,Mtam.M»uiiMa^»ma,MMK " ■ '■ ' i 'i :■ •••*■ In luo ) .-> .> Ofontdl Ham ^rlynd 531,^3^3, Cornell University Library KDK 160.033 V.1 Lives of the ord chancellors and keeper 3 1924 024 626 909 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924024626909 THE LOED CHANCELLOES KEEPEES OF THE GEEAT SEAL lEELAND. LONDON: PBINTED BY SP0TTI5W00DB ATTD CO., HEW-STREBT SQUAIIK AND PABLIAMliNT STRliliT 1.1 THE LI YE S OF THE LOED CHANCELLORS AND KEEPERS OE THE GREAT SEAL OF lEELAND, FEOM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE EEIGN OE QUEEN VICTOEIA. BY J. EODEEICK ^LANAGAN, M.R.LA. BAERISTEE-AT-LAW : AUTHOR OF ' EEOOLLECnOlTS OF THE IRISH BAB' 'THE BAR LIFE OP O'CONHELL' ETC. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: LONGMANS, GEEEN, AND CO. 1870. TO THE RIGHT IIONOUEABLE LORD O'HAGAN, LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF IRELAND, THESE LIVES OF HIS PEEDECESSORS IN THE HIGHEST JUDICIAL STATION OP HIS NATIVE LAND AEB BY PERMISSION Post ScspEttfallg Inwribtir. PREFACE. A QUARTER OF A CENTURY has elapsed since I com- menced writing ' The Lives of the Lord Chancellors of Ireland.' I had been but a short time called to the Bar, and my avocations did not prevent me from engaging in this work. I had read with great plea- sure the first series of Lord Campbell's ' Lives of the Lord Chancellors of England,' published in 1845, and was desirous of compiling a similar work in reference to the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of Ireland. The office of Lord Chancellor has existed in this country for many centuries; able and distinguished men many of these Chancellors were, and they exercised great influence upon the destinies of the kingdom. I felt anxious to render my work useful to the statesman as well as to the professional reader, and as, from the want of contemporary re- ports, the legal materials for the Lives of the early Chancellors were very meagre, I tried to make these memoirs interesting by narrating some of the stirring historic events in which they took part. I had made considerable progress in my work when I was startled by the intelligence that a rival was in the field — a rival whose claims I could neither Till PREFACE. contest nor compete with — who had been himself a Lord Chancellor of Ireland — John Lord Camp- bell. I lost no time in writing to him to ascertain the truth of this report, and, if it was as reported, I offered to place my collection at his Lordship's service. He replied at once : — Steathedbn House: November 14, 18i6. SiE, — I am much obliged to you for your polite com- munication. I am going on collecting materials for the Irish Chancellors, but I would not, at present, avail my- self of the assistance which you are so good as to offer me. I have the honour to be. Your obedient faithful Servant, Campbell. J. R. O'Flanagan, Esq. The attention of his Lordship was shortly after- wards directed to other subjects, and his death having taken place without any indication of his having prepared the meditated work upon the Irish Chancellors, I resumed my labours. I applied to the present Lord Campbell, and to his accomplished sister, stating the offer I had made as a claim to any materials which the late noble Lord might have prepared, and I received from both most polite replies. They caused search to be made for any papers relating to Ireland, but without effect. The Honourable Miss Campbell Avrote