No More Learning

The affairs That which gave the king most trouble, and de-

of Ireland

resumed, prived him of that ease and quiet which he had
promised to himself during the vacation between
the two parliaments, was the business of Ireland ;
which we shall now take up again, and continue the
relation without interruption, as long as we shall
think fit to make any mention of that affair. We
left it in the hands of the lord Roberts, whom the
king had declared deputy of Ireland, presuming that
he would upon conference with the several parties,
who were all appointed to attend him, so shape and
model the whole bulk, that it might be more ca-
pable of some further debate before his majesty

1 upon their observation of earth
any place where the earth] u in] Omitted in MS.
upon their observation that the * over] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 19

in council: but that hand did not hold it many J6C1.
days.

That noble lord, though of a good understanding, character
was of so morose a nature, that it was no easy mat- bertYth?
ter to treat with him. He had some pedantic parts of deputy>
learning, which made his other parts of judgment the
worse, for he had some parts of good knowledge in
the law, and in antiquity, in the precedents of for-
mer times ; all which were rendered the less useful,
by the other pedantry contracted out of some books,
and out of the ill conversation he had y with some
clergymen and people in quality much below him,
by whose weak faculties he raised the value of his
own, which were very capable of being improved in
better company. He was naturally proud and im-
perious ; which humour was increased by an ill
education; for excepting some years spent in the
inns of court amongst the books of the law, he
might be very justly said to have been born and
bred in Cornwall. There were many days passed
after the king's declaration of him to be deputy, be-
fore he could be persuaded to visit the general, who
he knew was to continue lieutenant ; and when he
did visit him, it was with so ill a grace, that the
other received no satisfaction in it, and the less, be-
cause he plainly discerned that it proceeded from
pride, which he bore the more uneasily, because as
he was now the greater man, so he knew himself to
be of a much better family. He made so many
doubts and criticisms upon the draught of his pa-
tent, that the attorney general was weary of attend-
ing him ; and when all things were agreed on at

y had] had had
c 2



20 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. night, the next morning produced new dilemmas.
But that which was worse than all this, he received
those of the Irish nation of the best quality, and who
were of the privy council and chief command in that
kingdom, so superciliously ; received their informa-
tion so negligently, and gave his answers so scorn-
fully ; that after they had waited upon him four or
five days, they besought the king that they might
not be obliged to attend him any more. And it was
evident, that his carriage towards them was not to
be submitted to by persons of his own quality, or of
any liberal education : nor did he make any advance
towards the business.

This gave the king very great trouble, and them
as much pleasure who had never liked the designa-
tion. He knew not what to do with his deputy, nor
what to do for Ireland. The lord Roberts was not
a man that was to be disgraced and thrown off,
without much inconvenience and hazard. He had
parts which in council and parliament (which were
the two scenes where all the king's business lay)
were very troublesome ; for of all men alive who had
so few friends, he had the most followers. They
who conversed most with him, knew him to have
many humours which were very intolerable; they
who were but a little acquainted with him, took him
to be a man of much knowledge, and called his mo-
rosity gravity, and thought the severity of his man-
ners made him less grateful to the courtiers. He
had no such advantageous faculties in his delivery,
as could impose upon his auditors ; but he was never
tedious, and his words made impression. In a word,
he was such a man as the king thought worthy to
be compounded with. And therefore his majesty



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 21

appointed the lord chancellor and the lord treasurer 1C6I.
to confer with him, and to dispose him to accept the The kin
office of privy seal, which gave him a great pre-



cedence that would gratify that passion which was offer of the

. . n . . _ _ . . privy seal.

strongest in him ; tor in his nature he preferred
place before money, which his fortune stood more in
need of. And the king thought, it would be no ill
argument to incline him to give over the thought of
Ireland, that it was impossible for the king to sup-
ply him for the present with near any such sum of
money as he had very reasonably demanded, for the
satisfaction of the army there, (which was upon the
matter to be new modelled, and some part of it dis-
banded,) with the reduction of many officers, and for
his own equipage.

They began their approach to him, by asking
him " when he would be ready for his journey to
" Ireland;" to which he answered with some quick-
ness, " that he was confident there was no purpose
" to send him thither, for that he saw there was no
" preparation of those things, without which the king
" knew well that it was not possible for him to go ;
" nor had his majesty lately spoken to him of it.
" Besides, he had observed, that the chancellor had
" for many days past called him at the council, and
" in all other places where they met, by the name of
" lord Roberts ; whereas, for some months before, he
" had upon all occasions and in all places treated
" him with the style of lord deputy : which gave him
" first cause to believe, that there was some altera-
" tion in the purpose of sending him thither. " They
both assured him, " that the king had no other per-
" son in his view but himself for that service, if he
" were disposed to undertake it vigorously ; but that

c 3



1661. " tne king had forborne lately to speak with him of

" it, because he found it impossible for him to pro-

" vide the money he proposed ; and it could not be
" denied, that he had proposed it very reasonably in
" all respects. However, it being impossible to pro-
" cure it, and that he could not go without it, for
" which he could not be blamed, his majesty must
" find some other expedient to send his authority
" thither, the government there being yet so loose,
" that he could not but every day expect to receive
" news of some great disorder there, the ill conse-
" quence whereof would be imputed to his majesty's
" want of care and providence. That his majesty
" had yet forborne to think of that expedient, till he
" might do it with his consent and advice, and until
" he could resolve upon another post, where he might
" serve his majesty with equal honour, and by which
" the world might see the esteem he had of him.
" And therefore since it would be both unreasonable
" and unjust, to press him to go for Ireland without
" those supplies, and it was equally impossible to pre-
" pare and send those supplies ;" they said, " the
" king had commanded them to propose to him, that
" he would make him lord privy seal, an office he
" well understood. And if he accepted that and
" were possessed of it, (as he should immediately be,)
" his majesty would enter upon new considerations
" how to settle the tottering condition of Ireland. "
The lord's dark countenance presently cleared lip,
having no doubt expected to be deprived of his title
to Ireland, without being assigned any other any
where else : and now being offered the third place
of precedence in the nobility, the privy seal going
next to the treasurer, upon a very short recollection,



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 23
he declared "that he received it as a great honour, 1661.



" that the king would make use of his service z in any Lord RO-
" place, and that he submitted wholly to his good
" pleasure, and would serve him with great fidelity. "
The next day the king gave him the privy seal at the p |ace of

deputy.

the council-board, where he was sworn and took his
place ; and to shew his extraordinary talent, found a
way more to obstruct and puzzle business, at least
the despatch of it, than any man in that office had
ever done before : insomuch as the king found him-
self compelled, in a short time after, to give order
that most grants and patents, which required haste,
should pass by immediate warrant to the great seal,
without visiting the privy seal ; which preterition
was not usual, and brought some inconvenience and
prejudice to the chancellor.

Though the king had within himself a prospect of
the expedient, that would be fittest for him to make
use of for the present, towards the settlement of Ire-
land ; yet it was absolutely necessary for him, even
before he could make use of that expedient, to put
the several claims and petitions of right which were
depending before him, and which were attended with
such an unruly number of suitors, into some such
method of examining and determining, that they
might not be left in the confusion they were then in. The kin R
And this could not be done, without his imposing parties,
upon himself the trouble of hearing once at large, all
that every party of the pretenders could allege for
the support of their several pretences : and this he
did with incredible patience for very many days to-
gether. We shall first mention those interests, which

z use] Not in MS.
c 4



24 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1661. gave the king least trouble, because they admitted



least debate.
The king's ft was looked upon as very scandalous, that the

fneud re-

tored by marquis of Ormond should remain so long without
i lament, the possession of any part of his estate ; which had
been taken from him upon no other pretence, but his
adhering to the king. And therefore there was an
act of parliament passed with the consent of all par-
ties, that he should be presently restored to all his
estate ; which was done with the more ease, because
the greatest part of it (for his wife's land had been
before assigned to her in Cromwell's time, or rather
in his son Harry's) lay within that province, which
Cromwell out of his husbandry had reserved for him-
self, exempt from all title or pretence of adventurer
or soldier : what other part of his estate either the
one or the other were possessed of, in their own
judgments it a was so impossible for them to enjoy,
that they very willingly yielded it up to the marquis,
in hope of having recompense made to them out of
other lands. There could as little be said against
the restoration of the earl of Inchiquin to his estate,
which had been taken from him and distributed
amongst the adventurers and soldiers, for no other
cause but his serving the king. There were likewise
some others of the same classis, who had nothing ob-
jected to them but their loyalty, who were put into
the possession of their own estates. And all this
gave no occasion of murmur ; every man of what in-
terest soever believing, or pretending to believe, that
the king was obliged in honour, justice, and con-
science, to cause that right to be done to those who
had b served him faithfully.

a it] Omitted in MS. b had] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 25

There could be as little doubt, and there was as 1661.
little opposition visible, in the claim of the church : church _
so that the king made choice of many grave divines,



to whom he assigned bishoprics in Ireland, and sent new bishops

appointed.

them thither, to be consecrated by the bishops who
remained alive there according to the laws of that
kingdom ; and conferred the other dignities and
church-preferments upon worthy men, who were all
authorized to enter upon those lands, which belonged
to their several churches. And in this general zeal
for the church, some new grants were made of lands
and impropriations, which were not enough delibe-
rated, and gave afterwards great interruption to the
settlement of the kingdom, and brought envy upon
the church and churchmen, when the restoration to
what was their own was generally well approved.

