals and +a copy of it despatched to the King. This second proceeding took place +in February, 1640, and as the Lord Lieutenant was not arraigned till +the month of November following, the usual denunciations of the Irish +members are altogether undeserved. At no period of his fortune was the +Earl more formidable as an enemy than at the very moment the Protest +against "his manner of government" was ordered "to be entered among the +Ordinances" of the Commons of Ireland. Nor did this Parliament confine +itself to mere protestations against the abuses of executive power. At +the very opening of the second session, on the 20th of January, they +appointed a committee to wait on the King in England, with instructions +to solicit a bill in explanation of Poyning's law, another enabling +them to originate bills in Committee of their own House, a right taken +away by that law, and to ask the King's consent to the regulation of +the courts of law, the collecting of the revenue, and the quartering of +soldiers by statute instead of by Orders in Council. On the 16th of +February the House submitted a set of queries to the Judges, the nature +of which may be inferred from the first question, viz.: "Whether the +subjects of this Kingdom be a free people, and to be governed only by +the common law of England, and statutes passed in this Kingdom ?" When +the answers received were deemed insufficient, the House itself, +turning the queries into the form of resolutions, proceeded to vote on +them, one by one, affirming in every point the rights, the liberties, +and the privileges of their constituents. + +The impeachment and attainder of Strafford occupied the great part of +March and April, 1641, and throughout those months the delegates from +Ireland assisted at the pleadings in Westminster Hall and the debates +in the English Parliament. The Houses at Dublin were themselves +occupied in a similar manner. Towards the end of February articles of +impeachment were drawn up against the Lord Chancellor, Bolton, Dr. +Bramhall, Bishop of Derry, Chief-Justice Lowther, and Sir George +Radcliffe, for conspiring with Strafford to subvert the constitution, +and laws, and to introduce an arbitrary and tyrannical government. In +March, the King's letter for the continuance of Parliament was laid +before the Commons, and on the 3rd of April, his further letter, +declaring that all his Majesty's subjects of Ireland "shall, from +henceforth, enjoy the benefit of the said graces [of 1628] according to +the true intent thereof." By the end of May the Judges, not under +impeachment, sent in their answers to the Queries of the Commons, which +answers were voted insufficient, and Mr. Patrick Darcy, Member for +Navan, was appointed to serve as Proculator at a Conference with the +Lords, held on the 9th of June, "in the dining-room of the Castle," in +order to set forth the insufficiency of such replies. The learned and +elaborate argument of Darcy was ordered to be printed by the House; and +on the 26th day of July, previous to their prorogation, they resolved +unanimously, that the subjects of Ireland "were a free people, to be +governed only by the common law of England, and statutes made and +established in the kingdom of Ireland, and according to the lawful +custom used in the same." This was the last act of this memorable +session; the great northern insurrection in October having, of course, +prevented subsequent sessions from being held. Constitutional agitators +in modern times have been apt to select their examples of a wise and +patriotic parliamentary conduct from the opposition to the Act of Union +and the famous struggles of the last century; but whoever has looked +into such records as remain to us of the 15th and 16th of Charles +First, and the debates on the impeachment of Lord Chancellor Bolton, +will, in my opinion, be prepared to admit, that at no period whatever +was constitutional law more ably expounded in Ireland than in the +sessions of 1640 and 1641; and that not only the principles of Swift +and of Molyneux had a triumph in 1782, but the older doctrines also of +Sir Ralph Kelly, Audley Mervin, and Patrick Darcy. + +Strafford's Deputy, Sir Christopher Wandesford, having died before the +close of 1640, the King appointed Robert, Lord Dillon, a liberal +Protestant, and Sir William Parsons, Lords Justices. But the pressure +of Puritan influence in England compelled him in a short time to remove +Dillon and substitute Sir John Borlace, Master of the Ordnance—a mere +soldier—in point of fanaticism a fitting colleague for Parsons. The +prorogation of Parliament soon gave these administrators opportunities +to exhibit the spirit in which they proposed to carry on the +government. When at a public entertainment in the capital, Parsons +openly declared that in twelve months more no Catholics should be seen +in Ireland, it was naturally inferred that the Lord Justice spoke not +merely for himself but for the growing party of the English Puritans +and Scottish Covenanters. The latter had repeatedly avowed that they +never would lay down their arms until they had wrought the extirpation +of Popery, and Mr. Pym, the Puritan leader in England, had openly +declared that his party intended not to leave a priest in Ireland. The +infatuation of the unfortunate Charles in entrusting at such a moment +the supreme power, civil and military, to two of the devoted partizans +of his deadliest enemies, could not fail to arouse the fears of all who +felt themselves obnoxious to the fanatical party, either by race or by +religion. + +The aspirations of the chief men among the old Irish for entire freedom +of worship, their hopes of recovering at least a portion of their +estates, the example of the Scots, who had successfully upheld both +their Church and nation against all attempts at English supremacy, the +dangers that pressed, and the fears that overhung them, drove many of +the very first abilities and noblest characters into the conspiracy +which exploded with such terrific energy on the 23rd of October, 1641. +The project, though matured on Irish soil, was first conceived among +the exiled Catholics, who were to be found at that day in all the +schools and camps of Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands. Philip +III. had an Irish legion, under the command of Henry O'Neil, son of +Tyrone, which, after his death was transferred to his brother John. In +this legion, Owen Roe O'Neil, nephew of Tyrone, learned the art of war, +and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. The number of Irish serving +abroad had steadily increased after 1628, when a license of enlistment +was granted by King James. An English emissary, evidently +well-informed, was enabled to report, about the year 1630, that there +were in the service of the Archduchess Isabella, in the Spanish +Netherlands alone, "100 Irish officers able to command companies, and +20 fit to be colonels." The names of many others are given as men of +noted courage, good engineers, and "well-beloved" captains, both +Milesians and Anglo-Irish, residing at Lisbon, Florence, Milan and +Naples. The emissary adds that they had long been providing arms for an +attempt upon Ireland, "and had in readiness 5,000 or 6,000 arms laid up +in Antwerp for that purpose, _bought out of the deduction of their +monthly pay_." After the death of the Archduchess, in 1633, an attempt +was made by the Franco-Dutch, under Prince Maurice and Marshal +Chatillon, to separate the Belgian Provinces from Spain. In the +sanguinary battle at Avien victory declared for the French, and on +their junction with Prince Maurice, town after town surrendered to +their arms. The first successful stand against them was made at +Louvain, defended by 4,000 Belgians, Walloons, Spaniards and Irish; the +Irish, 1,000 strong, under the command of Colonel Preston, of the +Gormanstown family, greatly distinguished themselves. The siege was +raised on the 4th of July, 1635, and Belgium was saved for that time to +Philip IV. At the capture of Breda, in 1637, the Irish were again +honourably conspicuous, and yet more so in the successful defence of +Arras, the capital of Artois, three years later. Not yet strengthened +by the citadel of Vauban, this ancient Burgundian city, famous for its +cathedral and its manufactures, dear to the Spaniards as one of the +conquests of Charles V., was a vital point in the campaign of 1640. +Besieged by the French, under Marshal Millerie, it held out for several +weeks under the command of Colonel Owen Roe O'Neil. The King of France +lying at Amiens, within convenient distance, took care that the +besiegers wanted for nothing; while the Prince-Cardinal, Ferdinand, the +successor of the Archduchess in the government, marched to its relief +at the head of his main force with the Imperialists, under Launboy, and +the troops of the Duke of Lorrain, commanded by that Prince in person. +In an attack on the French lines the Allies were beaten off with loss, +and the brave commander was left again unsuccoured in the face of his +powerful assailant. Subsequently Don Philip de Silva, General of the +Horse to the Prince Cardinal, was despatched to its relief, but failed +to effect anything; a failure for which he was court-martialed, but +acquitted. The defenders, after exhausting every resource, finally +surrendered the place on honourable terms, and marched out covered with +glory. These stirring events, chronicled in prose and verse at home, +rekindled the martial ardour which had slumbered since the disastrous +day of Kinsale. + +In the ecclesiastics who shared their banishment, the military exiles +had a voluntary diplomatic _corps_ who lost no opportunity of advancing +the common cause. At Rome, their chief agent was Father Luke Wadding, +founder of Saint Isidore's, one of the most eminent theologians and +scholars of his age. Through the friendship of Gregory XV. and Urban +VIII., many Catholic princes became deeply interested in the religious +wars which the Irish of the previous ages had so bravely waged, and +which their descendants were now so anxious to renew. Cardinal +Richelieu—who wielded a power greater than that of Kings—had favourably +entertained a project of invasion submitted to him by the son of Hugh +O'Neil, a chief who, while living, was naturally regarded by the exiles +as their future leader. + +To prepare the country for such an invasion (if the return of men to +their own country can be called by that name), it was necessary to find +an agent with talents for organization, and an undoubted title to +credibility and confidence. This agent was fortunately found in the +person of Rory or Roger O'Moore, the representative of the ancient +chiefs of Leix, who had grown up at the Spanish Court as the friend and +companion of the O'Neils. O'Moore was then in the prime of life, of +handsome person, and most seductive manners; his knowledge of character +was profound; his zeal for the Catholic cause, intense; his personal +probity, honour, and courage, undoubted. The precise date of O'Moore's +arrival in Ireland is not given in any of the cotemporary accounts, but +he seems to have been resident in the country some time previous to his +appearance in public life, as he is familiarly spoken of by his English +cotemporaries as "Mr. Roger Moore of Ballynagh." During the +Parliamentary session of 1640, he took lodgings in Dublin, where he +succeeded in enlisting in his plans Conor Maguire, Lord Enniskillen, +Philip O'Reilly, one of the members for the county of Cavan, Costelloe +McMahon, and Thorlogh O'Neil, all persons of great influence in Ulster. +During the ensuing assizes in the Northern Province he visited several +country towns, where in the crowd of suitors and defendants he could, +without attracting special notice, meet and converse with those he +desired to gain over. On this tour he received the important accession +of Sir Phelim O'Neil of Kinnaird, in Tyrone, Sir Con Magennis of Down, +Colonel Hugh McMahon of Monaghan, and Dr. Heber McMahon, Administrator +of Clogher. Sir Phelim O'Neil, the most considerable man of his name +tolerated in Ulster, was looked upon as the greatest acquisition, and +at his castle of Kinnaird his associates from the neighbouring +counties, under a variety of pretexts, contrived frequently to meet. +From Ulster, the indefatigable O'Moore carried the threads of the +conspiracy into Connaught with equal success, finding both among the +nobility and clergy many adherents. In Leinster, among the Anglo-Irish, +he experienced the greatest timidity and indifference, but an +unforeseen circumstance threw into his hands a powerful lever, to move +that province. This was the permission granted by the King to the +native regiments, embodied by Strafford, to enter into the Spanish +service, if they so desired. His English Parliament made no demur to +the arrangement, which would rid the island of some thousands of +disciplined Catholics, but several of their officers, under the +inspiration of O'Moore, kept their companies together, delaying their +departure from month to month. Among these were Sir James Dillon, +Colonel Plunkett, Colonel Byrne, and Captain Fox, who, with O'Moore, +formed the first directing body of the Confederates in Leinster. + +In May, 1641, Captain Neil O'Neil arrived from the Netherlands with an +urgent request from John, Earl of Tyrone, to all his clansmen to +prepare for a general insurrection. He also brought them the cheering +news that Cardinal Richelieu—then at the summit of his greatness—had +promised the exiles arms, money, and means of transport. He was sent +back, almost immediately, with the reply of Sir Phelim, O'Moore and +their friends, that they would be prepared to take the field a few days +before or after the festival of All Hallows—the 1st of November. The +death of Earl John, the last surviving son of the illustrious Tyrone, +shortly afterwards, though it grieved the Confederates, wrought no +change in their plans. In his cousin-germain, the distinguished +defender of Arras, they reposed equal confidence, and their confidence +could not have been more worthily bestowed. + + + +CHAPTER IV. +THE INSURRECTION OF 1641. + +The plan agreed upon by the Confederates included four main features. +I. A rising after the harvest was gathered in, and a campaign during +the winter months, when supplies from England were most difficult to be +obtained by their enemies. II. A simultaneous attack on one and the +same day or night on all the fortresses within reach of their friends. +III. To surprise the Castle of Dublin, which was said to contain arms +for 12,000 men. IV. Aid in officers, munitions, and money from abroad. +All the details of this project were carried successfully into effect, +except the seizure of Dublin Castle—the most difficult as it would have +been the most decisive blow to strike. + +Towards the end of August, a meeting of those who could most +conveniently attend was held in Dublin. There were present O'Moore and +Maguire, of the civilians, and Colonels Plunkett, Byrne, and McMahon of +the army. At this meeting the last week of October, or first of +November, was fixed upon as the time to rise; subsequently Saturday, +the 23rd of the first named month, a market day in the capital was +selected. The northern movements were to be arranged with Sir Phelim +O'Neil, while McMahon, Plunkett, and Byrne, with 200 picked men, were +to surprise the Castle guard—consisting of only a few pensioners and 40 +halbediers—turn the guns upon the city to intimidate the Puritan party, +and thus make sure of Dublin; O'Moore, Lord Maguire, and other +civilians, were to be in town, in order to direct the next steps to be +taken. As the day approached, the arrangements went on with perfect +secrecy but with perfect success. On the 22nd of October half the +chosen band were in waiting, and the remainder were expected in during +the night. Some hundreds of persons, in and about Dublin, and many +thousands throughout the country, must have been in possession of that +momentous secret, yet it was by the mere accident of trusting a drunken +dependent out of sight, that the first knowledge of the plot was +conveyed to the Lords Justices on the very eve of its execution. + +Owen O'Connolly, the informant on this occasion, was one of those +ruffling squires or henchmen, who accompanied gentlemen of fortune in +that age, to take part in their quarrels, and carry their confidential +messages. That he was not an ordinary domestic servant, we may learn +from the fact of his carrying a sword, after the custom of the class to +which we have assigned him. At this period he was in the service of Sir +John Clotworthy, one of the most violent of the Puritan Undertakers, +and had conformed to the established religion. Through what +recklessness, or ignorance of his true character, he came to be invited +by Colonel Hugh McMahon to his lodgings, and there, on the evening of +the 22nd, entrusted with a knowledge of next day's plans, we have now +no means of deciding. O'Connolly's information, as tendered to the +Justices, states that on hearing of the proposed attack on the Castle, +he pretended an occasion to withdraw, leaving his sword in McMahon's +room to avoid suspicion, and that after jumping over fences and +palings, he made his way from the north side of the city to Sir William +Parsons at the Castle. Parsons at first discredited the tale, which +O'Connolly (who was in liquor) told in a confused and rambling manner, +but he finally decided to consult his colleague, Borlase, by whom some +of the Council were summoned, the witness's deposition taken down, +orders issued to double the guard, and officers despatched, who +arrested McMahon at his lodgings. When McMahon came to be examined +before the Council, it was already the morning of the 23rd; he boldly +avowed his own part in the plot, and declared that what was that day to +be done was now beyond the power of man to prevent. He was committed +close prisoner to the Castle where he had hoped to command, and search +was made for the other leaders in town. Maguire was captured the next +morning, and shared McMahon's captivity; but O'Moore, Plunkett, and +Byrne succeeded in escaping out of the city. O'Connolly was amply +rewarded in lands and money; and we hear of him once afterwards, with +the title of Colonel, in the Parliamentary army. + +As McMahon had declared to the Justices, the rising was now beyond the +power of man to prevent. In Ulster, by stratagem, surprise, or force, +the forts of Charlemont and Mountjoy, and the town of Dungannon, were +seized on the night of the 22nd by Sir Phelim O'Neil or his +lieutenants; on the next day Sir Conor Magennis took the town of Newry, +the McMahons possessed themselves of Carrickmacross and Castleblaney, +the O'Hanlons Tandragee, while Philip O'Reilly and Roger Maguire razed +Cavan and Fermanagh. A proclamation of the northern leaders appeared +the same day, dated from Dungannon, setting forth their "true intent +and meaning" to be, not hostility to his Majesty the King, "nor to any +of his subjects, neither English nor Scotch; but only for the defence +and liberty of ourselves and the Irish natives of this kingdom." A more +elaborate manifesto appeared shortly afterwards from the pen of Rory +O'Moore, in which the oppressions of the Catholics for conscience' sake +were detailed, the King's intended "graces" acknowledged, and their +frustration by the malice of the Puritan party exhibited: it also +endeavoured to show that a common danger threatened the Protestants of +the Episcopal Church with Roman Catholics, and asserted in the +strongest terms the devotion of the Catholics to the Crown. In the same +politic and tolerant spirit, Sir Conor Magennis wrote from Newry on the +25th to the officers commanding at Down. "We are," he wrote, "for our +lives and liberties. We desire no blood to be shed, but if you mean to +shed our blood, be sure we shall be as ready as you for that purpose." +This threat of retaliation, so customary in all wars, was made on the +third day of the rising, and refers wholly to future contingencies; the +monstrous fictions which were afterwards circulated of a wholesale +massacre committed on the 23rd were not as yet invented, nor does any +public document or private letter, written in Ireland in the last week +of October, or during the first days of November, so much as allude to +those tales of blood and horror, afterwards so industriously +circulated, and so greedily swallowed. + +Fully aroused from their lethargy by McMahon's declaration, the Lords +Justices acted with considerable vigour. Dublin was declared to be in a +state of siege; courts martial were established; arms were distributed +to the Protestant citizens, and some Catholics; and all strangers were +ordered to quit the city under pain of death. Sir Francis Willoughby, +Governor of Galway, who arrived on the night of the 22nd, was entrusted +with the command of the Castle, Sir Charles Coote was appointed +Military Governor of the city, and the Earl, afterwards Duke of Ormond, +was summoned from Carrick-on-Suir to take command of the army. As Coote +played a very conspicuous part in the opening scenes of this war, and +Ormond till its close, it may be well to describe them both, more +particularly, to the reader. + +Sir Charles Coote, one of the first Baronets of Ireland, like Parsons, +Boyle, Chichester, and other Englishmen, had come over to Ireland +during the war against Tyrone, in quest of fortune. His first +employments were in Connaught, where he filled the offices of +Provost-Marshal and Vice-Governor in the reign of James I. His success +as an Undertaker entitles him to rank with the fortunate adventurers we +have mentioned; in Roscommon, Sligo, Leitrim, Queen's, and other +counties, his possessions and privileges raised him to the rank of the +richest subjects of his time. In 1640 he was a colonel of foot, with +the estates of a Prince and the habits of a Provost-Marshal. His +reputation for ferocious cruelty has survived the remembrance even of +his successful plunder of other people's property; before the campaigns +of Cromwell there was no better synonym for wanton cruelty than the +name of Sir Charles Coote. + +James Butler, Earl, Marquis, and Duke of Ormond deservedly ranks +amongst the principal statesmen of his time. During a public career of +more than half a century his conduct in many eminent offices of trust +was distinguished by supreme ability, life-long firmness and +consistency. As a courtier of the House of Stuart, it was impossible +that he should have served and satisfied both Charleses without +participating in many indefensible acts of government, and originating +some of them. Yet judged, not from the Irish but the Imperial point of +view, not by an abstract standard but by the public morality of his +age, he will be found fairly deserving of the title of "the great Duke" +bestowed on him during his lifetime. When summoned by the Lords +Justices to their assistance in 1641, he was in the thirty-first year +of his age, and had so far only distinguished himself in political life +as the friend of the late Lord Strafford. He had, however, the good +fortune to restore in his own person the estates of his family, +notwithstanding that they were granted in great part to others by King +James; his attachment to the cause of King Charles was very naturally +augmented by the fact that the partiality of that Prince and his +ill-fated favourite had enabled him to retrieve both the hereditary +wealth and the high political influence which formerly belonged to the +Ormond Butlers. Such an ally was indispensable to the Lords Justices in +the first panic of the insurrection; but it was evident to near +observers that Ormond, a loyalist and a churchman, could not long act +in concert with such devoted Puritans as Parsons, Borlase, and Coote. + +The military position of the several parties—there were at least +three—when Ormond arrived at Dublin, in the first week of November, may +be thus stated: I. In Munster and Connaught there was but a single +troop of royal horse, each, left as a guard with the respective +Presidents, St. Leger and Willoughby; in Kilkenny, Dublin, and other of +the midland counties, the gentry, Protestant and Catholic, were relied +on to raise volunteers for their own defence; in Dublin there had been +got together 1,500 old troops; six new regiments of foot were embodied; +and thirteen volunteer companies of 100 each. In the Castle were arms +and ammunition for 12,000 men, with a fine train of field artillery, +provided by Stafford for his campaign in the north of England. Ormond, +as Lieutenant-General, had thus at his disposal, in one fortnight after +the insurrection broke out, from 8,000 to 10,000 well appointed men; +his advice was to take the field at once against the northern leaders +before the other Provinces became equally inflamed. But his judgment +was overruled by the Justices, who would only consent, while awaiting +their cue from the Long Parliament, to throw reinforcements into +Drogheda, which thus became their outpost towards the north. II. In +Ulster there still remained in the possession of "the Undertakers" +Enniskillen, Derry, the Castles of Killeagh and Crohan in Cavan, +Lisburn, Belfast, and the stronghold of Carrickfergus, garrisoned by +the regiments of Colonel Chichester and Lord Conway. King Charles, who +was at Edinburgh endeavouring to conciliate the Scottish Parliament +when news of the Irish rising reached him, procured the instant +despatch of 1,500 men to Ulster, and authorized Lords Chichester, Ardes +and Clandeboy, to raise new regiments from among their own tenants. The +force thus embodied—which may be called from its prevailing element the +_Scottish_ army—cannot have numbered less than 5,000 foot, and the +proportionate number of horse. III. The Irish in the field by the first +of November are stated in round numbers at 30,000 men in the northern +counties alone; but the whole number supplied with arms and ammunition +could not have reached one-third of that nominal total. Before the +surprise of Charlemont and Mountjoy forts, Sir Phelim O'Neil had but a +barrel or two of gunpowder; the stores of those forts, with 70 barrels +taken at Newry by Magennis, and all the arms captured in the +simultaneous attack, which at the outside could not well exceed 4,000 +or 5,000 stand—constituted their entire equipment. One of Ormond's +chief reasons for an immediate campaign in the North was to prevent +them having time to get "pikes made"—which shows their deficiency even +in that weapon. Besides this defect there was one, if possible, still +more serious. Sir Phelim was a civilian, bred to the profession of the +law; Rory O'Moore, also, had never seen service; and although Colonel +Owen O'Neil and others had promised to join them "at fourteen days' +notice," a variety of accidents prevented the arrival of any officer of +distinction during the brief remainder of that year. Sir Phelim, +however, boldly assumed the title of "Lord General of the Catholic Army +in Ulster," and the still more popular title with the Gaelic speaking +population of "The O'Neil." + +The projected winter campaign, after the first week's successes, did +not turn out favourably for the northern Insurgents. The beginning of +November was marked by the barbarous slaughter committed by the +Scottish garrison of Carrickfergus in the Island Magee. Three thousand +persons are said to have been driven into the fathomless north sea, +over the cliffs of that island, or to have perished by the sword. The +ordinary inhabitants could not have exceeded one-tenth as many, but the +presence of so large a number may be accounted for by the supposition +that they had fled from the mainland across the peninsula, which is +left dry at low water, and were pursued to their last refuge by the +infuriated Covenanters. From this date forward until the accession of +Owen Roe O'Neil to the command, the northern war assumed a ferocity of +character foreign to the nature of O'Moore, O'Reilly and Magennis. That +Sir Phelim permitted, if he did not sometimes in his gusts of stormy +passion instigate, those acts of cruelty, which have stained his +otherwise honourable conduct, is too true; but he stood alone among his +confederates in that crime, and that crime stands alone in his +character. Brave to rashness and disinterested to excess, few rebel +chiefs ever made a more heroic end out of a more deplorable beginning. + +The Irish Parliament, which was to have met on the 16th of November, +was indefinitely prorogued by the Lords Justices, who preferred to act +only with their chosen quorum of Privy Counsellors. The Catholic Lords +of the Pale, who at first had arms granted for their retainers out of +the public stores, were now summoned to surrender them by a given day; +an insult not to be forgiven. Lords Dillon and Taafe, then deputies to +the King, were seized at Ware by the English Puritans, their papers +taken from them, and themselves imprisoned. O'Moore, whose clansmen had +recovered Dunamase and other strongholds in his ancient patrimony, was +still indefatigable in his propaganda among the Anglo-Irish. By his +advice Sir Phelim marched to besiege Drogheda, at the head of his +tumultuous bands. On the way southward he made an unsuccessful attack +upon Lisburn, where he lost heavily; on the 24th of November he took +possession of Mellifont Abbey, from whose gate the aged Tyrone had +departed in tears, twenty-five years before. From Mellifont he +proceeded to invest Drogheda; Colonel Plunkett, with the title of +General, being the sole experienced officer as yet engaged in his +ranks. A strongly walled town as Drogheda was, well manned, and easily +accessible from the sea, cannot be carried without guns and engineers +by any amount of physical courage. Whenever the Catholics were fairly +matched in the open field, they were generally successful, as at +Julianstown, during this siege, where one of their detachments cut off +five out of six companies marching from Dublin to reinforce the town; +but though the investment was complete, the vigilant governor, Sir +Henry Tichburne, successfully repulsed the assailants. O'Moore, who lay +between Ardee and Dundalk with a reserve of 2,000 men, found time +during the siege to continue his natural career, that of a diplomatist. +The Puritan party, from the Lord Justice downwards, were, indeed, every +day hastening that union of Catholics of all origins which the founder +of the Confederacy so ardently desired to bring about. Their avowed +maxim was that the more men rebelled, the more estates there would be +to confiscate. In Munster, their chief instruments were the aged Earl +of Cork, still insatiable as ever for other men's possessions, and the +President St. Leger; in Leinster, Sir Charles Coote. Lord Cork prepared +1,100 indictments against men of property in his Province, which he +sent to the Speaker of the Long Parliament, with an urgent request that +they might be returned to him, with authority to proceed against the +parties named, as outlaws. In Leinster, 4,000 similar indictments were +found in the course of two days by the free use of the rack with +witnesses. Sir John Read, an officer of the King's Bedchamber, and Mr. +Barnwall, of Kilbrue, a gentleman of threescore and six, were among +those who underwent the torture. When these were the proceedings of the +tribunals in peaceable cities, we may imagine what must have been the +excesses of the soldiery in the open county. In the South, Sir William +St. Leger directed a series of murderous raids upon the peasantry of +Cork, which at length produced their natural effect. Lord Muskerry and +other leading recusants, who had offered their services to maintain the +peace of the Province, were driven by an insulting refusal to combine +for their own protection. The 1,100 indictments of Lord Cork soon +swelled their ranks, and the capture of the ancient city of Cashel by +Philip O'Dwyer announced the insurrection of the South. Waterford soon +after opened its gates to Colonel Edmund Butler; Wexford declared for +the Catholic cause, and Kilkenny surrendered to Lord Mountgarret. In +Wicklow, Coote's troopers committed murders such as had not been +equalled since the days of the Pagan Northmen. Little children were +carried aloft writhing on the pikes of these barbarians, whose worthy +commander confessed that "he liked such frolics." Neither age nor sex +was spared, and an ecclesiastic was especially certain of instant +death. Fathers Higgins and White of Naas, in Kildare, were given up by +Coote to these "lambs," though each had been granted a safe conduct by +his superior officer, Lord Ormond. And these murders were taking place +at the very time when the Franciscans and Jesuits of Cashel were +protecting Dr. Pullen, the Protestant Chancellor of that Cathedral and +other Protestant prisoners; while also the Castle of Cloughouter, in +Cavan, the residence of Bishop Bedell, was crowded with Protestant +fugitives, all of whom were carefully guarded by the chivalrous Philip +O'Reilly. + +At length the Catholic Lords of the Pale began to feel the general glow +of an outraged people, too long submissive under every species of +provocation. The Lords Justices having summoned them to attend in +Dublin on the 8th of December, they met at Swords, at the safe distance +of seven miles, and sent by letter their reasons for not trusting +themselves in the capital. To the allegations in this letter the +Justices replied by proclamation, denying most of them, and repeating +their summons to Lords Fingal, Gormanstown, Slane, Dunsany, +Netterville, Louth, and Trimleston, to attend in Dublin on the 17th. +But before the 17th came, as if to ensure the defeat of their own +summons, Coote was let loose upon the flourishing villages of Fingal, +and the flames kindled by his men might easily be discovered from the +round tower of Swords. On the 17th, the summoned Lords, with several of +the neighbouring gentry, met by appointment on the hill of Crofty, in +the neighbouring county of Meath; while they were engaged in discussing +the best course to be taken, a party of armed men on horseback, +accompanied by a guard of musketeers, was seen approaching. They proved +to be O'Moore, O'Reilly, Costelloe McMahon, brother of the prisoner, +Colonel Byrne, and Captain Fox. Lord Gormanstown, advancing in front of +his friends, demanded of the new-comers "why they came armed into the +Pale?" To which O'Moore made answer "that the ground of their coming +thither was for the freedom and liberty of their consciences, the +maintenance of his Majesty's prerogative, in which they understood he +was abridged, and the making the subjects of this kingdom as free as +those of England." Lord Gormanstown, after consulting a few moments +with his friends, replied: "Seeing these be your true ends, we will +likewise join with you." The leaders then embraced, amid the +acclamations of their followers, and the general conditions of their +union having been unanimously agreed upon, a warrant was drawn out +authorizing the Sheriff of Meath to summon the gentry of the county to +a final meeting at the Hill of Tara on the 24th of December. + + + +CHAPTER V. +THE CATHOLIC CONFEDERATION—ITS CIVIL GOVERNMENT AND MILITARY +ESTABLISHMENT. + +How a tumultuous insurrection grew into a national organization, with a +senate, executive, treasury, army, ships, and diplomacy, we are now to +describe. It may, however, be assumed throughout the narrative, that +the success of the new Confederacy was quite as much to be attributed +to the perverse policy of its enemies as to the counsels of its best +leaders. The rising in the midland and Munster counties, and the formal +adhesion of the Lords of the Pale, were two of the principal steps +towards the end. A third was taken by the Bishops of the Province of +Armagh, assembled in Provincial Synod at Kells, on the 22nd of March, +1642, where, with the exception of Dease of Meath, they unanimously +pronounced "the war just and lawful." After solemnly condemning all +acts of private vengeance, and all those who usurped other men's +estates, this provincial meeting invited a national synod to meet at +Kilkenny on the 10th day of May following. On that day accordingly, all +the Prelates then in the country, with the exception of Bishop Dease, +met at Kilkenny. There were present O'Reilly, Archbishop of Armagh; +Butler, Archbishop of Cashel; O'Kealy, Archbishop of Tuam; David Rothe, +the venerable Bishop of Ossory; the Bishops of Clonfert, Elphin, +Waterford, Lismore, Kildare, and Down and Conor; the proctors of +Dublin, Limerick, and Killaloe, with sixteen other dignitaries and +heads of religious orders—in all, twenty-nine prelates and superiors, +or their representatives. The most remarkable attendants were, +considering the circumstances of their Province, the prelates of +Connaught. Strafford's reign of terror was still painfully remembered +west of the Shannon, and the immense family influence of Ulick Burke, +then Earl, and afterwards Marquis of Clanrickarde, was exerted to +prevent the adhesion of the western population to the Confederacy. But +the zeal of the Archbishop of Tuam, and the violence of the Governor of +Galway, Sir Francis Willoughby, proved more than a counterpoise for the +authority of Clanrickarde and the recollection of Strafford: Connaught, +though the last to come into the Confederation, was also the last to +abandon it. + +The Synod of Kilkenny proceeded with the utmost solemnity and anxiety +to consider the circumstances of their own and the neighbouring +kingdoms. No equal number of men could have been found in Ireland, at +that day, with an equal amount of knowledge of foreign and domestic +politics. Many of them had spent years upon the Continent, while the +French Huguenots held their one hundred "cautionary towns," and +"leagues" and "associations" were the ordinary instruments of popular +resistance in the Netherlands and Germany. Nor were the events +transpiring in the neighbouring island unknown or unweighed by that +grave assembly. The true meaning and intent of the Scottish and English +insurrections were by this time apparent to every one. The previous +months had been especially fertile in events, calculated to rouse their +most serious apprehensions. In March, the King fled from London to +York; in April, the gates of Hull were shut in his face by Hotham, its +governor; and in May, the Long Parliament voted a levy of 16,000 +without the royal authority. The Earl of Warwick had been appointed the +Parliamentary commander of the fleet, and the Earl of Essex, their Lord +General, with Cromwell as one of his captains. From that hour it was +evident the sword alone could decide between Charles and his subjects. +In Scotland, too, events were occurring in which Irish Catholics were +vitally interested. The contest for the leadership of the Scottish +royalists between the Marquises of Hamilton and Montrose had occupied +the early months of the year, and given their enemies of the Kirk and +the Assembly full time to carry on their correspondence with the +English Puritans. In April, all parties in Scotland agreed in +despatching a force of 2,500 men, under "the memorable Major Monroe," +for the protection of the Scottish settlers in Ulster. On the 15th of +that month this officer landed at Carrickfergus, which was "given up to +him by agreement," with the royalist Colonel Chichester; the fortress, +which was by much the strongest in that quarter, continued for six +years the head-quarters of the Scottish general, with whom we shall +have occasion to meet again. + +The state of Anglo-Irish affairs was for some months one of +disorganization and confusion. In January and February the King had +been frequently induced to denounce by proclamation his "Irish rebels." +He had offered the Parliament to lead their reinforcements in person, +had urged the sending of arms and men, and had repeatedly declared that +he would never consent to tolerate Popery in that country. He had +failed to satisfy his enemies, by these profuse professions had +dishonoured himself, and disgusted many who were far from being hostile +to his person or family. Parsons and Borlase were still continued in +the government, and Coote was entrusted by them, on all possible +occasions, with a command distinct from that of Ormond. Having +proclaimed the Lords of the Pale rebels for refusing to trust their +persons within the walls of Dublin, Coote was employed during January +to destroy Swords, their place of rendezvous, and to ravage the estates +of their adherents in that neighbourhood. In the same month 1,100 +veterans arrived at Dublin under Sir Simon Harcourt; early in February +arrived Sir Richard Grenville with 400 horse, and soon after +Lieutenant-Colonel George Monk, afterwards Duke of Albemarle, with Lord +Leicester's regiment, 1,500 strong. Up to this period Ormond had been +restrained by the Justices, who were as timid as they were cruel, to +operations within an easy march of Dublin. He had driven the O'Moores +and their Allies out of Naas; had reinforced some garrisons in Kildare; +he had broken up, though not without much loss, an entrenched camp of +the O'Byrnes at Kilsalgen wood, on the borders of Dublin; at last the +Justices felt secure enough, at the beginning of March, to allow him to +march to the relief of Drogheda. Sir Phelim O'Neil had invested the +place for more than three months, had been twice repulsed from its +walls, made a last desperate attempt, towards the end of February, but +with no better success. After many lives were lost the impetuous +lawyer-soldier was obliged to retire, and on the 8th of March, hearing +of Ormond's approach at the head of 4,000 fresh troops, he hastily +retreated northward. On receiving this report, the Justices recalled +Ormond to the capital; Sir Henry Tichburne and Lord Moore were +despatched with a strong force, on the rear of the Ulster forces, and +drove them out of Ardee and Dundalk—the latter after a sharp action. +The march of Ormond into Meath had, however, been productive of offers +of submission from many of the gentry of the Pale, who attended the +meetings at Crofty and Tara. Lord Dunsany and Sir John Netterville +actually surrendered on the Earl's guarantee, and were sent to Dublin; +Lords Gormanstown, Netterville, and Slane, offered by letter to follow +their example; but the two former were, on reaching the city, thrust +into the dungeons of the Castle, by order of the Justices; and the +proposals of the latter were rejected with contumely. About the same +time the Long Parliament passed an act declaring 2,500,000 acres of the +property of Irish recusants forfeited to the State, and guaranteeing to +all English "adventurers" contributing to the expenses of the war, and +all soldiers serving in it, grants of land in proportion to their +service and contribution. This act, and a letter from Lord Essex, the +Parliamentarian Commander-in-Chief, recommending the transportation of +captured recusants to the West Indian Colonies, effectually put a stop +to these negotiations. In Ulster, by the end of April, there were +19,000 troops, regulars and volunteers, in the garrison or in the +field. Newry was taken by Monroe and Chichester, where 80 men and women +and 2 priests were put to death. Magennis was obliged to abandon Down, +and McMahon Monaghan; Sir Philem was driven to burn Armagh and +Dungannon, and to take his last stand at Charlemont. In a severe action +with Sir Robert and Sir William Stewart, he had displayed his usual +courage with better than his usual fortune, which, perhaps, we may +attribute to the presence with him of Sir Alexander McDonnell, brother +to Lord Antrim, the famous _Colkitto_ of the Irish and Scottish wars. +But the severest defeat which the Confederates had was in the heart of +Leinster, at the hamlet of Kilrush, within four miles of Athy. Lord +Ormond, returning from a second reinforcement of Naas and other Kildare +forts, at the head, by English account, of 4,000 men, found on the 13th +of April the Catholics of the midland counties, under Lords +Mountgarrett, Ikerrin, and Dunboyne, Sir Morgan Cavenagh, Rory O'Moore, +and Hugh O'Byrne, drawn up, by his report, 8,000 strong, to dispute his +passage. With Ormond were the Lord Dillon, Lord Brabazon, Sir Richard +Grenville, Sir Charles Coote, and Sir T. Lucas. The combat was short +but murderous. The Confederates left 700 men, including Sir Morgan +Cavenagh, and some other officers, dead on the field; the remainder +retreated in disorder, and Ormond, with an inconsiderable diminution of +numbers, returned in triumph to Dublin. For this victory the Long +Parliament, in a moment of enthusiasm, voted the Lieutenant-General a +jewel worth 500 pounds. If any satisfaction could be derived from such +an incident, the violent death of their most ruthless enemy, Sir +Charles Coote, might have afforded the Catholics some consolation. That +merciless saberer, after the combat at Kilrush, had been employed in +reinforcing Birr, and relieving the Castle of Geashill, which the Lady +Letitia of Offally held against the neighbouring tribe of O'Dempsey. On +his return from this service he made a foray against a Catholic force, +which had mustered in the neighbourhood of Trim; here, on the night of +the 7th of May, heading a sally of his troop, he fell by a musket +shot—not without suspicion of being fired from his own ranks. His son +and namesake, who imitated him in all things, was ennobled at the +restoration by the title of the Earl of Mountrath. In Munster the +President St. Leger, though lately reinforced by 1,000 men from +England, did not consider himself strong enough for other than +occasional forays into the neighbouring county, and little was effected +in that Province. + +Such was the condition of affairs at home and abroad when the National +Synod assembled at Kilkenny. As the most popular tribunal invested with +the highest moral power in the kingdom, it was their arduous task to +establish order and authority among the chaotic elements of the +revolution. By the admission of those most opposed to them they +conducted their deliberations for nearly three weeks with equal +prudence and energy. They first, on the motion of the venerable Bishop +Rothe, framed an oath of association to be publicly taken by all their +adherents, by the first part of which they were bound to bear "true +faith and allegiance" to King Charles and his lawful successors, "to +maintain the fundamental laws of Ireland, the free exercise of the +Roman Catholic faith and religion." By the second part of this oath all +Confederate Catholics—for so they were to be called—as solemnly bound +themselves never to accept or submit to any peace "without the consent +and approbation of the general assembly of the said Confederate +Catholics." They then proceeded to make certain constitutions, +declaring the war just and lawful; condemning emulations and +distinctions founded on distinctions of race, such as "new" and "old +Irish;" ordaining an elective council for each Province; and a Supreme +or National Council for the whole kingdom; condemning as excommunicate +all who should, having taken the oath, violate it, or who should be +guilty of murder, violence to persons, or plunder under pretence of the +war. Although the attendance of the lay leaders of the movement at +Kilkenny was far from general, the exigencies of the case compelled +them, to nominate, with the concurrence of the Bishops, the first +Supreme Council of which Lord Mountgarrett was chosen President, and +Mr. Richard Belling, an accomplished writer and lawyer, Secretary. By +this body a General Assembly of the entire Nation was summoned to meet +at the same city, on the 23rd of October following—the anniversary of +the Ulster rising, commonly called by the English party "Lord Maguire's +day." The choice of such an occasion by men of Mountgarrett's and +Selling's moderation and judgment, six months after the date of the +alleged "massacre," would form another proof, if any were now needed, +that none of the alleged atrocities were yet associated with the memory +of that particular day. + +The events of the five months, which intervened between the adjournment +of the National Synod at the end of May, and the meeting of the General +Assembly on the 23rd of October, may best be summed up under the head +of the respective provinces. I. The oath of Confederation was taken +with enthusiasm in Munster, a Provincial Council elected, and General +Barry chosen Commander-in-Chief. Barry made an attempt upon Cork, which +was repulsed, but a few days later the not less important city of +Limerick opened its gates to the Confederates, and on the 21st of June +the citadel was breached and surrendered by Courtenay, the Governor. On +the 2nd of July St. Leger died at Cork (it was said of vexation for the +loss of Limerick), and the command devolved on his son-in-law, Lord +Inchiquin, a pupil of the school of Wards, and a soldier of the school +of Sir Charles Coote. With Inchiquin was associated the Earl of +Barrymore for the civil administration, but on Barrymore's death in +September both powers remained for twelve months in the hands of the +survivor. The gain of Limerick was followed by the taking of Loughgar +and Askeaton, but was counterbalanced by the defeat of Liscarroll, when +the Irish loss was 800 men, with several colours; Inchiquin reported +only 20 killed, including the young lord Kinalmeaky, one of the five +sons whom the Earl of Cork gave to this war. II. In Connaught, Lord +Clanrickarde was still enabled to avert a general outbreak. In vain the +western Prelates besought him in a pathetic remonstrance to place +himself at the head of its injured inhabitants, and take the command of +the Province. He continued to play a middle part between the President, +Lord Ranelagh, Sir Charles Coote the younger, and Willoughby, Governor +of Galway, until the popular impatience burst all control. The chief of +the O'Flahertys seized Clanrickarde's castle, of Aughrenure, and the +young men of Galway, with a skill and decision quite equal to that of +the Derry apprentices of an after day, seized an English ship +containing arms and supplies, lying in the bay, marched to the Church +of Saint Nicholas, took the Confederate oath, and shut Willoughby up in +the citadel. Clanrickarde hastened to extinguish this spark of +resistance, and induced the townsmen to capitulate on his personal +guarantee. But Willoughby, on the arrival of reinforcements, under the +fanatical Lord Forbes, at once set the truce made by Clanrickarde at +defiance, burned the suburbs, sacked the Churches, and during August +and September, exercised a reign of terror in the town. About the same +time local risings took place in Sligo, Mayo, and Roscommon, at first +with such success that the President of the Province, Lord Ranelagh, +shut himself up in the castle of Athlone, where he was closely +besieged. III. In Leinster, no military movement of much importance was +made, in consequence of the jealousy the Justices entertained of +Ormond, and the emptiness of the treasury. In June, the Long Parliament +remitted over the paltry sum of 11,500 pounds to the Justices, and +2,000 of the troops, which had all but mutinied for their pay, were +despatched under Ormond to the relief of Athlone. Commissioners arrived +during the summer, appointed by the Parliament to report on the affairs +of Ireland, to whom the Justices submitted a penal code worthy of the +brain of Draco or Domitian; Ormond was raised to the rank of Marquis, +by the King; while the army he commanded grew more and more divided, by +intrigues emanating from the castle and beyond the channel. Before the +month of October, James Touchet, Earl of Castlehaven, an adventurous +nobleman, possessed of large estates both in Ireland and England, +effected his escape from Dublin Castle, where he had been imprisoned on +suspicion by Parsons and Borlase, and joined the Confederation at +Kilkenny. In September, Colonel Thomas Preston, the brave defender of +Louvain, uncle to Lord Gormanstown, landed at Wexford, with three +frigates and several transports, containing a few siege guns, field +pieces, and other stores, 500 officers, and a number of engineers. IV. +In Ulster, where the first blow was struck, and the first hopes were +excited, the prospect had become suddenly overclouded. Monroe took +Dunluce from Lord Antrim by the same stratagem by which Sir Phelim took +Charlemont—inviting himself as a guest, and arresting his host at his +own table. A want of cordial co-operation between the Scotch commander +and "the Undertakers" alone prevented them extinguishing, in one +vigorous campaign, the northern insurrection. So weak and disorganized +were now the thousands who had risen at a bound one short year before, +that the garrisons of Enniskillen, Derry, Newry, and Drogheda, scoured +almost unopposed the neighbouring counties. The troops of Cole, +Hamilton, the Stewarts, Chichesters, and Conways, found little +opposition, and gave no quarter. Sir William Cole, among his claims of +service rendered to the State, enumerated "7,000 of the rebels famished +to death," within a circuit of a few miles from Enniskillen. The +disheartened and disorganized natives were seriously deliberating a +wholesale emigration to the Scottish highlands, when a word of magic +effect was whispered from the sea coast to the interior. On the 6th of +July, Colonel Owen Roe O'Neil arrived off Donegal with a single ship, a +single company of veterans, 100 officers, and a considerable quantity +of ammunition. He landed at Doe Castle, and was escorted by his +kinsman, Sir Phelim, to the fort of Charlemont. A general meeting of +the northern clans was quickly called at Clones, in Monaghan, and +there, on an early day after his arrival, Owen O'Neil was elected +"General-in-Chief of the Catholic Army" of the North, Sir Phelim +resigning in his favour, and taking instead the barren title of +"President of Ulster." At the same moment Lord Lieven arrived from +Scotland with the remainder of the 10,000 voted by the Parliament of +that kingdom. He had known O'Neil abroad, had a high opinion of his +abilities, and wrote to express his surprise "that a man of his +reputation should be engaged in so bad a cause;" to which O'Neil +replied that "he had a better right to come to the relief of his own +country than his lordship had to march into England against his lawful +King." Lieven, before returning home, urged Monroe to act with +promptitude, for that he might expect a severe lesson if the new +commander once succeeded in collecting an army. But Monroe proved deaf +to this advice, and while the Scottish and English forces in the +Province would have amounted, if united, to 20,000 foot and 1,000 +horse, they gave O'Neil time enough to embody, officer, drill, and arm +(at least provisionally), a force not to be despised by even twice +their numbers. + + + +CHAPTER VI. +THE CONFEDERATE WAR—CAMPAIGN OF 1643—THE CESSATION. + +The city of Kilkenny, which had become the capital of the Confederacy, +was favourably placed for the direction of the war in Leinster and +Munster. Nearly equidistant from Dublin, Cork, and Limerick, a meeting +place for most of the southern and south-western roads, important in +itself both as a place of trade, and as the residence of the Duke of +Ormond and the Bishop of Ossory, a better choice could not, perhaps, +have been made, so far as regarded the ancient southern "Half-Kingdom." +But it seems rather surprising that the difficulty of directing the war +in the North and North-West, from a point so far south, did not occur +to the statesmen of the Confederacy. In the defective communications of +those days, especially during a war, partaking even partially of the +character of civil strife, it was hard, if not impossible to expect, +that a supervision could be exercised over a general or an army on the +Erne or the Bann, which might be quite possible and proper on the Suir +or the Shannon. A similar necessity in England necessitated the +creation of the Presidency of the North, with its council and +head-quarters in the city of York; nor need we be surprised to find +that, from the first, the Confederate movements combined themselves +into two groups—the northern and the southern—those which revolved +round the centre of Kilkenny, and those which took their law from the +head-quarters of Owen O'Neil, at Belturbet, or wherever else his camp +happened to be situated. + +The General Assembly met, according to agreement, on the 23rd of +October, 1642, at Kilkenny. Eleven bishops and fourteen lay lords +represented the Irish peerage; two hundred and twenty-six commoners, +the large majority of the constituencies. Both bodies sat in the same +chamber, divided only by a raised dais. The celebrated lawyer, Patrick +Darcy, a member of the Commons' House, was chosen as chancellor, and +everything was conducted with the gravity and deliberation befitting so +venerable an Assembly, and so great an occasion. The business most +pressing, and most delicate, was felt to be the consideration of a form +of supreme executive government. The committee on this subject, who +reported after the interval of a week, was composed of Lords +Gormanstown and Castlehaven, Sir Phelim O'Neil, Sir Richard Belling, +and Mr. Darcy. A "Supreme Council" of six members for each province was +recommended, approved, and elected. The Archbishops of Armagh, Dublin, +and Tuam, the Bishops of Down and of Clonfert, the Lords Gormanstown, +Mountgarrett, Roche, and Mayo, with fifteen of the most eminent +commoners, composed this council. It was provided that the vote of +two-thirds should be necessary to any act affecting the basis of the +Confederacy, but a quorum of nine was sufficient for the transaction of +ordinary business. A guard of honour of 500 foot and 200 horse was +allowed for their greater security. The venerable Mountgarrett, the +head of the Catholic Butlers, (son-in-law of the illustrious Tyrone, +who, in the last years of Elizabeth, had devoted his youthful sword to +the same good cause,) was elected president of this council; and Sir +Richard Belling, a lawyer, and a man of letters, the continuator of Sir +Philip Sydney's _Arcadia_, was appointed secretary. + +The first act of this Supreme Council was to appoint General O'Neil as +Commander-in-Chief in Ulster; General Preston, in Leinster; General +Barry, in Munster; and Sir John Burke as Lieutenant-General in +Connaught; the supreme command in the West being held over for +Clanrickarde, who, it was still hoped, might be led or driven into the +Confederacy. We shall endeavour to indicate in turn the operations of +these commanders, thus chosen or confirmed; leaving the civil and +diplomatic business transacted by the General Assembly, or delegated to +the Supreme Council, for future mention. + +Contrary to the custom of that age, the Confederate troops were not +withdrawn into winter quarters. In November, General Preston, at the +head of 6,000 foot and 600 horse, encountered Monk at Tymahoe and +Ballinakil, with some loss; but before the close of December he had +reduced Birr, Banagher, Burris, and Fort Falkland, and found himself +master of King's county, from the Shannon to the Barrow. In February, +however, he sustained a serious check at Rathconnell, in endeavouring +to intercept the retreat of the English troops from Connaught, under +the command of Lord Ranelagh, and the younger Coote; and in March, +equal ill success attended his attempt to intercept Ormond, in his +retreat from the unsuccessful siege of the town of Ross. Lord +Castlehaven, who was Preston's second in command, attributes both these +reverses to the impetuosity of the general, whose imprudence seems to +have been almost as great as his activity was conspicuous. In April and +May, Preston and Castlehaven took several strongholds in Carlow, +Kildare, and West-Meath, and the General Assembly, which met for its +second session, on the 20th of May, 1643, at Kilkenny, had, on the +whole, good grounds to be satisfied with the success of the war in +Leinster. + +In the Southern Province, considerable military successes might also be +claimed by the Confederates. The Munster troops, under Purcell, the +second in command, a capable soldier, who had learned the art of war in +the armies of the German Empire, relieved Ross, when besieged by +Ormond; General Barry had successfully repulsed an attack on his +head-quarters, the famous old Desmond town of Killmallock. In June, +Barry, Purcell, and Castlehaven drove the enemy before them across the +Funcheon, and at Kilworth brought their main body, under Sir Charles +Vavasour, to action. Vavasour's force was badly beaten, himself +captured, with his cannon and colours, and many of his officers and +men. Inchiquin, who had endeavoured to form a junction with Vavasour, +escaped to one of the few remaining garrisons open to him—probably +Youghal. + +In Connaught, the surrender of Galway, on the 20th of June, eclipsed +all the previous successes, and they were not a few, of +Lieutenant-General Burke. From the day Lord Ranelagh and the younger +Coote deserted the Western province, the Confederate cause had rapidly +advanced. The surrender of "the second fort in the Kingdom"—a sea-port +in that age, not unworthy to be ranked with Cadiz and Bristol, for its +commercial wealth and reputation—was a military event of the first +importance. An English fleet appeared three days after the surrender of +Willoughby, in Galway harbour; but nine long years elapsed before the +Confederate colours were lowered from the towers of the Connaught +citadel. + +In the North, O'Neil, who, without injustice to any of his +contemporaries, may certainly be said to have made, during his seven +years' command, the highest European reputation among the Confederate +generals, gathered his recruits into a rugged district, which forms a +sort of natural camp in the north-west corner of the island. The +mountain plateau of Leitrim, which sends its spurs downwards to the +Atlantic, towards Lough Erne, and into Longford, accessible only by +four or five lines of road, leading over narrow bridges and through +deep defiles, was the nursery selected by this cautious leader, in +which to collect and organize his forces. In the beginning of May—seven +months after the date of his commission, and ten from his solitary +landing at Doe Castle—we find him a long march from his mountain +fortress in Leitrim, at Charlemont, which he had strengthened and +garrisoned, and now saved from a surprise attempted by Monroe, from +Carrickfergus. Having effected that immediate object, he again retired +towards the Leitrim highlands, fighting by the way a smart cavalry +action at Clonish, with a superior force, under Colonels Stewart, +Balfour, and Mervyn. In this affair O'Neil was only too happy to have +carried off his troop with credit; but a fortnight brought him +consolation for Clonish in the brilliant affair of Portlester. He had +descended in force from his hills and taken possession of the greater +part of the ancient Meath. General Monk and Lord Moore were despatched +against him, but reinforced by a considerable body of Meathian +Confederates, under Sir James Dillon, he resolved to risk his first +regular engagement in the field. Taking advantage of the situation of +the ground, about five miles from Trim, he threw up some field works, +placed sixty men in Portlester mill, and patiently awaited the advance +of the enemy. Their assault was overconfident, their rout complete. +Lord Moore, and a large portion of the assailants were slain, and Monk +fled back to Dublin. O'Neil, gathering fresh strength from these +movements, abandoned his mountain stronghold, and established his +head-quarters on the river Erne between Lough Oughter (memorable in his +life and death) and the upper waters of Lough Erne. At this point stood +the town of Belturbet, which, in "the Plantation" of James I., had been +turned over exclusively to British settlers, whose "cagework" houses, +and four acres of garden ground each, had elicited the approval of the +surveyor Pynnar, twenty years before. The surrounding country was +covered with the fortified castles and loop-holed lawns of the chief +_Undertakers_—but few were found of sufficient strength to resist the +arms of O'Neil. At Belturbet, he was within a few days' march of the +vital points of four other counties, and in case of the worst, within +the same distance of his protective fastness. Here, towards the end of +September, busied with present duties and future projects, he heard, +for the first time, with astonishment and grief, that the requisite +majority of "the Supreme Council" had concluded, on the 13th of that +month, a twelve-months' truce with Ormond, thus putting in peril all +the advantages already acquired by the bravery of the Confederate +troops, and the skill of their generals. + +The war had lasted nearly two years, and this was the first time the +Catholics had consented to negotiate. The moment chosen was a critical +one for all the three Kingdoms, and the interests involved were +complicated in the extreme. The Anglo-Irish, who formed the majority of +the Supreme Council, connected by blood and language with England, had +entered into the war, purely as one of religious liberty. Nationally, +they had, apart from the civil disabilities imposed on religious +grounds, no antipathy, no interest, hostile to the general body of +English loyalists, represented in Ireland by the King's lieutenant, +Ormond. On his side, that nobleman gave all his thoughts to, and +governed all his actions by the exigencies of the royal cause, +throughout the three Kingdoms. When Charles seemed strong in England, +Ormond rated the Catholics at a low figure; but when reverses increased +he estimated their alliance more highly. After the drawn battle of +Edgehill, fought on the very day of the first meeting of the General +Assembly at Kilkenny, the King had established his head-quarters at +Oxford, in the heart of four or five of the most loyal counties in +England. Here he at first negotiated with the Parliament, but finally +the sword was again invoked, and while the King proclaimed the +Parliament rebels, "the solemn league and covenant" was entered into, +at first separately, and afterwards jointly, by the Puritans of England +and Presbyterians of Scotland. The military events during that year, +and in the first half of the next, were upon the whole not unfavourable +to the royal cause. The great battle of Marston Moor, (July 2nd, 1644,) +which "extinguished the hopes of the Royalists in the Northern +counties," was the first Parliamentary victory of national importance. +It was won mainly by the energy and obstinacy of Lieutenant-General +Cromwell, from that day forth the foremost English figure in the Civil +War. From his court at Oxford, where he had seen the utter failure of +endeavouring to conciliate his English and Scottish enemies, the King +had instructed Ormond—lately created a Marquis—to treat with the Irish +Catholics, and to obtain from them men and money. The overtures thus +made were brought to maturity in September; the Cessation was to last +twelve months; each party was to remain in possession of its own +quarters, as they were held at the date of the treaty; the forces of +each were to unite to punish any infraction of the terms agreed on; the +agents of the Confederates, during the cessation, were to have free +access and safe conduct to the King; and for these advantages, the +Supreme Council were to present his Majesty immediately with 15,000 +pounds in money, and provisions to the value of 15,000 pounds more. + +Such was "the truce of Castlemartin," condemned by O'Neil, by the Papal +Nuncio, Scarampi, and by the great majority of the old Irish, lay and +clerical; still more violently denounced by the Puritan Parliament as +favouring Popery, and negotiated by Popish agents; beneficial to Ormond +and the Undertakers, as relieving Dublin, freeing the channel from +Irish privateers, and securing them in the garrisons throughout the +Kingdom which they still held; in one sense advantageous to Charles, +from the immediate supplies it afforded, and the favourable impression +it created of his liberality, at the courts of his Catholic allies; but +on the other hand disadvantageous to him in England and Scotland, from +the pretexts it furnished his enemies, of renewing the cry of his +connivance with Popery, a cry neither easily answered, nor, of itself, +liable quickly to wear out. + + + +CHAPTER VII. +THE CESSATION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. + +While the Confederate delegates, reverently uncovered, and Ormond, in +hat and plume, as representing royalty, were signing "the cessation" at +Castlemartin, the memorable Monroe, with all his men, were taking the +covenant, on their knees, in the church of Carrickfergus, at the hands +of the informer O'Connolly, now a colonel in the Parliamentary army, +and high in the confidence of its chiefs. Soon after this ceremony, +Monroe, appointed by the English Parliament Commander-in-Chief of all +their forces in Ulster, united under his immediate leadership, of +Scots, English, and Undertakers, not less than 10,000 men. With this +force he marched southward as far as Newry, which he found an easy +prey, and where he put to the sword, after surrender, sixty men, +eighteen women, and two ecclesiastics. In vain the Confederates +entreated Ormond to lead them against the common enemy in the North; +pursuing always a line of policy of his own, in which their interest +had a very slender part, that astute politician neither took the field, +nor consented that they should do so of themselves. But the Supreme +Council, roused by the remonstrances of the clergy, ordered Lord +Castlehaven, with the title of Commander-in-Chief, to march against +Monroe. This was virtually superseding O'Neil in his own province, and +that it was so felt, even by its authors, is plain from their giving +him simultaneously the command in Connaught. O'Neil, never greater than +in acts of self-denial and self-sacrifice, stifled his profound +chagrin, and cheerfully offered to serve under the English Earl, placed +over his head. But the northern movements were, for many months, +languid and uneventful; both parties seemed uncertain of their true +policy; both, from day to day, awaited breathlessly for tidings from +Kilkenny, Dublin, London, Oxford, or Edinburgh, to learn what new forms +the general contest was to take, in order to guide their own conduct by +the shifting phases of that intricate diplomacy. + +Among the first consequences of the cessation were the debarkation at +Mostyn, in Scotland, of 3,000 well provided Irish troops, under +_Colkitto_ (the left-handed,) Alexander McDonnell, brother of Lord +Antrim. Following the banner of Montrose, these regiments performed +great things at Saint Johnstown, at Aberdeen, at Inverlochy, all which +have been eloquently recorded by the historians of that period. "Their +reputation," says a cautious writer, "more than their number, unnerved +the prowess of their enemies. No force ventured to oppose them in the +field; and as they advanced, every fort was abandoned or surrendered." +A less agreeable result of "the cessation," for the court at Oxford, +was the retirement from the royal army of the Earl of Newcastle, and +most of his officers, on learning that such favourable conditions had +been made with Irish Papists. To others of his supporters—as the Earl +of Shrewsbury—Charles was forced to assume a tone of apology for that +truce, pleading the hard necessities which compelled him: the truth +seems to be, that there were not a few then at Oxford, who, like Lord +Spencer, would gladly have been on the other side—or at all events in a +position of neutrality—provided they could have found "a salve for +their honour," as gentlemen and cavaliers. + +The year 1644 opened for the Irish with two events of great +significance—the appointment of Ormond as Viceroy, in January, and the +execution at Tyburn, by order of the English Parliament, of Lord +Maguire, a prisoner in the Tower since October, 1641. Maguire died with +a courage and composure worthy of his illustrious name, and his +profoundly religious character. His long absence had not effaced his +memory from the hearts of his devoted clansmen of Fermanagh, and many a +prayer was breathed, and many a vow of vengeance muttered among them, +for what they must naturally have regarded as the cold-blooded judicial +murder of their chief. + +Two Irish deputations—one Catholic, the other Protestant—proceeded this +year to the King, at Oxford, with the approval of Ormond, who took care +to be represented by confidential agents of his own. The Catholics +found a zealous auxiliary in the queen, Henrietta Maria, who, as a +co-religionist, felt with them, and, as a Frenchwoman, was free from +insular prejudices against them. The Irish Protestants found a scarcely +less influential advocate in the venerable Archbishop Usher, whose +presence and countenance, as the most puritanical of his prelates, was +most essential to the policy of Charles. The King heard both parties +graciously—censured some of the demands of both as extravagant, and +beyond his power to concede—admitted others to be reasonable and worthy +of consideration—refused to confirm the churches they had seized to the +Catholics—but was willing to allow them their "seminaries of +education"—would not consent to enforce the penal laws on the demand of +the Protestants—but declared that neither should the Undertakers be +disturbed in their possessions or offices. In short, he pathetically +exhorted both parties to consider his case as well as their own; +promised them to call together the Irish Parliament at the earliest +possible period; and so got rid of both deputations, leaving Ormond +master of the position for some time longer. + +The agents and friends of the Irish Catholics on the Continent were +greatly embarrassed, and not a little disheartened by the cessation. At +Paris, at Brussels, at Madrid, but above all at Rome, it was regretted, +blamed, or denounced, according to the temper or the insight of the +discontented. His Catholic Majesty had some time before remitted a +contribution of 20,000 dollars to the Confederate Treasury; one of +Richelieu's last acts was to invite Con, son of Hugh O'Neil, to the +French Court, and to permit the shipment of some pieces of ordnance to +Ireland; from Rome, the celebrated Franciscan, Father Luke Wadding, had +remitted 26,000 dollars, and the Nuncio Scarampi had brought further +donations. The facility, therefore, with which the cessation had been +agreed upon, against the views of the agents of the Catholic powers at +Kilkenny, without any apparently sufficient cause, had certainly a +tendency to check and chill the enthusiasm of those Catholic Princes +who had been taught to look on the insurrection of the Irish as a +species of Crusade. Remonstrances, warm, eloquent, and passionate, were +poured in upon the most influential members of the Supreme Council, +from those who had either by delegation, or from their own free will, +befriended them abroad. These remonstrances reached that powerful body +at Waterford, at Limerick, or at Galway, whither they had gone on an +official visitation, to hear complaints, settle controversies, and +provide for the better collection of the assessments imposed on each +Province. + +An incident which occurred in Ulster, soon startled the Supreme Council +from their pacific occupations. General Monroe, having proclaimed that +all Protestants within his command should take "the solemn league and +covenant," three thousand of that religion, still loyalists, met at +Belfast, to deliberate on their answer. Monroe, however, apprised of +their intentions, marched rapidly from Carrickfergus, entered the town +under cover of night, and drove out the loyal Protestants at the point +of the sword. The fugitives threw themselves into Lisburn, and Monroe +appointed Colonel Hume as Governor of Belfast, for the Parliaments of +Scotland and England. Castlehaven, with O'Neil still second in command, +was now despatched northward against the army of the Covenant. Monroe, +who had advanced to the borders of Meath as if to meet them, contented +himself with gathering in great herds of cattle; as they advanced, he +slowly fell back before them through Louth and Armagh, to his original +head-quarters; Castlehaven then returned with the main body of the +Confederate troops to Kilkenny, and O'Neil, depressed, but not +dismayed, carried his contingent to their former position at Belturbet. + +In Munster, a new Parliamentary party had time to form its combinations +under the shelter of the cessation. The Earl of Inchiquin, who had +lately failed to obtain the Presidency of Munster from the King at +Oxford, and the Lord Broghill, son of the great Southern Undertaker—the +first Earl of Cork,—were at the head of this movement. Under pretence +that the quarters allotted them by the cessation had been violated, +they contrived to seize upon Cork, Youghal, and Kinsale. At Cork, they +publicly executed Father Mathews, a Friar, and proceeding from violence +to violence, they drove from the three places all the Catholic +inhabitants. They then forwarded a petition to the King, beseeching him +to declare the Catholics "rebels," and declaring their own +determination to "die a thousand deaths sooner than condescend to any +peace with them." At the same time they entered into or avowed their +correspondence with the English Parliament, which naturally enough +encouraged and assisted them. The Supreme Council met these +demonstrations with more stringent instructions to General Purcell, now +their chief in command, (Barry having retired on account of advanced +age,) to observe the cessation, and to punish severely every infraction +of it. At the same time they permitted or directed Purcell to enter +into a trace with Inchiquin till the following April; and then they +rested on their arms, in religious fidelity to the engagements they had +signed at Castlemartin. + +The twelve-months' truce was fast drawing to a close, when the battle +of Marston Moor stimulated Ormond to effect a renewal of the treaty. +Accordingly, at his request, Lord Muskerry, and five other +commissioners, left Kilkenny on the last day of August for Dublin. +Between them and the Viceroy, the cessation was prolonged till the +first of December following; and when that day came, it was further +protracted, as would appear, for three months, by which time, (March, +1645,) Ormond informed them that he had powers from the King to treat +for a permanent settlement. + +During the six months that the original cessation was thus protracted +by the policy of Ormond, the Supreme Council sent abroad new agents, +"to know what they had to trust to, and what succours they might really +depend on from abroad." Father Hugh Bourke was sent to Spain, and Sir +Richard Belling to Rome, where Innocent X, had recently succeeded to +that generous friend of the Catholic Irish. Urban VIII. The voyage of +these agents was not free from hazard, for, whereas, before the +cessation, the privateers commissioned by the Council, sheltered and +supplied in the Irish harbours, had kept the southern coast clear of +hostile shipping, now that they had been withdrawn under the truce, the +parliamentary cruisers had the channel all to themselves. Waterford and +Wexford—the two chief Catholic ports in that quarter—instead of seeing +their waters crowded with prizes, now began to tremble for their own +safety. The strong fort of Duncannon, on the Wexford side of Waterford +harbour, was corruptly surrendered by Lord Esmond, to Inchiquin and the +Puritans. After a ten-weeks' siege, however, and the expenditure of +19,000 pounds of powder, the Confederates retook the fort, in spite of +all the efforts made for its relief. Esmond, old and blind, escaped by +a timely death the penalty due to his treason. Following up this +success, Castlehaven rapidly invested other southern strongholds in +possession of the same party, Cappoquin, Lismore, Mallow, Mitchelstown, +Doneraile and Liscarroll surrendered on articles; Rostellan, commanded +by Inchiquin's brother, was stormed and taken; Boghill was closely +besieged in Youghal, but, being relieved from sea, successfully +defended himself. In another quarter, the Parliament was equally +active. To compensate for the loss of Galway, they had instructed the +younger Coote, on whom they had conferred the Presidency of Connaught, +to withdraw the regiment of Sir Frederick Hamilton, and 400 other +troops, from the command of Monroe, and with these, Sir Robert +Stewart's forces, and such others as he could himself raise, to invest +Sligo. Against the force thus collected, Sligo could not hope to +contend, and soon, from that town, as from a rallying and resting +place, 2,000 horsemen were daily launched upon the adjoining country. +Lord Clanrickarde, the royal president of the province, as unpopular as +trimmers usually are in times of crisis, was unable to make head +against this new danger. But the Confederates, under Sir James Dillon, +and Dr. O'Kelly, the heroic Archbishop of Tuam, moved by the pitiful +appeals of the Sligo people, boldly endeavoured to recover the town. +They succeeded in entering the walls, but were subsequently repulsed +and routed. The Archbishop was captured and tortured to death; some of +the noblest families of the province and of Meath had also to mourn +their chiefs; and several valuable papers, found or pretended to be +found in the Archbishop's carriage, were eagerly given to the press of +London by the Parliament of England. This tragedy at Sligo occurred on +Sunday, October 26th, 1645. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. +GLAMORGAN'S TREATY—THE NEW NUNCIO RINUCCINI—O'NEIL'S POSITION—THE +BATTLE OF BENBURB. + +Ormond had amused the Confederates with negotiations for a permanent +peace and settlement, from spring till midsummer, when Charles, +dissatisfied with these endless delays, despatched to Ireland a more +hopeful ambassador. This was Herbert, Earl of Glamorgan, one of the few +Catholics remaining among the English nobility; son and heir to the +Marquis of Worcester, and son-in-law to Henry O'Brien, Earl of Thomond. +Of a family devoutly attached to the royal cause, to which it is said +they had contributed not less than 200,000 pounds, Glamorgan's +religion, his rank, his Irish connections, the intimate confidence of +the King which he was known to possess, all marked out his embassy as +one of the utmost importance. + +The story of this mission has been perplexed and darkened by many +controversies. But the general verdict of historians seems now to be, +that Charles I., whose many good qualities as a man and a ruler are +cheerfully admitted on all hands, was yet utterly deficient in +downright good faith; that duplicity was his besetting sin; and that +Glamorgan's embassy is one, but only one, of the strongest evidences of +that ingrained duplicity. + +It may help to the clearer understanding of the negotiations conducted +by Glamorgan in Ireland, if we give in the first place the exact dates +of the first transactions. The Earl arrived at Dublin about the 1st of +August, and, after an interview with Ormond, proceeded to Kilkenny. On +the 28th of that month, preliminary articles were agreed to and signed +by the Earl on behalf of the King, and by Lords Mountgarrett and +Muskerry on behalf of the Confederates. It was necessary, it seems, to +get the concurrence of the Viceroy to these terms, and accordingly the +negotiators on both sides repaired to Dublin. Here, Ormond contrived to +detain them ten long weeks in discussions on the articles relating to +religion; it was the 12th of November when they returned to Kilkenny, +with a much modified treaty. On the next day, the 13th, the new Papal +Nuncio, a prelate who, by his rank, his eloquence, and his imprudence, +was destined to exercise a powerful influence on the Catholic councils, +made his public entry into that city. + +This personage was John Baptist Rinuccini, Archbishop of Fermo, in the +Marches of Ancona, which see he had preferred to the more exalted +dignity of Florence. By birth a Tuscan, the new Nuncio had +distinguished himself from boyhood by his passionate attachment to his +studies. At Bologna, at Perugia, and at Rome, his intense application +brought him early honours, and early physical debility. His health, +partially restored in the seclusion of his native valley of the Arno, +enabled him to return again to Rome. Enjoying the confidence of Gregory +XV. and Uban VIII., he was named successively, Clerk of the Chamber, +Secretary of the Congregation of Rites, and Archbishop of Fermo. This +was the prelate chosen by the new Pope, Innocent X., for the nunciature +in Ireland: a man of noble birth, in the fifty-third year of his age, +of uncertain bodily health, of great learning, especially as a +canonist, of a fiery Italian temperament,—"regular and even austere in +his life, and far from any taint of avarice or corruption,"—such was +the admission of his enemies. + +Leaving Italy in May, accompanied by the Dean of Fermo, who has left us +a valuable record of the embassy, his other household officers, several +Italian noblemen, and Sir Richard Belling, the special agent at Rome, +the Nuncio, by way of Genoa and Marseilles, reached Paris. In France he +was detained nearly five months, in a fruitless attempt to come to some +definite arrangement as to the conduct of the Catholic war, through +Queen Henrietta Maria, then resident with the young Prince of +Wales—afterwards Charles II.