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diff --git a/old/2003_01_06_6633.txt b/old/2003_01_06_6633.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c64ce69 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2003_01_06_6633.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18601 @@ +Project Gutenberg's A Popular History of Ireland V2, by Thomas D'Arcy McGee +#2 in our series by Thomas D'Arcy McGee + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: A Popular History of Ireland V2 + From the earliest period to the emancipation of the Catholics + +Author: Thomas D'Arcy McGee + +Release Date: October, 2004 [EBook #6633] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on January 6, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE 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 then: +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 then--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, +Alien, 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 Deny, 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 Deny. + +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 Ms 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, slaving 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 Ms +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 hi 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 tune. + +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 tune 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 1816; 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, Deny, 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 tune 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 +then 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 then: 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, Deny, 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. Prom 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 _eclat_ 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 Deny; 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 whiter 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 Prance, +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 Prance, 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 then--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, lie 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 _eclat_ 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. Pox 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 _elite_ 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 _Fraternite_; 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 _Fraternite_) 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 Ms 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 tunes 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 Bartholmew +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 +Prune 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; Alien, Putnam, +McCabe, and Dowdall escaped to France, where the former +became an officer of rank in the army of Napoleon; Michael +Dwyer, who Lad 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 Ms 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 tune 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 hi 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 Home. 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. Then--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 _eclat_ 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 +Pox, 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 Abbe, 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, Alien, 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 then: 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 Ms 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 then--title, and +immensely additional _eclat_ 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 Deny 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 V2 +by Thomas D'Arcy McGee + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A POPULAR HISTORY OF IRELAND *** + +This file should be named 6633.txt or 6633.zip + +This etext was produced by Gardner Buchanan with help from +Charles Aldarondo and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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