The pretences of the adventurers and soldiers were
very much involved and perplexed : yet they gave
the king little other trouble, than the general care
and solicitude, that by an unseasonable disturbance
of their possessions there, the soldiers who had been
disbanded and those of the standing army (who for
the most part had the same ill affections) might not
unite together, and seize upon some places of defence,
before his affairs in that kingdom should be put in
such an order as to oppose them. And next that ap-
prehension, his majesty had no mind that any of
those soldiers, either who had been disbanded, and
put into possession of lands for the arrears of their
pay, and upon which they now lived ; or of the other,
the standing army, many whereof were likewise in
possession of lands assigned to them ; I say, the king
was not without apprehension, that the resort of ei-
ther of these into England might find too many of



26 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. their old friends and associates, ready to concur
with them in any desperate measures c , and for con-
trolling of which he was not d enough provided even
in this kingdom. But for their private and particular
interest, the king cared not much how it was com-
pounded, nor considered the danger if it were not
compounded. For besides the factions, divisions, and
animosities, which were between themselves, and
very great ; they could have no cause of complaint
against the king, who would take nothing from them
to which they had the least pretence of law or right.
And for their other demands, he would leave them
to litigate between themselves ; it being evident to
all men, that there must be some judicatory erected
by act of parliament, that only could examine and
put an end to all those pretences : the perusal e and
examination of which act of parliament, when the
same should be prepared, his majesty resolved that
all parties should have, and that he would hear their
particular exceptions to it, before he would transmit
it into Ireland to be passed.

That which gave the king the only trouble and so-
licitude, was the miserable condition of the Irish na-
tion, that was so near an extirpation ; the thought
whereof his majesty's heart abhorred. Nor can it
be denied, that either from the indignation he had
against those, in whose favour the other poor people
were miserably destroyed, or from his own natural
compassion and tenderness, and the just regard of
the merit of many of them who had served him with
The king fidelity, he had a very strong and princely inclination

inclined to J \ J , .

faTour the to do the best he could, without doing apparent in-

pretensions

of the Irish e measures] Omitted in MS. e the perusal] and the per

catholics. . - . , . J . ,, ,

d not] Not m MS. usal.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 27

justice, to preserve them in a tolerable condition of 1661.
subjects. This made him give them, who were most
concerned and solicitous on their behalf, liberty to re-
sort to his presence ; and hear f all they could allege
for themselves, in private or in public. And this in-
dulgence proved to their disadvantage, and exalted
them so much, that when they were heard in public
at the board, they behaved themselves with less mo-
desty towards their adversaries, who stood upon the
advantage-ground, and with less reverence in the
presence of the king, than the truth of their con-
dition and any ordinary discretion would have re-
quired. And their disadvantage was the greater,
because they who spake publicly on their behalf, and
were very well qualified to speak, and left nothing
for the matter unsaid that was for their purpose,
were men, who from the beginning to the end of the
rebellion, had behaved themselves eminently ill to-
wards the king. And they of their adversaries who
spake against them, had great knowledge and expe-
rience of all that had passed on either side, and
knew how to press it home when it was seasonable.

They of the Irish, who were all united under the The pica of
name of the confederate catholics of Ireland, ma
their first approach wisely for compassion ; and
urged " their great and long sufferings ; the loss of
" their estates for five or six and twenty years ; the
" wasting and spending of the whole nation in bat-
" ties, and transportation of vast multitudes of men
" into the parts beyond the seas, whereof many had
" the honour to testify their fidelity to the king by
" real services, and many of them returned into Eng-

f and hear] and to hear



28 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " land with him, and were still in his service; the
" great numbers of men, women, and children, that
" had been massacred and executed in cold blood,
" after the king's government had been driven from
" thence ; the multitudes that had been destroyed
" by famine and the plague, those two heavy judg-
" ments having raged over the kingdom for two or
" three years ; and at last, as a persecution unheard
" of, the transplanting the small remainder of the na-
" tion into one corner of the province ofConnaught,
" where yet much of the lands was taken from them.
" which had been assigned with all those formalities
" of law, which were in use, and practised under that
" government. "

2. They demanded " the benefit of two treaties of
" peace, the one in the late king's time and con-
" firmed by him, the other confirmed by his majesty
" who was present ; by both which," they said, " they
** stood indemnified for all acts done by them in the
" rebellion ; and insisted upon their innocence since
" that time, and that they had paid so entire an
" obedience to his majesty's commands whilst he
" was beyond the seas, that they betook themselves
" to, and withdrew themselves from, the service of
" France or Spain, in such manner as his majesty
" signified his pleasure what they should do. " And
if they had ended here, they would have done wisely.
But whether it was the observation they made, that
what they had said made impression upon his ma-
jesty and many of the lords ; or whether it was their
evil genius that naturally transported them to ac-
tions of strange sottishness and indiscretion ; they
urged and enforced, with more liberty than became
them in that conjuncture, "the unworthiness and



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 29

" incapacity of those, who for so many years had 1661,
" possessed themselves of their estates, and sought
" now a confirmation of their rebellious title from
" his majesty. "

3. " That their rebellion had been more infamous
" and of a greater magnitude than that of the Irish,
" who had risen in arms to free themselves from
" the rigour and severity that was exercised upon
" them by some of the king's ministers, and for the
" liberty of their conscience and practice of their re-
" ligion, without having the least intention or thought
" of withdrawing themselves from his majesty's obe-
" dience, or declining his government : whereas the
" others had carried on an odious rebellion against
" the king's sacred person, whom they had horridly
" murdered in the sight of the sun, with all imagin-
" able circumstances of contempt and defiance, and
" as much as in them lay had rooted out monarchy
" itself, and overturned and destroyed the whole go-
" vernment of church and state : and therefore that
" whatever punishment the poor Irish had deserved
" for their former transgressions, which they had so
" long repented of, and departed from the rebellion
" when they had armies and strong towns in their
" hands, which they, together with themselves, had
" put again under his majesty's protection ; this part &
" of the English, who were possessed of their estates,
" had broken all their obligations to God and the
" king, and so could not merit to be gratified with
" their ruin and total destruction. That it was too
" evident and notorious to the world, that his ma-
" jesty's three kingdoms had been very faulty to

8 this part] whereas this part



30 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

" him, and withdrawn themselves from his govern-
" ment ; by which he had been compelled to live in
" exile so many years : and yet, that upon their re-
" turn to their duty and obedience, he had been gra-
" ciously pleased to grant a free and general pardon
" and act of indemnity in which many were com-
" prehended, who in truth had been the contrivers
" and fomenters of all the misery and desolation,
" which had involved the three nations for so many
" years. And therefore that they hoped, that when
" all his majesty's other subjects (as criminal at
" least as they were) were, by his majesty's cle-
" mency, restored to their own estates which they
" had forfeited, and were in full peace, mirth, and
"joy; the poor Irish alone should not be totally
" exempt from all his majesty's grace, and left in
" tears and mourning and lamentation, and be sa-
" crificed without redemption to the avarice and
" cruelty of those, who had not only spoiled and
" oppressed them, but had done all that was in their
" power, and with all the insolence imaginable, to
" destroy the king himself and his posterity, and
" who now returned to their obedience, and sub-
" mitted h to his government, when they were no
" longer able to oppose it. Nor did they yet re-
" turn to it with that alacrity and joy and resigna-
" tion as the Irish did, but insisted obstinately upon
" demands unreasonable, and which they hoped could
" not consist with his majesty's honour to grant :"
and so concluded with those pathetical applications
and appeals to the king, as men well versed in dis-
courses of that nature are accustomed to.

h submitted] had submitted



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 31

This discourse, carried on and urged with more 1661.
passion, vehemence, and indiscretion, than was suit-"
able to the condition they were in, and in which, by
the excesses of their rhetoric, they had let fall many
expressions very indecent and unwarrantable, and in
some of them confidently excused if not justified their
first entrance into rebellion, (the most barbarous cer-
tainly and inexcusable, that any Christians have been
engaged in in any age,) irreconciled many to them
who had compassion enough for them, and made it
impossible for the king to restrain their adversaries,
who were prepared to answer all they had said, from
using the same licence. They enlarged " upon all The answer

of the ad-
' venturers.



" the odious circumstances of the first year's rebel- ? ft



" lion, the murdering of above a hundred thousand
" persons in cold blood, and with all the barbarity
" imaginable ; which murders and barbarities had
" been always excepted from pardon. " And they
told them, "that if there were not some amongst
" themselves who then appeared before his majesty,
" they were sure there would be found many
" amongst those for whom they appeared, who
" would be found guilty of those odious crimes,
" which were excluded from any benefit by those
" treaties. " They took notice, " how confidently
" they had extolled their own innocence from the
" time that those two acts of pacification had passed,
" and their great affection for his majesty's service. "
And thereupon they declared, " that whatsoever le-
" gal title the adventurers had to the lands of which
" they were possessed, many of whom had constantly
" served the king ; yet they would be contented,
" that all those, who in truth had preserved their
" integrity towards his majesty from the time of



32 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " either if not of both the pacifications, and not
""" swerved afterwards from their allegiance, should
" partake of his royal bounty, in such a manner and
" to such a degree, as his majesty thought fit to
" exercise towards them. But," they said, " they
" would make it appear, that their pretences to that
" grace and favour were not founded upon any rea-
" sonable title ; that they had never consented to
" any one act of pacification, to which the promise
" of indemnity had been annexed, which they had
" not violated and broken within ten days after, and
" then returned to all the acts of disloyalty and re-
" bellion.