—at the French court. The Queen, like most +persons of her rank, overwhelmed with adversity, was often unreasonably +suspicious and exacting. Her sharp woman's tongue did not spare those +on whom her anger fell, and there were not wanting those, who, +apprehensive of the effect in England of her negotiating directly with +a papal minister, did their utmost to delay or to break off their +correspondence. A nice point of court etiquette further embarrassed the +business. The Nuncio could not uncover his head before the Queen, and +Henrietta would not receive him otherwise than uncovered. After three +months lost in Paris, he was obliged to proceed on his journey, +contenting himself with an exchange of complimentary messages with the +Queen, whom even the crushing blow of Naseby could not induce to waive +a point of etiquette with a Priest. + +On reaching Rochelle, where he intended to take shipping, a further +delay of six weeks took place, as was supposed by the machinations of +Cardinal Mazarin. Finally, the Nuncio succeeded in purchasing a frigate +of 26 guns, the _San Pietro_, on which he embarked with all his Italian +suite, Sir Richard Belling, and several Franco-Irish officers. He had +also on board a considerable sum in Spanish gold, (including another +contribution of 36,000 dollars from Father Wadding,) 2,000 muskets, +2,000 cartouch belts, 4,000 swords, 2,000 pike heads, 400 brace of +pistols, 20,000 pounds of powder, with match, shot, and other stores. +Weighing from St. Martin's in the Isle of Rhe, the _San Pietro_ doubled +the Land's End, and stood over towards the Irish coast. The third day +out they were chased for several hours by two Parliamentary cruisers, +but escaped under cover of the night; on the fourth morning, being the +21st of October, they found themselves safely embayed in the waters of +Kenmare, on the coast of Kerry. + +The first intelligence which reached the Nuncio on landing, was the +negotiation of Glamorgan, of which he had already heard, while waiting +a ship at Rochelle. The next was the surrender by the Earl of Thomond, +of his noble old castle of Bunratty, commanding the Shannon within six +miles of Limerick, to the Puritans. This surrender had, however, +determined the resolution of the city of Limerick, which hitherto had +taken no part in the war, to open its gates to the Confederates. The +loss of Bunratty was more than compensated by the gaining of one of the +finest and strongest towns in Munster, and to Limerick accordingly the +Nuncio paid the compliment of his first visit. Here he received the +mitre of the diocese in dutiful submission from the hands of the +Bishop, on entering the Cathedral; and here he celebrated a solemn +requiem mass for the repose of the soul of the Archbishop of Tuam, +lately slain before Sligo. From Limerick, borne along on his litter, +such was the feebleness of his health, he advanced by slow stages to +Kilkenny, escorted by a guard of honour, despatched on that duty, by +the Supreme Council. + +The pomp and splendour of his public entry into the Catholic capital +was a striking spectacle. The previous night he slept at a village +three miles from the city, for which he set out early on the morning of +the 13th of November, escorted by his guard, and a vast multitude of +the people. Five delegates from the Supreme Council accompanied him. A +band of fifty students mounted on horseback met him on the way, and +their leader, crowned with laurel, recited some congratulatory Latin +verses. At the city gate he left the litter and mounted a horse richly +housed; here the procession of the clergy and the city guilds awaited +him; at the Market Cross, a Latin oration was delivered in his honour, +to which he graciously replied in the same language. From the Cross he +was escorted to the Cathedral, at the door of which he was received by +the aged Bishop, Dr. David Rothe. At the high altar he intonated the +_Te Deum_, and gave the multitude the apostolic benediction. Then he +was conducted to his lodgings, where he was soon waited upon by Lord +Muskerry and General Preston, who brought him to Kilkenny Castle, +where, in the great gallery, which elicited even a Florentine's +admiration, he was received in stately formality by the President of +the Council—Lord Mountgarrett. Another Latin oration on the nature of +his embassy was delivered by the Nuncio, responded to by Heber, Bishop +of Clogher, and so the ceremony of reception ended. + +The Nuncio brought from Paris a new subject of difficulty, in the form +of a memorial from the English Catholics at Rome, praying that they +might be included in the terms of any peace which might be made by +their Irish co-religionists with the King. Nothing could be more +natural than that the members of the same persecuted church should make +common cause, but nothing could be more impolitic than some of the +demands made in the English memorial. They wished it to be stipulated +with Charles, that he would allow a distinct military organization to +the English and Irish Catholics in his service, under Catholic general +officers, subject only to the King's commands, meaning thereby, if they +meant what they said, independence of all parliamentary and ministerial +control. Yet several of the stipulations of this memorial were, after +many modifications and discussions, adopted by Glamorgan into his +original articles, and under the treaty thus ratified, the Confederates +bound themselves to despatch 10,000 men, fully armed and equipped, to +the relief of Chester and the general succour of the King in England. +Towards the close of December, the English Earl, with two Commissioners +from the Supreme Council, set forth for Dublin, to obtain the Viceroy's +sanction to the amended treaty. But in Dublin a singular counterplot in +this perplexed drama awaited them. On St. Stephen's day, while at +dinner, Glamorgan was arrested by Ormond, on a charge of having +exceeded his instructions, and confined a close prisoner in the castle. +The gates of the city were closed, and every means taken to give +_éclat_ to this extraordinary proceeding. The Confederate Commissioners +were carried to the castle, and told they might congratulate themselves +on not sharing the cell prepared for Glamorgan. "Go back," they were +told, "to Kilkenny and tell the President of the Council, that the +Protestants of England would fling the King's person out at his window, +_if they believed it possible_ that he lent himself to such an +undertaking." The Commissioners accordingly went back and delivered +their errand, with a full account of all the circumstances. +Fortunately, the General Assembly had been called for an early day in +January, 1646, at Kilkenny. When, therefore, they met, their first +resolution was to despatch Sir Robert Talbot to the Viceroy, with a +letter suspending all negotiations till the Earl of Glamorgan was set +at liberty. By the end of January, on the joint bail, for 40,000 +pounds, of the Earls of Clanrickarde and Kildare, the English envoy was +enlarged, and, to the still further amazement of the simple-minded +Catholics, on his arrival at Kilkenny, he justified rather than +censured the action of Ormond. To most observers it appeared that these +noblemen understood each other only too well. + +From January till June, Kilkenny was delivered over to cabals, +intrigues, and recriminations. There was an "old Irish party," to which +the Nuncio inclined, and an "Anglo-Irish party," headed by Mountgarrett +and the majority of the Council. The former stigmatized the latter as +Ormondists, and the latter retorted on them with the name of the +Nuncio's party. In February came news of a foreign treaty made at Rome +between Sir Kenelm Digby and the Pope's Ministers, most favourable to +the English and Irish Catholics. On the 28th of March, a final +modification of Glamorgan's articles, reduced to thirty in number, was +signed by Ormond for the King, and Lord Muskerry and the other +Commissioners for the Confederates. These thirty articles conceded, in +fact, all the most essential claims of the Irish; they secured them +equal rights as to property, in the Army, in the Universities, and at +the Bar; they gave them seats in both Houses and on the Bench; they +authorized a special commission of Oyer and Terminer, composed wholly +of Confederates; they declared that "the independency of the Parliament +of Ireland on that of England," should be decided by declaration of +both Houses "agreeably to the laws of the Kingdom of Ireland." In +short, this final form of Glamorgan's treaty gave the Irish Catholics, +in 1646, all that was subsequently obtained either for the church or +the country, in 1782, 1793, or 1829. Though some conditions were +omitted, to which Rinuccini and a majority of the Prelates attached +importance, Glamorgan's treaty was, upon the whole, a charter upon +which a free church and a free people might well have stood, as the +fundamental law of their religious and civil liberties. + +The treaty, thus concluded at the end of March, was to lie as an +_escroll_ in the hands of the Marquis of Clanrickarde till the 1st of +May, awaiting Sir Kenelm Digby with the Roman protocol. And then, not +withstanding the dissuasions of Rinuccini to the contrary, it was to be +kept secret from the world, though some of its obligations were +expected to be at once fulfilled, on their side, by the Catholics. The +Supreme Council, ever eager to exhibit their loyalty, gathered together +6,000 troops for the relief of Chester and the service of the King in +England, so soon as both treaties—the Irish and the Roman—should be +signed by Charles. While so waiting, they besieged and took Bunratty +castle—already referred to—but Sir Kenelm Digby did not arrive with +May, and they now learned, to their renewed amazement, that Glamorgan's +whole negotiation was disclaimed by the King in England. In the same +interval Chester fell, and the King was obliged to throw himself into +the hands of the Scottish Parliament, who surrendered him for a price +to their English coadjutors. These tidings reached Ireland during May, +and, varied with the capture of an occasional fortress, lost or won, +occupied all men's minds. But the first days of June were destined to +bring with them a victory of national—of European importance—won by +Owen O'Neil, in the immediate vicinity of his grand-uncle's famous +battle-field of the Yellow Ford. + +During these three years of intrigue and negotiation, the position of +General O'Neil was hazardous and difficult in the extreme. One campaign +he had served under a stranger, as second on his own soil. In the other +two he was fettered by the terms of "cessation" to his own quarters; +and to add to his embarrassments, his impetuous kinsman Sir Phelim, +brave, rash, and ambitious, recently married to a daughter of his +ungenerous rival, General Preston, was incited to thwart and obstruct +him amongst their mutual clansmen and connections. The only recompense +which seems to have been awarded to him, was the confidence of the +Nuncio, who, either from that knowledge of character in which the +Italians excel, or from bias received from some other source, at once +singled him out as the man of his people. What portion of the Nuncio's +supplies reached the Northern General we know not, but in the beginning +of June, he felt himself in a position to bring on an engagement with +Monroe, who, lately reinforced by both Parliaments, had marched out of +Carrickfergus into Tyrone, with a view of penetrating as far south as +Kilkenny. On the 4th day of June, the two armies encountered at +Benburb, on the little river Blackwater, about six miles north of +Armagh, and the most signal victory of the war came to recompense the +long-enduring patience of O'Neil. + +The battle of Benburb has been often and well described. In a naturally +strong position—with this leader the choice of ground seems to have +been a first consideration—the Irish, for four hours, received and +repulsed the various charges of the Puritan horse. Then as the sun +began to descend, pouring its rays upon the opposing force, O'Neil led +his whole force—five thousand men against eight—to the attack. One +terrible onset swept away every trace of resistance. There were counted +on the field, 3,243 of the Covenanters, and of the Catholics, but 70 +killed and 100 wounded. Lord Ardes, and 21 Scottish officers, 32 +standards, 1,500 draught horses, and all the guns and tents, were +captured. Monroe fled in panic to Lisburn, and thence to Carrickfergus, +where he shut himself up, till he could obtain reinforcements. O'Neil +forwarded the captured colours to the Nuncio, at Limerick, by whom they +were solemnly placed in the choir of St. Mary's Cathedral, and +afterwards, at the request of Pope Innocent, sent to Rome. _Te Deum_ +was chanted in the Confederate Capital; penitential psalms were sung in +the Northern fortress. "The Lord of Hosts," wrote Monroe, "had rubbed +shame on our faces, till once we are humbled;" O'Neil emblazoned the +cross and keys on his banner with the Red Hand of Ulster, and openly +resumed the title originally chosen by his adherents at Clones, "the +Catholic Army." + + + +CHAPTER IX. +FROM THE BATTLE OF BENBURB TILL THE LANDING OF CROMWELL AT DUBLIN. + +The Nuncio, elated by the great victory of O'Neil, to which he felt he +had personally contributed by his seasonable supplies, provoked and +irritated by Ormond's intrigues and the King's insincerity, rushed with +all the ardour of his character into making the war an uncompromising +Catholic crusade. In this line of conduct, he was supported by the +Archbishops of Dublin and Cashel, by ten of the Bishops, including the +eminent Prelates of Limerick, Killalla, Ferns, and Clogher; the +Procurator of Armagh; nine Vicars-general, and the Superiors of the +Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans, and Augustinians. The peace party, on +the other hand, were not without clerical adherents, but they were +inconsiderable, as to influence and numbers. They were now become as +anxious to publish the Thirty Articles agreed upon at the end of March, +as they then were to keep them secret. Accordingly, with Ormond's +consent, copies of the treaty were sent early in August to the sheriffs +of counties, mayors of cities, and other leading persons, with +instructions to proclaim it publicly in due form; upon hearing which, +the Nuncio and his supporters of the clergy, secular and regular, +assembled in council at Waterford, on the 12th of August, solemnly +declared that they gave no consent, and would not, "to any peace," that +did not grant "further, surer, and safer considerations for their +religion, king, and country," according to the original oath of the +Confederacy. + +The rupture between the clergy and the laymen of the Council was now +complete. The prelates who signed the decree of Waterford, of course, +thereby withdrew from the body whose action they condemned. In vain the +learned Darcy and the eloquent Plunkett went to and fro between the two +bodies: concord and confidence were at an end. The synod decided to +address Lord Mountgarrett in future as President of "the _late_ Supreme +Council." The heralds who attempted to publish the Thirty Articles in +Clonmel and Waterford were hooted or stoned; while in Limerick the +mayor, endeavouring to protect them, shared this rough usage. Ormond, +who was at Kilkenny at the critical moment of the breach, did his +utmost to sustain the resolution of those who were stigmatized by his +name; while the Nuncio, suspicious of Preston, wrote urgently to O'Neil +to lead his army into Leinster, and remove the remnant of the late +council from Kilkenny. All that those who held a middle course between +the extremes could do, was to advocate an early meeting of the General +Assembly; but various exigencies delayed this much-desired meeting, +till the 10th day of January, 1647. + +The five intervening months were months of triumph for Rinuccini. Lord +Digby appeared at Dublin as a special agent from the King, to declare +his consent to Glamorgan's original terms; but Ormond still insisted +that he had no authority to go beyond the Thirty Articles. Charles +himself wrote privately to Rinuccini, promising to confirm everything +which Glamorgan had proposed, as soon as he should come into "the +Nuncio's hands." Ormond, after a fruitless attempt to convert O'Neil to +his views, had marched southward with a guard of 1,500 foot, and 500 +horse, to endeavour to conciliate the towns, and to win over the Earl +of Inchiquin. In both these objects he failed. He found O'Neil before +him in his county palatinate of Tipperary, and the Mayor of Cashel +informed him that he dared not allow him into that city, for fear of +displeasing the northern general. Finding himself thus unexpectedly +within a few miles of "the Catholic Army," 10,000 strong, the Viceroy +retreated precipitately through Kilkenny, Carlow, and Kildare, to +Dublin. Lord Digby, who had accompanied him, after an unsuccessful +attempt to cajole the Synod of Waterford, made the best of his way back +to France; the Marquis of Clanrickarde, who had also been of the +expedition, shared the flight of Ormond. Towards the middle of +September, O'Neil's army, after capturing Roscrea Castle, marched to +Kilkenny, and encamped near that city. His forces had now augmented to +12,000 foot, and 1,500 horse; on the 18th of the month, he escorted the +Nuncio in triumph into Kilkenny, where the Ormondist members of the old +council were committed to close custody in the castle. A new council, +of four bishops and eight laymen, was established on the 26th, with the +Nuncio as president; Glamorgan succeeded Castlehaven, who had gone over +to Ormond, as commander in Munster; while O'Neil and Preston were +ordered to unite their forces for the siege of Dublin. The sanguine +Italian dreamt of nothing less, for the moment, than the creation of +Viceroys, the deliverance of the King, and the complete restoration of +the ancient religion. + +O'Neil and Preston, by different routes, on which they were delayed in +taking several garrisoned posts, united at Lucan in the valley of the +Liffey, seven miles west of Dublin, on the 9th of November. Their joint +forces are represented at 16,000 foot, and 1,600 horse—of which Preston +had about one-third, and O'Neil the remainder. Preston's head-quarters +were fixed at Leixlip, and O'Neil's at Newcastle—points equi-distant, +and each within two hours' march of the capital. Within the walls of +that city there reigned the utmost consternation. Many of the +inhabitants fled beyond seas, terrified by the fancied cruelty of the +Ulstermen. But Ormond retained all his presence of mind, and readiness +of resources. He entered, at first covertly, into arrangements with the +Parliamentarians, who sent him a supply of powder; he wrote urgently to +Monroe to make a diversion in his favour; he demolished the mills and +suburbs which might cover the approaches of the enemy; he employed +soldiers, civilians, and even women, upon the fortifications,—Lady +Ormond setting an example to her sex, in rendering her feeble +assistance. Clanrickarde, in Preston's tent, was doing the work of +stimulating the old antipathy of that general towards O'Neil, which led +to conflicting advices in Council, and some irritating personal +altercations. To add to the Confederate embarrassment, the winter was +the most severe known for many years; from twenty to thirty sentinels +being frozen at night at their posts. On the 13th of November, while +the plan of the Confederate attack was still undecided, commissioners +of the Parliament arrived, with ample stores, in Dublin Bay. On the +next day they landed at Ringsend, and entered into negotiations with +Ormond; on the 16th the siege was raised, and on the 23rd Ormond broke +off the treaty, having unconsciously saved Dublin from the +Confederates, by the incorrect reports of supplies being received, +which were finally carried northward to Monroe. + +The month of January brought the meeting of the General Assembly. The +attendance in the great gallery of Ormond Castle was as large, and the +circumstances upon the whole as auspicious as could be desired, in the +seventh year of such a struggle. The members of the old council, +liberated from arrest, were in their places. O'Neil and Preston, +publicly reconciled, had signed a solemn engagement to assist and +sustain each other. The Nuncio, the Primate of Ireland, and eleven +bishops took their seats; the peers of oldest title in the kingdom were +present; two hundred and twenty-four members represented the Commons of +Ireland, and among the spectators sat the ambassadors of France and +Spain, and of King Charles. The main subject of discussion was the +sufficiency of the Thirty Articles, and the propriety of the +ecclesiastical censure promulgated against those who had signed them. +The debate embraced all that may be said on the question of clerical +interference in political affairs, on conditional and unconditional +allegiance, on the power of the Pontiff speaking _ex cathedra_, and the +prerogatives of the temporal sovereign. It was protracted through an +entire month, and ended with a compromise, which declared that the +Commissioners had acted in good faith in signing the articles, while it +justified the Synod of Waterford for having, as judges of the nature +and intent of the oath of Confederation, declared them insufficient and +unacceptable. A new oath of Confederacy, solemnly binding the +associates not to lay down their arms till they had established the +free and public exercise of religion as it had existed in the reign of +Henry VII., was framed and taken by the entire General Assembly; the +Thirty Articles were declared insufficient and unacceptable by all but +a minority of twelve votes; a new Supreme Council of twenty-four was +chosen, in whom there were not known to be above four or five partisans +of Ormond's policy. The church plate throughout the kingdom was ordered +to be coined into money, and a formal proposal to co-operate with the +Viceroy on the basis of the new oath was made, but instantly rejected; +among other grounds, on this, that the Marquis had, at that moment, his +son and and other sureties with the Puritans who, in the last resort, +he infinitely preferred to the Roman Catholics. + +The military events of the year 1647 were much more decisive than its +politics. Glamorgan still commanded in Munster, Preston in Leinster, +and O'Neil in both Ulster and Connaught. The first was confronted by +Inchiquin, at the head of a corps of 5,000 foot and 1,500 horse, +equipped and supplied by the English Puritans; the second saw the +garrisons of Dundalk, Drogheda, and Dublin, reinforced by fresh +regiments of Covenanters, and fed by Parliamentary supplies from the +sea; the latter was in the heart of Connaught, organizing and +recruiting and attempting all things within his reach, but hampered for +money, clothing and ammunition. In Connaught, O'Neil was soon joined by +the Nuncio, who, as difficulties thickened, began to lean more and more +on the strong arm of the victor of Benburb; in Munster, the army +refused to follow the lead of Glamorgan, and clamoured for their old +chief, Lord Muskerry; finally, that division of the national troops was +committed by the Council to Lord Taafe, a politician of the school of +Ormond and Clanrickarde, wholly destitute of military experience. The +vigorous Inchiquin had little difficulty in dealing with such an +antagonist; Cashel was taken without a blow in its defence, and a +slaughter unparalleled till the days of Drogheda and Wexford, deluged +its streets and churches. At Knocknos, later in the autumn (Nov. 12th), +Taafe was utterly routed; the gallant _Colkitto_, serving under him, +lamentably sacrificed after surrendering his sword; and Inchiquin +enabled to dictate a cessation covering Munster—far less favourable to +Catholics than the truce of Castlemartin—to the Supreme Council. This +truce was signed at Dungarvan, on the 20th of May, 1648, and on the +27th the Nuncio published his solemn decree of excommunication against +all its aiders and abettors, and himself made the best of his way from +Kilkenny to Maryboro', where O'Neil then lay. + +The military and political situation of O'Neil, during the latter +months of 1647 and the whole of 1648, was one of the most extraordinary +in which any general had ever been placed. His late sworn colleague, +Preston, was now combined with Inchiquin against him; the royalist +Clanrickarde, in the western counties, pressed upon his rear, and +captured his garrison in Athlone; the Parliamentary general, Michael +Jones, to whom Ormond had finally surrendered Dublin, observed rather +than impeded his movements in Leinster; the lay majority of the Supreme +Council proclaimed him a traitor—a compliment which he fully returned; +the Nuncio threw himself wholly into his hands; finally, at the close +of '48, Ormond, returning from France to Ireland, concluded, on the +17th of January, a formal alliance with the lay members, under the +title of "Commissioners of Trust," for the King and Kingdom; and +Rinuccini, despairing, perhaps, of a cause so distracted, sailed in his +own frigate, from Galway, on the 23rd of February. Thus did the actors +change their parts, alternately triumphing and fleeing for safety. The +verdict of history may condemn the Nuncio, of whom we have now seen the +last, for his imperious self-will, and his too ready recourse to +ecclesiastical censures; but of his zeal, his probity, and his +disinterestedness, there can be, we think, no second opinion. + +Under the treaty of 1649—which conceded full civil and religious +equality to the Roman Catholics—Ormond was once more placed at the head +of the government and in command of the royal troops. A few days after +the signing of that treaty, news of the execution of Charles I. having +reached Ireland, the Viceroy proclaimed the Prince of Wales by the +title of Charles II., at Cork and Youghal. Prince Rupert, whose fleet +had entered Kinsale, caused the same ceremony to be gone through in +that ancient borough. With Ormond were now cordially united Preston, +Inchiquin, Clanrickarde, and Muskerry, on whom the lead of the Supreme +Council devolved, in consequence of the advanced age of Lord +Mountgarrett, and the remainder of the twelve Commissioners of Trust. +The cause of the young Prince, an exile, the son of that Catholic queen +from whom they had expected so much, was far from unpopular in the +southern half of the island. The Anglican interest was strong and +widely diffused through both Leinster and Munster; and, except a +resolute prelate, like Dr. French, Bishop of Ferns, or a brave band of +townsmen like those of Waterford, Limerick, and Galway, or some remnant +of mountain tribes, in Wicklow and Tipperary, the national, or "old +Irish policy," had decidedly lost ground from the hour of the Nuncio's +departure. + +Owen O'Neil and the Bishops still adhered to that national policy. The +former made a three-months' truce with General Monck, who had succeeded +Monroe in the command of all the Parliamentary troops in his province. +The singular spectacle was even exhibited of Monck forwarding supplies +to O'Neil, to be used against Inchiquin and Ormond, and O'Neil coining +to the rescue of Coote, and raising for him the siege of Londonderry. +Inchiquin, in rapid succession, took Drogheda, Trim, Dundalk, Newry, +and then rapidly countermarched to join Ormond in besieging Dublin. At +Rathmines, near the city, both generals were surprised and defeated by +the Parliamentarians under Michael Jones. Between desertions, and +killed and wounded, they lost, by their own account, nearly 3,000, and +by the Puritan accounts, above 5,000 men. This action was the virtual +close of Ormond's military career; he never after made head against the +Parliamentary forces in open field. The Catholic cities of Limerick and +Galway refused to admit his garrisons; a synod of the Bishops, +assembled at Jamestown (in Roscommon), strongly recommended his +withdrawal from the kingdom; and Cromwell had arrived, resolved to +finish the war in a single campaign. Ormond sailed again for France, +before the end of 1649, to return no more until the restoration of the +monarchy, on the death of the great Protector. + + + +CHAPTER X. +CROMWELL'S CAMPAIGN—-1649-1650. + +An actor was now to descend upon the scene, whose character has excited +more controversy than that of any other personage of those times. +Honoured as a saint, or reprobated as a hypocrite, worshipped for his +extraordinary successes, or anathematized for the unworthy artifices by +which he rose—who shall deal out, with equal hand, praise and blame to +Oliver Cromwell? Not for the popular writer of Irish history, is that +difficult judicial task. Not for us to re-echo cries of hatred which +convince not the indifferent, nor correct the errors of the educated or +cultivated: the simple, and, as far as possible, the unimpassioned +narrative of facts, will constitute the whole of our duty towards the +Protector's campaign in Ireland. + +Cromwell left London in great state, early in July, "in a coach drawn +by six gallant Flanders mares," and made a sort of royal procession +across the country to Bristol. From that famous port, where Strongbow +confederated with Dermid McMurrogh, and from which Dublin drew its +first Anglo-Norman colony, he went on to Milford Haven, at which he +embarked, arriving in Dublin on the 15th of August. He entered the city +in procession, and addressed the townsfolk from "a convenient place." +He had with him two hundred thousand pounds in money, eight regiments +of foot, six of horse, and some troops of dragoons; besides the +divisions of Jones and Monck, already in the country, and subject to +his command. Among the officers were names of memorable interest—Henry +Cromwell, second son of the Protector, and future Lord Deputy; Monck, +Blake, Jones, Ireton, Ludlow, Hardress Waller, Sankey, and others +equally prominent in accomplishing the King's death, or in raising up +the English commonwealth. + +Cromwell's command in Ireland extends from the middle of August, 1649, +to the end of May, 1650, about nine months in all, and is remarkable +for the number of sieges of walled towns crowded into that brief +period. There was, during the whole time, no great action in the field, +like Marston Moor, or Benburb, or Dunbar; it was a campaign of +seventeenth century cannon against mediaeval masonry; what else was +done, was the supplemental work of mutual bravery on both sides. +Drogheda, Dundalk, Newry, and Carlingford fell in September; Arklow, +Enniscorthy, and Wexford in October; Ross, one of the first seaports in +point of commerce, surrendered the same month; Waterford was attempted +and abandoned in November; Dungarvan, Kinsale, Bandon, and Cork were +won over by Lord Broghill in December; Fethard, Callan, and Cashel in +January and February; Carrick and Kilkenny in March; and Clonmel, early +in May. Immediately after this last capitulation, Cromwell was recalled +to lead the armies of the Parliament into Scotland: during the nine +months he had commanded in Ireland, he had captured five or six county +capitals, and a great number of less considerable places. The terror of +his siege-trains and Ironsides was spread over the greater part of +three Provinces, and his well-reported successes had proved so many +steps to the assumption of that sovereign power at which he already +aimed. + +Of the spirit in which these several sieges were conducted, it is +impossible to speak without a shudder. It was, in truth, a spirit of +hatred and fanaticism, altogether beyond the control of the +revolutionary leader. At Drogheda, the work of slaughter occupied five +entire days. Of the brave garrison of 3,000 men, not thirty were +spared, and these, "were in hands for the Barbadoes;" old men, women, +children and priests, were unsparingly put to the sword. Wexford was +basely betrayed by Captain James Stafford, commander of the castle, +whose midnight interview with Cromwell, at a petty rivulet without the +walls, tradition still recounts with horror and detestation. This port +was particularly obnoxious to the Parliament, as from its advantageous +position on the Bristol channel, its cruisers greatly annoyed and +embarrassed their commerce. "There are," Cromwell writes to Speaker +Lenthall, "great quantities of iron, hides, tallow, salt, pipe and +barrel staves, which are under commissioners' hands to be secured. We +believe there are near a hundred cannon in the fort and elsewhere in +and about the town. Here is likewise some very good shipping; here are +three vessels, one of them of thirty-four guns, which a week's time +would fit for sea; there is another of about twenty guns, very nearly +ready likewise." He also reports two other frigates, one on the stocks, +which "for her handsomeness' sake" he intended to have finished for the +Parliament, and another "most excellent vessel for sailing," taken +within the fort, at the harbour's mouth. By the treachery of Captain +Stafford, this strong and wealthy town was at the mercy of those +"soldiers of the Lord and of Gideon," who had followed Oliver to his +Irish wars. The consequences were the same as at Drogheda—merciless +execution on the garrison and the inhabitants. + +In the third month of Cromwell's campaign, the report of Owen O'Neil's +death went abroad, palsying the Catholic arms. By common consent of +friend and foe, he was considered the ablest civil and military leader +that had appeared in Ireland during the reigns of the Stuart kings. +Whether in native ability he was capable of coping with Cromwell, was +for a long time a subject of discussion; but the consciousness of +irreparable national loss, perhaps, never struck deeper than amid the +crash of that irresistible cannonade of the walled towns and cities of +Leinster and Munster. O'Neil had lately, despairing of binding the +Scots or the English, distrustful alike of Coote and of Monck, been +reconciled to Ormond, and was marching southward to his aid at the head +of 6,000 chosen men. Lord Chancellor Clarendon assures us that Ormond +had the highest hopes from this junction, and the utmost confidence in +O'Neil's abilities. But at a ball at Derry, towards the end of August, +he received his death, it is said, in a pair of poisoned russet leather +slippers presented to him by one Plunkett; marching southward, borne in +a litter, he expired at Clough Oughter Castle, near his old Belturbet +camp, on the 6th of November, 1649. His last act was to order one of +his nephews—Hugh O'Neil—to form a junction with Ormond in Munster +without delay. In the chancel of the Franciscan Abbey of Cavan, now +grass-grown and trodden by the hoofs of cattle, his body was interred; +his nephew and successor did honour to his memory at Clonmel and +Limerick. It was now remembered, even by his enemies, with astonishment +and admiration, how for seven long years he had subsisted and kept +together an army, the creature of his genius; without a government at +his back, without regular supplies, enforcing obedience, establishing +discipline, winning great victories, maintaining, even at the worst, a +native power in the heart of the kingdom. When the archives of those +years are recovered (if they ever are), no name more illustrious for +the combination of great qualities will be found preserved there than +the name of this last national leader of the illustrious lineage of +O'Neil. + +The unexpected death of the Ulster general favoured still farther +Cromwell's southern movements. The gallant, but impetuous Bishop of +Clogher, Heber McMahon, was the only northern leader who could command +confidence enough to keep O'Neil's force together, and on him, +therefore, the command devolved. O'Ferrall, one of Owen's favourite +officers, was despatched to Waterford, and mainly contributed to +Cromwell's repulse before that city; Hugh O'Neil covered himself with +glory at Clonmel and Limerick; Daniel O'Neil, another nephew of Owen, +remained attached to Ormond, and accompanied him to France; but within +six months from the loss of their Fabian chief, who knew as well when +to strike as to delay, the brave Bishop of Clogher sacrificed the +remnant of "the Catholic Army" at the pass of Scariffhollis, in +Donegal, and, two days after, his own life by a martyr's death, at +Omagh. At the date of Cromwell's departure—when Ireton took command of +the southern army—there remained to the Confederates only some remote +glens and highlands of the North and West, the cities of Limerick and +Galway, with the county of Clare, and some detached districts of the +province of Connaught. + +The last act of Cromwell's proper campaign was the siege of Clonmel, +where he met the stoutest resistance he had anywhere encountered. The +Puritans, after effecting a breach, made an attempt to enter, chanting +one of their scriptural battle-songs. They were, by their own account, +"obliged to give back a while," and finally night settled down upon the +scene. The following day, finding the place no longer tenable, the +garrison silently withdrew to Waterford, and subsequently to Limerick. +The inhabitants demanded a parley, which was granted; and Cromwell +takes credit, and deserves it, when we consider the men he had to +humour, for having kept conditions with them. + +From before Clonmel he returned at once to England, where he was +received with royal honours. All London turned out to meet the +Conqueror who had wiped out the humiliation of Benburb, and humbled the +pride of the detested Papists. He was lodged in the palace of the king, +and chosen "Captain-general of all the forces raised, or to be raised, +by the authority of the Parliament of England." + + + +CHAPTER XI. +CLOSE OF THE CONFEDERATE WAR. + +The tenth year of the contest of which we have endeavoured to follow +the most important events, opened upon the remaining Catholic leaders, +greatly reduced in numbers and resources, but firm and undismayed. Two +chief seaports, and some of the western counties still remained to +them; and accordingly we find meetings of the Bishops and other +notables during this year (1650), at Limerick, at Loughrea, and finally +at Jamestown, in the neighbourhood of Owen O'Neil's nursery of the +first "Catholic Army." + +The Puritan commander was now Henry Ireton, son-in-law of Cromwell, by +a marriage contracted about two years before. The completion of the +Protector's policy could have devolved upon few persons more capable of +understanding, or more fearless in executing it; and in two eventful +campaigns he proved himself the able successor of the Protector. In +August following Cromwell's departure, Waterford and Duncannon were +taken by Ireton; and there only remained to the Confederates the +fortresses of Sligo, Athlone, Limerick, and Galway, with the country +included within the irregular quadrangle they describe. The younger +Coote making a feint against Sligo, which Clanrickarde hastened to +defend, turned suddenly on his steps, and surprised Athlone. Sligo, +naturally a place of no great strength after the invention of +artillery, soon after fell, so that Galway and Limerick alone were +left, at the beginning of 1651, to bear all the brunt of Puritan +hostility. + +Political events of great interest happened during the two short years +of Ireton's command. The Assembly, which met at Jamestown in August, +and again at Loughrea in November, 1650, made the retirement of Ormond +from the Government a condition of all future efforts in the royal +cause, and that nobleman, deeply wounded by this condition, had finally +sailed from Galway, in December, leaving to Clanrickarde the title of +Lord Deputy, and to Castlehaven the command of the forces which still +kept the field. The news from Scotland of the young king's subscription +to the covenant, and denunciation of all terms with Irish Papists, came +to aid the councils of those, who, like the eloquent French, Bishop of +Ferns, demanded a national policy, irrespective of the exigencies of +the Stuart family. An embassy was accordingly despatched to Brussels, +to offer the title of King-Protector to the Duke of Lorraine, or +failing with him, to treat with any "other Catholic prince, state, +republic, or person, as they might deem expedient for the preservation +of the Catholic religion and nation." A wide latitude, dictated by +desperate circumstances. The ambassadors were Bishop French and Hugh +Rochfort; the embassy one of the most curious and instructive in our +annals. + +The Duke expressed himself willing to undertake an expedition to +Ireland—to supply arms and money to the Confederates—on the condition +of receiving Athlone, Limerick, Athenry and Galway into his custody, +with the title of Protector. A considerable sum of money (20,000 +pounds) was forwarded at once; four Belgian frigates laden with stores +were made ready for sea; the Canon De Henin was sent as envoy to the +Confederates, and this last venture looked most promising of success, +had not Clanrickarde in Galway, and Charles and Ormond in Paris, taking +alarm at the new dignity conferred upon the Duke, countermined the +Bishop of Ferns and Mr. Rochfort, and defeated by intrigue and +correspondence their hopeful enterprise. + +The decisive battle of Worcester, fought on the 3rd of September, 1651, +drove Charles II. into that nine years' exile, from which he only +returned on the death of Cromwell. It may be considered the last +military event of importance in the English civil war. In Ireland the +contest was destined to drag out another campaign, before the walls of +the two gallant cities, Galway and Limerick. + +Limerick was the first object of attack. Ireton, leaving Sankey to +administer martial law in Tipperary, struck the Shannon opposite +Killaloe, driving Castlehaven before him. Joined by Coote and Reynolds, +fresh from the sieges of Athenry and Athlone, he moved upon Limerick by +the Connaught bank of the river, while Castlehaven fled to Clanrickarde +in Galway, with a guard of forty horse, all that remained intact of the +4,000 men bequeathed him by Ormond. From the side of Munster, Lord +Muskerry attempted a diversion in favour of Limerick, but was repulsed +at Castleishen, by "the flying camp" of Lord Broghill. The besiegers +were thus not only delivered of a danger, but reinforced by native +troops—if the "Undertakers" could be properly called so—which made them +the most formidable army that had ever surrounded an Irish city. From +early summer till the last week of October, the main force of the +English and Anglo-Irish, supplied with every species of arm then +invented, assailed the walls of Limerick. The plague, which during +these months swept with such fearful mortality over the whole kingdom, +struck down its defenders, and filled all its streets with desolation +and grief. The heroic bishops, O'Brien of Emly, and O'Dwyer of +Limerick, exerted themselves to uphold, by religious exhortations, the +confidence of the besieged; while Hugh O'Neil and General Purcell +maintained the courage of their men. Clanrickarde had offered to charge +himself with the command, but the citizens preferred to trust in the +skill and determination of the defender of Clonmel, whose very name was +a talisman among them. The municipal government, however, composed of +the men of property in the city, men whose trade was not war, whose +religion was not enthusiastic, formed a third party,—a party in favour +of peace at any price. With the Mayor at their head, they openly +encouraged the surrender of one of the outworks to the besiegers, and +this betrayal, on the 27th of October, compelled the surrender of the +entire works. Thus Limerick fell, divided within itself by military, +clerical, and municipal factions; thus glory and misfortune combined to +consecrate its name in the national veneration, and the general memory +of mankind. The Bishop of Emly and General Purcell were executed as +traitors; the Bishop of Limerick escaped in the disguise of a common +soldier, and died at Brussels; O'Neil's life was saved by a single +vote; Sir Geoffrey Gabney, Aldermen Stritch and Fanning, and other +leading Confederates, expiated their devotion upon the scaffold. + +On the 12th of May following—seven months after the capture of +Limerick, Galway fell. Ireton, who survived the former siege but a few +days, was succeeded by Ludlow, a sincere republican of the school of +Pym and Hampden—if that school can be called, in our modern sense, +republican. It was the sad privilege of General Preston, whose name is +associated with so many of the darkest, and with some of the brightest +incidents of this war, to order the surrender of Galway, as he had two +years previously given up Waterford. Thus the last open port, the last +considerable town held by the Confederates, yielded to the overwhelming +power of numbers and munitions, in the twelfth year of that illustrious +war which Ireland waged for her religious and civil liberties, against +the forces of the two adjoining kingdoms, sometimes estranged from one +another, but always hostile alike to the religious belief and the +political independence of the Irish people. + +With the fall of Galway, the Confederate war drew rapidly to a close. +Colonels Fitzpatrick, O'Dwyer, Grace, and Thorlogh O'Neil, surrendered +their posts; Lords Enniskillen and West-Meath followed their example; +Lord Muskerry yielded Ross Castle, on Killarney, in June; Clanrickarde +laid down his arms at Carrick, in October. The usual terms granted were +liberty to transport themselves and followers to the service of any +foreign state or prince at peace with the commonwealth; a favoured few +were permitted to live and die in peace on their own estates, under the +watchful eye of some neighbouring garrison. + +The chief actors in the Confederate war not already accounted for, +terminated their days under many different circumstances. Mountgarrett +and Bishop Rothe died before Galway fell, and were buried in the +capital of the Confederacy; Bishop McMahon of Clogher, surrendered to +Sir Charles Coote, and was executed like a felon by one he had saved +from destruction a year before at Derry; Coote, after the Restoration, +became Earl of Mountrath, and Broghill, Earl of Orrery; Clanrickarde +died unnoticed on his English estate, under the Protectorate; +Inchiquin, after many adventures in foreign lands, turned Catholic in +his old age, and this burner of churches bequeathed an annual alms for +masses for his soul; Jones, Corbet, Cook, and the fanatical preacher, +Hugh Peters, perished on the scaffold with the other regicides executed +by order of the English Parliament; Ormond having shared the evils of +exile with the King, shared also the splendour of his restoration, +became a Duke, and took his place, as if by common consent, at the head +of the peerage of the empire; his Irish rental, which before the war +was but 7,000 pounds a year, swelled suddenly on the Restoration to +80,000 pounds; Nicholas French, after some sojourn in Spain, where he +was coadjutor to the Archbishop of Saint James, returned to Louvain, +where he made his first studies, and there spent the evening of his +days in the composition of those powerful pamphlets which kept alive +the Irish cause at home and on the continent; a Roman patrician did the +honours of sepulture to Luke Wadding, and Cromwell interred James Usher +in Westminster Abbey; the heroic defender of Clonmel and Limerick, and +the gallant, though vacillating Preston, were cordially received in +France; while the consistent republican, Ludlow, took refuge as a +fugitive in Switzerland. + +Sir Phelim O'Neil, the first author of the war, was among the last to +suffer the penalties of defeat. For a moment, towards the end, he +renewed his sway over the remnant of Owen's soldiers, took +Ballyshannon, and two or three other places. Compelled at last to +surrender, he was carried to Dublin, and tried on a charge of treason, +a committee closeted behind the bench dictating the interrogatories to +his judges, and receiving his answers in reply. Condemned to death, as +was expected, he was offered his life by the Puritan colonel, Hewson, +on the very steps of the scaffold, if he would inculpate the late King +Charles in the rising of 1641. This he "stoutly refused to do," and the +execution proceeded with all its atrocious details. Whatever may have +been the excesses committed under his command by a plundered people, at +their first insurrection—and we know that they have been exaggerated +beyond all bounds—it must be admitted he died the death of a Christian, +a soldier, and a gentleman. + + + +CHAPTER XII. +IRELAND UNDER THE PROTECTORATE—ADMINISTRATION OF HENRY CROMWELL—DEATH +OF OLIVER. + +The English republic rose from the scaffold of the King, in 1649; its +first government was a "Council of State" of forty-one members; under +this council, Cromwell held at first the title of Lord General; but, on +the 16th December, 1653, he was solemnly installed, in Westminster +Hall, as "Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and +Ireland." He was then in his fifty-fourth year; his reign—if such it +may be called—lasted less than five years. + +The policy of the Protector towards Ireland is even less defensible +than his military severities. For the barbarities of war there may be +some apology, the poor one at least that such outrages are inseparable +from war itself; but for the cold-blooded, deliberate atrocities of +peace, no such defence can be permitted before the tribunal of a free +posterity. + +The Long Parliament, still dragging out its date, under the shadow of +Cromwell's great name, declared in its session of 1652, the rebellion +in Ireland "subdued and ended," and proceeded to legislate for that +kingdom as a conquered country. On the 12th of August, they passed +their Act of Settlement, the authorship of which was attributed to Lord +Orrery, in this respect the worthy son of the first Earl of Cork. Under +this Act, there were four chief descriptions of persons whose status +was thus settled: 1st. All ecclesiastics and royalist proprietors were +exempted from pardon of life or estate. 2nd. All royalist commissioned +officers were condemned to banishment, and the forfeit of two-thirds of +their property, one-third being retained for the support of their wives +and children. 3rd. Those who had not been in arms, but could be shown, +by a Parliamentary commission, to have manifested "a constant, good +affection" to the war, were to forfeit one-third of their estates, and +receive "an equivalent" for the remaining two-thirds west of the +Shannon. 4th. All husbandmen and others of the inferior sort, "not +possessed of lands or goods exceeding the value of 10 pounds," were to +have a free pardon, on condition also of transporting themselves across +the Shannon. + +This last condition of the Cromwellian settlement distinguished it, in +our annals, from every other proscription of the native population +formerly attempted. The great river of Ireland, rising in the mountains +of Leitrim, nearly severs the five western counties from the rest of +the kingdom. The province thus set apart, though one of the largest in +superficial extent, had also the largest proportion of waste and water, +mountain and moorland. The new inhabitants were there to congregate +from all the other provinces before the 1st day of May, 1654, under +penalty of outlawry and all its consequences; and when there, they were +not to appear within two miles of the Shannon or four miles of the sea. +A rigorous passport system, to evade which was death without form of +trial, completed this settlement, the design of which was to shut up +the remaining Catholic inhabitants from all intercourse with mankind, +and all communion with the other inhabitants of their own country. + +A new survey of the whole kingdom was also ordered, under the direction +of Dr. William Petty, the fortunate economist, who founded the house of +Lansdowne. By him the surface of the kingdom was estimated at ten +millions and a half plantation acres, three of which were deducted for +waste and water. Of the remainder, above 5,000,000 were in Catholic +hands in 1641; 300,000 were church and college lands; and 2,000,000 +were in possession of the Protestant settlers of the reigns of James +and Elizabeth. Under the Protectorate, 5,000,000 acres were confiscate; +this enormous spoil, two-thirds of the whole island, went to the +soldiers and adventurers who had served against the Irish, or had +contributed to the military chest, since 1641—except 700,000 acres +given in "exchange" to the banished in Clare and Connaught; and +1,200,000 confirmed to "innocent Papists." Such was the complete +uprooting of the ancient tenantry or clansmen, from their original +holdings, that during the survey, orders of Parliament were issued to +bring back individuals from Connaught to point out the boundaries of +parishes in Munster. It cannot be imputed among the sins so freely laid +to the historical account of the native legislature, that an Irish +parliament had any share in sanctioning this universal spoliation. +Cromwell anticipated the union of the kingdoms by a hundred and fifty +years, when he summoned, in 1653, that assembly over which "Praise-God +Barebones" presided; members for Ireland and Scotland sat on the same +benches with the commons of England. Oliver's first deputy in the +government of Ireland was his son-in-law, Fleetwood, who had married +the widow of Ireton; but his real representative was his fourth son, +Henry Cromwell, Commander-in-Chief of the army. In 1657, the title of +Lord Deputy was transferred from Fleetwood to Henry, who united the +supreme civil and military authority in his own person, until the eve +of the restoration, of which he became an active partisan. We may thus +properly embrace the five years of the Protectorate as the period of +Henry Cromwell's administration. + +In the absence of a Parliament, the government of Ireland was vested in +the Deputy, the Commander-in-Chief, and four commissioners, Ludlow, +Corbett, Jones, and Weaver. There was, moreover, a High Court of +Justice, which perambulated the kingdom, and exercised an absolute +authority over life and property, greater than even Strafford's Court +of Castle Chamber had pretended to. Over this court presided Lord +Lowther, assisted by Mr. Justice Donnellan, by Cooke, solicitor to the +Parliament on the trial of King Charles, and the regicide, Reynolds. By +this court, Sir Phelim O'Neil, Viscount Mayo, and Colonels O'Toole and +Bagnall, were condemned and executed; by them the mother of Colonel +Fitzpatrick was burnt at the stake; and Lords Muskerry and Clanmaliere +set at liberty, through some secret influence. The commissioners were +not behind the High Court of Justice in executive offices of severity. +Children under age, of both sexes, were captured by thousands, and sold +as slaves to the tobacco planters of Virginia and the West Indies. +Secretary Thurloe informs Henry Cromwell that "the Committee of the +Council have authorized 1,000 girls and as many youths, to be taken up +for that purpose." Sir William Petty mentions 6,000 Irish boys and +girls shipped to the West Indies. Some cotemporary accounts make the +total number of children and adults so transported 100,000 souls. To +this decimation, we may add 34,000 men of fighting age, who had +permission to enter the armies of foreign powers, at peace with the +commonwealth. The chief commissioners, sitting at Dublin, had their +deputies in a commission of delinquencies, sitting at Athlone, and +another of transportation, sitting at Loughrea. Under their +superintendence, the distribution made of the soil among the Puritans +"was nearly as complete as that of Canaan by the Israelites." Whenever +native labourers were found absolutely necessary for the cultivation of +the estates of their new masters, they were barely tolerated "as the +Gibeonites had been by Joshua." Such Irish gentlemen as had obtained +pardons, were obliged to wear a distinctive mark on their dress under +pain of death; those of inferior rank were obliged to wear a round +black spot on the right cheek under pain of the branding iron and the +gallows; if a Puritan lost his life in any district inhabited by +Catholics, the whole population were held subject to military +execution. For the rest, whenever "Tory" or recusant fell into the +hands of these military colonists, or the garrisons which knitted them +together, they were assailed with the war cry of the Jews—"That thy +feet may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and that the tongues +of thy dogs may be red with the same." Thus penned in between "the mile +line" of the Shannon, and "the four mile-line" of the sea, the remnant +of the Irish nation passed seven years of a bondage unequalled in +severity by anything which can be found in the annals of Christendom. + +The conquest was not only a military but a religious subjugation. The +27th of Elizabeth—the old act of uniformity—was rigorously enforced. +The Catholic lawyers were disbarred and silenced; the Catholic +schoolmasters were forbidden to teach, under pain of felony. Recusants, +surrounded in glens and caves, offering up the holy sacrifice through +the ministry of some daring priest, were shot down or smoked out like +vermin. The ecclesiastics never, in any instance, were allowed to +escape. Among those who suffered death during the short space of the +Protectorate, are counted "three bishops and three hundred +ecclesiastics." The surviving prelates were in exile, except the +bedridden Bishop of Kilmore, who for years had been unable to +officiate. So that, now, that ancient hierarchy which in the worst +Danish wars had still recruited its ranks as fast as they were broken, +seemed on the very eve of extinction. Throughout all the island no +episcopal hand remained to bless altars, to ordain priests, or to +confirm the faithful. The Irish church as well as the Irish state, +touched its lowest point of suffering and endurance in the decade which +intervened between the death of Charles I. and the death of Cromwell. + +The new population imposed upon the kingdom, soon split up into a +multitude of sects. Some of them became Quakers: many adhered to the +Anabaptists; others, after the Restoration, conformed to the +established church. That deeper tincture of Puritanism which may be +traced in the Irish, as compared with the English establishment, took +its origin even more from the Cromwellian settlement than from the +Calvinistic teachings of Archbishop Usher. + +Oliver died in 1658, on his "fortunate day," the 3rd of September, +leaving England to experience twenty months of republican intrigue and +anarchy. Richard Cromwell—Lambert—Ludlow—Monck—each played his part in +this stormy interval, till, the time being ripe for a restoration, +Charles II. landed at Dover on the 23rd of May, 1660 and was carried in +triumph to London. + + + +BOOK X. +FROM THE RESTORATION OF CHARLES II. TO THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE I. + + + +CHAPTER I. +REIGN OF CHARLES II. + +Hope is dear to the heart of man, and of all her votaries none have +been more constant than the Irish. Half a century of the Stuarts had +not extinguished their blind partiality for the descendants of the old +Scoto-Irish kings. The restoration of that royal house was, therefore, +an event which penetrated to the remotest wilds of Connaught, lighting +up with cheering expectation the most desolate hovels of the +proscribed. To the Puritans settled in Ireland, most of whom, from the +mean condition of menial servants, common soldiers and subaltern +officers, had become rich proprietors, the same tidings brought +apprehension and alarm. But their leaders, the Protestant gentry of an +earlier date, wealthy, astute and energetic, uniting all their +influence for the common protection, turned this event, which seemed at +one time to threaten their ruin, to their advantage and greater +security. The chief of these greater leaders was the accomplished Lord +Broghill, whom we are to know during this reign under his more famous +title of Earl of Orrery. + +The position of the Irish as compared with the English Puritans, was +essentially different in the eyes of Ormond, Clarendon, and the other +counsellors of the king. Though the former represented dissent as +against the church, they also represented the English as against the +Irish interest, in Ireland. As dissenters they were disliked and +ridiculed, but as colonists they could not be disturbed. When national +antipathy was placed in one scale and religious animosity in the other, +the intensely national feeling of England for the Cromwellians, as +Englishmen settled in a hostile country, prevailed over every other +consideration. In this, as in all other conjunctures, it has been the +singular infelicity of the one island to be subjected to a policy +directly opposite to that pursued in the other. While in England it was +considered wise and just to break down the Puritans as a party—through +the court, the pulpit, and the press; to drive the violent into exile, +and to win the lukewarm to conformity; in Ireland it was decided to +confirm them in their possessions, to leave the government of the +kingdom in their hands, and to strengthen their position by the Acts of +Settlement and Explanation. These acts were hailed as "the Magna Charta +of Irish Protestantism," but so far as the vast majority of the people +were concerned, they were as cruelly unjust as the revocation of the +Edict of Nantes, or the edicts which banished the Moors and Jews from +the Spanish peninsula. + +The struggle for possession of the soil inaugurated by the +confiscations of Elizabeth and James was continued against great odds +by the Catholic Irish throughout this reign. Though the royal +declaration of Breda, which preceded the restoration, had not mentioned +them expressly, they still claimed under it not only the "liberty to +tender consciences," but that "just satisfaction" to those unfairly +deprived of their estates, promised in that declaration. Accordingly, +several of the old gentry returned from Connaught, or places abroad, +took possession of their old homes, or made their way at once to Dublin +or London, to urge their claims to their former estates. To their +dismay, they found in Dublin, Coote and Broghill established as Lords +Justices, and the new Parliament—the first that sat for twenty +years—composed of an overwhelming majority of Undertakers, adventurers, +and Puritan representatives of boroughs, from which all the Catholic +electors had been long excluded. The Protestant interest, or +"ascendancy party," as it now began to be commonly called, counted in +the Commons 198 members to 64 Catholics; in the House of Lords, 72 +Protestant to 21 Catholic peers. The former elected Sir Audley Mervyn +their Speaker, and the able but curiously intricate and quaint +discourses of the ancient colleague of Kelly and Darcy in the assertion +of Irish legislative independence, shows how different was the spirit +of Irish Protestantism in 1661 as compared with 1641. The Lords chose +Bramhall, the long-exiled Bishop of Derry, now Archbishop of Armagh, as +their Speaker, and attempted to compel their members "to take the +sacrament" according to the Anglican ritual. The majority of both +Houses, to secure the good-will of Ormond, voted him the sum of 30,000 +pounds, and then proceeded to consider "the Bill of Settlement," in +relation to landed property. The Catholic bar, which had been +apparently restored to its freedom, presented a striking array of +talent, from which their co-religionists selected those by whom they +desired to be heard at the bar of the House. The venerable Darcy and +the accomplished Belling were no longer their oracles of the law; but +they had the services of Sir Nicholas Plunkett, an old confederate, of +Sir Richard Nagle, author of the famous "Coventry Letter," of Nugent, +afterwards Lord Riverston, and other able men. In the House of Lords +they had an intrepid ally in the Earl of Kildare, and in England an +agent equally intrepid, in Colonel Richard Talbot, afterwards Earl of +Tyrconnell. The diplomatic and parliamentary struggle between the two +interests, the disinherited and the new proprietory, was too +protracted, and the details are too involved for elucidation in every +part; but the result tells its own story. In 1675—in the fifteenth year +of the restoration—the new settlers possessed above 4,500,000 acres, to +about 2,250,000 still retained by the old owners. These relative +proportions were exactly the reverse of those existing before the +Cromwellian settlement; a single generation had seen this great +revolution accomplished in landed property. + +The Irish Parliament having sent over to England the heads of their +bill, according to the constitutional rule established by Poyning's +Act, the Irish Catholics sent over Sir Nicholas Plunkett to obtain +modifications of its provisions. But Plunkett was met in England with +such an outcry from the mob and the press as to the alleged atrocities +of the Confederate war, and his own former negotiations on the +continent, that he was unable to effect anything; while Colonel Talbot, +for his too warm expostulations with Ormond, was sent to the Tower. An +order of Council, forbidding Plunkett the presence, and declaring that +"no petition or further address be made from the Roman Catholics of +Ireland, as to the Bill of Settlement," closed the controversy, and the +Act soon after received the royal assent. + +Under this act, a court was established at Dublin, to try the claims of +"nocent" and "innocent." Notwithstanding every influence which could be +brought to bear on them, the judges, who were Englishmen, declared in +their first session, one hundred and sixty-eight innocent to nineteen +nocent. Proceeding in this spirit "to the great loss and +dissatisfaction of the Protestants," the latter, greatly alarmed, +procured the interference of Ormond, now Lord Lieutenant (1662), in +effecting a modification of the commission, appointing the court, by +which its duration was limited to an early day. The consequence was, +that while less than 800 claims were decided on when the fatal day +arrived, over 3,000 were left unheard, at least a third of whom were +admitted even by their enemies to be innocent. About 500 others had +been restored by name in the Act of Settlement itself; but, by the Act +of Explanation (1665), "no Papist who had not been adjudged innocent" +under the former act could be so adjudged thereafter, "or entitled to +claim any lands or settlements." Thus, even the inheritance of hope, +and the reversion of expectation, were extinguished for ever for the +sons and daughters of the ancient gentry of the kingdom. + +The religious liberties of this people, so crippled in property and +political power, were equally at the mercy of the mob and of the +monarch. To combat the war of calumny waged against them by the Puritan +press and pulpit, the leading Catholics resolved to join in an official +and authentic declaration of their true principles, as to the spiritual +power of the Pope, their allegiance to the prince, and their relations +to their fellow subjects of other denominations. With this intention a +meeting was held at the house of the Marquis of Clanrickarde, in +Dublin, at which Lords Clancarty, Carlingford, Fingal, Castlehaven, and +Inchiquin, and the leading commoners of their faith, were present. At +this meeting, Father Peter Walsh, a Franciscan, and an old courtier of +Ormond's, as "Procurator of all the Clergy of Ireland," secular and +regular, produced credentials signed by the surviving bishops or their +vicars—including the Primate O'Reilly, the Bishops of Meath, Ardagh, +Kilmore, and Ferns. Richard Belling, the secretary to the first +Confederate Council, and Envoy to Rome, submitted the celebrated +document known as "The Remonstrance," deeply imbued with the spirit of +the Gallican church of that day. It was signed by about seventy +Catholic peers and commoners, by the Bishop of Kilmore, by Procurator +Walsh, and by the townsmen of Wexford—almost the only urban community +of Catholics remaining in the country. But the propositions it +contained as to the total independency of the temporal on the spiritual +power, and the ecclesiastical patronage of princes, were condemned at +the Sorbonne, at Louvain, and at Rome. The regular orders, by their +several superiors, utterly rejected it; the exiled bishops withdrew +their proxies from Father Walsh, and disclaimed his conduct; the +Internuncio at Brussels, charged with the affairs of the British Isles, +denounced it as contrary to the canons; and the elated Procurator found +himself involved in a controversy from which he never afterwards +escaped, and with which his memory is still angrily associated. + +The conduct of Ormond in relation to this whole business of the +Remonstrance, was the least creditable part of his administration. +Writhing under the eloquent pamphlets of the exiled Bishop of Ferns, +keenly remembering his own personal wrongs against the former +generation of bishops, of whom but three or four were yet living, he +resolved "to work that division among the Romish clergy," which he had +long meditated. With this view, he connived at a meeting of the +surviving prelates and the superiors of regular orders, at Dublin, in +1666. To this synod safe conduct was permitted to the Primate O'Reilly, +banished to Belgium nine years before; to Peter Talbot, Archbishop of +Dublin, John Burke, Archbishop of Tuam, Patrick Plunkett, Bishop of +Ardagh, the vicars-general of other prelates, and the superiors of the +regulars. This venerable body deliberated anxiously for an entire week, +Father Walsh acting as ambassador between them and the Viceroy; at +length, in spite of all politic considerations, they unanimously +rejected the servile doctrine of the "Remonstrance," substituting +instead a declaration of their own dictation. Ormond now cast off all +affectation of liberality; Primate O'Reilly was sent back to his +banishment, the other prelates and clergy were driven back to their +hiding-places, or into exile abroad, and the wise, experienced, +high-spirited duke, did not hesitate to avail himself of "the Popish +plot" mania, which soon after broke out, to avenge himself upon an +order of men whom he could neither break nor bend to his purposes! Of +1,100 secular priests, and 750 regulars, still left, only sixty-nine +had signed the Clanrickarde House Remonstrance. + +An incident of this same year—1666—illustrates more forcibly than +description could do, the malignant feeling which had been excited in +England against everything Irish. The importation of Irish cattle had +long been considered an English grievance, it was now declared by law +"a nuisance." The occasion taken to pass this statute was as ungracious +as the act itself was despicable. In consequence of "the great fire," +which still glows for us in the immortal verse of Dryden, the Irish had +sent over to the distressed, a contribution of 15,000 bullocks. This +was considered by the generous recipients a mere pretence to preserve +the trade in cattle between the two kingdoms, and accordingly both +Houses, after some sharp resistance in the Lords', gravely enacted that +the importation of Irish beef into England was "a nuisance," to be +abated. From this period most probably dates the famous English sarcasm +against Irish bulls. + +The act prohibiting the export of cattle from Ireland, and the equally +exclusive and unjust Navigation Act—originally devised by Cromwell—so +paralyzed every Irish industry, that the Puritan party became almost as +dissatisfied as the Catholics. They maintained a close correspondence +with their brethren in England, and began to speculate on the +possibilities of another revolution. Ormond, to satisfy their demands, +distributed 20,000 stand of arms among them, and reviewed the Leinster +Militia, on the Curragh, in 1667. The next year he was recalled, and +Lords Robarts, Berkely, and Essex, successively appointed to the +government. The first, a Puritan, and almost a regicide, held office +but a few months; the second, a cavalier and a friend of toleration, +for two years; while Essex, one of those fair-minded but yielding +characters, known in the next reign as "Trimmers," petitioned for his +own recall and Ormond's restoration, in 1676. The only events which +marked these last nine years—from Ormond's removal till his +reappointment—were the surprise of Carrickfergus by a party of unpaid +soldiers, and their desperate defence of that ancient stronghold; the +embassies to and from the Irish Catholics and the court, of Colonel +Richard Talbot; and the establishment of extensive woollen +manufactories at Thomastown, Callan, and Kilkenny, under the patronage +of Ormond. + + + +CHAPTER II. +REIGN OF CHARLES II. (CONCLUDED.) + +For the third time, the aged Ormond, now arrived at the period usually +allotted to the life of man, returned to Ireland, with the rank of +Viceroy. During the ensuing seven years, he clung to power with all the +tenacity of his youth, and all the policy of his prime; they were seven +years of extraordinary sectarian panic and excitement—the years of the +Cabal, the Popish plot, and the Exclusion Bill, in England—and of +fanatical conspiracies and explosions almost as dangerous in Ireland. + +The Popish plot mania held possession of the English people much longer +than any other moral epidemic of equal virulence. In the month of +October, 1678, its alleged existence in Ireland was communicated to +Ormond; in July, 1681, its most illustrious victim, Archbishop +Plunkett, perished on the scaffold at Tyburn. Within these two points +of time what a chronicle of madness, folly, perjury, and cruelty, might +be written? + +Ormond, too old in statecraft to believe in the existence of these +incredible plots, was also too well aware of the dangerous element of +fanaticism represented by Titus Oates, and his imitators, to subject +himself to suspicion. On the first intelligence of the plot, he +instantly issued his proclamation for the arrest of Archbishop Talbot, +of Dublin, who had been permitted to return from exile under the rule +of Lord Berkely, and had since resided with his brother, Colonel +Talbot, at Cartown, near Maynooth. This prelate was of Ormond's own +age, and of a family as ancient; while his learning, courage, and +morality, made him an ornament to his order. He was seized in his sick +bed at Cartown, carried to Dublin in a chair, and confined a close +prisoner in the castle, where he died two years later. He was the last +distinguished captive destined to end his days in that celebrated state +prison, which has since been generally dedicated to the peaceful +purposes of reflected royalty. + +Colonel Talbot was at the same time arrested, but allowed to retire +beyond seas; Lord Mountgarrett, an octogenarian, and in his dotage, was +seized, but nothing could be made out against him; a Colonel Peppard +was also denounced from England, but no such person was found to exist. +So far the first year of the plot had passed over, and proved nothing +against the Catholic Irish. But the example of successful villainy in +England, of Oates idolized, pensioned, and all-powerful, extended to +the sister kingdom, and brought an illustrious victim to the scaffold. +This was Oliver Plunkett, a scion of the noble family of Fingal, who +had been Archbishop of Armagh, since the death of Dr. O'Reilly, in +exile, in 1669. Such had been the prudence and circumspection of Dr. +Plunkett, during his perilous administration, that the agents of Lord +Shaftesbury, sent over to concoct evidence for the occasion, were +afraid to bring him to trial in the vicinage of his arrest, or in his +own country. Accordingly, they caused him to be removed from Dublin to +London, contrary to the laws and customs of both Kingdoms, which had +first been violated towards state prisoners in the case of Lord +Maguire, forty years before. + +Dr. Plunkett, after ten months' confinement without trial in Ireland, +was removed, 1680, and arraigned at London, on the 8th of June, 1681, +without having had permission to communicate with his friends or to +send for witnesses. The prosecution was conducted by Maynard and +Jeffries, in violation of every form of law, and every consideration of +justice. A "crown agent," whose name is given as Gorman, was introduced +by "a stranger" in court, and volunteered testimony in his favour. The +Earl of Essex interceded with the King on his behalf, but Charles +answered, almost in the words of Pilate—"I cannot pardon him, because I +dare not. His blood be upon your conscience; you could have saved him +if you pleased." The Jury, after a quarter of an hour's deliberation, +brought in their verdict of guilty, and the brutal Chief-Justice +condemned him to be hung, emboweled, and quartered on the 1st day of +July, 1681. The venerable martyr, for such he may well be called, bowed +his head to the bench, and exclaimed: _Deo gratias!_ Eight years from +the very day of his execution, on the banks of that river beside which +he had been seized and dragged from his retreat, the last of the Stuart +kings was stricken from his throne, and his dynasty stricken from +history! Does not the blood of the innocent cry to Heaven for +vengeance? + +The charges against Dr. Plunkett were, that he maintained treasonable +correspondence with France and Rome, and the Irish on the continent; +that he had organised an insurrection in Louth, Monaghan, Cavan, and +Armagh; that he made preparations for the landing of a French force at +Carlingford; and that he had held several meetings to raise men for +these purposes. Utterly absurd and false as these charges were, they +still indicate the troubled apprehensions which filled the dreams of +the ascendency party. The fear of French invasion, of new +insurrections, of the resumption of estates, haunted them by night and +day. Every sign was to them significant of danger, and every rumour of +conspiracy was taken for fact. The report of a strange fleet off the +Southern coast, which turned out to be English, threw them all into +panic; and the Corpus Christi crosses which the peasantry affixed to +their doors, were nothing but signs for the Papist destroyer to pass +by, and to spare his fellows in the general massacre of Protestants. + +Under the pressure of these panics, real or pretended, proclamation +after proclamation issued from the Castle. By one of these instruments, +Ormond prohibited Catholics from entering the Castle of Dublin, or any +other fortress; from holding fairs or markets within the walls of +corporate towns, and from carrying arms to such resorts. By another, he +declared all relatives of known _Tories_—a Gaelic term for a driver of +prey—to be arrested, and banished the kingdom, within fourteen days, +unless such Tories were killed, or surrendered, within that time. Where +this device failed to reach the destined victims—as in the celebrated +case of Count Redmond O'Hanlon—it is to be feared that he did not +hesitate to whet the dagger of the assassin, which was still sometimes +employed, even in the British Islands, to remove a dangerous +antagonist. Count O'Hanlon, a gentleman of ancient lineage, as +accomplished as Orrery, or Ossory, was indeed an outlaw to the code +then in force; but the stain of his cowardly assassination must for +ever blot and rot the princely escutcheon of James, Duke of Ormond. + +The violence of religious and social persecution began to subside +during the last two or three years of Charles II. Monmouth's +banishment, Shaftesbury's imprisonment, the execution of Russell and +Sidney on the scaffold, marked the return of the English public mind to +political pursuits and objects. Early in 1685, the king was taken +mortally ill. In his last moments he received the rites of the Catholic +church, from the hands of Father Huddleston, who was said to have saved +his life at the battle of Worcester, and who was now even more anxious +to save his soul. + +This event took place on the 16th of February. King James was +immediately proclaimed successor to his brother. One of his first acts +was to recall Ormond from Ireland and to appoint in his place the Earl +of Clarendon, son of the historian and statesman of the Restoration. +Ormond obeyed, not without regret; he survived his fall about three +years. He was interred in Westminster in 1688, three months before the +landing of William, and the second banishment of the Stuarts. + + + +CHAPTER III. +THE STATE OF RELIGION AND LEARNING IN IRELAND DURING THE SEVENTEENTH +CENTURY. + +Before plunging into the troubled torrent of the revolution of 1688, +let us cast a glance back on the century, and consider the state of +learning and religion during those three generations. + +If we divide the Irish literature of this century by subjects, we shall +find extant a respectable body, both in quantity and quality, of +theology, history, law, politics, and poetry. If we divide it by the +languages in which that literature was written, we may consider it as +Latin, Gaelic, and English. + +I. Latin continued throughout Europe, even till this late day, the +language of the learned, but especially of theologians, jurists, and +historians. In Latin, the great tomes of O'Sullivan, Usher, Colgan, +Wadding, and White, were written—volumes which remain as so many +monuments of the learning and industry of that age. The chief objects +of these illustrious writers were, to restore the ancient +ecclesiastical history of Ireland, to rescue the memory of her saints +and doctors from oblivion, and to introduce the native annals of the +kingdom to the attention of Europe. Though Usher differed in religion, +and in his theory of the early connection of the Irish with the Roman +Church, from all the rest, yet he stands pre-eminent among them for +labour and research. The Waterford Franciscan, Wadding, can only be +named with him for inexhaustible patience, various learning, and +untiring zeal. Both were honoured of princes and parliaments. The +Confederates would have made Wadding a cardinal; King James made Usher +an archbishop; one instructed the Westminster Assembly; the other was +sent by the King of Spain to maintain the thesis of the Immaculate +Conception at Rome, and subsequently was entrusted by the Pope to +report upon the propositions of Jansenius. O'Sullivan, Conde de +Berehaven, in Spain, and Peter White, have left us each two or three +Latin volumes on the history of the country, highly prized by all +subsequent writers. But the most indispensable of the legacies left us +in this tongue, are Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum"—from January to March—and +Dr. John Lynch's "Cambrensis Eversus." Many other works and authors +might be mentioned, but these are the great Latinists to whom we are +indebted for the most important services rendered to our national +history. + +II. In the Gaelic literature of the country we count Geoffrey Keating, +Duald McFirbis, and "the Four Masters" of Donegal. Few writers have +been more rashly judged than Keating. A poet, as well as a historian, +he gave a prominence in the early chapters of his history to bardic +tales, which English critics have seized upon to damage his reputation +for truthfulness and good sense. But these tales he gives as tales—as +curious and illustrative—rather than as credible and unquestionable. +The purity of his style is greatly extolled by Gaelic critics; and the +interest of his narrative, even in a translation, is undoubted. +McFirbis, an annalist and genealogist by inheritance, is known to us +not only for his profound native lore, and tragic death, but also for +the assistance he rendered Sir James Ware, Dr. Lynch, and Roderick +O'Flaherty. The master-piece, however, of our Gaelic literature of this +age, is the work now called "The Annals of the Four Masters." In the +reign of James I., a few Franciscan friars, living partly in Donegal +Abbey and partly in St. Anthony's College, at Louvain, undertook to +collect and collate all the manuscript remains of Irish antiquity they +could gather or borrow, or be allowed to copy. Father Hugh Ward was the +head of this group, and by him the lay brother Michael O'Clery, one of +the greatest benefactors his country ever saw, was sent from Belgium to +Ireland. From 1620 to 1630, O'Clery travelled through the kingdom, +buying or transcribing everything he could find relating to the lives +of the Irish saints, which he sent to Louvain, where Ward and Colgan +undertook to edit and illustrate them. Father Ward died in the early +part of the undertaking, but Father Colgan spent twenty years in +prosecuting the original design, so far as concerned our ecclesiastical +biography. + +After collecting these materials, Father O'Clery waited, as he tells +us, on "the noble Fergall O'Gara," one of the two knights elected to +represent the county of Sligo in the Parliament of 1634, and perceiving +the anxiety of O'Gara, "from the cloud which at present hangs over our +ancient Milesian race," he proposed to collect the civil and military +annals of Erin into one large digest. O'Gara, struck with this +proposal, freely supplied the means, and O'Clery and his coadjutors set +to work in the Franciscan Convent of Donegal, which still stood, not +more than half in ruins. + +On the 22nd of January, 1632, they commenced this digest, and on the +10th of August, 1636, it was finished—having occupied them four years, +seven months and nineteen days. The MS., dedicated to O'Gara, is +authenticated by the superiors of the convent; from that original two +editions have recently been printed in both languages. + +These annals extend to the year 1616, the time of the compilers. +Originally they bore the title of "Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland," +but Colgan having quoted them as "The Annals of the Four Masters," that +name remains ever since. The "Four Masters" were Brother Michael +O'Clery, Conary and Peregrine O'Clery, his brothers, both laymen and +natives of Donegal, and Florence Conroy of Roscommon, another +hereditary antiquary. + +The first edition of the New Testament, in the Gaelic tongue, so far as +we are aware, appeared at Dublin, in 1603, in quarto. The translation +was the work of a native scholar, O'Cionga (Anglicized King). It was +made at the expense and under the supervision of Dr. William O'Donnell, +one of the first fellows of Trinity, and published at the cost of the +people of Connaught. Dr. O'Donnell, an amiable man, and an enemy of +persecution, became subsequently Archbishop of Tuam, in which dignity +he died, in 1628. A translation of the Book of Common Prayer, by +O'Donnell, appeared early in the century, and towards its close (1685), +a translation of the Old Testament, made for Bishop Bedell by the +Gaelic scholars of Meath and Cavan, was published at the expense of the +famous Robert Boyle. Bedell had also caused to be published Gaelic +translations of certain homilies of Saint Leo and Saint John +Chrysostom, on the importance of studying the holy Scriptures. The only +other Gaelic publications of this period were issued from the Irish +colleges at Louvain and Rome. Thence issued the devotional tracts of +Conroy, of Gernon, and O'Molloy, and the Irish grammars of O'Clery and +Stapleton. The devotional tracts, with their fanciful titles, of +"Lamps," and "Mirrors," were smuggled across from Ostend and Dunkirk +with other articles of contraband, and did much to keep alive the flame +of faith and hope in the hearts of the Gaelic-speaking population. + +The bardic order also, though shorn of much of their ancient splendour, +and under the Puritan _regime_ persecuted as vagrants, still flourished +as an estate of the realm. The national tendency to poetic writing was +not confined to the hereditary verse-makers, but was illustrated by +such men as the martyred Plunkett, and the Bishops of Meath and +Kerry—Dr. Thomas Dease, and Dr. John O'Connell. But the great body of +Gaelic verse of the first half of this century is known under the name +of "The Contentions of the Bards," the subject being the relative +dignity, power, and prowess of the North and South. The gauntlet in +this poetic warfare, was thrown down by McDaire, the Bard of Donogh +O'Brien, fourth Earl of Thomond, and taken up on the part of Ulster by +Lewy O'Clery. Reply led to rejoinder, and one epistle to another, until +all the chief bards of the four provinces had taken sides. Half a dozen +writers, _pro_ and _con_, were particularly distinguished; McDaire +himself, Turlogh O'Brien, and Art Oge O'Keefe on behalf of the +Southerners; O'Clery, O'Donnell, the two McEgans, and Robert McArthur +on the side of the North. + +An immense mass of devotional Gaelic poetry may be traced to this +period. The religious wars, the calamities of the church and of the +people, inspired many a priest and layman to seize the harp of David, +and pour forth his hopes and griefs in sacred song. The lament of Mac +Ward over the Ulster princes buried at Rome, the odes of Dermod Conroy +and Flan McNamee, in honour of our Blessed Lady, are of this class. +Thus it happened that the bardic order, which in ancient times was the +formidable enemy of Christianity, became, through adversity and +affliction, its greatest supporter. + +III. Our Hiberno-English literature is almost entirely the creation of +this century. Except some few remarkable state papers, we have no +English writings of any reputation of an earlier period. Now, however, +when the language of the empire, formed and enriched by the great minds +of Elizabeth's era, began to extend its influence at home and abroad, a +school of Hiberno-English writers appeared, both numerous and +distinguished. This school was as yet composed mainly of two +classes—the dramatic poets, and the pamphleteers. Of the latter were +Bishop French, Sir Richard Nagle, Sir Richard Belling, Lord Orrery, +Father Peter Walsh, and William Molyneux; of the former, Ludowick +Barry, Sir John Denham, the Earl of Roscommon, and Richard +Flecknoe,—the Mac Flecknoe of Dryden. It is true there appeared as yet +no supreme name like Swift's; but as indicating the gradual extension +of the English language into Ireland, the popular pamphlets and pieces +written for the stage, are illustrations of our mental life not to be +overlooked. + +Of the ancient schools of the island, after the final suppression of +the college at Galway in 1652, not one remained. A diocesan college at +Kilkenny, and the Dublin University, were alone open to the youth of +the country. But the University remained exclusively in possession of +the Protestant interest, nor did it give to the world during the +century, except Usher, Ware and Orrery, any graduate of national, not +to say, European reputation. In the bye-ways of the South and West, in +the Irish colleges on the continent of Europe—at Paris, Louvain, Lisle, +Salamanca, Lisbon, or Rome—the children of the proscribed majority +could alone acquire a degree in learning, human or divine. It was as +impossible two centuries ago, to speak of Trinity College with respect, +as it is in our time, remembering all it has since done, to speak of it +without veneration. + +Though the Established Church had now completed its century and a half +of existence, it was as far from the hearts of the Irish as ever. +Though the amiable Bedell and the learned O'Donnell had caused the +sacred Scriptures to be translated into the Gaelic tongue, few converts +had been made from the Catholic ranks, while the spirit of animosity +was inflamed by a sense of the cruel and undeserved disabilities +inflicted in the name of religion. The manifold sects introduced under +Cromwell gave a keener edge to Catholic contempt for the doctrines of +the reformation; and although the restoration of the monarchy threw the +extreme sectaries into the shade, it added nothing to the influence of +the church, except the fatal gift of political patronage. For the first +time, the high dignity of Archbishop of Armagh began to be regarded as +the inheritance of the leader of the House of Lords; then Brahmall and +Boyle laid the foundation of that primatial power which Boulter and +Stone upheld under another dynasty, but which vanished before the first +dawn of Parliamentary independence. + +In the quarter of a century which elapsed from the restoration to the +revolution, the condition of the Catholic clergy and laity was such as +we have already described. In 1662, an historian of the Jesuit +missionaries in Ireland described the sufferings of ecclesiastics as +deplorable; they were forced to fly to the herds of cattle in remote +places, to seek a refuge in barns and stables, or to sleep at night in +the porticoes of temples, lest they should endanger the safety of the +laity. In that same year, Orrery advised Ormond to purge the walled +towns of Papists, who were still "three to one Protestant;" in 1672, +Sir William Petty computed them at "eight to one" of the entire +population. + + "So captive Israel multiplied in chains." + +The martyrdom of the Archbishop of Dublin, in 1680, and of the +Archbishop of Armagh in 1681, were, however, the last of a series of +executions for conscience' sake, from the relation of which the +historian might well have been excused, if it was not necessary to +remind our emancipated posterity at what a price they have been +purchased. + + + +CHAPTER IV. +ACCESSION OF JAMES II.