thus : — 'After finishing the English Chancellors, and before beginning the Chief Justices, he certainly had it in his mind to turn to Ireland for the subject of his next bio- graphical work, and I think he collected some books, and read up the subject, but, as far as I am aware, he wrote nothing. The field is therefore perfectly open to you, and I hope that a very successful book may be the result of your labours.' PEEFACE. IX I accordingly applied myself resolutely to m)'^ task, and spared no exertion to make my work worthy of its subject. It is divided into two volumes. The first contains the Lives of the Lord Chancellors from the earliest I could trace to Sir Constantine Phipps. The concluding volume will, I expect, prove far more interesting to legal readers, and terminates with the career of a great Irishman — Lord Chan- cellor Lord Plunket. I have received most valuable assistance from the Right Honourable William Brod- rick, the present Lord Midleton, for the biography of his distinguished ancestor. I also beg to express my sincere thanks to my respected friends, Messrs. Labarte and Haverty, the learned and most attentive principal and assistant librarians of the Queen's Lms ; also to> the officers of the Public Record Office, Dublin, particularly William M. Hennessy, Esq. M.R.I. A. I derived much aid from works placed at my service by the Honourable Judge Flanagan, and Ralph S. Cusack, Esq., Clerk of the Hanaper; and the publications of Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster King- of-Arms, Evelyn P. Shirley, Esq., John T. Gilbert, Esq., the Reverend Dr. Moran, the Reverend John O'Hanlon, Dr. R. Madden, and the Calendars of Chancery Rolls, so carefully executed by my friend Mr. Morrin, under the truly valuable Commission of the accomplished Master of the Rolls of England — ■ Lord Romilly. My thanks are peculiarly due to William Griffith, Esq. of the English Bar, Author of the admirable ' Institutes of the High Court of Chancery in England,' a work which contains a clear and concise history of the practice and procedure of X PBEFACE. the Court, with the best practical references. Not only did he make useful suggestions while my work was in preparation, but caused searches to be made in the books of the various Inns of Court for dates of admission and calls to the Bar. My thank? are also due to my accomplished friend William John Fitzpatrick, Esq., J.P., well known for his interesting biographical works. He placed a mass of materials at my service, which has proved extremely valuable towards the memoir of Lord Plunket. In endeavouring to render my work suitable for the general reader, I have introduced matters which, in strictness, may be regarded as unsuited to a work of this nature. I wished to relieve the tedium of dry reading by incidents of historical or familiar interest. I hope my object will suffice for my excuse. 1 8 Summer Hill, Dublin : September 1, 1870. CONTENTS OF THE FIEST VOLUME. INTRODUCTION. THE lEOAL TRIBUNALS OF THE IBISH. INTEODITCTION OF ENGLISH LAWS INTO IRELAND, WITH THE APPOINTMENT ANir DUTIES OF LORD CHAN- CELLOR IN THAT COUNTRY. Legal Tribunals of the Irish, Page 1. Cormae Mac Art, a.d. 227, 1. Defeat of King Art, 1. Mao Con seizes the Crown, 1. Unpopularity of the Usurper, 1. Prince Cormae at Tara, 2. Case of Trespass, 2. Decision of the King de- clared unjust by Cormae, 2. Cormac's Sentence approved, 2. The King