" That after the first act of pacification ratified
" by the last king, in very few days ', they treated
" the herald, his majesty's officer, who came to pro-
" claim that peace, with all manner of indignity,
" tearing his coat of arms (the king's arms) from
" his back ; and beat and wounded him so, that he
" was hardly rescued from the loss of his life. That
" about the same time they endeavoured to surprise
" and murder the lord lieutenant, and pursued him
" to Dublin, which they forthwith besieged with
" their army, under the command of that general
" who had signed the peace. They imprisoned their
" commissioners who were authorized by them, for
" consenting to those articles which themselves had
" confirmed, and so prosecuted the war with as much
*' asperity as ever ; and refused to give that aid and
" assistance they were obliged to, for the recovery
" and restoration of his late majesty ; the promise
" and expectation of which supply and assistance,

1 in very few days] in very few days after



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. S3

" was the sole ground and consideration of that 1661.
" treaty, and of the concessions therein made to
" them. That they thereupon more formally re-
" nounced their obedience to the king, and put
" themselves under the protection and disposal of
" Rinuccini, the pope's nuncio, whom they made
" their generalissimo of all their armies, their ad-
" miral at sea, and to preside in all their councils.
" After their divisions amongst themselves, and the
" burden of the tyranny they suffered under, had
" disposed them to petition his majesty that now is,
" who was then in France, to receive them into his
" protection, and to send the marquis of Ormond
'' over again into Ireland to command them, his
" majesty k was so far prevailed with, that l he sent
" the marquis of Ormond into Munster, with such
" a supply of arms and ammunition as he could get ;
" where the lord Inchiquin, lord president of that
" province, received him with the protestant army
" and joined with him : and shortly after, the con-
" federate Irish made that second treaty of pacifica-
" tion, of which they now demanded the benefit.
" But it was notoriously known, that they no sooner
" made that treaty than they brake it, in not bring-
" ing in those supplies of men and money, which
" they ought and were obliged to do ; the want n
" whereof exposed the lord lieutenant to many diffi-
" culties, and was in truth the cause of the misfor-
" tune before Dublin : which he had no sooner un-
" dergone, than they withdrew from taking any fur-
" tlier care of the kingdom, and raised scandals upon

k his majesty] and his ma- m But] But that
jesty n the want] and the want

1 that] as that and] Omitted in MS.

VOL. II. D



34 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

16(11. " and jealousies of the whole body of the English,

~ " who, being so provoked, could no longer venture

" themselves in any action or conjunction with the

" Irish, without more apprehension of them than of

" the common enemy.

" Instead of endeavouring to compose these jea-
" lousies and ill humours, they caused an assembly
" or convention of their clergy to meet without the
" lord lieutenant's authority, and put the govern-
" ment of all things into their hands : who, in a
" short time, improved the jealousies in the mind of
" the people towards the few protestants who yet
" remained in the army, and who had served the
" king with all imaginable courage and fidelity from
*' the very first hour of the rebellion, to that degree,
" that the marquis was even compelled to discharge
" his own troop of guards of horse, consisting of such
" officers and gentlemen as are mentioned before,
" and to trust himself and all the remaining towns
" and garrisons to the fidelity of the Irish ; they
" protesting with much solemnity, that upon such a
" confidence, the whole nation would be united as
" one man to his majesty's service, under his com-
" mand. But they had no sooner received satisfac-
" tion in that particular, (which was not in the mar-
" quis's power to refuse to give them,) but they
" raised several calumnies against his person, de-
" claimed against his religion, and inhibited the
" people, upon pain of excommunication, to submit
" to this and that order that was issued out by the
" marquis, without obeying whereof the army could
" not stay together ; and upon the matter forbade
" the people to pay any obedience to him. Instead
" of raising new forces according to their last pro-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 35

" mise and engagement, those that were raised ran 1661,

" from their colours and dispersed themselves; they

" who were trusted with the keeping of towns and
" forts, either gave them up by treachery to Crom-
" well, or lost them through cowardice to him upon
" very feeble attacks : and their general, Owen
" O'Neile, made a formal contract and stipulation
" with the parliament. And in the end, when they
" had divested the lord lieutenant of all power to
" oppose the enemy, and given him great cause to
" believe that his person was in danger to be be-
" trayed, and delivered up to the enemy, they vouch-
" safed to petition him that he would depart out of
" the kingdom, (to the necessity whereof they had
" even already compelled him,) and that he would
" leave his majesty's authority in the hands of one
" of his catholic subjects, to whom they promised to
" submit with the most punctual obedience.

" Hereupon the marquis, when he found that he
" could not unite them in any one action worthy
" the duty of good subjects, or of prudent men, to-
" wards their own preservation ; and so, that his
" residence amongst them longer could in no degree
" contribute to his majesty's service or honour ; and
" that they would make it to be believed, that if
'* he would have committed the command into the
" hands of a Roman catholic, they would have been
" able to preserve those towns which still remained
" in their possession, which were Limerick and Gal-
" way, and some other places of importance enough,
" though of less than those cities ; and that they
" would likewise by degrees recover from the enemy
" what had been lost, which indeed was very pos-
" sible for them to have done, since they had great

D 2



36 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " bodies of men to perform any enterprise, and some
~~ " good officers to lead them, if they would have been
" obedient to any command : hereupon the marquis
" resolved to gratify them, and to place the com-
" mand in the hands of such a person, whose zeal
" for the catholic religion was unquestionable, and
" whose fidelity to the king was P unblemished. And
" so he made choice of the marquis of Clanrickard,
" a gentleman, though originally of English extrac-
" tion, whose family had for so many hundred years
" resided in that kingdom, that he was looked upon
" as being of the best family of the Irish ; and whose
" family had, in all former rebellions, as well as in
" this last, preserved its loyalty to the crown not
" only unspotted, but eminently conspicuous.

" The Roman catholics of all kinds pretended at
" least a wonderful satisfaction and joy in this elec-
" tion ; acknowledged it as a great obligation upon
" them and their posterity to the lord lieutenant, for
" making so worthy a choice ; and applied them-
" selves to the marquis of Clanrickard with all the
" protestations of duty and submission, to induce
" him to accept the charge and command over
" them ; who indeed knew them too well to be will-
" ing to trust them, or to have any thing to do with
" them. Yet upon the marquis of Ormond's earnest
" and solemn entreaty, as the last and only remedy
" to keep and retain some remainder of hope, from
" whence future hopes might grow ; whereas all
" other thoughts were desperate, and the kingdom
" would presently fall into the hands and possession
" of the English, who would extirpate the whole

P was] as



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 37

"nation: this importunity, and his great zeal for 1661.
" the service of the crown, and to support the go-""
" vernment there until his majesty should procure
" other supplies, which the marquis of Ormond pro-
" mised to solicit in France, or till his majesty should
" send better orders to preserve his authority in that
" kingdom, (the hope of which seemed the less des-
" perate, because they had notice at the same time
" of his majesty's march into England, with an army
" from Scotland,) prevailed with him so, that he was
" contented to receive such commissions from the
" lord lieutenant, as were necessary for the execu-
" tion of the present command. Upon which the
" lord lieutenant embarked himself, with some few
" friends and servants, upon a little rotten pink that
" was bound for France, and very ill accommodated
" for such a voyage ; being not to be persuaded to
" send to the commander in chief of the English for
" a pass, though he was assured that it would very
" readily have been granted : but it pleased- God
" that he arrived safely in France, a little before or
" about the time that the king transported himself
" thither, after his miraculous escape from Wor-
" cester.

" The marquis of Ormond was no sooner gone
" out of Ireland, but the lord marquis of Clanrick-
" ard, then lord deputy, found himself no better
" treated than the lord of Ormond had been. That
" part of the clergy, which had continually opposed
" the lord lieutenant for being a protestant, were
" now as little satisfied with the deputy's religion,
" and as violently contradicted all his commands
" and desires, and violated all their own promises,
" and quickly made it evident, that his affection

D 3



38 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " and loyalty to the king was that which they dis-
~~" liked, and a crime that could not be balanced by
" the undoubted sincerity of his religion. They en-
" tered into secret correspondence with the enemy,
" arid conspiracies between themselves : and though
" there were some persons of honour and quality
" with the deputy, who were very faithful to him
" and to the king ; yet there were so many of an-
" other allay, that all his counsels, resolutions,
" and designs, were discovered to the enemy soon
" enough to be prevented. And though some of the
" letters were intercepted, and the persons dis-
" covered who gave the intelligence, he had not
" power to bring them to justice ; but being com-
" monly friars and clergymen, the privilege of the
" church was insisted upon, and so they were res-
" cued from the secular prosecution till their escape
" was contrived. That perfidious and treacherous
" party had so great an interest in all the towns,.
" forts, and garrisons, which yet pretended to be
" subject to the deputy, that all his orders were
" still contradicted or neglected : and the enemy no
" sooner appeared before any place, but some fac-
" tion in the town caused it to be given up and ren-
" dered.

" Nor could this fatal sottishness be reformed,
" even by the severity and rigour which the Eng-
" lish exercised upon them, who, by the wonderful
" judgment of God Almighty, always put those men
" to death, who put themselves and those towns
" into their hands ; finding still that they had some
" barbarous part in the foul murders, which had
" been committed in the beginning of the rebellion,
" and who had been, by all the acts of grace granted



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 39

" by the several powers, still reserved for justice. 1661,
" And of this kind there would be so many in-~"~
" stances in and about Limerick and Gal way, that
" they deserve to be collected and mentioned in a
" discourse by itself, to observe and magnify the
" wonderful providence of God Almighty in bring-
" ing heinous crimes to light and punishment in this
" world, by means unapprehended by the guilty ;
" insomuch as it can hardly be believed, how many
" of the clergy and the laity, who had a signal hand
" in the contriving and fomenting the first rebellion,
" and in the perpetration of those horrible mur-
"ders; and who had obstructed all overtures to-
" ward peace, and principally caused any peace
"- that was made to be presently broken ; who had
" with most passion adhered to the nuncio, and en-
" deavoured most maliciously to exclude the king
" and his posterity from the dominion of Ireland ;
" I say, it can hardly be believed, how many of
" these most notorious transgressors did by some act
" of treachery endeavour to merit from the English
"rebels, and so put themselves into their hands, and
" were by them publicly and reproachfully executed
" and put to death.