—TYRCONNELL'S ADMINISTRATION. + +From the accession of King James till his final flight from Ireland, in +July, 1690, there elapsed an interval of five years and five months; a +period fraught with consequences of the highest interest to this +history. The new King was, on his accession, in his fifty-second year; +he had served, as Duke of York, with credit both by land and sea, was +an avowed Catholic, and married to a Catholic princess, the beautiful +and unfortunate Mary of Modena. + +Within a month from the proclamation of the King, Ormond quitted the +government for the last time, leaving Primate Boyle, and Lord Granard, +as Justices. In January, 1686, Lord Clarendon, son of the historian, +assumed the government, in which he continued, till the 16th of March, +1687. The day following the national anniversary, Colonel Richard +Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnell, a Catholic, and the former agent for the +Catholics, was installed as Lord Deputy. Other events, connecting these +with each other, had filled with astonishment and apprehension the +ascendancy party. + +James proceeded openly with what he hoped to make a counter-reformation +of England, and to accomplish which he relied on France on the one +hand, and Ireland on the other. In both cases he alarmed the fears and +wounded the pride of England; but when he proceeded from one illegality +to another, when he began to exercise a dispensing power above the +laws—to instruct the judges, to menace the parliament, and imprison the +bishops—the nobility, the commons, and the army gradually combined +against him, and at last invited over the Prince of Orange, as the most +capable vindicator of their outraged constitution. + +The headlong King had a representative equally rash, in Tyrconnell. He +was a man old enough to remember well the uprising of 1641, had lived +in intimacy with James as Duke of York, was personally brave, well +skilled in intrigue, but vain, loud-spoken, confident, and incapable of +a high command in military affairs. The colonelcy of an Irish regiment, +the earldom of Tyrconnell, and a seat in the secret council or cabinet +of the King, were honours conferred on him during the year of James's +accession. When Clarendon was named Lord-Lieutenant at the beginning of +1686, Tyrconnell was sent over with him as Lieutenant-General of the +army. At his instigation, a proclamation was issued, that "all classes" +of his Majesty's subjects might be allowed to serve in the army; and +another, that all arms hitherto given out should be deposited, for +greater security, at one of the King's stores provided for the purpose +in each town or county. Thus that exclusively Protestant militia, which +for twenty years had executed the Act of Settlement and the Act of +Uniformity in every quarter of the kingdom, found themselves suddenly +disarmed, and a new Catholic army rising on their ruins. The numbers +disbanded are nowhere stated; they probably amounted to 10,000 or +15,000 men and very naturally they became warm partisans of the +Williamite revolution. The recriminations which arose between the new +and the old militia were not confined to the nicknames, Whig and Tory, +or to the bandying of sarcasms on each others' origin; swords were not +unfrequently drawn, and muskets discharged, even in the streets of +Dublin, under the very walls of the Castle. + +Through Tyrconnell's influence, a similar revolution had been wrought +in the exclusive character of the courts of justice, and the +corporations of towns, to that which remodelled the militia. Rice, +Daly, and Nugent, were elevated to the bench during Lord Clarendon's +time; the Corporation of Dublin having refused to surrender their +exclusive charter, were summarily rejected by a _quo warranto_, issued +in the exchequer; other towns were similarly treated, or induced to +make surrender, and a new series of charters at once granted by James, +entitling Catholics to the freedom of the boroughs, and the highest +municipal offices. And now, for the first time in that generation, +Catholic mayors and sheriffs, escorted by Catholic troops as guards of +honour, were seen marching in open day to their own places of worship, +to the dismay and astonishment of the ascendancy party. Not that all +Protestants were excluded either from town councils, the militia, or +the bench, but those only were elected or appointed who concurred in +the new arrangements, and were, therefore, pretty certain to forfeit +the confidence of their co-religionists in proportion as they deserved +that of the Deputy. Topham and Coghill, Masters in Chancery, were +deprived of their offices, and the Protestant Chancellor was +arbitrarily removed to make way for Baron Rice, a Catholic. The +exclusive character of Trinity College was next assailed, and though +James did not venture to revoke the charter of Elizabeth, establishing +communion with the Church of England as the test of fellowship, the +internal administration was in several particulars interfered with, its +plate was seized in the King's name under plea of being public +property, and the annual parliamentary grant of 388 pounds was +discontinued. These arbitrary acts filled the more judicious Catholics +with apprehension, but gained the loud applause of the unreasoning +multitude. Dr. Macguire, the successor of the martyred Plunkett, who +felt in Ulster the rising tide of resistance, was among the signers of +a memorial to the King, dutifully remonstrating against the violent +proceedings of his Deputy. From Rome also, disapprobation was more than +once expressed, but all without avail; neither James nor Talbot could +be brought to reason. The Protestants of the eastern and southern towns +and counties who could contrive to quit their homes, did so; hundreds +fled to Holland to return in the ranks of the Prince of Orange; +thousands fled to England, bringing with them their tale of oppression, +embellished with all the bitter exaggeration of exiles; ten thousand +removed from Leinster into Ulster, soon to recross the Boyne, under +very different auspices. Very soon a close correspondence was +established between the fugitives in Holland, England, and Ulster, and +a powerful lever was thus placed in the hands of the Prince of Orange, +to work the downfall of his uncle and father-in-law. But the best +allies of William were, after all, the folly and fatuity of James. The +importation of Irish troops, by entire battalions, gave the last and +sorest wound to the national pride of England, and still further +exasperated the hatred and contempt which his majesty's English +regiments had begun to feel for their royal master. + +Tyrconnell, during the eventful summer months when the revolution was +ripening both in Holland and England, had taken, unknown even to James, +a step of the gravest importance. To him the first intelligence of the +preparations of William were carried by a ship from Amsterdam, and by +him they were communicated to the infatuated King, who had laughed at +them as too absurd for serious consideration. But the Irish ruler, +fully believing his informants, and never deficient in audacity, had at +once entered into a secret treaty with Louis XIV. to put Ireland under +the protection of France, in the event of the Prince of Orange +succeeding to the British throne. No proposition could more entirely +suit the exigencies of Louis, of whom William was by far the ablest and +most relentless enemy. The correspondence which has come to light in +recent times, shows the importance which he attached to Tyrconnell's +proposition—an importance still further enhanced by the direct but +unsuccessful overture made to the earl by William himself, on landing +in England, and before embarking in the actual invasion of Ireland. + +William Henry, Prince of Orange, now about to enter on the scene, was +in 1688 in the thirty-seventh year of his age. Fearless of danger, +patient, silent, impervious to his enemies, rather a soldier than a +statesman, indifferent in religion, and personally adverse to +persecution for conscience' sake, his great and almost his only public +passion was the humiliation of France through the instrumentality of a +European coalition. As an anti-Gallican, as the representative of the +most illustrious Protestant family in Europe, as allied by blood and +marriage to their kings, he was a very fit and proper chief for the +English revolutionists; but for the two former of these reasons he was +just as naturally antipathetic to the Catholic and Celtic majority of +the Irish. His designs had been long gradually maturing, when James's +incredible imprudence hastened his movements. Twenty-four ships of war +were assembled at Helvoetsluys; 7,000 sailors were put on board; all +the veterans of the Netherlands were encamped at Nimeguen, where 6,000 +recruits were added to their numbers. On the 5th of November, the +anniversary of the gunpowder plot, "the Deliverer," as he was fondly +called in England, landed at Torbay; on the 25th of December, James, +deserted by his nobles, his army, and even his own unnatural children, +arrived, a fugitive and a suppliant, at the court of France. + +A few Irish incidents of this critical moment deserve mention. The +mania against everything Irish took in England forms the most ludicrous +and absurd. Wharton's doggerel refrain of Lillibullero, was heard in +every circle outside the court; all London, lighted with torches, and +marshalled under arms, awaited during the memorable "Irish night" the +advent of the terrible and detested regiments brought over by +Tyrconnell; some companies of these troops quartered in the country +were fallen upon by ten times their numbers, and cut to pieces. Others, +fighting and inquiring their way, forced a passage to Chester or +Bristol, and obtained a passage home. They passed at sea, or +encountered on the landing-places, multitudes of the Protestant Irish, +men, women and children, flying in exactly the opposite direction. +Tyrconnell was known to meditate the repeal of the Act of Settlement; +the general rumour of a Protestant massacre fixed for the 9th of +December, originated no one knew how, was spread about no one knew by +whom. In vain the Lord Deputy tried to stay the panic—his assurance of +protection, and the still better evidence of their own experience, +which proved the Irish Catholics incapable of such a project, could not +allay their terrors. They rushed into England by every port, and +inflamed still more the hostility which already prevailed against King +James. + +In Ulster, David Cairnes of Knockmany, the Rev. John Kelso of +Enniskillen, a Presbyterian, and Rev. George Walker of Donaghmore, an +Anglican minister, were active instruments of the Prince of Orange. On +the 7th of December the gates of Derry were shut by "the youthhood" +against the Earl of Antrim and his Highlanders. Enniskillen was seized +by a similar impulse of the popular will, and an association was +quickly formed throughout Ulster in imitation of the English +association which had invited over William, under the auspices of Lord +Blaney, Sir Arthur Rawdon, Sir Clotworthy Skeffington, and others, "for +the maintenance of the Protestant religion and the dependency of +Ireland upon England." By these associates, Sligo, Coleraine, and the +fort of Culmore, at the mouth of the Foyle, were seized for King +William; while the Town Council of Derry, in order to gain time, +despatched one ambassador with one set of instructions to Tyrconnell, +and another, with a very different set, to "the Committee for Irish +Affairs," which sat at Whitehall, under the presidency of the Earl of +Shrewsbury. + + + +CHAPTER V. +KING JAMES IN IRELAND—IRISH PARLIAMENT OF 1689. + +A few days after his arrival in France, James despatched a messenger to +Tyrconnell, with instructions expressing great anxiety as to the state +of affairs in Ireland. "I am sure," wrote the fugitive monarch, "you +will hold out to the utmost of your power, and I hope this king will so +press the Hollanders, that the Prince of Orange will not have men to +spare to attack you." All the aid he could obtain from Louis at the +moment was 7,000 or 8,000 muskets, which were sent accordingly. + +Events succeeded each other during the first half of the year 1689 with +revolutionary rapidity. The conventions of England and Scotland, though +far from being unanimous, declared by immense majorities, that James +had abdicated, and that William and Mary should be offered the crowns +of both kingdoms. In February, they were proclaimed as king and queen +of "England, France, and Ireland," and in May, the Scottish +commissioners brought them the tender of the crown of Scotland. The +double heritage of the Stuart kings was thus, after nearly a century of +possession, transferred by election to a kindred prince, to the +exclusion of the direct descendants of the great champion of "the right +divine," who first united under his sceptre the three kingdoms. + +James, at the Court of France, was duly informed of all that passed at +London and Edinburgh. He knew that he had powerful partizans in both +conventions. The first fever of popular excitement once allayed, he +marked with exultation the symptoms of reaction. There was much in the +circumstances attending his flight to awaken popular sympathy, and to +cast a veil over his errors. The pathetic picture drawn of parental +suffering by the great dramatist in the character of King _Lear_, +seemed realized to the life in the person of King James. Message +followed message from the three kingdoms, urging him to return and +place himself at the head of his faithful subjects in a war against the +usurper. The French king approved of these recommendations, for in +fighting James's battle he was fighting his own, and a squadron was +prepared at Brest to carry the fugitive back to his dominions. +Accompanied by his natural sons, the Duke of Berwick and the Grand +Prior Fitzjames, by Lieutenant-Generals de Rosen and de Maumont, +Majors-General de Pusignan and de Lery (or Geraldine), about a hundred +officers of all ranks, and 1,200 veterans, James sailed from Brest, +with a fleet of 33 vessels, and landed at Kinsale on the 12th day of +March (_old style_). His reception by the Southern population was +enthusiastic in the extreme. From Kinsale to Cork, from Cork to Dublin, +his progress was accompanied by Gaelic songs and dances, by Latin +orations, loyal addresses, and all the decorations with which a popular +favourite can be welcomed. Nothing was remembered by that easily +pacified people but his great misfortunes and his steady fidelity to +his and their religion. Fifteen chaplains, nearly all Irish, +accompanied him, and added to the delight of the populace; while many a +long-absent soldier, now came back in the following of the king, to +bless the sight of some aged parent or faithful lover. The royal entry +into Dublin was the crowning pageant of this delusive restoration. With +the tact and taste for such demonstrations hereditary in the citizens, +the trades and arts were marshalled before him. Two venerable harpers +played on their national instruments near the gate by which he entered; +a number of religious in their robes, with a huge cross at their head, +chanted as they went; forty young girls, dressed in white, danced the +ancient _Rinka_, scattering flowers as they danced. The Earl of +Tyrconnell, lately raised to a dukedom, the judges, the mayor and +corporation, completed the procession, which marched over newly sanded +streets, beneath arches of evergreens and windows hung with "tapestry +and cloth of Arras." Arrived at the castle the sword of state was +presented to him by the deputy, and the keys of the city by the +recorder. At the inner entrance, the primate, Dr. Dominick Macguire, +waited in his robes to conduct him to the chapel, lately erected by +Tyrconnell, where _Te Deum_ was solemnly sung. But of all the incidents +of that striking ceremonial, nothing more powerfully impressed the +popular imagination than the green flag floating from the main tower of +the castle, bearing the significant inscription—"_Now or Never—Now and +Forever_." + +A fortnight was devoted by James in Dublin to daily and nightly +councils and receptions. The chief advisers who formed his court were +the Count d'Avaux, Ambassador of France, the Earl of Melfort, principal +Secretary of State, the Duke of Tyrconnell, Lieutenant-General Lord +Mountcashel, Chief Justice Nugent, and the superior officers of the +army, French and Irish. One of the first things resolved upon at Dublin +was the appointment of the gallant Viscount Dundee as +Lieutenant-General in Scotland—and the despatch to his assistance of an +Irish auxiliary force, which served under that renowned chief with as +much honour as their predecessors had served under Montrose. +Communications were also opened through the Bishop of Chester with the +west of England Jacobites, always numerous in Cheshire, Shropshire, and +other counties nearest to Ireland. Certain changes were then made in +the Privy Council; Chief Justice Keating's attendance was dispensed +with as one opposed to the new policy, but his judicial functions were +left untouched. Dr. Cartwright, Bishop of Chester, and the French +Ambassador were sworn in, and writs were issued convoking the Irish +Parliament for the 7th day of May following. + +Intermitting, for the present, the military events which marked the +early months of the year, we will follow the acts and deliberations of +King James's Parliament of 1689. The Houses met, according to summons, +at the appointed time, in the building known as "the Inns of Court," +within a stone's throw of the castle. There were present 228 Commoners, +and 46 members of the Upper House. In the Lords several Protestant +noblemen and prelates took their seats, and some Catholic peers of +ancient date, whose attainders had been reversed, were seen for the +first time in that generation in the front rank of their order. In the +Lower House the University and a few other constituencies were +represented by Protestants, but the overwhelming majority were +Catholics, either of Norman or Milesian origin. The King made a +judicious opening speech, declaring his intention to uphold the rights +of property, and to establish liberty of conscience alike for +Protestant and Catholic. He referred to the distressed state of trade +and manufactures, and recommended to the attention of the Houses, those +who had been unjustly deprived of their estates under the "Act of +Settlement." + +Three measures passed by this Parliament entitle its members to be +enrolled among the chief assertors of civil and religious liberty. One +was the "Act for establishing Liberty of Conscience," followed by the +supplemental act that all persons should pay tithes only to the clergy +of their own communion. An act abolishing writs of error and appeal +into England, established the judicial independence of Ireland; but a +still more necessary measure repealing Poyning's Law, was defeated +through the personal hostility of the King. An act repealing the Act of +Settlement was also passed, under protest from the Protestant Lords, +and received the royal sanction. A bill to establish Inns of Court, for +the education of Irish law students, was, however, rejected by the +King, and lost; an "Act of Attainder," against persons in arms against +the Sovereign, whose estates lay in Ireland, was adopted. Whatever may +be the bias of historians, it cannot be denied that this Parliament +showed a spirit worthy of the representatives of a free people. "Though +Papists," says Mr. Grattan, our highest parliamentary authority, "they +were not slaves; they wrung a constitution from King James before they +accompanied him to the field." + +The King, unfortunately, had not abandoned the arbitrary principles of +his family, even in his worst adversity. His interference with the +discussions on Poyning's Law, and the Inns of Court bill, had shocked +some of his most devoted adherents. But he proceeded from obstructive +to active despotism. He doubled, by his mere proclamation, the enormous +subsidy of 20,000 pounds monthly voted him by the Houses. He +established, by the same authority, a bank, and decreed in his own name +a bank restriction act. He debased the coinage, and established a fixed +scale of prices to be observed by all merchants and traders. In one +respect—but in one only—he grossly violated his own professed purpose +of establishing liberty of conscience, by endeavouring to force fellows +and scholars on the University of Dublin contrary to its statutes. He +even went so far as to appoint a provost and librarian without consent +of the senate. However we may condemn the exclusiveness of the College, +this was not the way to correct it; bigotry on the one hand, will not +justify despotism on the other. + +More justifiable was the interference of the King for the restoration +of rural schools and churches, and the decent maintenance of the clergy +and bishops. His appointments to the bench were also, with one or two +exceptions, men of the very highest character. "The administration of +justice during this brief period," says Dr. Cooke Taylor, "deserves the +highest praise. With the exception of Nugent and Fritton, the Irish +judges would have been an honour to any bench." + + + +CHAPTER VI. +THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR—CAMPAIGN OF 1689—SIEGES OF DERRY AND ENNISKILLEN. + +When Tyrconnell met the King at Cork, he gave his Majesty a plain +account of the posture of military affairs. In Ulster, +Lieutenant-General Richard Hamilton, at the head of 2,500 regular +troops, was holding the rebels in check, from Charlemont to Coleraine; +in Munster, Lieutenant-General Justin McCarthy, Lord Mountcashel, had +taken Bandon and Castlemartyr; throughout the four provinces, the +Catholics, to the number of fifty regiments (probably 30,000 men), had +volunteered their services; but for all these volunteers he had only +20,000 old arms of all kinds, not over 1,000 of which were found really +valuable. There were besides these, regiments of horse, Tyrconnell's, +Russell's, and Galmony's, and one of dragoons, eight small pieces of +artillery, but neither stores in the magazines, nor cash in the chest. +While at Cork, Tyrconnell, in return for his great exertions, was +created a Duke, and General-in-Chief, with De Rosen as second in +command. + +A week before James reached Dublin, Hamilton had beaten the rebels at +Dromore, and driven them in on Coleraine, from before which he wrote +urgently for reinforcements. On receipt of this communication, the +Council exhibited, for the first time, those radical differences of +opinion, amounting almost to factious opposition, which crippled all +King James's movements at this period. One party strenuously urged that +the King himself should march northward with such troops as could be +spared; that his personal appearance before Derry, would immediately +occasion the surrender of that city, and that he might in a few weeks, +finish in person the campaign of Ulster. Another, at whose head was +Tyrconnell, endeavoured to dissuade his Majesty from this course, but +he at length decided in favour of the plan of Melfort and his friends. +Accordingly, he marched out of Dublin, amid torrents of April rain, on +the eighth of that month, intending to form a junction with Hamilton, +at Strabane, and thence to advance to Derry. The march was a weary one +through a country stripped bare of every sign of life, and desolate +beyond description. A week was spent between Dublin and Omagh; at Omagh +news of an English fleet on the Foyle caused the King to retrace his +steps hastily to Charlemont. At Charlemont, however, intelligence of +fresh successes gained by Hamilton and De Rosen, at Cladyford and +Strabane, came to restore his confidence; he instantly set forward, +despite the tempestuous weather, and the almost impassable roads, and +on the eighteenth reached the Irish camp at Johnstown, within four or +five miles of Derry. + +It was now four months since "the youthhood" of Derry had shut the +Watergate against Lord Antrim's regiment, and established within their +walls a strange sort of government, including eighteen clergymen and +the town democracy. The military command remained with +Lieutenant-Colonel Lundy, of Mountjoy's regiment, but the actual +government of the town was vested, first, in "Governor" Baker, and +afterwards in the Reverend George Walker, rector of Donaghmore, best +known to us as _Governor_ Walker. The Town Council had despatched Mr. +Cairnes, and subsequently Captain Hamilton, founder of the Abercorn +peerage, to England for succour, and had openly proclaimed William and +Mary as King and Queen. Defensive works were added, where necessary, +and on the very day of the affair of Cladyford, 480 barrels of +gunpowder were landed from English ships and conveyed within the walls. + +As the Royalist forces concentrated towards Derry, the chiefs of the +Protestant Association fell back before them, each bringing to its +garrison the contribution of his own followers. From the valley of the +Bann, over the rugged summits of Carntogher, from the glens of Donegal, +and the western sea coast round to Mayo, troops of the fugitives +hurried to the strong town of the London traders, as to a city of +refuge. Enniskillen alone, resolute in its insular situation, and in a +courage akin to that which actuated the defenders of Derry, stood as an +outpost of the main object of attack, and delayed the junction of the +Royalists under Mountcashel with those under Hamilton and De Rosen. +Coleraine was abandoned. Captain Murray, the commander of Culmore, +forced his way at the head of 1,500 men into Derry, contrary to the +wishes of the vacillating and suspected Lundy, and, from the moment of +his arrival, infused his own determined spirit into all ranks of the +inhabitants. + +Those who had advised King James to present himself in person before +the Protestant stronghold, had not acted altogether, upon presumption. +It is certain that there were Jacobites, even in Derry. Lundy, the +governor, either despairing of its defence, or undecided in his +allegiance between James and William, had opened a correspondence with +Hamilton and De Rosen. But the true answer of the brave townsmen, when +the King advanced too near their walls, was a cannon shot which killed +one of his staff, and the cry of "No Surrender" thundered from the +walls. James, awakened from his self-complacent dream by this +unexpected reception, returned to Dublin, to open his Parliament, +leaving General Hamilton to continue the siege. Colonel Lundy, +distrusted, overruled, and menaced, escaped over the walls by night, +disguised as a common labourer, and the party of Murray, Baker, Walker, +and Cairnes, reigned supreme. + +The story of the siege of Derry—of the heroic constancy of its +defenders—of the atrocities of De Rosen and Galmoy—the clemency of +Maumont—the forbearance of Hamilton—the struggles for supremacy among +its magnates—the turbulence of the townsfolk—the joyful raising of the +siege—all these have worthily employed some of the most eloquent pens +in our language. The relief came by the breaking of the boom across the +harbour's mouth on the last day of July; the bombardment had commenced +on the 21st of April; the gates had been shut on the 7th of December. +The actual siege had lasted above three months, and the blockade about +three weeks. The destruction of life on both sides has never been +definitely stated. The besieged admit a loss of 4,000 men; the +besiegers of 6,000. The want of siege guns in the Jacobite camp is +admitted by both parties, but, nevertheless, the defence of the place +well deserves to be celebrated, as it has been by an imperial +historian, "as the most memorable in British annals." + +Scarcely inferior in interest and importance to the siege of Derry, was +the spirited defence of Enniskillen. That fine old town, once the seat +of the noble family of Maguire, is naturally dyked and moated round +about, by the waters of Lough Erne. In December, '88, it had closed its +gates, and barricaded its causeways to keep out a Jacobite garrison. In +March, on Lord Galmoy's approach, all the outlying garrisons, in +Fermanagh and Cavan, had destroyed their posts, and gathered into +Enniskillen. The cruel and faithless Galmoy, instead of inspiring +terror into the united garrison, only increased their determination to +die in the breach. So strong in position and numbers did they find +themselves, with the absolute command of the lower Lough Erne to bring +in their supplies, that in April they sent off a detachment to the +relief of Derry, and in the months of May and June, made several +successful forays to Ballincarrig, Omagh, and Belturbet. In July, +provided with a fresh supply of ammunition from the fleet intended for +the relief of Derry, they beat up the Duke of Berwick's quarters at +Trellick, but were repulsed with some loss. The Duke being soon after +recalled to join De Rosen, the siege of Enniskillen was committed to +Lord Mountcashel, under whom, as commander of the cavalry, served Count +Anthony Hamilton, author of the witty but licentious "Memoirs of +Grammont," and other distinguished officers. Mountcashel's whole force +consisted of three regiments of foot, two of dragoons, and some horse; +but he expected to be joined by Colonel Sarsfield from Sligo, and +Berwick from Derry. The besieged had drawn four regiments of foot from +Cavan alone, and were probably twice that number in all; and they had, +in Colonels Wolseley and Berry, able and energetic officers. The +Enniskilleners did not await the attack within their fortress. At +Lisnaskea, under Berry, they repulsed the advanced guard of the +Jacobites under Anthony Hamilton; and the same day—the day of the +relief of Derry—their whole force were brought into action with +Mountcashel's at Newtown-Butler. To the cry of "No Popery," Wolseley +led them into an action, the most considerable yet fought. The raw +southern levies on the Royalist side, were routed by the hardy +Enniskilleners long familiar with the use of arms, and well acquainted +with every inch of the ground; 2,000 of them were left on the field; +400 prisoners were taken, among them dangerously, but not mortally +wounded, was the Lieutenant-General himself. + +The month of August was a month of general rejoicing for the +Williamites of Ulster, De Rosen and Berwick had retreated from Derry; +Sarsfield, on his way to join Mountcashel, fell back to Sligo on +hearing of his defeat at Newtown-Butler; Culmore, Coleraine, and +Ballyshannon, were retaken and well supplied; fugitives returned +triumphantly to their homes, in Cavan, Fermanagh, Tyrone, and Armagh. A +panic created by false reports spread among his troops at Sligo, +compelled Sarsfield to fall still further back to Athlone. Six months +after his arrival, with the exception of the forts of Charlemont and +Carrickfergus, King James no longer possessed a garrison in that +province, which had been bestowed by his grandfather upon the ancestors +of those who now unanimously rejected and resisted him. + +The fall of the gallant Dundee in the battle of Killicrankie, five days +before the relief of Derry, freed King William from immediate anxiety +on the side of Scotland, and enabled him to concentrate his whole +disposable force on Ireland. On the 13th of August, an army of eighteen +regiments of foot, and four or five of horse, under the Marshal Duke de +Schomberg, with Count Solmes as second in command, sailed into Belfast +Lough, and took possession of the town. On the 20th, the Marshal opened +a fierce cannonade on Carrickfergus, defended by Colonels McCarthy More +and Cormac O'Neil, while the fleet bombarded it from sea. After eight +days' incessant cannonade, the garrison surrendered on honourable +terms, and Schomberg faced southward towards Dublin. Brave, and long +experienced, the aged Duke moved according to the cautious maxims of +the military school in which he had been educated. Had he advanced +rapidly on the capital, James must have fallen back, as De Rosen +advised, on the line of the Shannon; but O'Regan, at Charlemont, and +Berwick, at Newry, seemed to him obstacles so serious, that nearly a +month was wasted in advancing from Belfast to Dundalk, where he +entrenched himself in September, and went into winter quarters. Here a +terrible dysentery broke out among his troops, said to have been +introduced by some soldiers from Derry, and so destructive were its +ravages, that there were hardly left healthy men enough to bury the +dead. Several of the French Catholics under his command, also, deserted +to James, who, from his head-quarters at Drogheda, offered every +inducement to the deserters. Others discovered in the attempt were +tried and hanged, and others, still suspected of similar designs, were +marched down to Carlingford, and shipped for England. In November, +James returned from Drogheda to Dublin, much elated that Duke +Schomberg, whose fatal camp at Dundalk he had in vain attempted to +raise, had shrunk from meeting him in the field. + + + +CHAPTER VII. +THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR—CAMPAIGN OF 1690—BATTLE OF THE BOYNE—ITS +CONSEQUENCES—THE SIEGES OF ATHLONE AND LIMERICK. + +The armies now destined to combat for two kings on Irish soil were +strongly marked by those distinctions of race and religion which add +bitterness to struggles for power, while they present striking +contrasts to the eye of the painter of military life and manners. King +James's troops were chiefly Celtic and Catholic. There were four +regiments commanded by O'Neils, two by O'Briens, two by O'Kellys, one +each by McCarthy More, Maguire, O'More, O'Donnell, McMahon, and +Magennis, principally recruited among their own clansmen. There were +also the regiments of Sarsfield, Nugent, De Courcy, Fitzgerald, Grace, +and Burke, chiefly Celts, in the rank and file. On the other hand, +Schomberg led into the field the famous blue Dutch and white Dutch +regiments; the Huguenot regiments of Schomberg, La Millinier, Du +Cambon, and La Callimotte; the English regiments of Lords Devonshire, +Delamere, Lovelace, Sir John Lanier, Colonels Langston, Villiers, and +others; the Anglo-Irish regiments of Lords Meath, Roscommon, Kingston, +and Drogheda; with the Ulstermen, under Brigadier Wolseley, Colonels +Gustavus Hamilton, Mitchelburne, Loyd, White, St. Johns, and Tiffany. +Some important changes had taken place on both sides during the winter +months. D'Avaux and De Rosen had been recalled at James's request; +Mountcashel, at the head of the first Franco-Irish brigade, had been +exchanged for 6,000 French, under De Lauzan, who arrived the following +March in the double character of general and ambassador. The report +that William was to command in person in the next campaign, was, of +itself, an indication pregnant with other changes to the minds of his +adherents. + +Their abundant supplies of military stores from England, wafted from +every port upon the channel, where James had not a keel afloat, enabled +the Williamite army to take the initiative in the campaign of 1690. At +Cavan, Brigadier Wolseley repulsed the Duke of Berwick, with the loss +of 200 men and some valuable officers. But the chief incident preceding +William's arrival was the siege of Charlemont. This siege, which +commenced apparently in the previous autumn, had continued during +several months, till the garrison were literally starved out, in May. +The famished survivors were kindly treated, by order of Schomberg, and +their gallant and eccentric chief, O'Regan, was knighted by the King, +for his persistent resistance. A month from the day on which Charlemont +fell, (June 14th), William landed at Carrickfergus, accompanied by +Prince George of Denmark, the Duke of Wurtemburg, the Prince of +Hesse-Darmstadt, the second and last Duke of Ormond, Major-General +Mackay, the Earls of Oxford, Portland, Scarborough, and Manchester, +General Douglas, and other distinguished British and foreign officers. +At Belfast, his first head-quarters, he ascertained the forces at his +disposal to be upwards of 40,000 men, composed of "a strange medley of +all nations"—Scandinavians, Swiss, Dutch, Prussians, Huguenot-French, +English, Scotch, "Scotch-Irish," and Anglo-Irish. Perhaps the most +extraordinary element in that strange medley was the Danish contingent +of horse and foot. Irish tradition and Irish prophecy still teemed with +tales of terror and predictions of evil at the hands of the Danes, +while these hardy mercenaries observed, with grim satisfaction, that +the memory of their fierce ancestors had not become extinct after the +lapse of twenty generations. At the Boyne, and at Limerick, they could +not conceal their exultation as they encamped on some of the very +earthworks raised by men of their race seven centuries before, and it +must be admitted they vindicated their descent, both by their courage +and their cruelty. + +On the 16th of June, James, informed of William's arrival, marched +northward at the head of 20,000 men, French and Irish, to meet him. On +the 22nd, James was at Dundalk and William at Newry; as the latter +advanced, the Jacobites retired, and finally chose their ground at the +Boyne, resolved to hazard a battle, for the preservation of Dublin, and +the safety of the province of Leinster. + +On the last day of June, the hostile forces confronted each other at +the Boyne. The gentle, legendary river, wreathed in all the glory of +its abundant foliage, was startled with the cannonade from the northern +bank, which continued through the long summer's evening, and woke the +early echoes of the morrow. William, strong in his veteran ranks, +welcomed the battle; James, strong in his defensive position, and the +goodness of his cause, awaited it with confidence. On the northern bank +near to the ford of Oldbridge, William, with his chief officers, +breakfasting on the turf, nearly lost his life from a sudden discharge +of cannon; but he was quickly in the saddle, at all points reviewing +his army. James, on the hill of Donore, looked down on his devoted +defenders, through whose ranks rode Tyrconnell, lame and ill, the +youthful Berwick, the adventurous Lauzan, and the beloved +Sarsfield—everywhere received with cordial acclamations. The battle +commenced at the ford of Oldbridge, between Sir Neil O'Neil, and the +younger Schomberg; O'Neil fell mortally wounded, and the ford was +forced. By this ford, William ordered his centre to advance under the +elder Schomberg, as the hour of noon approached, while he himself moved +with the left across the river, nearer to Drogheda. Lauzan, with +Sarsfield's horse, dreading to be outflanked, had galloped to guard the +bridge of Slane, five miles higher up the stream, where alone a flank +movement was possible. The battle was now transferred from the gunners +to the swordsmen and pikemen—from the banks to the fords and borders of +the river, William, on the extreme left, swam his horse across, in +imminent danger; Schomberg and Callimotte fell in the centre, mortally +wounded. News was brought to William, that Dr. Walker—recently +appointed to the See of Derry—had also fallen, "What brought him +there?" was the natural comment of the soldier-prince. After seven +hours' fighting the Irish fell back on Duleek, in good order. The +assailants admitted five hundred killed, and as many wounded; the +defenders were said to have lost from one thousand to fifteen hundred +men—less than at Newtown-Butler. The carnage, compared with some great +battles of that age, was inconsiderable, but the political consequences +were momentous. The next day, the garrison of Drogheda, one thousand +three hundred strong, surrendered; in another week, William was in +Dublin, and James, terrified by the reports which had reached him, was +_en route_ for France. It is hardly an exaggeration to say, that the +fate of Europe was decided by the result of the battle of the Boyne. At +Paris, at the Hague, at Vienna, at Rome, at Madrid, nothing was talked +of but the great victory of the Prince of Orange over Louis and James. +It is one of the strangest complications of history that the vanquished +Irish Catholics seem to have been never once thought of by Spain, +Austria, or the Pope. In the greater issues of the European coalition +against France, their interests, and their very existence, were for the +moment forgotten. + +The defeat at the Boyne, and the surrender of Dublin, uncovered the +entire province of Leinster, Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford, Duncannon, +Clonmel, and other places of less importance, surrendered within six +weeks. The line of the Shannon was fallen back upon by the Irish, and +the points of attack and defence were now shifted to Athlone and +Limerick. What Enniskillen and Derry had been, in the previous year, to +the Williamite party in the north, cities of refuge, and strongholds of +hope, these two towns upon the Shannon had now become, by the fortune +of war, to King James's adherents. + +On the 17th of July, General Douglas appeared before Athlone, and +summoned it to surrender. The veteran commandant, Colonel Richard +Grace, a Confederate of 1641, having destroyed the bridge, and the +suburbs on the Leinster side of the Shannon, replied by discharging his +pistol over the head of the drummer who delivered the message. Douglas +attempted to cross the river at Lanesborough, but found the ford +strongly guarded by one of Grace's outposts; after a week's ineffectual +bombardment, he withdrew from before Athlone, and proceeded to +Limerick, ravaging and slaying as he went. + +Limerick had at first been abandoned by the French under Lauzan, as +utterly indefensible. That gay intriguer desired nothing so much as to +follow the King to France, while Tyrconnell, broken down with physical +suffering and mental anxiety, feebly concurred in his opinion. They +accordingly departed for Galway, leaving the city to its fate, and, +happily for the national reputation, to bolder counsels than their own. +De Boisseleau did not underrate the character of the Irish levies, who +had retreated before twice their numbers at the Boyne; he declared +himself willing to remain, and, sustained by Sarsfield, he was chosen +as commandant. More than ten thousand foot had gathered "as if by +instinct" to that city, and on the Clare side Sarsfield still kept +together his cavalry, at whose head he rode to Galway and brought back +Tyrconnell. On the 9th of August, William, confident of an easy +victory, appeared before the town, but more than twelve months were to +elapse before all his power could reduce those mouldering walls, which +the fugitive French ambassador had declared "might be taken with +roasted apples." + +An exploit, planned and executed by Sarsfield the day succeeding +William's arrival, saved the city for another year, and raised that +officer to the highest pitch of popularity. Along the Clare side of the +Shannon, under cover of the night, he galloped as fast as horse could +carry him, at the head of his dragoons, and crossed the river at +Killaloe. One Manus O'Brien, a Protestant of Clare, who had encountered +the flying horsemen, and learned enough to suspect their design, +hastened to William's camp with the news, but he was at first laughed +at for his pains. William, however, never despising any precaution in +war, despatched Sir John Lanier with 500 horse to protect his +siege-train, then seven miles in the rear, on the road between Limerick +and Cashel. Sarsfield, however, was too quick for Sir John. The day +after he had crossed at Killaloe he kept his men _perdu_ in the hilly +country, and the next night swooped down upon the convoy in charge of +the siege-train, who were quietly sleeping round the ruined church of +Ballanedy. The sentinels were sabred at their posts, the guards, +half-dressed, fled in terror or were speedily killed. The gun-carriages +were quickly yoked, and drawn together to a convenient place, where, +planted in pits with ammunition, they were, with two exceptions, +successfully blown to atoms. Lanier arrived within view of the terrific +scene in time to feel its stunning effects. The ground for miles round +shook as from an earthquake; the glare and roar of the explosion were +felt in William's camp, and through the beleaguered city. On the +morrow, all was known. Sarsfield was safely back in his old encampment, +without the loss of a single man; Limerick was in an uproar of delight, +while William's army, to the lowest rank, felt the depression of so +unexpected a blow. A week later, however, the provident prince had a +new siege-train of thirty-six guns and four mortars brought up from +Waterford, pouring red-hot shot on the devoted city. Another week—on +the 27th of August—a gap having been made in the walls near Saint +John's gate, a storming party of the English guards, the Anglo-Irish, +Prussians, and Danes, was launched into the breach. After an action of +uncommon fierceness and determination on both sides, the besiegers +retired with the loss of 30 officers, and 800 men killed, and 1,200 +wounded. The besieged admitted 400 killed—their wounded were not +counted. Four days later, William abandoned the siege, retreated to +Waterford, and embarked for England, with Prince George of Denmark, the +Dukes of Wurtemburg and Ormond, and others of his principal adherents. +Tyrconnell, labouring with the illness of which he soon after died, +took advantage of the honourable pause thus obtained, to proceed on his +interrupted voyage to France, accompanied by the ambassador. Before +leaving, however, the young Duke of Berwick was named in his stead as +Commander-in-Chief; Fitton, Nagle, and Plowden, as Lords Justices; +sixteen "senators" were to form a sort of Cabinet, and Sarsfield to be +second in military command. His enemies declared that Tyrconnell +retired from the contest because his early spirit and courage had +failed him; he himself asserted that his object was to procure +sufficient succours from King Louis, to give a decisive issue to the +war. His subsequent negotiations at Paris proved that though his bodily +health might be wretched, his ingenuity and readiness of resource had +not deserted him. He justified himself both with James and Louis, +outwitted Lauzan, propitiated Louvois, disarmed the prejudices of the +English Jacobites, and, in short, placed the military relations of +France and Ireland on a footing they had never hitherto sustained. The +expedition of the following spring, under command of Marshal Saint +Ruth, was mainly procured by his able diplomacy, and though he returned +to Ireland to survive but a few weeks the disastrous day of Aughrim, it +is impossible from the Irish point of view, not to recall with +admiration, mixed indeed with alloy, but still with largely prevailing +admiration, the extraordinary energy, buoyancy and talents of Richard, +Duke of Tyrconnell. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. +THE WINTER OF 1690-91. + +The Jacobite party in England were not slow to exaggerate the extent of +William's losses before Athlone and Limerick. The national +susceptibility was consoled by the ready reflection, that if the beaten +troops were partly English, the commanders were mainly foreigners. A +native hero was needed, and was found in the person of Marlborough, a +captain, whose name was destined to eclipse every other English +reputation of that age. At his suggestion an expedition was fitted out +against Cork, Kinsale, and other ports of the south of Ireland, and the +command, though not without some secret unwillingness on William's +part, committed to him. On the 23rd of September, at the head of 8,000 +fresh troops, amply supplied with all necessary munitions, Marlborough +assaulted Cork. After five days' bombardment, in which the Duke of +Grafton, and other officers and men were slain, the Governor, McEligot, +capitulated on conditions, which, in spite of all Marlborough's +exertions, were flagrantly violated. The old town of Kinsale was at +once abandoned as untenable the same day, and the new fort, at the +entrance to the harbour, was surrendered after a fortnight's cannonade. +Covered with glory from a five weeks' campaign, Marlborough returned to +England to receive the acclamations of the people and the most gracious +compliments of the prince. + +Berwick and Sarsfield on the one side and Ginkle and Lanier on the +other, kept up the winter campaign till an advanced period, on both +banks of the Shannon. About the middle of September, the former made a +dash over the bridge of Banagher, against Birr, or Parsonstown, the +family borough of the famous _Undertaker_. The English, in great force, +under Lanier, Kirke, and Douglas, hastened to its relief, and the Irish +fell back to Banagher. To destroy "that convenient pass" became now the +object of one party, to protect it, of the other. After some +skirmishing and manoeuvring on both sides, the disputed bridge was left +in Irish possession, and the English fell back to the borough and +castle of Sir Lawrence Parsons. During the siege of the new fort at +Kinsale, Berwick and Sarsfield advanced as far as Kilmallock to its +relief, but finding themselves so inferior in numbers to Marlborough, +they were unwillingly compelled to leave its brave defenders to their +fate, + +Although the Duke of Berwick was the nominal Commander-in-Chief, his +youth, and the distractions incident to youth, left the more mature and +popular Sarsfield the possession of real power, both civil and +military. Every fortunate accident had combined to elevate that gallant +cavalry officer into the position of national leadership. + +He was the son of a member of the Irish Commons, proscribed for his +patriotism and religion in 1641, by Anna O'Moore, daughter of the +organizer of the Catholic Confederation. He was a Catholic in religion, +spoke Gaelic as easily as English, was brave, impulsive; handsome, and +generous to a fault, like the men he led. In Tyrconnell's absence every +sincere lover of the country came to him with intelligence, and looked +to him for direction. Early in November he learned through his +patriotic spies the intention of the Williamites to force the passage +of the Shannon in the depth of winter. On the last day of December, +accordingly, they marched in great force under Kirke and Lanier to +Jonesboro', and under Douglas to Jamestown. At both points they found +the indefatigable Sarsfield fully prepared for them, and after a +fortnight's intense suffering from exposure to the weather, were glad +to get back again to their snug quarters at Parsonstown. + +Early in February Tyrconnell landed at Limerick with a French fleet, +escorted by three vessels of war, and laden with provisions, but +bringing few arms and no reinforcements. He had brought over, however, +14,000 golden louis, which were found of the utmost service in +re-clothing the army, besides 10,000 more which he had deposited at +Brest to purchase oatmeal for subsequent shipment. He also brought +promises of military assistance on a scale far beyond anything France +had yet afforded. It is almost needless to say he was received at +Galway and Limerick with an enthusiasm which silenced, if it did not +confute, his political enemies, both in Ireland and France. + +During his absence intrigues and factions had been rifer than ever in +the Jacobite ranks. Sarsfield had discovered that the English movement +on the Shannon in December was partly hastened by foolish or +treacherous correspondence among his own associates. Lord Riverston and +his brother were removed from the Senate, or Council of Sixteen—four +from each province—and Judge Daly, ancestor of the Dunsandle family, +was placed under arrest at Galway. The youthful Berwick sometimes +complained that he was tutored and overruled by Sarsfield; but though +the impetuous soldier may occasionally have forgotten the lessons +learned in courts, his activity seems to have been the greatest, his +information the best, his advice the most disinterested, and his +fortitude the highest of any member of the council. By the time of +Tyrconnell's return he had grown to a height of popularity and power, +which could not well brook a superior either in the cabinet or the +camp. + +On the arrival of the Lord Lieutenant, who was also Commander-in-Chief, +the ambition of Sarsfield was gratified by the rank of Earl of Lucan, a +title drawn from that pleasant hamlet, in the valley of the Liffey, +where he had learned to lisp the catechism of a patriot at the knee of +Anna O'Moore. But his real power was much diminished. Tyrconnell, +Berwick, Sir Richard Nagle, who had succeeded the Earl of Melfort as +chief secretary for King James, all ranked before him at the board, and +when Saint Ruth arrived to take command-in-chief, he might fairly have +complained that he was deprived of the chief reward to which he had +looked forward. + +The weary winter and the drenching spring months wore away, and the +Williamite troops, sorely afflicted by disease, hugged their tents and +huts. Some relief was sent by sea to the Jacobite garrison of Sligo, +commanded by the stout old Sir Teague O'Regan, the former defender of +Charlemont. Athlone, too, received some succours, and the line of the +Shannon was still unbroken from Slieve-an-iron to the sea. But still +the promised French assistance was delayed. Men were beginning to doubt +both King Louis and King James, when, at length at the beginning of +May, the French ships were signalled from the cliffs of Kerry. On the +8th, the Sieur de Saint Ruth, with Generals D'Usson and De Tesse, +landed at Limerick, and assisted at a solemn _Te Deum_ in St. Mary's +Cathedral. They brought considerable supplies of clothes, provisions, +and ammunitions, but neither veterans to swell the ranks, nor money to +replenish the chest. Saint Ruth entered eagerly upon the discharge of +his duties as generalissimo, while Sarsfield continued the nominal +second in command. + + + +CHAPTER IX. +THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR—CAMPAIGN OF 1691—BATTLE OF AUGHRIM—CAPITULATION +OF LIMERICK. + +Saint Ruth, with absolute powers, found himself placed at the head of +from 20,000 to 25,000 men, in the field or in garrison, regular or +irregular, but all, with hardly an exception, Irish. His and +Tyrconnell's recent supplies had sufficed to renew the clothing and +equipment of the greater part of the number, but the whole contents of +the army chest, the golden hinge on which war moves, was estimated in +the beginning of May to afford to each soldier only "a penny a day for +three weeks." He had under him some of the best officers that France +could spare, or Ireland produce, and he had with him the hearts of +nine-tenths of the natives of the country. + +A singular illustration of the popular feeling occurred the previous +August. The Milesian Irish had cherished the belief ever since the +disastrous day of Kinsale, that an O'Donnell from Spain, having on his +shoulder a red mark (_ball derg_), would return to free them from the +English yoke, in a great battle near Limerick. Accordingly, when a +representative of the Spanish O'Donnells actually appeared at Limerick, +bearing as we know many of his family have done, even to our day, the +unmistakable red mark of the ancient Tyrconnell line, immense numbers +of the country people who had held aloof from the Jacobite cause, +obeyed the voice of prophecy, and flocked round the Celtic deliverer. +From 7,000 to 8,000 recruits were soon at his disposal, and it was not +without bitter indignation that the chief, so enthusiastically +received, saw regiment after regiment drafted from among his followers, +and transferred to other commanders. Bred up a Spanish subject—the +third in descent from an Irish prince—it is not to be wondered at that +he regarded the _Irish_ cause as all in all, and the interests of King +James as entirely secondary. He could hardly consider himself as bound +in allegiance to that king; he was in no way indebted to him or his +family, and if we learn that when the war grew desperate, but before it +was ended, he had entered into a separate treaty for himself and his +adherents, with William's generals, we must remember, before we condemn +him, that we are speaking of an Hiberno-Spaniard, to whom the house of +Stuart was no more sacred than the house of Orange. + +The Williamite army rendezvoused at Mullingar towards the end of May, +under Generals De Ginkle, Talmash and Mackay. On the 7th of June, they +moved in the direction of Athlone, 18,000 strong, "the ranks one blaze +of scarlet, and the artillery such as had never before been seen in +Ireland." The capture of Ballymore Castle, in West-Meath, detained them +ten days; on the 19th, joined by the Duke of Wurtemburg, the Prince of +Hesse and the Count of Nassau, with 7,000 foreign mercenaries, the +whole sat down before the English town of Athlone, which Saint Ruth, +contrary to his Irish advisers, resolved to defend. In twenty-four +hours those exposed outworks abandoned by the veteran Grace the +previous year, fell, and the bombardment of the Irish town on the +opposite or Connaught bank, commenced. For ten days—from the 20th to +the 30th of June—that fearful cannonade continued. Storey, the +Williamite chaplain, to whom we are indebted for many valuable +particulars of this war, states that the besiegers fired above 12,000 +cannon shot, 600 shells and many tons of stone, into the place. Fifty +tons of powder were burned in the bombardment. The castle, an imposing +but lofty and antique structure, windowed as much for a residence as a +fortress, tumbled into ruins; the bridge was broken down and +impassable; the town a heap of rubbish, where two men could no longer +walk abreast. But the Shannon had diminished in volume as the summer +advanced, and three Danes employed for that purpose found a ford above +the bridge, and at six o'clock on the evening of the last day of June, +2,000 picked men, headed by Gustavus Hamilton's grenadiers, dashed into +the ford at the stroke of a bell. At the same instant all the English +batteries on the Leinster side opened on the Irish town, wrapping the +river in smoke, and distracting the attention of the besiegers. Saint +Ruth was, at this critical moment, at his camp two miles off, and +D'Usson, the commandant, was also absent from his post. In half an hour +the Williamites were masters of the heap of rubbish which had once been +Athlone, with a loss of less than fifty men killed and wounded. For +this bold and successful movement De Ginkle was created Earl of +Athlone, and his chief officers were justly ennobled. Saint Ruth, +over-confident, in a strange country, withdrew to Ballinasloe, behind +the river Suck, and prepared to risk everything on the hazard of a +pitched battle. + +De Ginkle moved slowly from Athlone in pursuit of his enemy. On the +morning of the 11th of July, as the early haze lifted itself in wreaths +from the landscape, he found himself within range of the Irish, drawn +up, north and south, on the upland of Kilcommodan hill, with a morass +on either flank, through which ran two narrow causeways—on the right, +"the pass of Urrachree," on the left, the causeway leading to the +little village of Aughrim. Saint Ruth's force must have numbered from +15,000 to 20,000 men, with nine field-pieces; De Ginkle commanded from +25,000 to 30,000, with four batteries—two of which mounted six guns +each. During the entire day, attack after attack, in the direction of +Urrachree or of Aughrim was repulsed, and the assailants were about to +retire in despair. As the sun sank low, a last desperate attempt was +made with equal ill success. "Now, my children," cried the elated Saint +Ruth, "the day is ours! Now I shall drive them back to the walls of +Dublin!" At that moment he fell by a cannon shot to the earth, and +stayed the advancing tide of victory. The enemy marked the check, +halted, rallied and returned. Sarsfield, who had not been entrusted +with his leader's plan of action, was unable to remedy the mischief +which ensued. Victory arrested was converted into defeat. The sun went +down on Aughrim, and the last great Irish battle between the Reformed +and Roman religions. Four thousand of the Catholics were killed and +wounded, and three thousand of the Protestants littered the field. +Above five hundred prisoners, with thirty-two pairs of colours, eleven +standards, and a large quantity of small arms, fell into the hands of +the victors. One portion of the fugitive survivors fled to Galway, the +larger part, including all the cavalry, to Limerick. + +This double blow at Athlone and Aughrim shook to pieces the remaining +Catholic power in Connaught. Galway surrendered ten days after the +battle; Balldearg O'Donnell, after a vain attempt to throw himself into +it in time, made terms with De Ginkle, and carried his two regiments +into Flanders to fight on the side Spain and Rome had chosen to take in +the European coalition. Sligo, the last western garrison, succumbed, +and the brave Sir Teague O'Regan marched his 600 men, survivors, +southward to Limerick. + +Thus once more all eyes and all hearts in the British Islands were +turned towards the well-known city of the lower Shannon. There, on the +14th of August, Tyrconnell expired, stricken down by apoplexy. On the +25th, De Ginkle, reinforced by all the troops he could gather in with +safety, had invested the place on three sides. Sixty guns, none of less +than 12 pounds calibre, opened their deadly fire against it. An English +fleet ascended the river, hurling its missiles right and left. On the +9th of September the garrison made an unsuccessful sally, with heavy +loss; on the 10th, a breach, forty yards wide, was made in the wall +overhanging the river; on the night of the 15th, through the treachery +or negligence of Brigadier Clifford, on guard at the Clare side of the +river, a pontoon bridge was laid, and a strong English division crossed +over in utter silence. The Irish horse, which had hitherto kept open +communications with the country on that side, fell back to Six Mile +Bridge. On the 24th, a truce of three days was agreed upon, and on the +3rd of October the memorable "Treaty of Limerick" was signed by the +Williamite and Jacobite commissioners. + +The _civil_ articles of Limerick will be mentioned farther on; the +_military_ articles, twenty-nine in number, provided that all persons +willing to expatriate themselves, as well officers and soldiers as +rapparees and volunteers, should have free liberty to do so, to any +place beyond seas, except England and Scotland; that they might depart +in whole bodies, companies, or parties; that if plundered by the way, +William's government should make good their loss; that fifty ships of +200 tons each should be provided for their transportation, besides two +men-of-war for the principal officers; that the garrison of Limerick +might march out with all their arms, guns and baggage, "colours flying, +drums beating, and matches lighting!" It was also agreed, that those +who so wished might enter the service of William, retaining their rank +and pay; but though De Ginkle was most eager to secure for his master +some of those stalwart battalions, only 1,000 out of the 13,000 that +marched out of Limerick filed to the left at King's Island, Two +thousand others accepted passes and protections; 4,500 sailed with +Sarsfield from Cork, 4,700 with D'Usson and De Tesse, embarked in the +Shannon on board a French fleet which arrived a week too late to +prevent the capitulation; in English ships, 3,000 embarked with General +Wauchop; all which, added to Mountcashel's brigade, over 5,000 strong, +gave an Irish army of from 20,000 to 25,000 men to the service of King +Louis. + +As the ships from Ireland reached Brest and the ports of Brittany, +James himself came down from Saint Germain to receive them. They were +at once granted the rights of French citizenship without undergoing the +forms of naturalization. Many of them rose to eminent positions in war +and in diplomacy, became founders of distinguished families, or dying +childless, left their hard-won gold to endow free bourses at Douay and +Louvain, for poor Irish scholars destined for the service of the +church, for which they had fought the good fight, in another sense, on +the Shannon and the Boyne. The migration of ecclesiastics was almost as +extensive as that of the military. They were shipped by dozens and by +scores, from Dublin, Cork, and Galway. In seven years from the treaty, +there remained but 400 secular and 800 regular clergy in the country. +Nearly double that number, deported by threats or violence, were +scattered over Europe, pensioners on the princes and bishops of their +faith, or the institutions of their order. In Rome, 72,000 francs +annually were allotted for the maintenance of the fugitive Irish +clergy, and during the first three months of 1699, three remittances +from the Holy Father, amounting to 90,000 livres, were placed in the +hands of the Nuncio at Paris, for the temporary relief of the fugitives +in France and Flanders. It may also be added here, that till the end of +the eighteenth century, an annual charge of 1,000 Roman crowns was +borne by the Papal treasury for the encouragement of Catholic +Poor-schools in Ireland. + +The revolutionary war, thus closed, had cost King William, or rather +the people of England, at least 10,000,000 of pounds sterling, and with +the other wars of that reign, laid the foundation of the English +national debt. As to the loss of life, the Williamite chaplain, Storey, +places it "at 100,000, young and old, besides treble the number that +are ruined and undone." The chief consolation of the vanquished in that +struggle was, that they had wrung even from their adversaries the +reputation of being "one of the most warlike of nations"—that they +"buried the synagogue with honour." + + + +CHAPTER X. +REIGN OF KING WILLIAM. + +From the date of the treaty of Limerick, William was acknowledged by +all but the extreme Jacobites, at least _de facto_—King of Ireland. The +prevailing party in Ulster had long recognized him, and the only +expression of the national will then possible accepted his title, in +the treaty signed at Limerick on the 3rd of October, 1691. For three +years Ireland had resisted his power, for twelve years longer she was +to bear the yoke of his government. + +Though the history of William's twelve years' reign in Ireland is a +history of proscription, the King himself is answerable only as a +consenting party to such proscription. He was neither by temper nor +policy a persecutor; his allies were Spain, Austria and Rome; he had +thousands of Catholics in his own army, and he gave his confidence as +freely to brave and capable men of one creed as of another. But the +oligarchy, calling itself the "Protestant Ascendancy," which had grown +so powerful under Cromwell and Charles II., backed as they once again +were by all the religious intolerance of England, proved too strong for +William's good intentions. He was, moreover, pre-occupied with the +grand plans of the European coalition, in which Ireland, without an +army, was no longer an element of calculation. He abandoned, therefore, +not without an occasional grumbling protest, the vanquished Catholics +to the mercy of that oligarchy, whose history, during the eighteenth +century, forms so prominent a feature of the history of the kingdom. + +The civil articles of Limerick, which Sarsfield vainly hoped might +prove the _Magna Charta_ of his co-religionists, were thirteen in +number. Art. I. guaranteed to members of that denomination, remaining +in the kingdom, "such privileges in the exercise of their religion as +are consistent with the law of Ireland, or as they enjoyed in the reign +of King Charles II.;" this article further provided, that "their +majesties, as soon as their affairs will permit them to summon a +Parliament in this kingdom, will endeavour to procure the said Roman +Catholics such further security in that particular as may preserve them +from any disturbance on account of their said religion." Art. II. +guaranteed pardon and protection to all who had served King James, on +taking the oath of allegiance prescribed in Art. IX., as follows: + +"I, A. B., do solemnly promise and swear that I will be faithful and +bear true allegiance to their majesties, King William and Queen Mary; +so help me God." + +Arts. III., IV., V. and VI. extended the provisions of Arts. I. and II. +to merchants and other classes of men. Art. VII. permits "every +nobleman and gentleman compromised in the said articles" to carry side +arms and keep "a gun in their houses." Art. VIII. gives the right of +removing goods and chattels without search. Art. IX. is as follows: + +"The oath to be administered to such Roman Catholics as submit to their +majesties' government _shall be the oath aforesaid, and no other_." + +Art. X. guarantees that "no person or persons who shall at any time +hereafter break these articles, or any of them, shall thereby make or +cause any other person or persons to _forfeit or lose the benefit of +them_." Arts. XI. and XII. relate to the ratification of the articles +"within eight months or sooner." Art. XIII. refers to the debts of +"Colonel John Brown, commissary of the Irish army, to several +Protestants," and arranges for their satisfaction. + +These articles were signed before Limerick, at the well known "Treaty +Stone," on the Clare side of the Shannon, by Lord Scravenmore, Generals +Mackay, Talmash, and De Ginkle, and the Lords Justices Porter and +Coningsby, for King William, and by Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan, Viscount +Galmoy, Sir Toby Butler, and Colonels Purcell, Cusack, Dillon, and +Brown, for the Irish. On the 24th of February following, royal letters +patent confirmatory of the treaty were issued from Westminster, in the +name of the King and Queen, whereby they declared, that "we do for us, +our heirs, and successors, as far as in us lies, ratify and confirm the +same and every clause, matter, and thing therein contained. And as to +such parts thereof, for which an act of Parliament shall be found to be +necessary, we shall recommend the same to be made good by Parliament, +and shall give our royal assent to any bill or bills that shall be +passed by our two Houses of Parliament to that purpose. And whereas it +appears unto us, that it was agreed between the parties to the said +articles, that after the words Limerick, Clare, Kerry, Cork, Mayo, or +any of them, in the second of the said articles; which words having +been casually omitted by the writer of the articles, the words +following, viz.: 'And all such as are under their protection in the +said counties' should be inserted, and be part of the said omission, +was not discovered till after the said articles were signed, but was +taken notice of before the second town was surrendered, and that our +said justices and generals, or one of them, did promise that the said +clause should be made good, it being within the intention of the +capitulation, and inserted in the foul draft thereof: Our further will +and pleasure is, and we do hereby ratify and confirm the said omitted +words, viz., 'And all such as are under their protection in the said +counties,' hereby for us, our heirs and successors, ordaining and +declaring that all and every person and persons therein concerned shall +and may have, receive, and enjoy the benefit thereof, in such and the +same manner as if the said words had been inserted in their proper +place in the said second article, any omission, defect, or mistake in +the said second article in any wise notwithstanding. Provided always, +and our will and pleasure is, that these our letters patent shall be +enrolled in our Court of Chancery, in our said kingdom of Ireland, +within the space of one year next ensuing." + +But the Ascendancy party were not to be restrained by the faith of +treaties, or the obligations of the Sovereign. The Sunday following the +return of the Lords Justices from Limerick, Dopping, Bishop of Meath, +preached before them at Christ's church, on the crime of keeping faith +with Papists. The grand jury of Cork, urged on by Cox, the Recorder of +Kinsale, one of the historians of those times, returned in their +inquest that the restoration of the Earl of Clancarty's estates "would +be dangerous to the Protestant interest." Though both William and +George I., interested themselves warmly for that noble family, the +hatred of the new oligarchy proved too strong for the clemency of +kings, and the broad acres of the disinherited McCarthys, remained to +enrich an alien and bigoted aristocracy. + +In 1692, when the Irish Parliament met, a few Catholic peers, and a +very few Catholic commoners took their seats. One of the first acts of +the victorious majority was to frame an oath in direct contravention to +the oath prescribed by the ninth civil article of the treaty, to be +taken by members of both Houses. This oath solemnly and explicitly +denied "that in the sacrament of the Lord's supper there is any +transubstantiation of the elements;" and as solemnly affirmed, "that +the invocation or adoration of the Virgin Mary, or any other saint, and +the sacrifice of the mass, as they are now used in the church of Rome, +are damnable and idolatrous." As a matter of course, the Catholic peers +and commoners retired from both Houses, rather than take any such oath, +and thus the Irish Parliament assumed, in 1692, that exclusively +Protestant character which it continued to maintain, till its +extinction in 1800. The Lord Justice Sydney, acting in the spirit of +his original instructions, made some show of resistance to the +proscriptive spirit thus exhibited. But to teach him how they regarded +his interference, a very small supply was voted, and the assertion of +the absolute control of the Commons over all supplies—a sound doctrine +when rightly interpreted—was vehemently asserted. Sydney had the +satisfaction of proroguing and lecturing the House, but they had the +satisfaction soon after of seeing him recalled through their influence +in England, and a more congenial Viceroy in the person of Lord Capel +sent over. + +About the same time, that ancient engine of oppression, a Commission to +inquire into estates forfeited, was established, and, in a short time, +decreed that 1,060,792 acres were escheated to the crown. This was +almost the last fragment of the patrimony of the Catholic inhabitants. +When King William died, there did not remain in Catholic hands +"one-sixth part" of what their grandfathers held, even after the +passage of the Act of Settlement. + +In 1695, Lord Capel opened the second Irish Parliament, summoned by +King William, in a speech in which he assured his delighted auditors +that the King was intent upon a firm settlement of Ireland upon a +Protestant interest. Large supplies were at once voted to his majesty, +and the House of Commons then proceeded to the appointment of a +committee to consider what penal laws were already in force against the +Catholics, not for the purpose of repealing them, but in order to add +to their number. The principal penal laws then in existence were: + +1. An act, subjecting all who upheld the jurisdiction of the See of +Rome, to the penalties of a _premunire_; and ordering the oath of +supremacy to be a qualification for office of every kind, for holy +orders, and for a degree in the university. + +2. An act for the uniformity of Common Prayer, imposing a fine of a +shilling on all who should absent themselves from places of worship of +the Established Church on Sundays. + +3. An act, allowing the Chancellor to name a guardian to the child of a +Catholic. + +4. An act to prevent Catholics from becoming private tutors in +families, without license from the ordinaries of their several +parishes, and taking the oath of supremacy. + +To these, the new Parliament added, 1. An act to deprive Catholics of +the means of educating their children at home or abroad, and to render +them incapable of being guardians of their own or any other person's +children; 2. An act to disarm the Catholics; and, 3. Another to banish +all the Catholic priests and prelates. Having thus violated the treaty, +they gravely brought in a bill "to confirm the Articles of Limerick." +"The very title of the bill," says Dr. Cooke Taylor, "contains evidence +of its injustice." It is styled "A Bill for the Confirmation of +Articles (not _the_ articles) made at the Surrender of Limerick." And +the preamble shows that the little word _the_ was not accidentally +omitted. It runs thus:—"That the said articles, or _so much of them as +may consist with the safety and welfare of your majesty's subjects in +these kingdoms_, may be confirmed," &c. The parts that appeared to +these legislators inconsistent with "the safety and welfare of his +majesty's subjects," were the first article, which provided for the +security of the Catholics from all disturbances on account of their +religion; those parts of the second article which confirmed the +Catholic gentry of Limerick, Clare, Cork, Kerry, and Mayo, in the +possession of their estates, and allowed all Catholics to exercise +their trades and professions without obstruction; the fourth article, +which extended the benefit of the peace to certain Irish officers then +abroad; the seventh article, which allowed the Catholic gentry to ride +armed; the ninth article, which provides that the oath of allegiance +shall be the only oath required from Catholics; and one or two others +of minor importance. All of these are omitted in the bill for "The +confirmation of Articles made at the Surrender of Limerick." + +The Commons passed the bill without much difficulty. The House of +Lords, however, contained some few of the ancient nobility, and some +prelates, who refused to acknowledge the dogma, "that no faith should +be kept with Papists," as an article of their creed. The bill was +strenuously resisted, and when it was at length carried, a strong +protest against it was signed by Lords Londonderry, Tyrone, and +Duncannon, the Barons of Ossory, Limerick, Killaloe, Kerry, Howth, +Kingston, and Strabane, and, to their eternal honour be it said, the +Protestant bishops of Kildare, Elphin, Derry, Clonfert, and Killala! + +The only other political incidents of this reign, important to Ireland, +were the speech from the throne in answer to an address of the English +Houses, in which William promised to discourage the woollen and +encourage the linen manufacture in Ireland, and the publication of the +famous argument for legislative independence, "The Case of Ireland +Stated." The author of this tract, the bright precursor of the glorious +succession of men, who, often defeated or abandoned by their +colleagues, finally triumphed in 1782, was William Molyneux, member for +the University of Dublin. Molyneux's book appeared in 1698, with a +short, respectful, but manly dedication to King William. Speaking of +his own motives in writing it, he says, "I am not at all concerned in +wool or the wool trade. I am no ways interested in forfeitures or +grants. I am not at all concerned whether the bishop or the society of +Derry recover the lands they contest about." Such were the domestic +politics of Ireland at that day; but Molyneux raised other and nobler +issues when he advanced these six propositions, which lie supported +with incontestible ability. + +"1. How Ireland became a kingdom _annexed_ to the crown of England. And +here we shall at large give a faithful narrative of the first +expedition of the Britons into this country, and King Henry II.'s +arrival here, such as our best historians give us. + +"2. We shall inquire whether this expedition and the English settlement +that afterwards followed thereon, can properly be called a _conquest_; +or whether any victories obtained by the English in any succeeding ages +in this kingdom, upon any rebellion, may be called a _conquest_ +thereof. + +"3. Granting that it were a _conquest_, we shall inquire what _title_ a +conquest gives. + +"4. We shall inquire what _concessions_ have been from time to time +made to Ireland, to take off what even the most rigorous asserters of a +conqueror's title do pretend to. And herein we shall show by what +degrees the English form of government, and the English statute laws, +came to be received among us; and this shall appear to be wholly by the +_consent_ of the people and the Parliament of Ireland. + +"5. We shall inquire into the precedents and opinions of the learned in +the laws relating to this matter, with observations thereon. + +"6. We shall consider the reasons and arguments that may be further +offered on one side and t'other; and we shall draw some general +conclusions from the whole." + +The English Parliament took alarm at these bold doctrines, seldom heard +across the channel since the days of Patrick Darcy and the Catholic +Confederacy. They ordered the book to be burned by the hands of the +common hangman, as of "dangerous tendency to the crown and people of +England, by denying the power of the King and Parliament of England to +bind the kingdom and people of Ireland, and the subordination and +dependence that Ireland had, and ought to have, upon England, as being +united and annexed to the imperial crown of England." They voted an +address to the King in the same tone, and received an answer from his +majesty, assuring them that he would enforce the laws securing the +dependence of Ireland on the imperial crown of Great Britain. + +But William's days were already numbered. On the 8th of March, 1702, +when little more than fifty years of age, he died from the effects of a +fall from his horse. His reign over Ireland is synonymous to the minds +of that people of disaster, proscription and spoliation; of violated +faith and broken compacts; but these wrongs were done in his name +rather than by his orders; often without his knowledge, and sometimes +against his will. Rigid as that will was, it was forced to bend to the +anti-Popery storm which swept over the British Islands after the +abdication of King James; but the vices and follies of his times ought +no more be laid to the personal account of William than of James or +Louis, against whom he fought. + + + +CHAPTER XI. +REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. + +The reign of Queen Anne occupies twelve years (1702 to 1714. The new +sovereign, daughter of James by his first marriage, inherited the +legacy of William's wars, arising out of the European coalition. Her +diplomatists, and her troops, under the leadership of Marlborough, +continued throughout her reign to combat against France, in Spain, +Germany, and the Netherlands; the treaty of Utrecht being signed only +the year before her majesty's decease. In domestic politics, the main +occurrences were the struggle of the Whigs and Tories, immortalized for +us in the pages of Swift, Steele, Addison, and Bolingbroke; the +limitation of the succession to the descendants of the Electress +Sophia, in the line of Hanover; and the abortive Jacobite movement on +the Queen's death which drove Ormond and Atterbury into exile. + +In Ireland, this is the reign, _par excellence_, of the penal code. +From the very beginning of the Queen's reign, an insatiate spirit of +proscription dictated the councils of the Irish oligarchy. On the +arrival of the second and last Duke of Ormond, in 1703, as +Lord-Lieutenant, the Commons waited on him in a body, with a bill "for +discouraging the further growth of Popery," to which the duke having +signified his entire concurrence, it was accordingly introduced, and +became law. The following are among the most remarkable clauses of this +act: The third clause provides, that if the son of an estated Papist +shall conform to the established religion, the father shall be +incapacitated from selling or mortgaging his estate, or disposing of +any portion of it by will. The fourth clause prohibits a Papist from +being the guardian of his own child; and orders, that if at any time +the child, though ever so young, pretends to be a Protestant, it shall +be taken from its own father, and placed under the guardianship of the +nearest Protestant relation. The sixth clause renders Papists incapable +of purchasing any manors, tenements, hereditaments, or any rents or +profits arising out of the same, or of holding any lease of lives, or +other lease whatever, for any term exceeding thirty-one years. And with +respect even to such limited leases, it further enacts, that if a +Papist should hold a farm producing a profit greater than one-third of +the amount of the rent, his right to such should immediately cease, and +pass over entirely to the first Protestant who should discover the rate +of profit. The seventh clause prohibits Papists from succeeding to the +properties or estates of their Protestant relations. By the tenth +clause, the estate of a Papist, not having a Protestant heir, is +ordered to be gavelled, or divided in equal shares between all his +children. The sixteenth and twenty-fourth clauses impose the oath of +abjuration, and the sacramental test, as a qualification for office, +and for voting at elections. The twenty-third clause deprives the +Catholics of Limerick and Galway of the protection secured to them by +the articles of the treaty of Limerick. The twenty-fifth clause vests +in her majesty all advowsons possessed by Papists. + +Certain Catholic barristers, living under protection, not yet excluded +from the practice of their profession, petitioned to be heard at the +bar of the House of Commons. Accordingly, Mr. Malone, the ancestor of +three generations of scholars and orators, Sir Stephen Rice, one of the +most spotless characters of the age, formerly chief-justice under King +James, and Sir Theobald Butler, were heard against the bill. The +argument of Butler, who stood at the very head of his profession, +remains to us almost in its entirety, and commands our admiration by +its solidity and dignity. Never was national cause more worthily +pleaded; never was the folly of religious persecution more forcibly +exhibited. Alluding to the monstrous fourth clause of the bill, the +great advocate exclaimed:— + +"It is natural for the father to love the child; but we all know that +children are but too apt and subject, without any such liberty as this +bill gives, to slight and neglect their duty to their parents; and +surely such an act as this will not be an instrument of restraint, but +rather encourage them more to it. + +"It is but too common with the son, who has a prospect of an estate, +when once he arrives at the age of one and twenty, to think the old +father too long in the way between him and it; and how much more will +he be subject to it, when, by this act, he shall have liberty, before +he comes to that age, to compel and force my estate from me, without +asking my leave, or being liable to account with me for it, or out of +his share thereof, to a moiety of the debts, portions, or other +encumbrances, with which the estate might have been charged before the +passing of this act! + +"Is not this against the laws of God and man? Against the rules of +reason and justice, by which all men ought to be governed? Is not this +the only way in the world to make children become undutiful? and to +bring the grey head of the parent to the grave with grief and tears? + +"It would be hard from any man; but from a son, a child, the fruit of +my body, whom I have nursed in my bosom, and tendered more dearly than +my own life, to become my plunderer, to rob me of my estate, to cut my +throat, and to take away my bread, is much more grievous than from any +other, and enough to make the most flinty hearts to bleed to think on +it. And yet this will be the case if this bill pass into a law; which I +hope this honourable assembly will not think of, when they shall more +seriously consider, and have weighed these matters. + +"For God's sake, gentlemen, will you consider whether this is according +to the golden rule, to do as you would be done unto? And if not, surely +you will not, nay, you cannot, without being liable to be charged with +the most manifest injustice imaginable, take from us our birthrights, +and invest them in others, before our faces." + +When Butler and Malone had closed, Sir Stephen Rice was heard, not in +his character of council, but as one of the petitioners affected by the +act. But neither the affecting position of that great jurist, who, from +the rank of chief baron had descended to the outer bar, nor the purity +of his life, nor the strength of his argument, had any effect upon the +oligarchy who heard him. He was answered by quibbles and cavils, +unworthy of record, and was finally informed that any rights which +Papists "pretended to be taken from them by the Bill, was in their own +power to remedy, by conforming, which in prudence they ought to do; and +that they had none to blame but themselves." Next day the bill passed +into law. + +The remnant of the clergy were next attacked. On the 17th of March, +1705, the Irish Commons resolved, that "informing against Papists was +an honourable service to the government," and that all magistrates and +others who failed to put the penal laws into execution, "were betrayers +of the liberties of the kingdom." But even these resolutions, rewards, +and inducements were insufficient to satisfy the spirit of persecution. + +A further act was passed, in 1709, imposing additional penalties. The +first clause declares, that no Papist shall be capable of holding an +annuity for life. The third provides, that the child of a Papist, on +conforming, shall at once receive an annuity from his father; and that +the Chancellor shall compel the father to discover, upon oath, the full +value of his estate, real and personal, and thereupon make an order for +the support of such conforming child or children, and for securing such +a share of the property, after the father's death, as the court shall +think fit. The fourteenth and fifteenth clauses secure jointures to +Popish wives who shall conform. The sixteenth prohibits a Papist from +teaching, even as assistant to a Protestant master. The eighteenth +gives a salary of 30 pounds per annum to Popish priests who shall +conform. The twentieth provides rewards for the discovery of Popish +prelates, priests, and teachers, according to the following whimsical +scale:—For discovering an archbishop, bishop, vicar-general, or other +person, exercising any foreign ecclesiastical jurisdiction, 50 pounds; +for discovering each regular clergyman, and each secular clergyman, not +registered, 20 pounds; and for discovering each Popish schoolmaster or +usher, 10 pounds. The twenty-first clause empowers two justices to +summon before them any Papist over eighteen years of age, and +interrogate him when and where he last heard mass said, and the names +of the persons present, and likewise touching the residence of any +Popish priest or schoolmaster; and if he refuse to give testimony, +subjects him to a fine of 20 pounds, or imprisonment for twelve months. + +Several other penal laws were enacted by the same Parliament, of which +we can only notice one; it excluded Catholics from the office of +sheriff, and from grand juries, and enacts, that, in trials upon any +statute for strengthening the Protestant interest, the plaintiff might +challenge a juror for being a Papist, which challenge the judge was to +allow. + +By a royal proclamation of the same year, "all registered priests" were +to take "the oath of abjuration before the 25th of March, 1710," under +penalty of _premunire_. Under this proclamation and the tariff of +rewards just cited, there grew up a class of men, infamous and +detestable, known by the nickname of "priest hunters." One of the most +successful of these traffickers in blood was a Portuguese Jew, named +Garcia, settled at Dublin. He was very skilful at disguises. "He +sometimes put on the mien of a priest, for he affected to be one, and +thus worming himself into the good graces of some confiding Catholic +got a clue to the whereabouts of the clergy." In 1718, Garcia succeeded +in arresting seven unregistered priests, for whose detection he had a +sum equal to two or three thousand dollars of American money. To such +an excess was this trade carried, that a reaction set in, and a +Catholic bishop of Ossory, who lived at the time these acts were still +in force, records that "the priest-catchers' occupation became +exceedingly odious both to Protestants and Catholics," and that himself +had seen "ruffians of this calling assailed with a shower of stones, +flung by both Catholics and Protestants." But this creditable reaction +only became general under George II., twenty years after the passage of +the act of Queen Anne. + +We shall have to mention some monstrous additions made to the code +during the first George's reign, and some attempts to repair and +perfect its diabolical machinery, even so late as George III.; but the +great body of the penal law received its chief accessions from the +oligarchical Irish Parliament, under Queen Anne. Hitherto, we have +often had to point out, how with all its constitutional defects—with +the law of Poynings, obliging heads of bills to be first sent to +England—fettering its freedom of initiative;—how, notwithstanding all +defects, the Irish Parliament had asserted, at many critical periods, +its own and the people's rights, with an energy worthy of admiration. +But the collective bigots of this reign were wholly unworthy of the +name of a parliament. They permitted the woollen trade to be sacrificed +without a struggle,—they allowed the bold propositions of Molyneux, one +of their own number, to be condemned and reprobated without a protest. +The knotted lash of Jonathan Swift was never more worthily applied, +than to "the Legion Club," which he has consigned to such an unenviable +immortality. Swift's inspiration may have been mingled with bitter +disappointment and personal revenge; but, whatever motives animated +him, his fearless use of his great abilities must always make him the +first political, as he was certainly the first literary character of +Ireland at that day. In a country so bare and naked as he found it; +with a bigotry so rampant and united before him; it needed no ordinary +courage and capacity to evoke anything like public opinion or public +spirit. Let us be just to that most unhappy man of genius; let us +proclaim that Irish nationality, bleeding at every pore, and in danger +of perishing by the wayside, found shelter on the breast of Swift, and +took new heart from the example of that bold churchman, before whom the +Parliament, the bench of Bishops, and the Viceroy, trembled. + + + +CHAPTER XII. +THE IRISH SOLDIERS ABROAD DURING THE REIGNS OF WILLIAM AND ANNE. + +The close of the second reign from the siege of Limerick imposes the +duty of casting our eyes over the map of Europe, in quest of those +gallant exiles whom we have seen, in tens of thousands, submitting to +the hard necessity of expatriation. + +Many of the Meath and Leinster Irish, under their native commanders, +the Kavanaghs and Nugents, carried their swords into the service of +William's ally, the Emperor of Austria, and distinguished themselves in +all the campaigns of Prince Eugene. Spain attracted to her standard the +Irish of the north-west, the O'Donnells, the O'Reillys, and O'Garas, +whose regiments, during more than one reign, continued to be known by +flames of Ulster origin. In 1707, the great battle of Almanza, which +decided the Spanish succession, was determined by O'Mahony's foot and +Fitzjames's Irish horse. The next year Spain had five Irish regiments +in her regular army, three of foot and two of dragoons, under the +command of Lacy, Lawless, Wogan, O'Reilly, and O'Gara. But it was in +France that the Irish served in the greatest number, and made the most +impressive history for themselves and their descendants. + +The recruiting agents of France had long been in the habit of crossing +the narrow seas, and bringing back the stalwart sons of the western +Island to serve their ambitious kings, in every corner of the +continent. An Irish troop of horse served, in 1652, under Turenne, +against the great Conde. In the campaigns of 1673, 1674 and 1675, under +Turenne, two or three Irish regiments were in every engagement along +the Rhine. At Altenheim, their commander, Count Hamilton, was created a +major-general of France. In 1690, these old regiments, with the six new +ones sent over by James, were formed into a brigade, and from 1690 to +1693, they went through the campaigns of Savoy and Italy, under Marshal +Catinat, against Prince Eugene. Justin McCarthy, Lord Mountcashel, who +commanded them, died at Bareges of wounds received at Staffardo. At +Marsiglia, they routed, in 1693, the allies, killing Duke Schomberg, +son to the Huguenot general who fell at the Boyne. + +The "New" or Sarsfield's brigade was employed under Luxembourg, against +King William, in Flanders, in 1692 and 1693. At Namur and Enghien, they +were greatly distinguished, and William more than once sustained heavy +loss at their hands. Sarsfield, their brigadier, for these services, +was made mareschal-de-camp. At Landen, on the 29th of July, '93, France +again triumphed to the cry, "Remember Limerick!" Sarsfield, leading on +the fierce pursuers, fell, mortally wounded. Pressing his hand upon the +wound, he took it away dripping with blood, and only said, "Oh, that +this was for Ireland!" + +In the war of the Spanish succession, the remnants of both brigades, +consolidated into one, served under their favourite leader, the Marshal +Duke of Berwick, through nearly all his campaigns in Belgium, Spain and +Germany. The third Lord Clare, afterwards Field-Marshal Count Thomond, +was by the Duke's side at Phillipsburg, in 1733, when he received his +death-wound from the explosion of a mine. These exiled Clare O'Briens +commanded for three generations their famous family regiment of +dragoons. The first who followed King James abroad died of wounds +received at the battle of Ramillies; the third, with better fortune, +outlived for nearly thirty years the glorious day of Fontenoy. The +Irish cavalry regiments in the service of France were Sheldon's, +Galmoy's, Clare's, and Killmallock's; the infantry were known as the +regiments of Dublin, Charlemont, Limerick, and Athlone. There were two +other infantry regiments, known as Luttrel's and Dorrington's—and a +regiment of Irish marines, of which the Grand Prior, Fitzjames, was +colonel. During the latter years of Louis XIV., there could not have +been less, at any one time, than from 20,000 to 30,000 Irish in his +armies, and during the succeeding century, authentic documents exist to +prove that 450,000 natives of Ireland died in the military service of +France. + +In the dreary reigns of William, Anne, and the two first Georges, the +pride and courage of the disarmed and disinherited population abiding +at home, drew new life and vigour from the exploits of their exiled +brethren. The channel smuggler and the vagrant ballad-singer kept alive +their fame for the lower class of the population, while the memoirs of +Marlborough and Eugene, issuing from the Dublin press, communicated +authentic accounts of their actions, to the more prejudiced, or better +educated. The blows they struck at Landen, at Cremona, and at Almanza, +were sensibly felt by every British statesman; when, in the bitterness +of defeat, an English King cursed "the laws that deprived him of such +subjects," the doom of the penal code was pronounced. + +The high character of the famous captains of these brigades was not +confined to the field of battle. At Paris, Vienna, and Madrid, their +wit and courtesy raised them to the favour of princes, over the +jealousy of all their rivals. Important civil and diplomatic offices +were entrusted to them—embassies of peace and war—the government of +provinces, and the highest administrative offices of the state. While +their kinsmen in Ireland were declared incapable of filling the +humblest public employments, or of exercising the commonest franchise, +they met British ambassadors abroad as equals, and checked or +countermined the imperial policy of Great Britain. It was impossible +that such a contrast of situations should not attract the attention of +all thinking men! It was impossible that such reputations should shine +before all Europe without reacting powerfully on the fallen fortunes of +Ireland! + + + +BOOK XI. +FROM THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE I. TO THE LEGISLATIVE UNION OF GREAT +BRITAIN AND IRELAND. + + + +CHAPTER I. +ACCESSION OF GEORGE I.