orders his Arrest, 2. The Usurper dethroned, 2. Cormae called to the Throne, 2. Collects the Brehon Code, 2. Bardie Description of King Cormae, 3. Saltair of Tara, 3. Compensation by Eric, 8. Tanaistry, 4. Gavelkind, 4. Land held in Common, 4. Cattle the chief mode of Payment, 4. Fosterage, 4. Doctors' Pees not payable unless Cure, 5. Brehon Commission, 5. Sean- chus Mor, 6. Decline of the Brehon Laws, 6. Ancient Modes of Ordeal, 5. Moran's Collar, 5. Tal Moctha, 5. Crannchur, 5. The Branch of Sen MacAige, 6. Ordeal by Water, 6. Trelia Mothair, 6. Ordeal by Battle not used by the Irish, 6. English Settlement in Ireland, 7. Progress of Henry II., 7. Henry spends Christmas in Dublin, 7. Synod of Cashel, 7. Irish Bishops acknow- ledge Henry II. Sovereign, 7. Statute of Henry Fitz Empress, 7. State officials, 7. Capitalis Justiciarius, 7. Hostages, 8. English Laws confined to certain Families, 8. Accession of Henry III. a.d. 1216, 8. General Amnesty, 8. Magna Charta extended to Ireland, 8. Chancellors appointed, 8. First Chancellor, 9. Custody of the Great Seal, 9. Chancellor's Precedence, 9. Poli- tical Importance of Office, 9. English Laws introduced by King John, 9. Chancellors, Judges, and Lawyers English, and Ecclesiastics, 10. Courts held in Dublin Castle, 10. Account of the Castle, 10. The Exchequer, 11. This Court m the 14th Century, 11. Salary of Lord Chancellor, 11. Gradual Increase of Salary, 12. Officina Justicise, 12. Eoyal Grants, 12. Keeper of the Great Seal and the King's Conscience, 12. Hanaper and Petty Bag, 13. Scire facias, 13. Equitable Jurisdiction, 13. Writ of Ne exeat Eegno, 13. Control of Coroners, 13. Appellate Jurisdiction, 13. Custodium of Idiots and Lunatics, 14. Speaker of the Irish House of Lords, 14. Appoints and Ee- moves Magistrates, 14. Dress, 16. Title, 16. Keeper of the Great Seal, 16. When Chancellor absent. Commissioners appointed, 16. Description of Present Great Seal, 16. Temire of Office, 16. Use of the Great Seal, 16. Xll CONTENTS OF CHAPTER I. OE THE CnANCELLOES OP IRELAND PROM THE EEIGN OP HENRY III. TO THE REleN OP EDWARD II. Irish Records, 18. Difficulty of tracing Early Chancellors, 18. Stephen Eidell, 18. John De Worchley, 18. Ealph De Neville, 18. Deputy appointed, 19. Geofirey De Turville, 19. Names of Chancellors, 19. Fromond Le Brun, 19. Dignity of Chancellors in England, 19. Contestfd Election, 19. Thomas Cantock, Chancellor, 20. Bishop of Emly, 20. Great Feast, 20. Eecords Burnt, 20. Edward I., 20. Excellent Statutes, 21. Ordinatio pro Statu Hibernise, 21. Study of English Law, 21. CoUett's Inn, 21. Irish Courts, 21. No Equitable Jurisdiction, 21. Exchequer busy, 21. Death of Lord Chancellor, 21. Great Seal deposited in the Treasury, 21. Walter de Thorn- bury, Chancellor, 22. Elected Archbishop of Dublin, 22. Chancellor drowned, 22. William Fitz-John, Chancellor, 22. Bishop of Ossory, 22. Contest for the Archbishopriok of Cashel, 22. Three Eivals in the Field, 22. The Pope appoints the Archbishop, 23. Chancellor in 1318, 23. Conduct to the Natives, 23. Parliament Interferes, 23. Eeputation of the Chancellor, 24. His Poverty, 24. Custos, 24. Death, 24. Eoger Utlagh, Chancellor, 24. Viceroy, 24. Case of Dame Alice Kyteler, 25. Alice deals in Witchcraft, 25. Heresy, 25. Charges of Witchcraft, 25. Dame Alice pays a fine, 26. Bishop applies to Lord Chancellor to arrest her, 26. Chancellor declines, 26. She is cited by the