" This being the sad condition the deputy was in,
" and the Irish having, without his leave and against
" his express command, taken upon them to send
" riiessengers into Flanders, to desire the duke of
" Lorrain to take them into his protection, and of-
" fered to deliver several important places and sea-
" towns into his possession, and to become his sub-
jects, (upon which the duke sent over an ambas-
" sador, and a good sum of money for their present
" relief,) the deputy was in a short time reduced to

D 4



40 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " those straits, that he durst not remain in any
~~" town, nor even in his own house three days to-
" gether, but was forced for his safety to shift from
" place to place, and sometimes to lodge in the
*' woods and fields in cold and wet nights ; by which
" he contracted those infirmities and diseases, which
" shortly after brought him to his grave. And in
" the end, he was compelled to accept a pass from
" the English, who had a reverence for his person
" and his unspotted reputation, to transport himself
" into England, where his wife and family were ;
" and where he died before he could procure means
" to carry himself to the king, which he always in-
" tended to do. "

When the commissioners had enlarged with some
commotion in this narration and discourse, they
again provoked the Irish commissioners to nominate
" one person amongst themselves, or of those for
" whom they appeared, who they believed could in
" justice demand his majesty's favour ; and if they
" did not make it evidently appear, that he had for-
" feited all his title to pardon after the treaties, and
" that he had been again as faulty to the king as
" before, they were very willing he should be re-
" stored to his estate. " And then applying them-
selves to his majesty with great duty and submis-
sion, they concluded, " that if any persons had,, by
" their subsequent loyalty ^ or service, or by their
" attendance upon his majesty beyond the seas, ren-
" dered themselves grateful to him, and worthy of
" his royal favour, they were very willing that his
" majesty should restore all or any of them to their

i loyalty] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 41

" honours or estates, in such manner as his majesty 1661.
" thought fit, and against all impediments whatso-"""
" ever. " And upon this frank offer of theirs, which Many ca-
his majesty took very well, several acts of parlia- had served



ment were presently passed, for the indemnity
the restoring many persons of honour and interest * t t
to their estates ; who could either in justice require
it, as having been faithful always to the king, and
suffered with him or for him ; or who had so far
manifested their affection and duty for his majesty,
that he thought fit, in that consideration, to wipe
out the memory of whatsoever had been formerly
done amiss. And by this means, many were put
into a full possession of their estates, to which they
could make any good pretence at the time when the
rebellion began.

This consideration and debate upon the settle-
ment of this unhappy kingdom took up many days,
the king being always present, in which there arose
every day new difficulties. And it appeared plainly
enough, that the guilt was so general, that if the
letter of the act of parliament of the seventeenth
year of the late king were strictly pursued, as pos-
sibly it might have been, if the reduction had fallen
out likewise during the whole reign of that king,
even an utter extirpation of the nation would have
followed.

There were three particulars, which, upon the Three, par-

_ . . . ,, , . . ticulars in

first mention and view or them, seemed in most this affair



men's eyes worthy of his majesty's extraordinary ^essthe'*"
compassion and interposition; and yet upon a kmg-
stricter examination were found as remediless as
any of the rest. One was; " the condition of that i. The

. i i i ii tranplan-

" miserable people, which was likewise very nu- tation of



42 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1661. " merous, that was transplanted into Connaught;



the Irish " who had been removed from their own possessions

nlught. " in other provinces, with such circumstances of ty-

" ranny and cruelty, that their own consents ob-

" tained afterwards with that force could not rea-

" sonably be thought any confirmation of their un-

" just title, who were in possession of their lands. "

Th s e adven- TO this it was answered, '* that though it was

turers' de- f

fence of " acted in an irregular manner, and without lawful

this mea- . . . . . . . .

sure. " authority, it being in a time ot usurpation ; yet
" that the act itself was very prudent and necessary,
" and an act of mercy, without which an utter ex-
" tirpation . of the nation must have followed, if the
" kingdom were to be preserved in peace. That it
" cannot be denied to be an act of mercy, since
" there was not one man transplanted, who had
" not by the law forfeited all the estate he had ;
" and his life might have been as legally taken from
" him : so that both his life, and whatever estate he
" had granted to him in Connaught, was from the
" pure bounty of the state, which might and did by
" the act of parliament seize upon the same. That,
" beside the unsteady humour of that people, and
" their natural inclination to rebel, it was notorious,
" that whilst they were dispersed over the kingdom,
" though all their forces had been so totally sub-
" dued, that there was not throughout the whole
" " kingdom a visible number of twenty men together,
" who pretended to be in arms ; yet there were
" daily such disorders committed by thefts and rob-
" beries and murders, that they could not be said to
" be in peace. Nor could the English, man, woman,
" or child, go one mile from their habitations upon
" their necessary employment, but they were found



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 43

" murdered and stripped by the Irish, who lay in 1G61,
" wait for those purposes ; so that the people were ~~
" very hardly restrained from committing a inas-
'* sacre upon them wherever they were met : so that
" there appeared no other way to prevent an utter
" extirpation of them, but to confine and restrain
" them within such limits and bounds, that might
" keep them from doing mischief, and thereby make
" them safe. That thereupon this expedient was laid
" hold of. And whereas they had nothing to en-
" able them to live upon in the places where they
" were dispersed, they had now by this transplan-
" tation into Connaught lands given them, sufficient
" with their industry to live well upon ; of which
" there was good evidence, by their having lived
" well there since that time, and many of them
" much better than they had ever done before. And
" the state, which had done this grace for them, had
" great reason, when it gave them good titles to. the
" land assigned to them, which they might plead in
" any court of justice, to require from them releases
" of what they had forfeited ; which, though to the
" public of no use or validity, were of benefit and
" behooveful to many particular persons, for the
" quieting their possessions against frivolous suits
" and claims which 'might start up. That this trans-
" plantation had been acted, finished, and submitted
" to by all parties, who had enjoyed the benefit
" thereof, quietly and without disturbance, many
" years before the king's return : and the soldiers
" and adventurers had been likewise so many years
" in the possession of their lots, in pursuance of the
" act of parliament, and had laid out so much inoney
" in building and planting, that the consequence of



44 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. such an alteration as was now proposed would be
" the highest confusion imaginable. "

And it cannot be denied, that if the king could
have thought it safe and seasonable to have re-
viewed all that had been done, and taken those ad-
vantages upon former miscarriages and misapplica-
tions, as according to the strictness of that very law
he might have done ; the whole foundation, upon
which all the hopes rested of preserving that king-
dom within the obedience to the crown of England,
must have been shaken and even dissolved; with
no small influence and impression upon the peace
and quiet of England itself. For the memory of
the beginning of the rebellion in Ireland (feow many
other rebellions soever had followed as bad, or worse
in respect of the consequences that attended them)
was as fresh and as odious to the whole people of
England, as it had been the first year. And though
no man durst avow so unchristian a wish, as an ex-
tirpation of them, (which they would have been very
well contented with;) yet no man dissembled his
opinion, that it was the only security the English
could have in that kingdom, that the Irish should
be kept so low, that they should have no power to
hurt them,
s. The case Another particular, that seemed more against the

of entails

and settle- foundation of justice, was ; " that the soldiers and
law" S " adventurers expected and promised themselves,
" that in this new settlement that was under de-
" bate, all entails and settlements at law should be
" destroyed, whether upon consideration of mar-
" riage, or any other contracts which had been
" made before the rebellion. Nor had there been
" in the whole former proceedings in the time of



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 45

" the usurpation, any consideration taken of mort- 1661.
" g a g es r debts due by statute or recognizance, or
" upon any other security ; so that all such debts
" must be either lost to the proprietors, or remain
" still with the interest upon the land, whoever had
" enjoyed the benefit or profits thereof. " All which
seemed to his majesty very unreasonable and un-
just ; and that such estates should remain forfeited
by the treason of the father, who had been only te-
nant for life, against all descents and legal titles of
innocent children ; and of which, in all legal at-
tainders, the crown never had or could receive any
benefit.

Yet, how unreasonable soever these pretences
seemed to be, it was no easy matter to give rules
and directions for the remedy of the mischief, with-
out introducing another mischief equally unjust and
unreasonable. For the commissioners declared, " that The adven-
" if such titles, as are mentioned, were preserved swer.
" and allowed to be good, there would not in that
" universal guilt, which upon the matter compre-
" hended and covered the whole Irish nation, be
" one estate forfeited by treason, but such convey-
" ances and settlements would be produced to se-
" cure and defend the same : and though they
** would be forged, there would not be witnesses
" wanting to prove and justify whatsoever the evi-
" dence could be applied to.
And if those trials
" were to be by the known rules and customs of the
" law in cases of the like nature, there was too much
" reason to suspect and fear that there would be
" little justice done : since a jury of Irish would in-
" fallibly find against the English, let the evidence " be what it could be ; and there was too much rea-



46 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1661. " son to apprehend that the English, whose animo-



" sity was not less, would be as unjust in bringing
" in their verdict against the Irish, right or wrong. "
And there was experience afterwards, in the prose-
cution of this affair, of such forgeries and perjuries,
as have not been heard of amongst Christians ; and
in which, to our shame, the English were not be-
hindhand with the Irish. The king however thought
it not reasonable or just for him, upon what proba-
ble suggestions soever, to countenance such a bare-
faced violation of the law, by any declaration of his ;
but commanded his council at law to make such
alterations in the expressions as might be fit for him
to consent to.

s. The ex- The third particular, and which much affected
sero/the the king, was ; " that in this universal joy for his



( (



restoration without blood, and with the indemnity
" of so many hundred thousands who had deserved
" to suffer the utmost punishments, the poor Irish,
" after so long sufferings in the greatest extremity
" of misery, should be the only persons who should
" find no benefit or ease by his majesty's restoration,
" but remain robbed and spoiled of all they had. ,
" and be as it were again sacrificed to the avarice
" and cruelty of them, who had not deserved better
" of his majesty than the other poor people had
" done. "

To which there can be no other answer made,

which is very sufficient in point of justice, but that,

Answer to as their rebellion and other crimes had been long

this plea.