—SWIFT'S LEADERSHIP. + +The last years of Queen Anne had been years of intrigue and preparation +with the Jacobite leaders throughout the three kingdoms. At their head +stood Ormond, the second and last _Duke_ of his name, and with him were +associated at one stage or another of his design, Bolingbroke, Orrery, +Bishop Atterbury, and other influential persons. It was thought that +had this party acted promptly on the death of the Queen, and proclaimed +James III. (or "the Pretender," as he was called by the partisans of +the new dynasty), the Act of Succession might have remained a dead +letter, and the Stuarts recovered their ancient sovereignty. But the +partisans of the elector were the first in the field, and King George +was accordingly proclaimed, on the 1st of August, at London, and on the +6th of August, at Dublin. + +In Dublin, where serious apprehensions of a Jacobite rising were +entertained, the proclamation was made by the glare of torches at the +extraordinary hour of midnight. Two or three arrests of insignificant +persons were made, and letters to Swift being found on one of them, the +Dean was thought by his friends to be in some danger. But it was not +correct to say, as many writers have done, that he found it necessary +to retire from Dublin. The only inconvenience he suffered was from the +hootings and revilings of the Protestant rabble in the street, and a +brutal threat of personal violence from a young nobleman, upon whom he +revenged himself in a characteristic petition to the House of Lords +"for protection against the said lord." Pretending not to be quite sure +of his assailant, he proceeds to explain: "Your petitioner is informed +that the person who spoke the words above mentioned is of your +Lordships' House, under the style and title of Lord Blaney; whom your +petitioner remembers to have introduced to Mr. Secretary Addison, in +the Earl of Wharton's government, and to have done him other good +offices at that time, because he was represented as a young man of some +hopes and a broken fortune." The entire document is a curious picture +of the insolence of the ascendancy party of that day, even towards +dignitaries of their own church who refused to go all lengths in the +only politics they permitted or tolerated. + +It was while smarting under these public indignities, and excluded from +the society of the highest class in his own country, with two or three +exceptions, that Swift laid the foundations of his own and his +country's patriotism, among the educated middle class of the Irish +capital. From the college and the clergy he drew Dr. Sheridan—ancestor +of six generations of men and women of genius! Doctors Delaney, +Jackson, Helsham, Walmsley, Stopford (afterwards Bishop of Cloyne), and +the three reverend brothers Grattan. In the city he selected as his +friends and companions four other Grattans, one of whom was Lord-Mayor, +another physician to the castle, one a schoolmaster, the other a +merchant. "Do you know the Grattans?" he wrote to the Lord-Lieutenant, +Lord Carteret; "then pray obtain their acquaintance. The Grattans, my +lord, can raise 10,000 men." Among the class represented by this +admirable family of seven brothers, and in that of the tradesmen +immediately below them, of which we may take his printers, Waters and +Faulkner for types, Swift's haughty and indignant denunciations of the +oligarchy of the hour produced striking effects. The humblest of the +community began to raise their heads, and to fix their eyes steadily on +public affairs and public characters. Questions of currency, of trade, +of the administration of justice and of patronage, were earnestly +discussed in the press and in society, and thus by slow but gradually +ascending steps, a spirit of independence was promoted where hitherto +only servility had reigned. + +The obligations of his cotemporaries to Swift are not to be counted +simply by what he was able to originate or to advocate in their +behalf—for not much could be done in that way, in such times, and in +such a position as his—but rather in regard to the enemies and +maligners of that people, whom he exposed and punished. To understand +the value of his example and inspiration, we must read over again his +castigations of Wharton, of Burnet, of Boulter, of Whitshed, of Allan, +and all the leaders of the oligarchy, in the Irish Parliament. When we +have done so, we shall see at once how his imperial reputation, his +personal position, and every faculty of his powerful mind were employed +alike to combat injustice and proscription, to promote freedom of +opinion and of trade, to punish the abuses of judicial power, and to +cultivate and foster a spirit of self reliance and economy among all +classes—especially the humblest. In his times, and in his position, +with a cassock "entangling his course," what more could have been +expected of him? + +The Irish Parliament met in 1715—elected, according to the then usage, +for the lifetime of the King—commenced its career by an act of +attainder against the Pretender, accompanied by a reward of 50,000 +pounds for his apprehension. The Lords-Justices, the Duke of Grafton +and the Earl of Galway, recommended in their speech to the Houses, that +they should cultivate such unanimity among themselves as "at once to +put an end to all other distinctions in Ireland, but that of Protestant +and Papist." In the same speech, and in all the debates of that reign, +the Catholics were spoken of as "the common enemy," and all who +sympathized with them, as "enemies of the constitution." But far as +this Parliament was from all our ideas of what a national legislature +ought to be, it was precisely at this period, when the administration +could not be worse, that the foundation was laid of the great contest +for legislative independence, which was to continue through three +generations, and to constitute the main staple of the Irish history of +this century. + +In the year 1717, the English House of Lords entertained and decided, +as a court of last resort, an appeal from the Irish courts, already +passed on by the Irish Lords, in the famous real-estate case of +Annesley _versus_ Sherlock. The proceeding was novel, and was protested +against in the English House at the time by the Duke of Leeds, and in +the Irish, by the majority of the whole House. But the British +Parliament, not content with claiming the power, proceeded to establish +the principle, by the declaratory act—6th George I.—for securing the +dependence of Ireland on the crown of Great Britain. This statute, even +more objectionable than the law of Poynings, continued unrepealed till +1782, notwithstanding all the arguments and all the protests of the +Irish patriot party. The Lords of Ireland, unsupported by the bigoted +and unprincipled oligarchy in the Commons, were shorn of their +appellate jurisdiction, and their journals for many years contain few +entries of business done, beyond servile addresses to successive +Viceroys, and motions of adjournment. + +In their session of 1723, the ascendancy party in the Commons proceeded +to their last extreme of violence against the prostrate Catholics. An +act was introduced founded on eight resolutions, "further to prevent +the growth of Popery." One of these resolutions, regularly transmitted +to England by the Viceroy-proposed that every priest, arrested within +the realm, should suffer the penalty of _castration_! For the first +time, a penal law was rejected with horror and indignation by the +English Privy Council, and the whole elaborate edifice, overweighted +with these last propositions, trembled to its base. But though badly +shaken, it was yet far from coming down. + +"Do not the corruptions and villainies of men," said Swift to his +friend Delaney, "eat your flesh and exhaust your spirits?" They +certainly gnawed at the heart of the courageous Dean, but at the same +time, they excited rather than exhausted his spirits. In 1720 he +resumed his pen, as a political writer, in his famous proposal "for the +universal use of Irish manufactures." Waters, the printer of this +piece, was indicted for a seditious libel, before Chief-Justice +Whitshed, the immortal "_coram nobis_" of the Dean's political ballads. +The jury were detained eleven hours, and sent out nine times, to compel +them to agree on a verdict. They at length finally declared they could +not agree, and a _nol. pros_. was soon after entered by the crown. This +trial of Swift's printer in 1720, is the first of a long series of +duels with the crown lawyers, which the Irish press has since +maintained with as much firmness and self-sacrifice as any press ever +exhibited. And it may be said that never, not even under martial law, +was a conspicuous example of civic courage more necessary, or more +dangerous. Browne, Bishop of Cork, had been in danger of deprivation +for preaching a sermon against the well-known toast to the memory of +King William; Swift was threatened, as we see, a few years earlier, +with personal violence by a Whig lord, and pelted by a Protestant +rabble, for his supposed Jacobitism; his friend, Dr. Sheridan, lost his +Munster living for having accidentally chosen as his text, on the +anniversary of King George's coronation, "sufficient for the day is the +evil thereof." Such was the intolerance of the oligarchy towards their +own clergy. What must it have been to others! + +The attempt to establish a National Bank, and the introduction of a +debased copper coinage, for which a patent had been, granted to one +William Wood, next employed the untiring pen of Swift. The halfpenny +controversy, was not, as is often said, a small matter; it was nearly +as important as the bank project itself. Of the 100,000 pounds worth +coined, the intrinsic value was shown to be not more than 6,000 pounds. +Such was the storm excited against the patentee, that his Dublin agents +were obliged to resign their connection with him, and the royal +letters-patent were unwillingly cancelled. The bank project was also +rejected by Parliament, adding another to the triumphs of the +invincible Dean. + +During the last years of this reign, Swift was the most powerful and +popular person in Ireland, and perhaps in the empire. The freedom with +which he advised Carteret the Viceroy, and remonstrated with Walpole, +the Premier, on the misrule of his country, was worthy of the +ascendancy of his genius. No man of letters, no churchman, no statesman +of any country in any age, ever showed himself more thoroughly +independent, in his intercourse with men of office, than Swift. The +vice of Ireland was exactly the other way, so that in this respect +also, the patriot was the liberator. + +Rising with the rise of public spirit, the great churchman, in his +fourth letter, in the assumed character of _M. B. Drapier_, confronted +the question of legislative independence. Alluding to the pamphlet of +Molyneux, published thirty years before, he pronounced its arguments +invincible, and the contrary system "the very definition of slavery." +"The remedy," he concludes, addressing the Irish people, "is wholly in +your own hands, and therefore I have digressed a little, in order to +refresh and continue that spirit so seasonably raised among you, and to +let you see, that, by the laws of God, of nature, of nations, and of +your country, _you are, and ought to be, as free a people as your +brethren in England_." For this letter also, the printer, Harding, was +indicted, but the Dublin grand jury, infected with the spirit of the +times, unanimously ignored the bill. A reward of 300 pounds was then +issued from the castle for the discovery of the author, but no informer +could be found base enough to betray him. For a time, however, to +escape the ovations he despised, and the excitement which tried his +health, Swift retired to his friend Sheridan's cottage on the banks of +Lough Ramor, in Cavan, and there recreated himself with long rides +about the country, and the composition of the Travels of the immortal +Gulliver. + +Sir Robert Walpole, alarmed at the exhibition of popular intelligence +and determination evoked by Swift, committed the government of Ireland +to his rival, Lord Carteret—whom he was besides not sorry to remove to +a distance—and appointed to the See of Armagh, which fell vacant about +the time of the currency dispute, Dr. Hugh Boulter, Bishop of Bristol, +one of his own creatures. This prelate, a politician by taste and +inclination, modelled his policy on his patron's, as far as his more +contracted sphere and inferior talents permitted. To buy members in +market overt, with peerages, or secret service money, was his chief +means of securing a Parliamentary majority. An Englishman by birth and +education; the head of the Protestant establishment in Ireland, it was +inevitable that his policy should be English and Protestant, in every +particular. To resist, depress, disunite, and defeat the believers in +the dangerous doctrines of Swift and Molyneux, was the sole rule of his +nearly twenty years' political supremacy in Irish affairs. (1724-1742.) +The master of a princely income, endowed with strong passions, +unlimited patronage, and great activity, he may be said to have reigned +rather than led, even when the nominal viceroyalty was in the hands of +such able and accomplished men as Lords Carteret, Dorset and +Devonshire. His failure in his first state trial, against Harding the +printer, nothing discouraged him; he had come into Ireland to secure +the English interest, by uprooting the last vestiges of Popery and +independence, and he devoted himself to those objects with persevering +determination. In 1727—the year of George the First's decease—he +obtained the disfranchisement of Catholic electors by a clause quietly +inserted without notice in a Bill regulating elections; and soon after +he laid the foundations of those nurseries of proselytism, "the Charter +Schools." + + + +CHAPTER II. +REIGN OF GEORGE II.—GROWTH OF PUBLIC SPIRIT—THE "PATRIOT" PARTY—LORD +CHESTERFIELD'S ADMINISTRATION. + +The accession of King George II. in 1727, led to no considerable +changes, either in England or Ireland. Sir Robert Walpole continued +supreme in the one country, and Primate Boulter in the other. The +Jacobites, disheartened by their ill success in 1715, and repelled +rather than attracted by the austere character of him they called King +James III., made no sign. The new King's first act was to make public +the declaration he had addressed to the Privy Council, of his firm +resolution to uphold the existing constitution "in church and state." + +The Catholic population, beginning once more to raise their heads, +thought this a suitable occasion to present a humble and loyal address +of congratulation to the Lords Justices, in the absence of the Viceroy. +Lord Delvin and several of their number accordingly appeared at the +Castle, and delivered their address, which they begged might be +forwarded to the foot of the throne. No notice whatever was taken of +this document, either at Dublin or London, nor were the class who +signed it permitted by law to "testify their allegiance" to the +sovereign, for fifty years later—down to 1778. + +The Duke of Dorset, who succeeded Lord Carteret as Viceroy in 1731, +unlike his immediate predecessor, refrained from suggesting additional +severities against the Catholics. His first term of office—two +years—was almost entirely occupied with the fiercest controversy which +had ever waged in Ireland between the Established Church and the +Protestant Dissenters. The ground of the dispute was the sacramental +test, imposed by law upon the members of both Houses, and all burgesses +and councillors of corporate towns. By the operations of this law, when +rigidly enforced, Presbyterians and other dissenters were as +effectually excluded from political and municipal offices as Catholics +themselves. Against this exclusion it was natural that a body so +numerous, and possessed of so much property, especially in Ulster, +should make a vigorous resistance. Relying on the great share they had +in the revolution, they endeavoured, though ineffectually, to obtain +under King William the repeal of the Test Act of King Charles II. Under +Queen Anne they were equally unsuccessful, as we may still read with +interest in the pages of Swift, De Foe, Tennison, Boyse, and King. +Swift, especially, brought to the controversy not only the zeal of a +churchman, but the prejudices of an Anglo-Irishman, against the +new-comers in the north. He upbraids them in 1708, as glad to leave +their barren hills of Lochaber for the fruitful vales of Down and +Antrim, for their parsimony and their clannishness. He denied to them, +with bitter scorn, the title they had assumed of "Brother Protestants," +and as to the Papists, whom they affected to despise, they were, in his +opinion, as much superior to the Dissenters, as a lion, though chained +and clipped of its claws, is a stronger and nobler animal than an angry +cat, at liberty to fly at the throats of true churchmen. The language +of the Presbyterian champions was equally bold, denunciatory, and +explicit. They broadly intimated, in a memorial to Parliament, that +under the operation of the test, they would be unable to take up arms +again, as they had done in 1688, for the maintenance of the Protestant +succession; a covert menace of insurrection, which Swift and their +other opponents did not fail to make the most of. Still farther to +embarrass them, Swift got up a paper making out a much stronger case in +favour of the Catholics than of "their brethren, the Dissenters," and +the controversy closed, for that age, in the complete triumph of the +established clergy. + +This iniquitous deprivation of equal civil rights, accompanied with the +onerous burthen of tithes falling heaviest on the cultivators of the +soil, produced the first great Irish exodus to the North American +colonies. The tithe of agistment or pasturage, lately abolished, had +made the tithe of tillage more unjust and unequal. Outraged in their +dearest civil and religious rights, thousands of the Scoto-Irish of +Ulster, and the Milesian and Anglo-Irish of the other provinces, +preferred to encounter the perils of an Atlantic flitting rather than +abide under the yoke and lash of such an oligarchy. In the year 1729, +five thousand six hundred Irish landed at the single port of +Philadelphia; in the next ten years they furnished to the Carolinas and +Georgia the majority of their immigrants; before the end of this reign, +several thousands of heads of families, all bred and married in +Ireland, were rearing up a free posterity along the slopes of the Blue +Ridge in Virginia and Maryland, and even as far north as the valleys of +the Hudson and the Merrimac. In the ranks of the thirteen United +Colonies, the descendants of those Nonconformists were to repeat, for +the benefit of George III., the lesson and example their ancestors had +taught to James II. at Enniskillen and at Derry. + +Swift, with all his services to his own order, disliked, and was +disliked by them. Of the bishops he has recorded his utter contempt in +some of the most cutting couplets that even he ever wrote. Boulter he +detested; Narcissus Marsh he despised; with Dr. King of Dublin, Dr. +Bolton of Cashel, and Dr. Horte of Tuam, he barely kept up appearances. +Except Sterne, Bishop of Clogher, Berkely, Bishop of Cloyne, and +Stopford, his successor, he entertained neither friendship nor respect +for one of that order. And on their part, the right reverend prelates +cordially reciprocated his antipathy. They resisted his being made a +member of the Linen Board, a Justice of the Peace, or a Visitor of +Trinity College. Had he appeared amongst them in Parliament as their +peer, they would have been compelled to accept him as a master, or +combine against him as an enemy. No wonder, then, that successive +Viceroys shrank from nominating him to any of the mitres which death +had emptied; "the original sin of his birth" was aggravated in their +eyes by the actual sin of his patriotism. No wonder the sheets of paper +that littered his desk, before he sunk into his last sad scene of +dotage, were found scribbled all over with his favourite lines— + +"Better we all were in our graves, +Than live in slavery to slaves." + + +But the seeds of manly thought he had so broadly sown, though for a +season hidden even from the sight of the sower, were not dead, nor +undergoing decay. With something of the prudence of the founder, "the +Patriot party," as the opposition to the Castle party began to be +called, occupied themselves at first with questions of taxation and +expenditure. In 1729, the Castle attempted to make it appear that there +was a deficit—that in short "the country owed the government"—the large +sum of 274,000 pounds! The Patriots met this claim, by a motion for +reducing the cost of all public establishments. This was the chosen +ground of both parties, and a more popularly intelligible ground could +not be taken. Between retrenchment and extravagance, between high taxes +and low, even the least educated of the people could easily decide; and +thenceforward for upwards of twenty years, no session was held without +a spirited debate on the supplies, and the whole subject of the public +expenditure. + +The Duke of Devonshire, who succeeded the Duke of Dorset as Viceroy in +1737, contributed by his private munificence and lavish hospitalities +to throw a factitious popularity round his administration. No Dublin +tradesman could find it in his heart to vote against the nominee of so +liberal a nobleman, and the public opinion of Dublin was as yet the +public opinion of Ireland. But the Patriot party, though unable to stem +successfully the tide of corruption and seduction thus let loose, held +their difficult position in the legislature with great gallantry and +ability. New men had arisen during the dotage of Swift, who revered his +maxims, and imitated his prudence. Henry Boyle, speaker of the House of +Commons, afterwards Earl of Shannon; Anthony Malone—son of the +_confrere_ of Sir Toby Butler, and afterwards Chancellor of the +Exchequer, Sir Edward O'Brien, member for Clare, and his son, Sir +Lucius, member for Ennis, were the pillars of the party. Out of doors, +the most active spirit among the Patriots was Charles Lucas, a native +of Clare, who, from his apothecary's shop in Dublin, attempted, not +without both talents, zeal and energy, to play the part of Swift, at +the press and among the people. His public writings, commenced in 1741, +brought him at first persecution and exile, but they afterwards +conducted him to the representation of the capital, and an honourable +niche in his country's history. + +The great event which may be said to divide into two epochs the reign +of George II. was the daring invasion of Scotland in 1745, by "the +young Pretender"—Charles Edward. This brave and unfortunate Prince, +whose adventures will live for ever in Scottish song and romance, was +accompanied from France by Sir Thomas Sheridan, Colonel O'Sullivan, and +other Irish refugees, still fondly attached to the house of Stuart. It +is not to be supposed that these gentlemen would be without +correspondents in Ireland, nor that the state of that country could be +a matter of indifference to the astute advisers of King George. In +reality, Ireland was almost as much their difficulty as Scotland, and +their choice of a Viceroy, at this critical moment, showed at once +their estimate of the importance of the position, and the talents of +the man. + +Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, a great name in the world +of fashion, in letters, and in diplomacy, is especially memorable to us +for his eight months' viceroyalty over Ireland. That office had been +long the object of his ambition, and he could hardly have attained it +at a time better calculated to draw out his eminent administrative +abilities. By temper and conviction opposed to persecution, he connived +at Catholic worship under the very walls of the Castle. The sour and +jaundiced bigotry of the local oligarchy he encountered with _bon mots_ +and raillery. The only "dangerous Papist" he had seen in Ireland, he +declared to the King on his return, was a celebrated beauty of that +religion—Miss Palmer. Relying on the magical effect of doing justice to +all classes, and seeing justice done, he was enabled to spare four +regiments of troops for the war in Scotland, instead of demanding +additions to the Irish garrisons. But whether to diminish the influence +which his brilliant administration had created in England, or through +the machinations of the oligarchy, still powerful at Dublin, within ten +days from the decisive battle of Culloden, he was recalled. The fruits +of his policy might be already observed, as he walked on foot, his +countess on his arm, to the place of embarkation, amid the acclamations +of all ranks and classes of the people, and their affectionate prayers +for his speedy return. + + + +CHAPTER III. +THE LAST JACOBITE MOVEMENT—THE IRISH SOLDIERS ABROAD—FRENCH EXPEDITION +UNDER THUROT, OR O'FARRELL. + +The mention of the Scottish insurrection of 1745 brings naturally with +it another reference to the history of the Irish soldiers in the +military service of France. This year was in truth the most eventful in +the annals of that celebrated legion, for while it was the year of +Fontenoy and victory on the one hand, it was on the other the year of +Culloden and defeat. + +The decisive battle of Fontenoy, in which the Franco-Irish troops bore +so decisive a part, was fought on the 11th of May, 1745. The French +army, commanded by Saxe, and accompanied by King Louis, leaving 18,000 +men to besiege Namur, and 6,000 to guard the Scheldt, took a position +between that river and the allies, having their centre at the village +of Fontenoy. The British and Dutch, under the King's favourite son, the +Duke of Cumberland, were 55,000 strong; the French 45,000. After a hard +day's fighting, victory seemed to declare so clearly against France, +that King Louis, who was present, prepared for flight. At this moment +Marshal Saxe ordered a final charge by the seven Irish regiments under +Counts Dillon and Thomond. The tide was turned, beyond expectation, to +the cry of "Remember Limerick!" France was delivered, England checked, +and Holland reduced from a first to a second-rate power upon that +memorable day. But the victory was dearly bought. One-fourth of all the +Irish officers, including Count Dillon, were killed, and one-third of +all the men. The whole number slain on the side of France was set down +at 7,000 by English accounts, while they admitted for themselves alone, +4,000 British and 3,300 Hanoverians and Dutch. "Foremost of all," says +the just-minded Lord Mahon, "were the gallant brigade of Irish exiles." +It was this defeat of his favourite son which wrung from King George +II. the oft-quoted malediction on the laws which deprived him of such +subjects. + +The expedition of Prince Charles Edward was undertaken and conducted by +Irish aid, quite as much as by French or Scottish. The chief parties to +it, besides the old Marquis of Tullibardine and the young Duke of +Perth, were the Waterses, father and son, Irish bankers at Paris, who +advanced one hundred and eighty thousand livres between them; Walsh, an +Irish merchant at Nantz, who put a privateer of eighteen guns into the +venture; Sir Thomas Geraldine, the Pretender's agent at Paris; Sir +Thomas Sheridan, the prince's preceptor, who, with Colonels O'Sullivan +and Lynch, Captain O'Neil, and other officers of the brigade, formed +the staff, on which Sir John McDonald, a Scottish officer in the +Spanish service, was also placed. Fathers Kelly and O'Brien volunteered +in the expedition. On the 22nd of June, 1745, with seven friends, the +prince embarked in Walsh's vessel, the Doutelle, at St. Nazaire, on the +Loire, and on the 19th of July, landed on the northern coast of +Scotland, near Moidart. The Scottish chiefs, little consulted or +considered beforehand, came slowly and dubiously to the landing-place. +Under their patriarchal control there were still in the kingdom about a +hundred thousand men, and about one-twelfth of the Scottish population. +Clanronald, Cameron of Lochiel, the Laird of McLeod, and a few others, +having arrived, the royal standard was unfurled on the 19th of August +at Glenfinin, where that evening twelve hundred men—the entire army so +far—were formed into camp, under the orders of O'Sullivan. From that +day until the day of Culloden, O'Sullivan seems to have manoeuvred the +prince's forces. At Perth, at Edinburgh, at Preston, at Manchester, at +Culloden, he took command in the field, or in garrison; and even after +the sad result, he adhered to his sovereign's son with an honourable +fidelity which defied despair. + +Charles, on his part, placed full confidence in his Irish officers. In +his proclamation after the battle of Preston, he declared it was not +his intention to enforce on the people of England, Scotland, or +Ireland, "a religion they disliked." In a subsequent paper, he asks, +"Have you found reason to love and cherish your governors as the +fathers of the people of Great Britain and Ireland? Has a family upon +whom a faction unlawfully bestowed the diadem of a rightful prince, +retained a due sense of so great a trust and favour?" These and his +other proclamations betrayed an Irish pen; probably Sir Thomas +Sheridan's. One of Charles's English adherents, Lord Elcho, who kept a +journal of the campaign, notes, complainingly, the Irish influence +under which he acted. "The prince and his old governor, Sir Thomas +Sheridan," are especially objected to, and the "Irish favourites" are +censured in a body. While at Edinburgh, a French ship, containing some +arms, supplies, and "Irish officers," arrived; at the same time efforts +were made to recruit for the prince in Ireland; but the agents being +taken in some cases, the channel narrowly watched, and the people not +very eager to join the service, few recruits were obtained. + +The Irish in France, as if to cover the inaction of their countrymen at +home, strained every nerve. The Waterses and O'Brien of Paris were +liberal bankers to the expedition. Into their hands James "exhausted +his treasury" to support his gallant son. At Fontainebleau, on the 23rd +of October, Colonel O'Brien, on the part of the prince, and the Marquis +D'Argeusson for Louis XV., formed a treaty of "friendship and +alliance," one of the clauses of which was, that certain Irish +regiments, and other French troops, should be sent to sustain the +expedition. Under Lord John Drummond a thousand men were shipped from +Dunkirk, and arrived at Montrose in the Highlands about the time +Charles had penetrated as far south as Manchester. The officers, with +the prince, here refused to advance on London with so small a force; a +retreat was decided on; the sturdy defence of Carlisle, and victory of +Falkirk, checked the pursuit; but the overwhelming force of the Duke of +Cumberland compelled them to evacuate Edinburgh, Perth, and +Glasgow—operations which consumed February, March, and the first half +of April, 1746. + +The next plan of operations seems to have been to concentrate in the +western Highlands, with Inverness for head-quarters. The town Charles +easily got, but Fort-George, a powerful fortress, built upon the site +of the castle where Macbeth was said to have murdered Duncan, commanded +the Loch. Stapleton and his Irish, captured it, however, as well as the +neighbouring Fort-Augustus. Joined by some Highlanders, they next +attempted Fort-William, the last fortress of King George in the north, +but on the 3rd of April were recalled to the main body. + +To cover Inverness, his head-quarters, Charles resolved to give battle. +The ground chosen, flanked by the river Nairn, was spotted with marsh +and very irregular; it was called Culloden, and was selected by +O'Sullivan. Brigadier Stapleton and Colonel Kerr reported against it as +a field of battle; but Charles adopted O'Sullivan's opinion of its +fitness for Highland warfare. When the preparations for battle began, +"many voices exclaimed, 'We'll give Cumberland another Fontenoy!'" The +Jacobites were placed in position by O'Sullivan, "at once their +adjutant and quarter-master-general," and, as the burghers of Preston +thought, "a very likely fellow." He formed two lines, the great clans +being in the first, the Ogilvies, Gordons, and Murrays; the French and +Irish in the second. Four pieces of cannon flanked each wing, and four +occupied the centre. Lord George Murray commanded the right wing, Lord +John Drummond the left, and Brigadier Stapleton the reserve. They +mustered in all less than five thousand men. The British formed in +three lines, ten thousand strong, with two guns between every second +regiment of the first and second line. The action commenced about noon +of April 16th, and before evening half the troops of Prince Charles lay +dead on the field, and the rest were hopelessly broken. The retreat was +pell-mell, except where "a troop of the Irish pickets, by a spirited +fire, checked the pursuit, which a body of dragoons commenced after the +Macdonalds, and Lord Lewis Gordon's regiments did similar service." +Stapleton conducted the French and Irish remnant to Inverness, and +obtained for them by capitulation "fair quarter and honourable +treatment." + +The unhappy prince remained on the field almost to the last. "It +required," says Mr. Chambers, "all the eloquence, and, indeed, all the +active exertion, of O'Sullivan to make Charles quit the field. A cornet +in his service, when questioned on this subject at the point of death, +declared he saw O'Sullivan, after using entreaties in vain, turn the +head of the prince's horse and drag him away." + +From that night forth, O'Sullivan, O'Neil, and a poor sedan carrier of +Edinburgh, called Burke, accompanied him in all his wanderings and +adventures among the Scottish islands. At Long Island they were obliged +to part company, the prince proceeding alone with Miss Flora McDonald. +He had not long left, when a French cutter hove in sight and took off +O'Sullivan, intending to touch at another point, and take in the prince +and O'Neil. The same night she was blown off the coast, and the prince, +after many other adventures, was finally taken off at Badenoch, on the +15th of September, 1746, by the L'Heureux, a French armed vessel, in +which Captain Sheridan (son of Sir Thomas), Mr. O'Beirne, a lieutenant +in the French army, "and two other gentlemen," had adventured in search +of him. Poor O'Neil, in seeking to rejoin his master, was taken +prisoner, carried to London, and is lost from the record. O'Sullivan +reached France safely, where, with Stapleton, Lynch, and the Irish and +Scotch officers, he was welcomed and honoured of all brave men. + +Such was the last struggle of the Stuarts. For years after, the popular +imagination in both countries clung fondly to Prince Charles. But the +cause was dead. As if to bury it for ever, Charles, in despair, grew +dissipated and desponding. In 1755, "the British Jacobites" sent +Colonel McNamara, as their agent, to induce him to put away his +mistress, Miss Walsingham, a demand with which he haughtily refused to +comply. In 1766, when James III. died at Avignon, the French king and +the Pope refused to acknowledge the prince by the title of Charles III. +When the latter died, in 1788, at Rome, Cardinal York contented himself +with having a medal struck, with the inscription "Henricus IX., Anglae +Rex." He was the last of the Stuarts. + +Notwithstanding the utter defeat of the Scottish expedition, and the +scatterment of the surviving companies of the brigade on all sorts of +service from Canada to India, there were many of the exiled Irish in +France, who did not yet despair of a national insurrection against the +house of Hanover. In the year 1759, an imposing expedition was fitted +out at Brest under Admiral Conflaus, and another at Dunkirk, under +Commodore Thurot, whose real name was O'Farrell. The former, soon after +putting to sea, was encountered at Quiberon by the English under Hawke, +and completely defeated; but the latter entered the British channel +unopposed, and proceeded to the appointed _rendezvous_. While cruising +in search of Conflaus, the autumnal equinox drove the intrepid Thurot +into the Northern ocean, and compelled him to winter among the frozen +friths of Norway and the Orkneys. One of his five frigates returned to +France, another was never heard of, but with the remaining three he +emerged from the Scottish Islands, and entered Lough Foyle early in +1760. He did not, however, attempt a landing at Derry, but appeared +suddenly before Carrickfergus, on the 21st of February, and demanded +its surrender. Placing himself at the head of his marines and sailors, +he attacked the town, which, after a brave resistance by the +commandant, Colonel Jennings, he took by assault. Here, for the first +time, this earlier Paul Jones heard of the defeat of his admiral; after +levying contributions on the rich burgesses and proprietors of +Carrickfergus and Belfast, he again put to sea. His ships, battered by +the wintry storms which they had undergone in northern latitudes, fell +in near the Isle of Man with three English frigates, just out of port, +under Commodore Elliott. A gallant action ensued, in which Thurot, or +O'Farrell, and three hundred of his men were killed. The survivors +struck to the victors, and the French ships were towed in a sinking +state, into the port of Ramsey. + +The life thus lost in the joint service of France and Ireland, was a +life illustrative of the Irish refugee class among whom he became a +leader. Left an orphan in childhood, O'Farrell, though of a good +family, had been bred in France in so menial a condition that he first +visited England as a domestic servant. From that condition he rose to +be a dexterous and successful captain in the contraband trade, so +extensive in those times. In this capacity he visited almost every port +of either channel, acquiring that accurate knowledge which, added to +his admitted bravery and capacity, placed him at length at the head of +a French squadron. "Throughout the expedition," says Lord Mahon, "the +honour and humanity of this brave adventurer are warmly acknowledged by +his enemies." "He fought his ship," according to the same author, +"until the hold was almost filled with water, and the deck covered with +dead bodies." + + + +CHAPTER IV. +REIGN OF GEORGE II. (CONCLUDED)—MALONE'S LEADERSHIP. + +The Earl of Harrington, afterwards Duke of Devonshire, succeeded Lord +Chesterfield in the government, in 1746. He was provided with a prime +minister in the person of the new Archbishop of Armagh, Dr. George +Stone, whose character, if he was not exceedingly calumniated by his +cotemporaries, might be compared to that of the worst politicians of +the worst ages of Europe. Originally, the son of the jailer of +Winchester, he had risen by dint of talents, and audacity, to receive +from the hands of his sovereign, the illustrious dignity of Primate of +Ireland. But even in this exalted office, the abominable vices of his +youth accompanied him. His house at Leixlip, was at once a tavern and a +brothel, and crimes, which are nameless, were said to be habitual under +his roof. "May the importation of Ganymedes into Ireland, be soon +discontinued," was the public toast, which disguised under the +transparent gauze of a mythological allusion, the infamies of which he +was believed to be the patron. The prurient page of Churchill was not +quite so scrupulous, and the readers of the satire entitled "The +Times," will need no further key to the horrible charges commonly +received on both sides of the channel, against Primate Stone. + +The viceroyalty of Ireland, which had become an object of ambition to +the first men in the empire, was warmly contested by the Earl of +Harrington and the Duke of Dorset. The former, through his Stanhope +influence and connections, prevailed over his rival, and arrived in +Ireland, warmly recommended by the popular Chesterfield. During his +administration, Primate Stone, proceeding from one extreme to another, +first put forward the dangerous theory, that all surplus revenue +belonged of right to the crown, and might be paid over by the +Vice-Treasurers, to his majesty's order, without authority of +Parliament. At this period, notwithstanding the vicious system of her +land tenures, and her recent losses by emigration, Ireland found +herself in possession of a considerable surplus revenue. + +Like wounds and bruises in a healthy body, the sufferings and +deprivations of the population rapidly disappeared under the appearance +even of improvement in the government. The observant Chesterfield, who +continued through life warmly attached to the country in which his name +was remembered with so much affection, expresses to his friend, +Chevenix, Bishop of Waterford, in 1751, his satisfaction at hearing +"that Ireland improves daily, and that a spirit of industry spreads +itself, to the great increase of trade and manufactures." This new-born +prosperity the Primate and politicians of his school would have met by +an annual depletion of the treasury, instead of assisting its march by +the reduction of taxes, and the promotion of necessary public works. +The surplus was naturally regarded, by the Patriot party, in the light +of so much national capital; they looked upon it as an improvement +fund, for the construction of canals, highways, and breakwaters, for +the encouragement of the linen and other manufactures, and for the +adornment of the capital with edifices worthy of the chief city of a +flourishing kingdom. + +The leader of the Patriot party, Anthony Malone, was compared at this +period, by an excellent authority, to "a great sea in a calm." He was +considered, even by the fastidious Lord Shelburne, the equal, in +oratory, of Chatham and Mansfield. He seems to have at all times, +however, sunk the mere orator in the statesman, and to have used his +great powers of argument even more in Council than in the arena. His +position at the bar, as Prime Sergeant, by which he took precedence +even of the Attorney-General, gave great weight to his opinions on all +questions of constitutional law. The roystering country gentlemen, who +troubled their heads but little with anything besides dogs and horses, +pistols and claret, felt secure in their new-fledged patriotism, under +the broad aegis of the law extended over them by the most eminent +lawyer of his age. The Speaker of the Commons, Henry Boyle, aided and +assisted Malone, and when left free to combat on the floor, his high +spirit and great fortune gave additional force to his example and +confidence to his followers. Both were men too cautious to allow their +adversaries any parliamentary advantage over them, but not so their +intrepid coadjutor out of doors, Apothecary Lucas. He, like Swift, +rising from local and municipal grievances to questions affecting the +constitution of Parliament itself, was in 1749, against all the efforts +of his friends in the House of Commons, declared by the majority of +that House to be "an enemy to his country," and a reward was +accordingly issued for his apprehension. For a time he was compelled to +retire to England; but he returned, to celebrate in his Freeman's +Journal the humiliation of the primate, and the defeat of the policy +both of Lord Harrington, and his successor, the Duke of Dorset. + +This nobleman, resolved to cast his predecessor into the shade by the +brilliancy of his success, proceeded to take vigorous measures against +the patriots. In his first speech to Parliament in 1751, he informed +them his Majesty "consented" to the appropriation of the surplus +revenue, by the House of Commons, and a clause was added to the annual +supply bill in the English Council, containing the same obnoxious word, +"consent." On this occasion, not feeling themselves strong enough to +throw out the bill, and there being no alternative but rejection or +acceptance, the Patriots permitted it to pass under protest. But the +next session, when a similar addition was made, the Commons rejected +the supply bill altogether, by a majority of 122 to 117. This was a +measure of almost revolutionary consequence, since it left every branch +of the public service unprovided for, for the ensuing twelve months. + +Both the advisers of the King in England, and the Viceroy in Ireland, +seemed by their insane conduct as if they desired to provoke such a +collision. Malone's patent of precedence as Prime Sergeant was +cancelled; the speaker was dismissed from the Privy Council, and the +surplus revenue was withdrawn from the Vice-Treasurer, by a King's +letter. The indignation of the Dubliners at these outrages rose to the +utmost pitch. Stone, Healy, Hutchinson, and others of the Castle party, +were waylaid and menaced in the streets, and the Viceroy himself hooted +wherever he appeared. Had the popular leaders been men less cautious, +or less influential, the year 1753 might have witnessed a violent +revolutionary movement. But they planted themselves on the authority of +the constitution, they united boldness with prudence, and they +triumphed. The Primate and his creatures raised against them in vain +the cuckoo cry of disloyalty, both in Dublin and London. The English +Whigs, long engaged themselves in a similar struggle with the overgrown +power of the crown, sympathized with the Irish opposition, and defended +their motives both in society and in Parliament. The enemies of the +Dorset family as naturally took their part, and the duke himself was +obliged to go over to protect his interest at court, leaving the odious +Primate as one of the Lords-Justices. At his departure his guards were +hardly able to protect him from the fury of the populace, to that +waterside to which Chesterfield had walked on foot, seven years before, +amid the benedictions of the same people. + +The Patriots had at this crisis a great addition to their strength, in +the accession of James, the twentieth Earl of Kildare, successively +Marquis and Duke of Leinster. This nobleman, in the prime of life, +married to the beautiful Emily Lennox, daughter of the Duke of +Richmond, followed Dorset to England, and presented to the King, with +his own hand, one of the boldest memorials ever addressed to a +sovereign by a subject. After reciting the past services of his family +in maintaining the imperial connection, he declared himself the organ +of several thousands of his Majesty's liege subjects, "as well the +nobles as the clergy, the gentry, and the commonalty of the kingdom." +He dwells on the peculation and extravagance of the administration, +under "the Duumvirate" of the Viceroy and the Primate, which he +compares with the league of Strafford and Laud. He denounces more +especially Lord George Sackville, son to Dorset, for his intermeddling +in every branch of administration. He speaks of Dr. Stone as "a greedy +churchman, who affects to be a second Wolsey in the senate." This +high-toned memorial struck with astonishment the English ministers, who +did not hesitate to hint, that, in a reign less merciful, it would not +have passed with impunity. In Ireland it raised the hardy earl to the +pinnacle of popular favour. A medal was struck in his honour, +representing him guarding a heap of treasure with a drawn sword, and +the motto—"Touch not, says Kildare." At the opening of the next +Parliament, he was a full hour making his way among the enthusiastic +crowd, from his house in Kildare street to College Green. In little +more than a year, the Duke of Dorset, whom English ministers had in +vain endeavoured to sustain, was removed, and the Primate, by his +Majesty's orders, was struck from the list of privy counsellors. + +Lord Harrington, now Duke of Devonshire, replaced the disgraced and +defeated Dorset, and at once surrounded himself with advisers from the +ranks of the opposition. The Earl of Kildare was his personal and +political friend, and his first visit, on arriving, was paid at Carton. +The Speaker, Mr. Boyle, the Earl of Bessborough, head of the popular +family of the Ponsonbys, and Mr. Malone, were called to the Privy +Council. Lucas, exalted rather than injured by years of exile, was +elected one of the members for the city of Dublin, and the whole face +of affairs promised a complete and salutary change of administration. + +After a year in office, Devonshire returned to England in ill-health, +leaving Lord Kildare as one of the Justices, an office which he +continued to fill, till the arrival in September, 1756, of John, fourth +Duke of Bedford, as Lord-Lieutenant, with Mr. Rigby, "a good four +bottle man," as chief secretary. + +The instructions of the Duke of Bedford, dictated by the genius and +wisdom of Chatham, were, to employ "all softening and healing arts of +government." His own desire, as a Whig, at the head of the Whig +families of England, was to unite and consolidate the same party in +Ireland, so as to make them a powerful auxiliary force to the English +Whigs. Consistently with this design, he wished well to the country he +was sent to rule, and was sincerely desirous of promoting measures of +toleration. But he found the Patriots distracted by success, and +disorganized by the possession of power. The Speaker, who had struggled +so successfully against his predecessors, was in the Upper House as +Earl of Shannon, and the chair of the Commons was filled by John +Ponsonby, of the Bessborough family. The Ponsonby following, and the +Earl of Kildare's friends were at this period almost as much divided +from each other in their views of public policy, as either were from +the party of the Primate. The Ponsonby party, still directed by Malone, +wished to follow up the recent victory on the money bills, by a measure +of Catholic relief, a tax upon absentees, and a reduction of the +pension list, shamelessly burthened beyond all former proportion. Lord +Kildare and his friends were not then prepared to go such lengths, +though that high spirited nobleman afterwards came into most of these +measures. After endeavouring in vain to unite, these two interests, the +Duke of Bedford found, or fancied himself compelled, in order to secure +a parliamentary majority, to listen to the overtures of the, obsequious +Primate, to restore him to the Council, and to leave him, together with +his old enemy, Lord Shannon, in the situation of joint administrators, +during his journey to England, in 1758. The Earl of Kildare, it should +be remarked, firmly refused to be associated with Stone, on any terms, +or for any time, long or short. + +The closing of this important reign is notable for the first Catholic +meeting held since the reign of Queen Anne. In the spring of 1757, four +hundred respectable gentlemen attended by mutual agreement, at Dublin, +among whom were Lords Devlin, Taafe, and Fingal, the antiquary, Charles +O'Conor, of Balanagar, the historian of the _Civil Wars_, Dr. Curry, +and Mr. Wyse, a merchant of Waterford, the ancestor of a still better +known labourer in the same cause. The then recent persecution of Mr. +Saul, a Dublin merchant, of their faith, for having harboured a young +lady whose friends wished to coerce her into a change of religion, gave +particular significance to this assembly. It is true the proceedings +were characterized by caution amounting almost to timidity, but the +unanimous declaration of their loyal attachment to the throne, at a +moment when French invasion was imminent, produced the best effect, and +greatly strengthened the hands of the Clanbrassils, Ponsonbys, Malones, +Dalys, and other advocates of an enlarged toleration in both Houses. It +is true no immediate legislation followed, but the way was prepared for +future ameliorations by the discretion and tact of the Catholic +delegates of 1757. They were thenceforth allowed at least the right of +meeting and petitioning, of which they had long been deprived, and the +restoration of which marks the first step in their gradual recovery of +their civil liberties. + +In 1759 a rumour broke out in Dublin that a legislative union was in +contemplation by the Primate and his faction. On the 3rd of December, +the citizens rose _en masse_, and surrounded the Houses of Parliament. +They stopped the carriages of members, and obliged them to swear +opposition to such a measure. Some of the Protestant bishops, and the +Lord Chancellor were roughly handled; a privy counsellor was thrown +into the river; the Attorney General was wounded and obliged to take +refuge in the college; Lord Inchiquin was abused till he said his name +was O'Brien, when the rage of the people "was turned into +acclamations." The Speaker, Mr. Ponsonby, and the Chief Secretary, Mr. +Rigby, had to appear in the porch of the House of Commons, solemnly to +assure the citizens that no union was dreamed of, and if it was +proposed, that they would be the first to resist it. Public spirit had +evidently grown bold and confident, and we can well believe Secretary +Rigby when he writes to the elder Pitt, that "the mob" declared, "since +they have no chance of numbers in the House, they must have recourse to +numbers out of doors." + + + +CHAPTER V. +ACCESSION OF GEORGE III.—FLOOD'S LEADERSHIP—OCTENNIAL PARLIAMENTS +ESTABLISHED. + +George III., grandson of the late king, commenced, in October, 1760, at +the age of two and twenty, the longest reign in British history. +Including the period of the regency, he reigned over his empire nearly +sixty years—an extraordinary term of royal power, and quite as +extraordinary for its events as for its extreme length. + +The great movement of the Irish mind, at the beginning of this reign, +was the limitation of the duration of Parliament, hitherto elected for +the King's life. This reform, long advocated out of doors, and by the +more progressive members within the House, was reserved for the new +Parliament under the new reign. To this Parliament were returned +several men of great promise, men of a new generation, nurtured in the +school of Swift and Malone, but going even beyond their masters in +their determination to liberate the legislature of their country from +the undue influence of the crown and the castle. Among those new +members were three destined to national celebrity, Dr. Lucas, Mr. +Hussey Burgh, and Mr. Dennis Bowes Daly; and one destined to universal +reputation—Henry Flood. This gentleman, the son of a former Chief +Justice, intermarried into the powerful oligarchical family of the +Beresfords, was only in his 28th year when first elected member for +Kilkenny; but, in point of genius and acquirements, he was even then +the first man in Ireland, and one of the first in the empire. For a +session or two he silently observed the forms of the House, preparing +himself for the great contest to come; but when at last he obtained the +ear of his party he was heard to some purpose. Though far from +advocating extreme measures, he had abundant boldness; he was not open +to the objection levelled against the leader of the past generation, +Mr. Malone, of whom Grattan said, "he was a colony-bred man, and he +feared to bring down England upon Ireland." + +The Duke of Bedford vacated the viceroyalty in 1761, and Lord Halifax +took his place. In the first parliamentary session, Dr. Lucas +introduced his resolutions limiting the duration of Parliament to seven +years, a project which Flood afterwards adopted and mainly contributed +to carry. The heads of the bill embodying these resolutions were +transmitted to London by the Lord-Lieutenant, but never returned. In +1763, under the government of the Marquis of Hertford, similar +resolutions were introduced and carried, but a similar fate awaited +them. Again they were passed, and again rejected, the popular +dissatisfaction rising higher and higher with every delay of the +reform. At length, in the session of 1767, "the Septennial Bill," as it +was called, was returned from England, changed to octennial, and with +this alteration it passed into law, in February, 1768. A new Parliament +the same year was elected under the new act, to which all the friends +of the measure were triumphantly returned. The faithful Lucas, however, +survived his success little better than two years; he died amid the +very sincere regrets of all men who were not enemies of their country. +At his funeral the pall was borne by the Marquis of Kildare, Lord +Charlemont, Mr. Flood, Mr. Hussey Burgh, Sir Lucius O'Brien, and Mr. +Ponsonby. + +Lord Halifax, and his chief secretary, Mr. Hamilton (known to us as +"the single-speech Hamilton," of literary history), received very +graciously the loyal addresses presented by the Catholics, soon after +his Majesty's accession. In a speech from the throne, the Viceroy +proposed, but was obliged to abandon the proposition, to raise six +regiments of Catholics, under their own officers, to be taken into the +service of Portugal, the ally of Great Britain. His administration was +otherwise remarkable neither for its length nor its importance; nor is +there anything else of consequence to be mentioned of his lordship, +except that his nephew, and chief secretary, had the honour to have +Edmund Burke for his private secretary, and the misfortune to offend +him. + +During the government of the Marquis of Hertford, and his successor, +Lord Townsend (appointed in 1768), the Patriot party contended on the +ground of rendering the judges independent, diminishing the pension +list, and modifying the law of Poynings, requiring heads of bills to be +sent into England, and certified by both Privy Councils, before they +could be passed upon by the legislature. The question of supply, and +that of the duration of Parliament, being settled, these reforms were +the next objects of exertion. When we know that the late King's +mistresses, the Queen Dowager of Prussia, Prince Ferdinand, and other +connections of the royal family, equally alien to the country, were +pensioners to the amount of thousands of pounds annually on the Irish +establishment, we can understand more clearly the bitterness of the +battle Mr. Flood and his colleagues were called upon to fight in +assailing the old system. But they fought it resolutely and +perseveringly. Death had removed their most unscrupulous enemy, Primate +Stone, during the Hertford administration, and the improved tone and +temper of public opinion would not tolerate any attempt to raise up a +successor of similar character. Lord Townsend, an old campaigner and +_bon vivant_, was expressly chosen as most capable of restoring the old +system of government by closeting and corruption, but he found the +Ireland of his day very materially altered from the defenceless +province, which Stone and Dorset had attempted to cajole or to coerce, +twenty years before. + +The Parliament of 1769—the first limited Parliament which Ireland had +seen since the revolution—proved, in most respects, worthy of the +expectations formed of it. John Ponsonby was chosen Speaker, and Flood +regarded, around him, well-filled benches and cheering countenances. +The usual supply bill was passed and sent up to the castle, but on its +return from England was found to be altered—15,000 men, among other +changes, being charged to the Irish military establishment, instead of +12,000, as formerly. The Commons, resolute to assert their rights, +threw out the bill, as had been done in 1753, and the Lord Lieutenant, +protesting in the House of Lords against their conduct, ordered them to +be prorogued. Prorogation followed prorogation, till February, 1771, +the interval being occupied in closeting and coquetting with members of +the opposition, in the creation of new places, and the disposal of them +to the relatives of those capable of being bought. No one was +surprised, when the Houses reassembled, to find that a bare majority of +the Commons voted a fulsome address of confidence to the Lord +Lieutenant. But this address, Speaker Ponsonby indignantly refused to +present. He preferred resignation to disgrace, and great was the +amazement and indignation when his friend, Mr. Perry, elected by a bare +majority, consented to take the post—no longer a post of honour. In +justice to Mr, Perry, however, it must be added, that in the chair as +on the floor of Parliament, he still continued the patriot—that if he +advanced his own fortunes, it was not at the expense of the +country—that some of the best measures passed by this and the +subsequent Parliament, owed their final success, if not their first +suggestion, to his far-seeing sagacity. + +The methods taken by Lord Townsend to effect his ends, not less than +those ends themselves, aroused the spirit and combined the ranks of the +Irish opposition. The press of Dublin teemed with philippics and +satires, upon his creatures and himself. The wit, the scholarship, the +elegant fancy, the irresistible torrent of eloquence, as well as the +popular enthusiasm, were against him, and in 1772, borne down by these +combined forces, he confessed his failure by resigning the sword of +state into the hands of Lord Harcourt. + +The new Viceroy, according to custom, began his reign by taking an +exactly opposite course to his predecessor, and ended it by falling +into nearly the same errors and abuses. He suggested an Absentee-tax, +which was introduced by Flood, but rejected through the preponderating +influence of the landed aristocracy. In preparing the tables of +expenditure, he had caused arrears amounting to 265,000 pounds, and an +annual increase of 100,000 pounds, to be added to the estimates. +Moreover, his supply bill was discovered, at the second reading, to +extend over _two years_ instead of one—a discovery which occasioned the +greatest indignation. Flood raised his powerful voice in warning, not +unmingled with menace; Burgh declared, that if any member should again +bring in such a bill, he would himself move his expulsion from the +House; while George Ogle, member for Wexford, proposed that the bill +itself should be burned before the porch, by the common hangman. He was +reminded that the instrument bore the great seal; to which he boldly +answered, that the seal would help to make it burn the better. It was +not thought politic to take notice of this revolutionary retort. + + + +CHAPTER VI. +FLOOD'S LEADERSHIP—STATE OF THE COUNTRY BETWEEN 1760 AND 1776. + +England was engaged in two great wars during the period of Flood's +supremacy in the Irish Parliament—the seven years' war, concluded by +the peace of Paris in 1763, and the American war, concluded by the +treaty of Versailles, in 1783. To each of these wars Ireland was the +second largest contributor both as to men and money; and by both she +was the severest sufferer, in her manufactures, her provision trade, +and her general prosperity. While army contracts, and all sorts of +military and naval expenditure in a variety of ways returned to the +people of England the produce of their taxes, the Irish had no such +compensation for the burdens imposed on their more limited resources. +The natural result was, that that incipient prosperity which +Chesterfield hailed with pleasure in 1751, was arrested in its growth, +and fears began to be seriously entertained that the country would be +driven back to the lamentable condition from which it had slowly and +laboriously emerged during the reign of George II. + +The absence of employment in the towns threw the labouring classes more +and more upon the soil for sustenance, while the landlord legislation +of the period threw them as helplessly back upon other pursuits than +agriculture. Agrarian injustice was encountered by conspiracy, and for +the first time in these pages, we have to record the introduction of +the diabolical machinery of secret oath-bound associations among the +Irish peasantry. Of the first of these combinations in the southern +counties, a cotemporary writer gives the following account: "Some +landlords in Munster," he says, "have let their lands to cotters far +above their value, and, to lighten their burden, allowed commonange to +their tenants by way of recompense: afterwards, in despite of all +equity, contrary to all compacts, the landlords enclosed these commons, +and precluded their unhappy tenants from the only means of making their +bargains tolerable." The peasantry of Waterford, Cork, and other +southern counties met in tumultuous crowds, and demolished the new +enclosures. The oligarchical majority took their usual cue on such +occasions: they pronounced, at once, that the cause of the riots was +"treason against the state;" they even obtained a select committee to +"inquire into the cause and progress of the Popish insurrection in +Munster." Although the London Gazette, on the authority of royal +commissioners, declared that the rioters "consisted indiscriminately of +persons of different persuasions," the Castle party would have it +"another Popish plot." Even Dr. Lucas was carried away by the passions +of the hour, and declaimed against all lenity, as cowardly and +criminal. + +A large military force, under the Marquis of Drogheda, was accordingly +despatched to the south. The Marquis fixed his head-quarters at +Clogheen, in Tipperary, the parish priest of which was the Rev. +Nicholas Sheehy. The magistracy of the county, especially Sir Thomas +Maude, William Bagnel, John Bagwell, Daniel Toler, and Parson Hewitson, +were among the chief maintainers of the existence of a Popish plot, to +bring in the French and the Pretender. Father Sheehy had long been +fixed upon as their victim: largely connected with the minor gentry, +educated in France, young, popular, eloquent and energetic, a stern +denouncer of the licentious lives of the squires, and of the exacting +tithes of the parsons, he was particularly obnoxious. In 1763 he was +arrested on a charge of high treason, for drilling and enrolling +Whiteboys, but was acquitted. Towards the close of that year, Bridge, +one of the late witnesses against him, suddenly disappeared. A charge +of murder was then laid against the priest of Clogheen, and a +prostitute named Dunlea, a vagrant lad named Lonergan, and a convicted +horse stealer called Toohey, were produced in evidence against him, +after he had lain nearly a year in prison, heavily fettered. On the +12th of March, 1765, he was tried at Clonmel, on this evidence; and +notwithstanding an _alibi_ was proved, he was condemned, and beheaded +on the third day afterwards. Beside the old ruined church of +Shandraghan, his well-worn tomb remains till this day. He died in his +thirty-eighth year. Two months later, Edward Sheehy, his cousin, and +two respectable young farmers, named Buxton and Farrell, were executed +under a similar charge, and upon the same testimony. All died with +religious firmness and composure. The fate of their enemies is +notorious; with a single exception, they met deaths violent, loathsome, +and terrible. Maude died insane, Bagwell in idiocy, one of the jury +committed suicide, another was found dead in a privy, a third was +killed by his horse, a fourth was drowned, a fifth shot, and so through +the entire list. Toohey was hanged for felony, the prostitute Dunlea +fell into a cellar and was killed, and the lad Lonergan, after +enlisting as a soldier, died of a loathsome disease in a Dublin +infirmary. + +In 1767, an attempt to revive the plot was made by the Munster +oligarchy, without success. Dr. McKenna, Bishop of Cloyne, was arrested +but enlarged; Mr. Nagle, of Garnavilla (a relative of Edmund Burke), +Mr. Robert Keating, and several respectable Catholic gentlemen, were +also arrested. It appears that Edmund Burke was charged by the +ascendancy party with having "sent his brother Richard, recorder of +Bristol, and Mr. Nagle, a relation, on a mission to Munster, to levy +money on the Popish body for the use of the Whiteboys, who were +exclusively Papists." The fact was, that Burke did originate a +subscription for the defence of the second batch of victims, who, +through his and other exertions, were fortunately saved from the fate +of their predecessors. + +Contemporaneous with the Whiteboys were the northern agrarians, called +"Hearts of Steel," formed among the absentee Lord Downshire's tenants, +in 1762; the "Oak Boys," so called from wearing oak leaves in their +hats; and the "Peep o' Day Boys," the precursors of the Orange +Association. The infection of conspiracy ran through all Ireland, and +the disorder was neither short-lived nor trivial. Right-boys, +Defenders, and a dozen other denominations descended from the same evil +genius, whoever he was, that first introduced the system of signs, and +passwords, and midnight meetings, among the peasantry of Ireland. The +celebrated society of United Irishmen was the highest form which that +principle, in our politics, ever reached. In its origin, it was mainly +a Protestant organization. + +From the first, the Catholic bishops and clergy strenuously opposed +these secret societies. The Bishop of Cloyne issued a reprobatory +pastoral; Father Arthur O'Leary employed his facile pen against them; +the Bishop of Ossory anathematized them in his diocese. Priests in +Kildare, Kilkenny, and Munster, were often in personal danger from +these midnight legislators; their chapels had been frequently nailed +up, and their bishops had been often obliged to remove them from one +neighbourhood to another to prevent worse consequences. The infatuation +was not to be stayed; the evil was engrafted on society, and many a +long year, and woeful scene, and blighted life, and broken heart, was +to signalize the perpetuation of secret societies among the population. + +These startling symptoms of insubordination and lawlessness, while they +furnished plausible pretexts to the advocates of repression, still +further confirmed the Patriot party in their belief, that, nothing +short of a free trade in exports and imports, and a thorough system of +retrenchment in every branch of the public service, could save the +nation from bankruptcy and ruin. This was Flood's opinion, and he had +been long recognized as the leading spirit of the party. The aged +Malone, true to his principles of conciliation and constitutionalism to +the last, passed away from the scene, in the midst of the exciting +events of 1776. For some years before his death, his former place had +been filled by the younger and more vigorous member for Kilkenny, who, +however, did not fail to consult him with all the deference due to his +age, his services, and his wisdom. One of his last official acts was +presiding over the committee of the whole House, which voted the +American contingent, but rejected the admission of German troops to +supply their place. + + + +CHAPTER VII. +GRATTAN'S LEADERSHIP—"FREE TRADE," AND THE VOLUNTEERS. + +The revolt of the American colonies against the oppressive legislation +of the British Parliament, was the next circumstance that deeply +affected the constitutional struggle, in which the Irish Parliament had +so long been engaged. The similarity in the grievances of Ireland and +the colonies, the close ties of kindred established between them, the +extent of colonial commerce involved in the result, contributed to give +the American Declaration of Independence more importance in men's eyes +at Dublin, than anywhere else out of the colonies, except, perhaps, +London. + +The first mention made of American affairs to the Irish legislature, +was in Lord Townsend's message in 1775, calling for the despatch of +4,000 men from the Irish establishment, to America, and offering to +supply their place by as many foreign Protestant (German) troops. The +demand was warmly debated. The proposition to receive the proffered +foreign troops was rejected by a majority of thirty-eight, and the +contingent for America passed on a division, upon Flood's plea that +they would go out merely as "4,000 armed negotiators." This expression +of the great parliamentary leader was often afterwards quoted to his +prejudice, but we must remember, that, at the time it was employed, no +one on either side of the contest had abandoned all hopes of +accommodation, and that the significance of the phrase was rather +pointed against Lord North than against the colonies. The 4,000 men +went out, among them Lord Rawdon (afterwards Lord Moira), Lord Edward +Fitzgerald, and many others, both officers and men, who were certainly +no enemies of liberty, or the colonies. + +Some slight relaxation of the commercial restrictions which operated so +severely against Irish industry were made during the same year, but +these were more than counterbalanced by the embargo on the export of +provisions to America, imposed in February, 1776. This arbitrary +measure—imposed by order in Council—was so near being censured by the +Parliament then sitting, that the House was dissolved a month +afterwards, and a new election ordered. To meet the new Parliament it +was thought advisable to send over a new Viceroy, and accordingly Lord +Buckinghamshire entered into office, with Sir Richard Heron as chief +secretary. + +In the last session of the late Parliament, a young _protege_ of Lord +Charlemont—he was only in his twenty-ninth year—had taken his seat for +the borough of Charlemont. This was Henry Grattan, son of the Recorder +of Dublin, and grandson of one of those Grattans who, according to Dean +Swift, "could raise 10,000 men." The youth of Grattan had been neither +joyous nor robust; in early manhood he had offended his father's +conservatism; the profession of the law, to which he was bred, he found +irksome and unsuited to his tastes; society, as then constituted, was +repulsive to his over-sensitive spirit and high Spartan ideal of manly +duty; no letters are sadder to read than the early correspondence of +Grattan, till he had fairly found his inspiration in listening +enraptured to the eloquent utterances of Chatham, or comparing +political opinions with such a friend as Flood. At length he found a +seat in the House of Commons, where, during his first session, he spoke +on three or four occasions, briefly, modestly, and with good effect; +there had been no sitting during 1776, nor before October of the +following year; it was, therefore, in the sessions from '78 to '82 +inclusive, that this young member raised himself to the head of the +most eloquent men, in one of the most eloquent assemblies the world has +ever seen. + +The fact of Mr. Flood, after fourteen years of opposition, having +accepted office under Lord Harcourt's administration, and defended the +American expedition and the embargo, had greatly lessened the +popularity of that eminent man. There was indeed, no lack of ability +still left in the ranks of the opposition—for Burgh, Daly, and +Yelverton were there; but for a supreme spirit like Grattan—whose +burning tongue was ever fed from his heart of fire—there is always room +in a free senate, how many soever able and accomplished men may +surround him. + +The fall of 1777 brought vital intelligence from America. General +Burgoyne had surrendered at Saratoga, and France had decided to ally +herself with the Americans. The effect in England and in Ireland was +immense. When the Irish Houses met, Mr. Grattan moved an address to the +King in favour of retrenchment, and against the pension list, and Mr. +Daly moved and carried an address deploring the continuance of the +American war, with a governmental amendment assuring his Majesty that +he might still rely on the services of his faithful Commons. The second +Catholic relief bill, authorizing Papists to loan money on mortgage, to +lease lands for any period not exceeding 999 years—to inherit and +bequeath real property, so limited, passed, not without some +difficulty, into law. The debate had been protracted, by adjournment +after adjournment, over the greatest part of three months; the main +motion had been further complicated by an amendment repealing the Test +Act in favour of Dissenters, which was, fortunately, engrafted on the +measure. The vote in the Commons, in favour of the bill so amended, was +127 _yeas_ to 89 _nays_, and in the Lords, 44 _Contents_ to 28 +_Noncontents_. + +In the English House of Commons, Lord Nugent moved, in April, a series +of resolutions raising the embargo on the Irish provision trade; +abolishing, so far as Ireland was concerned, the most restrictive +clauses of the Navigation Act, both as to exports and imports, with the +exception of the article of tobacco. Upon this the manufacturing and +shipping interest of England, taking the alarm, raised such a storm in +the towns and cities that the ministry of the day were compelled to +resist the proposed changes, with a few trifling exceptions. But +Grattan had caught up, in the other island, the cry of "free trade," +and the people echoed it after their orator, until the whole empire +shook with the popular demand. + +But what gave pith and power to the Irish demands was the enrolment and +arming of a numerous volunteer force, rendered absolutely necessary by +the defenceless state of the kingdom. Mr. Flood had long before +proposed a national militia, but being in opposition and in the +minority, he had failed. To him and to Mr. Perry, as much as to Lord +Charlemont and Mr. Grattan, the militia bill of 1778, and the noble +army of volunteers equipped under its provisions, owed their origin. +Whether this force was to be a regular militia, subject to martial law, +or composed of independent companies, was for some months a subject of +great anxiety at the castle; but necessity at length precipitated a +decision in favour of volunteer companies, to be supplied with arms by +the state, but drilled and clothed at their own expense, with power to +elect their own officers. The official announcement of this decision +once made, the organization spread rapidly over the whole kingdom. The +Ulster corps, first organized, chose as their commander the Earl of +Charlemont, while those of Leinster elected the Duke of Leinster. +Simultaneously, resolutions against the purchase of English goods and +wares were passed at public meetings, and by several of the corporate +bodies. Lists of the importers of such goods were obtained at the +custom houses, and printed in handbills, to the alarm of the importers. +Swift's sardonic maxim, "to burn everything coming from England, +_except the coals_," began to circulate as a toast in all societies, +and the consternation of the Castle, at this resurrection of the +redoubtable Dean, was almost equal to the apprehension entertained of +him while living. + +While the Castle was temporizing with both the military and the +manufacture movement, in a vague expectation to defeat both, the press, +as is usual in such national crises, teemed with publications of great +fervour and ability. Dr. Jebb, Mr. (afterwards Judge) Johnson, Mr. +Pollock, Mr. Charles Sheridan, Father Arthur O'Leary, and Mr. Dobbs, +M.P., were the chief workers in this department of patriotic duty. +Cheered, instructed, restrained within due bounds by these writings and +the reported debates of Parliament, the independent companies proceeded +with their organization. In July, 1779, after all the resources of +prevarication had been exhausted, arms were issued to the several +recognized corps, and the Irish volunteers became in reality a national +army for domestic protection and defence. + +When this point was reached, Mr. Grattan and his friends took anxious +council as to