Bishop, 26. Excommunicated, 27. The Bishop taken Prisoner, 27. Diocese under an Interdict, 27. The Bishop summoned before the Viceroy, 27. And Archbishop of Dublin, 27. Proceedings of the Bishop, 27. Dame Alice again summoned, 28. Escapes, 28. Her Son Imprisoned, 28. Accomplice Burnt, 28. Chancellor Threatened, 28. Meets the Charge, 28. Commis- sioners, 29. Chancellor acquitted, 29. Utlagh defends the Pale, 29. Death of Ex-Chancellor, 30. Ancient Statutes, 30. CHAPTER II. LIPE OP LORD CHANCELLOR DE BICKNOR. Uncertainty when De Bicknor was Chancellor, 31. His Family, 31. Arrival in Dublin, summoned to Lincoln, 32. The King applies for Aid against the Scots, 32. State of the Irish Bench, 33. Founds the first University in Dublin, 34. Ancient Irish famed for their Schools, 34. Difficulties of the Under- taking, 34. Eeasons for selecting Dublin, 35. The Pope approves, 35. Eules for the University, 36. Election of Chancellor, 35. His Jurisdiction, 36. Power to appoint a Deputy, 36. Appeals, 37. The Project carried out, 37. De Bicknor, Ambassador, 37. Incurs the King's Displeasure, 37. Complains to the Pope, 37. No Notice of the Complaint, 38. Lord Chancellor, 38. Prince Edward, Eegent, 38. The King takes Eevenge, 38. Precedency, 38. Summoned to England, 39. Pardon, 39. Eegulations at a Synod, 39. Pri- matial Eights, 39. Death of De Bicknor, 40. His character, 40. Desire to encourage Industry, 40. Ancient Statutes, 40. Red Book of the Exchequer, and Contents, 41. THE FIEST VOLUME. xiii CHAPTER III. OF THE CHANCELLORS OP IRELAND FROM THE REIGN OF EDWARD II. TO THE DEATH OF CHANCELLOR DE WICKFORD. Names of Chancellors of whom little is known, 43. Robert de Wiekford, Chan- cellor, 43. His Family, 43. Graduate of Oxford, 43. Archdeacon of Win- chester, 43. Treaty with the Duke of Braliant, 44. Constable of Bourdeaux, 44. Judge of Appeal Court, 44. Is prosecuted while absent, 44. Sentence reversed by Command, 46. Elected Archbishop of Dublin, 45. State of Ire- laud, 4.5. Mandate from Edward III. to Earl of Kildare, 46. Difficulty of •^ Trarelling, 46. Chancellor's Guard, 47. St. Patrick's Purgatory, 47. Writ against Archbishop of Dublin, 47. Chancellor of Ireland, 48. Richard 11. King, 48. Chancellor to alter Great Seal, 48. Absentees from Parliament fined, 48. Case of the Bishop of Emly, 48. Duties of Irish Ecclesiastical k; Chancellors, 49. Assizes lapse by Chancellor's Absence, 49. A Subsidy, 49. Health fails, 50. Great Seal in Commission, 50. Death of Chancellor, 60. Street begging, 50. Dissensions in Ireland, 61. Crystede's Narrative, .'il. English adopt Irish Names and Customs, 53. Ftatute of Kilkenny, 63. i^ English Laws neglected, 64. No Irish admitted to any Benefice, 54. Bards denounced, 64. Soldiers for Defences, 64. Danger of Chancellors, 65. Pres- v . ton's Inn, 65. CHAPTER IV. LORD CHANCELLORS OF IRELAND DURING THE REIGN OF KING RICHARD II. John Colton, Lord Chancellor, 66. Birth and Education, 66. Prebendary of Bugthorp, 56. Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin, 66. Lord Chancellor's Retinue, 66. Death of Lord Lieutenant, 56. Chancellor proceeds to elect Lord Justice, 56. Chancellor accepts Oifice on Conditions, 57. Salary increased, 57. Ad- vantage of Lord Chancellor being hospitable, 57. William Tany re-appointed, 57. Alexander De Balscot, Chancellor, 67. Family Name, 57. Canon of Kilkenny, 57. Bishop of Ossory, 68. Treasurer, 58. Lord Chancellor, 58. Ireland torn by Dissensions, 58. Chancellor and Archbishop of Dublin repair to the King, 68. De Vere, Viceroy, 58. Liberality to get rid of him, 59. Unlimited Authority, 59. First Marquis in Ireland, 59. His Great Seal, 59. Letters Patent, 69. Sir John De Stanley, Deputy, 69. Duke of Ireland, 60. English Peers, 60. Exiled Judges, 60. Provision for their Support, 61. The Bishop hardly dealt with, 61. Dies in Cork, 61. Chancellor uses the Great Seal of De Vere, 61. Reprimand from King Richard II., 61. Richard Plunkett, Lord Chancellor, 62. The Plunketts, 62. Birth and Career at the Bar, 62. Chief Justice, 62. Lord Chancellor, 63. King Richard II. in Ire- land, 63. Personal Appearance, 63. Unable to engage the Irish Troops, 63. Richard Northalis, Lord Chancellor, 63. Native of London, 64. A Carmelite Friar, 64. Bishop of Ossory, 64. Appointment of Justices of the Peace, 64. Abuses of the Irish Government, 66. Commissioner of Records, 65. Ambas- sador to the Pope, 66. The Bishop in Rome, 66. Lord Chancellor, 67. Death of the Queen, 67. "Richard II. describes the State of Ireland, 67. The King lays aside the Sword, 67. Four Kings Knighted, 68. The Banquet, 68. Richard's Policy, 68. Roger de Mortimer, Viceroy, 68. Descent and Per- sonal Qualities, 68. Sir William Le Scrope, 69. Entreaty of Lady Le Scrope, 69. Earl of Wilts, 69. Lord Chancellor Archbishop of Dublin, 70. Admiral of Dalkey, 71. Death of Lord Chancellor Northalis, 71. XIV CONTENTS OF CHAPTER V. LIEE OF LORD CHANCELLOB CRANLBy, AKCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN. Birth, 72. Resolves to be a Carmelite Friar, 72. Career at Oxford, 72. Arch- bishop of Dublin, 72. Favours bestowed by Richard II., 72. Colonisation, 72. i^ Lord Chancellor, 73. License to treat with the Irish, 73. English Rule in Ireland, 73. Relations of the Irish with the Continent, 74. Rapacity of English Of&eials, Ti. Oppression of the People, 74. Thomas of Lancaster, Viceroy, 75. Council to assist the Viceroy, 75. Chancellor's Letter to Henry ^\ IV., 75, Poverty of Viceregal Court, 75. Sir Laurence Merbury, Lord Chan- cellor, 76. Patrick Barrett, Lord Chancellor, 76. Thomas Le Boteller, Lord Keeper, 77. TheFamilyof Boteller, 77. Kilkenny Castle, 78. Career of Thomas Le Boteller, 79. Prior of Kilmainham, 79. Lord Deputy, 79. Resigns the Great Seal, 80. Death, 1419, 80. Reappointment of Archbishop Cranley, 80. Lord Chancellor sends a Deputy to hold Assizes, 80. Lord Justice, 80. Chan- cellor writes Poetry, 80. Sir John Talbot, Viceroy, 80. Chancellor Lord Deputy, 81. Irishmen ordered out of England. Exceptions, 81. The Country inaccessible, 81. Palatine Courts. 81. English Laws confined to Dublin, 81. Legal Profession in Ireland, 82. Equitable Jurisdiction of Chancery, 82. Irish Law Students, 82. Remonstrance, 82. Sir Laurence Merbury again Chan- cellor, 82. Cranley deputed to lay Complaints before the King, 83. Death of Ex-ChanceUor Cranley, 83. His Character and Appearance, 83. Fitz Thomas and Yonge, Chancellors, 84. CHAPTER VI. IIFB OF lOED CHANOELLOE TALBOT FROM HIS BIRTH TILL HIS REFUSAL TO SURRENDER THE GREAT SEAL. Accession of Henry VI., 85. Richard Talbot, Lord Chancellor, 85. Family of Talbot, 85. Richard ordained, 85. Loses the Primacy, 86. Archbishop of Dublin, 86. Deputy to Sir John Talbot, 86. Ordinance of Henry II., 86. Judicial Combat, 87. Chief Clerk taken Prisoner, 87. Anglo-Irish Griev- i^ ances, 87. Invitation