" before his majesty's time, so full vengeance had
" been executed upon them ; and they had paid the
" penalties of their crimes and transgressions before
" his majesty's return ; so that he could not restore



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 47

" that which they called their own, without taking 1661,
" it from them, who were become the just owners"
" by an act of parliament ; which his majesty could
" not violate without injustice, and breach of the
" faith he had given. "

And that which was their greatest misery and
reproach, and which distinguished them from the
subjects of the other, two kingdoms, who were other-
wise bad enough, was ; that both the other nations
had made many noble attempts for redeeming their
liberty, and for the restoration of his majesty, (for
Scotland itself had done much towards it ;) and his
present restoration was, with God's blessing, and
only with his blessing, by the sole effects of the cou-
rage and affection of his own subjects : so that Eng-
land and Scotland had in a great degree redeemed,
and even undone what had been before done amiss
by them ; and his majesty had improved and se-
cured those affections to him by those promises and
concessions, which he was in justice obliged to per-
form. But the miserable Irish alone had no part in
contributing to his majesty's happiness ; nor had
God suffered them to be the least instruments in
bringing his good pleasure to pass, or to give any
testimony of their repentance for the wickedness
they had wrought, or of their resolution to be better
subjects for the future : so that they seemed as a
people left out by Providence, and exempted from ,
any benefit from that blessed conjuncture in his ma-
jesty's restitution.

And this disadvantage was improved towards
them, by their frequent manifestation of an inve-
terate animosity against the English nation and
English government ; which again was returned to



48 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. them in an irreconcileable jealousy of all the Eng-
"""lish towards them. And to this their present be-
haviour and imprudence contributed very much : for
it appeared evidently, that they expected the same
concessions (which the necessity of that time had
made fit to be granted to them) in respect of their
religion should be now likewise' confirmed. And
this temper made it very necessary for the king to
be very wary in dispensing extraordinary favours
(which his natural merciful inclination prompted
him to) to the Irish ; and to prefer the general in-
terest of his three kingdoms, before the particular
interest of a company of unhappy men, who had
foolishly forfeited their own ; though he pitied them,
and hoped in the conclusion to be able, without ex-
posing the public peace to manifest hazard, in some
degree to improve their condition.

Upon the whole matter, the king found, that if
he deferred to settle the government of Ireland till
a perfect settlement of all particular interests could
be made, it would be very long. He saw it could
not be done at once ; and that there must be some
examinations taken there, and some matters more
clearly stated and adjusted, before his majesty could
make his determination upon those particulars, which
purely depended upon his own judgment ; and that
some difficulties would be removed or lessened by
The first time : and so he passed that which is called the first
tinmen? 1 ac ^ f settlement ; and was persuaded to commit the
passed. execution thereof to a great number of commission-
ers, recommended to his majesty by those who were
most conversant in the affairs of Ireland; none or
very few of which were known to his majesty, or to
any of those who had been so many years from their



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 49

country, in their constant attendance upon his ma- 1661.
jesty's person beyond the seas.

And for the better countenance of this commis-
sion, and likewise to restrain the commissioners from
any excess, if their very large jurisdiction should
prove a temptation to them, the king thought fit to

commit the sword to three justices, which he had Three lords
_. i-ii-ni t justices up-

resolved when the sending the lord Roberts was de- pointed.

clined. Those three were, sir Morrice Eustace,
whom he newly made lord chancellor of Ireland,
the lord Broghill, whom he now made earl of Or-
rery, and sir Charles Coote, whom he likewise made
earl of Montrath. The first had been his sergeant
nt law long in that kingdom, and had been eminent
in the profession of the law, and the more esteemed
for being always a protestant, though an Irishman,
and of approved fidelity to the king during this
whole rebellion. But he was now old, and made so
little show of any parts extraordinary, that, but for
the testimony that was given of him, it might have
been doubted whether he ever had any. The other
two had been both eminently against the king, but
upon this turn, when all other powers were down,
eminently for him ; the one, very able and gene-
rous; the other, proud, dull, and very avaricious.
But the king had not then power to choose any,
against whom some as material objections might not
be made, and who had been able to do as much
good. With them, there were too many others
upon whom honours were conferred ; upon some,
that they might do no harm, who were thereby
enabled to do the more ; and upon others, that they
might not murmur, who murmured the more for
having nothing given them but honour : and so they

VOL. II. E



50 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. were all despatched for Ireland ; by which the king
"had some ease, his service little advancement.

After a year was spent in the execution of this
commission, (for I shall, without discontinuing the
relation, say all that I intend upon this subject of
Ireland,) there was very little done towards the set-
tling the kingdom, or towards preparing any thing
partiality that might settle it ; but on the contrary, the

of the com- , . 1*1 i i

breaches were made wider, and so much passion



and injustice shewed, that complaints were brought
act - to his majesty from all parts of the kingdom, and

from all persons in authority there. The number
of the commissioners was so great, and their in-
terests so different, that they made no despatch.
Very many of them were in possession of those
lands, which others sued for before them ; and they
themselves bought broken titles and pretences of
other men, for inconsiderable sums of money, which
they supported and made good by their own author-
ity. Such of the commissioners, who had their own
particular interest and concernment depending, at-
tended the service very diligently : the few who were
more equal and just, because they had no interest of
their own at stake, were weary of their attendance
and expense, (there being no allowance for their
pains;) and, offended at the partiality and injustice
which they saw practised, withdrew themselves, and
would be no longer present at those transactions
which they could not regulate or reform.

All interests were equally offended and incensed ;
and the soldiers and adventurers complained no less
of the coiTuption and injustice than the Irish did :
so that the lords justices and council thought it ne-
cessary to transmit another bill to his majesty, which,



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 51

as I remember, they called an explanatory bill of the iGGi.
former ; and in that they provided, " that no person Second act
" who lived in Ireland, or had any pretence to an of se " le *

inent trans-

" estate there, should be employed as a commissioner- mitted to

f i , . 'the king.

" but that his majesty should be desired to send over
" a competent number of well qualified persons out
" of England to attend that service, upon whom a
** fit salary should be settled by the bill ; and such
" rules set down as might direct and govern the
" manner of their proceeding; and that an oath
" might be prescribed by the bill, which the commis-
" sioners should take, for the impartial administration
" of justice, and for the prosecution and execution of
" this bill," which was transmitted as an act by the
king. His majesty made choice of seven gentlemen New com-

_ . . . missioners

or very clear reputations ; one of them being an emi- appointed
nent sergeant at law, whom he made a judge upon it oe:
his return from thence ; two others, lawyers of very
much esteem ; and the other four, gentlemen of very
good extractions, excellent understandings, and above
all suspicion for their integrity, and generally reputed
to be superior to any base temptation.

But this second bill, before it could be transmitted,
took up as much time as the former. The same nu-
merous retinue of all interests from Ireland attended
the king; and all that had been said in the former The diffe-
debates was again repeated, and almost with the ag
same passion and impertinence. The Irish made Jf n J;. he
large observations upon the proceedings of the late
commissioners, to justify those fears and apprehen-
sions which they had formerly urged : and there ap-
peared too much reason to believe, that their greatest
design now was, rather to keep off any settlement,
than that they hoped to procure such a one as they

E 2



52 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. desired; relying more to find their account from a
""general dissatisfaction, and the distraction and con-
fusion that was like to attend it, than from any de-
termination that was like to be in their favour. Yet
they had friends in the court, who made them great
promises; which they could not be without, since
they made as great promises to those who were to
protect them. There were indeed many particular
men both of the soldiers and adventurers, who in re-
spect of their many notorious and opprobrious actions
against the crown throughout their whole employ-
ment, (and who even since his majesty's return had
enough expressed how little they were satisfied with
the revolution,) were so universally odious both in
England and Ireland, that if their particular cases
could have been severed from the rest, without vio-
lation of the rule of justice that secured all the rest,
any thing that could have been done to their detri-
ment would have been grateful enough to every
body.

After many x very tedious debates, in which his ma-
jesty endeavoured by all the ways he could think of to
find some expedient, that would enable him to preserve
the miserable Irish from the extremity of misery ; he
found it necessary at last to acquiesce with a very
positive assurance from the earl of Orrery and others,
who were believed to understand Ireland very ex-
actly, and who, upon the surveys that had been taken
with great punctuality, undertook, " that there was
" land enough to satisfy all the soldiers and adven-
" turers, and that there would be a very great pro-
" portion left for the accommodation of the Irish very
" liberally. " And for the better improvement of that
proportion, the king prescribed some rules and limit-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 53

ations to the immoderate pretences and demands of 1661.
the soldiers and adventurers upon the doubling ordi-
nance and imperfect admeasurement, and some other
irregularities, in r which his majesty was not in ho-
nour or justice obliged to comply with them : and Second act
so he transmitted this second bill.