their future movements. Parliament was to meet on the +12th of October, and in that sweet autumnal month, Grattan, Burgh, and +Daly, met upon the sea-shore, near Bray, in view of one of the +loveliest landscapes on earth, to form their plan for the session. They +agreed on an amendment to the address in answer to the royal speech, +demanding in explicit terms "free export and import" for Irish +commerce. When Parliament met, and the address and amendment were +moved, it was found that Flood, Burgh, Hutchinson, and Gardiner, though +all holding offices of honour and emolument under government, would +vote for it. Flood suggested to substitute the simple term "free +trade," and with this and one other verbal alteration suggested by +Burgh, the amendment passed with a single dissenting voice. + +The next day the Speaker, Mr. Perry, who was all along in the +confidence of the movers of the amendment, Daly, Grattan, Burgh, Flood, +Hutchinson, Ponsonby, Gardiner, and the whole House, went up with the +amended address to the castle. The streets were lined with volunteers, +commanded in person by the Duke of Leinster, who presented arms to the +patriotic Commons as they passed. Most of the leading members wore the +uniform of one or other of the national companies, and the people saw +themselves at the same moment under the protection of a patriotic +majority in the legislature, and a patriotic force in the field. No +wonder their enthusiastic cheers rang through the corridors of the +castle with a strangely jubilant and defiant emphasis. It was not +simply the spectacle of a nation recovering its spirit, but recovering +it with all military _éclat_ and pageantry. It was the disarmed armed +and triumphant—a revolution not only in national feeling, but in the +external manifestation of that feeling. A change so profound stirred +sentiments and purposes even deeper than itself, and suggested to the +ardent imagination of Grattan the establishment of entire national +independence, saving always the rights of the crown. + +The next day, the Houses, not to be outdone in courtesy, voted their +thanks to the volunteers for "their just and necessary exertions in +defence of their country!" + + + +CHAPTER VIII. +GRATTAN'S LEADERSHIP—LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE ESTABLISHED. + +The task which Mr. Grattan felt called upon to undertake, was not +_revolutionary_, in the usually accepted sense of the term. He was a +Monarchist and a Whig in general politics; but he was an Irishman, +proud and fond of his country, and a sincere lover of the largest +religious liberty. With the independence of the judiciary and the +legislature, with freedom of commerce and of conscience, he would be +well content to stand by the British connection. "The sea," he said, in +his lofty figurative language, "protests against union—the ocean +against separation." But still, within certain legal limits, his task +_was_ revolutionary, and was undertaken under all the discouragements +incident to the early stages of great constitutional reforms. + +Without awaiting the action of the English Parliament, in relation to +free trade, a public-spirited citizen of Dublin, Alderman James Horan, +demanded an entry at the custom house, for some parcels of Irish +woollens, which he proposed exporting to Rotterdam, contrary to the +prohibitory enactment, the 10th and 11th of William III. The +commissioners of customs applied for instructions to the Castle, and +the Castle to the Secretary of State, Franklin's friend, Lord +Hillsborough. For the moment a collision similar to that which had +taken place at Boston, on a not dissimilar issue, seemed imminent. A +frigate was stationed off Howth, with instructions, it was said, to +intercept the prohibited woollens, but Alderman Horan, by the advice of +his friends, allowed his application to remain on the custom house +files. It had served its purpose of bringing home practically to the +people, the value of the principle involved in the demand for freedom +of exports and imports. At the same time that this practical argument +was discussed in every circle, Mr. Grattan moved in the House of +Commons, in amendment to the supply bill, that, "At this time it is +inexpedient to grant new taxes." The government divided the House, but +to their mortification found only 47 supporters; for Grattan's +amendment there were 170. A subsequent amendment against granting +duties for the support of the loan fund, was also carried by 138 to +100. + +These adverse votes were communicated with great trepidation, by the +Lord Lieutenant, to the British administration. At length Lord North +thought it essential to make some concessions, and with this view he +brought in resolutions, declaring the trade with the British colonies +in America and Africa, and the free export of glass and woollens, open +to the Irish merchant. A week later, similar resolutions were passed in +the Irish Commons, and in February, 1780, "a free trade" in the sense +in which it had been demanded, was established by law, placing Ireland +in most respects, as to foreign and colonial commerce, on an equality +with England. + +In February, the Viceroy again alarmed the British administration, with +the reported movement for the repeal of "Poyning's law,"—the statute +which required heads of bills to be transmitted to, and approved in +England, before they could be legislated upon. He received in reply, +the royal commands to resist by every means in his power, any attempted +"change in the constitution," and he succeeded in eliciting from the +House of Lords, an address, strongly condemnatory of "the misguided +men," who sought to raise such "groundless jealousies," between the two +kingdoms. But the Patriot Commoners were not to be so deterred. They +declared the repeal of Poyning's act, and the 6th of George I., to be +their ultimatum, and notices of motion to that effect were immediately +placed on the journals of the House of Commons. + +In the early days of April, Grattan, who, more than any of our orators, +except perhaps Burke, was sensitive to the aspects of external nature, +and imbued with the poetry of her works, retired from the city, to his +uncle Dean Marlay's house, Cellbridge Abbey, formerly the residence of +Swift's ill-fated Vannessa. "Along the banks of that river," he said, +many years afterwards, "amid the groves and bowers of Swift and +Vannessa, I grew convinced that I was right; arguments, unanswerable, +came to my mind, and what I then presaged, confirmed me in my +determination to persevere." With an enthusiasm intensified and +restrained—but wonderful in the fire and grandeur of its utterance—he +rose in his place, on the 19th of the month, to move that "the King, +Lords, and Commons of Ireland, are the only power competent to enact +laws to bind Ireland." He was supported by Hussey Burgh, Yelverton, and +Forbes; Flood favoured postponement, and laid the foundation of his +future estrangement from Grattan; Daly was also for delay; Fitzgibbon, +afterwards Lord Clare, Provost Hutchinson, and John Foster, afterwards +Lord Oriel, resisted the motion. The Castle party moved in amendment +that "there being an equivalent resolution already on the journals of +the House"—alluding to one of the resolutions against Stafford's +tyranny in 1641—a new resolution was unnecessary. This amendment was +carried by 136 to 79, thus affirming the formula of independence +adopted in 1641, but depriving Grattan of the honour of putting it, in +his own words, on the record. The substantial result, however, was the +same; the 19th of April was truly what Grattan described it, "a great +day for Ireland." "It is with the utmost concern," writes the Viceroy +next day to Lord Hillsborough, "I must acquaint your Lordship that +although so many gentlemen expressed their concern that the subject had +been introduced, the sense of the House _against_ the obligation of +_any statutes_ of the Parliament of Great Britain, within this kingdom, +is represented to me to have been almost unanimous." + +Ten days later, a motion of Mr. Yelverton's to repeal Poyning's law, as +far as related to the Irish privy council's supervision of heads of +bills, was negatived by 130 to 105. + +During the remainder of the session the battle of independence was +fought on the Mutiny Bill. The Viceroy and the Chief Secretary, playing +the game of power, were resolved that the influence of the crown should +not be diminished, so far as the military establishments were +concerned. Two justices of the peace in Sligo and Mayo, having issued +writs of _habeas corpus_ in favour of deserters from the army, on the +ground that neither the British Mutiny Act, nor any other British +statute, was binding on Ireland, unless confirmed by an act of its own +legislature, brought up anew the whole question. Lord North, who, with +all his proverbial tact and good humour, in the House of Commons, +always pursued the most arbitrary policy throughout the empire, +proposed a perpetual Mutiny Bill for Ireland, instead of the Annual +Bill, in force in England. It was introduced in the Irish House of +Commons by Mr. Gervase Parker Bushe, and, by a vote of two to one, +postponed for a fortnight. During the interval, the British authorities +remained obdurate to argument and remonstrance. In vain, the majority +of the Irish privy counsellors advised concession; in vain, Flood, who +was consulted, pointed out the futility of attempting to force such a +measure; it was forced, and, under the cry of loyalty, a draft bill was +carried through both Houses, and remitted to England in June. Early in +August it was returned; on the 12th it was read a first time; on the +16th, a second; and it was carried through Committee by 114 to 62. It +was at this emergency the Volunteers performed the second act of their +great drama of Ireland's liberation. A series of reviews were held, and +significant addresses presented to Lord Camden (then on a visit to the +country), Lord Charlemont, Mr. Flood, and Mr. Grattan. On the +re-assembling of Parliament in August, when the bill was referred to, +Mr. Grattan declared that he would resist it to the last; that if +passed into law, he and his friends would _secede_, and would appeal to +the people in "a formal instrument." A new series of corporation and +county meetings was convened by the Patriot party, which warmly +condemned the Perpetual Mutiny Act, and as warmly approved the repeal +of Poyning's Act, and the 6th of George I.: questions which were all +conceived to be intermixed together, and to flow from the assertion of +a common principle. Parliament being prorogued in September, only threw +the whole controversy back again into the furnace of popular agitation. +The British Government tried a lavish distribution of titles and a +change of Viceroys,—Lord Carlisle being substituted in December for +Lord Buckingham—but the spirit abroad was too general and too earnest, +to be quelled by the desertion of individuals, however numerous or +influential. With Lord Carlisle, came, as Chief Secretary, Mr. Eden, +afterwards Lord Auckland; he had been, with his chief, a peace +commissioner to America, two years before, and had failed; he was an +intriguing and accomplished man, but he proved himself as unequal as +Heron or Rigby to combat the movement for Irish independence. + +Parliament was not again called together till the month of October, +1781; the interval being busily occupied on both sides with endeavours +to create and sustain a party. Soon after the meeting, Mr. Grattan, +seconded by Mr. Flood, moved for a limitation of the Mutiny Bill, which +was lost; a little later, Mr. Flood himself introduced a somewhat +similar motion, which was also outvoted two to one; and again, during +the session, Mr. Yelverton, having abandoned his promised motion +against Poyning's law, on news of Lord Cornwallis's surrender reaching +Dublin, Flood took it up, moved it, and was defeated. A further measure +of relief for Roman Catholics, introduced by Mr. Gardiner, author of +the act of 1778, and warmly supported by Grattan, was resisted by Flood +in the one House, and Lord Charlemont in the other. It miscarried, and +left another deposit of disagreement between the actual and the former +leader of the Patriot party. + +Still no open rupture had taken place between the two Patriot orators. +When the convention of the volunteers was called at Dungannon for the +15th of February, 1782, they consulted at Charlemont House as to the +resolutions to be passed. They were agreed on the constitutional +question; Grattan, of his own generous free will, added the resolution +in favour of emancipation. Two hundred and forty-two delegates, +representing 143 corps, unanimously adopted the resolutions so drafted, +as their own, and, from the old head-quarters of Hugh O'Neil, sent +forth anew an unequivocal demand for civil and religious liberty. The +example of Ulster soon spread through Ireland. A meeting of the +Leinster volunteers, Mr. Flood in the chair, echoed it from Dublin; the +Munster corps endorsed it unanimously at Cork; Lord Clanrickarde +summoned together those of the western counties at Portumna—an historic +spot, suggestive of striking associations. Strengthened by these +demonstrations of public opinion, Mr. Grattan brought forward, on the +22nd of February, his motion declaratory of the rights of Ireland. An +amendment in favour of a six months' postponement of the question was +carried; but on the 16th of April, just two years from his first effort +on the subject (the administration of Lord North having fallen in the +meantime), the orator had the satisfaction of carrying his address +declaratory of Irish legislative independence. It was on this occasion +that he exclaimed: "I found Ireland on her knees; I watched over her +with a paternal solicitude; I have traced her progress from injury to +arms, and from arms to liberty. Spirit of Swift! Spirit of Molyneux! +your genius has prevailed! Ireland is now a nation! in that new +character I hail her! and bowing to her august presence, I say, _Esto +perpetua!_" + +Never was a new nation more nobly heralded into existence! Never was an +old nation more reverently and tenderly lifted up and restored! The +Houses adjourned to give England time to consider Ireland's +_ultimatum_. Within a month it was accepted by the new British +administration, and on the 27th of May, the new Whig Viceroy, the Duke +of Portland, was authorized to announce from the throne the +establishment of the judicial and legislative independence of Ireland. + + + +CHAPTER IX. +THE ERA OF INDEPENDENCE—FIRST PERIOD. + +The accession of the Rockingham administration to power, in 1782, was +followed by the recall of Lord Carlisle, and the substitution, as +Viceroy, of one of the leading Lords of the Whig party. The nobleman +selected to this office was William Henry, third Duke of Portland, +afterwards twice prime minister; then in the prime of life, possessed +of a very ample fortune, and uniting in his own person the two great +Whig families of Bentinck and Cavendish. The policy he was sent to +represent at Dublin was undoubtedly an imperial policy; a policy which +looked as anxiously to the integrity of the empire as any Tory cabinet +could have desired; but it was, in most other respects, a policy of +conciliation and concession, dictated by the enlarged wisdom of Burke, +and adopted by the magnanimous candour of Fox. Yet by a generous +people, who always find it more difficult to resist a liberal than an +illiberal administration, it was, in reality, a policy more to be +feared than welcomed; for its almost certain effects were to divide +their ranks into two sections—a moderate and an extreme party—between +whom the national cause, only half established, might run great danger +of being lost, almost as soon as it was won. + +With the Duke of Portland was associated, as Chief Secretary, Colonel +Fitzpatrick, of the old Ossory family, one of those Irish wits and men +of fashion, who form so striking a group in the middle and later years +of King George III. As the personal and political friend of Flood, +Charlemont, and Grattan, and the first Irish secretary for several +administrations, he shared the brilliant ovation with which the Duke of +Portland was received, on his arrival at Dublin; but for the reason +already mentioned, the imperial, in so far as opposed to the national +policy, found an additional advantage in the social successes and great +personal popularity of the new secretary. + +The critical months which decided the contest for independence—April +and May—passed over fortunately for Ireland. The firmness of the +leaders in both Houses, the energy especially of Grattan, whose cry was +"No time, no time!" and the imposing attitude of the volunteers, +carried the question. Lord Rockingham and Mr. Fox by letter, the new +Viceroy and Secretary in person, had urged every argument for +adjournment and delay, but Grattan's _ultimatum_ was sent over to +England, and finally and formally accepted. The demands were _five_. I. +The repeal of the 6th of George I. II. The repeal of the Perpetual +Mutiny Act. III. An Act to abolish the alteration or suppression of +Bills. IV. An Act to establish the final jurisdiction of the Irish +Courts and the Irish House of Lords. V. The repeal of Poyning's Law. +This was the constitutional charter of 1782, which restored Ireland, +for the first time in that century, to the rank and dignity of a free +nation. + +Concession once determined on, the necessary bills were introduced in +both Parliaments simultaneously, and carried promptly into law. On the +27th of May, the Irish Houses were enabled to congratulate the Viceroy +that "no constitutional question any longer existed between the two +countries." In England it was proclaimed no less explicitly by Fox and +his friends, that the independency of the two legislatures "was fixed +and ascertained for ever." But there was, unfortunately, one ground for +dispute still left, and on that ground Henry Flood and Henry Grattan +parted, never to be reconciled. + +The elder Patriot, whose conduct from the moment of his retirement from +office, in consequence of his Free Trade vote and speech in '79, had +been, with occasional exceptions, arising mostly from bodily infirmity, +as energetic and consistent as that of Grattan himself, saw no +sufficient constitutional guarantee in mere acts of Parliament +repealing other acts. He demanded "express renunciation" of legislative +supremacy on the part of England; while Grattan maintained the +sufficiency of "simple repeal." It is possible even in such noble +natures as these men had—so strangely are we constituted—that there was +a latent sense of personal rivalry, which prompted them to grasp, each, +at the larger share of patriotic honour. It is possible that there were +other, and inferior men, who exasperated this latent personal rivalry. +Flood had once reigned supreme, until Grattan eclipsed him in the +sudden splendour of his career. In scholarship and in genius the elder +Patriot was, taken all in all, the full peer of his successor; but +Grattan had the national temperament, and he found his way more readily +into the core of the national heart; he was the man of the later, the +bolder, and the more liberal school; and such was the rapidity of his +movements, that even Flood, from '79 to '82, seemed to be his follower, +rather than his coadjutor. In the hopeful crisis of the struggle, the +slower and more experienced statesman was for the moment lost sight of. +The leading motions were all placed or left in the hands of Grattan by +the consent of their leading friends; the bills repealing the Mutiny +Act, the 6th George I., and Poyning's law, were entrusted to Burgh, +Yelverton, and Forbes; the thanks of the House were voted to Grattan +alone after the victory, with the substantial addition of 50,000 pounds +to purchase for him an estate, which should become an enduring monument +of the national gratitude. + +The open rupture between the two great orators followed fast on the +triumph of their common efforts. It was still the first month—the very +honeymoon of independence. On the 13th of June, Mr. Grattan took +occasion to notice in his place, that a late British act relating to +the importation of sugars, was so generally worded as apparently to +include Ireland; but this was explained to be a mere error of the +clerk, the result of haste, and one which would be promptly corrected. +Upon this Mr. Flood first took occasion to moot the insufficiency of +"simple repeal," and the necessity of "express renunciation," on the +part of England. On the 19th, he moved a formal resolution on the +subject, which was superseded by the order of the day; but on the 19th +of July, he again moved, at great length, and with great power of +logical and historical argument, for leave to bring in an Irish Bill of +Rights, declaring "the sole and exclusive right of the Irish Parliament +to make laws in all cases whatsoever, _external and internal_." He was +supported by Sir Simon Bradstreet, Mr. English, and Mr. Walshe, and +opposed by Grattan, who, in one of his finest efforts, proposed a +counter resolution, "that the legislature of Ireland is independent; +and that any person who shall, by writing or otherwise, maintain that a +right in any other country, to make laws for Ireland, _internally_ or +_externally_, exists or can be revived, _is inimical to the peace of +both kingdoms_." This extreme proposition—pointing out all who differed +from himself as public enemies—the mover, however, withdrew, and +substituted in its stead the milder formula, that leave was refused to +bring in the bill, because the sole and exclusive right of legislation +in the Irish Parliament in all cases, whether externally or internally, +hath been already asserted by Ireland, and fully, finally, and +irrevocably acknowledged by the British Parliament. Upon this motion +Flood did not think it advisable to divide the House, so it passed +without a division. + +But the moot point thus voted down in Parliament disquieted and alarmed +the minds of many out of doors. The volunteers as generally sided with +Flood as the Parliament had sided with Grattan. The lawyer corps of the +city of Dublin, containing all the great names of the legal profession, +endorsed the constitutional law of the member for Kilkenny; the Belfast +volunteers did likewise; and Grattan's own corps, in a respectful +address, urged him to give his adherence to the views of "the best +informed body of men in the kingdom,"—the lawyers' corps. Just at that +moment Lord Abingdon, in the English House of Lords, gave notice of a +mischievous motion to assert the external supremacy of the English +Parliament; and Lord Mansfield, in the King's Bench, decided an Irish +appeal case, notwithstanding the recent statute establishing the +judicial independence of the Irish courts. It is true the case had been +appealed before the statute was passed; and that Lord Abingdon withdrew +his motion for want of a seconder; but the alarm was given, and the +popular mind in Ireland, jealously watchful of its new-born liberties, +saw in these attempts renewed cause for apprehension. In opposition to +all this suddenly awakened suspicion and jealousy, Grattan, who +naturally enough assumed his own interest in preserving the new +constitution to be quite equal to those who cast doubts on its +security, invariably held one language. The settlement already made, +according to his view, was final; it was an international treaty; its +maintenance must depend on the ability and disposition of the parties +to uphold it, rather than on the multiplication of declaratory acts. +Ireland had gone to England with a charter, not for a charter, and the +nation which would insist upon the humiliation of another, was a +foolish nation. This was the lofty light in which he viewed the whole +transaction, and in this light, it must be added, he continued to view +it till the last. Many of the chief English and Irish jurists of his +time, Lord Camden, Lord Kenyon, Lord Erskine, Lord Kilwarden, Judges +Chamberlain, Smith, and Kelly, Sir Samuel Rommilly, Sir Arthur Pigott, +and several others, agreed fully in Grattan's doctrine, that the +settlement of '82 was final and absolute, and "terminated all British +jurisdiction over Ireland." But although these are all great names, the +instinct of national self-preservation may be considered in such +critical moments more than a counterpoise to the most matured opinions +of the oracles of the law. Such must have been the conviction also of +the English Parliament, for, immediately on their meeting in January, +1783, they passed the _Act of Renunciation_ (23rd George III.), +expressly declaring their admission of the "exclusive rights of the +Parliament and Courts of Ireland in matters of legislature and +judicature." This was Flood's greatest triumph. Six months before his +doctrine obtained but three supporters in the Irish Commons; now, at +his suggestion, and on his grounds, he saw it unanimously affirmed by +the British Parliament. + +On two other questions of the utmost importance these leading spirits +also widely differed. Grattan was in favour of, and Flood opposed to, +Catholic emancipation; while Flood was in favour of, and Grattan, at +that moment, opposed to, a complete reform of parliamentary +representation. The Catholic question had its next great triumph after +Flood's death, as will be mentioned further on; but the history of the +Irish reform movement of 1783, '84, and '85, may best be disposed of +here. + +The Reformers were a new party rising naturally out of the popular +success of 1782. They were composed of all but a few of the more +aristocratic corps of the volunteers, of the townsmen, especially in +the seaports and manufacturing towns, of the admirers of American +example, of the Catholics who had lately acquired property and +recognition, but not the elective franchise, of the gentry of the +second and third degree of wealth, overruled and overshadowed by the +greater lords of the soil. The substantial grievance of which they +complained was, that of the 300 members of the House of Commons, only +72 were returned by the people; 53 Peers having the power to nominate +123 and secure the election of 10 others; while 52 Commoners nominated +91 and controlled the choice of 4 others. The constitution of what +ought to have been the people's house was, therefore, substantially in +the hands of an oligarchy of about a hundred great proprietors, bound +together by the spirit of their class, by intermarriage, and by the +hereditary possession of power. To reduce this exorbitant influence +within reasonable bounds, was the just and wise design to which Flood +dedicated all his energies, after the passage of the _Act of +Renunciation_, and the success of which would certainly have restored +him to complete equality with Grattan. + +In the beginning of 1783, the famous coalition ministry of Lord North +and Mr. Fox was formed in England. They were at first represented at +Dublin Castle, for a few months, by Lord Temple, who succeeded the Duke +of Portland, and established the order of _Knights of Saint Patrick_; +then by Lord Northington, who dissolved Parliament early in July. A +general election followed, and the reform party made their influence +felt in all directions. County meetings were held; conventions by +districts and by provinces were called by the reforming Volunteers, in +July, August, and September. The new Parliament was to be opened on the +14th of October, and the Volunteers resolved to call a convention of +their whole body at Dublin, for the 10th of November. + +The Parliament met according to summons, but though searching +retrenchment was spoken of, no promise was held out of a constitutional +reform; the limitation of the regular troops to a fixed number was +declared advisable, and a vote of thanks to the Volunteers was passed +without demur. But the proceedings of the Houses were soon eclipsed by +the portentous presence of the Volunteer Convention. One hundred and +sixty delegates of corps attended on the appointed day. The Royal +Exchange was too small to accommodate them, so they adjourned to the +Rotunda, accompanied by mounted guards of honour. The splendid and +eccentric Bishop of Derry (Earl of Bristol), had his dragoon guards; +the courtly but anxious Charlemont had his troop of horse; Flood, tall, +emaciated, and solemn to sadness, was hailed with popular acclamations; +there also marched the popular Mr. Day, afterwards Judge; Robert +Stewart, father of Lord Castlereagh; Sir Richard Musgrave, a reformer +also, in his youth, who lived to confound reform with rebellion in his +old age. The Earl of Charlemont was elected president of this imposing +body, and for an entire month Dublin was divided between the +extraordinary spectacle of two legislatures—one sitting at the Rotunda, +and the other at College Green, many members of each being members of +the other; the uniform of the volunteer sparkling in the Houses, and +the familiar voices of both Houses being heard deliberating and +debating among the Volunteers. + +At length, on the 29th of November, after three weeks' laborious +gestation, Flood brought before Parliament the plan of reform agreed to +by the Convention. It proposed to extend the franchise to every +_Protestant_ freeholder possessed of a lease worth forty shillings +yearly; to extend restricted borough constituencies by annexing to them +neighbouring populous parishes; that the voting should be held on one +and the same day; that pensioners of the crown should be incapable of +election; that members accepting office should be subject to +re-election; that a stringent bribery oath should be administered to +candidates returned; and, finally, that the duration of Parliament +should be limited to three years. It was, indeed, an excellent +Protestant Reform Bill, for though the Convention had received Father +Arthur O'Leary with military honours, and contained many warm friends +of Catholic rights, the majority were still intolerant of _religious_ +freedom. In this majority it is painful to have to record the names of +Flood and Charlemont. + +The debate which followed the introduction of this proposed change in +the constitution was stormy beyond all precedent. Grattan, who just one +month before (Oct. 28th) had that fierce vituperative contest with +Flood familiar to every school-boy, in its worst and most exaggerated +form, supported the proposal. The law officers of the crown, +Fitzgibbon, Yelverton, Scott, denounced it as an audacious attempt of +armed men to dictate to the House its own constitution. The cry of +privilege and prerogative was raised, and the measure was rejected by +157 to 77. Flood, weary in mind and body, retired to his home; the +Convention, which outsat the House, adjourned, amid the bitter +indignation of some, and the scarcely concealed relief of others. Two +days later they met and adopted a striking address to the throne, and +adjourned _sine die_. This was, in fact, the last important day of the +Volunteers as a political institution. An attempt a month later to +re-assemble the Convention was dexterously defeated by the President, +Lord Charlemont. The regular army was next session increased to 15,000 +men; 20,000 pounds were voted to clothe and equip a rival force—"the +Militia"—and the Parliament, which had three times voted them its +thanks, now began to look with satisfaction on their rapid +disorganization and disbandment. + +This, perhaps, is the fittest place to notice the few remaining years +of the public life of Henry Flood. After the session of 1785, in which +he had been outvoted on every motion he proposed, he retired from the +Irish Parliament, and allowed himself to be persuaded, at the age of +fifty-three, to enter the English. He was elected for Winchester, and +made his first essay on the new scene, on his favourite subject of +representative reform. But his health was undermined; he failed, except +on one or two occasions, to catch the ear of that fastidious assembly, +and the figure he made there somewhat disappointed his friends. He +returned to Kilkenny to die in 1791, bequeathing a large portion of his +fortune to Trinity College, to enrich its MS. library, and to found a +permanent professorship of the Irish language. "He was an oak of the +forest," said Grattan, "too old to be transplanted at fifty." "He was a +man," said one who also knew him well, Sir Jonah Barrington, "of +profound abilities, high manners, and great experience in the affairs +of Ireland. He had deep information, an extensive capacity, and a solid +judgment." In his own magnificent "Ode to Fame," he has pictured his +ideal of the Patriot-orator, who finds some consolation amid the +unequal struggle with the enemies of his country, foreign and domestic, +in a prophetic vision of his own renown. Unhappily, the works of this +great man come down to us in as fragmentary a state as those of +Chatham; but enough remains to enable us to class him amongst the +greatest masters of our speech, and, as far as the drawbacks allowed, +among the foremost statesmen of his country. + +It is painful to be left in doubt, as we are, whether he was ever +reconciled to Grattan. The presumption, from the silence of their +cotemporaries, is, that they never met again as friends. But it is +consoling to remember that in his grave, the survivor rendered him that +tribute of justice which almost takes the undying sting out of the +philippic of 1783; it is well to know, also, that one of Grattan's +latest wishes, thirty years after the death of Flood, when he felt his +own last hours approaching, was, that it should be known that he "did +not speak the vile abuse reported in the Debates" in relation to his +illustrious rival. The best proof that what he did say was undeserved, +is that that rival's reputation for integrity and public spirit has +survived even his terrible onslaught. + + + +CHAPTER X. +THE ERA OF INDEPENDENCE—SECOND PERIOD. + +The second period of the era of independence may be said to embrace the +nine years extending from the dissolution of the last Volunteer +Convention, at the end of 1784, to the passage of the Catholic Relief +Bill of 1793. They were years of continued interest and excitement, +both in the popular and parliamentary affairs of the country; but the +events are, with the exception of the last named, of a more secondary +order than those of the previous period. + +The session of 1785 was first occupied with debates relating to what +might be called the cross-channel trade between England and Ireland. +The question of trade brought with it, necessarily, the question of +revenue; of the duties levied in both kingdoms; of the conflict of +their commercial laws, and the necessity of their assimilation; of the +appropriations to be borne by each, to the general expense of the army +and navy; of the exclusive right of the English East India Company to +the Indian trade;—in short, the whole of the fiscal and commercial +relations of the two countries were now to be examined and adjusted, as +their constitutional relations had been in previous years. + +The first plan came from the Castle, through Mr. Thomas Orde, then +Chief Secretary, afterwards Lord Bolton. It consisted of eleven +propositions, embracing every division of the subject. They had been +arrived at by consultation with Mr. Joshua Pim, a most worthy Quaker +merchant, the founder of an equally worthy family; Mr. Grattan, Mr. +Foster, and others. They were passed as resolutions in Ireland, and +sent by Mr. Orde to England to see whether they would be adopted there +also, the second Pitt, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, gave his +concurrence, but when he introduced to the English Parliament _his_ +resolutions—twenty in number—it was found that in several important +respects they differed from the Irish propositions. On being taken up +and presented to the Irish Parliament, in August, the administration +found they could command, in a full House, only a majority of sixteen +for their introduction, and so the whole arrangement was abandoned. No +definite commercial treaty between the two kingdoms was entered into +until the Union, and there can be little doubt that the miscarriage of +the Convention of 1785 was one of the determining causes of that Union. + +The next session was chiefly remarkable for an unsuccessful attempt to +reduce the Pension List. In this debate, Curran, who had entered the +House in 1783, particularly distinguished himself. A fierce exchange of +personalities with Mr. Fitzgibbon led to a duel between them, in which, +fortunately, neither was wounded, but their public hostility was +transferred to the arena of the courts, where some of the choicest +_morceaux_ of genuine Irish wit were uttered by Curran, at the expense +of his rival, first as Attorney-General, and subsequently as +Chancellor. + +The session of 1787 was introduced by a speech from the throne, in +which the usual paragraph in favour of the Protestant Charter Schools +was followed by another advising the establishment of a general system +of schools. This raised the entire question of education, one of the +most difficult to deal with in the whole range of Irish politics. On +the 10th of April, Mr. Orde—destined to be the author of just, but +short-lived projects—introduced his plan of what might be called +national education. He proposed to establish four great provincial +academies, a second university in some north-western county, to reform +the twenty-two diocesan schools, so richly endowed under the 28th Henry +VIII., and to affiliate on Trinity College two principal preparatory +schools, north and south. In 1784, and again in this very year, the +humane John Howard had reported of the Irish Charter Schools, then half +a century established, that they were "a disgrace to all society." Sir +J. Fitzpatrick, the Inspector of Prisons, confirmed the general +impression of Howard: he found the children in these schools "puny, +filthy, ill clothed, without linen, indecent to look upon." A series of +resolutions was introduced by Mr. Orde, as the basis of better +legislation in the next session; but it is to be regretted that the +proposed reform never went farther than the introduction and adoption +of these resolutions. + +The session of 1788 was signalized by a great domestic and a great +imperial discussion—the Tithe question, and the Regency question. + +The Tithe question had slumbered within the walls of Parliament since +the days of Swift, though not in the lonely lodges of the secret +agrarian societies. Very recent outbreaks of the old agrarian +combinations against both excessive rents and excessive tithes, in the +Leinster as well as in southern counties, had called general attention +to the subject, when Grattan, in 1787, moved that, if it should appear, +by the commencement of the following session, that tranquillity had +been restored in the disturbed districts, the House would take into +consideration the subject of tithes. Accordingly, very early in the +next ensuing session, he moved for a committee on the subject, in a +three hours' speech, which ranks among the very highest efforts of his +own or any other age. He was seconded by Lord Kingsborough, one of the +most liberal men of his order, and sustained by Curran and Brownlow; he +was opposed by Attorney-General Fitzgibbon, and by Messrs. Hobart, +Browne, and Parsons. The vote was, _for_ the Committee of Inquiry, 49; +_against_ it, 121. A second attempt, a little later in the session, was +equally unsuccessful, except for the moral effect produced out of doors +by another of those speeches, which it is impossible to read even at +this day, without falling into the attitude, and assuming the +intonation, and feeling the heartfelt inspiration of the orator. + +The Regency question was precipitated upon both Parliaments by the +mental disorder, which, for the second or third time, attacked George +III., in 1788. The question was, whether the Prince of Wales should +reign with as full powers as if his father were actually deceased; +whether there should be restrictions or no restrictions. Mr. Pitt and +his colleagues contended successfully for restrictions in England, +while Mr. Fox and the opposition took the contrary position. The +English Houses and people went with Pitt, but the Irish Parliament went +for an unconditional regency. They resolved to offer the crown of +Ireland to him they considered _de_ facto their Sovereign, as freely as +they had rendered their allegiance to the incapable king; but the Lord +Lieutenant—the Marquis of Buckingham—declined to transmit their +over-zealous address, and by the time their joint delegation of both +Houses reached London, George III. had recovered! They received the +most gracious reception at Carlton House, but they incurred the +implacable enmity of William Pitt, and created a second determining +cause in his mind in favour of an early legislative union. + +The prospect of the accession of the Prince to power, wrought a +wonderful and a salutary change, though temporary, in the Irish +Commons. In the session of 1789, Mr Grattan carried, by 105 to 85, a +two months', in amendment to a twelve-months' supply bill. Before the +two months expired he brought in his police bill, his pension bill, and +his bill to prevent officers of the revenue from voting at elections, +but ere these reforms could be passed into law, the old King recovered, +the necessary majority was reversed, and the measures, of course, +defeated or delayed till better times. The triumph of the oligarchy was +in proportion to their fright. The House having passed a vote of +censure on Lord Buckingham, the Viceroy, for refusing to transmit their +address to the Regent, a threat was now held out that every one who had +voted for the censure, holding an office of honour or emolument in +Ireland, would be made "the victim of his vote." In reply to this +threat, a "Round Robin" was signed by the Duke of Leinster, the +Archbishop of Tuam, eighteen peers, all the leading Whig commoners—the +Ponsonbys, Langrishes, Grattan, Connolly, Curran, O'Neil, Day, Charles +Francis Sheridan, Bowes Daly, George Ogle, etc., etc.—declaring that +they would regard any such proscription as an attack on the +independence of Parliament, and would jointly oppose any administration +who should resort to such proscription. But the bold and domineering +spirit of Fitzgibbon—the leader of the Castle party, then, and long +afterwards—did not shrink before even so formidable a phalanx. The Duke +of Leinster was dismissed from the honorary office of Master of the +Rolls; the Earl of Shannon, from the Vice-Treasurership; William +Ponsonby from the office of Postmaster-General; Charles Francis +Sheridan, from that of Secretary at War, and ten or twelve other +prominent members of the _Irish_ administration lost places and +pensions to the value of 20,000 pounds a year, for their over-zeal for +the Prince of Wales. At the same time, Mr. Fitzgibbon was appointed +Lord Chancellor, a vacancy having opportunely occurred, by the death of +Lord Lifford, in the very midst of the prescriptive crisis. This +elevation transferred him to the Upper House, where, for the remaining +years of the Parliament, he continued to dogmatize and domineer, as he +had done in the Commons, often rebuked, but never abashed. Indeed, the +milder manners of the patrician body were ill suited to resist this +ermined demagogue, whose motto through life was _audacity, again +audacity, and always audacity_. The names of Wolfe, Toler, Corry, +Coote, Beresford, and Cooke, are also found among the promotions to +legal and administrative office; names familiar to the last generation +as the pillars of the oligarchical faction, before and after the Union. +To swamp the opposition peers, the Earls of Antrim, Tyrone, and +Hillsborough were made Marquises of Antrim, Waterford, and Downshire; +the Viscounts Glenawley, Enniskillen, Erne, and Carysfort, were created +Earls of Annesley, Enniskillen, Erne, and Carysfort. Then Judge Scott +became Viscount Clonmel; then the Lordships of Loftus, Londonderry, +Kilmaine, Cloncurry, Mountjoy, Glentworth, and Caledon, were founded +for as many convenient Commoners, who either paid for their patents, in +boroughs, or in hard cash. It was the very reign and carnival of +corruption, over which presided the invulnerable Chancellor—a true +"King of Misrule." In reference to this appalling spectacle, well might +Grattan exclaim—"In a free country the path of public treachery leads +to the block; but in a nation governed like a province, to the helm!" +But the thunders of the orator fell, and were quenched in the wide +spreading waters of corruption. + +The Whig Club—an out-of-door auxiliary of the opposition—was a creation +of this year. It numbered the chief signers of the "Round Robin," and +gained many adherents. It exercised very considerable influence in the +general election of 1790, and for the few following years, until it +fell to pieces in the presence of the more ardent politics which +preceded the storm of 1798. + +Backed though he was by Mr. Pitt, both as his relative and principal, +the Marquis of Buckingham was compelled to resign the government, and +to steal away from Dublin, under cover of night, like an absconding +debtor. The Chancellor and the Speaker—Fitzgibbon and Foster, Irishmen +at least by birth and name—were sworn in as Justices, until the arrival +of the Earl of Westmoreland, in the ensuing January. + +The last two Viceroys of the decade thus closed, form a marked contrast +worthy of particular portraiture. The Duke of Rutland, a dashing +profligate, was sent over, it was thought, to ruin public liberty by +undermining private virtue, a task in which he found a willing helpmate +in his beautiful but dissipated Duchess. During his three years' reign +were sown the seeds of that reckless private expenditure, and general +corruption of manners, which drove so many bankrupt lords and gentlemen +into the market overt, where Lord Castlereagh and Secretary Cooke, a +dozen years later, priced the value of their parliamentary cattle. Lord +Rutland died of dissipation at little over thirty, and was succeeded by +the Marquis of Buckingham (formerly Lord Temple), the founder of the +Irish Order of Chivalry, a person of the greatest pretensions, as a +reformer of abuses and an enemy of government by corruption. Yet with +all his affected superiority to the base arts of his predecessor, the +Marquis's system was still more opposite to every idea of just +government than the Duke's. The one outraged public morals, the other +pensioned and ennobled the betrayers of public trusts; the one +naturalized the gaming-table and the keeping of mistresses as customs +of Irish society; the other sold or allowed the highest offices and +honours of the state—from a weighership in the butter market to an +earl's coronet—to be put up at auction, and knocked down to the highest +bidder. How cheering in contrast with the shameful honours, flaunted +abroad in those shameful days, are even the negative virtues of the +Whig patricians, and how splendid the heroic constancy of Charlemont, +Grattan, Curran, and their devoted minority of honest legislators! + +With Lord Westmoreland was associated, as Chief Secretary, Mr. Hobart, +formerly in the army, a man of gay, convivial habits, very +accomplished, and, politically, very unprincipled. These gentlemen, +both favourites of Pitt, adopted the counsellors, and continued the +policy of the late Viceroy. In pursuance of this policy, a dissolution +took place, and the general election of 1790 was ordered. We have +already exhibited the influences which controlled the choice of members +of the House of Commons. Of the one hundred and five great proprietors, +who owned two-thirds of the seats, perhaps a fourth might be found in +the ranks of the Whig club. The only other hope for the national party +was in the boroughs, which possessed a class of freemen, engaged in +trade, too numerous to be bought, or too public spirited to be dictated +to. Both influences combined might hope to return a powerful minority, +and, on this occasion (1790) they certainly did so. Grattan and Lord +Henry Fitzgerald were elected for Dublin, over the Lord Mayor and one +of the Aldermen, backed by the whole power of the Castle; Curran, +Ponsonby, Brownlow, Forbes, and nearly all "the victims of their vote" +were re-elected. To these old familiar names were now added others +destined to equal, if not still wider fame—Arthur Wellesley, member for +Trim; Arthur O'Conor, member for Phillipstown; Jonah Barrington, member +for Tuam; and Robert Stewart, one of the members for the County Down, +then only in his twenty-second year, and, next to Lord Edward +Fitzgerald, lately elected for Athy, the most extreme reformer among +the new members. Arthur O'Conor, on the other hand, commenced his +career with the Court by moving the address in answer to the speech +from the throne! + +The new Parliament, which met in July, 1790, unanimously re-elected Mr. +Foster, Speaker; passed a very loyal address, and, after a fortnight's +sitting, was prorogued till the following January. The session of '91 +was marked by no event of importance, the highest opposition vote seems +to have been from 80 to 90, and the ministerial majority never less +than 50. The sale of Peerages, the East India trade, the Responsibility +(for money warrants) Bill, the Barren Lands Bill, and the Pension Bill, +were the chief topics. A committee to inquire into the best means of +encouraging breweries, and discouraging the use of spirituous liquors, +was also granted, and some curious facts elicited. Nothing memorable +was done, but much that was memorable was said—for the great orator had +still a free press, and a home audience to instruct and elevate. The +truth is, the barrenness of these two sessions was due to the general +prosperity of the country, more even than to the dexterous management +of Major Hobart and the Cabinet balls of Lord Westmoreland. There was, +moreover, hanging over the minds of men the electric pressure of the +wonderful events with which France shook the Continent, and made the +Islands tremble. There was hasty hope, or idle exultation, or pious +fear, or panic terror, in the hearts of the leading spectators of that +awful drama, according to the prejudices or principles they maintained. +Over all the three kingdoms there was a preternatural calm, resembling +that physical stillness which in other latitude precedes the eruption +of volcanoes. + + + +CHAPTER XI. +THE ERA OF INDEPENDENCE—THIRD PERIOD—CATHOLIC RELIEF BILL OF 1793. + +Before relating the consequences which attended the spread of French +revolutionary opinions in Ireland, it is necessary to exhibit the new +and very important position assumed by the Roman Catholic population at +that period. + +The relief bills in 1774 and 1778, by throwing open to Catholics the +ordinary means of acquiring property, whether moveable or immoveable, +had enabled many of them to acquire fortunes, both in land and in +trade. Of this class were the most efficient leaders in the formation +of the Catholic Committee of 1790—John Keogh, Edward Byrne, and Richard +McCormick. They were all men who had acquired fortunes, and who felt +and cherished the independence of self-made men. They were not simply +Catholic agitators claiming an equality of civil and religious rights +with their Protestant fellow-countrymen; they were nationalists, in the +broadest and most generous meaning of the term. They had contributed to +the ranks and expenses of the Volunteers; they had swelled the chorus +of Grattan's triumph, and borne their share of the cost in many a +popular contest. The new generation of Protestant patriots—such men as +the Hon. Simon Butler, Wolfe Tone, and Thomas Addis Emmet, were their +intimate associates, shared their opinions, and regarded their +exclusion from the pale of the constitution as a public calamity. + +There was another and a smaller, but not less important class—the +remnant of the ancient Catholic peerage and landed gentry, who, through +four generations, had preferred civil death to religious apostasy. It +was impossible not to revere the heroic constancy of that class, and +the personal virtues of many among them. But they were, perhaps, +constitutionally, too timid and too punctilious to conduct a popular +movement to a successful issue. They had, after much persuasion, lent +their presence to the Committee, but on some alarm, which at that time +seems to have been premature, of the introduction of French +revolutionary principles among their associates, they seceded in a +mass. A formal remonstrance against what remained, pretending to act +for the Catholic body, was signed by Lord Kenmare and sixty-seven +others, who withdrew. As a corrective, it was inadequate; as a +preventive, useless. It no doubt hastened in the end the evil it +deprecated in the beginning; it separated the Catholic gentry from the +Catholic democracy, and thrust the latter more and more towards those +liberal Protestants, mainly men of the middle class like themselves, +who began about this time to club together at Belfast and Dublin, under +the attractive title of "United Irishmen." Whatever they were +individually, the union of so many hereditary Catholic names had been +of very great service to the committee. So long as they stood aloof, +the committee could not venture to speak for _all_ the Catholics; it +could only speak for a part, though that part might be nine-tenths of +the whole: this gave for a time a doubtful and hesitating appearance to +their proceedings. So low was their political influence, in 1791, that +they could not get a single member of Parliament to present their +annual petition. When at last it was presented, it was laid on the +table and never noticed afterwards. To their further embarrassment, Mr. +McKenna and some others formed "the Catholic Society," with the nominal +object of spreading a knowledge of Catholic principles, through the +press, but covertly, to raise up a rival organization, under the +control of the seceders. At this period John Keogh's talents for +negotiation and diplomacy saved the Catholic body from another term of +anarchical imbecility. + +A deputation of twelve having waited this year on the Chief Secretary +with a list of the existing penal laws, found no intention, at the +Castle, of further concession. They were "dismissed without an answer." +Under these circumstances, the Committee met at Allen's Court. "It was +their determination," says Keogh, "to give up the cause as desperate, +lest a perseverance in what they considered an idle pursuit might not +only prove ineffectual, but draw down a train of persecution on the +body." Keogh endeavoured to rally them; proposed a delegation to +London, to be sent at the expense of the Committee; offered, at last, +to go at his own charge, if they authorized him. This proposal was +accepted, and Keogh went. "I arrived in London," he adds, "without any +introduction from this country, without any support, any assistance, +any instructions." He remained three months, converted Mr. Dundas, +brought back with him the son of Burke as Secretary, and a promise of +four concessions: 1st. The magistracy. 2nd. The grand juries. 3rd. The +sheriffs of counties. 4th. The bar. It was in this interview that +Keogh, after obtaining Mr. Dundas's express permission and promise not +to be offended, said to him, according to Charles Butler's account, +"Since you give me this permission, and your deliberate promise not to +be offended, I beg leave to repeat, that there _is_ one thing which you +ought to know, but which you don't suspect: you, Mr. Dundas, know +nothing of Ireland." Mr. Dundas, as may be supposed, was greatly +surprised; but, with perfect good humour, told Mr. Keogh that he +believed this was not the case; it was true that he never had been in +Ireland, but he had conversed with many Irishmen. "I have drunk," he +said, "many a good bottle of wine with Lord Hillsborough, Lord Clare, +and the Beresfords." "Yes, sir," said Mr. Keogh, "I believe you have; +and that you drank many a good bottle of wine with them before you went +to war with America." + +On the return of Keogh to Dublin, a numerous meeting was held to hear +his report. At this meeting, the fair promises of the English ministers +were contrasted with the hostility of the Castle. The necessity of a +strong organization, to overcome the one and hasten the other, was felt +by all: it was then decided to form the Committee into a Convention. By +this plan, the Catholics in each county and borough were called on to +choose, in a private manner, certain electors, who were to elect two or +more delegates, to represent the town or county in the general meeting +at Dublin, on the 3rd day of December following. A circular, signed by +Edward Byrne, Chairman, and Richard McCormick, Secretary, explaining +the plan and the mode of election, was issued on the 14th of January, +and the Catholics everywhere prepared to obey it. + +The corporations of Dublin and other cities, the grand juries of Derry, +Donegal, Leitrim, Roscommon, Limerick, Cork, and other counties, at +once pronounced most strongly against the proposed Convention. They +declared it "unconstitutional," "alarming," "most dangerous;" they +denounced it as a copy of the National Assembly of France; they +declared that they would "resist it to the utmost of their power;" they +pledged "their lives and fortunes" to suppress it. The only answer of +the Catholics was the legal opinion of Butler and Burton, two eminent +lawyers, Protestants and King's counsellors, that the measure was +entirely legal. They proceeded with their selection of delegates, and +on the appointed day the Convention met. From the place of meeting, +this Convention was popularly called "the Back Lane Parliament." Above +200 members were present. + +The Convention proceeded (Mr. Byrne in the chair) to declare itself the +only body competent to speak for the Catholics of Ireland. They next +discussed the substance of the proposed petition to the King. The +debate on this subject, full of life and colour, has been preserved for +us in the memoirs of Tone, who, although a Protestant, had been elected +Secretary to the Catholic Committee. Great firmness was exhibited by +Teeling of Antrim, Bellew of Galway, McDermott of Sligo, Devereux of +Wexford, Sir Thomas French, and John Keogh. These gentlemen contended, +and finally carried, without a division, though not without a two-days' +debate, a petition, asking complete and unrestricted emancipation. With +the addition of the Chairman and Secretary, they were appointed as +deputies to proceed to London, there to place the Catholic ultimatum in +the hands of King George. + +The deputies, whether by design or accident, took Belfast on their way +to England. This great manufacturing town, at the head of the staple +industry of the north, had been in succession the head-quarters of the +Volunteers, the Northern Whigs, and the United Irishmen. Belfast had +demanded in vain, for nearly a generation, that its 20,000 inhabitants +should no longer be disfranchised, while a dozen burgesses—creatures of +Lord Donegal—controlled the representation. Community of +disfranchisement had made the Belfastians liberal; the Catholic +deputies were publicly received with bonfires and ringing of bells, +their expenses were paid by the citizens, and their carriage drawn +along in triumph, on the road to Port-Patrick. + +Arrived at London, after much negotiation and delay with ministers, a +day was fixed for their introduction to the King. It was Wednesday, the +2nd of January, 1793; they were presented by Edmund Burke and the Home +Secretary to George III., who "received them very graciously;" they +placed in his hands the petition of their co-religionists, and, after +some compliments, withdrew. In a few days, they were assured their case +would be recommended to the attention of Parliament in the next royal +speech, and so, leaving one of their number behind as "charge +d'affaires," they returned to Dublin highly elated. + +The Viceroy, on their return, was all attention to the Catholics; the +Secretary, who, a year before, would not listen to a petition, now +laboured to fix a limit to concession. The demand of complete +emancipation, was not maintained in this negotiation as firmly as in +the December debates of "the Back Lane Parliament." The shock of the +execution of the King of France; the efforts of the secret committee of +the House of Lords to inculpate certain Catholic leaders in the +United-Irish system, and as patrons of the Defenders; the telling +argument, that to press all was to risk all,—these causes combined to +induce the sub-committee to consent to less than the Convention had +decided to insist upon. Negotiation was the strong ground of the +government, and they kept it. Finally, the bill was introduced by the +Chief Secretary, and warmly supported by Grattan, Curran, Ponsonby, +Forbes, and Hutchinson, Provost of Trinity College. It was resisted in +the Lower House by Mr. Speaker Foster, Mr. Ogle, and Dr. Duigenan, an +apostate, who exhibited all the bitterness of his class; and in the +Upper House, by the Chancellor, the son of an apostate, and the +majority of the lords spiritual. On the 9th day of April, 1793, it +became the law of Ireland. "By one comprehensive clause," says Tone, +"all penalties, forfeitures, disabilities, and incapacities are +removed; the property of the Catholic is completely discharged from the +restraints and limitations of the penal laws, and their liberty, in a +great measure, restored, by the restoration of the right of elective +franchise, so long withheld, so ardently pursued. The right of +self-defence is established by the restoration of the privilege to +carry arms, subject to a restraint, which does not seem unreasonable, +as excluding none but the very lowest orders. The unjust and +unreasonable distinctions affecting Catholics, as to service on grand +and petty juries, are done away; the army, navy, and all other offices +and places of trust are opened to them, subject to exceptions hereafter +mentioned. Catholics may be masters or fellows of any college hereafter +to be founded, subject to two conditions, that such college be a member +of the University, and that it be not founded exclusively for the +education of Catholics. They may be members of any lay body corporate, +except Trinity College, any law, statute, or bye-law of such +corporation to the contrary notwithstanding. They may obtain degrees in +the University of Dublin. These, and some lesser immunities and +privileges, constitute the grant of the bill, the value of which will +be best ascertained by referring to the petition." + +It is true, Catholics were still excluded from the high offices of Lord +Lieutenant, Lord Deputy, and Lord Chancellor. What was much more +important, they were excluded from sitting in Parliament—from +exercising legislative and judicial functions, Still the franchise, the +juries, the professions, and the University, were important +concessions. Their first fruits were Daniel O'Connell and Thomas Moore! + +The Committee having met to return thanks to the parliamentary +supporters of the bill, their own future operations came also under +debate. Some members advised that they should add reform to their +programme, as the remnant of the penal laws were not sufficient to +interest and attract the people. Some would have gone much further than +reform; some were well content to rest on their laurels. There were +ultras, moderate men, and conservatives, even in the twelve. The latter +were more numerous than Wolfe Tone liked or expected. That ardent +revolutionist had, indeed, at bottom, a strong dislike of the Catholic +religion; he united himself with that body because he needed a party; +he remained with them because it gave him importance; but he chiefly +valued the position as it enabled him to further an ulterior design—an +Irish revolution and a republic on the French plan. The example of +France had, however, grown by this time rather a terror than an +attraction to more cautious men than Tone. Edward Byrne, Sir Thomas +French, and other leading Catholics, were openly hostile to any +imitation of it, and the dinner at Daly's, to celebrate the passage of +the act, was strongly anti-Gallican in spirit and sentiment. Keogh, +McCormick, and McNevin, however, joined the United Irishmen, and the +two latter were placed on the Directory. Keogh withdrew, when, in 1795, +that organization became a secret society. + +The Bishops, who had cheered on, rather than participated in the late +struggle, were well satisfied with the new measure. They were, by +education and conviction, conservatives. Dr. Plunkett of Meath, Dr. +Egan of Waterford, Dr. Troy of Dublin, and Dr. Moylan of Cork, were the +most remarkable for influence and ability at this period. Dr. Butler of +Cashel, and his opponent, Dr. Burke of Ossory, the head of the resolute +old ultramontane minority, were both recently deceased. With the +exception of Dr. James Butler, Bishop of Cloyne and Ross, who deserted +his faith and order on becoming unexpectedly heir to an earldom, the +Irish prelates of the reign of George III. were a most zealous and +devoted body. Lord Dunboyne's fall was the only cause of a reproach +within their own ranks. That unhappy prelate made, many years +afterwards, a death-bed repentance, was reconciled to his church, and +bequeathed a large part of his inherited wealth to sustain the new +national college, the founding of which, ever since the outbreak of the +French revolution, the far-seeing Burke was urging upon Pitt and all +his Irish correspondents. + +In 1794, the Irish Bishops, having applied for a "royal license" to +establish academies and seminaries, were graciously received, and Lord +Fitzwilliam's government the next session brought in the Act of +Incorporation. It became law on the 5th of June, 1795, and the college +was opened the following October with fifty students. Dr Hussey, +afterwards Bishop of Waterford, the friend of Burke, who stood by his +deathbed, was first President; some refugee French divines were +appointed to professorships; and the Irish Parliament voted the very +handsome sum of 8,000 pounds a year to the new foundation. Maynooth, +whatever its after lot, was the creation in the first instance of the +Irish Parliament. We have thus, in the third century after the +reformation, after three great religious wars, after four +confiscations, after the most ingenious, cruel, and unchristian methods +of oppression and proselytism, had been tried and had failed, the grand +spectacle of the Catholics of Ireland restored, if not fully, yet to +the most precious of the civil and religious liberties of a people! So +powerless against conscience is and ever must be coercion! + + + +CHAPTER XII. +THE ERA OF INDEPENDENCE—EFFECTS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION IN +IRELAND—SECESSION OF GRATTAN, CURRAN, AND THEIR FRIENDS, FROM +PARLIAMENT, IN 1797. + +The era of independence which we have desired to mark distinctly to the +reader's mind, may be said to terminate in 1797, with the hopeless +secession of Grattan and his friends from Parliament. Did the events +within and without the House justify that extreme measure? We shall +proceed to describe them as they arose, leaving the decision of the +question to the judgment of the reader. + +The session of 1793, which extended into July, was, besides the +Catholic Relief Bill, productive of other important results. Under the +plea of the spread of French principles, and the widespread +organization of seditious associations—a plea not wanting in +evidence—an Arms Act was introduced and carried, prohibiting the +importation of arms and gunpowder, and authorizing domiciliary visits, +at any hour of the night or day, in search of such arms. Within a month +from the passage of this bill, bravely but vainly opposed by Lord +Edward Fitzgerald, and the opposition generally, the surviving +Volunteer corps, in Dublin and its vicinity, were disbanded, their +arms, artillery, and ammunition taken possession of either by force or +negotiation, and the very wreck of that once powerful patriot army +swept away. In its stead, by nearly the same majority, the militia were +increased to 16,000 men, and the regulars from 12,000 to 17,000—thus +placing at the absolute control of the Commander-in-Chief, and the +chiefs of the oligarchy, a standing army of 33,000 men. At the same +period, Lord Clare (he had been made an earl in 1792), introduced his +Convention Act, against the assemblage in convention of delegates +purporting to represent the people. With Grattan only 27 of the Commons +divided against this measure, well characterized as "the boldest step +that ever yet was made to introduce military government." "If this bill +had been law," Grattan added, "the independence of the Irish +Parliament, the emancipation of the Catholics, and even the English +revolution of 1688, could never have taken place!" The teller in favour +of the Convention Act was Major Wellesley, member for Trim, twenty +years later—Duke of Wellington! It became and still remains the law of +Ireland. + +Against this reactionary legislation we must credit the session of '93, +besides the Catholic Relief Bill and the East India Trade Bill, with +Mr. Grattan's Barren Lands Bill, exempting all newly reclaimed lands +from the payment of tithes for a period of seven years; Mr. Forbes's +Pension Bill, limiting the pension list to 80,000 pounds sterling per +annum, and fixing the permanent civil list at 250,000 pounds per annum; +and the excellent measure of the same invaluable member, excluding from +Parliament all persons holding offices of profit under the crown, +except the usual ministerial officers, and those employed in the +_revenue service_. This last salvo was forced into the bill by the +oligarchical faction, for whose junior branches the revenue had long +been a fruitful source of provision. + +Parliament met next, on the 21st of January, '94, and held a short +two-months' session. The most remarkable incidents of these two months +were the rejection of Mr. George Ponsonby's annual motion for +parliamentary reform, and the striking position taken by Grattan, +Curran, and all but seven or eight of their friends, in favour of the +war against the French republic. Mr. Ponsonby proposed, in the spirit +of Flood's plan ten years earlier, to unite to the boroughs four miles +square of the adjoining country, thus creating a counterpoise to the +territorial aristocracy on the one hand, and the patrons of boroughs on +the other; he also proposed to extend the suffrage to every tradesman +who had served five years' apprenticeship, and gave each county _three_ +instead of two members, leaving intact, of course, the forty-shilling +freehold franchise. Not more than 44 members, however, divided in +favour of the new project, while 142 voted against it! Had it passed, +the parliamentary history of the next six years could never have been +written. + +It was on this Reform bill, and on the debate on the address, that +Grattan took occasion to declare his settled and unalterable hostility +to those "French principles," then so fashionable with all who called +themselves friends of freedom, in the three kingdoms. In the great +social schism which had taken place in Europe, in consequence of the +French revolution of 1789-'91, those kingdoms, the favourite seat of +free inquiry and free discussion, could not hope to escape. The effects +were visible in every circle, among every order of men; in all the +churches, workshops, saloons, professions, into which men were divided. +Among publicists, most of all, the shock was most severely felt; in +England it separated Burke and Windham from Fox, Erskine, Sheridan, and +Grey; in Ireland it separated Grattan and Curran from Lord Edward +Fitzgerald, Arthur O'Conor, Addis Emmet, Wolfe Tone, and all those +ardent, able, and honest men, who hailed the French, as the forerunner +of a complete series of European republics, in which Ireland should +shine out, among the brightest and the best. + +Grattan, who agreed with and revered Burke, looked upon the +"anti-Jacobin war," as a just and necessary war. It was not in his +nature to do anything by halves, and he therefore cordially supported +the paragraph in the address pledging Ireland's support to that war. He +was a constitutionalist of the British, not of the French type. In the +subsequent Reform debate he declared that he would always and ever +resist those who sought to remodel the Irish constitution on a French +original. He asserted, moreover, that great mischief had been already +done by the advocates of such a design, "It"—this design—"has thrown +back for the present the chance of any rational improvement in the +representation of the people," he cried, "and has betrayed a good +reform _to the hopes of a shabby insurrection_." Proceeding in his own +condensed, crystalline antithesis, he thus enlarged on his own +opinions: "There are two characters equally enemies to the reform of +Parliament, and equally enemies to the government—the leveller of the +constitution, and the friend of its abuses; they take different roads +to arrive at the same end. The levellers propose to subvert the King +and parliamentary constitution by a rank and unqualified democracy—the +friends of its abuses propose to support the King and buy the +Parliament, and in the end to overset both, by a rank and avowed +corruption. They are both incendiaries; the one would destroy +government to pay his court to liberty; the other would destroy liberty +to pay his court to government; but the liberty of the one would be +confusion, and the government of the other would be pollution." + +We can well understand that this language pleased as little the United +Irishmen as the Castle. It was known that in private he was accustomed +to say, that, "the wonder was not that Mr. Sheares should die on the +scaffold, but that Lord Clare was not there beside him." He stood in +the midst of the ways, crying aloud, with the wisdom of his age and his +genius, but there were few to heed his warnings. The sanguine innovator +sneered or pitied; the truculent despot scowled or menaced; to the one +his authority was an impediment, to the other his reputation was a +reproach. It was a public situation as full of conflict as man ever +occupied, and we are not astonished, on a nearer view, that it led, +after three years hoping against hope, to the despairing secession of +1797. + +A bright gleam of better things shot for an instant across the gloomy +prospect, with which the year '94 closed for the country. Lord +Westmoreland was recalled, and Lord Fitzwilliam, largely connected with +Ireland by property, and one of the most just and liberal men in +England, was to be his successor. The highest expectations were +excited; the best men congratulated each other on the certain promise +of better times close at hand; and the nation, ever ready to believe +whatever it wished to believe, saw in prospect, the oligarchy +restrained, the patriots triumphant, and the unfinished fabric of +independence completed, and crowned with honour. + +This new reign, though one of the shortest, was one of the most +important Ireland ever saw. Lord Fitzwilliam, the nephew of Lord +Rockingham, the first to acknowledge the constitution of 1782, had +married a Ponsonby; he was a Burke whig—one of those who, with the Duke +of Portland, Earl Spencer, and Mr. Windham, had followed the "great +Edmund," in his secession from the Fox-and-Sheridan majority of that +party, in 1791. Pitt, anxious to conciliate these new allies, had +brought them all into office in 1794—Earl Fitzwilliam being placed in +the dignified position of President of the Council. When spoken of for +the Viceroyalty he wrote to Grattan, bespeaking his support, and that +of "his friends, the Ponsonbys;" this letter and some others brought +Grattan to London, where he had two or three interviews with Pitt, the +Duke of Portland, and Lord Fitzwilliam. Better still, he made a +pilgrimage to Beaconsfield, and had the benefit of the last advice of +the aged Burke. With Pitt he was disappointed and dissatisfied, but he +still hoped and expected great good from the appointment of Lord +Fitzwilliam to the office of Viceroy. It seems to have been fully +understood that the new Lord Lieutenant would have very full powers to +complete the gracious work of Catholic emancipation: with this express +understanding, Mr. Grattan was pressed to accept the Chancellorship of +the Exchequer, but steadily declined; he upheld in that position Sir +Henry Parnell, an old personal, rather than political friend, one of a +family of whom Ireland has reason to retain a grateful recollection. He +was, however, with Ponsonby, Curran, and others of his friends in both +Houses, added to the Privy Council, where they were free to shape the +measures of the new administration. At the King's levee, on the 10th of +December, when Lord Fitzwilliam was sworn in, the aged Burke, in deep +mourning for his idolized son, attended; Grattan was so much spoken to +by the King as to draw towards him particular attention; Mr. Pitt, the +Duke of Portland, and other ministers, were present. All took and held +the tone that complete emancipation was a thing settled: Burke +congratulated Grattan on the event, and the new Viceroy was as jubilant +and as confident as anybody, that the great controversy was at length +to be finally closed under his auspices. + +On the 4th of January, Lord Fitzwilliam reached Dublin; and on the 25th +of March he was recalled. The history of these three months—of this +short-lived attempt to govern Ireland on the advice of Grattan—is full +of instruction. The Viceroy had not for a moment concealed his +intention of thoroughly reforming the Irish administration. On his +arrival at the Castle, Mr. Cooke was removed from the Secretaryship, +and Mr. Beresford from the Revenue Board. Great was the consternation, +and unscrupulous the intrigues of the dismissed. When the Parliament +met at the end of January, Grattan assumed the leadership of the House +of Commons, and moved the address in answer to the speech from the +throne. No opposition was offered—and it passed without a division. +Immediately, a bill granting the Catholics complete +emancipation—rendering them eligible even to the office of Chancellor, +withheld in 1829—was introduced by Grattan. Then the oligarchy found +their voices. The old cry of "the Church in danger" was raised, +delegations proceeded to London, and every agency of influence was +brought to bear on the King and the English cabinet. From the tenor of +his letters, Lord Fitzwilliam felt compelled in honour to tell Mr. +Pitt, that he might choose between him and the Beresfords. He did +choose—but not till the Irish Parliament, in the exuberance of its +confidence and gratitude, had voted the extraordinary subsidy of 20,000 +men for the navy, and _a million, eight hundred thousand pounds, +towards the expenses of the war with France!_ Then, the popular Viceroy +was recalled amid the universal regrets of the people. The day of his +departure from Dublin was a day of general mourning, except with the +oligarchical clique, whose leaders he had so resolutely thrust aside. +To them it was a day of insolent and unconcealed rejoicing; and, what +is not at all uncommon under such circumstances, the infatuated +partisans of the French revolution, rejoiced hardly less than the +extremest Tories, at the sudden collapse of a government equally +opposed to the politics of both. Grattan, than whom no public man was +ever more free from unjust suspicion of others, always remained under +the conviction that Pitt had made merely a temporary use of Lord +Fitzwilliam's popularity, in order to cheat the Irish out of the +immense supplies they had voted; and all the documents of the day, +which have since seen the light, accord well with that view of the +transaction. Lord Fitzwilliam was immediately replaced by Lord Camden, +whose Viceroyalty extended into the middle of the year 1798: a reign +which embraced all that remains to us to narrate, of the Parliamentary +politics of the era of Independence. + +The sittings of Parliament were resumed during April, May, and June, +but the complete emancipation bill was rejected three to one—155 to 55; +the debates were now marked, on the part of Toler, Duigenan, Johnson, +and others, with the most violent anti-Catholic spirit. All this tended +to inflame still more the exasperated feeling which already prevailed +in the country between Orangemen and Defenders. Thus it came, that the +High Court of Parliament, which ought to have been the chief school of +public wisdom—the calm correcting tribunal of public opinion—was made a +principal engine in the dissemination of those prejudices and passions, +which drove honest men to despair of constitutional redress, and +swelled the ranks of the secret political societies, till they became +co-extensive with the population. + +The session of 1796 was even more hopeless than the immediately +preceding one. A trade motion of Grattan's on the address commanded +only 14 votes out of 140; in the next session his motion in favour of +equal rights to persons of all religious creeds, obtained but 12 votes +out of 160! From these figures it is clear that above a third of the +members of the House no longer attended; that of those who did attend, +the overwhelming and invariable majority—ten to one—were for all the +measures of repression and coercion which marked these two sessions. +The Insurrection Act, giving power to the magistrates of any county to +proclaim martial law; the Indemnity Act, protecting magistrates from +the consequences of exercising "a vigour beyond the law;" the Riot Act, +giving authority to disperse any number of persons by force of arms +without notice; the Suspension of the _habeas corpus_ (against which +only 7 members out of a House of 164 voted)—all were evidences to +Grattan, that the usefulness of the House of Commons, as then +constituted, was, for the tune, lost or destroyed. It is quite clear +that he came to this conviction slowly and reluctantly; that he +struggled against it with manly fortitude through three sessions; that +he yielded to it at length, when there was no longer a possibility of +resistance,—when to move or to divide the House, had become a wretched +farce, humiliating to the country, and unworthy of his own earnest and +enthusiastic patriotism. + +Under these circumstances, the powerless leader and his devoted staff +resolved to withdraw, formally and openly, from further attendance on +the House of Commons. The deplorable state of the country, delivered +over to an irresponsible magistracy and all the horrors of martial law; +the spread among the patriotic rising generation of French principles; +the scarcely concealed design of the Castle to goad the people into +insurrection, in order to deprive them of their liberties; all +admonished the faithful few that the walls of Parliament were no longer +their sphere of usefulness. One last trial was, however, made in May, +1797, for a reform of Parliament. Mr. George Ponsonby moved his usual +motion, and Curran, Hardy, Sir Lawrence Parsons, Charles Kendall Bushe, +and others, ably supported him. The division was 30 to 117. It was on +this debate, that Grattan, whose mournful manner contrasted so strongly +with his usual enthusiasm, concluded a solemn exposition of the evils +the administration were bringing on the country, by these affecting +words:—"We have offered you our measure—you will reject it; we +deprecate yours—you will persevere; having no hopes left to persuade or +to dissuade, and having discharged our duty, we shall trouble you no +more, _and after this day shall not attend the House of Commons_." The +secession thus announced was accomplished; at the general election, two +months later, Grattan and his colleague, Lord Henry Fitzgerald, refused +to stand again for Dublin; Curran, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Arthur +O'Conor, and others, followed his example. A few patriots, hoping +against hope, were, however, returned, a sort of forlorn hope, to man +the last redoubt of the Constitution. Of these was William Conyngham +Plunkett, member for Charlemont, Grattan's old borough, a +constitutionalist of the school of Edmund Burke, worthy to be named +among the most illustrious of his disciples. + +In the same July, on the 7th of the month, on which the Irish elections +were held, that celebrated Anglo-Irish statesman expired at +Beaconsfield, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. His last +thoughts—his last wishes, like his first—were with his native land. His +regards continued fixed on the state of Ireland, while vision and +faculty remained. His last efforts in writing and conversation were to +plead for toleration, concession and conciliation towards Ireland. The +magisterial gravity of Burke was not calculated to permit him to be +generally popular with an impulsive people, but as years roll on, and +education extends its dominion, his reputation rises and brightens +above every other reputation of his age, British or Irish. Of him no +less truly than powerfully did Grattan say in the Imperial Parliament, +in 1815: "He read everything, he saw everything, he foresaw everything. +His knowledge of history amounted to a power of foretelling; and when +he perceived the wild work that was doing in France, that great +political physician, intelligent of symptoms, distinguished between the +access of fever and the force of health; and what other men conceived +to be the vigour of her constitution, he knew to be no more than the +paroxysm of her madness; and then, prophet-like, he denounced the +destinies of France, and in his prophetic fury, admonished nations." + + + +CHAPTER XIII. +THE UNITED IRISHMEN. + +Half measures of justice may satisfy the generation which achieves +them, but their successors will look with other eyes, as well on what +has been won as on that which is withheld. The part in possession will +appear to their youthful sense of abstract right and wrong far less +precious than the part in expectancy, for it is in the nature of the +young to look forward, as it is of the old to turn their regards to the +past. The very recollection of their fathers will stimulate the new +generation to emulate their example, and will render them averse to +being bound by former compromises. So necessary is it for statesmen, +when they yield to a just demand long withheld, to yield gracefully and +to yield all that is fairly due. + +The celebrated group known to us as "the United Irishmen," were the +birth of a new generation, entering together on the public stage. With +few exceptions, the leading characters were all born within a few years +of each other: Neilson in 1761, Tone, Arthur O'Conor and Lord Edward +Fitzgerald in '62, McNevin in '63, Sampson and Thomas Addis Emmet in +'64, and Russell in '67. They had emerged into manhood while the drums +of the Volunteers were beating victorious marches, when the public +hopes ran high, and the language of patriotism was the familiar speech +of every-day life. + +In a settled state of society it would have been natural for the first +minds of the new generation to carry their talents, gratefully and +dutifully, into the service of the first reputations of the old; but +Irish society, in the last years of the last century, was not in a +settled condition; the fascination of French example, and the goading +sense of national wrongs only half-righted, inflamed the younger +generation with a passionate thirst for speedy and summary justice on +their oppressors. We must not look, therefore, to see the Tones and +Emmets continuing in the constitutional line of public conduct marked +out by Burke in the one kingdom, and Grattan in the other. The new age +was revolutionary, and the new men were filled with the spirit of the +age. Their actions stand apart; they form an episode in the history of +the century to which there may be parallels, but a chapter in the +history of their own country original and alone. + +The United Irish Society sprung up at Belfast in October, 1791. In that +month, Theobold Wolf Tone, then in his 28th year, a native of Kildare, +a member of the bar, and an excellent popular pamphleteer, on a visit +to his friend Thomas Russell, in the northern capital, was introduced +to Samuel Neilson, proprietor of the _Northern Star_ newspaper, and +several other kindred spirits, all staunch reformers, or "something +more." Twenty of these gentlemen meeting together, adopted a programme +prepared by Tone, which contained these three simple propositions: that +"English influence" was the great danger of Irish liberty; that a +reform of Parliament could alone create a counterpoise to that +influence; and that such a reform to be just should include Irishmen of +all religious denominations. On Tone's return to Dublin, early in +November, a branch society was formed on the Belfast basis. The Hon. +Simon Butler, a leading barrister, was chosen Chairman, and Mr. Napper +Tandy, an active middle-aged merchant, with strong republican +principles, was Secretary. The solemn declaration or oath, binding +every member "to forward a brotherhood of affection, an identity of +interests, a communion of rights, and a union of power among Irishmen +of all religious persuasions," was drawn up by the Dublin club, and +became the universal bond of organization. Though the Belfast leaders +had been long in the habit of meeting in "secret committee," to direct +and control the popular movements in their vicinage, the new society +was not, in its inception, nor for three years afterwards, a secret +society. When that radical change was proposed, we find it resisted by +a considerable minority, who felt themselves at length compelled to +retire from an association, the proceedings of which they could no +longer approve. In justice to those who remained, adopting secrecy as +their only shield, it must be said, that the freedom of the press and +of public discussion had been repeatedly and frequently violated before +they abandoned the original maxims and tactics of their body, which +were all open, and above-board. + +In 1792, Simon Butler, and Oliver Bond—a prosperous Dublin merchant of +northern origin—was summoned to the bar of the House of Lords, +condemned to six months' imprisonment, and a fine of 500 pounds each, +for having acted as Chairman and Secretary of one of the meetings, at +which an address to the people, strongly reflecting on the corrupt +constitution of Parliament, was adopted. In '94, Archibald Hamilton +Rowan, one of the purest and most chivalrous characters of any age, was +convicted, by a packed jury, of circulating the famous "Universal +Emancipation" address of his friend, Dr. William Drennan, the +poet-politician of the party. He was defended by Curran, in the still +more famous speech in which occurs his apostrophe to "the genius of +Universal Emancipation;" but he atoned in the cells of Newgate, for +circulating the dangerous doctrine which Drennan had broached, and +Curran had immortalized. + +The regular place of meeting of the Dublin society was the Tailors' +Hall, in Back Lane, a spacious building, called, from the number of +great popular gatherings held in it, "the Back Lane Parliament." Here +Tandy, in the uniform of his new National Guard, whose standard bore +the harp without the crown, addressed his passionate harangues to the +applauding multitude; here Tone, whose _forte_, however, was not +oratory, constantly attended; here, also, the leading Catholics, Keogh +and McCormack, the "Gog" and "Magog," of Tone's extraordinary +_Memoirs_, were occasionally present. And here, on the night of the 4th +of May, 1794, the Dublin society found themselves suddenly assailed by +the police, their papers seized, their officers who were present +arrested, and their meeting dispersed. From that moment we may date the +new and _secret_ organization of the brotherhood, though it was not in +general operation till the middle of the following year. + +This new organization, besides its secrecy, had other revolutionary +characteristics. For "reform of Parliament" was substituted in the +test, or oath, representation "of all the people of Ireland," and for +petitions and publications, the enrolment of men, by baronies and +counties, and the appointment of officers, from the least to the +highest in rank, as in a regular army. The unit was a lodge of twelve +members, with a chairman and secretary, who were also their corporal +and sergeant; five of these lodges formed a company, and the officers +of five such companies a baronial committee, from which again, in like +manner, the county committees were formed. Each of the provinces had +its Directory, while in Dublin the supreme authority was established, +in an "Executive Directory" of five members. The orders of the +Executive were communicated to not more than one of the Provincial +Directors, and by him to one of each County Committee, and so in a +descending scale, till the rank and file were reached; an elaborate +contrivance, but one which proved wholly insufficient to protect the +secrets of the organization from the ubiquitous espionage of the +government. + +In May, 1795, the new organization lost the services of Wolfe Tone, who +was compromised by a strange incident, to a very serious extent. The +incident was the arrest and trial of the Rev. William Jackson, an +Anglican clergyman, who had imbibed the opinions of Price and +Priestley, and had been sent to Ireland by the French Republic, on a +secret embassy. Betrayed by a friend and countryman, named Cockayne, +the unhappy Jackson took poison in prison, and expired in the dock. +Tone had been seen with Jackson, and through the influence of his +friends, was alone protected from arrest. He was compelled, however, to +quit the country, in order to preserve his personal liberty. He +proceeded with his family to Belfast, where, before taking shipping for +America, he renewed with his first associates, their vows and projects, +on the summit of "the Cave Hill," which looks down upon the rich valley +of the Laggan, and the noble town and port at its outlet. Before +quitting Dublin, he had solemnly promised Emmet and Russell, in the +first instance, as he did his Belfast friends in the second, that he +would make the United States his _route_ to France, where he would +negotiate a formidable national alliance, for "the United Irishmen." + +In the year in which Tone left the country, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, +brother of the Duke of Leinster, and formerly a Major in the British +Army, joined the society; in the next year—near its close—Thomas Addis +Emmet, who had long been in the confidence of the promoters, joined, as +did, about the same time, Arthur O'Conor, nephew of Lord Longueville, +and ex-member for Phillipstown, and Dr. William James McNevin, a +Connaught Catholic, educated in Austria, then practising his profession +with eminent success in Dublin. These were felt to be important +accessions, and all four were called upon to act on "the Executive +Directory," from time to time, during 1796 and 1797. + +The coercive legislation carried through Parliament, session after +session—the Orange persecutions in Armagh and elsewhere—the domiciliary +visits—the military outrages in town and country—the free quarters, +whipping and tortures—the total suppression of the public press—the +bitter disappointment of Lord Fitzwilliam's recall—the annual failure +of Ponsonby's motion for reform—finally, the despairing secession of +Grattan and his friends from Parliament—had all tended to expand the +system, which six years before was confined to a few dozen enthusiasts +of Belfast and Dublin, into the dimensions of a national confederacy. +By the close of this year, 500,000 men had taken the test, in every +part of the country, and nearly 300,000 were reported as armed, either +with firelocks or pikes. Of this total, 110,000 alone were returned for +Ulster; about 60,000 for Leinster, and the remainder from Connaught and +Munster. A fund, ludicrously small, 1,400 pounds sterling, remained in +the hands of the Executive, after all the outlay which had taken place, +in procuring arms, in extending the union, and in defending prisoners +arrested as members of the society. Lord Edward Fitzgerald was chosen +Commander-in-Chief; but the main reliance, for munitions, artillery, +and officers, was placed upon the French Republic. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. +NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE AND HOLLAND—THE THREE EXPEDITIONS NEGOTIATED +BY TONE AND LEWINES. + +The close of the year 1795 saw France under the government of the +Directory, with Carnot in the cabinet, and Pichegru, Jourdain, Moreau, +Hoche, and Buonaparte at the head of its armies. This government, with +some change of persons, lasted from October, 1795, to November, '99, +when it was supplanted by the Consular Revolution. Within the compass +of those four years lie the negotiations which were carried on and the +three great expeditions which were fitted out by France and Holland, at +the instance of the United Irishmen. + +On the 1st of February, 1796, Tone, who had sailed from Belfast the +previous June, arrived at Havre from New York, possessed of a hundred +guineas and some useful letters of introduction. One of these letters, +written in cipher, was from the French Minister at Philadelphia to the +Minister of Foreign Affairs, Charles Lacroix; another was to the +American Minister in France, Mr. Monroe, afterwards President of the +United States, by whom he was most kindly received, and wisely advised, +on reaching Paris. Lacroix received him courteously, and referred him +to a subordinate called Madgett, but after nearly three months wasted +in interviews and explanations, Tone, by the advice of Monroe, +presented himself at the Luxembourg Palace, and demanded audience of +the "Organizer of Victory." Carnot also listened to him attentively, +asked and obtained his true name, and gave him another _rendezvous_. He +was next introduced to Clarke (afterwards Duc de Feltre), Secretary at +War, the son of an Irishman, whom he found wholly ignorant of Ireland; +and finally, on the 12th of July, General Hoche, in the most frank and +winning manner, introduced himself. At first the Directory proposed +sending to Ireland no more than 5,000 men, while Tone pleaded for +20,000; but when Hoche accepted the command, he assured Tone he would +go "in sufficient force." The "pacificator of La Vendee," as the young +general was called—he was only thirty-two,—won at once the heart of the +enthusiastic founder of the United Irishmen, and the latter seems to +have made an equally favourable impression. He was at once presented +with the commission of a _chef de brigade_ of infantry—a rank answering +to that of colonel with us—and was placed as adjutant on the general's +staff. Hoche was all ardour and anxiety; Carnot cheered him on by +expressing his belief that it would be "a most brilliant operation;" +and certainly Tone was not the man to damp such expectations, or allow +them to evaporate in mere complimentary assurances. + +During the autumn months the expedition was busily being fitted out at +Brest, and the general head-quarters were at Rennes. The Directory, to +satisfy themselves that all was as represented by Tone, had sent an +agent of their own to Ireland, by whom a meeting was arranged on the +Swiss frontier between Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Arthur O'Conor, Dr. +McNevin, and Hoche. From this meeting—the secret of which he kept to +himself—the young general returned in the highest spirits, and was +kinder than ever to his adjutant. At length, early in December, all was +ready, and on the 16th the Brest fleet stood out to sea; 17 sail of the +line, 13 frigates, and 13 smaller ships, carrying 15,000 picked troops, +the _élite_ of "the Army of the Ocean," and abundance of artillery and +munitions of war. Tone was in the _Indomptable_, 80 guns, commanded by +a Canadian, named Bedout; Hoche and the Admiral in the frigate +_Fraternité_; Grouchy, so memorable for the part he played then and +afterwards, was second in command. On the third morning, after groping +about and losing each other in Atlantic fog, one-half the fleet (with +the fatal exception of the _Fraternité_) found themselves close in with +the coast of Kerry. They entered Bantry Bay, and came to anchor, ten +ships of war, and "a long line of dark hulls resting on the green +water." Three or four days they lay dormant and idle, waiting for the +General and Admiral; Bouvet, the Vice-Admiral, was opposed to moving in +the absence of his chief; Grouchy was irresolute and nervous; but at +length, on Christmas day, the council of war decided in favour of +debarkation. The landing was to take place next morning; 6,500 veterans +were prepared to step ashore at daylight, but without their artillery, +their military chest, and their general. Two hours beyond midnight Tone +was roused from sleep by the wind, which he found blowing half a gale. +Pacing the gallery of the _Indomptable_ till day dawned, he felt it +rising louder and angrier, every hour. The next day it was almost a +hurricane, and the Vice-Admiral's frigate, running under the quarter of +the great 80-gun ship, ordered them to slip anchor and stand out to +sea. The whole fleet was soon driven off the Irish coast; that part of +it, in which Grouchy and Tone were embarked, made its entrance into +Brest on New Year's day; the ship which carried Hoche and the Admiral, +only arrived at La Rochelle on the 15th. The Directory and the General, +so far from being discouraged by this failure, consoled themselves by +the demonstration they had made, of the possibility of a great fleet +passing to and fro, in British waters, for nearly a month, without +encountering a single British vessel of war. Not so the Irish +negotiator; on him, light-hearted and daring as he was, the +disappointment fell with crushing weight; but he magnanimously carried +Grouchy's report to Paris, and did his utmost to defend the unlucky +general from a cabal which had been formed against him. + +While Tone was reluctantly following his new chief to the Meuse and the +Rhine—with a promise that the Irish expedition was delayed, not +abandoned—another, and no less fortunate negotiator, was raising up a +new ally for the same cause, in an unexpected quarter. The Batavian +republic, which had risen in the steps of Pichegru's victorious army, +in 1794, was now eager to imitate the example of France. With a +powerful fleet, and an unemployed army, its chiefs were quite ready to +listen to any proposal which would restore the maritime ascendancy of +Holland, and bring back to the recollection of Europe the memory of the +puissant Dutch republic. In this state of affairs, the new agent of the +Irish Directory, Edward John Lewines, a Dublin attorney, a man of great +ability and energy, addressed himself to the Batavian government. He +had been sent abroad with very general powers, to treat with Holland, +Spain, France, or any other government at war with England, for a loan +of half a million sterling, and a sufficient auxiliary force to aid the +insurrection. During two months' stay at Hamburg, the habitual route in +those days from the British ports to the continent, he had placed +himself in communication with the Spanish agent there, and had, in +forty days, received an encouraging answer from Madrid. On his way, +probably to Spain, to follow up that fair prospect, he reached the +Netherlands, and rapidly discovering the state of feeling in the Dutch, +or as it was then called, the _Batavian_ republic, he addressed himself +to the Directors, who consulted Hoche, by whom in turn Tone was +consulted. Tone had a high opinion of Lewines, and at once proceeded +with him to the Hague, where they were joined, according to agreement, +by Hoche. The Dutch Committee of Foreign Affairs, the +Commander-in-Chief, General Dandaels, and the Admiral, De Winter, +entered heartily into the project. There were in the Texel 16 ships of +the line and 10 frigates, victualled for three months, with 15,000 men +and 80 field guns on board. The only serious difficulty in the way was +removed by the disinterestedness of Hoche; the French Foreign Minister +having demanded that 5,000 French troops should be of the expedition, +and that Hoche should command in chief; the latter, to conciliate +Dandaels and the Dutch, undertook to withdraw the proposal, and +gracefully yielded his own pretensions. All then was settled: Tone was +to accompany Dandaels with the same rank he had in the Brest +expedition, and Lewines to return, and remain, as "Minister-resident" +at Paris. On the 8th of July, Tone was on board the flagship, the +_Vryheid_, 74 guns, in the Texel, and "only waiting for a wind," to +lead another navy to the aid of his compatriots. + +But the winds, "the only unsubsidized allies of England," were +strangely adverse. A week, two, three, four, five, passed heavily away, +without affording a single day in which that mighty fleet could make an +offing. Sometimes for an hour or two it shifted to the desired point, +the sails were unclewed and the anchors shortened, but then, as if to +torture the impatient exiles on board, it veered back again and settled +steadily in the fatal south-west. At length, at the end of August, the +provisions being nearly consumed, and the weather still unfavourable, +the Dutch Directory resolved to land the troops and postpone the +expedition. De Winter, as is known, subsequently found an opportunity +to work out, and attack Lord Duncan, by whom he was badly beaten. Thus +ended Irish hopes of aid from Holland. The indomitable Tone rejoined +his chief on the Rhine, where, to his infinite regret, Hoche died the +following month—September 18th, 1797—of a rapid consumption, +accelerated by cold and carelessness. "Hoche," said Napoleon to Barry +O'Meara at Saint Helena, "was one of the first generals France ever +produced. He was brave, intelligent, abounding in talent, decisive and +penetrating. Had he landed in Ireland, he would have succeeded. He was +accustomed to civil war, had pacified La Vendee, and was well adapted +for Ireland. He had a fine, handsome figure, a good address, was +prepossessing and intriguing." The loss of such a patron, who felt +himself, according to Tone's account, especially bound to follow up the +object of separating Ireland from England, was a calamity greater and +more irreparable than the detention of one fleet or the dispersion of +the other. + +The third expedition, in promoting which Tone and Lewines bore the +principal part, was decided upon by the French Directory, immediately +after the conclusion of peace with Austria, in October, 1797. The +decree for the formation of "the Army of England," named Buonaparte +Commander-in-Chief, with Desaix as his second. Buonaparte consulted +Clarke as to who he most confided in among the numerous Irish refugees +then in Paris—there were some twenty or thirty, all more or less known, +and more or less in communication with the Directory—and Clarke +answered at once, "Tone, of course." Tone, with Lewines, the one in a +military, the other in an ambassadorial capacity, had frequent +interviews with the young conqueror of Italy, whom they usually found +silent and absorbed, always attentive, sometimes asking sudden +questions betraying great want of knowledge of the British Islands, and +occasionally, though rarely, breaking out into irresistible invectives +against Jacobinism and the English system, both of which he so +cordially detested. Every assurance was given by the General, by the +Directors, by Merlin du Douai, Barras, and Talleyrand especially, that +the expedition against England would never be abandoned. Tone, in high +spirits as usual, joined the division under the command of his +countryman, General Kilmaine, and took up his quarters at Havre, where +he had landed without knowing a soul in France two years before. + +The winter wore away in busy preparations at Havre, at Brest, and at La +Rochelle,—and, which seemed mysterious to the Irish exiles—at Toulon. +All the resources of France, now without an enemy on the Continent, +were put forth in these preparations. But it soon appeared they were +not put forth for Ireland. On the 20th of May, 1798—within three days +of the outbreak in Dublin, Wexford, and Kildare—Buonaparte sailed with +the _elite_ of all that expedition for Alexandria, and "the Army of +England" became, in reality, "the Army of Egypt." + +The bitterness, the despondency, and desperation which seized on the +Irish leaders in France, and on the rank and file of the United +Irishmen at home, on receiving this intelligence are sufficiently +illustrated in the subsequent attempts under Humbert and Bompart, and +the partial, ineffectual risings in Leinster, Ulster, and Connaught, +during the summer and autumn of 1798. After all their high hopes from +France and her allies, this was what it had come to at last! A few +frigates, with three or four thousand men, were all that could be +spared for the succour of a kingdom more populous than Egypt and Syria +combined; the granary of England, and the key of her Atlantic position. +It might have been some comfort to the family of Tone to have read, +thirty years afterwards, in their American asylum, or for the aged +Lewines to have read in the Parisian retreat in which he died, the +memorable confession of Napoleon at Saint Helena: "If instead of the +expedition to Egypt, I had undertaken that to Ireland, what," he asked, +"could England do now? On such chances," he mournfully added, "depend +the destinies of empires!" + + + +CHAPTER XV. +THE INSURRECTION OF 1798. + +It is no longer matter of assertion merely, but simple matter of fact, +that the English and Irish ministers of George III. regarded the +insurrectionary movement of the United Irishmen as at once a pretext +and a means for effecting a legislative union between the two +countries. Lord Camden, the Viceroy who succeeded Lord Fitzwilliam in +March, '95—with Mr. Pelham as his Chief Secretary, in a letter to his +relative, the Hon. Robert Stewart, afterwards Lord Castlereagh, +announced this policy, in unmistakable terms, so early as 1793; and all +the official correspondence published of late years, concerning that +period of British and Irish history, establishes the fact beyond the +possibility of denial. + +Such being the design, it was neither the wish nor the interest of the +Government, that the insurrection should be suppressed, unless the +Irish constitution could be extinguished with it. To that end they +proceeded in the coercive legislation described in a previous chapter; +to that end they armed with irresponsible power the military officers +and the oligarchical magistracy; with that view they quartered those +yeomanry regiments, which were known to be composed of Orangemen, on +the wretched peasantry of the most Catholic counties, while the corps +in which Catholics or United Irishmen were most numerous, were sent +over to England, in exchange for Scotch fencibles and Welsh cavalry. +The outrages committed by all these volunteer troops, but above all by +the Orange yeomanry of the country, were so monstrous, that the gallant +and humane Sir John Moore exclaimed, "If I were an Irishman, I would be +a rebel!" + +It was, indeed, impossible for any man, however obscure, or however +eminent, to live longer in the country, without taking sides. Yet the +choice was at best a hard and unhappy one. On the one side was the +Castle, hardly concealing its intention of goading on the people, in +order to rob them of their Parliament; on the other was the injured +multitude, bound together by a secret system which proved in reality no +safeguard against traitors in their own ranks, and which had been +placed by its Protestant chiefs under the auspices of an infidel +republic. Between the two courses men made election according to their +bias or their necessities, or as they took local or general, political +or theological views of the situation. Both Houses of the legislature +unanimously sustained the government against the insurrection; as did +the judges, the bar, and the Anglican clergy and bishops. The +Presbyterian body were in the beginning all but unanimous for a +republican revolution and the French alliance; the great majority of +the Catholic peasantry were, as the crisis increased, driven into the +same position, while all their bishops and a majority of the Catholic +aristocracy, adhered to that which they, with the natural tendency of +their respective orders, considered the side of religion and authority. +Thus was the nation sub-divided within itself; Protestant civilian from +Protestant ecclesiastic, Catholic layman from Catholic priest, tenant +from lord, neighbour from neighbour, father from son, and friend from +friend. + +During the whole of '97, the opposing parties were in a ferment of +movement and apprehension. As the year wore on, the administration, +both English and Irish, began to feel that the danger was more +formidable than they had foreseen. The timely storm which had blown +Grouchy out of Bantry Bay, the previous Christmas, could hardly be +reckoned on again, though the settled hostility of the French +government knew no change. Thoroughly well informed by their legion of +spies both on the Continent and in Ireland, every possible military +precaution was taken. The Lord Lieutenant's proclamation for disarming +the people, issued in May, was rigorously enforced by General Johnstone +in the South, General Hutchinson in the West, and Lord Lake in the +North. Two hundred thousand pikes and pike-heads were said to have been +discovered or surrendered during the year, and several thousand +firelocks. The yeomanry, and English and Scotch corps amounted to +35,000 men, while the regular troops were increased to 50,000 and +subsequently to 80,000, including three regiments of the Guards. The +defensive works at Cork, and other vulnerable points were strengthened +at an immense cost; the "Pigeon House" fort, near Dublin, was enlarged, +for the city itself was pronounced by General Vallancy, Colonel +Packenham, and other engineer authorities dangerously weak, if not +wholly untenable. A system of telegraphic signals was established from +all points of the coast with the Capital, and every precaution taken +against the surprise of another French invasion. + +During the summer assize, almost every considerable town and circuit +had its state trial. The sheriffs had been carefully selected +beforehand by the Castle, and the juries were certain to be of "the +right sort," under the auspices of such sheriffs. Immense sums in the +aggregate were contributed by the United Irish for the defence of their +associates; at the Down assizes alone, not less than seven hundred or +eight hundred guineas were spent in fees and retainers; but at the +close of the term, Mr. Beresford was able to boast to his friend Lord +Auckland, that but one of all the accused had escaped the penalty of +death or banishment! The military tribunals, however, did not wait for +the idle formalities of the civil courts. Soldiers and civilians, +yeomen and townsmen, against whom the informer pointed his finger, were +taken out, and summarily executed. Ghastly forms hung upon the +thick-set gibbets, not only in the market places of country towns, and +before the public prisons, but on all the bridges of the metropolis. +Many of the soldiers, in every military district were shot weekly and +almost daily for real or alleged complicity with the rebels. The horrid +torture of picketing, and the blood-stained lash, were constantly +resorted to, to extort accusations or confessions. Over all these +atrocities the furious and implacable spirit of Lord Clare presided in +Council, and the equally furious and implacable Luttrel, Lord +Carhampton, as Commander-in-Chief. All moderate councils were denounced +as nothing short of treason, and even the elder Beresford, the Privy +Counsellor, was compelled to complain of the violence of his noble +associates, and his inability to restrain the ferocity of his own +nearest relatives—meaning probably his son John Claudius, and his +son-in-law, Sir George Hill. + +It was while this spirit was abroad, a spirit as destructive as ever +animated the Councils of Sylla or Marius in Old Rome, or prompted the +decrees of Robespierre or Marat in France, that the genius and courage +of one man redeemed the lost reputation of the law, and upheld against +all odds the sacred claims of personal liberty. This man was John +Philpot Curran, the most dauntless of advocates, one of the truest and +bravest of his race. Although a politician of the school of Grattan, +and wholly untainted with French principles, he identified himself +absolutely with his unhappy clients, "predoomed to death." The genius +of patriotic resistance which seemed to have withdrawn from the Island +with Grattan's secession from Parliament, now re-appeared in the last +place where it might have been expected—in those courts of death, +rather than of justice—before those predetermined juries, besides the +hopeless inmates of the crowded dock, personified in the person of +Curran. Often at midnight, amid the clash of arms, his wonderful +pleadings were delivered; sometimes, as in Dublin, where the court +rooms adjoined the prisons, the condemned, or the confined, could hear, +in their cells, his piercing accents breaking the stillness of the +early morning, pleading for justice and mercy—pleading always with +superhuman perseverance, but almost always in vain. Neither menaces of +arrest, nor threats of assassination, had power to intimidate that +all-daring spirit; nor, it may be safely said, can the whole library of +human history present us a form of heroism superior in kind or degree +to that which this illustrious advocate exhibited during nearly two +years, when he went forth daily, with his life in his hand, in the holy +hope to snatch some human victim from the clutch of the destroyer +thirsting for his blood. + +In November, '97, some said from fear of personal consequences, some +from official pressure in a high quarter, Lord Carhampton resigned the +command of the forces, and Sir Ralph Abercromby was appointed in his +stead. There could not be a more striking illustration of the system of +terror patronized by government than was furnished in the case of Sir +Ralph as Commander-in-Chief. That distinguished soldier, with his half +century of services at his back, had not been a week in Dublin before +he discovered the weakness of the Viceroy, and the violence of his +principal advisers, the Chancellor, the Speaker, Lord Castlereagh and +the Beresfords. Writing in confidence to his son, he says, "The abuses +of all kinds I found here can scarcely be believed or enumerated." The +instances he cites of such abuses are sufficiently horrible to justify +the strong language which brought down on his head so much hostility, +when he declared in his proclamation of February '98, that the Irish +army was "formidable to every one but the enemy." These well-known +opinions were so repugnant to the Castle policy, that that party held a +caucus in the Speaker's Chambers, at which it was proposed to pass a +vote of censure in Parliament on the General, whom they denounced as "a +sulky mule," "a Scotch beast," and by other similar names. Though the +Parliamentary censure dropped, they actually compelled Lord Camden to +call on him to retract his magnanimous order. To this humiliation the +veteran stooped "for the sake of the King's service," but at the same +time he proffered his resignation. After two months' correspondence, it +was finally accepted, and the soldier who was found too jealous of the +rights of the people to be a fit instrument of their destruction, +escaped from his high position, not without a profound sentiment of +relief. His verdict upon the barbarous policy pursued in his time was +always expressed, frankly and decisively. His entire correspondence, +private and public, bears one and the same burthen—the violence, +cruelty, and tyranny of Lord Camden's chief advisers, and the pitiful +weakness of the Viceroy himself. Against the infamous plan of letting +loose a lustful and brutal soldiery to live at "free quarters" on a +defenceless and disarmed people—an outrage against which Englishmen had +taken perpetual security at _their_ revolution, as may be seen in "the +Bill of Rights," he struggled during his six months' command, but with +no great success. The plan, with all its horrors, was upheld by the +Lord-Lieutenant, and more than any other cause, precipitated the +rebellion which exploded at last, just as Sir Ralph was allowed to +retire from the country. His temporary successor, Lord Lake, was +troubled with no such scruples as the gallant old Scotsman. + +Events followed each other in the first months of 1798, fast and +furiously. Towards the end of February, Arthur O'Conor, Father James +Quigley, the brothers John and Benjamin Binns, were arrested at Margate +on their way to France; on the 6th of March, the _Press_ newspaper, the +Dublin organ of the party, as the _Star_ had been the Ulster organ, was +seized by Government, Lord Edward Fitzgerald and William Sampson being +at the time in the office. On the 12th of March, on the information of +the traitor, Thomas Reynolds, the Leinster delegates were seized in +conclave, with all their papers, at the house of Oliver Bond, in Bridge +Street, Dublin. On the same information. Addis Emmet and Dr. McNevin +were taken in their own houses, and Sampson in the north of England: of +all the executive, Lord Edward alone escaping those sent in search of +him. This was, as Tone notes in his journal, on the ill news reaching +France, "a terrible blow." O'Conor's arrest in Kent, Sampson's in +Carlisle, and the other arrests in Belfast and Dublin, proved too truly +that treason was at work, and that the much-prized oath of secrecy was +no protection whatever against the devices of the Castle and the +depravity of its secret agents. The extent to which that treason +extended, the number of associates who were in the pay of their deadly +enemies, was never known to the United Irish leaders; time has, +however, long since "revealed the secrets of the prison-house," and we +know now, that men they trusted with all their plans and hopes, such as +McNally and McGucken, were quite as deep in the conspiracy to destroy +them as Mr. Reynolds and Captain Armstrong. + +The most influential members of the Dublin Society remaining at large +contrived to correspond with each other, or to meet by stealth after +the arrest at Bond's. The vacancies in the Executive were filled up by +the brothers John and Henry Sheares, both barristers, sons of a wealthy +Cork banker, and former member of Parliament, and by Mr. Lawless, a +surgeon. For two months longer these gentlemen continued to act in +concert with Lord Edward, who remained undetected, notwithstanding all +the efforts of Government, from the 12th of March till the 19th of May +following. During those two months the new directors devoted themselves +with the utmost energy to hurrying on the armament of the people, and +especially to making proselytes among the militia, where the gain of +one man armed and disciplined was justly accounted equal to the +enlistment of three or four ordinary adherents. This part of their plan +brought the brothers Sheares into contact, among others, with Captain +John Warneford Armstrong, of the Queen's County Yeomanry, whom they +supposed they had won over, but who was, in reality, a better-class +spy, acting under Lord Castlereagh's instructions. Armstrong cultivated +them sedulously, dined at their table, echoed their opinions, and led +the credulous brothers on to their destruction. All at last was +determined on; the day of the rising was fixed—the 23rd day of May—and +the signal was to be the simultaneous stoppage of the mail coaches, +which started nightly from the Dublin post-office, to every quarter of +the kingdom. But the counterplot anticipated the plot. Lord Edward, +betrayed by a person called Higgins, proprietor of the _Freeman's +Journal_, was taken on the 19th of May, after a desperate struggle with +Majors Swan and Sirr, and Captain Ryan, in his hiding-place in Thomas +Street; the brothers Sheares were arrested in their own house on the +morning of the 21st, while Surgeon Lawless escaped from the city, and +finally from the country, to France. Thus, for the second time, was the +insurrection left without a head; but the organization had proceeded +too far to be any longer restrained, and the Castle, moreover, to use +the expression of Lord Castlereagh, "took means to make it explode." + +The first intelligence of the rebellion was received in Dublin on the +morning of the 24th of May. At Rathfarnham, within three miles of the +city, 500 insurgents attacked Lord Ely's yeomanry corps with some +success, till Lord Roden's dragoons, hastily despatched from the city, +compelled them to retreat, with the loss of some prisoners and two men +killed, whom Mr. Beresford saw the next day, literally "_cut to +pieces_—a horrid sight." At Dunboyne the insurgents piked an escort of +the Reay Fencibles (Scotch) passing through their village, and carried +off their baggage. At Naas, a large popular force attacked the +garrison, consisting of regulars, Ancient Britons (Welsh), part of a +regiment of dragoons, and the Armagh Militia; the attack was renewed +three times with great bravery, but finally, discipline, as it always +will, prevailed over mere numbers, and the assailants were repulsed +with the loss of 140 of their comrades. At Prosperous, where they cut +off to a man a strong garrison composed of North Cork Militia, under +Captain Swayne, the rising was more successful. The commander in this +exploit was Dr. Esmonde, brother of the Wexford baronet, who, being +betrayed by one of his own subalterns, was the next morning arrested at +breakfast in the neighbourhood, and suffered death at Dublin on the +14th of the following month. + +There could hardly be found a more unfavourable field for a peasant war +than the generally level and easily accessible county of Kildare, every +parish of which is within a day's march of Dublin. From having been the +residence of Lord Edward, it was, perhaps, one of the most highly +organized parts of Leinster, but as it had the misfortune to be +represented by Thomas Reynolds, as county delegate, it laboured under +the disadvantage of having its organization better known to the +government than any other. We need hardly be surprised, therefore, to +find that the military operations in this county were all over in ten +days or a fortnight; when those who had neither surrendered nor fallen, +fell back into Meath or Connaught, or effected a junction with the +Wicklow rebels in their mountain fastnesses. Their struggle, though so +brief, had been creditable for personal bravery. Attacked by a numerous +cavalry and militia under General Wilford, by 2,500 men, chiefly +regulars, under General Dundas, and by 800 regulars brought up by +forced marches from Limerick, under Sir James Duff, they showed +qualities, which, if well directed, would have established for their +possessors a high military reputation. At Monastereven they were +repulsed with loss, the defenders of the town being in part Catholic +loyalists, under Captain Cassidy; at Rathangan, they were more +successful, taking and holding the town for several days; at Clane, the +captors of Prosperous were repulsed; while at Old Killcullen, their +associates drove back General Dundas' advance, with the loss of 22 +regulars and Captain Erskine killed. Sir James Duff's wanton cruelty in +sabring and shooting down an unarmed multitude on the Curragh, won him +the warm approval of the extermination party in the Capital, while +Generals Wilford and Dundas narrowly escaped being reprimanded for +granting a truce to the insurgents under Aylmer, and accepting of the +surrender of that leader and his companions. By the beginning of June +the six Kildare encampments of insurgents were totally dispersed, and +their most active officers in prison or fugitives west or south. + +By a preconcerted arrangement, the local chiefs of the insurrection in +Dublin and Meath, gathered with their men on the third day after the +outbreak, at the historic hill of Tara. Here they expected to be joined +by the men of Cavan, Longford, Louth and Monaghan; but before the +northerners reached the trysting place, three companies of the Reay +Fencibles, under Captain McClean, the Kells and Navan Yeomanry, under +Captain Preston, (afterwards Lord Tara,) and a troop of cavalry under +Lord Fingal, surrounded the royal hill. The insurgents, commanded by +Gilshine and other leaders, intrenched themselves in the graveyard +which occupies the summit of Tara, and stoutly defended their position. +Twenty-six of the Highlanders and six of the Yeomanry fell in the +assault, but the bullet reached farther than the pike, and the +defenders were driven, after a sharp action, over the brow of the +eminence, and many of them shot or sabred down as they fled. + +Southward from the Capital the long pent-up flame of disaffection broke +out on the same memorable day, May 23rd. At Dunlavin, an abortive +attempt on the barrack revealed the fact that many of the Yeomanry were +thoroughly with the insurgents. Hardly had the danger from without +passed over, when a military inquiry was improvised. By this tribunal, +nineteen Wexford, and nine Kildare Yeomanry, were ordered to be shot, +and the execution of the sentence followed immediately on its rending. +At Blessington, the town was seized, but a nocturnal attack on Carlow +was repulsed with great loss. In this last affair, the rebels had +_rendezvoused_ in the domain of Sir Edward Crosbie, within two miles of +the town. Here arms were distributed and orders given by their leader, +named Roche. Silently and quickly they reached the town they hoped to +surprise. But the regular troops, of which the garrison was chiefly +composed, were on the alert, though their preparations were made full +as silently. When the peasantry emerged from Tullow Street, into an +exposed space, a deadly fire was opened upon them from the houses on +all sides. The regulars, in perfect security themselves, and abundantly +supplied with ammunition, shot them down with deadly unerring aim. The +people soon found there was nothing for it but retreat, and carrying +off as best they could their killed and wounded, they retired sorely +discomfited. For alleged complicity in this attack, Sir Edward Crosbie +was shortly afterward arrested, tried and executed. There was not a +shadow of proof against him; but he was known to sympathize with the +sufferings of his countrymen, to have condemned in strong language the +policy of provocation, and that was sufficient. He paid with the +penalty of his head for the kindness and generosity of his heart. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. +THE INSURRECTION OF 1798—THE WEXFORD INSURRECTION. + +The most formidable insurrection, indeed the only really formidable +one, broke out in the county of Wexford, a county in which it was +stated there were not 200 sworn United Irishmen, and which Lord Edward +Fitzgerald had altogether omitted from his official list of counties +organized in the month of February. In that brief interval, the +Government policy of provocation had the desired effect, though the +explosion was of a nature to startle those who occasioned it. + +Wexford, geographically, is a peculiar county, and its people are a +peculiar people. The county fills up the south-eastern corner of the +island, with the sea south-east, the river Barrow to the west, and the +woods and mountains of Carlow and Wicklow to the north. It is about +forty miles long by twenty-four broad; the surface undulating and +rising into numerous groups of detached hills, two or more of which are +generally visible from each conspicuous summit. Almost in the midst +flows the river Slaney, springing from a lofty Wicklow peak, which +sends down on its northern slope the better known river Liffey. On the +estuary of the Slaney, some seventy miles south of Dublin, stands the +county town, the traveller journeying to which by the usual route then +taken, passed in succession through Arklow, Gorey, Ferns, Enniscorthy, +and other places of less consequence, though familiar enough in the +fiery records of 1798. North-westward, the only road in those days from +Carlow and Kilkenny, crossed the Blackstairs at Scollagh-gap, entering +the county at Newtownbarry, the ancient Bunclody; westward, some twenty +miles, on the river Barrow, stands New Ross, often mentioned in this +history, the road from which to the county town passes through +Scullabogue and Taghmon (_Ta'mun_), the former at the foot of +Carrickbyrne rock, the latter at the base of what is rather +hyperbolically called "the _mountain_ of Forth." South and west of the +town, towards the estuary of Waterford, lie the baronies of Forth and +Bargy, a great part of the population of which, even within our own +time, spoke the language Chaucer and Spenser wrote, and retained many +of the characteristics of their Saxon, Flemish, and Cambrian ancestors. +Through this singular district lay the road towards Duncannon fort, on +Waterford harbour, with branches running off to Bannow, Ballyhack, and +Dunbrody. We shall, therefore, speak of all the localities we may have +occasion to mention as on or near one of the four main roads of the +county, the Dublin, Carlow, Boss, and Waterford roads. + +The population of this territory was variously estimated in 1798, at +150,000, 180,000, and 200,000. They were, generally speaking, a +comfortable and contented peasantry, for the Wexford landlords were +seldom absentees, and the farmers held under them by long leases and +reasonable rents. There were in the country few great lords, but there +was little poverty and no pauperism. In such a soil, the secret +societies were almost certain to fail, and if it had not been for the +diabolical experiments of Lord Kingsborough's North Cork Militia, it is +very probable that that orderly and thrifty population would have seen +the eventful year we are describing pass over their homes without +experiencing any of the terrible trials which accompanied it. But it +was impossible for human nature to endure the provocations inflicted +upon this patient and prosperous people. The pitch-cap and the triangle +were resorted to on the slightest and most frivolous pretexts. "A +sergeant of the North Cork Militia," says Mr. Hay, the county +historian, "nicknamed, _Tom the Devil_, was most ingenious in devising +new modes of torture. Moistened gunpowder was frequently rubbed into +the hair cut close and then set on fire; some, while shearing for this +purpose, had the tips of their ears snipt off; sometimes an entire ear, +and often both ears were completely cut off; and many lost part of +their noses during the like preparation. But, strange to tell," adds +Mr. Hay, "these atrocities were publicly practised without the least +reserve in open day, and no magistrate or officer ever interfered, but +shamefully connived at this extraordinary mode of quieting the people! +Some of the miserable sufferers on these shocking occasions, or some of +their relations or friends, actuated by a principle of retaliation, if +not of revenge, cut short the hair of several persons whom they either +considered as enemies or suspected of having pointed them out as +objects for such desperate treatment. This was done with a view that +those active citizens should fall in for a little experience of the +like discipline, or to make the fashion of short hair so general that +it might no longer be a mark of party distinction." This was the origin +of the nickname "Croppy," by which, during the remainder of the +insurrection, it was customary to designate all who were suspected or +proved to be hostile to, the government. + +Among the magistracy of the county were several persons who, whatever +might have been their conduct in ordinary times, now showed themselves +utterly unfit to be entrusted with those large discretionary powers +which Parliament had recently conferred upon all justices of the peace. +One of these magistrates, surrounded by his troops, perambulated the +county with an executioner, armed with all the equipments of his +office; another carried away the lopped hands and fingers of his +victims, with which he stirred his punch in the carousals that followed +every expedition. At Carnew, midway between the Dublin and Carlow +roads, on the second day of the insurrection, twenty-eight prisoners +were brought out to be shot at as targets in the public ball alley; on +the same day Enniscorthy witnessed its first execution for treason, and +the neighbourhood of Ballaghkeen was harried by Mr. Jacob, one of the +magistrates whose method of preserving the peace of the county has been +just referred to. The majority of the bench, either weakly or +willingly, sanctioned these atrocities, but some others, among them a +few of the first men in the county, did not hesitate to resist and +condemn them. Among these were Mr. Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey of Bargy +Castle, Mr. Fitzgerald of Newpark, and Mr. John Henry Colclough of +Tintern Abbey; but all these gentlemen were arrested on Saturday, the +26th of May—the same day, or more strictly speaking, the eve of the day +on which the Wexford outbreak occurred. + +On the day succeeding these arrests, being Whitsunday, Father John +Murphy, parish priest of Kilcormick, the son of a small farmer of the +neighbourhood, educated in Spain, on coming to his little wayside +chapel, found it laid in ashes. To his flock, as they surrounded him in +the open air, he boldly preached that it would be much better for them +to die in a fair field than to await the tortures inflicted by such +magistrates as Archibald Jacob, Hunter Gowan, and Hawtrey White. He +declared his readiness to share their fate, whatever it might be, and +in response, about 2,000 of the country people gathered in a few hours +upon Oulart Hill, situated about half-way between Enniscorthy and the +sea, and eleven miles north of Wexford. Here they were attacked on the +afternoon of the same day by the North Cork Militia, Colonel Foote, the +Shilmalier Yeoman cavalry, Colonel Le Hunte, and the Wexford cavalry. +The rebels, strong in their position, and more generally accustomed to +the use of arms than persons in their condition in other parts of the +country, made a brave and successful stand. Major Lambert, the Hon. +Captain De Courcy (brother of Lord Kinsale), and some other officers, +fell before the long-shore guns of the Shilmalier fowlers; of the North +Cork detachment, only the colonel, a sergeant, and two or three +privates escaped; the cavalry, at the top of their speed, galloped back +to the county town. + +The people were soon thoroughly aroused. Another popular priest of the +diocese, Michael Murphy, on reaching Gorey, finding his chapel also +rifled, and the altar desecrated, turned his horse's head and joined +the insurgents, who had gathered on Kilthomas hill, near Carnew. Signal +fires burned that night on all the eminences of the county, which +seemed as if they had been designed for so many watch-towers; horns +resounded; horsemen galloped far and near; on the morrow of Whitsunday +all Wexford arose, animated with the passions and purposes of civil +war. + +On the 28th, Ferns, Camolin, and Enniscorthy were taken by the +insurgents; the latter, after an action of four hours, in which a +captain, two lieutenants, and eighty of the local yeomanry fell. The +survivors fled to Wexford, which was as rapidly as possible placed in a +state of defence. The old walls and gates were still in good repair, +and 300 North Cork, 200 Donegal, and 700 local militia ought to have +formed a strong garrison within such ramparts, against a mere +tumultuous peasantry. The yeomen, however, thought otherwise, and two +of the three imprisoned popular magistrates were sent to Enniscorthy to +exhort and endeavour to disperse the insurgents. One of them only +returned, the other, Mr. Fitzgerald, joined the rebels, who, continuing +their march, were allowed to take possession of the county town without +striking a blow. Mr. Bagenal Harvey, the magistrate still in prison, +they insisted on making their Commander-in-Chief; a gentleman of +considerable property, by no means destitute of courage, but in every +other respect quite unequal to the task imposed upon him. After a trial +of his generalship at the battle of Ross, he was transferred to the +more pacific office of President of the Council, which continued to sit +and direct operations from Wexford, with the co-operation of a +sub-committee at Enniscorthy. Captain Matthew Keogh, a retired officer +of the regular army, aged but active, was made governor of the town, in +which a couple of hundred armed men were left as his guards. An attempt +to relieve the place from Duncannon had utterly failed. General +Fawcett, commanding that important fortress, set out on his march with +this object on the 30th of May—his advanced guard of 70 Meathian +yeomanry, having in charge three howitzers, whose slower movements it +was expected the main force would overtake long before reaching the +neighbourhood of danger. At Taghmon this force was joined by Captain +Adams with his command, and thus reinforced they continued their march +to Wexford. Within three miles of the town the road wound round the +base of the "three rock" mountain; evening fell as the royalists +approached this neighbourhood, where the victors of Oulart, +Enniscorthy, and Wexford had just improvised a new camp. A sharp volley +from the long-shore-men's guns, and a furious onslaught of pikes threw +the royal detachment into the utmost disorder. Three officers of the +Meathian cavalry, and nearly one hundred men were placed _hors de +combat_; the three howitzers, eleven gunners, and several prisoners +taken; making the third considerable success of the insurgents within a +week. + +Wexford county now became the theatre of operations, on which all eyes +were fixed. The populace gathered as if by instinct into three great +encampments, on Vinegar Hill, above Enniscorthy; on Carrickbyrne, on +the road leading to Ross, and on the hill of Corrigrua, seven miles +from Gorey. The principal leaders of the first division were Fathers +Kearns and Clinch, and Messrs. Fitzgerald, Doyle, and Redmond; of the +second, Bagenal Harvey, and Father Philip Roche; of the last, Anthony +Perry of Inch, Esmond Kyan, and the two Fathers Murphy, Michael, and +John. The general plan of operations was that the third division should +move by way of Arklow and Wicklow on the Capital; the second to open +communication with Carlow, Kilkenny, and Kildare by Newtownbarry and +Scollagh-gap; while the first was to attack New Ross, and endeavour to +hasten the rising in Munster. + +On the 1st of June, the advance of the northern division marching upon +Gorey, then occupied in force by General Loftus, were encountered four +miles from the town, and driven back with the loss of about a hundred +killed and wounded. On the 4th of June, Loftus, at the instance of +Colonel Walpole, aid-de-camp to the Lord Lieutenant, who had lately +joined him with considerable reinforcements, resolved to beat up the +rebel quarters at Corrigrua. It was to be a combined movement; Lord +Ancram, posted with his militia and dragoons at the bridge of +Scaramalsh, where the poetic Banna joins the Slaney, was to prevent the +arrival of succours from Vinegar Hill; Captain McManus, with a couple +of companies of yeomanry, stationed at another exposed point from which +intelligence could be obtained and communicated; while the General and +Colonel Walpole, marched to the attack by roads some distance apart, +which ran into one within two miles of Corrigrua camp. The main body of +the King's troops were committed to the lead of Walpole, who had also +two six-pounders and a howitzer. After an hour-and-a-half's march he +found the country changed its character near the village of Clogh +(_clo'_), where the road descending from the level arable land, dips +suddenly into the narrow and winding pass of Tubberneering. The sides +of the pass were lined with a bushy shrubbery, and the roadway at the +bottom embanked with ditch and dike. On came the confident Walpole, +never dreaming that these silent thickets were so soon to re-echo the +cries of the onslaught. The 4th dragoon guards, the Ancient Britons, +under Sir Watkyn Wynne, the Antrim militia, under Colonel Cope, had all +entered the defile before the ambuscade was discovered. Then, at the +first volley, Walpole fell, with several of those immediately about his +person; out from the shrubbery rushed the pikemen, clearing ditch and +dike at a bound; dragoons and fencibles went down like the sward before +the scythe of the mower; the three guns were captured, and turned on +the flying survivors; the regimental flags taken, with all the other +spoils pertaining to such a retreat. It was, in truth, an immense +victory for a mob of peasants, marshalled by men who that day saw their +first, or, at most, their second action. Before forty-eight hours they +were masters of Gorey, and talked of nothing less than the capture of +Dublin within another week or fortnight! + +From Vinegar Hill the concerted movement was made against Newtonbarry, +on the 2nd of June, the rebels advancing by both banks of the Slaney, +under cover of a six-pounder—the only gun they had with them. The +detachment in command of the beautiful little town, half hidden in its +leafy valley, was from 600 to 800 strong, with a troop of dragoons, and +two battalion guns, under command of Colonel L'Estrange; these, after a +sharp fusilade on both sides, were driven out, but the assailants, +instead of following up the blow, dispersed for plunder or refreshment, +were attacked in turn, and compelled to retreat, with a reported loss +of 400 killed. Three days later, however, a still more important +action, and a yet more disastrous repulse from the self-same cause, +took place at New Ross, on the Barrow. + +The garrison of Ross, on the morning of the 5th of June, when General +Harvey appeared before it, consisted of 1,400 men—Dublin, Meath, +Donegal, and Clare militia, Mid-Lothian fencibles, and English +artillery. General Johnson, a veteran soldier, was in command, and the +place, strong in its well preserved old walls, had not heard a shot +fired in anger since the time of Cromwell. Harvey was reported to have +with him 20,000 men; but if we allow for the exaggeration of numbers +common to all such movements, we may, perhaps, deduct one-half, and +still leave him at the head of a formidable force—10,000 men, with +three field-pieces. Mr. Furlong, a favourite officer, being sent +forward to summon the town, was shot down by a sentinel, and the attack +began. The main point of assault was the gate known as "three bullet +gate," and the hour, five o'clock of the lovely summer's morning. The +obstinacy with which the town was contested, may be judged from the +fact, that the fighting continued for nearly ten hours, with the +interruption of an hour or two at noon. This was the fatal interruption +for the rebels. They had, at a heavy cost, driven out the royalists, +with the loss of a colonel (Lord Mountjoy), three captains, and above +200 men killed: but of their friends and comrades treble the number had +fallen. Still the town, an object of the first importance, was theirs, +when worn out with heat, fatigue, and fasting since sunrise, they +indulged themselves in the luxury of a deep unmeasured carouse. The +fugitive garrison finding themselves unpursued, halted to breathe on +the Kilkenny bank of the river, were rallied by the veteran Johnson, +and led back again across the bridge, taking the surprised revellers +completely unprepared. A cry was raised that this was a fresh force +from Waterford; the disorganised multitude endeavoured to rally in +turn, but before the leaders could collect their men, the town was once +more in possession of the Bang's troops. The rebels, in their turn, +unpursued by their exhausted enemies, fell back upon their camping +ground of the night before, at Corbet hill and Slieve-kielter. At the +latter, Father Philip Roche, dissatisfied with Harvey's management, +established a separate command, which he transferred to a layman of his +own name, Edward Roche, with whom he continued to act and advise during +the remainder of this memorable month. + +The summer of 1798 was, for an Irish summer, remarkably dry and warm. +The heavy Atlantic rains which at all seasons are poured out upon that +soil, seemed suspended in favour of the insurgent multitudes, amounting +to 30,000, or 40,000 at the highest, who, on the different hill +summits, posted their nightly sentinels, and threw themselves down on +turf and heather to snatch a short repose. The kindling of a beacon, +the lowing of cattle, or the hurried arrival of scout or messenger, +hardly interfered with slumbers which the fatigues of the day, and, +unhappily also, the potations of the night rendered doubly deep. An +early morning mass mustered all the Catholics, unless the very +depraved, to the chaplain's tent—for several of the officers, and the +chaplains always were supplied with tents; and then a hasty meal was +snatched before the sun was fairly above the horizon, and the day's +work commenced. The endurance exhibited by the rebels, their personal +strength, swiftness and agility; their tenacity of life, and the ease +with which their worst wounds were healed, excited the astonishment of +the surgeons and officers of the regular army. The truth is, that the +virtuous lives led by that peaceful peasantry before the outbreak, +enabled them to withstand privations and hardships under which the +better fed and better clad Irish yeomen and English guardsmen would +have sunk prostrate in a week. + +Several signs now marked the turning of the tide against the men of +Wexford. Waterford did not rise after the battle of Ross; while +Munster, generally, was left to undecided councils, or held back in +hopes of another French expedition. The first week of June had passed +over, and neither northward nor westward was there any movement +formidable enough to draw off from the devoted county the combined +armies which were now directed against its camps. A gunboat fleet lined +the coast from Bannow round to Wicklow, which soon after appeared off +Wexford bar, and forced an entrance into the harbour. A few days +earlier, General Needham marched from Dublin, and took up his position +at Arklow, at the head of a force variously stated at 1,500 to 2,000 +men, composed of 120 cavalry under Sir Watkyn Wynne, two brigades of +militia under Colonels Cope and Maxwell, and a brigade of English and +Scotch fencibles under Colonel Skerrett. There were also at Arklow +about 300 of the Wexford and Wicklow mounted yeomanry raised by Lord +Wicklow, Lord Mountnorris, and other gentlemen of the neighbourhood. +Early on the morning of the 9th of June the northern division of the +rebels left Gorey in two columns, in order if possible to drive this +force from Arklow. One body proceeding by the coast road hoped to turn +the English position by way of the strand, the other taking the inner +line of the Dublin road, was to assail the town at its upper or inland +suburb. But General Needham had made the most of his two days' +possession; barricades were erected across the road, and at the +entrance to the main street; the graveyard and bridge commanding the +approach by the shore road were mounted with ordnance; the cavalry were +posted where they could best operate, near the strand; the barrack wall +was lined with a _banquette_ or stage, from which the musketeers could +pour their fire with the greatest advantage, and every other precaution +taken to give the rebels a warm reception. The action commenced early +in the afternoon, and lasted till eight in the evening—five or six +hours. The inland column suffered most severely from the marksmen on +the _banquette_, and the gallant Father Michael Murphy, whom his +followers believed to be invulnerable, fell leading them on to the +charge for the third time. On the side of the sea, Esmond Kyan was +badly wounded in the arm, which he was subsequently obliged to have +amputated, and though the fearless Shilmaliers drove the cavalry into +and over the Avoca, discipline and ordnance prevailed once again over +numbers and courage. As night fell, the assailants retired slowly +towards Coolgreney, carrying off nine carloads of their wounded, and +leaving, perhaps, as many more on the field; their loss was variously +reported from 700 to 1,000, and even 1,500. The opposite force returned +less than 100 killed, including Captain Knox, and about as many +wounded. The repulse was even more than that at Ross, dispiriting to +the rebels, who, as a last resort, now decided to concentrate all their +strength on the favourite position at Vinegar Hill. + +Against this encampment, therefore, the entire available force of +regulars and militia within fifty miles of the spot were concentrated +by orders of Lord Lake, the Commander-in-Chief. General Dundas from +Wicklow was to join General Loftus at Carnew on the 18th; General +Needham was to advance simultaneously to Gorey; General Sir Henry +Johnson to unite at Old Ross with Sir James Duff from Carlow; Sir +Charles Asgill was to occupy Gore's bridge and Borris; Sir John Moore +was to land at Ballyhack ferry, march to Foulke's Mill, and united with +Johnson and Duff, to assail the rebel camp on Carrickbyrne. These +various movements ordered on the 16th, were to be completed by the +20th, on which day, from their various new positions, the entire force, +led by these six general officers, was to surround Vinegar Hill, and +make a simultaneous attack upon the last stronghold of the Wexford +rebellion. + +This elaborate plan failed of complete execution in two points. +_First_, the camp on Carrickbyrne, instead of waiting the attack, sent +down its fighting men to Foulke's Mill, where, in the afternoon of the +20th they beat up Sir John Moore's quarters, and maintained from 3 +o'clock till dark, what that officer calls "a pretty sharp action." +Several times they were repulsed and again formed behind the ditches +and renewed the conflict; but the arrival of two fresh regiments, under +Lord Dalhousie, taught them that there was no farther chance of +victory. By this affair, however, though at a heavy cost, they had +prevented the junction of all the troops, and, not without +satisfaction, they now followed the two Roches, the priest and the +layman, to the original position of the mountain of Forth; Sir John +Moore, on his part, taking the same direction, until he halted within +sight of the walls of Wexford. The other departure from Lord Lake's +plan was on the side of General Needham, who was ordered to approach +the point of attack by the circuitous route of Oulart, but who did not +come up in time to complete the investment of the hill. + +On the morning of the appointed day, about 13,000 royal troops were in +movement against the 20,000 rebels whom they intended to dislodge. Sir +James Duff obtained possession of an eminence which commanded the lower +line of the rebel encampment, and from this point a brisk cannonade was +opened against the opposite force; at the same time the columns of +Lake, Wilford, Dundas, and Johnson, pushed up the south-eastern, +northern and western sides of the eminence, partially covered by the +fire of these guns, so advantageously placed. After an hour and a +half's desperate fighting, the rebels broke and fled by the unguarded +side of the hill. Their rout was complete, and many were cut down by +the cavalry, as they pressed in dense masses on each other, over the +level fields and out on the open highways. Still this action was far +from being one of the most fatal as to loss of life, fought in that +county; the rebel dead were numbered only at 400, and the royalists +killed and wounded at less than half that number. + +It was the last considerable action of the Wexford rising, and all the +consequences which followed being attributed arbitrarily to this cause, +helped to invest it with a disproportionate importance. The only leader +lost on the rebel side was Father Clinch of Enniscorthy, who +encountered Lord Roden hand to hand in the retreat, but who, while +engaged with his lordship whom he wounded, was shot down by a trooper. +The disorganization, however, which followed on the dispersion, was +irreparable. One column had taken the road by Gorey to the mountains of +Wicklow—another to Wexford, where they split into two parts, a portion +crossing the Slaney into the sea-coast parishes, and facing northward +by the shore road, the other falling back on "the three rocks" +encampment, where the Messrs. Roche held together a fragment of their +former command. Wexford town, on the 22nd, was abandoned to Lord Lake, +who established himself in the house of Governor Keogh, the owner being +lodged in the common jail. Within the week, Bagenal Harvey, Father +Philip Roche, and Kelly of Killane, had surrendered in despair, while +Messrs. Grogan and Colclough, who had secreted themselves in a cave in +the great Saltee Island, were discovered, and conducted to the same +prison. Notwithstanding the capitulation agreed to by Lord +Kingsborough, the execution and decapitation of all these gentlemen +speedily followed, and their ghastly faces looked down for many a day +from the iron spikes above the entrance of Wexford Court House. Mr. +Esmond Kyan, the popular hero of the district, as merciful as brave, +was discovered some time subsequently paying a stealthy visit to his +family; he was put to death on the spot, and his body, weighted with +heavy stones, thrown into the harbour. A few mornings afterwards the +incoming tide deposited it close by the dwelling of his father-in-law, +and the rites of Christian burial, so dear to all his race, were +hurriedly rendered to the beloved remains. + +The insurrection in this county, while it abounded in instances of +individual and general heroism, was stained also, on both sides, by +many acts of diabolical cruelty. The aggressors, both in time and in +crime were the yeomanry and military; but the popular movement dragged +wretches to the surface who delighted in repaying torture with torture, +and death with death. The butcheries of Dunlavin and Carnew were repaid +by the massacres at Scullabogue and Wexford bridge, in the former of +which 110, and in the latter 35 or 40 persons were put to death in cold +blood, by the monsters who absented themselves from the battles of Ross +and Vinegar Hill. The executions at Wexford bridge would probably have +been swelled to double the number, had not Father Corrin, one of the +priests of the town, rushing in between his Protestant neighbours and +the ferocious Captain Dixon, and summoning all present to pray, invoked +the Almighty "to show them the same mercy" they showed their prisoners. +This awful supplication calmed even that savage rabble, and no further +execution took place. Nearly forty years afterwards, Captain Kellet, of +Clonard, ancestor of the Arctic discoverer, and others whom he had +rescued from the very grasp of the executioner, followed to the grave +that revered and devoted minister of mercy! + +It would be a profitless task to draw out a parallel of the crimes +committed on both sides. Two facts only need be recorded: that although +from 1798 to 1800, not less than _sixty-five_ places of Catholic +worship were demolished or burned in Leinster, (twenty-two of which +were in Wexford county), only _one_ Protestant Church, that of Old +Ross, was destroyed in retaliation; and that although towards men, +especially men in arms, the rebels acted on the fierce Mosaic maxim of +"an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," no outrage upon women is +laid to their charge, even by their most exasperated enemies. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. +THE INSURRECTION ELSEWHERE—FATE OF THE LEADING UNITED IRISHMEN. + +On the 21st of June, the Marquis Cornwallis, whose name is so familiar +in American and East Indian history, arrived in Dublin, to assume the +supreme power, both civil and military. As his Chief Secretary, he +recommended Lord Castlereagh, who had acted in that capacity during the +latter part of Lord Camden's administration in consequence of Mr +Pelham's illness; and the Pitt-Portland administration appointed his +lordship accordingly, because, among other good and sufficient reasons, +"he was so unlike an Irishman." + +While the new Viceroy came to Ireland still more resolute than his +predecessor to bring about the long-desired legislative union, it is +but justice to his memory to say, that he as resolutely resisted the +policy of torture and provocation pursued under Lord Camden. That +policy had, indeed, served its pernicious purpose, and it was now +possible for a new ruler to turn a new leaf; this Lord Cornwallis did +from the hour of his arrival, not without incurring the ill-concealed +displeasures of the Castle cabal. But his position gave him means of +protection which Sir Ralph Abercromby had not; he was known to enjoy +the personal confidence of the King; and those who did not hesitate +three months before to assail by every abusive epithet the humane +Scottish Baronet, hesitated long before criticising with equal freedom +the all-powerful Viceroy. + +The sequel of the insurrection may be briefly related: next to Wexford, +the adjoining county of Wicklow, famous throughout the world for its +lakes and glens, maintained the chief brunt of the Leinster battle. The +brothers Byrne, of Ballymanus, with Holt, Hackett, and other local +leaders, were for months, from the difficult nature of the country, +enabled to defy those combined movements by which, as in a huge net, +Lord Lake had swept up the camps of Wexford. At Hacketstown, on the +25th of June, the Byrnes were repulsed with considerable loss, but at +Ballyellis, on the 30th, fortune and skill gave them and their Wexford +comrades a victory, resembling in many respects that of Clough. General +Needham, who had again established his head-quarters at Gorey, detached +Colonel Preston, with some troops of Ancient Britons, the 4th and 5th +dragoons, and three yeomanry corps, to attack the insurgents who were +observed in force in the neighbourhood of Monaseed. Aware of this +movement, the Byrnes prepared in the ravine of Ballyellis a well-laid +ambuscade, barricading with carts and trees the farther end of the +pass. Attacked by the royalists they retreated towards this pass, were +hotly pursued, and then turned on their pursuers. Two officers and +sixty men were killed in the trap, while the terrified rear-rank fled +for their lives to the shelter of their head-quarters. At Ballyraheene, +on the 2nd of July, the King's troops sustained another check in which +they lost two officers and ten men, but at Ballygullen, on the 4th, the +insurgents were surrounded between the forces of General Needham, Sir +James Duff, and the Marquis of Huntley. This was the last considerable +action in which the Wicklow and Wexford men were unitedly engaged. In +the dispersion which followed, "Billy Byrne of Ballymanus," the hero of +his county, paid the forfeit of his life; while his brother, Garrett, +subsequently surrendered, and was included in the Banishment Act. + +Anthony Perry of Inch, and Father Kearns, leading a much diminished +band into Kildare, formed a junction with Aylmer and Reynolds of that +county, and marched into Meath, with a view of reaching and surprising +Athlone. The plan was boldly and well conceived, but their means of +execution were deplorably deficient. At Clonard they were repulsed by a +handful of troops well armed and posted; a combined movement always +possible in Meath, drove them from side to side during the midweek of +July, until at length, hunted down as they were, they broke up in twos +and threes to seek any means of escape. Father Kearns and Mr. Perry +were, however, arrested, and executed by martial law at Edenderry. Both +died bravely; the priest sustaining and exhorting his companion to the +last. + +Still another band of the Wexford men, under Father John Murphy and +Walter Devereux, crossed the Barrow at Gore's bridge, and marched upon +Kilkenny. At Lowgrange they surprised an outpost; at Castlecomer, after +a sharp action, they took the town, which Sir Charles Asgill +endeavoured, but without success, to relieve. Thence they continued +their march towards Athy in Kildare, but being caught between two or +rather three fires, that of Major Mathews, from Maryboro', General +Dunne, from Athy, and Sir Charles Asgill, they retreated on old +Leighlin, as if seeking the shelter of the Carlow mountains. At +Killcomney Hill, however, they were forced into action under most +unfavourable circumstances, and utterly routed. One, Father Murphy, +fell in the engagement, the other, the precursor of the insurrection, +was captured three days afterward, and conveyed a prisoner to General +Duff's headquarters at Tullow. Here he was put on his trial before a +Military Commission composed of Sir James Duff, Lord Roden, Colonels +Eden and Foster, and Major Hall. Hall had the meanness to put to him, +prisoner as he was, several insulting questions, which at length the +high-spirited rebel answered with a blow. The Commission thought him +highly dangerous, and instantly ordered him to execution. His body was +burned, his head spiked on the market-house of Tullow, and his memory +gibbeted in all the loyal publications of the period. On his person, +before execution, were found a crucifix, a pix, and letters from many +Protestants, asking his protection; as to his reputation, the priest +who girded on the sword only when he found his altar overthrown and his +flock devoured by wolves, need not fear to look posterity in the face. + +Of the other Leinster leaders, Walter Devereux, the last colleague of +Father Murphy, was arrested at Cork, on the eve of sailing for America, +tried and executed; Fitzgerald and Aylmer were spared on condition of +expatriation; months afterwards, Holt surrendered, was transported, and +returned after several years, to end his days where he began his +career; Dwyer alone maintained the life of a Rapparee for five long +years among the hills of Wicklow, where his adventures were often of +such a nature as to throw all fictitious conceptions of an outlaw's +life into commonplace by comparison. Except in the fastnesses +frequented by this extraordinary man, and in the wood of Killaughram, +in Wexford, where the outlaws, with the last stroke of national humour, +assumed the name of _The Babes in the Wood_, the Leinster insurrection +was utterly trodden out within two months from its first beginning, on +the 23rd of May. So weak against discipline, arms, munitions and money, +are all that mere naked valour and devotion can accomplish! + +In Ulster, on the organization of which so much time and labour had +been expended for four or five years preceding, the rising was not more +general than in Leinster, and the actual struggle lasted only a week. +The two counties which moved _en masse_ were Down and Antrim, the +original chiefs of which, such as Thomas Russell and Samuel Neilson, +were unfortunately in prison. The next leader on whom the men of Antrim +relied, resigned his command on the very eve of the appointed day; this +disappointment and the arrest of the Rev. Steele Dickson in Down, +compelled a full fortnight's delay. On the 7th of June, however, the +more determined spirits resolved on action, and the first movement was +to seize the town of Antrim, which, if they could have held it, would +have given them command of the communications with Donegal and Down, +from both of which they might have expected important additions to +their ranks. The leader of this enterprise was Henry John McCracken, a +cotton manufacturer of Belfast, thirty two years of age, well educated, +accomplished and resolute, with whom was associated a brother of +William Orr, the proto-martyr of the Ulster Union. The town of Antrim +was occupied by the 22nd light dragoons, Colonel Lumley, and the local +yeomanry under Lord O'Neil. In the first assault the insurgents were +successful, Lord O'Neil, five officers, forty-seven rank and file +having fallen, and two guns being captured; but Lumley's dragoons had +hardly vanished out of sight, when a strong reinforcement from Blaris +camp arrived and renewed the action, changing premature exultation into +panic and confusion. Between two and three hundred of the rebels fell, +and McCracken and his staff, deserted by their hasty levies, were +arrested, wearied and hopeless, about a month later, wandering among +the Antrim hills. The leaders were tried at Belfast and executed. + +In Down two actions were fought, one at Saintfield on the 7th of June, +under Dr. Jackson—where Colonel Stapleton was severely handled—and +another and more important one at Ballynahinch, under Henry Munro, on +the 13th, where Nugent, the district General, commanded in person. +Here, after a gallant defence, the men of Down were utterly routed; +their leader, alone and on foot, was captured some five or six miles +from the field, and executed two days afterwards before his own door at +Lisburn. He died with the utmost composure; his wife and mother looking +down, on the awful scene from the windows of his own house. + +In Munster, with the exception of a trifling skirmish between the +West-Meath yeomanry under Sir Hugh O'Reilly, with whom were the +Caithness legion, under Major Innes, and a body of 300 or 400 ill-armed +peasants, who attacked them on the 19th of June, on the road from +Clonakilty to Bandon, there was no notable attempt at insurrection. But +in Connaught, very unexpectedly, as late as the end of August, the +flame extinguished in blood in Leinster and Ulster, again blazed up for +some days with portentous brightness. The counties of Mayo, Sligo, +Roscommon and Galway had been partially organized by those fugitives +from Orange oppression in the North, who, in the years '95, '96, and +'97, had been compelled to flee for their lives into Connaught, to the +number of several thousands. They brought with the tale of their +sufferings the secret of Defenderism; they first taught the peasantry +of the West, who, safe in their isolated situation and their +overwhelming numbers, were more familiar with poverty than with +persecution, what manner of men then held sway over all the rest of the +country, and how easily it would be for Irishmen once united and backed +by France, to establish under their own green flag, both religious and +civil liberty. + +When, therefore, three French frigates cast anchor in Killalla Bay, on +the 22nd of August, they did not find the country wholly unprepared, +though far from being as ripe for revolt as they expected. These ships +had on board 1,000 men, with arms for 1,000 more, under command of +General Humbert, who had taken on himself, in the state of anarchy +which then prevailed in France, to sail from La Rochelle with this +handful of men, in aid of the insurrection. With Humbert were Mathew +Tone and Bartholomew Teeling; and immediately on his arrival he was +joined by Messrs. McDonnell, Moore, Bellew, Barrett, O'Dowd, and +O'Donnell of Mayo, Blake of Galway, Plunkett of Roscommon, and a few +other influential gentlemen of that Province—almost all Catholics. +Three days were spent at Killalla, which was easily taken, in landing +stores, enrolling recruits, and sending out parties of observation. On +the 4th, (Sunday,) Humbert entered Ballina without resistance, and on +the same night set out for Castlebar, the county town. By this time +intelligence of his landing was spread over the whole country, and both +Lord Lake and General Hutchinson had advanced to Castlebar, where they +had from 2,000 to 3,000 men under their command. The place could be +reached only by two routes from the north-west, by the Foxford road, or +a long deserted mountain road which led over the pass of Barnagee, +within sight of the town. Humbert, accustomed to the long marches and +difficult country of La Vendee, chose the unfrequented and therefore +unguarded route, and, to the consternation of the British generals, +descended through the pass of Barnagee, soon after sunrise, on the +morning of Monday, August 27th. His force consisted of 900 French +bayonets, and between 2,000 and 3,000 new recruits. The action, which +commenced at 7 o'clock, was short, sharp, and decisive; the yeomanry +and regulars broke and fled, some of them never drawing rein till they +reached Tuam, while others carried their fears and their falsehoods as +far inland as Athlone—more than sixty miles from the scene of action. +In this engagement, still remembered as "the races," the royalists +confessed to the loss, killed, wounded, or prisoners, of 18 officers, +and about 350 men, while the French commander estimated the killed +alone at 600. Fourteen British guns and five stand of colours were also +taken. A hot pursuit was continued for some distance by the native +troops under Mathew Tone, Teeling, and the Mayo officers; but Lord +Roden's famous corps of "Fox hunters" covered the retreat and checked +the pursuers at French Hill. Immediately after the battle a Provisional +Government was established at Castlebar, with Mr. Moore of Moore Hall, +as President; proclamations addressed to the inhabitants at large, +commissions to raise men, and _assignats_ payable by the future Irish +Republic, were issued in its name. + +Meanwhile the whole of the royalist forces were now in movement toward +the capital of Mayo, as they had been toward Vinegar Hill two months +before. Sir John Moore and General Hunter marched from Wexford toward +the Shannon. General Taylor, with 2,500 men, advanced from Sligo +towards Castlebar; Colonel Maxwell was ordered from Enniskillen to +assume command at Sligo; General Nugent from Lisburn occupied +Enniskillen, and the Viceroy, leaving Dublin in person, advanced +rapidly through the midland counties to Kilbeggan, and ordered Lord +Lake and General Hutchinson, with such of their command as could be +depended on, to assume the aggressive from the direction of Tuam. Thus +Humbert and his allies found themselves surrounded on all sides—their +retreat cut off by sea, for their frigates had returned to France +immediately on their landing; three thousand men against not less than +thirty thousand, with at least as many more in reserve, ready to be +called into action at a day's notice. + +The French general determined if possible to reach the mountains of +Leitrim, and open communications with Ulster, and the northern coast, +upon which he hoped soon to see succour arrive from France. With this +object he marched from Castlebar to Cooloney (35 miles), in one day; +here he sustained a check from Colonel Vereker's militia, which +necessitated a change of route; turning aside, he passed rapidly +through Dromahaine, Manor-Hamilton, and Ballintra, making for Granard, +from which accounts of a formidable popular outbreak had just reached +him. In three days and a half he had marched 110 miles, flinging half +his guns into the rivers that he crossed, lest they should fall into +the hands of his pursuers. At Ballinamuck, county Longford, on the +borders of Leitrim, he found himself fairly surrounded, on the morning +of the 8th of September; and here he prepared to make a last desperate +stand. The end could not be doubtful, the numbers against him being ten +to one; after an action of half an hour's duration, two hundred of the +French having thrown down their arms, the remainder surrendered, as +prisoners of war. For the rebels no terms were thought of, and the full +vengeance of the victors was reserved for them. Mr. Blake, who had +formerly been a British officer, was executed on the field; Mathew Tone +and Teeling were executed within the week in Dublin; Mr. Moore, +President of the Provisional Government, was sentenced to banishment by +the clemency of Lord Cornwallis, but died on shipboard; ninety of the +Longford and Kilkenny militia who had joined the French were hanged, +and the country generally given up to pillage and massacre. As an +evidence of the excessive thirst for blood, it may be mentioned that at +the re-capture of Killalla a few days later, four hundred persons were +killed, of whom fully one-half were non-combatants. + +The disorganization of all government in France in the latter half of +'98, was illustrated not only by Humbert's unauthorized adventure, but +by a still weaker demonstration under General Reay and Napper Tandy, +about the same time. With a single armed brig these daring allies made +a descent, on the 17th of September, on Rathlin Island, well equipped +with eloquent proclamations, bearing the date "first year of Irish +liberty." From the postmaster of the island they ascertained Humbert's +fate, and immediately turned the prow of their solitary ship in the +opposite direction; Reay, to rise in after times to honour and power; +Tandy, to continue in old age the dashing career of his manhood, and to +expiate in exile the crime of preferring the country of his birth to +the general centralizing policy of the empire with which he was united. +Twelve days after the combat at Ballinamuck, while Humbert and his men +were on their way through England to France, a new French fleet, under +Admiral Bompart, consisting of one 74-gun ship, "the Hoche," eight +frigates, and two smaller vessels, sailed from Brest. On board this +fleet were embarked 3,000 men under General Hardi, the remnant of the +army once menacing England. In this fleet sailed Theobold Wolfe Tone, +true to his motto, _nil desperandum_, with two or three other refugees +of less celebrity. The troops of General Hardi, however, were destined +never to land. On the 12th of October, after tossing about for nearly a +month in the German ocean and the North Atlantic, they appeared off the +coast of Donegal, and stood in for Lough Swilly. But another fleet also +was on the horizon. Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, with an equal +number of ships, but a much heavier armament, had been cruising on the +track of the French during the whole time they were at sea. After many +disappointments, the flag-ship and three of the frigates were at last +within range and the action began. Six hours' fighting laid the Hoche a +helpless log upon the water; nothing was left her but surrender; two of +the frigates shared the same fate on the same day; another was captured +on the 14th, and yet another on the 17th. The remainder of the fleet +escaped back to France. + +The French officers landed in Donegal were received with courtesy by +the neighbouring gentry, among whom was the Earl of Cavan, who +entertained them at dinner. Here it was that Sir George Hill, +son-in-law to Commissioner Beresford, an old college friend of Tone's, +identified the founder of the United Irishmen under the uniform of a +French Adjutant-General. Stepping up to his old schoolmate he addressed +him by name, which Tone instantly acknowledged, inquiring politely for +Lady Hill, and other members of Sir George's family. He was instantly +arrested, ironed, and conveyed to Dublin under a strong guard. On the +10th of November he was tried by court-martial and sentenced to be +hanged: he begged only for a soldier's death—"to be shot by a platoon +of grenadiers." This favour was denied him, and the next morning he +attempted to commit suicide. The attempt did not immediately succeed; +but one week later—on the 19th of November—he died from the results of +his self-inflicted wound, with a compliment to the attendant physician +upon his lips. Truth compels us to say he died the death of a Pagan; +but it was a Pagan of the noblest and freest type of Grecian and Roman +times. Had it occurred in ancient days, beyond the Christian era, it +would have been a death every way admirable; as it was, that fatal +final act must always stand between Wolfe Tone and the Christian people +for whom he suffered, sternly forbidding them to invoke him in their +prayers, or to uphold him as an example to the young men of their +country. So closed the memorable year 1798, on the baffled and +dispersed United Irishmen. Of the chiefs imprisoned in March and May, +Lord Edward had died of his wounds and vexation; Oliver Bond of +apoplexy; the brothers Sheares, Father Quigley, and William Michael +Byrne on the gibbet. In July, on Samuel Nelson's motion, the remaining +prisoners in Newgate, Bridewell, and Kilmainham, agreed, in order to +stop the effusion of blood, to expatriate themselves to any country not +at war with England, and to reveal the general secrets of their system, +without inculpating individuals. These terms were accepted, as the +Castle party needed their evidence to enable them to promote the +cherished scheme of legislative Union. But that evidence delivered +before the Committees of Parliament by Emmet, McNevin, and O'Conor, did +not altogether serve the purposes of government. The patriotic +prisoners made it at once a protest against, and an exposition of, the +despotic policy under which their country had been goaded into +rebellion. For their firmness they were punished by three years' +confinement in Fort George, in the Scottish Highlands, where, however, +a gallant old soldier, Colonel Stuart, endeavoured to soften the hard +realities of a prison by all the kind attentions his instructions +permitted him to show these unfortunate gentlemen. At the peace of +Amiens, (1802), they were at last allowed the melancholy privilege of +expatriation. Russell and Dowdall were permitted to return to Ireland, +where they shared the fate of Robert Emmet in 1803; O'Conor, Corbet, +Allen, Ware, and others, cast their lot in France, where they all rose +to distinction; Emmet, McNevin, Sampson, and the family of Tone were +reunited in New York, where the many changes and distractions of a +great metropolitan community have not even yet obliterated the memories +of their virtues, their talents, and their accomplishments. + +It is impossible to dismiss this celebrated group of men, whose +principles and conduct so greatly influenced their country's destiny, +without bearing explicit testimony to their heroic qualities as a +class. If ever a body of public men deserved the character of a +brotherhood of heroes, so far as disinterestedness, courage, +self-denial, truthfulness and glowing love of country constitute +heroism, these men deserved that character. The wisdom of their +conduct, and the intrinsic merit of their plans, are other questions. +As between their political system and that of Burke, Grattan and +O'Connell, there always will be, probably, among their countrymen, very +decided differences of opinion. That is but natural: but as to the +personal and political virtues of the United Irishmen there can be no +difference; the world has never seen a more sincere or more +self-sacrificing generation. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. +ADMINISTRATION OF LORD CORNWALLIS—BEFORE THE UNION. + +"Nothing strengthens a dynasty," said the first Napoleon, "more than an +unsuccessful rebellion." The partial uprising; of the Irish people in +1798 was a rebellion of this class, and the use of such a failure to an +able and unscrupulous administration, was illustrated in the extinction +of the ancient legislature of the kingdom, before the recurrence of the +third anniversary of the insurrection. + +This project, the favourite and long-cherished design of Mr. Pitt, was +cordially approved by his principal colleagues, the Duke of Portland, +Lord Grenville, and Mr. Dundas; indeed, it may be questioned whether it +was not as much Lord Grenville's design as Pitt's, and as much George +the Third's personal project as that of any of his ministers. The old +King's Irish policy was always of the most narrow and illiberal +description. In his memorandum on the recall of Lord Fitzwilliam, he +explains his views with the business-like brevity which characterized +all his communications with his ministers while he retained possession +of his faculties; he was totally opposed to Lord Fitzwilliam's +emancipation policy, which he thought adopted "in implicit obedience to +the heated imagination of Mr. Burke." To Lord Camden his instructions +were, "to support the old English interest as well as the Protestant +religion," and to Lord Cornwallis, that no further "indulgence could be +granted to Catholics," but that he should steadily pursue the object of +effecting the union of Ireland and England. + +The new Viceroy entered heartily into the views of his Sovereign. +Though unwilling to exchange his English position as a Cabinet Minister +and Master-General of Ordnance for the troubled life of a +Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, he at length allowed himself to be +persuaded into the acceptance of that office, with a view mainly to +carrying the Union. He was ambitious to connect his name with that +great imperial measure, so often projected, but never formally +proposed. If he could only succeed in incorporating the Irish with the +British legislature, he declared he would feel satisfied to retire from +all other public employments; that he would look on his day as +finished, and his evening of ease and dignity fully earned. He was not +wholly unacquainted with the kingdom against which he cherished these +ulterior views; for he had been, nearly thirty years before, when he +fell under the lash of _Junius_, one of the Vice-Treasurers of Ireland. +For the rest he was a man of great information, tact, and firmness; +indefatigable in business; tolerant by temperament and conviction; but +both as a general and a politician it was his lot to be identified in +India and in Ireland with successes which might better have been +failures, and in America, with failures which were much more beneficial +to mankind than his successes. + +In his new sphere of action his two principal agents were Lord Clare +and Lord Castlereagh, both Irishmen; the Chancellor, the son of what in +that country is called a "spoiled priest," and the Secretary, the son +of an ex-volunteer, and member of Flood's Reform Convention. It is not +possible to regard the conduct of these high officials in undermining +and destroying the ancient national legislature of their own country, +in the same light as that of Lord Cornwallis, or Mr. Pitt, or Lord +Grenville. It was but natural, that as Englishmen, these ministers +should consider the empire in the first place; that they should desire +to centralize all the resources and all the authority of both Islands +in London; that to them the existence of an independent Parliament at +Dublin, with its ample control over the courts, the revenues, the +defences, and the trade of that kingdom, should appear an obstacle and +a hindrance to the unity of the imperial system. From their point of +view they were quite right, and had they pursued their end, complete +centralization, by honourable means, no stigma could attach to them +even in the eyes of Irishmen; but with Lords Clare and Castlereagh the +case was wholly different. Born in the land, deriving income as well as +existence from the soil, elected to its Parliament by the confidence of +their countrymen, attaining to posts of honour in consequence of such +election, that they should voluntarily offer their services to +establish an alien and a hostile policy on the ruins of their own +national constitution, which, with all its defects, was national, and +was corrigible; this betrayal of their own, at the dictate of another +State, will always place the names of Clare and Castlereagh on the +detested list of public traitors. Yet though in such treason, united +and identified, no two men could be more unlike in all other respects. +Lord Clare was fiery, dogmatic, and uncompromising to the last degree; +while Lord Castlereagh was stealthy, imperturbable, insidious, bland, +and adroit. The Chancellor endeavoured to carry everything with a high +hand, with a bold, defiant, confident swagger; the Secretary, on the +contrary, trusted to management, expediency, and silent tenacity of +purpose. The one had faith in violence, the other in corruption; they +were no inapt personifications of the two chief agencies by which the +union was effected—Force and Fraud. + +The Irish Parliament, which had been of necessity adjourned during the +greater part of the time the insurrection lasted, assembled within a +week of Lord Cornwallis' arrival. Both Houses voted highly loyal +addresses to the King and Lord-Lieutenant, the latter seconded in the +Commons by Charles Kendal Bushe, the college companion of Wolfe Tone! A +vote of 100,000 pounds to indemnify those who had suffered from the +rebels—subsequently increased to above 1,000,000 pounds—was passed _una +voce_; another, placing on the Irish establishment certain English +militia regiments, passed with equal promptitude. In July, five +consecutive acts—a complete code of penalties and proscription—were +introduced, and, after various debates and delays, received the royal +sanction on the 6th of October, the last day of the session of 1798. +These acts were: 1. The Amnesty Act, the exceptions to which were so +numerous "that few of those who took any active part in the rebellion," +were, according to the Cornwallis' correspondence, "benefited by it." +2. An Act of Indemnity, by which all magistrates who had "exercised a +vigour beyond the law" against the rebels, were protected from the +legal consequences of such acts. 3. An act for attainting Lord Edward +Fitzgerald, Mr. Harvey, and Mr. Grogan, against which Curran, taking +"his instructions from the grave," pleaded at the bar of the House of +Lords, but pleaded in vain. (This act was finally reversed by the +Imperial Parliament in 1819.) 4. An act forbidding communication +between persons in Ireland and those enumerated in the Banishment Act, +and making the return to Ireland, after sentence of banishment by a +court-martial, a transportable felony. 5. An act to compel fifty-one +persons therein named to surrender before 1st of December, 1798, under +pain of high treason. Among the fifty-one were the principal refugees +at Paris and Hamburg: Tone, Lewines, Tandy, Deane Swift, Major +Plunkett, Anthony McCann, Harvey Morres, etc. On the same day in which +the session terminated, and the royal sanction was given to these acts, +the name of Henry Grattan was, a significant coincidence, formally +struck, by the King's commands, from the roll of the Irish Privy +Council! + +This legislation of the session of 1798, was fatal to the Irish +Parliament. The partisans of the Union, who had used the rebellion to +discredit the constitution, now used the Parliament to discredit +itself. Under the influence of a fierce reactionary spirit, when all +merciful and moderate councils were denounced as treasonable, it was +not difficult to procure the passage of sweeping measures of +proscription. But with their passage vanished the former popularity of +the domestic legislature. And what followed? The constitution of '82 +could only be upheld in the hearts of the people; and, with all its +defects, it had been popular before the sudden spread of French +revolutionary notions distracted and dissipated the public opinion +which had grown up within the era of independence. To make the once +cherished authority, which liberated trade in '79, and half emancipated +the Catholics in '93, the last executioner of the vengeance of the +Castle against the people, was to place a gulf between it and the +affections of that people in the day of trial. To make the +anti-unionists in Parliament, such as the Speaker, Sir Lawrence +Parsons, Plunkett, Ponsonby and Bushe, personally responsible for this +vindictive code, was to disarm them of the power, and almost of the +right, to call on the people whom they turned over, bound hand and +foot, to the mercy of the minister in '98, to aid them against the +machinations of that same minister in '99. The last months of the year +were marked besides by events already referred to, and by negotiations +incessantly carried on, both in England and Ireland, in favour of the +Union. Members of both Houses were personally courted and canvassed by +the Prime Minister, the Secretaries of State, the Viceroy and the Irish +Secretary. Titles, pensions and offices were freely promised. Vast sums +of secret service money, afterwards added as a charge to the public +debt of Ireland, were remitted from Whitehall. An army of pamphleteers, +marshalled by Under-Secretary Cooke, and confidentially directed by the +able but anti-national Bishop of Meath, (Dr. O'Beirne,) and by Lord +Castlereagh personally, plied their pens in favour of "the +consolidation of the empire." The Lord Chancellor, the Chief Secretary +and Mr. Beresford, made journeys to England, to assist the Prime +Minister with their local information, and to receive his imperial +confidence in return. The Orangemen were neutralized by securing a +majority of their leaders; the Catholics, by the establishment of +familiar communication with the bishops. The Viceroy complimented Dr. +Troy at Dublin; the Duke of Portland lavished personal attentions on +Dr. Moylan, in England. The Protestant clergy were satisfied with the +assurance that the maintenance of their establishment would be made a +fundamental article of the Union, while the Catholic bishops were given +to understand that complete Emancipation would be one of the first +measures submitted to the Imperial Parliament. The oligarchy were to be +indemnified for their boroughs, while the advocates of Reform were +shown how hopeless it was to expect a House constituted of _their_ +nominees, ever to enlarge or amend its own exclusive constitution. Thus +for every description of people a particular set of appeals and +arguments was found, and for those who discarded the affectation of +reasoning on the surrender of their national existence, there were the +more convincing arguments of titles, employments, and direct pecuniary +purchase. At the close of the year of the rebellion, Lord Cornwallis +was able to report to Mr. Pitt that the prospects of carrying the +measure were better than could have been expected, and on this report +he was authorized to open the matter formally to Parliament in his +speech at the opening of the following session. + +On the 22nd of January, 1799, the Irish legislature met under +circumstances of great interest and excitement. The city of Dublin, +always keenly alive to its metropolitan interests, sent its eager +thousands by every avenue towards College Green. The Viceroy went down +to the Houses with a more than ordinary guard, and being seated on the +throne in the House of Lords, the Commons were summoned to the bar. The +House was considered a full one, 217 members being present. The +viceregal speech congratulated both Houses on the suppression of the +late rebellion, on the defeat of Bompart's squadron, and the recent +French victories of Lord Nelson; then came, amid profound expectation, +this concluding sentence:—"The unremitting industry," said the Viceroy, +"with which our enemies persevere in their avowed design of +endeavouring to effect a separation of this kingdom from Great Britain, +must have engaged your attention, and his Majesty commands me to +express his anxious hope that this consideration, joined to the +sentiment of mutual affection and common interest, may dispose the +Parliaments in both kingdoms to provide the most effectual means of +maintaining and improving a connection essential to their common +security, and of consolidating, as far as possible, into one firm and +lasting fabric, the strength, the power, and the resources of the +British empire." On the paragraph of the address, re-echoing this +sentiment, which was carried by a large majority in the Lords, a debate +ensued in the Commons, which lasted till one o'clock of the following +day, above twenty consecutive hours. Against the suggestion of a Union +spoke Ponsonby, Parsons, Fitzgerald, Barrington, Plunkett, Lee, +O'Donnell and Bushe; in its favour, Lord Castlereagh, the Knight of +Kerry, Corry, Fox, Osborne, Duigenan, and some other members little +known. The galleries and lobbies were crowded all night by the first +people of the city, of both sexes, and when the division was being +taken, the most intense anxiety was manifested, within doors and +without. At length the tellers made their report to the Speaker, +himself an ardent anti-Unionist, and it was announced that the numbers +were—"for the address 105, for the amendment 106," so the paragraph in +favour of "consolidating the empire" was lost by one vote! The +remainder of the address, tainted with the association of the expunged +paragraph, was barely carried by 107 to 105. Mr. Ponsonby had attempted +to follow his victory by a solemn pledge binding the majority never +again to entertain the question, but to this several members objected, +and the motion was withdrawn. The ministry found some consolation in +this withdrawal, which they characterized as "a retreat after a +victory," but to the public at large, unused to place much stress on +the minor tactics of debate, nothing appeared but the broad, general +fact, that the first overture for a Union had been rejected. It was a +day of immense rejoicing in Dublin; the leading anti-Unionists were +escorted in triumph to their homes, while the Unionists were protected +by strong military escorts from the popular indignation. At night the +city was illuminated, and the patrols were doubled as a protection to +the obnoxious minority. + +Mr. Ponsonby's amendment, affirmed by the House of Commons, was in +these words:—"That the House would be ready to enter into any measure +short of surrendering their free, resident and independent legislature +as established in 1782." This was the _ultimatum_ of the great party +which rallied in January, 1799, to the defence of the established +constitution of their country. The arguments with which they sustained +their position were few, bold, and intelligible to every capacity. +There was the argument from Ireland's geographical situation, and the +policy incident to it; the historical argument; the argument for a +resident gentry occupied and retained in the country by their public +duties; the commercial argument; the revenue argument; but above all, +the argument of the incompetency of Parliament to put an end to its own +existence. "Yourselves," exclaimed the eloquent Plunkett, "you may +extinguish, but Parliament you cannot extinguish. It is enthroned in +the hearts of the people—it is enshrined in the sanctuary of the +constitution—it is as immortal as the island that protects it. As well +might the frantic suicide imagine that the act which destroys his +miserable body should also extinguish his eternal soul. Again, +therefore, I warn you. Do not dare to lay your hands on the +Constitution—it is above your powers!" + +These arguments were combated on the grounds that the islands were +already united under one crown—that that species of union was uncertain +and precarious—that the Irish Parliament was never in reality a +national legislature; that it existed only as an instrument of class +legislation; that the Union would benefit Ireland materially as it had +benefited Scotland; that she would come in for a full share of imperial +honours, expenditure and trade; that such a Union would discourage all +future hostile attempts by France or any other foreign power against +the connection, and other similar arguments. But the division which +followed the first introduction of the subject showed clearly to the +Unionists that they could not hope to succeed with the House of Commons +as then constituted; that more time and more preparation were +necessary. Accordingly, Lord Castlereagh was authorized in March, to +state formally in his place, that it was not the intention of the +government to bring up the question again during that session; an +announcement which was hailed with a new outburst of rejoicing in the +city. + +But those who imagined the measure was abandoned were sadly deceived. +Steps were immediately taken by the Castle to deplete the House of its +majority, and to supply their places before another session with forty +or fifty new members, who would be entirely at the beck of the Chief +Secretary. With this view, thirty-two new county judgeships were +created; a great number of additional inspectorships and commissioners +were also placed at the Minister's disposal; thirteen members had +peerages for themselves or for their wives, with remainder to their +children, and nineteen others were presented to various lucrative +offices. The "Escheatorship of Munster"—a sort of Chiltern Hundreds +office—was accepted by those who agreed to withdraw from opposition, +for such considerations, but who could not be got to reverse their +votes. By these means, and a lavish expenditure of secret service +money, it was hoped that Mr. Pitt's stipulated majority of "not less +than fifty" could be secured during the year. + +The other events of the session of '99, though interesting in +themselves, are of little importance compared to the union debates. In +the English Parliament, which met on the same day as the Irish, a +paragraph identical with that employed by Lord Cornwallis in +introducing the subject of the Union, was inserted in the King's +speech. To this paragraph, repeated in the address, an amendment was +moved by the celebrated Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and resisted with an +eloquence scarcely inferior to his own, by his former _protege_ and +countryman, George Canning. Canning, like Sheridan, had sprung from a +line of Irish literateurs and actors; he had much of the wit and genius +of his illustrious friend, with more worldly wisdom, and a higher +sentiment of personal pride. In very early life, distinguished by great +oratorical talents, he had deliberately attached himself to Mr. Pitt, +while Sheridan remained steadfast to the last, in the ranks of the Whig +or liberal party. For the land of their ancestors both had, at bottom, +very warm, good wishes; but Canning looked down upon her politics from +the heights of empire, while Sheridan felt for her honour and her +interests with the affection of an expatriated son. We can well credit +his statement to Grattan, years afterwards, when referring to his +persistent opposition to the Union, he said, he would "have waded in +blood to his knees," to preserve the Constitution of Ireland. In taking +this course he had with him a few eminent friends: General Fitzpatrick, +the former Irish Secretary, Mr. Tierney, Mr. Hobhouse, Dr. Lawrence, +the executor of Edmund Burke, and Mr., afterwards Earl Grey. Throughout +the entire discussion these just minded Englishmen stood boldly forward +for the rights of Ireland, and this highly honourable conduct was long +remembered as one of Ireland's real obligations to the Whig party. + +The resolutions intended to serve as "the basis of union," were +introduced by Mr. Pitt, on the 21st of January, and after another +powerful speech in opposition, from Mr. Grey, who was ably sustained by +Mr. Sheridan, Dr. Lawrence, and some twenty others, were put and +carried. The following are the resolutions:— + +1st. "In order to promote and secure the essential interests of Great +Britain and Ireland, and to consolidate the strength, power, and +resources of the British empire, it will be advisable to concur in such +measures as may tend to unite the two kingdoms of Great Britain and +Ireland into one kingdom, in such manner, and in such terms and +conditions as may be established by acts of the respective Parliaments +of his Majesty's said kingdoms. + +2nd. "It would be fit to propose as the first article, to serve as a +basis of the said union, that the said kingdoms of Great Britain and +Ireland shall, on a day to be agreed upon, be united into one kingdom, +by the name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. + +3rd. "For the same purpose it would be fit to propose, that the +succession to the monarchy and the imperial crown of the said United +Kingdom, shall continue limited and settled, in the same manner as the +imperial crown of the said Great Britain and Ireland now stands limited +and settled, according to the existing law, and to the terms of the +union between England and Scotland. + +4th. "For the same purpose it would be fit to propose that the said +United Kingdom be represented in one and the same Parliament, to be +styled the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and +Ireland; and that such a number of Lords, spiritual and temporal, and +such a number of members of the House of Commons, as shall be hereafter +agreed upon by the acts of the respective Parliaments as aforesaid, +shall sit and vote in the said Parliament on the part of Ireland, and +shall be summoned, chosen, and returned, in such manner as shall be +fixed by an act of the Parliament of Ireland previous to the said +union; and that every member hereafter to sit and vote in the said +Parliament of the United Kingdom shall, until the said Parliament shall +otherwise provide, take, and subscribe the said oaths, and make the +same declarations as are required by law to be taken, subscribed, and +made by the members of the Parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland. + +5th. "For the same purpose it would be fit to propose, that the +Churches of England and Ireland, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, +and government thereof, shall be preserved as now by law established. + +6th. "For the same purpose it would be fit to propose, that his +Majesty's subjects in Ireland shall at all times be entitled to the +same privileges, and be on the same footing in respect of trade and +navigation in all ports and places belonging to Great Britain, and in +all cases with respect to which treaties shall be made by his Majesty, +his heirs, or successors, with any foreign power, as his Majesty's +subjects in Great Britain; that no duty shall be imposed on the import +or export between Great Britain and Ireland, of any articles now duty +free, and that on other articles there shall be established, for a time +to be limited, such a moderate rate of equal duties as shall, previous +to the Union, be agreed upon and approved by the respective +Parliaments, subject, after the expiration of such limited time, to be +diminished equally with respect to both kingdoms, but in no case to be +increased; that all articles which may at any time hereafter be +imported into Great Britain from foreign parts shall be importable +through either kingdom into the other, subject to the like duties and +regulations, as if the same were imported directly from foreign parts: +that where any articles, the growth, produce, or manufacture of either +kingdom, are subject to an internal duty in one kingdom, such +counter-vailing duties (over and above any duties on import to be fixed +as aforesaid) shall be imposed as shall be necessary to prevent any +inequality in that respect; and that all matters of trade and commerce, +other than the foregoing, and than such others as may before the Union +be specially agreed upon for the due encouragement of the agriculture +and manufactures of the respective kingdoms, shall remain to be +regulated from time to time by the United Parliament. + +7th. "For the like purpose it would be fit to propose, that the charge +arising from the payment of the interests or sinking fund for the +reduction of the principal of the debt incurred in either kingdom +before the Union, shall continue to be separately defrayed by Great +Britain and Ireland respectively; that, for a number of years to be +limited, the future ordinary expenses of the United Kingdom, in peace +or war, shall be defrayed by Great Britain and Ireland jointly, +according to such proportions as shall be established by the respective +Parliaments previous to the Union; and that, after the expiration of +the time to be so limited, the proportion shall not be liable to be +varied, except according to such rates and principles, as shall be in +like manner agreed upon previous to the Union. + +8th. "For the like purpose, that all laws in force at the time of the +Union, and all the courts of civil or ecclesiastical jurisdiction +within the respective kingdoms, shall remain as now by law established +within the same, subject only to such alterations or regulations as may +from time to time as circumstances may appear to the Parliament of the +United Kingdom to require." + +Mr. Pitt, on the passage of these resolutions, proposed an address +stating that the Commons had proceeded with the utmost attention to the +consideration of the important objects recommended in the royal +message, that they entertained a firm persuasion of the probable +benefits of a complete and entire Union between Great Britain and +Ireland, founded on equal and liberal principles; that they were +therefore induced to lay before his Majesty such propositions as +appeared to them to be best calculated to form the basis of such a +settlement, leaving it to his wisdom in due time and in proper manner, +to communicate them to the Lords and Commons of Ireland, with whom they +would be at all times ready to concur in all such measures as might be +found most conducive to the accomplishment of that great and salutary +work. + +On the 19th of March, Lord Grenville introduced the same resolutions in +the Lords, where they were passed after a spirited opposition speech +from Lord Holland, and the basis, so far as the King, Lords, and +Commons of England were concerned, was laid. In proroguing the Irish +Houses on the 1st of June, Lord Cornwallis alluded to these +resolutions, and the anxiety of the King, as the common father of his +people, to see both kingdoms united in the enjoyment of the blessings +of a free constitution. + +This prorogation was originally till August, but in August it was +extended till January, 1800. In this long interval of eight months, the +two great parties, the Unionists and the anti-Unionists were +incessantly employed, through the press, in social intercourse, in the +grand jury room, in county and city meetings, by correspondence, +petitions, addresses, each pushing forward its own views with all the +zeal and warmth of men who felt that on one side they were labouring +for the country, on the other for the empire. Two incidents of this +interval were deeply felt in the patriot ranks, the death at an +advanced age of the venerable Charlemont, the best member of his order +Ireland had ever known, and the return to the kingdom and to public +life of Lord Charlemont's early friend and _protege_, Henry Grattan. He +had spent above a year in England, chiefly in Wales and the Isle of +Wight. His health all this time had been wretched; his spirits low and +despondent, and serious fears were at some moments entertained for his +life. He had been forbidden to read or write, or to hear the exciting +news of the day. Soothed and cheered by that admirable woman, whom +Providence had given him, he passed the crisis, but he returned to +breathe his native air, greatly enfeebled in body, and sorely afflicted +in mind. The charge of theatrical affectation of illness has been +brought against Grattan by the Unionists,—against Grattan who, as to +his personal habits, was simplicity itself! It is a charge undeserving +of serious contradiction. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. +LAST SESSION OF THE IRISH PARLIAMENT—THE LEGISLATIVE UNION OF GREAT +BRITAIN AND IRELAND. + +When the Irish Parliament met for the last time, on the 15th of +January, 1800, the position of the Union question stood thus: 27 new +Peers had been added to the House of Lords, where the Castle might +therefore reckon with safety on a majority of three to one. Of the +Lords spiritual, only Dr. Marlay of Waterford, and Dr. Dixon of Down +and Conor, had the courage to side with their country against their +order. In the Commons there was an infusion of some 50 new borough +members, many of them general officers, such as Needham, and Pakenham, +all of them nominees of the Castle, except Mr. Saurin, returned for +Blessington, and Mr. Grattan, at the last moment, for Wicklow. The +great constitutional body of the bar had, at a general meeting, the +previous December, declared against the measure by 162 to 33. Another +powerful body, the bankers, had petitioned against it, in the interest +of the public credit. The Catholic bishops, in their annual meeting, +had taken up a position of neutrality as a body, but under the artful +management of Lord Castlereagh, the Archbishops of Dublin and Tuam, +with the Bishop of Cork, and some others, were actively employed in +counteracting anti-Union movements among the people. Although the vast +majority of that people had too much reason to be disgusted and +discontented with the legislation of the previous three years, above +700,000 of them petitioned against the measure, while all the +signatures which could be obtained in its favour, by the use of every +means at the command of the Castle, did not much exceed 7,000. + +The Houses were opened on the 15th of January. The Viceroy not going +down, his message was read in the Lords, by the Chancellor, and in the +Commons, by the Chief Secretary. It did not directly refer to the basis +laid down in England, nor to the subject matter itself; but the leaders +of the Castle party in both Houses, took care to supply the deficiency. +In the Lords, proxies included, Lord Clare had 75 to 26 for his Union +address: in the Commons, Lord Castlereagh congratulated the country on +the improvement which had taken place in public opinion, since the +former session. He briefly sketched his plan of Union, which, while +embracing the main propositions of Mr. Pitt, secured the Church +establishment, bid high for the commercial interests, hinted darkly of +emancipation to the Catholics, and gave the proprietors of boroughs to +understand that their interest in those convenient constituencies would +be capitalized, and a good round sum given to buy out their perpetual +patronage. In amendment to the address, Sir Lawrence Parsons moved, +seconded by Mr. Savage of Down, that the House would maintain _intact_ +the Constitution of '82, and the debate proceeded on this motion. +Ponsonby replied to Castlereagh; Plunkett and Bushe were answered by +the future judges, St. George Daly and Luke Fox; Toler contributed his +farce, and Dr. Duigenan his fanaticism. Through the long hours of the +winter's night the eloquent war was vigorously maintained. One who was +himself a distinguished actor in the struggle, (Sir Jonah Barrington,) +has thus described it: "Every mind," he says, "was at its stretch, +every talent was in its vigour: it was a momentous trial; and never was +so general and so deep a sensation felt in any country. Numerous +British noblemen and commoners were present at that and the succeeding +debate, and they expressed opinions of Irish eloquence which they had +never before conceived, nor ever after had an opportunity of +appreciating. Every man on that night seemed to be inspired by the +subject. Speeches more replete with talent and energy, on both sides, +never were heard in the Irish Senate; it was a vital subject. The +sublime, the eloquent, the figurative orator, the plain, the connected, +the metaphysical reasoner, the classical, the learned, and the solemn +declaimer, in a succession of speeches so full of energy and +enthusiasm, so interesting in their nature, so important in their +consequence, created a variety of sensations even in the bosom of a +stranger, and could scarcely fail of exciting some sympathy with a +nation which was doomed to close for ever that school of eloquence +which had so long given character and celebrity to Irish talent." + +At the early dawn, a special messenger from Wicklow, just arrived in +town, roused Henry Grattan from his bed. He had been elected the +previous night for the borough of Wicklow, (which cost him 2,400 pounds +sterling), and this was the bearer of the returning officer's +certificate. His friends, weak and feeble as he was, wished him to go +down to the House, and his heroic wife seconded their appeals. It was +seven o'clock in the morning of the 16th when he reached College Green, +the scene of his first triumphs twenty years before. Mr. Egan, one of +the staunchest anti-Unionists, was at the moment, on some rumour, +probably, of his approach, apostrophising warmly the father of the +Constitution of '82, when that striking apparition appeared at the bar. +Worn and emaciated beyond description, he appeared leaning on two of +his friends, Arthur Moore and W. B. Ponsonby. He wore his volunteer +uniform, blue with red facings, and advanced to the table, where he +removed his cocked hat, bowed to the Speaker, and took the oaths. After +Mr. Egan had concluded, he begged permission from his seat beside +Plunkett, to address the House sitting, which was granted, and then in +a discourse of two hours' duration, full of his ancient fire and +vigour, he asserted once again, by the divine right of intellect, his +title to be considered the first Commoner of Ireland. Gifted men were +not rare in that assembly; but the inspiration of the heart, the +uncontrollable utterance of a supreme spirit, not less than the +extraordinary faculty of condensation, in which, perhaps, he has never +had a superior in our language, gave the Grattan of 1800 the same +pre-eminence among his cotemporaries, that was conceded to the Grattan +of 1782. After eighteen hours' discussion the division was taken, when +the result of the long recess was clearly seen; for the amendment there +appeared 96, for the address 138 members. The Union majority, +therefore, was 42. It was apparent from that moment that the +representation of the people in Parliament had been effectually +corrupted; that that assembly was no longer the safeguard of the +liberties of the people. Other ministerial majorities confirmed this +impression. A measure to enable 10,000 of the Irish militia to enter +the regular army, and to substitute English militia in their stead, +followed; an inquiry into outrages committed by the sheriff and +military in King's county, was voted down; a similar motion somewhat +later, in relation to officials in Tipperary met the same fate. On the +5th of February, a formal message proposing a basis of Union was +received from his Excellency, and debated for twenty consecutive +hours—from 4 o'clock of one day, till 12 of the next. Grattan, +Plunkett, Parnell, Ponsonby, Saurin, were, as always, eloquent and +able, but again the division told for the minister, 160 to 117—majority +43. On the 17th of February, the House went into Committee on the +proposed articles of Union, and the Speaker (John Foster) being now on +the floor, addressed the House with great ability in review of Mr. +Pitt's recent Union speech, which he designated "a paltry production." +But again, a majority mustered, at the nod of the minister, 161 to +140—a few not fully committed showing some last faint spark of +independence. It was on this occasion that Mr. Corry, Chancellor of the +Exchequer, member for Newry, made for the third or fourth time that +session, an attack on Grattan, which brought out, on the instant, that +famous "philippic against Corry," unequalled in our language, for its +well-suppressed passion, and finely condensed denunciation. A duel +followed, as soon as there was sufficient light; the Chancellor was +wounded, after which the Castlereagh tactics of "fighting down the +opposition," received an immediate and lasting check. + +Throughout the months of February and March, with an occasional +adjournment, the Constitutional battle was fought on every point +permitted by the forms of the House. On the 25th of March, the +Committee, after another powerful speech from the Speaker, finally +reported the resolutions which were passed by 154 to 107—a majority of +47. The Houses then adjourned for six weeks, to allow time for +corresponding action to be taken in England. There was little +difficulty in carrying the measure. In the Upper House, Lords Derby, +Holland, and King only opposed it; in the Lower, Sheridan, Tierney, +Grey, and Lawrence mustered on a division, 30 votes against Pitt's 206. +On the 21st of May, in the Irish Commons, Lord Castlereagh obtained +leave to bring in the Union Bill by 160 to 100; on the 7th of June the +final passage of the measure was effected. That closing scene has been +often described, but never so graphically, as by the diamond pen of +Jonah Barrington. + +"The galleries were full, but the change was lamentable. They were no +longer crowded with those who had been accustomed to witness the +eloquence and to animate the debates of that devoted assembly. A +monotonous and melancholy murmur ran through the benches; scarcely a +word was exchanged amongst the members; nobody seemed at ease; no +cheerfulness was apparent; and the ordinary business, for a short time, +proceeded in the usual manner. + +"At length, the expected moment arrived: the order of the day for the +third reading of the bill for a 'legislative union between Great +Britain and Ireland' was moved by Lord Castlereagh. Unvaried, tame, +cold-blooded, the words seemed frozen as they issued from his lips; +and, as if a simple citizen of the world, he seemed to have no +sensation on the subject. + +"At that moment he had no country, no God, but his ambition. He made +his motion, and resumed his seat, with the utmost composure and +indifference. + +"Confused murmurs again ran through the House. It was visibly affected. +Every character, in a moment, seemed involuntarily rushing to its +index—some pale, some flushed, some agitated—there were few +countenances to which the heart did not despatch some messenger. +Several members withdrew before the question could be repeated, and an +awful, momentary silence succeeded their departure. The Speaker rose +slowly from that chair which had been the proud source of his honours +and of his high character. For a moment he resumed his seat, but the +strength of his mind sustained him in his duty, though his struggle was +apparent. With that dignity which never failed to signalize his +official actions, he held up the bill for a moment in silence. He +looked steadily around him on the last agony of the expiring +Parliament. He at length repeated, in an emphatic tone, 'As many as are +of opinion that THIS BILL do pass, say _ay_! The affirmative was +languid, but indisputable. Another momentary pause ensued. Again his +lips seemed to decline their office. At length, with an eye averted +from the object he hated, he proclaimed, with a subdued voice, '_The, +AYES have it_.' The fatal sentence was now pronounced. For an instant +he stood statue-like; then indignantly, and with disgust, flung the +bill upon the table, and sank into his chair with an exhausted spirit. +An independent country was thus degraded into a province. Ireland, as a +nation, was extinguished." + +The final division in the Commons was 153 to 88, nearly 60 members +absenting themselves, and in the Lords, 76 to 17. In England all the +stages were passed in July, and on the 2nd of August, the anniversary +of the King's accession, the royal assent was given to the twofold +legislation, which declared the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland +one and inseparable! + +By the provisions of this statute, compact, or treaty, the Sovereignty +of the United Kingdom was to follow the order of the Act of Succession; +the Irish peerage was to be reduced by the filling of one vacancy for +every three deaths, to the number of one hundred; from among these, +twenty-eight representative Peers were to be elected for life, and four +spiritual Lords to sit in succession. The number of Irish +representatives in the Imperial Parliament was fixed at one hundred +(increased to one hundred and five); the churches of England and +Ireland were united like the kingdoms, and declared to be one in +doctrine and discipline. The debt of Ireland, which was less than +4,000,000 pounds in 1797, increased to 14,000,000 pounds in '99, and +had risen to nearly 17,000,000 pounds in 1801, was to be alone +chargeable to Ireland, whose proportionate share of general taxation +was then estimated at 2-17ths of that of the United Kingdom. The Courts +of Law, the Privy Council, and the Viceroyalty, were to remain at +Dublin, the cenotaph and the shadows of departed nationality. + +On the 1st day of January, 1801, in accordance with this great +Constitutional change, a new imperial standard was run up on London +Tower, Edinburgh Castle, and Dublin Castle. It was formed of the three +crosses of St. Patrick, Saint Andrew, and Saint George, and is that +popularly known to us as "the Union Jack." The _fleur de lis_, and the +word "France," were struck from the royal title, which was settled, by +proclamation, to consist henceforth of the words _Dei Gratia, +Britanniarum Rex, Fidei Defensor_. + +The foul means by which this counter revolution was accomplished, have, +perhaps, been already sufficiently indicated. It may be necessary, +however, in order to account for the continued hostility of the Irish +people to the measure, after more than sixty years' experience of its +results, to recapitulate them very briefly. Of all who voted for the +Union, in both Houses, it was said that only six or seven were known to +have done so on conviction. Great borough proprietors, like Lord Ely +and Lord Shannon, received as much as 45,000 pounds sterling in +"compensation" for their loss of patronage; while proprietors of single +seats received 15,000 pounds. That the majority was avowedly purchased, +in both Houses, is no longer matter of inference, nay, that some of +them were purchased twice over is now well known. Lord Carysfort, an +active partisan of the measure, writing in February, 1800, to his +friend the Marquis of Buckingham, frankly says: "The majority, which +has been bought at an enormous price, must be bought over again, +perhaps more than once, before all the details can be gone through." +His lordship himself, and the order to which he belonged, and those who +aspired to enter it, were, it must be added, among the most insatiable +of these purchased supporters. The Dublin _Gazette_ for July, 1800, +announced not less than sixteen new peerages, and the same publication +for the last week of the year, contained a fresh list of twenty-six +others. Forty-two creations in six months was a stretch of prerogative +far beyond the most arbitrary of the Stuarts or Tudors, and forms one, +not of the least unanswerable evidences, of the utterly corrupt +considerations which secured the support of the Irish majority in both +Houses. + +It was impossible that a people like the Irish, disinterested and +unselfish to a fault, should ever come to respect a compact brought +about by such means and influences as these. Had, however, the Union, +vile as were the means by which it was accomplished, proved to the real +benefit of the country—had equal civil and religious rights been freely +and at once extended to the people of the lesser kingdom—there is no +reason to doubt that the measure would have become popular in time, and +the vices of the old system be better remembered than its benefits, +real or imaginary. But the Union was never utilized for Ireland; it +proved in reality what Samuel Johnson had predicted, when spoken of in +his day: "Do not unite with us, sir," said the gruff old moralist to an +Irish acquaintance; "it would be the union of the shark with his prey; +we should unite with you only to destroy you." + +In glancing backward over the long political connexion of Ireland and +England, we mark four great epochs. The Anglo-Norman invasion in 1169; +the statute of Kilkenny decreeing eternal separation between the races, +"the English pale" and "the Irish enemy," 1367; the Union of the +Crowns, in 1541, and the Legislative Union, in 1801. One more cardinal +event remains to be recorded—the Emancipation of the Catholics, in +1829. + + + +BOOK XII. +FROM THE UNION OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND TO THE EMANCIPATION OF THE +CATHOLICS. + + + +CHAPTER I. +AFTER THE UNION—DEATH OF LORD CLARE—ROBERT EMMET'S EMEUTE. + +The plan of this brief compendium of Irish history obliges us to sketch +for some years farther on, the political and religious annals of the +Irish people. Having described in what manner their distinctive +political nationality was at length lost, it only remains to show how +their religious liberties were finally recovered. + +The first striking effect of the Union was to introduce Catholic +Emancipation into the category of imperial difficulties, and to assign +it the very first place on the list. By a singular retribution, the +Pitt administration with its 200 of a House of Commons majority, its +absolute control of the Lords, and its seventeen years' prescription in +its favour, fell upon this very question, after they had used it to +carry the Union, within a few weeks of the consummation of that Union. +The cause of this crisis was the invincible obstinacy of the King, who +had taken into his head, at the time of Lord Fitzwilliam's recall from +Ireland, that his coronation oath bound him in conscience to resist the +Catholic claims. The suggestion of this obstacle was originally Lord +Clare's; and though Lord Kenyon and Lord Stowell had declared it +unfounded in law, Lord Loughborough and Lord Eldon were unfortunately +of a different opinion. With George III. the idea became a monomaniac +certainty, and there is no reason to doubt that he would have preferred +abdication to its abandonment. + +The King was not for several months aware how far his Prime Minister +had gone on the Catholic question in Ireland. But those who were weary +of Pitt's ascendancy, were, of course, interested in giving him this +important information. The minister himself, wrapped in his austere +self-reliance, did not volunteer explanations even to his Sovereign, +and the King broke silence very unexpectedly, a few days after the +first meeting of the Imperial Parliament (January 22nd, 1801). Stepping +up to Mr. Dundas at the levee, he began in his usual manner, "What's +this? what's this? this, that this young Lord (Castlereagh) has brought +over from Ireland to throw at my head? The most Jacobinical thing I +ever heard of! Any man who proposes such a thing is my personal enemy." +Mr. Dundas replied respectfully but firmly, and immediately +communicated the conversation to Mr. Pitt. The King's remarks had been +overheard by the bystanders, so that either the minister or the +Sovereign had now to give way. Pitt, at first, was resolute; the King +then offered to impose silence on himself as regarded the whole +subject, provided Mr. Pitt would agree to do likewise, but the haughty +minister refused, and tendered his resignation. On the 5th of February, +within five weeks of the consummation of the Union, this tender was +most reluctantly and regretfully accepted. Lord Grenville, Mr. Dundas, +and others of his principal colleagues went out of office with him; +Lord Cornwallis and Lord Castlereagh following their example. Of the +new Cabinet, Addington, the Speaker, was Premier, with Lord Hardwicke +as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. By the enemies of Pitt this was looked +upon as a mere administration _ad interim_; as a concerted arrangement +to enable him to evade an unfavourable peace—that of Amiens—which he +saw coming; but it is only fair to say, that the private letters of the +period, since published, do not sanction any such imputation. It is, +however, to be observed, _per contra_, that three weeks after his +formal resignation, he had no hesitation in assuring the King, who had +just recovered from one of his attacks brought on by this crisis, that +he would never again urge the Catholic claims on his Majesty's notice. +On this understanding he returned to office in the spring of 1804; to +this compact he adhered till his death, in January, 1806. + +In Ireland, the events immediately consequent upon the Union, were such +as might have been expected. Many of those who had been instrumental in +carrying it, were disappointed and discontented with their new +situation in the empire. Of these, the most conspicuous and the least +to be pitied, was Lord Clare. That haughty, domineering spirit, +accustomed to dictate with almost absolute power to the Privy +Counsellors and peerage of Ireland, experienced nothing but +mortification in the Imperial House of Lords. The part he hoped to play +on that wider stage he found impossible to assume; he confronted there +in the aged Thurlow and the astute Loughborough, law lords as absolute +as himself, who soon made him conscious that, though a main agent of +the Union, he was only a stranger in the united legislature. The Duke +of Bedford reminded him that "the Union had not transferred his +dictatorial powers to the Imperial Parliament;" other noble Lords were +hardly less severe. Pitt was cold, and Grenville ceremonious; and in +the arrangements of the Addington ministry he was not even consulted. +He returned to Ireland before the first year of the Union closed, in a +state of mind and temper which preyed upon his health. Before the +second session of the Imperial Parliament assembled, he had been borne +to the grave amid the revilings and hootings of the multitude. Dublin, +true to its ancient disposition, which led the townsfolk of the twelfth +century to bury the ancestor of Dermid McMurrogh with the carcass of a +dog, filled the grave of the once splendid Lord Chancellor with every +description of garbage. + +On the other hand, Lord Castlereagh, younger, suppler, and more +accommodating to English prejudices, rose from one Cabinet office to +another, until at length, in fifteen years from the Union, he directed +the destinies of the Empire, as absolutely, as he had moulded the fate +of Ireland. To Castlereagh and the Wellesley family, the Union was in +truth, an era of honour and advancement. The sons of the spendthrift +amateur, Lord Mornington, were reserved to rule India, and lead the +armies of Europe; while the son of Flood's colleague in the Reform +convention of 1783, was destined to give law to Christendom, at the +Congress of Vienna. + +A career very different in all respects from those just mentioned, +closed in the second year of Dublin's widowhood as a metropolis. It was +the career of a young man of four-and-twenty, who snatched at immortal +fame and obtained it, in the very agony of a public, but not for him, a +shameful death. This was Robert, youngest brother of Thomas Addis +Emmet, whose _emeute_ of 1803 would long since have sunk to the level +of other city riots, but for the matchless dying speech of which it was +the prelude and the occasion. This young gentleman was in his 20th year +when expelled with nineteen others from Trinity College, in 1798, by +order of the visitors, Lord Clare and Dr. Duigenan. His reputation as a +scholar and debater was already established within the college walls, +and the highest expectations were naturally entertained of him, by his +friends. One of his early college companions—Thomas Moore—who lived to +know all the leading men of his age, declares that of all he had ever +known, he would place among "the highest of the few" who combined in +"the greatest degree pure moral worth with intellectual power"—Robert +Emmet. After the expatriation of his brother, young Emmet visited him +at Fort-George, and proceeded from thence to the Continent. During the +year the Union was consummated he visited Spain, and travelled through +Holland, France, and Switzerland, till the peace of Amiens. +Subsequently he joined his brother's family in Paris, and was taken +into the full confidence of the exiles, then in direct communication +with Buonaparte and Talleyrand. It was not concealed from the Irish by +either the First Consul, or his minister, that the peace with England +was likely to have a speedy termination; and, accordingly, they were +not unprepared for the new declaration of war between the two +countries, which was officially made at London and Paris, in May, +1803—little more than twelve months after the proclamation of the peace +of Amiens. + +It was in expectation of this rupture, and a consequent invasion of +Ireland, that Robert Emmet returned to Dublin, in October, 1802, to +endeavour to re-establish in some degree the old organization of the +United Irishmen. In the same expectation, McNevin, Corbet, and others +of the Irish in France, formed themselves, by permission of the First +Consul, into a legion, under command of Tone's trusty aid-de-camp, +McSheehey; while Thomas Addis Emmet and Arthur O'Conor remained at +Paris, the plenipotentiaries of their countrymen. On the rupture with +England Buonaparte took up the Irish negotiation with much earnestness; +he even suggested to the exiles the colours and the motto under which +they were to fight, when once landed on their own soil. The flag on a +tricolour ground, was to have a green centre, bearing the letters +_R.I.—Republique Irlandaise_. The legend at large was to be: +_L'independence de l'Irlande—Liberte de Conscience_; a motto which +certainly told the whole story. The First Consul also suggested the +formation of an Irish Committee at Paris, and the preparation of +statements of Irish grievances for the _Moniteur_, and the +semi-official papers. + +Robert Emmet seems to have been confidently of opinion soon after his +return to Dublin, that nineteen out of the thirty-two counties would +rise; and, perhaps, if a sufficient French force had landed, his +opinion might have been justified by the fact. So did not think, +however, John Keogh, Valentine Lawless (Lord Cloncurry), and other +close observers of the state of the country. But Emmet was +enthusiastic, and he inspired his own spirit into many. Mr. Long, a +merchant, placed 1,400 pounds sterling at his disposal; he had himself, +in consequence of the recent death of his father, stock to the amount +of 1,500 pounds converted into cash, and with these funds he entered +actively on his preliminary preparations. His chief confidants and +assistants were Thomas Russell and Mathew Dowdall, formerly prisoners +at Fort-George, but now permitted to return; William Putnam McCabe, the +most adventurous of all the party, a perfect Proteus in disguise; Gray, +a Wexford attorney; Colonel Lumm of Kildare, an old friend of Lord +Edward Fitzgerald; Mr. Long, before mentioned; Hamilton, an Enniskillen +barrister, married to Russell's niece; James Hope of Templepatrick, and +Michael Dwyer, the Wicklow outlaw, who had remained since '98 +uncaptured in the mountains. + +In the month of March, when the renewal of hostilities with France was +decided on in England, the preparations of the conspirators were pushed +forward with redoubled energy. The still wilder conspiracy headed by +Colonel Despard in London, the previous winter, the secret and the fate +of which was well known to the Dublin leaders—Dowdall being Despard's +agent—did not in the least intimidate Emmet or his friends. Despard +suffered death in February, with nine of his followers, but his Irish +confederates only went on with their arrangements with a more reckless +resolution. Their plan was the plan of O'Moore and McGuire, to surprise +the Castle, seize the authorities and secure the capital; but the +Dublin of 1803 was in many respects very different from the Dublin of +1641. The discontent, however, arising from the recent loss of the +Parliament might have turned the city scale in Emmet's favour, had its +first stroke been successful. The emissaries at work in the Leinster +and Ulster counties gave besides sanguine reports of success, so that, +judging by the information in his possession, an older and cooler head +than Robert Emmet's might well have been misled into the expectation of +nineteen counties rising if the signal could only be given from Dublin +Castle. If the blow could be withheld till August, there was every +reason to expect a French invasion of England, which would drain away +all the regular army, and leave the people merely the militia and the +volunteers to contend against. But all the Dublin arrangements exploded +in the melancholy _emeute_ of the 23rd of July, 1803, in which the +Chief-Justice, Lord Kilwarden, passing through the disturbed quarter of +the city at the time, was cruelly murdered; for which, and for his +cause, Emmet suffered death on the same spot on the 20th of September +following. For the same cause, the equally pure-minded and chivalrous +Thomas Russell was executed at Downpatrick; Kearney, Roche, Redmond and +Howley also suffered death at Dublin; Allen, Putnam, McCabe, and +Dowdall escaped to France, where the former became an officer of rank +in the army of Napoleon; Michael Dwyer, who had surrendered on +condition of being allowed to emigrate to' North America, died in exile +in Australia, in 1825. Others of Emmet's known or suspected friends, +after undergoing two, three, and even four years' imprisonment, were +finally discharged without trial. Mr. Long, his generous banker, and +James Hope, his faithful emissary, were both permitted to end their +days in Ireland. + +The trial of Robert Emmet, from the wonderful death-speech delivered at +it, is perfectly well known. But in justice to a man of genius equal if +not superior to his own—an Irishman, whose memory is national property, +as well as Emmet's, it must here be observed, that the latter never +delivered, and had no justification to deliver the vulgar diatribe +against Plunkett, his prosecutor, now constantly printed in the common +and incorrect versions of that speech. Plunkett, as Attorney-General, +in 1803, had no option but to prosecute for the crown; he was a +politician of a totally different school from that of Emmet; he shared +all Burke and Grattan's horror of French revolutionary principles. In +the fervour of his accusatory oration he may have gone too far; he may +have, and in reading it now, it is clear to us that he did press too +hard upon the prisoner in the dock. He might have performed his awful +office with more sorrow and less vehemence, for there was no doubt +about his jury. But withal, he gave no fair grounds for any such retort +as is falsely attributed to Emmet, the very style of which proves its +falsity. It is now well known that the apostrophe in the death-speech, +commencing "you viper," alleged to have been addressed to Plunkett, was +the interpolation many years afterwards of that literary +Ishmaelite—Walter Cox of the _Hibernian Magazine_,—who through such +base means endeavoured to aim a blow at Plunkett's reputation. The +personal reputation of the younger Emmet, the least known to his +countrymen of all the United Irish leaders, except by the crowning act +of his death, is safe beyond the reach of calumny, or party zeal, or +time's changes. It is embalmed in the verse of Moore and Southey, and +the precious prose of Washington Irvine. Men of genius in England and +America have done honour to his memory; in the annals of his own +country his name deserves to stand with those youthful chiefs, equally +renowned, and equally ready to seal their patriotism with their +blood—Sir Cahir O'Doherty and Hugh Roe O'Donnell. + + + +CHAPTER II. +ADMINISTRATION OF LORD HARDWICKE (1801 TO 1806), AND OF THE DUKE OF +BEDFORD (1806 TO 1808). + +During the five years in which Lord Hardwicke was Viceroy of Ireland, +the _habeas corpus_ remained suspended, and the Insurrection Act +continued in force. These were the years in which the power of Napoleon +made the most astonishing strides; the years in which he remodelled the +German Empire, placed on his head the iron crown of Lombardy, on his +sister's that of Etruria, and on his brother's that of Holland; when +the Consulate gave place to the Empire, and Dukedoms and Principalities +were freely distributed among the marshals of the Grand Army. During +all these years, Napoleon harassed England with menaces of invasion, +and excited Ireland with corresponding hopes of intervention. The more +far-seeing United Irishmen, however, had so little faith in these +demonstrations that Emmet and McNevin emigrated to the United States, +leaving behind them in the ranks of the French Army, those of their +compatriots who, either from habit or preference, had become attached +to a military life. It must however be borne in mind, for it is +essential to the understanding of England's policy towards Ireland, in +the first twelve or fourteen years after the Union, that the wild hope +of a French invasion never forsook the hearts of a large portion of the +Irish people, so long as Napoleon Buonaparte continued at the head of +the government of France. During the whole of that period the British +government were kept in constant apprehension for Ireland; under this +feeling they kept up and increased the local militia; strengthened +garrisons, and replenished magazines; constructed a chain of Martello +towers round the entire coast, and maintained in full rigour the +Insurrection Act. They refused, indeed, to the Munster magistrates in +1803, and subsequently, the power of summary convictions which they +possessed in '98; but they sent special Commissions of their own into +the suspected counties, who sentenced to death with as little remorse +as if they had been so many hydrophobic dogs. Ten, twelve, and even +twenty capital executions was no uncommon result of a single sitting of +one of those murderous commissions, over which Lord Norbury presided; +but it must be added that there were other judges, who observed not +only the decencies of everyday life, but who interpreted the law in +mercy as well as in justice. They were a minority, it is true, but +there were some such, nevertheless. + +The session of the Imperial Parliament of 1803-'4, was chiefly +remarkable for its war speeches and war budget. In Ireland 50,000 men +of the regular militia were under arms and under pay; 70,000 volunteers +were enrolled, battalioned, and ready to be called out in case of +emergency, to which it was proposed to add 25,000 sea-fencibles. +General Fox, who it was alleged had neglected taking proper precaution +at the time of Robert Emmet's _emeute_, was replaced by Lord Cathcart, +as Commander-in-Chief. The _public_ reports at least of this officer, +were highly laudatory of the discipline and conduct of the Irish +militia. + +In May, 1804, Mr. Pitt returned to power, as Chancellor of the +Exchequer and Prime Minister, when the whole Pitt policy towards +Ireland, France, and America, was of course resumed; a policy which +continued to be acted on during the short remainder of the life of its +celebrated author. + +The year 1805 may be called the first year of the revival of public +spirit and public opinion after the Union. In that year Grattan had +allowed himself to be persuaded by Fox, into entering the Imperial +Parliament, and his old friend Lord Fitzwilliam found a constituency +for him, in his Yorkshire borough of Malton. About the same time, Pitt, +or his colleagues, induced Plunkett to enter the same great assembly, +providing him with a constituency at Midhurst, in Sussex. But they did +not succeed—if they ever attempted—to match Plunkett with Grattan. +Those great men were warm and close friends in the Imperial as they had +been in the Irish Parliament; very dissimilar in their genius, they +were both decided anti-Jacobins; both strenuous advocates of the +Catholic claims, and both proud and fond of their original country. +Grattan had more poetry, and Plunkett more science; but the heart of +the man of colder exterior opened and swelled out, in one of the +noblest tributes ever paid by one great orator to another, when +Plunkett introduced in 1821, in the Imperial Parliament, his allusion +to his illustrious friend, then recently deceased. + +Preparatory to the meeting of Parliament in 1805, the members of the +old Catholic Committee, who had not met for any such purpose for +several years, assembled in Dublin, and prepared a petition which they +authorized their chairman, Lord Fingall, to place in such hands as he +might choose, for presentation in both Houses. His lordship on reaching +London waited on Mr. Pitt, and entreated him to take charge of the +petition; but he found that the Prime Minister had promised the King +one thing and the Catholics another, and, therefore, declined acceding +to his request. He then gave the petition into the charge of Lord +Grenville and Mr. Fox, and by them the subject was brought accordingly +before the Lords and Commons. This debate in the Commons was remarkable +in many respects, but most of all for Grattan's _debut_. A lively +curiosity to hear one of whom so much had been said in his own country, +pervaded the whole House, as Grattan rose. His grotesque little figure, +his eccentric action, and his strangely cadenced sentences rather +surprised than attracted attention, but as he warmed with the march of +ideas, men of both parties warmed to the genial and enlarged +philosophy, embodied in the interfused rhetoric and logic of the +orator; Pitt was seen to beat time with his hand to every curiously +proportioned period, and at length both sides of the House broke into +hearty acknowledgments of the genius of the new member for Malton. But +as yet their cheers were not followed by their votes; the division +against going into Committee was 336 to 124. + +In sustaining Fox's motion, Sir John Cox Hippesley had suggested "the +Veto" as a safeguard against the encroachments of Rome, which the Irish +bishops would not be disposed to refuse. Archbishop Troy, and Dr. +Moylan, Bishop of Cork, gave considerable praise to this speech, and +partly at their request it was published in pamphlet form. This brought +up directly a discussion among the Catholics, which lasted until 1810, +was renewed in 1813, and not finally set at rest till the passage of +the bill of 1829, without any such safeguard. Sir John C. Hippesley had +modelled his proposal, he said, on the liberties of the Gallican +Church. "Her privileges," he added, "depended on two prominent maxims: +1st. That the Pope had no authority to order or interfere in anything +in which the civil rights of the kingdom were concerned. 2nd. That +notwithstanding the Pope's supremacy was acknowledged in cases purely +spiritual, yet, in other respects, his power was limited by the decrees +of the ancient councils of the realm." The Irish Church, therefore, was +to be similarly administered, to obviate the objections of the +opponents of complete civil emancipation. + +In February, 1806, on the death of Pitt, Mr. Fox came into power, with +an uncertain majority and a powerful opposition. In April, the Duke of +Bedford arrived, as Viceroy, at Dublin, and the Catholics presented, +through Mr. Keogh, a mild address, expressive of their hopes that "the +glorious development" of their emancipation would be reserved for the +new government. The Duke returned an evasive answer in public, but +privately, both at Dublin and London, the Catholics were assured that, +as soon as the new Premier could convert the King—as soon as he was in +a position to act—he would make their cause his own. No doubt Fox, who +had great nobleness of soul, intended to do so; but on the 13th of +September of the same year, he followed his great rival, Pitt, to the +vaults of Westminster Abbey. A few months only had intervened between +the death of the rivals. + +Lords Grey and Grenville, during the next recess, having formed a new +administration, instructed their Irish Secretary, Mr. Elliot, to put +himself in communication with the Catholics, in relation to a measure +making them eligible to naval and military offices. The Catholics +accepted this proposal with pleasure, but at the opening of the session +of 1807, in a deputation to the Irish government, again urged the +question of complete emancipation. The bill in relation to the army and +navy had, originally, the King's acquiescence; but early in March, +after it had passed the Commons, George III. changed his mind—if the +expression may be used of him—at that time. He declared he had not +considered it at first so important as he afterwards found it; he +intimated that it could not receive his sanction; he went farther—he +required a written pledge from Lords Grey and Grenville never again to +bring forward such a measure, "nor ever to propose anything connected +with the Catholic question." This unconstitutional pledge they refused +to give, hurried the bill into law, and resigned. Mr. Spencer Perceval +was then sent for, and what was called "the No-Popery Cabinet," in +which Mr. Canning and Lord Castlereagh were the principal Secretaries +of State, was formed. Thus, for the second time in six years, had the +Catholic question made and unmade cabinets. + +The Catholics were a good deal dispirited in 1805, by the overwhelming +majority by which their petition of that year was refused to be +referred to a committee. In 1806, they contented themselves with simply +addressing the Duke of Bedford, on his arrival at Dublin. In 1807, the +"No-Popery Cabinet," by the result of the elections, was placed in +possession of an immense majority—a fact which excluded all prospects +of another change of government. But the Committee were too long +accustomed to disappointments to despair even under these reverses. +Early in the next session their petition was presented by Mr. Grattan +in the Commons, and Lord Donoughmore in the Lords. The majority against +going into committee was, in the Commons, 153; in the Lords, 87. +Similar motions in the session of 1808, made by the same parties, were +rejected by majorities somewhat reduced, and the question, on the +whole, might be said to have recovered some of its former vantage +ground, in despite of the bitter, pertinacious resistance of Mr. +Perceval, in the one House, and the Duke of Portland, in the other. + +The short-lived administration of Mr. Fox, though it was said to +include "all the talents," had been full of nothing but disappointment +to his Irish supporters. The Duke of Bedford was, indeed, a great +improvement on Lord Hardwicke, and Mr. Ponsonby on Lord Redesdale, as +Chancellor, and the liberation of the political prisoners confined +since 1803 did honour to the new administration. But there the measures +of justice so credulously expected, both as to persons and interests, +ended. Curran, whose professional claims to advancement were far beyond +those of dozens of men who had been, during the past ten years, lifted +over his head, was neglected, and very naturally dissatisfied; Grattan, +never well adapted for a courtier, could not obtain even minor +appointments for his oldest and staunchest adherents; while the +Catholics found their Whig friends, now that they were in office, as +anxious to exact the hard conditions of the Veto as Castlereagh +himself. + +In truth, the Catholic body at this period, and for a few years +subsequently, was deplorably disorganized. The young generation of +Catholic lawyers who had grown up since the Relief Act of '93 threw the +profession open to them, were men of another stamp from the old +generation of Catholic merchants, who had grown up under the Relief Act +of 1778. In the ten years before the Union, the Catholic middle class +was headed by men of business; in the period we have now reached, their +principal spokesmen came from "the Four Courts." John Keogh, the +ablest, wisest and firmest of the former generation, was now passing +into the decline of life, was frequently absent from the Committee, and +when present, frequently overruled by younger and more ardent men. In +1808, his absence, from illness, was regretted by Mr. O'Connell in an +eloquent speech addressed to the Committee on the necessity of united +action and incessant petitions. "Had he been present," said the young +barrister, "his powers of reasoning would have frightened away the +captious objections" to that course, "and the Catholics of Ireland +would again have to thank their old and useful servant for the +preservation of their honour and the support of their interests." It +was a strange anomaly, and one which continued for some years longer, +that the statesmen of the Catholic body should be all Protestants. A +more generous or tolerant spirit than Grattan's never existed; a +clearer or more fearless intellect than Plunkett's was not to be found; +nobler and more disinterested friends than Ponsonby, Curran, Burroughs +and Wallace, no people ever had; but still they were friends from +without; men of another religion, or of no particular religion, +advising and guiding an eminently religious people in their struggle +for religious liberty. This could not always last; it was not natural, +it was not desirable that it should last, though some years more were +to pass away before Catholic Emancipation was to be accomplished by the +union, the energy and the strategy of the Catholics themselves. + + + +CHAPTER III. +ADMINISTRATION OF THE DUKE OF RICHMOND (1807 TO 1813). + +Charles, fourth Duke of Richmond, succeeded the Duke of Bedford, as +Viceroy, in April, 1807, with Lord Manners as Lord Chancellor, John +Foster, Chancellor of the Exchequer—for the separate exchequer of +Ireland continued to exist till 1820—and Sir Arthur Wellesley as Chief +Secretary. Of these names, the two last were already familiar to their +countrymen, in connection with the history of their own Parliament; but +the new Chief Secretary had lately returned home covered with Indian +laurels, and full of the promise of other honours and victories to +come. + +The spirit of this administration was repressive, anti-Catholic and +high Tory. To maintain and strengthen British power, to keep the +Catholics quiet, to get possession of the Irish representation and +convert it into a means of support for the Tory party in England, these +were the leading objects of the seven years' administration of the Duke +of Richmond. Long afterwards, when the Chief Secretary of 1807 had +become "the most high, mighty and noble prince," whom all England and +nearly all Europe delighted to honour, he defended the Irish +administration of which he had formed a part, for its habitual use of +corrupt means and influence, in arguments which do more credit to his +frankness than his morality. He had "to turn the moral weakness of +individuals to good account," such was his argument. He stoutly denied +that "the whole nation is, or ever was corrupt;" but as "almost every +man of mark has his price," the Chief Secretary was obliged to use +corrupt influences "to command a majority in favour of order;" however +the particular kinds of influence employed might go against his grain, +he had, as he contended, no other alternative but to employ them. + +With the exception of a two months' campaign in Denmark—July to +September, 1807—Sir Arthur Wellesley continued to fill the office of +Chief Secretary, until his departure for the Peninsula, in July, 1808. +Even then he was expressly requested to retain the nominal office, with +power to appoint a deputy, and receive meanwhile the very handsome +salary of 8,000 pounds sterling a year. In the wonderful military +events, in which during the next seven years Sir Arthur was to play a +leading part, the comparatively unimportant particulars of his Irish +Secretariate have been long since forgotten. We have already described +the general spirit of that administration: it is only just to add, that +the dispassionate and resolute secretary, though he never shrank from +his share of the jobbery done daily at the Castle, repressed with as +much firmness the over-zeal of those he calls "red-hot Protestants," as +he showed in resisting, at that period, what he considered the +unconstitutional pretensions of the Catholics. An instance of the +impartiality to which he was capable of rising, when influenced by +partisans or religious prejudices, is afforded by his letter dissuading +the Wexford yeomanry from celebrating the anniversary of the battle of +Vinegar Hill. He regarded such a celebration as certain "to exasperate +party spirit," and "to hurt the feelings of others;" he, therefore, in +the name of the Lord-Lieutenant, strongly discouraged it, and the +intention was accordingly abandoned. It is to be regretted that the +same judicious rule was not at the same time enforced by government as +to the celebration of the much more obsolete and much more invidious +anniversaries of Aughrim and the Boyne. + +The general election which followed the death of Fox, in November, +1806, was the first great trial of political strength under the Union. +As was right and proper, Mr. Grattan, no longer indebted for a seat to +an English patron, however liberal, was returned at the head of the +poll for the city of Dublin. His associate, however, the banker, La +Touche, was defeated; the second member elect being Mr. Robert Shaw, +the Orange candidate. The Catholic electors to a man, under the +vigorous prompting of John Keogh and his friends, polled their votes +for their Protestant advocate; they did more, they subscribed the sum +of 4,000 pounds sterling to pay the expenses of the contest, but this +sum Mrs. Grattan induced the treasurer to return to the subscribers. +Ever watchful for her husband's honour, that admirable woman, as ardent +a patriot as himself, refused the generous tender of the Catholics of +Dublin. Although his several elections had cost Mr. Grattan above +54,000 pounds—more than the whole national grant of 1782—she would not, +in this case, that any one else should bear the cost of his last +triumph in the widowed capital of his own country. + +The great issue tried in this election of 1807, in those of 1812, 1818, +and 1826, was still the Catholic question. All other Irish, and most +other imperial domestic questions were subordinate to this. In one +shape or another, it came up in every session of Parliament. It entered +into the calculations of every statesman of every party; it continued +to make and unmake cabinets; in the press and in every society, it was +the principal topic of discussion. While tracing, therefore, its +progress, from year to year, we do but follow the main stream of +national history; all other branches come back again to this centre, or +exhaust themselves in secondary and forgotten results. + +The Catholics themselves, deprived in Ireland of a Parliament on which +they could act directly, were driven more and more into permanent +association, as the only means of operating a change in the Imperial +legislature. The value of a legal, popular, systematic, and continuous +combination of "the people" acting within the law, by means of +meetings, resolutions, correspondence, and petitions, was not made +suddenly, nor by all the party interested, at one and the same time. On +the minds of the more sagacious, however, an impression, favourable to +such organized action, grew deeper year by year, and at last settled +into a certainty which was justified by success. + +In May, 1809, the Catholic Committee had been reconstructed, and its +numbers enlarged. In a series of resolutions it was agreed that the +Catholic lords, the surviving delegates of 1793, the committee which +managed the petitions of 1805 and 1807, and such persons "as shall +distinctly appear to them to possess the confidence of the Catholic +body," do form henceforth the General Committee. It was proposed by +O'Connell, to avoid "the Convention Act," "that the noblemen and +gentlemen aforesaid are not representatives of the Catholic body, or +any portion thereof." The Committee were authorized to collect funds +for defraying expenses; a Treasurer was chosen, and a permanent +Secretary, Mr. Edward Hay, the historian of the Wexford rebellion—an +active and intelligent officer. The new Committee acted with great +judgment in 1810, but in 1811 Lord Fingal and his friends projected a +General Assembly of the leading Catholics, contrary to the Convention +Act, and to the resolution just cited. O'Connell was opposed to this +proposition; yet the assembly met, and were dispersed by the +authorities. The Chairman, Lord Fingal, and Drs. Sheridan and Kirwan, +Secretaries, were arrested. Lord Fingal, however, was not prosecuted, +but the Secretaries were, and one of them expiated by two years' +imprisonment his violation of the act. To get rid of the very pretext +of illegality, the Catholic Committee dissolved, but only to reappear +under a less vulnerable form, as "the Catholic Board." + +It is from the year 1810 that we must date the rise, among the +Catholics themselves, of a distinctive line of policy, suited to the +circumstances of the present century, and the first appearance of a +group of public men, capable of maintaining and enforcing that policy. +Not that the ancient leaders of that body were found deficient, in +former times, either in foresight or determination; but new times +called for new men; the Irish Catholics were now to seek their +emancipation from the imperial government; new tactics and new +combinations were necessary to success; and, in brief, instead of being +liberated from their bonds at the good will and pleasure of benevolent +Protestants, it was now to be tested whether they were capable of +contributing to their own emancipation,—whether they were willing and +able to assist their friends and to punish their enemies. + +Though the Irish Catholics could not legally meet in convention any +more than their Protestant fellow-countrymen, there was nothing to +prevent them assembling voluntarily, from every part of the kingdom, +without claim to delegation. With whom the happy idea of "the aggregate +meetings" originated is not certainly known, but to O'Connell and the +younger set of leading spirits this was a machinery capable of being +worked with good effect. No longer confined to a select Committee, +composed mainly of a few aged and cautious, though distinguished +persons, the fearless "agitators," as they now began to be called, +stood face to face with the body of the people themselves. The disused +theatre in Fishamble Street was their habitual place of meeting in +Dublin, and there, in 1811 and 1812, the orators met to criticise the +conduct of the Duke of Richmond—to denounce Mr. Wellesley Pole—to +attack Secretaries of State and Prime Ministers—to return thanks to +Lords Grey and Grenville for refusing to give the unconstitutional +anti-Catholic pledge required by the King, and to memorial the Prince +Regent. From those meetings, especially in the year 1812, the +leadership of O'Connell must be dated. After seven years of wearisome +probation, after enduring seven years the envy and the calumny of many +who, as they were his fellow-labourers, should have been his friends; +after demonstrating for seven years that his judgment and his courage +were equal to his eloquence, the successful Kerry barrister, then in +his thirty-seventh year, was at length generally recognized as "the +counsellor" of his co-religionists—as the veritable "Man of the +People." Dangers, delays and difficulties lay thick and dark in the +future, but from the year, when in Dublin, Cork and Limerick, the voice +of the famous advocate was recognized as the voice of the Catholics of +Ireland, their cause was taken out of the category of merely +ministerial measures, and exhibited in its true light as a great +national contest, entered into by the people themselves for complete +civil and religious freedom. + +Sir Arthur Wellesley had been succeeded in 1810 in the Secretaryship by +his brother, Mr. Wellesley Pole, who chiefly signalized his +administration by a circular against conventions, and the prosecution +of Sheridan and Kirwan, in 1811. He was in turn succeeded by a much +more able and memorable person—_Mr_., afterwards Sir Robert Peel. The +names of Peel and Wellington come thus into juxtaposition in Irish +politics in 1812, as they will be found in juxtaposition on the same +subject twenty and thirty years later. + +Early in the session of 1812, Mr. Perceval, the Premier, had been +assassinated in the lobby of the House of Commons, by Bellingham, and a +new political crisis was precipitated on the country. In the government +which followed, Lord Liverpool became the chief, with Castlereagh and +Canning as members of his administration. In the general election which +followed, Mr. Grattan was again returned for Dublin, and Mr. Plunkett +was elected for Trinity College, but Mr. Curran was defeated at Newry, +and Mr. Christopher Hely Hutchinson, the liberal candidate, at Cork. +Upon the whole, however, the result was favourable to the Catholic +cause, and the question was certain to have several additional Irish +supporters in the new House of Commons. + +In the administrative changes that followed, Mr. Peel, though only in +his twenty-fourth year, was appointed to the