for a Royal Visit, 87. Duties by Deputy, 88. Singular Request to Henry VI., 88. The Pope to authorise a Crusade against the Irish, 89. Talbot, Lord Justice and Lord Chancellor, 89. Declines to re- cognise a Lord Deputy, 89. Proceedings thereupon, 90. The Chancellor yields, 90. Death of Lord Lieutenant, 90. Chancellor prevented going Circuit, A 90. Sir Richard Fitz Eustace, Chancellor, 91. A Parliament, 91. Beneficent Viceroy, Temp. Henry VI., 91. Remittances requested, 91. Complaints to be disregarded, 92. Students to be admitted to English Inns of Court, 92. Counter Statement, 92. Parliamentary Certificates, 92. Counter Statement sent to the Viceroy, 93. Chancellor and Council repudiate it, 93. Ill-feeling between tlie Archbishops, 93. Question of Precedence, 94. Serious Charge against Talbot, 94. Reluctant to resign, 94. Refuses the Great Seal to his Successor, 94. THE FIRST VOLUME. XV CHAPTER VII. IIFE OP LORD CHANCELLOR TALBOT, CONCLUDED. State of Irialand in a.d. 1435, 96. English Rule confined to narrow Limits, 96. Viceroy solicits the King's Presence in Ireland, 96. Short Visits of Lord Lieu- tenant, 97. Cruisers required, 97. Archbishop Talbot, Lord Justice, deputed by Parliament to Henry VI., 97. Requests, 97. Creation of Peers, 97. Re- fused by the King, 97. Ex-Chancellor's Speech, 98. Reasons for preferring an English Viceroy, 98. Qualifications for Lord Lieutenant, 98. Earl of Ormond, 98. Ask for a Commission, 99. The Deputy to be first removed, 99. Both Viceroy and Archbishop Lectured, 99. All in the Wrong, 100. Evils of chang- ing Lord Lieutenant, 100. The Judges, 100. Expenditure, 100. Absentee Tax, 100. Thomas Chase, Lord Chancellor, 100. Talbot elected Archbishop of Armagh, 101. Declines, 101. Writes on the Abuses of the Viceroy, 101. Ormond accused of High Treason, 101. Wager of Battle, 101. The Prior Trains for the Combat, 102. The Day fixed, 102. The Hour comes, but not the Man, 102. The Church forbids the Fight, 102. The King Arbitrates, 103. Talbot tacitly rebuked, 103. Fate of the Warlike Prior, 103. His Misconduct, 103. Sir John Talbot again Viceroy, 103. Shaving Statute, 104. Death of Archbishop Talbot, 104. Burial, 104. CHAPTER VIII. LORD CHANCELLORS OE IRELAND DURINS THE WARS OF THE ROSES. The Wars of the Roses, 105. Successive Chancellors, 105. Edmund Plantagenet, Chancellor — Born 1443, 105. Duke of York, Viceroy, a.d. 1449, 106. Peaceful Relations, 106. Duke of Clarence Bom, 106. Sponsors, 106. The Duke beloved, 106. Discontent of the Duke, 106. Urgent Letter to the Earl of Salis- bury, 107. Compelled to raise Money, 107. Appointment of Chancellor ratified by Parliament, 108. The Irish Parliament asserts Independence, 108. Subjects in Ireland, 108. Appeals of Treason, 108. Duke of York to be respected as King, 109. Attempt to arrest the Duke — Fatal Consequences, 109. Effort to create a hostile Party, 109. Failure, 109. Visit of Earl of Warviick, 110. Capture of the King, 110. The Viceroy and Lord Chancellor leave Ireland, 110. The Duke Protector, 110. Besieged by Qneen Margaret, 110. Heroic Speech of the Duke, 111. Urged to wait for Succour, HI. His Troops resolve to die with him, 112. The Battle, a.d. 1460, 112. The Chancellor fights, 112. The Duke killed, 112. Chancellor taken Prisoner, 112. Vengeance of Lord Clifford— Chancellor Slain, 113. Goldhall, Chancellor— Probably Deputy, 113. Sir John Talbot, Chancellor, a.d. 1454, 113. John