Whilst this second bill was under deliberation, ed '
there fell out an accident in Ireland, which produced
great alterations with reference to the affairs of that
kingdom. The differences which had every day
arisen between the three justices, and their different
humours and affections, had little advanced the set-
tling that government; so that there would have
been a necessity of making some mutation in it : so
that the death of the earl of Montrath, which hap-
pened at this time, fell out conveniently enough to
the king ; for by it the government was again loose.
For the earl of Orrery was in England; and the
power resided not in less than two : so that the chan-
cellor, who remained single there, was without any
authority to act. And they who took the most dis-
passioned survey of all that had been done, and of
what remained to be done, did conclude that nothing
could reasonably produce a settlement there, but the
deputing one single person to exercise that govern-
ment. And the duke of Albemarle himself, who Ti. e duke of
had a great estate in that kingdom, which made him
the more long for a settlement, and who had before j
the king's return and ever since dissuaded the king teDant -
from thinking of employing the duke of Ormond
there, who had himself aversion enough from that
command, of which he had sufficient experience ; I

r in] with
E 3



54 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. say, the general had now so totally changed his mind,
""that he plainly told the king, " that there was no way
" to explicate that kingdom out of those intricacies
" in which it was involved, but by sending over a
" lord lieutenant thither. That he thought it not fit
" for his majesty's service, that himself, who had
<<r that commission of lord lieutenant, should be ab-
" sent from his person ; and therefore that he was
" very ready and desirous to give up his commission :
" and that in his judgment nobody would be able to
" settle and compose the several factions in that king-
" dom, but the duke of Ormond, who he believed
"would be grateful to all sorts of people. " And
therefore he advised his majesty very positively,
" that he would immediately give him the commis-
" sion, and as soon as should be possible send him
And the " away into Ireland. " And both the king and the
mend ac- general spake with the duke of Ormond, and prevail-
cept * Jt> ed with him to accept it, before either of them com-
municated it to the chancellor, who the king well
knew would for many reasons, and out of his great
friendship to the duke, dissuade him from undertak-
ing it ; which was very true.

And the king and the duke of Ormond came one
day to the chancellor, to advise what was to be done
for Ireland ; and (concealing the resolution) the king
told him what the general's advice was, and asked
him " what he thought of sending the duke of Or-
" mond his lieutenant into Ireland. " To which the
chancellor answered presently, " that the king would
" do very ill in sending him, and that the duke would
" do much worse, if he desired to go. " Upon which
they both smiled, and told him, " that the general
" had prevailed with the king, and the king with the



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 55

" duke; so that the matter was resolved, and there 1661.
" remained nothing to be done but preparing the in- ~"
" structions, which he must think upon. "



The chancellor could not refrain from saying very The
warmly, " that he was sorry for it ; and that it would
" be good for neither of them, that the duke should t c ^ ern at
*' be from the king, or that he should be in Ireland,
" where he would be able to do no good. Besides
" that he had given himself so much to his ease and
" pleasure since he came into England, that he would
" never be able to take the pains, which that most
" laborious province would require. " He said, " if
" this counsel had been taken when the king came
*' first over, it might have had good success, when
" the duke was full of reputation, and of unquestion-
" able interest in his majesty, and the king himself
" was more feared and reverenced than presumed
" upon : so that the duke would have had full au-
" thority to have restrained the exorbitant desires
" and expectations of all the several parties, who
" had all guilt enough upon their hearts to fear
" some rigour from the king, or to receive moderate
" grace with infinite submission and acknowledg-
" ment. But now the duke, besides his withdraw-
" ing himself from all business as much as he could,
" had let himself fall to familiarities with all de-
" grees of men ; and upon their averments had un-
" dertaken to protect, or at least to solicit men's in-
" terests, which it may be might not appear upon
" examination to be founded upon justice. And
" the king himself had been exposed to all manner
" of importunities, received all men's addresses, and
" heard all they would say ; made many promises
" without deliberation, and appeared so desirous to

E 4



56 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " satisfy all men, that he was irresolute in all things.
"~ " And therefore till he had taken some firm and
" fixed resolutions himself, from which neither pre-
judice towards one man, nor pity and compassion
" on the behalf of another, should remove him ; the
" lieutenant of Ireland would be able to do him little
" service, and would be himself continually exposed
" to scorn and affronts. " *>

And afterwards the chancellor expostulated warm-
ly with the duke of Ormond, (who well knew that
all his commotion proceeded from the integrity of
his unquestionable" friendship,) and told him, " that
" he would repent this rash resolution ; and that he
" would have been able to have contributed more to
" the settlement of Ireland, by being near the per-
" son of the king, than by being at Dublin, from
" whence in a short time there would be as many
" aspersions and reproaches sent hither, as had been
" against other men ; and that he had no reason to
" be confident, that they would not make as deep
" impression by the arts and industry of his ene-
" mies, of which he had store, and would have more
" by being absent, for the court naturally had little
" regard for any man who was absent. And that
" he carried with him the same infirmity into Ire-
" land with that of the king, which kept it from
" being settled here ; which was, an unwillingness
" to deny any man what he could not but see was
" impossible to grant, and a desire to please every
" body, which whosoever affected should please no-
" body. "
The duke The duke, who never took any thing ill he said

acquaints .

the than- to him, told him, " that nobody knew better than
" he the aversion he had to that command, when it



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 57

"may be he might have undertaken it with more

" advantage. " He confessed, " he saw many dangers ~ T

for accept-

" with reference to himself, which he knew not how in e *
" to avoid, and many difficulties with reference to
" the public, which he had little hope to overcome ;
" yet Ireland must not be given over : and s since
" there seemed to be a general opinion, with which
" the king concurred, that he could be able to con-
" tribute to the composing the distempers, and the
" settling the government ; he would not suspect
" himself, but believe that he might be able to do
" somewhat towards it. " And he gave his word to
him, " that nothing should be defective on his part
" in point of industry ; for he was resolved to take
" indefatigable pains for a year or two, in which he
" hoped the settlement would be completed, that he
" might have ease and recreation for the other part
" of his life. " And he confessed, " that he did the
" more willingly enter upon that province, that he
" might have the opportunity to settle his own for-
" tune, which, how great soever in extent of lands,
" did not yet, by reason of the general unsettlement,
" yield him a quarter of the revenue it ought to do.
" That for what concerned himself, and the disad-
" vantages he might undergo by his absence, he re-
" ferred it to Providence and the king's good-na-
" ture ; who," he said, " knew him better than any
" of his enemies did ; and therefore, he hoped, he
" would believe himself before them. " However,
the truth is, he was the more disposed to that
journey, by the dislike he had of the court, and
the necessary exercises which men there were to

s and] yet



58 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. excel in, for which he was superannuated: and if
he did not already discern any lessening of the king's
grace towards him, he saw enough to make him be-
lieve, that the contrary ought not to be depended
upon. And within few years after, he had cause to
remember what the chancellor had foretold him of



The duke b o th their fortunes. The duke (with the seven com-

and the

missioners who were appointed for that act of set-
tlement, and all other persons who attended that
interest) entered upon his journey from London
about the end of July, in the year one thousand six
hundred sixty and four, full four years and more
after the king's happy return into England.

It was some months after the commissioners' ar-
rival in Ireland, before they could settle those orders
and rules for their proceedings, which were neces-
sary to be done, before the people should be ap-
pointed to attend. And it was as necessary that
they should in the order of their judicatory first pro-
ceed upon the demands and pretences of the Irish ;
both because there could be no settlement of soldiers
or adventurers in possession of any lands, before the
titles of the Irish to those lands were determined ;
and because there was a clause in the last act of
parliament, that all the Irish should put in their
claims by a day appointed, and that they should be
determined before another day, which was likewise
assigned ; which days might be prolonged for once
by the lord lieutenant, upon such reasons as satisfied
him : so that the delay for so many months before
the commissioners sat, gave great argument of com-
plaint to the Irish, though it could not be avoided,
in regard that the commissioners themselves had not
been nominated by the king above twenty days be-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 59

fore they began their journey into Ireland; so that 1661.
they could never so much as read over the acts of""
parliament together, before they came to Dublin.
And then they found so many difficult clauses in
both acts of parliament, and so contrary to each
other, that it was no easy matter to determine how
to govern themselves in point of right, and to re-
duce themselves to any method in their proceed-
ings.

But after they had adjusted all things as well



mssoners



11 i i i i i i

they could, they published their orders in what me- publish
thod they meant to proceed, and appointed the Irish tended n ine-
to put in their claims by such a day, and to attend proceeding.
the prosecution of them accordingly. And they had
no sooner entered upon their work, but the English
thought they had began it soon enough. For they
heard every day many of the Irish, who had been
known to have been the most forward in the first
beginning of the rebellion, and the most malicious
in the carrying it on, declared innocent ; and deeds
of, settlement and entails which had been never
heard of before, and which would have been pro-
duced (as might reasonably be believed) before the
former commissioners, if they had had them to pro-
duce, now declared to be good and valid ; by which
the Irish were immediately put into the possession
of a very great quantity of land taken from the
English : so that in a short time the commissioners
had rendered themselves as generally odious as the
Irish, and were looked upon as persons corrupted
for that interest, which had every day success al-
most in whatsoever they pretended. And their de-
terminations happened to have the more of preju-
dice upon them, because the commissioners were al-



60 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. ways divided in their judgments. And it is no won-
~~der, that they who seemed most to adhere to the
English interest were most esteemed by them.

The parliament in Ireland was then sitting : and
the house of commons, consisting of many members
who were either soldiers or adventurers, or had the
like interest, was very much offended at the pro-
ceedings of the commissioners, made many votes
against them, and threatened them with their au-
thority and jurisdiction. But the commissioners,
who knew their own power, and that there was no
appeal against their judgments, proceeded still in
their own method, and continued to receive the
claims of the Irish, beyond the time that the act of
parliament or the act of state limited to them, as
was generally understood. And during the last
eight or ten days sitting upon those claims, they
passed more judgments and determinations than in
near a year before, indeed with very wonderful ex-
pedition ; when the English, who were dispossessed
by those judgments, had not their witnesses ready,
upon a presumption, that in point of time it was
not possible for those causes to come to be heard.
Their de- By these sentences and decrees, many hundred
thousands of acres were adjudged to the Irish,



F the Insh> which had been looked upon as unquestionably for-
feited, and of which the English had been long in
possession accordingly.