important post of Chief +Secretary. The son of the first baronet of the name—this youthful +statesman had first been elected for Cashel, almost as soon as he came +of age, in 1809. He continued Chief Secretary for six years, from the +twenty-fourth to the thirtieth year of his age. He distinguished +himself in the House of Commons almost as soon as he entered it, and +the predictions of his future premiership were not, even then, confined +to members of his own family. No English statesman, since the death of +William Pitt, has wielded so great a power in Irish affairs as Sir +Robert Peel, and it is, therefore, important to consider, under what +influence, and by what maxims he regulated his public conduct during +the time he filled the most important administrative office in that +country. + +Sir Robert Peel brought to the Irish government, notwithstanding his +Oxford education and the advantages of foreign travel which he had +enjoyed, prejudices the most illiberal, on the subject of all others on +which a statesman should be most free from prejudice—religion. An +anti-Catholic of the school of Mr. Perceval and Lord Eldon, he at once +constituted himself the principal opponent of Grattan's annual motion +in favour of Catholic Emancipation. That older men, born in the evil +time, should be bigots and defenders of the Penal Code, was hardly +wonderful, but a young statesman, exhibiting at that late day, such +studied and active hostility to so large a body of his fellow subjects, +naturally drew upon his head the execrations of all those whose +enfranchisement he so stubbornly resisted. Even his great abilities +were most absurdly denied, under this passionate feeling of wrong and +injustice. His Constabulary and his Stipendiary Magistracy were +resisted, ridiculed, and denounced, as outrages on the liberty of the +subject, and assaults on the independence of the bench. The term +_Peeler_ became synonymous with spy, informer, and traitor, and the +Chief Secretary was detested not only for the illiberal sentiments he +had expressed, but for the machinery of order he had established. After +half a century's experience, we may safely say, that the Irish +Constabulary have shown themselves to be a most valuable police, and as +little deserving of popular ill-will as any such body can ever expect +to be, but they were judged very differently during the Secretaryship +of their founder; for, at that time, being new and intrusive, they may, +no doubt, have deserved many of the hard and bitter things which were +generally said of them. + +The first session of the new Parliament in the year 1813—the last of +the Duke of Richmond's Viceroyalty—was remarkable for the most +important debate which had yet arisen on the Catholic question. In the +previous year, a motion of Canning's, in favour of "a final and +conciliatory adjustment," which was carried by an unexpected majority +of 235 to 106, encouraged Grattan to prepare a detailed Emancipation +Bill, instead of making his usual annual motion of referring the +Catholic petitions to the consideration of the Committee. This bill +recited the establishment of the Protestant succession to the crown, +and the establishment of the Protestant religion in the State. It then +proceeded to provide that Roman Catholics might sit and vote in +Parliament; might hold all offices, civil and military, except the +offices of Chancellor or Keeper of the Great Seal in England, or +Lord-Lieutenant, Lord Deputy, or Chancellor of Ireland; another section +threw open to Roman Catholics all lay corporations, while a proviso +excluded them either from holding or bestowing benefices in the +Established Church. Such was the Emancipation Act of 1813, proposed by +Grattan; an act far less comprehensive than that introduced by the same +statesman in 1795, into the Parliament of Ireland, but still, in many +of its provisions, a long stride in advance. + +Restricted and conditioned as this measure was, it still did not meet +the objections of the opponents of the question, in giving the crown a +Veto in the appointment of the bishops. Sir John Hippesley's pernicious +suggestion—reviving a very old traditional policy—was embodied by +Canning in one set of amendments, and by Castlereagh in another. +Canning's amendments, as summarised by the eminent Catholic jurist, +Charles Butler, were to this effect:— + +"He first appointed a certain number of Commissioners, who were to +profess the Catholic religion, and to be lay peers of Great Britain or +Scotland, possessing a freehold estate of one thousand pounds a year; +to be filled up, from time to time, by his Majesty, his heirs, or +successors. The Commissioners were to take an oath for the faithful +discharge of their office, and the observance of secrecy in all matters +not thereby required to be disclosed, with power to appoint a Secretary +with salary (proposed to be five hundred pounds a year), payable out of +the consolidated fund. The Secretary was to take an oath similar to +that of the Commissioners. + +"It was then provided, that every person elected to the discharge of +Roman Catholic episcopal functions in Great Britain or Scotland should, +previously to the discharge of his office, notify his then election to +the Secretary; that the Secretary should notify it to the +Commissioners, and they to the Privy Council, with a certificate 'that +they did not know or believe anything of the person nominated, which +tended to impeach his loyalty or peaceable conduct;' unless they had +knowledge of the contrary, in which case they should refuse their +certificate. Persons obtaining such a certificate were rendered capable +of exercising episcopal functions within the United Kingdom; if they +exercised them without a certificate, they were to be considered guilty +of a misdemeanor, and liable to be sent out of the kingdom. + +"Similar provisions respecting Ireland were then introduced." + +"The second set of clauses," says Mr. Butler, "was suggested by Lord +Castlereagh, and provided that the Commissioners under the preceding +clauses—with the addition, as to Great Britain, of the Lord Chancellor, +or Lord Keeper, or first Commissioner of the Great Seal for the time +being, and of one of his Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, +being a Protestant, or such other Protestant member of his Privy +Council as his Majesty should appoint—and with a similar addition in +respect to Ireland—and with the further addition, as to Great Britain, +of the person then exercising episcopal functions among the Catholics +in London—and, in respect to Ireland, of the titular Roman Catholic +Archbishops of Armagh and Dublin,—should be Commissioners for the +purposes thereinafter mentioned. + +"The Commissioners thus appointed were to take an oath for the +discharge of their office, and observance of secrecy, similar to the +former, and employ the same Secretary, and three of them were to form a +quorum. + +"The bill then provided, that subjects of his Majesty, receiving any +bull, dispensation, or other instrument, from the See of Rome, or any +person in foreign parts, acting under the authority of that See, +should, within six weeks, send a copy of it, signed with his name, to +the Secretary of the Commissioners, who should transmit the same to +them. + +"But with a proviso, that if the person receiving the same should +deliver to the Secretary of the Commission, within the time before +prescribed, a writing under his hand, certifying the fact of his having +received such a bull, dispensation, or other instrument, and +accompanying his certificate with an oath, declaring that 'it related, +wholly and exclusively, to spiritual concerns, and that it did not +contain, or refer to, any matter or thing which did or could, directly +or indirectly, affect or interfere with the duty and allegiance which +he owed to his Majesty's sacred person and government, or with the +temporal, civil, or social rights, properties, or duties of any other +of his Majesty's subjects, then the Commissioners were, in their +discretion, to receive such certificate and oath, in lieu of the copy +of the bull, dispensation, or other instrument. + +"Persons conforming to these provisions were to be exempted from all +pains and penalties, to which they would be liable under the existing +statutes; otherwise, they were to be deemed guilty of a high +misdemeanor; and in lieu of the pains and penalties, under the former +statutes, be liable to be sent out of the kingdom. + +"The third set of clauses provided that, within a time to be specified, +the Commissioners were to meet and appoint their Secretary, and give +notice of it to his Majesty's principal Secretaries of State in Great +Britain and Ireland; and the provisions of the act were to be in force +from that time." + +On the second reading, in May, the Committee of Parliament, on motion +of the Speaker, then on the floor, struck out the clause enabling +Catholics "to sit and vote in either House of Parliament," by a +majority of four votes: 251 against 247. Mr. Ponsonby immediately rose, +and, observing that, as "the bill without the clause," was unworthy +both of the Catholics and its authors, he moved the chairman do leave +the chair. The committee rose, without a division, and the Emancipation +Bill of 1813 was abandoned. + +Unhappily, the contest in relation to the Veto, which had originated in +the House of Commons, was extended to the Catholic body at large. +Several of the noblemen, members of the board, were not averse to +granting some such power as was claimed to the crown; some of the +professional class, more anxious to be emancipated than particular as +to the means, favoured the same view. The bishops at the time of the +Union, were known to have entertained the idea, and Sir John Hippesley +had published their letters, which certainly did not discourage his +proposal. But the second order of the clergy, the immense majority of +the laity, and all the new prelates, called to preside over vacant +sees, in the first decade of the century, were strongly opposed to any +such connexion with the head of the State. Of this party, Mr. O'Connell +was the uncompromising organ, and, perhaps, it was his course on this +very subject of the Veto, more than anything else, which established +his pretensions to be considered the leader of the Catholic body. Under +the prompting of the majority, the Catholic prelates met and passed a +resolution declaring that they could not accept the bill of 1813 as a +satisfactory settlement. This resolution they formally communicated to +the Catholic Board, who voted them, on O'Connell's motion, enthusiastic +thanks. The minority of the Board were silent rather than satisfied, +and their dissatisfaction was shown rather by their absence from the +Board meetings than by open opposition. + +Mr. O'Connell's position, from this period forward, may be best +understood from the tone in which he was spoken of in the debates of +Parliament. At the beginning of the session of 1815, we find the Chief +Secretary (Mr. Peel) stating that he "possesses more influence than any +other person" with the Irish Catholics, and that no meeting of that +body was considered complete unless a vote of thanks to Mr. O'Connell +was among the resolutions. + + + +CHAPTER IV. +O'CONNELL'S LEADERSHIP—1813 TO 1821. + +While the Veto controversy was carried into the press and the +Parliamentary debates, the extraordinary events of the last years of +Napoleon's reign became of such extreme interest as to cast into the +shade all questions of domestic policy. The Parliamentary fortunes of +the Catholic question varied with the fortunes of the war, and the +remoteness of external danger. Thus, in 1815, Sir Henry Parnell's +motion for a committee was rejected by a majority of 228 to 147; in +1816, on Mr. Grattan's similar motion, the vote was 172 to 141; in +1817, Mr. Grattan was again defeated by 245 to 221; in this session an +act exempting officers in the army and navy from forswearing +Transubstantiation passed and became law. The internal condition of the +Catholic body, both in England and Ireland, during all those years, was +far from enviable. In England there were Cisalpine and Ultramontane +factions; in Ireland, Vetoists and anti-Vetoists. The learned and +amiable Charles Butler—among jurists, the ornament of his order, was +fiercely opposed to the no less learned Dr. Milner, author of "The End +of Controversy," and "Letters to a Prebendary." In Ireland, a very +young barrister, who had hardly seen the second anniversary of his +majority, electrified the aggregate meetings with a new Franco-Irish +order of eloquence, naturally enough employed in the maintenance of +Gallican ideas of church government. This was Richard Lalor Shiel, the +author of two or three successful tragedies, and the man, next to +O'Connell, who wielded the largest tribunitian power over the Irish +populace during the whole of the subsequent agitation. Educated at +Stoneyhurst, he imbibed from refugee professors French idioms and a +French standard of taste, while, strangely enough, O'Connell, to whom +he was at first opposed, and of whom he became afterwards the first +lieutenant, educated in France by British refugees, acquired the +cumbrous English style of the Douay Bible and the Rheims Testament. The +contrast between the two men was every way extreme; physically, +mentally, and politically; but it is pleasant to know that their +differences never degenerated into distrust, envy or malice; that, in +fact, Daniel O'Connell had throughout all his after life no more +steadfast personal friend than Richard Lalor Shiel. + +In the progress of the Catholic agitation, the next memorable incident +was O'Connell's direct attack on the Prince Regent. That powerful +personage, the _de facto_ Sovereign of the realm, had long amused the +Irish Catholics with promises and pledges of being favourable to their +cause. At an aggregate meeting, in June, 1812, Mr. O'Connell maintained +that there were four distinct pledges of this description in existence: +1. One given in 1806, through the Duke of Bedford, then +Lord-Lieutenant, to induce the Catholics to withhold their petitions +for a time. 2. Another given the same year in the Prince's name by Mr. +Ponsonby, then Chancellor. 3. A pledge given to Lord Kenmare, _in +writing_, when at Cheltenham. 4. A verbal pledge given to Lord Fingal, +in the presence of Lords Clifford and Petre, and reduced to writing and +signed by these three noblemen, soon after quitting the Prince's +presence. Over the meeting at which this indictment was preferred, Lord +Fingal presided, and the celebrated "witchery" resolutions, referring +to the influence then exercised on the Prince by Lady Hertford, were +proposed by his lordship's son, Lord Killeen. It may, therefore, be +fairly assumed, that the existence of the fourth pledge was proved, the +first and second were never denied, and as to the third—that given to +Lord Kenmare—the only correction ever made was, that the Prince's +message was delivered verbally, by his Private Secretary, Colonel +McMahon, and not in writing. Lord Kenmare, who died in the autumn of +1812, could not be induced, from a motive of delicacy, to reduce his +recollection of this message to writing, but he never denied that he +had received it, and O'Connell, therefore, during the following years, +always held the Prince accountable for this, as for his other promises. +Much difference of opinion arose as to the wisdom of attacking a person +in the position of the Prince; but O'Connell, fully persuaded of the +utter worthlessness of the declarations made in that quarter, decided +for himself that the bold course was the wise course. The effect +already was various. The English Whigs, the Prince's early and constant +friends, who had followed him to lengths that honour could hardly +sanction, and who had experienced his hollow-heartedness when lately +called to govern during his father's illness; they, of course, were not +sorry to see him held up to odium in Ireland, as a dishonoured +gentleman and a false friend. The Irish Whigs, of whom Lord Moira and +Mr. Ponsonby were the leaders, and to whom Mr. Grattan might be said to +be attached rather than to belong, saw the rupture with regret, but +considered it inevitable. Among "the Prince's friends" the attacks upon +him in the Dublin meetings were regarded as little short of treason; +while by himself, it is well known the "witchery" resolutions of 1812 +were neither forgotten nor forgiven. + +The political position of the Holy See, at this period, was such as to +induce and enable an indirect English influence to be exercised, +through that channel, upon the Irish Catholic movement. Pope Pius VII., +a prisoner in France, had delegated to several persons at Rome certain +vicarious powers, to be exercised in his name, in case of necessity; of +these, more than one had followed him into exile, so that the position +of his representative devolved at length upon Monsignor Quarrantotti, +who, early in 1814, addressed a rescript to Dr. Poynter, +vicar-apostolic of the London district, commendatory of the Bill of +1813, including the Veto, and the Ecclesiastical Commission proposed by +Canning and Castlereagh. Against these dangerous concessions, as they +considered them, the Irish Catholics despatched their remonstrances to +Rome, through the agency of the celebrated Wexford Franciscan, Father +Richard Hayes; but this clergyman, having spoken with too great +freedom, was arrested, and suffered several months' confinement in the +Eternal City. A subsequent embassy of Dr. Murray, coadjutor to the +Archbishop of Dublin, on behalf of his brother prelates, was attended +with no greater advantage, though the envoy himself was more properly +treated. On his return to Ireland, at a meeting held to hear his +report, several strong resolutions were unanimously adopted, of which +the spirit may be judged from the following—the concluding one of the +series—"Though we sincerely venerate the supreme Pontiff as visible +head of the Church, we do not conceive that our apprehensions for the +safety of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland can or ought to be +removed by any determination of His Holiness, adopted or intended to be +adopted, not only without our concurrence, but in direct opposition to +our repeated resolutions and the very energetic memorial presented on +our behalf, and so ably supported by our Deputy, the Most Reverend Dr. +Murray; who, in that quality, was more competent to inform His Holiness +of the real state and interests of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland +than any other with whom he is said to have consulted." + +The resolutions were transmitted to Rome, signed by the two Archbishops +present, by Dr. Everard, the coadjutor of the Archbishop of Cashel, by +Dr. Murray, the coadjutor of the Archbishop of Dublin, by the Bishops +of Meath, Cloyne, Clonfert, Kerry, Waterford, Derry, Achonry, Killala, +Killaloe, Kilmore, Ferns, Limerick, Elphin, Cork, Down and Conor, +Ossory, Raphoe, Clogher, Dromore, Kildare and Leighlin, Ardagh, and the +Warden of Galway. Dr. Murray, and Dr. Murphy, Bishop of Cork, were +commissioned to carry this new remonstrance to Rome, and the greatest +anxiety was felt for the result of their mission. + +A strange result of this new _embroglio_ in the Catholic cause was, +that it put the people on the defensive for their religious liberties, +not so much against England as against Rome. The unlucky Italian +Monsignor who had volunteered his sanction of the Veto, fared scarcely +better at the popular gatherings than Lord Castlereagh, or Mr. Peel. +"Monsieur Forty-eight," as he was nicknamed, in reference to some +strange story of his ancestor taking his name from a lucky lottery +ticket of that number, was declared to be no better than a common +Orangeman, and if the bitter denunciations uttered against him, on the +Liffey and the Shannon, had only been translated into Italian, the +courtly Prelate must have been exceedingly amazed at the democratic +fury of a Catholic population, as orthodox as himself, but much more +jealous of State interference with things spiritual. The second order +of the clergy were hardly behind the laity, in the fervour of their +opposition to the rescript of 1814. Their entire body, secular and +regular, residing in and about Dublin, published a very strong protest +against it, headed by Dr. Blake, afterwards Bishop of Dromore, in which +it was denounced as "pregnant with mischief" and entirely +"non-obligatory upon the Catholic Church in Ireland." The several +ecclesiastical provinces followed up these declarations with a +surprising unanimity, and although a Vetoistical address to His +Holiness was despatched by the Cisalpine club in England, the Irish +ideas of Church government triumphed at Rome. Drs. Murray and Milner +were received with his habitual kindness by Pius VII.; the illustrious +Cardinal Gonsalvi was appointed by the Pope to draw up an explanatory +rescript, and Monsignor Quarrantotti was removed from his official +position. The firmness manifested at that critical period by the Irish +church has since been acknowledged with many encomiums by all the +successors of Pope Pius VII. + +The Irish government under the new Viceroy, Lord Whitworth (the former +ambassador to Napoleon), conceiving that the time had come, in the +summer of 1814, to suppress the Catholic Board, a proclamation +forbidding his Majesty's subjects to attend future meetings of that +body issued from Dublin Castle, on the 3rd of June. The leaders of the +body, after consultation at Mr. O'Connell's residence, decided to bow +to this proclamation and to meet no more as a Board; but this did not +prevent them, in the following winter, from holding a new series of +Aggregate meetings, far more formidable, in some respects, than the +deliberative meetings which had been suppressed. In the vigorous and +somewhat aggressive tone taken at these meetings, Lord Fingal, the +chief of the Catholic peerage, did not concur, and he accordingly +withdrew for some years from the agitation, Mr. Shiel, the Bellews, Mr. +Ball, Mr. Wyse of Waterford, and a few others, following his example. +With O'Connell remained the O'Conor Don, Messrs. Finlay and Lidwell +(Protestants), Purcell O'Gorman, and other popular persons. But the +cause sustained a heavy blow in the temporary retirement of Lord Fingal +and his friends, and an attempt to form a "Catholic Association," in +1815, without their co-operation, signally failed. + +During the next five years, the fortunes of the great Irish question +fluctuated with the exigencies of Imperial parties. The second American +war had closed, if not gloriously, at least without considerable loss +to England; Napoleon had exchanged Elba for St. Helena: Wellington was +the Achilles of the Empire, and Castlereagh its Ulysses. Yet it was not +in the nature of those free Islanders, the danger and pressure of +foreign war removed, to remain always indifferent to the two great +questions of domestic policy—Catholic Emancipation and Parliamentary +Reform. In the session of 1816, a motion of Sir John Newport's to +inquire into the state of Ireland, was successfully resisted by Sir +Robert Peel, but the condition and state of public feeling in England +could not be as well ignored by a Parliament sitting in London. In +returning from the opening of the Houses in January, 1817, the Regent +was hooted in the street, and his carriage riddled with stones. A +reward of 1,000 pounds, issued for the apprehension of the ringleaders, +only gave additional _éclat_ to the fact, without leading to the +apprehension of the assailants. + +The personal unpopularity of the Regent seems to have increased, in +proportion as death removed from him all those who stood nearest to the +throne. In November, 1817, his oldest child, the Princess Charlotte, +married to Leopold, since King of Belgium, died in childbed; in 1818, +the aged Queen Charlotte died; in January, 1820, the old King, in the +eighty-second year of his age, departed this life. Immediately +afterwards the former Princess of Wales, long separated from her +profligate husband, returned from the Continent to claim her rightful +position as Queen Consort. The disgraceful accusations brought against +her, the trial before the House of Lords which followed, the courage +and eloquence of her counsel, Brougham and Denman, the eagerness with +which the people made her cause their own, are all well remembered +events, and all beside the purpose of this history. The unfortunate +lady died after a short illness, on the 7th of August, 1821; the same +month in which Ms Majesty—George IV.—departed on that Irish journey, so +satirized in the undying verse of Moore and Byron. + +Two other deaths, far more affecting than any among the mortalities of +royalty, marked the period at which we have arrived. These were the +death of Curran in 1817, and the death of Grattan, in 1820. + +Curran, after his failure to be returned for Newry, in 1812, had never +again attempted public life. He remained in his office of Master of the +Rolls, but his health began to fail sensibly. During the summers of +1816 and '17, he sought for recreation in Scotland, England and France, +but the charm which travel could not give—the charm of a cheerful +spirit—was wanting. In October, 1817, his friend, Charles Phillips, was +suddenly called to his bed-side at Brompton, near London, and found him +with one side of his face and body paralyzed cold. "And this was all," +says his friend, "that remained of Curran—the light of society—the +glory of the forum—the Fabricius of the senate—the idol of his +country." Yes! even to less than this, was he soon to sink. On the +evening of the 14th of October, he expired, in the 68th year of his +age, leaving a public reputation as free from blemish as ever did any +man who had acted a leading part, in times like those through which he +had passed. He was interred in London, but twenty years afterwards, the +committee of the Glasnevin Cemetery, near Dublin, obtained permission +of his representatives to remove his ashes to their grounds, where they +now finally repose. A tomb modelled from the tomb of Scipio covers the +grave, bearing the simple but sufficient inscription—CURRAN. Thus was +fulfilled the words he had uttered long before—"The last duties will be +paid by that country on which they are devolved; nor will it be for +charity that a little earth will be given to my bones. Tenderly will +those duties be paid, as the debt of well-earned affection, and of +gratitude not ashamed of her tears." + +Grattan's last days were characteristic of his whole life. As the +session of 1820 progressed, though suffering from his last struggle +with disease, he was stirred by an irresistible desire to make his way +to London, and present once more the petition of the Catholics. Since +the defeat of his Relief Bill of 1813, there had been some estrangement +between him and the more advanced section of the agitators, headed by +O'Connell. This he was anxious, perhaps, to heal or to overcome. He +thought, moreover, that even if he should die in the effort, it would +be, as he said himself, "a good end." Amid— + +"The trees which a nation had given, and which bowed +As if each brought a new civic crown to his head," + + +he consulted with the Catholic delegates early in May. O'Connell was +the spokesman, and the scene may yet be rendered immortal by some great +national artist. All present felt that the aged patriot was dying, but +still he would go once more to London, to fall, as he said, "at his +post." In leaving Ireland he gave to his oldest friends directions for +his funeral—that he might be buried in the little churchyard of +Moyanna, on the estate the people gave him in 1782! He reached London, +by slow stages, at the end of May, and proposed to be in his place in +the House on the 4th of June. But this gratification was not permitted +him: on the morning of the 4th, at six o'clock, he called his son to +his bed-side, and ordered him to bring him a paper containing his last +political opinions. "Add to it," he said, with all his old love of +antithesis, "that I die with a love of liberty in my heart, and this +declaration in favour of my country, in my hand." + +So worthily ended the mortal career of Henry Grattan. He was interred +by the side of his old friend, Charles James Fox, in Westminster Abbey; +the mourners included the highest imperial statesmen, and the Catholic +orphan children; his eulogium was pronounced in the House of Commons by +William Conyngham Plunkett, and in the Irish capital by Daniel +O'Connell. + + + +CHAPTER V. +RETROSPECT OF THE STATE OF RELIGION AND LEARNING DURING THE REIGN OF +GEORGE III. + +Before relating the decisive events in the contest for Catholic +Emancipation, which marked the reign of George IV. we may be permitted +to cast a glance backward over the religious and secular state of +Ireland, during the sixty years' reign of George III. + +The relative position of the great religious denominations underwent a +slow but important revolution during this long reign. In the last days +of George II., a Chief-Justice was bold enough to declare that "the +laws did not presume a Papist to exist in the kingdom;" but under the +sway of his successor, though much against that successor's will, they +advanced from one constitutional victory to another, till they stood, +in the person of the Earl Marshal, on the very steps of the throne. In +the towns and cities, the Catholic laity, once admitted to commerce and +the professions, rose rapidly to wealth and honour. A Dublin Papist was +at the head of the wine trade; another was the wealthiest grazier in +the kingdom; a third, at Cork, was the largest provision merchant. With +wealth came social ambition, and the heirs of these enfranchised +merchants were by a natural consequence the judges and legislators of +the next generation. + +The ecclesiastical organization of Ireland, as described in 1800 by the +bishops in answer to queries of the Chief Secretary, was simple and +inexpensive. The four archbishops and twenty bishops, were sustained by +having certain parishes attached to their cathedrals, _in commendam_: +other _Cathedraticum_ there seems to have been none. Armagh had then +350 parish priests, Tuam 206, Cashel 314, and Dublin 156: in all 1126. +The number of curates or coadjutors was at least equal to that of the +parish priests; while of regulars then returned the number did not +exceed 450. This large body of religious—24 prelates, nearly 3,000 +clergy—exclusive of female religious—were then, and have ever since +been, sustained by the voluntary contributions of the laity, paid +chiefly at the two great festivals of Christmas and Easter, or by +customary offerings made at the close of the ceremonies of marriages, +baptisms, and death. Though the income of some of the churches was +considerable, in the great majority of cases the amount received barely +sufficed to fulfil the injunction of St. Patrick to his disciples, that +"the lamp should take but that wherewith it was fed." + +The Presbyterian clergy, though in some respects more dependent on +their congregations than the Catholics were, did not always, nor in all +cases, depend on the voluntary principle for their maintenance. The +Irish Supply Bill contained an annual item before the Union of 7,700 +pounds for the Antrim Synod, and some other dissenting bodies. The +_Regium Donum_ was not, indeed, general; but that it might be made so, +was one of the inducements held out to many of that clergy to secure +their countenance for the Legislative Union. + +The Established Church continued, of course, to monopolize University +honours, and to enjoy its princely revenues and all political +advantages. Trinity College continued annually to farm its 200,000 +acres at a rental averaging 100,000 pounds sterling. Its wealth, and +the uses to which it is put, are thus described by a recent writer: +"Some of Trinity's senior fellows enjoy higher incomes than Cabinet +ministers; many of her tutors have revenues above those of cardinals; +and junior fellows, of a few days' standing, frequently decline some of +her thirty-one church livings with benefices which would shame the +poverty of scores of continental, not to say Irish, Catholic +archbishops. Even eminent judges hold her professorships; some of her +chairs are vacated for the Episcopal bench only; and majors and field +officers would acquire increased pay by being promoted to the rank of +head porter, first menial, in Trinity College. Apart from her princely +fellowships and professorships, her seventy Foundation, and sixteen +non-Foundation Scholarships, her thirty Sizarships, and her fourteen +valuable Studentships, she has at her disposal an aggregate, by +bequests, benefactions, and various endowments, of 117 permanent +exhibitions, amounting to upwards of 2,000 pounds per annum." The +splendour of the highest Protestant dignitaries may be inferred from +what has been said formerly of the Bishop of Derry, of the Era of +Independence. The state maintained by the chief bishop—Primate +Robinson, who ruled Armagh from 1765 to 1795—is thus described by Mr. +Cumberland in his _Memoirs_. "I accompanied him," says Cumberland, "on +Sunday forenoon to his cathedral. We went in his chariot of six horses +attended by three footmen behind, whilst my wife and daughters, with +Sir William Robinson, the primate's elder brother, followed in my +father's coach, which he lent me for the journey. At our approach the +great western door was thrown open, and my friend (in person one of the +finest men that could be seen) entered, like another Archbishop Laud, +in high prelatical state, preceded by his officers and ministers of the +church, conducting him in files to the robing chamber, and back again +to the throne. It may well be conceived with what invidious eyes the +barely tolerated Papists of the city of Saint Patrick must have looked +on all this pageantry, and their feelings were no doubt those in some +degree of all their co-religionists throughout the kingdom." + +The Irish Establishment, during the reign of George III., numbered +among its prelates and clergy many able and amiable men. At the period +of the Union, the two most distinguished were Dr. O'Beirne, Bishop of +Meath, an ex-priest, and Dr. Young, Bishop of Clonfert, a former fellow +of Trinity College. As a Bible scholar, Dr. Young ranked deservedly +high, but as a variously accomplished writer, Dr. O'Beirne was the +first man of his order. His political papers, though occasionally +disfigured with the bigotry natural to an apostate, are full of a +vigorous sagacity; his contributions to general literature, such as his +paper on _Tanistry_, in Vallency's _Collectanea_, show how much greater +things still he was capable of. It is not a little striking that the +most eminent bishop, as well as the most celebrated Anglican preacher +of that age, in Ireland (Dean Kirwan), should both have been ordained +as Catholic priests. + +The national literature which we have noted a century earlier, as +changing gradually its tongue, was now mainly, indeed we might almost +say solely, expressed in English. It is true the songs of "Carolan the +Blind," were sung in Gaelic by the Longford firesides, where the author +of "the Deserted Village" listened to their exquisite melody, moulding +his young ear to a sense of harmony full as exquisite; but the glory of +the Gaelic muse was past. He, too, unpromising as was his exterior, was +to be one of the bright harbingers of another great era of +Hiberno-English literature. When, within two generations, out of the +same exceedingly restricted class of educated Irishmen and women, we +count the names of Goldsmith, Samuel Madden, Arthur Murphy, Henry +Brooke, Charles Macklin, Sheridan, Burke, Edmund Malone, Maria +Edgeworth, Lady Morgan, "Psyche" Tighe, and Thomas Moore, it is +impossible not to entertain a very high opinion of the mental resources +of that population, if only they were fairly wrought and kindly valued +by the world. + +One memorable incident of literary history—the Ossianic outbreak of +1760—aided powerfully though indirectly in the revival of the study of +the ancient Celtic history of Scotland and Ireland. Something was done +then, by the Royal Irish Academy, to meet that storm of Anglo-Norman +incredulity and indignation; much more has been done since, to place +the original records of the Three Kingdoms on a sound critical basis. +The dogmatism of the unbelievers in the existence of a genuine body of +ancient Celtic literature has been rebuked; and the folly of the +theorists who, upon imaginary grounds, constructed pretentious systems, +has been exposed. The exact originals of MacPherson's odes have not +been found, after a century of research, and may be given up, as +non-existent; but the better opinion seems now to be, by those who have +studied the fragments of undoubted antiquity attributed to the son of +the warrior Fion, that whatever the modern translator may have +invented, he certainly did not invent Ossian. + +To the stage, within the same range of time, Ireland gave some +celebrated names: Quinn, Barry, Sheridan, Mrs. Woffington, Mrs. Jordan, +and Miss O'Neill; and to painting, one pre-eminent name—the eccentric, +honest, and original, James Barry. + +But of all the arts, that in which the Irish of the Georgian era won +the highest and most various triumphs was the art of Oratory, What is +now usually spoken of as "the Irish School of Eloquence," may be +considered to have taken its rise from the growth of the Patriot party +in Parliament, in the last years of George II. Every contemporary +account agrees in placing its first great name—Anthony Malone—on the +same level with Chatham and Mansfield. There were great men before +Malone, as before Agamemnon; such as Sir Toby Butler, Baron Rice, and +Patrick Darcy; but he was the first of our later succession of masters. +After him came Flood and John Hely Hutchinson; then Grattan and Curran; +then Plunkett and Bushe; then O'Connell and Shiel. In England, at the +same time, Burke, Barre, Sheridan, and Sir Phillip Francis, upheld the +reputation of Irish oratory; a reputation generously acknowledged by +all parties, as it was illustrated in the ranks of all. The Tories, +within our own recollection, applauded as heartily the Irish wit and +fervour of Canning, Croker, and North, as the Whigs did the exhibition +of similar qualities in their Emancipation allies. + +Nothing can be less correct, than to pronounce judgment on the Irish +School, either of praise or blame, in sweeping general terms. Though a +certain family resemblance may be traced among its great masters, no +two of them will be found nearly alike. There are no echoes, no servile +imitators, among them. In vigorous argumentation and severe simplicity, +Plunkett resembled Flood, but the temperament of the two men—and +Oratory is nearly as much a matter of temperament as of intellect—was +widely different. Flood's movement was dramatic, while Plunkett's was +mathematical. In structural arrangement, Shiel, occasionally—very +occasionally—reminds us of Grattan; but if he has not the wonderful +condensation of thought, neither has he the frequent antithetical +abuses of that great orator. Burke and Sheridan are as distinguishable +as any other two of their contemporaries; Curran stands alone; +O'Connell never had a model, and never had an imitator who rose above +mimicry. Every combination of powers, every description of excellence, +and every variety of style and character, may be found among the +masterpieces of this great school. Of their works many will live for +ever. Most of Burke's, many of Grattan's, and one or two of Curran's +have reached us in such preservation as promises immortality. +Selections from Flood, Sheridan, Canning, Plunkett and O'Connell will +survive; Shiel will be more fortunate for he was more artistic, and +more watchful of his own fame. His exquisite finish will do, for him, +what the higher efforts of men, more indifferent to the audience of +posterity, will have forfeited for them. + +It is to be observed, farther, that the inspiration of all these men +was drawn from the very hearts of the people among whom they grew. With +one or two exceptions, sons of humble peasants, of actors, of at most +middle class men, they were true, through every change of personal +position, to the general interests of the people—to the common weal. +From generous thoughts and a lofty scorn of falsehood, fanaticism and +tyranny, they took their inspiration; and as they were true to human +nature, so will mankind, through successive ages, dwell fondly on their +works and guard lovingly their tombs. + + + +CHAPTER VI. +THE IRISH ABROAD, DURING THE REIGN OF GEORGE III. + +The fond tenacity with which the large numbers of the Irish people who +have established themselves in foreign states have always clung to +their native country; the active sympathy they have personally shown +for their relatives at home; the repeated efforts they have made to +assist the Irish in Ireland, in all their public undertakings, requires +that, as an element in O'Connell's final and successful struggle for +Catholic Emancipation, we should take a summary view of the position of +"the Irish abroad." + +While the emigrants of that country to America naturally pursued the +paths of peace, those who, from choice or necessity, found their way to +the European Continent, were, with few exceptions, employed mainly in +two departments—war and diplomacy. An Irish Abbé, liked the celebrated +preacher, McCarthy—or an Irish merchant firm, such as the house of the +same name at Bordeaux, might be met with, but most of those who +attained any distinction did so by the sword or the pen, in the field +or the cabinet. + +In France, under the revolutionary governments from '91 to '99, the +Irish were, with their old-world notions of God and the Devil, wholly +out of place; but under the Consulate and the Empire, they rose to many +employments of the second class, and a few of the very first. From the +ranks of the expatriated of '98, Buonaparte promoted Arthur O'Conor and +William Corbet to the rank of General; Ware, Allen, Byrne, the younger +Tone, and Keating, to that of Colonel. As individuals, the Emperor was +certainly a benefactor to many Irishmen; but, as a nation, it was one +of their most foolish delusions, to expect in him a deliverer. On the +restoration of the Bourbons, the Irish officers who had acquired +distinction under Napoleon adhered generally to his fortunes, and +tendered their resignations; in their place, a new group of +Franco-Irish descendants of the old Brigades-men, began to show +themselves in the _salons_ of Paris, and the Bureaus of the Ministers. +The last swords drawn for "the legitimate branch" in '91, was by Count +Dillon and his friend Count Wall; their last defender, in 1830, was +General Wall, of the same family. + +Though the Irish in France, especially those resident at Paris, +exercised the greatest influence in favour of their original country—an +influence which met all travelled Englishmen, wherever the French +language was understood—their compatriots in Spain and Austria had also +contributed their share to range Continental opinion on the side of +Ireland. Three times, during the century, Spain was represented at +London by men of Irish birth, or Irish origin. The British merchant who +found Alexander O'Reilly Governor of Cadiz, or the diplomatist who met +him as Spanish ambassador, at the Court of Louis XVI., could hardly +look with uninstructed eyes, upon the lot of his humblest namesake in +Cavan. This family, indeed, produced a succession of eminent men, both +in Spain and Austria. "It is strange," observed Napoleon to those +around him, on his second entry into Vienna, in 1809, "that on each +occasion—in November, 1805, as this day—on arriving in the Austrian +capital, I find myself in treaty and in intercourse with the +respectable Count O'Reilly." Napoleon had other reasons for remembering +this officer; it was his dragoon regiment which saved the remnant of +the Austrians, at Austerlitz. In the Austrian army list at that period, +when she was the ally of England, there were above forty Irish names, +from the grading of Colonel up to that of Field-Marshal. In almost +every field of the Peninsula, Wellington and Anglesea learned the value +of George the Second's imprecation on the Penal Code, which deprived +him of such soldiers as conquered at Fontenoy. It cannot be doubted +that even the constant repetition of the names of the Blakes, +O'Donnells, and Sarsfields, in the bulletins sent home to England, +tended to enforce reflections of that description on the statesmen and +the nation, and to inspirit and sustain the struggling Catholics. A +powerful argument for throwing open the British army and navy to men of +all religions, was drawn from these foreign experiences; and, if such +men were worthy to hold military commissions, why not also to sit in +Parliament, and on the Bench? + +The fortunes of the Irish in America, though less brilliant for the +few, were more advantageous as to the many. They were, during the war +of the revolution, and the war of 1812, a very considerable element in +the American republic. It was a violent exaggeration to say, as Lord +Mountjoy did in moving for the repeal of the Penal laws, "that England +lost America by Ireland;" but it is very certain that Washington placed +great weight on the active aid of the gallant Pennsylvania, Maryland, +and Southern Irish troops, and the sturdy Scotch-Irish of New +Hampshire. Franklin, in his visit to Ireland, before the rupture, and +Jefferson in his correspondence, always enumerates the Irish, as one +element of reliance, in the contest between the Colonies and the +Empire. + +In the immediate cause of the war of 1812, this people were peculiarly +interested. If the doctrines of "the right of search" and "once a +subject always a subject," were to prevail, no Irish emigrant could +hope to become—or having become, could hope to enjoy the protection +of—an American citizen. It was, therefore, natural that men of that +origin should take a deep interest in the war, and it seems something +more than a fortuitous circumstance, when we find in the chairman of +the Senatorial Committee of 1812, which authorized the President to +raise the necessary levies—an Irish emigrant, John Smilie, and in the +Secretary-at-war, who acted under the powers thus granted, the son of +an Irish emigrant, John Caldwell Calhoun. On the Canadian frontier, +during the war which followed, we find in posts of importance, Brady, +Mullany, McComb, Croghan and Reilly; on the lakes, Commodore McDonough, +and on the ocean, Commodores Shaw and Stewart—all Irish. On the +Mississippi, another son of Irish emigrant parents, with his favourite +lieutenants, Carroll, Coffee, and Butler, brought the war to a close by +their brilliant defence of New Orleans. The moral of that victory was +not lost upon England; the life of Andrew Jackson, with a dedication +"to the People of Ireland" was published at London and Dublin, by the +most generally popular writer of that day—William Cobbett. + +In the cause of South American independence, the Irish under O'Higgins +and McKenna in Chili, and under Bolivar and San Martin in Colombia and +Peru, were largely engaged, and honourably distinguished. Colonel +O'Conor, nephew to Arthur, was San Martin's chief of the staff; General +Devereux, with his Irish legion, rendered distinguished services to +Bolivar and Don Bernardo. O'Higgins was hailed as the Liberator of +Chili. During that long ten years' struggle, which ended with the +evacuation of Carraccas in 1823, Irish names are conspicuous on almost +every field of action. Bolivar's generous heart was warmly attached to +persons of that nation. "The doctor who constantly attends him," says +the English General, Miller, "is Dr. Moore, an Irishman, who had +followed the Liberator from Venezuela to Peru. He is a man of great +skill in his profession, and devotedly attached to the person of the +Liberator. Bolivar's first aide-de-camp, Colonel O'Leary, is a nephew +of the celebrated Father O'Leary. In 1818, he embarked, at the age of +seventeen, in the cause of South American independence, in which he has +served with high distinction, having been present at almost every +general action fought in Colombia, and has received several wounds. He +has been often employed on diplomatic missions, and in charges of great +responsibility, in which he has always acquitted himself with great +ability." + +That these achievements of the Irish abroad produced a favourable +influence on the situation of the Irish at home, we know from many +collateral sources; we know it also from the fact, that when O'Connell +succeeded in founding a really national organization, subscriptions and +words of encouragement poured in on him, not only from France, Spain, +and Austria, but from North and South America, not only from the Irish +residents in those countries, but from their native +inhabitants—soldiers and statesmen—of the first consideration. The +services and virtues of her distinguished children in foreign climes, +stood to the mother country instead of treaties and alliances. + + + +CHAPTER VII. +O'CONNELL'S LEADERSHIP—THE CATHOLIC ASSOCIATION—1821 TO 1826. + +At the beginning of the year 1821, O'Connell, during the intervals of +his laborious occupations in court and on circuit, addressed a series +of stirring letters to "the People of Ireland," remarkable as +containing some of the best and most trenchant of his political +writings. His object was to induce the postponement of the annual +petition for Emancipation, and the substitution instead of a general +agitation for Parliamentary reform, in conjunction with the English +reformers. Against this conclusion—which he ridiculed "as the fashion +for January, 1821"—Mr. Shiel published a bitter, clever, rhetorical +reply, to which O'Connell at once sent forth a severe and rather +contemptuous rejoinder. Shiel was quite content to have Mr. Plunkett +continue Grattan's annual motion, with all its "conditions" and +"securities." O'Connell declared he had no hope in petitions except +from a reformed Parliament, and he, therefore, was opposed to such +motions altogether, especially as put by Mr. Plunkett, and the other +advocates of a Veto. Another session was lost in this controversy, and +when Parliament rose, it was announced that George IV. was coming to +Ireland "on a mission of Conciliation." + +On this announcement, Mr. O'Connell advised that the Catholics should +take advantage of his Majesty's presence to assemble and consider the +state of their affairs; but a protest against "connecting in any manner +the King's visit with Catholic affairs," was circulated by Lords +Fingal, Netterville, Gormanstown, and Killeen, Messrs. Baggott, Shiel, +Wyse, and other Commoners. O'Connell yielded, as he often did, for the +sake of unanimity. The King's visit led to many meetings and +arrangements, in some of which his advice was taken, while in others he +was outvoted or overruled. Nothing could exceed the patience he +exhibited at this period of his life, when his natural impetuous +temperament was still far from being subdued by the frosts of age. + +Many liberal Protestants at this period—the King's brief visit—were so +moved with admiration of the judicious and proper conduct of the +Catholic leaders, that a new but short-lived organization, called "the +Conciliation Committee," was formed. The ultra Orange zealots, however, +were not to be restrained even by the presence of the Sovereign for +whom they professed so much devotion. In the midst of the preparations +for his landing, they celebrated, with all its offensive +accompaniments, the 12th of July, and at the Dublin dinner to the +King—though after he had left the room—they gave their charter toast of +"the glorious, pious, and immortal memory." The Committee of +Conciliation soon dwindled away, and, like the visit of George IV., +left no good result behind. + +The year 1822 was most remarkable, at its commencement, for the arrival +of the Marquis of Wellesley, as Lord-Lieutenant, and at its close, for +the assault committed on him in the theatre by the Dublin Orangemen. +Though the Marquis had declined to interfere in preventing the annual +Orange celebration, he was well known to be friendly to the Catholics; +their advocate, Mr. Plunkett, was his Attorney General; and many of +their leaders were cordially welcomed at the Castle. These proofs were +sufficient for the secret tribunals which sat upon his conduct, and +when his Lordship presented himself, on the night of the 14th of +December, at the theatre, he was assailed by an organized mob, one of +whom flung a heavy piece of wood, and another a quart bottle, towards +the state box. Three Orangemen, mechanics, were arrested and tried for +the offence, but acquitted on a technical defect of evidence; a general +feeling of indignation was excited among all classes in consequence, +and it is questionable if Orangeism, in Dublin, ever recovered the +disgust occasioned by that dastardly outrage. + +The great and fortunate event, however, for the Catholics, was the +foundation of their new Association, which was finally resolved upon at +an Aggregate Meeting held in "Townsend Street Chapel," on the 10th of +May, 1823. This meeting had been called by an imposing requisition +signed with singular unanimity by all the principal Catholic gentlemen. +Lord Killeen presided. Mr. O'Connell moved the formation of the +Association; Sir Thomas Esmonde seconded the motion; Mr. Shiel—lately +and sincerely reconciled to O'Connell—sustained it. The plan was simple +and popular. The Association was to consist of members paying a guinea +a year, and associates paying a shilling; a standing committee was to +form the government; the regular meetings were to be weekly—every +Saturday; and the business to consist of organization, correspondence, +public discussions, and petitions. It was, in effect, to be a sort of +extern and unauthorized Parliament, acting always within the +Constitution, with a view to the modification of the existing laws, by +means not prohibited in those laws themselves. It was a design, subtle +in conception, but simple in form; a natural design for a +lawyer-liberator to form; and for a people strongly prepossessed in his +favour to adopt; but one, at the same time, which would require a rare +combination of circumstances to sustain for any great length of time, +under a leader less expert, inventive, and resolute. + +The Parliamentary position of the Catholic question, at the moment of +the formation of the Association, had undergone another strange +alteration. Lord Castlereagh, having attained the highest honours of +the empire, died by his own hand the previous year. Lord Liverpool +remained Premier, Lord Eldon Chancellor, Mr. Canning became Foreign +Secretary, with Mr. Peel, Home Secretary, the Duke of Wellington +continuing Master-General of the Ordnance. To this cabinet, so largely +anti-Catholic, the chosen organ of the Irish Catholics, Mr. Plunkett, +was necessarily associated as Irish Attorney General. His situation, +therefore, was in the session of 1823 one of great difficulty; this Sir +Francis Burdett and the radical reformers at once perceived, and in the +debates which followed, pressed him unmercifully. They quoted against +him his own language denouncing cabinet compromises on so vital a +question, in 1813, and to show their indignation, when he rose to +reply, they left the House in a body. His speech, as always, was most +able, but the House, when he sat down, broke into an uproar of +confusion. Party spirit ran exceedingly high; the possibility of +advancing the question during the session was doubtful, and a motion to +adjourn prevailed. A fortnight later, at the first meeting of the +Catholic Association, a very cordial vote of thanks to Plunkett was +carried by acclamation. + +The new Catholic organization was labouring hard to merit popular +favour. Within the year of its organization we find the Saturday +meetings engaged with such questions as church rates; secret societies; +correspondence with members of both Houses; voting public thanks to Mr. +Brougham; the penal laws relating to the rights of sepulture; the +purchase of a Catholic cemetery near Dublin; the commutation of tithes; +the admission of Catholic freemen into corporations; the extension of +the Association into every county in Ireland, and other more incidental +subjects. The business-like air of the weekly meetings, at this early +period, is remarkable: they were certainly anything but mere occasions +for rhetorical display. But though little could be objected against, +and so much might be said in favour of the labours of the Association, +it was not till nearly twelve months after its organization, when +O'Connell proposed and carried his system of monthly penny +subscriptions to the "Catholic Rent," that it took a firm and +far-reaching hold on the common people, and began to excite the serious +apprehensions of the oligarchical factions in Ireland and England. + +This bold, and at this time much ridiculed step, infused new life and a +system hitherto unknown into the Catholic population. The parish +collectors, corresponding directly with Dublin, established a local +agency, co-extensive with the kingdom; the smallest contributor felt +himself personally embarked in the contest; and the movement became, in +consequence, what it had not been before, an eminently popular one. +During the next six months the receipts from penny subscriptions +exceeded 100 pounds sterling per month, representing 24,000 +subscribers; during the next year they averaged above 500 pounds a +week, representing nearly half a million enrolled Associates! + +With the additional means at the disposal of the Finance Committee of +the Association, its power rose rapidly. A morning and an evening +journal were at its command in Dublin; many thousands of pounds were +expended in defending the people in the courts, and prosecuting their +Orange and other enemies. Annual subsidies, of 5,000 pounds each, were +voted for the Catholic Poor schools, and the education of missionary +priests for America; the expenses of Parliamentary and electioneering +agents were also heavy. But for all these purposes "the Catholic Rent," +of a penny per month from each associate, was found amply sufficient. + +At the close of 1824, the government, really alarmed at the formidable +proportions assumed by the agitation, caused criminal informations to +be filed against Mr. O'Connell, for an alleged seditious allusion to +the example of Bolivar, the liberator of South America; but the Dublin +grand jury ignored the bills of indictment founded on these +informations. Early in the following session, however, a bill to +suppress "Unlawful Associations in Ireland," was introduced by Mr. +Goulburn, who had succeeded Sir Robert Peel as Chief Secretary, and was +supported by Plunkett—a confirmed enemy of all extra-legal +combinations. It was aimed directly at the Catholic Association, and +passed both Houses; but O'Connell found means "to drive," as he said, +"a coach and six through it." The existing Association dissolved on the +passage of the act; another, called "the _New_ Catholic Association," +was formed for "charitable and other purposes," and the agitators +proceeded with their organization, with one word added to their title, +and immensely additional _éclat_ and success. + +In Parliament, the measure thus defeated was followed by another, the +long-promised Relief Bill. It passed in the Commons in May, accompanied +by two clauses, or as they were called, "wings," most unsatisfactory to +the Catholic body. One clause disfranchised the whole class of electors +known as the "forty-shilling freeholders;" the other provided a scale +of state maintenance for the Catholic clergy. A bishop was to have +1,000 pounds per annum; a dean 300 pounds; a parish priest 200 pounds; +a curate 60 pounds. This measure was thrown out by the House of Lords, +greatly to the satisfaction, at least, of the Irish Catholics. It was +during this debate in the Upper House that the Duke of York, +presumptive heir to the throne, made what was called his "ether +speech"—from his habit of dosing himself with that stimulant on trying +occasions. In this speech he declared, that so "help him God," he would +never, never consent to acknowledge the claims put forward by the +Catholics. Before two years were over, death had removed him to the +presence of that Awful Being whose name he had so rashly invoked, and +his brother, the Duke of Clarence, assumed his position, as next in +succession to the throne. + +The Catholic delegates, Lord Killeen, Sir Thomas Esmonde, Lawless, and +Shiel, were in London at the time the Duke of York made his memorable +declaration. If, on the one hand, they were regarded with dislike +amounting to hatred, on the other, they were welcomed with cordiality +by all the leaders of the liberal party. The venerable Earl Fitzwilliam +emerged from his retirement to do them honour; the gifted and energetic +Brougham entertained them with all hospitality; at Norfolk House they +were banqueted in the room in which George III. was born: the +millionaire-demagogue Burdett, the courtly, liberal Lord Grey, and the +flower of the Catholic nobility, were invited to meet them. The +delegates were naturally cheered and gratified; they felt, they must +have felt, that their cause had a grasp upon Imperial attention, which +nothing but concession could ever loosen. + +Committees of both Houses, to inquire into the state of Ireland, had +sat during a great part of this Session, and among the witnesses were +the principal delegates, with Drs. Murray, Curtis, Kelly, and Doyle. +The evidence of the latter—the eminent Prelate of Kildare and +Leighlin—attracted most attention. His readiness of resource, clearness +of statement, and wide range of information, inspired many of his +questioners with a feeling of respect, such as they had never before +entertained for any of his order. His writings had already made him +honourably distinguished among literary men; his examination before the +Committees made him equally so among statesmen. From that period he +could reckon the Marquises of Anglesea and Wellesley, Lord Lansdowne +and Mr. Brougham, among his correspondents and friends, and, what he +valued even more, among the friends of his cause. Mr. O'Connell, on the +other hand, certainly lost ground in Ireland by his London journey. He +had, unquestionably, given his assent to both "wings," in 1825, as he +did to the remaining one in 1828, and thereby greatly injured his own +popularity. His frank and full recantation of his error, on his return, +soon restored him to the favour of the multitude, and enabled him to +employ, with the best effect, the enormous influence which he showed he +possessed at the general elections of 1826. By him mainly the +Beresfords were beaten in Waterford, the Fosters in Louth, and the +Leslies in Monaghan. The independence of Limerick city, of Tipperary, +Cork, Kilkenny, Longford, and other important constituencies, was +secured. The parish machinery of the Association was found invaluable +for the purpose of bringing up the electors, and the people's treasury +was fortunately able to protect to some extent the fearless voter, who, +in despite of his landlord, voted according to the dictates of his own +heart. + +The effect of these elections on the empire at large was very great. +When, early in the following spring, Lord Liverpool, after fifteen +years' possession of power, died unexpectedly, George IV. sent for +Canning and gave him _carte blanche_ to form a cabinet without +excepting the question of Emancipation. That high spirited and really +liberal statesman associated with himself a ministry, three-fourths of +whom were in favour of granting the Catholic claims. This was in the +month of April; but to the consternation of those whose hopes were now +so justly raised, the gifted Premier held office only four months; his +lamented death causing another "crisis," and one more postponement of +"the Catholic question." + + + +CHAPTER VIII. +O'CONNELL'S LEADERSHIP—THE CLARE ELECTION—EMANCIPATION OF THE +CATHOLICS. + +A very little reflection will enable us to judge, even at this day, the +magnitude of the contest in which O'Connell was the great popular +leader, during the reign of George IV. In Great Britain, a very +considerable section of the ancient peerage and gentry, with the Earl +Marshal at their head, were to be restored to political existence, by +the act of Emancipation; a missionary, and barely tolerated clergy were +to be clothed, in their own country, with the commonest rights of +British subjects—protection to life and property. In Ireland, +seven-eighths of the people, one-third of the gentry, the whole of the +Catholic clergy, the numerous and distinguished array of the Catholic +bar, and all the Catholic townsmen, taxed but unrepresented in the +corporate bodies, were to enter on a new civil and social condition, on +the passage of the act. In the colonies, except Canada, where that +church was protected by treaty, the change of Imperial policy towards +Catholics was to be felt in every relation of life, civil, military, +and ecclesiastical, by all persons professing that religion. Some years +ago, a bishop of Southern Africa declared, that, until O'Connell's +time, it was impossible for Catholics to obtain any consideration from +the officials at the Cape of Good Hope. Could there be a more striking +illustration of the magnitude of the movement, which, rising in the +latitude of Ireland, flung its outermost wave of influence on the +shores of the Indian ocean? + +The adverse hosts to be encountered in this great contest, included a +large majority of the rank and wealth of both kingdoms. The King, who +had been a Whig in his youth, had grown into a Tory in his old age; the +House of Lords were strongly hostile to the measure, as were also the +universities, both in England and Ireland; the Tory party, in and out +of Parliament; the Orange organization in Ireland; the civil and +military authorities generally, with the great bulk of the rural +magistracy and the municipal authorities. The power to overcome this +power should be indeed formidable, well organized and wisely directed. + +The Lord Lieutenant selected by Mr. Canning, was the Marquis of +Anglesea, a frank soldier, as little accustomed to play the politician +as any man of his order and distinction could be. He came to Ireland, +in many respects the very opposite of Lord Wellesley; no orator +certainly, and so far as he had spoken formerly, an enemy rather than a +friend to the Catholics. But he had not been three months in office +when he began to modify his views; he was the first to prohibit, in +Dublin, the annual Orange outrage on the 12th of July, and by +subsequent, though slow degrees, he became fully convinced that the +Catholic claims could be settled only by Concession. Lord Francis +Leveson Gower, afterwards Earl of Ellesmere, accompanied the Marquis as +Chief Secretary. + +The accession to office of a prime minister friendly to the Catholics, +was the signal for a new attempt to raise that "No-Popery" cry which +had already given twenty years of political supremacy to Mr. Perceval +and Lord Liverpool. In Ireland, this feeling appeared under the guise +of what was called "the New Reformation," which, during the summer of +1827, raged with all the proverbial violence of the _odium theologicum_ +from Cork to Derry. Priests and parsons, laymen and lawyers, took part +in this general politico-religious controversy, in which every possible +subject of difference between Catholic and Protestant was publicly +discussed. Archbishop Magee of Dublin, the Rev. Sir Harcourt Lees, son +of a former English placeman at the Castle, and the Rev. Mr. Pope, were +the clerical leaders in this crusade; Exeter-Hall sent over to assist +them the Honourable and Reverend Baptist Noel, Mr. Wolff, and Captain +Gordon, a descendant of the hero of the London riot of 1798. At Derry, +Dublin, Carlow, and Cork, the challenged agreed to defend their +doctrines. Father Maginn, Maguire, Maher, McSweeney, and some others +accepted these challenges; Messrs. O'Connell, Shiel, and other laymen, +assisted, and the oral discussion of theological and historical +questions became as common as town talk in every Irish community. +Whether, in any case, these debates conduced to conversion is doubtful; +but they certainly supplied the Catholic laity with a body of facts and +arguments very necessary at that time, and which hardly any other +occasion could have presented. The Right Rev. Dr. Doyle, however, +considered them far from beneficial to the cause of true religion; and +though he tolerated a first discussion in his diocese, he positively +forbade a second. The Archbishop of Armagh and other prelates issued +their mandates to the clergy to refrain from these oral disputes, and +the practice fell into disuse. + +The notoriety of "the Second Reformation" was chiefly due to the +ostentatious patronage of it by the lay chiefs of the Irish oligarchy. +Mr. Synge, in Clare, Lord Lorton, and Mr. McClintock at Dundalk, were +indefatigable in their evangelizing exertions. The Earl of Roden—to +show his entire dependence on the translated Bible—threw all his other +books into a fish pond on his estate. Lord Farnham was even more +conspicuous in the revival; he spared neither patronage nor writs of +ejectment to convert his tenantry. The reports of conversions upon his +lordship's estates, and throughout his county, attracted so much +notice, that Drs. Curtis, Crolly, Magauran, O'Reilly, and McHale, met +on the 9th of December, 1826, at Cavan, to inquire into the facts. They +found, while there had been much exaggeration on the part of the +reformers, that some hundreds of the peasantry had, by various powerful +temptations, been led to change their former religion. The bishops +received back some of the converts, and a jubilee established among +them completed their reconversion. The Hon. Mr. Noel and Captain Gordon +posted to Cavan, with a challenge to discussion for their lordships; of +course, their challenge was not accepted. Thomas Moore's inimitable +satire was the most effective weapon against such fanatics. + +The energetic literature of the Catholic agitation attracted much more +attention than its oral polemics. Joined to a bright army of Catholic +writers, including Dr. Doyle, Thomas Moore, Thomas Furlong, and Charles +Butler, there was the powerful phalanx of the _Edinburgh Review_ led by +Jeffrey and Sidney Smith, and the English liberal press, headed by +William Cobbett. Thomas Campbell, the Poet of Hope, always and +everywhere the friend of freedom, threw open his _New Monthly_, to +Shiel, and William Henry Curran, whose sketches of the Irish Bar and +Bench, of Dublin politics, and the county elections of 1826, will live +as long as any periodical papers of the day. The indefatigable Shiel, +writing French as fluently as English, contributed besides to the +_Gazette de France_ a series of papers, which were read with great +interest on the Continent. These articles were the precursors of many +others, which made the Catholic question at length an European +question. An incident quite unimportant in itself, gave additional zest +to these French articles. The Duke de Montebello, with two of his +friends, Messrs. Duvergier and Thayer, visited Ireland in 1826. +Duvergier wrote a series of very interesting letters on the "State of +Ireland," which, at the time, went through several editions. At a +Catholic meeting at Ballinasloe, the Duke had some compliments paid +him, which he gracefully acknowledged, expressing his wishes for the +success of their cause. This simple act excited a great deal of +criticism in England. The Paris press was roused in consequence, and +the French Catholics, becoming more and more interested, voted an +address and subscription to the Catholic Association. The Bavarian +Catholics followed their example, and similar communications were +received from Spain and Italy. + +But the movement abroad did not end in Europe. An address from British +India contained a contribution of three thousand pounds sterling. From +the West Indies and Canada, generous assistance was rendered. + +In the United States sympathetic feeling was most active. New York felt +almost as much interested in the cause as Dublin. In 1826 and 1827, +associations of "Friends of Ireland" were formed at New York, Boston, +Washington, Norfolk, Charleston, Augusta, Louisville, and Bardstown. +Addresses in English and French were prepared for these societies, +chiefly by Dr. McNevin, at New York, and Bishop England, at Charleston. +The American, like the French press, became interested in the subject, +and eloquent allusions were made to it in Congress. On the 20th of +January, 1828, the veteran McNevin wrote to Mr. O'Connell—"Public +opinion in America is deep, and strong, and universal, in your behalf. +This predilection prevails over the broad bosom of our extensive +continent. Associations similar to ours are everywhere starting into +existence—in our largest and wealthiest cities—in our hamlets and our +villages—in our most remote sections; and at this moment, the propriety +of convening, at Washington, delegates of the friends of Ireland, of +all the states, is under serious deliberation. A fund will erelong be +derived from American patriotism in the United States, which will +astonish your haughtiest opponents." + +The Parliamentary fortunes of the great question were at the same time +brightening. The elections of 1826, had, upon the whole, given a large +increase of strength to its advocates. In England and Scotland, under +the influence of the "No-Popery" cry, they had lost some ground, but in +Ireland they had had an immense triumph. The death of the +generous-hearted Canning, hastened as it was by anti-Catholic +intrigues, gave a momentary check to the progress of liberal ideas; but +they were retarded only to acquire a fresh impulse destined to bear +them, in the next few years, farther than they had before advanced in +an entire century. + +The _ad interim_ administration of Lord Goderich gave way, by its own +internal discords, in January, 1828, to the Wellington and Peel +administration. The Duke was Premier, the Baronet leader of the House +of Commons; with Mr. Huskisson, Lord Palmerston, in the cabinet; Lord +Anglesea remained as Lord Lieutenant. But this coalition with the +friends of Canning was not destined to outlive the session of 1828; the +lieutenants of the late Premier were doomed, for some time longer, to +suffer for their devotion to his principles. + +This session of 1828, is—in the history of religious liberty—the most +important and interesting in the annals of the British Parliament. +Almost at its opening, the extraordinary spectacle was exhibited of a +petition signed by 800,000 Irish Catholics, praying for the repeal of +"the Corporation and Test Acts," enacted on the restoration of Charles +II., against the non-Conformists. Monster petitions, both for and +against the repeal of these acts, as well as for and against Catholic +emancipation, soon became of common occurrence. Protestants of all +sects petitioned for, but still more petitioned against equal rights +for Catholics; while Catholics petitioned for the rights of Protestant +dissenters. It is a spectacle to look back upon with admiration and +instruction; exhibiting as it does, so much of a truly tolerant spirit +in Christians of all creeds, worthy of all honour and imitation. + +In April, "the Corporation and Test Acts" were repealed; in May, the +Canningites seceded from the Duke's government, and one of the +gentlemen brought in to fill a vacant seat in the Cabinet—Mr. Vesey +Fitzgerald, member for Clare—issued his address to his electors, asking +a renewal of their confidence. Out of this event grew another, which +finally and successfully brought to an issue the century-old Catholic +question. + +The Catholic Association, on the accession of the Wellington-Peel +Cabinet, had publicly pledged itself to oppose every man who would +accept office under these statesmen. The memory of both as +ex-secretaries—but especially Peel's—was odious in Ireland. When, +however, the Duke had sustained, and ensured thereby the passage of the +repeal of "the Corporation and Test Acts," Mr. O'Connell, at the +suggestion of Lord John Russell the mover of the repeal, endeavoured to +get his angry and uncompromising resolution against the Duke's +government rescinded. Powerful as he was, however, the Association +refused to go with him, and the resolution remained. So it happened +that when Mr. Fitzgerald presented himself to the electors of Clare, as +the colleague of Peel and Wellington, the Association at once +endeavoured to bring out an opposition candidate. They pitched with +this view on Major McNamara, a liberal Protestant of the county, at the +head of one of its oldest families, and personally popular; but this +gentleman, after keeping them several days in suspense, till the time +of nomination was close at hand, positively declined to stand against +his friend, Mr. Fitzgerald, to the great dismay of the associated +Catholics. + +In their emergency, an idea, so bold and original, that it was at first +received with general incredulity by the external public, was started. +It was remembered by Sir David De Roose, a personal friend of +O'Connell's, that the late sagacious John Keogh had often declared the +Emancipation question would never be brought to an issue till some +Catholic member elect stood at the bar of the House of Commons +demanding his seat. A trusted few were at first consulted on the daring +proposition, that O'Connell himself, in despite of the legal exclusion +of all men of his religion, should come forward for Clare. Many were +the consultations, and diverse the judgments delivered on this +proposal, but at length, on the reception of information from the +county itself, which gave strong assurance of success, the hero of the +adventure decided for himself. The bold course was again selected as +the wise course, and the spirit-stirring address of "the arch-Agitator" +to the electors, was at once issued from Dublin. "Your county," he +began by saying, "wants a representative. I respectfully solicit your +suffrages, to raise me to that station. + +"Of my qualification to fill that station, I leave you to judge. The +habits of public speaking, and many, many years of public business, +render me, perhaps, equally suited with most men to attend to the +interests of Ireland in Parliament. + +"You will be told I am not qualified to be elected; the assertion, my +friends, is untrue. I am qualified to be elected, and to be your +representative. It is true that as a Catholic I cannot, and of course +never will, take the oaths at present prescribed to members of +Parliament; but the authority which created these oaths (the +Parliament), can abrogate them: and I entertain a confident hope that, +if you elect me, the most bigoted of our enemies will see the necessity +of removing from the chosen representative of the people an obstacle +which would prevent him from doing his duty to his king and to his +country." + +This address was followed instantly by the departure of all the most +effective agitators to the scene of the great contest. Shiel went down +as conducting agent for the candidate; Lawless left his Belfast +newspaper, and Father Maguire his Leitrim flock; Messrs. Steele and +O'Gorman Mahon, both proprietors in the county, were already in the +field, and O'Connell himself soon followed. On the other hand, the +leading county families, the O'Briens, McNamaras, Vandeleurs, +Fitzgeralds and others, declared for their old favourite, Mr. +Fitzgerald. He was personally much liked in the county; the son of a +venerable anti-Unionist, the well-remembered Prime Sergeant, and a man +besides of superior abilities. The county itself was no easy one to +contest; its immense constituency (the 40-shilling freeholders had not +yet been abolished), were scattered over a mountain and valley region, +more than fifty miles long by above thirty wide. They were almost +everywhere to be addressed in both languages—English and Irish—and when +the canvass was over, they were still to be brought under the very eyes +of the landlords, upon the breath of whose lips their subsistence +depended, to vote the overthrow and conquest of those absolute masters. +The little county town of Ennis, situated on the river Fergus, about +110 miles south-west of Dublin, was the centre of attraction or of +apprehension, and the hills that rise on either side of the little +prosaic river soon swarmed with an unwonted population, who had +resolved, subsist how they might, to see the election out. It is hardly +an exaggeration to say that the eyes of the empire were turned, during +those days of June, on the ancient patrimony of King Brian. "I fear the +Clare election will end ill," wrote the Viceroy to the leader of the +House of Commons. "This business," wrote the Lord Chancellor (Eldon), +"must bring the Roman Catholic question to a crisis and a conclusion." +"May the God of truth and justice protect and prosper you," was the +public invocation for O'Connell's success, by the bishop of Kildare and +Leighlin. "It was foreseen," said Sir Robert Peel, long afterwards, +"that the Clare election would be the turning point of the Catholic +question." In all its aspects, and to all sorts of men, this, then, was +no ordinary election, but a national event of the utmost religious and +political consequence. Thirty thousand people welcomed O'Connell into +Ennis, and universal sobriety and order characterized the proceedings. +The troops called out to overawe the peasantry, infected by the +prevailing good humour, joined in their cheers. The nomination, the +polling, and the declaration, have been described by the graphic pen of +Shiel. At the close of the poll the numbers were—O'Connell, 2,057; +Fitzgerald, 1,075; so Daniel O'Connell was declared duly elected, +amidst the most extraordinary manifestations of popular enthusiasm. Mr. +Fitzgerald, who gracefully bowed to the popular verdict, sat down, and +wrote his famous despatch to Sir Robert Peel: "All the great +interests," he said, "my dear Peel, broke down, and the desertion has +been universal. Such a scene as we have had! Such a tremendous prospect +as is open before us!" + +This "tremendous prospect," disclosed at the hustings of Ennis, was +followed up by demonstrations which bore a strongly revolutionary +character. Mr. O'Connell, on his return to Dublin, was accompanied by a +_levee en masse_, all along the route, of a highly imposing +description. Mr. Lawless, on his return to Belfast, was escorted +through Meath and Monaghan by a multitude estimated at 100,000 men, +whom only the most powerful persuasions of the Catholic clergy, and the +appeals of the well-known liberal commander of the district, General +Thornton, induced to disperse. Troops from England were ordered over in +considerable numbers, but whole companies, composed of Irish Catholics, +signalized their landing at Waterford and Dublin by cheers for +O'Connell. Reports of the continued hostility of the government +suggested desperate councils. Mr. Ford, a Catholic solicitor, openly +proposed, in the Association, exclusive dealing and a run on the banks +for specie, while Mr. John Claudius Beresford, and other leading +Orangemen, publicly predicted a revival of the scenes and results of +1798. + +The Clare election was, indeed, decisive; Lord Anglesea, who landed +fully resolved to make no terms with those he had regarded from a +distance as no better than rebels, became now one of their warmest +partisans. His favourite counsellor was Lord Cloncurry, the early +friend of Emmet and O'Conor; the true friend to the last of every +national interest. For a public letter to Bishop Curtis, towards the +close of 1828, in which he advises the Catholics to stand firm, he was +immediately recalled from the government; but his former and his actual +chief, within three months from the date of his recall, was equally +obliged to surrender to the Association. The great duke was, or +affected to be, really alarmed for the integrity of the empire, from +the menacing aspect of events in Ireland. A call of Parliament was +accordingly made for an early day, and, on the 5th of March, Mr. Peel +moved a committee of the whole House, to go into a "consideration of +the civil disabilities of his Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects." This +motion, after two days' debate, was carried by a majority of 188. On +the 10th of March the Relief Bill was read for the first time, and +passed without opposition, such being the arrangement entered into +while in committee. But in five days all the bigotry of the land had +been aroused; nine hundred and fifty-seven petitions had already been +presented against it; that from the city of London was signed by more +than "an hundred thousand freeholders." On the 17th of March it passed +to a second reading, and on the 30th to a third, with large majorities +in each stage of debate. Out of 320 members who voted on the final +reading, 178 were in its favour. On the 31st of March it was carried to +the Lords by Mr. Peel, and read a first time; two days later, on the +2nd of April, it was read a second time, on motion of the Duke of +Wellington; a bitterly contested debate of three days followed; on the +10th, it was read a third time, and passed by a majority of 104. Three +days later the bill received the royal assent, and became law. + +The only drawbacks on this great measure of long-withheld justice, +were, that it disfranchised the "forty-shilling freeholders" throughout +Ireland, and condemned Mr. O'Connell, by the insertion of the single +word "hereafter," to go back to Clare for re-election. In this there +was little difficulty for him, but much petty spleen in the framers of +the measure. + +While the Relief Bill was still under discussion, Mr. O'Connell +presented himself, with his counsel, at the bar of the House of +Commons, to claim his seat as member for Clare. The pleadings in the +case were adjourned from day to day, during the months of March, April, +and May. A committee of the House, of which Lord John Russell was +Chairman, having been appointed in the meantime to consider the +petition of Thomas Mahon and others, against the validity of the +election, reported that Mr. O'Connell had been duly elected. On the +15th of May, introduced by Lords Ebrington and Duncannon, the new +member entered the House, and advanced to the table to be sworn by the +Clerk. On the oath of abjuration being tendered to him, he read over +audibly these words—"that the sacrifice of the mass, and the invocation +of the blessed Virgin Mary, and other saints, as now practised in the +Church of Rome, are impious and idolatrous:" at the subsequent passage, +relative to the falsely imputed Catholic "doctrine of the dispensing +power" of the Pope, he again read aloud, and paused. Then slightly +raising his voice, he bowed, and added, "I decline, Mr. Clerk, to take +this oath. Part of it I know to be false; another part I do not believe +to be true." + +He was subsequently heard at the bar, in his own person, in explanation +of his refusal to take the oath, and, according to custom, withdrew. +The House then entered into a very animated discussion on the Solicitor +General's motion "that Mr. O'Connell, having been returned a member of +this House before the passing of the Act for the Relief of the Roman +Catholics, he is not entitled to sit or vote in this House unless he +first takes the oath of supremacy." For this motion the vote on a +division was 190 against 116: majority, 74. So Mr. O'Connell had again +to seek the suffrages of the electors of Clare. + +A strange, but well authenticated incident, struck with a somewhat +superstitious awe both Protestants and Catholics, in a corner of +Ireland the most remote from Clare, but not the least interested in the +result of its memorable election. A lofty column on the walls of Derry +bore the effigy of Bishop Walker, who fell at the Boyne, armed with a +sword, typical of his martial inclinations, rather than of his +religious calling. Many long years, by day and night, had his sword, +sacred to liberty or ascendancy, according to the eyes with which the +spectator regarded it, turned its steadfast point to the broad estuary +of Lough Foyle. Neither wintry storms nor summer rains had loosened it +in the grasp of the warlike churchman's effigy, until, on the 13th day +of April, 1829—the day the royal signature was given to the Act of +Emancipation—the sword of Walker fell with a prophetic crash upon the +ramparts of Derry, and was shattered to pieces. So, we may now say, +without bitterness and almost without reproach, so may fall and shiver +to pieces, every code, in every land beneath the sun, which impiously +attempts to shackle conscience, or endows an exclusive caste with the +rights and franchises which belong to an entire People! + +End of Volume 2 of 2. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Popular History of Ireland Volume 1, by Thomas D'Arcy McGee + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A POPULAR HISTORY OF IRELAND *** + +***** This file should be named 6633-0.txt or 6633-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/6/3/6633/ + +This etext was produced by Gardner Buchanan with help from +Charles Aldarondo and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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