TJiis raised so great a clamour, that the English
refused to yield possession upon the decrees of the
commissioners, who, by an omission in the act of
parliament, were not qualified with power enough
to provide for the execution of their own sentences.
The courts of law established in that kingdom would



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 61

not, nor indeed could, give any assistance to the 16GI.
commissioners. And the lord lieutenant and coun-~
cil, who had in the beginning, by their authority,
put many into the possession of the lands which had
been decreed to them by the commissioners, were
now more tender and reserved in that multitude of
decrees that had lately passed : so that the Irish
were using their utmost endeavours, by force to re-
cover the possession of those lands which the com-
missioners had decreed to them ; whilst the English
were likewise resolved by force to defend what they
had been so long possessed of, notwithstanding the
commissioners' determination. And the commis-
sioners were so far troubled and dissatisfied with
these proceedings, and with some intricate clauses
in the act of parliament concerning the future pro-
ceedings ; that, though they had not yet made any
entrance upon the decision of the claims of the Eng-
lish or of the Irish protestants, they declared, " that
" they would proceed no further in the execution of
" their commission, until they could receive his ma-
" jesty's further pleasure. " And that they might
the more effectually receive it, they desired leave
from the king that they might attend his royal per-
son ; and there being at the same time several com-
plaints made against them to his majesty, and ap-
peals to him from their decrees, he gave the com-
missioners leave to return. And at the same time
all the other interests sent their deputies to solicit
their rights ; in the prosecution whereof, after much
time spent, the king thought fit likewise to receive
the advice and assistance of his lieutenant : and so
the duke of Ormond returned again to the court.
And the settlement of Ireland was the third time Thedif -

ferent par-



62 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. brought before the king and council; there being
ties heard tnen likewise transmitted a third bill, as additional
f- thir u . 1 an d supplemental to the other two. and to reverse

time by the

king. many of the decrees made by the commissioners,
they bearing the reproach of all that had been done
or had succeeded amiss, and from all persons who
were grieved in what kind soever.

The king was very tender of the reputation of
his commissioners, who had been always esteemed
men of great probity and unquestionable reputation :
and though he could not refuse to receive complaints,
yet he gave those who complained no further coun-
tenance, than to give the others opportunity to vin-
dicate themselves. Nor did there appear the least
evidence to question the sincerity of their proceed-
ing, or to make them liable to any reasonable sus-
picion of corruption : and the complaints were still
prosecuted by those, who had that taken from them
which they desired to keep for themselves.
Theau- The truth is, there is reason enough to believe,
flections on that upon the first arrival of the commissioners in
ceed? ngs of Ireland, and some conversation they had, and the
the com- observation they made of the great bitterness and

missioners. *

animosities from the English, both soldiers and ad-
venturers, towards the whole Irish nation of what
kind soever ; the scandalous proceeding of the late
commissioners upon the first act, when they had not
been guided by any rules of justice, but rejected l all
evidence, which might operate to the taking away
any thing from them which they resolved to keep,
the judges themselves being both parties and wit-
nesses in all the causes brought before them ; toge-

1 rejected] rejecting



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 63

ther with the very ill reputation very many of the 1661
soldiers and adventurers had for extraordinary ma-~
lice to the crown and to the royal family ; and the
notable barbarity they had exercised towards the
Irish, who without doubt for many years had un-
dergone the most cruel oppressions of all kind that
can be imagined, many thousands of them having
been forced, without being covered under any house,
to perish in the open fields for hunger; the infa-
mous purchases which had been made by many per-
sons, who had compelled the Irish to sell their re-
mainders and lawful pretences for very inconsider-
able sums of money ; I say, these and many other
particulars of this kind, together with some attempt
that had been made upon their first arrival, to cor-
rupt them against all pretences which should be
made by the Irish, might probably dispose the com-
missioners themselves to such a prejudice against
many of the English, and to such a compassion to-
wards the Irish, that they might be much inclined
to favour their pretences and claims ; and to believe
that the peace of the kingdom and his majesty's go-
vernment might be better provided for, by their
being settled in the lands of which they had been
formerly possessed, than by supporting the ill-gotten
titles of those, who had manifested all imaginable
infidelity and malice against his majesty whilst they
had any power to oppose him, and had not given
any testimony of their conversion, or of their resolu-
tion to yield him for the future a perfect and entire
obedience after they could oppose him no longer;
as if they desired only to retain those lands which
they had gotten by rebellion, together with the prin-
ciples by which they had gotten them, until they



64 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

lGfi-1. should have an opportunity to justify both by some
"new power, or a concurrence amongst themselves.
Whencesoever it proceeded, it was plain enough
the Irish had received more favour than was ex-
pected or imagined.

And in the very entrance into the work, to avoid
the partiality which was too apparent in the English
towards each other, and their animosity against the
Irish as evident, very strict rules had been set down
by the commissioners, what kind of evidence they
would admit to be good, and receive accordingly.
And it was provided, " that the evidence of no sol-
" dier or adventurer should be received in any case,
" to which himself was never so much a stranger ;"
- as, if his own lot had fallen in Munster, and he had
no pretence to any thing out of that province, his
evidence should not be received, as to any thing
that he had seen done in Leinster or Connaught or
Ulster, wherein he was not at all concerned : whrch
was generally thought to be a very unjust rule, after
so many years expired, and so many persons dead,
who had likewise been present at those actions. And
by this means many men were declared not to have
been in rebellion, when there might have been full
evidence, that 'they had been present in such and
such a battle, and in such and such a siege, if the
witnesses might have been received who were then
present . at those actions, and ready to give testi-
mony of it, and of such circumstances as could not
have been feigned, if their evidence might have been
received.

onheTrisb Tli 3 * which raised the greatest umbrage against
rebel* re- the commissioners was, that a great number of the

stored to T . .

their most infamous persons of the Irish nation, who were

estates.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. G5

looked upon by those of their own country with the 1661.
greatest detestation, as men who had been the most"
violent fomenters and prosecutors of the rebellion,
and the greatest opposers of all moderate counsels,
and of all expedients which might have contributed
towards a peace in the late king's time, (whereby
the nation might have been redeemed,) and who
had not had the confidence so much as to offer any
claim before the late commissioners, were now ad-
judged and declared innocent, and so restored to
their estates : and that many others, who in truth Many who
had never been in rebellion, but notoriously served the king
the king against the rebels both in England and treated. 117
Ireland, and had never been put out of their estates,
now upon some slight evidence, by the interception
of letters, or confession of messengers that they had
had correspondence with the rebels, (though it was
evident that even that correspondence had been per-
functory, and only to secure them that they might
pursue his majesty's service,) were condemned, and
had their estates taken from them, by the judgment
of the commissioners.

And of this I cannot forbear to give an instance, An instance
and the rather, that it may appear how much a pe? -tbecMeaf
sonal prejudice, upon what account soever, weighs T ie r ""[,
and prevails against justice itself, even with men
who are not in their natures friends to injustice. It
was the case of the earl of Tyrconnell, and it was
this. He was the younger son of the lord Fitzwil-
liams, a catholic lord in Ireland, but of ancient Eng-
lish extraction, of a fair estate, and never suspected
to be inclined to the rebels ; as very few of the Eng-
lish were. Oliver Fitzwilliams (who was the person
we are now speaking of, and the younger son of

VOL. n. fr



66 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. that lord Fitzwilliams) had been sent by his father
"into France, to be there educated, many years be-
fore the rebellion. He was a proper and a handsome
man, and by his courage had gotten a very good re-
putation in the French army ; where, after he had
spent some years in the campagna, he obtained the
command of a regiment in which he had been first a
captain, and was looked upon generally as an excel-
lent officer.

When the army was sent into winter quarters, he
went to Paris, to kiss the hands of the queen of
England, who was come thither the summer before,
it being in the year 1644. Having often waited
upon her majesty, he made many professions of duty
and obedience to the king, and much condemned
the rebellion of the Irish, and said, " he knew many
" of them were cozened and deceived by tales and
" lies, and had no purpose to withdraw themselves
" from his majesty's obedience. " He made offer of
his service to the queen, " and that, if she thought
" he might be able to do the king any service, he
" would immediately go into England, and with his
" majesty's approbation into Ireland, where, if he
" could do no other service, he was confident he
" could draw off many of the Irish from the service
" of the rebels. " The queen, upon the good reputa-
tion he had there, accepted his offer, and writ a let-
ter by him to the king, with a very good character
of his person, and as very fit to be trusted in Ire-
land.

It was his fortune to come to the king very few
days before the battle of Naseby, where, as a volun-
teer in the troop of prince Rupert, he behaved him-
self with very signal courage in the view of the



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 67

king himself; who shortly after gave him a letter 1661,
full of recommendation and testimony to the mar-~~
quis of Ormond, his lieutenant of Ireland, who re-
ceived him kindly, and having conferred with him
at large, and understood all he intended to do, gave
him leave to go into the Irish quarters, and to re-
turn again, as he thought fit. And in a short time
after, both his father and his elder brother died;
whereby both the title and the estate devolved to
him, and he was possessed accordingly.

The man was before and in his nature elate and
proud enough, had a 'greater value of himself than
other men had, and a less of other men than they
deserved, whereby he got not himself beloved by
many ; but nobody who loved him worst ever sus-
pected him to incline to the rebels, though they
knew that he was often in their quarters, and had
often conferences with them : and a good part of his
estate lay in their quarters. He attended upon the
lord lieutenant in all his expeditions : and when the
Irish so infamously broke the first peace, and be-
sieged the lieutenant in Dublin, (upon which he was
compelled to deliver it into the hands of the parlia-
ment with the king's consent,) the lord Fitzwilliams
returned with him or about the same time into
England, and from thence again into France ; where
he married the daughter of the widow countess of
Clare, and sister to that earl, a lady of a religion
the most opposite to the Roman catholic, which he
suffered her to enjoy without any contradiction.
When the war was at an end in England, and the
king a prisoner, he with his wife and family trans-
ported himself into England, and after some time
into Ireland ; where Cromwell had a jealous eye

F 2



68 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. upon him, but not being able to discover any thing
"against him, could not hinder him from possessing
the estate that had descended to him from his fa-
ther and his elder brother. And the war being
there ended, and the settlement made by the act of
parliament upon the statute, as hath been mentioned
before, there was not the least trouble given to him ;
but he quietly enjoyed the possession of his whole
estate till the king's return, when he came into Eng-
land to kiss his majesty's hand, and was by him
made earl of Tyrconnell.

When the commissioners sat upon the first act,
who observed no rules of justice, law, or equity,
when they contradicted any interest or appetite of
their own, he received no disturbance ; but when
these new commissioners came over, all men, as well
protestants as others, whose estates had never been
questioned, thought it safest for them to put in their
claims before the commissioners, to prevent any
trouble that might arise hereafter. This gentleman
followed that advice and example, put in his claim*
and pressed the commissioners for a short day to be
heard. The day was appointed. Neither adven-
turer, soldier, or any other person, made any title to
the land : but some envious person, unqualified for
any prosecution, offered a letter to the commis-
sioners which had many years before, and before his
coming into Ireland, been written by colonel Fitz-
williams in Paris to a Jesuit, one Hartogan, then in
Ireland ; in which he gave him notice " of his pur-
" pose of coming into Ireland, where he hoped to
" do their friends some service. "

This letter was writ when the queen first de-
signed to send him to the king, that the Irish, who



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 69

were the most jealous people of the world, might 1661.
know of his purpose to come thither, before they~
should hear of his being in Dublin ; and now being
produced before the commissioners, without consi-
dering how long since it was writ, or the reason of
writing it, that he had served the king, and never
in the least degree against him, upon one of their
rules, " that a correspondence with the rebels was
" a good evidence," they without any pause declared
him nocent, and presently assigned his estate to
some persons to whom reprisals were to be made :
whilst they who thought the judgment very unjust,
laughed at the ill luck of a man whom they did not
love ; and all men were well enough pleased with
the sentence, who were displeased with the person.
And this party pursued him so severely into Eng-
land, that the king's interposition to redeem him
from so unjust a decree was looked upon as over-fa-
vouring the Irish ; when none were so glad of the
decree as the Irish, who universally hated him. Nor
was he at last restored to the possession of his estate,
without making some composition with those to
whom the commissioners had assigned it.

Many, who had formerly made their claims with- Many de-
out insisting upon any deeds of settlement or other "



conveyances in law, now produced former settle- JJ^JJ noto "
ments in consideration of marriage, or other like for & ed -
good considerations in law, made before the begin-
ning of the rebellion : which being now proved by
witnesses enough, decrees were every day obtained
for the restitution of great quantities of land upon
those deeds and conveyances ; though the forgeries
of those deeds and perjury of those witnesses were
very notorious. And some instances were given of

F 3



70 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1661. the manifestation and direct proof that was made



of the forgery of deeds, upon which decrees had
been made, to the satisfaction of the commissioners
themselves, within a very short time after the pro-
nouncing those decrees : and yet no reparation was
given, but the decrees proceeded and were executed
with all rigour, as if no such thing had appeared.
The com- rpj^ com missioners answered, " that they had

raissioners

defence. ma de no decrees but according to their con-
" sciences, and such as they were obliged to make
" by the course and rule of justice. That they did
" doubt and in truth believe, that there had been
" evil practices used both in the forging of deeds
" and corrupting of witnesses, and that the same
" was equally practised by the English as the Irish :
" and therefore that they had been obliged to make
" that order, which had been so much excepted
" against, not to admit the testimony of any English
" adventurer or soldier in the case of another adven-
" turer or soldier ; for that it was very notorious,
" they looked upon the whole as one joint interest,
" and so gratified each other in their testimonies. "
And of this they gave many sad instances, by which
it was too evident that the perjuries were mutual,
and too much practised by the one and the other
side.

" That they had used all the providence and vi-
" gilance they could, by the careful examination of
" witnesses, (which were produced apart, and never
" in the presence of each other,) and by asking
" them all such material questions as occurred to
" their understandings, and which they could not
" expect to be asked, to discover the truth, and to
" prevent and manifest all perjuries. That they



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 71

" had likewise used their utmost diligence and care 166J.
" to prevent their being imposed upon with false and~
" forged deeds and conveyances, by taking a precise
" and strict view themselves of all deeds produced ;
" and interrogated the witnesses with all the cun-
" ning they could, upon the matter and considera-
" tion upon which such deeds had been entered
" into, and upon the manner u and circumstances in
"the execution thereof: which was all the provi-
" dence they could use. And though they met with
" many reasons oftentimes to doubt the integrity of
" the proceedings, and in their own private con-
" sciences to apprehend there might be great cor-
" ruption ; yet that they were obliged judicially to
" determine according to the testimony of the wit-
" nesses, and the evidence of those deeds in law
" against which no proofs were made. That they
" had constantly heard all that the adverse party
. " had thought fit to object, both against the credit
" of any witnesses, and the truth and validity of
" any conveyances which were produced ; upon
" which they had rejected many witnesses, and dis-
" allowed some conveyances : but when the objec-
" tions were only founded upon presumptions and
" probabilities, as most usually they were, they
" could not weigh down the full and categorical
" evidence that was given.

" That if they had yielded to the importunities of
" the persons concerned, who often pressed to have
" further time given to them to prove such a perjury,
" or to disprove such a conveyance ; it must have
" made their work endless, and stopped all manner

11 manner"), matter
F 4



72 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. "of proceedings, for which it appeared they were
" straitened too much in time : and that indeed
" would have but opened the door wider for perjuries
" and other corruptions ; since it was very plain to
" them, that either side could bring as many wit-
" nesses as they pleased, to prove what they pleased,
" and that they would bring as many as they be-
" lieved necessary to the work in hand. And there-
" fore the commissioners having before prescribed a
" method and rule to themselves for their proceed-
" ings, and that no man could have a cause, in which
" he was concerned, brought to hearing without his
" knowing when it was to be heard, and so it wa^
" to be presumed, that he was well provided to sup-
" port his own title ; they had thought fit, upon ma-
" ture deliberation amongst themselves, to adhere to
" the order they had prescribed to themselves and
" others, and to conclude, that they would not be
" able to prove that another day, which they were
" not able to prove at the time when they ought to
" have been ready.

" For the discovery of any forgery after the de-
" crees had been passed, and upon which they had
" given no reparation," they confessed, " that some
" few such discoveries had been made to them, by
" which the forgery appeared very clearly : but as
" they had no power by the act of parliament to pu-
" nish either forgery or perjury, but must leave the
" examination and punishment thereof to the law,
" and to the judges of the law; so, that they had
" only authority to make decrees upon such grounds
" as satisfied their consciences, but had not any au-
" thority to reverse those decrees, after they were
" once made and published, upon any evidence what-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 73

" soever. " They concluded with their humble desire 1661.

to the king, " that the most strict examinations might '"

" be made of their corruptions, in which," they said,

<* they were sure to be found very innocent, against

" all the malice that was discovered against them :

" that they had proceeded in all things according to

" the integrity of their hearts, and the best of their

'* understandings ; and if through the defect of that

" they had erred in any part of their determinations

" and judgments, they hoped their want of wisdom

" should not be imputed to them as a crime. "

Many, who had a very good opinion of the per- Their de-
sons and abilities of the commissioners, were not yet pe rfectiysa-
satisfied with their defence; nor did they believe, tlsfactory '
that they were so strictly bound to judge upon the
testimony of suspected witnesses ; but that they were
therefore trusted with an arbitrary power, because it
was foreseen that juries were not like to. be entire:
so that they were, upon weighing all circumstances,
to declare what in their consciences they believed to
be true and just. That if they had bound themselves
up by too strict and unreasonable rules, they should
rather in time have reformed those rules, than think
to support what was done amiss, by the observation
of what they had prescribed to themselves. And it
was believed, that the entire exclusion of the Eng-
lish from being witnesses for the proving of what
could not in nature be otherwise proved, was not just
or reasonable. That their want of power to reverse
-or alter their own decrees, upon any emergent rea- f
sons which could afterwards occur, was a just ground
for their more serious deliberation in and before they
passed any such decrees. And their excuse for not
granting longer time when it was pressed for, was



74 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

founded upon x reasons which were visibly not to be
- 1 justified; it not being possible for any man to de-
fend himself against the claims of the Irish, without
knowing what deeds or witnesses they could pro-
duce for making good their suggestions ; and there-
fore it was as impossible for them to have all their
evidence upon the place. Besides that it was very
evident, that in the last ten days of their sitting
(which was likewise thought to be when their power
as to those particulars was determined, and in which
they had made more decrees than in all the time
before) they had made so many in a day, contrary
to their former rule and method, that men were
plainly surprised, and could not produce those proofs
which in a short time they might have been sup-
plied with; and the refusing to allow them that
time, was upon the matter to determine their in-
terest, and to take away their estates without being
once heard, and upon the bare allegations of their
adversaries. And in these last decrees many in-
stances were given of that nature, wherein the evi-
dence appeared to be very full, if time had been
given to produce it.