Dynham, Chancellor, a.d. 1460, 113. Sir William Welles, Chancellor, 1461, 113. A New Great Seal, 113. Sworn at Westminster, 113. John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, Lord Chancellor, 114. Graduate of Oxford, 114. Effect of his Latin Oration on Pope Pius II, 114. His learning, 115. Appointments — Chancellor of Ire- land, A.D. 1467, 115. Deputy to the Duke of Clarence, 115. Heads of the Geraldines attainted — Earl of Desmond beheaded, a.d. 1467, 115. King Edward IV. and the Earl — Desmond's Advice to the King, 115. Character of Desmond, 116. The Treasurer arraigned before the Chancellor, 116. The Treasurer declares his Innocence, 117. His Accuser attainted, 117. Chancellor recom- mends Creation of a Peer, 117. Order of Parliament respecting the 'Viceroy, 117. Lambay granted to the Chancellor, 117. The English Settlement, 117. VOL. I. a Svi CONTENTS OF Drogheda rewarded, 118. Lord Chancellor and the Earl of Kildare, 118. Earl of Worcester, Viceroy, a.d. 1470, 118. A Conspiracy, 118. Trial before the Ex-Chancellor of Ireland, 118. The Butcher of England, 119. Henry VI. Restored, A.i>. 1470, 119. The Butcher sought for— Caught in a Tree, 119. His Trial and Sentence, 120. Caxton's Panegyric on the Earl, 120. His Pos- sessions in Ireland given to the Earl of Kildare, 120. CHAPTER IX. LORD CHANCELLOES OF IRELAND DTJRINa THE WARS OP IHE KOSES — CONTINTTBD. Ireland much disturbed, 122. Thomas, Seventh Earl of Kildare, Lord Chancellor, 122. Maynooth Castle, 122. Kildare, Deputy, 122. Eichard, Duke of York, Viceroy, 122. Policy of the Duke of York, 123. Rival Earls Godfathers, 123. Earl of Kildare Lord Justice and Lord Chancellor for Life, 123. Chancellor builds the Abbey of Adare, 123. Implicated with the Earl of Desmond, 124. Restored to Royal Favour and Attainder Reversed, 124. Appointed Lord Justice, 124. Geraldine's Cast, 124. The Earl's Justice, 124. Angry Speech, 124. The Earl's Reply, 125. Raid on Farney, 125. English Bows, 125. Con- firmed Lord Chancellor for Life, 125. Removed from OfSce of Deputy, 126. Commission to settle Irish Quarrels, 126. Bishop Sherwood deputed to Eng- land, 126. The Brotherhood of St. George, 126. The Standing Army, 127. Chief Baron punished, 127. Heads a Popular Tumult, 127. Escape of Lord Ratoath, 127. Earl of Kildare dies, 127. Sir Roland Fitz Eustace, Lord Chancellor, 128. Family of Eustace, 128. Sir Roland arraigned, 128. His Wife and Daughters, 129. Treasurer of Ireland and Lord Chancellor, 129. Grants for Repairs — Courts in a ruinous State, 129. Remains Treasurer but not Chancellor, 129. Bishop Sherwood, Chancellor, 129. Royal Precept — Duty of Treasurer, 129. Refuses to deliver the Great Seal to his Successor, 130. Sad State of Affairs, 130. Travelling to Parliament, 130. Rival Viceroys, Rival Chancellors, and Rival Parliaments, 131. New Great Seal, 131. Deputy to appoint Keeper of Old Seal, 132. Prior of Kilmainham — Death of Ex- Chancellor Fitz Eustace, 132. Monument in KilcuUen — Costume, temp, 1496, 132. WiUiara Sherwood, Chancellor and Bishop of Meath, 134. Feud with the Earl of Desmond — both complain to the King, 134. The Earl for a time triumphs, 134. Sherwood, Chancellor, 134. Precept of Edward IV. — Conduct of Chancellor — Sitting of Chancellor, and Duties, 134-5. To Seal no Pardons from Rome without Order — Chancellor to abide near the Courts, 135. Death of Lord Chancellor, 135. Clerk of the Hanaper, 135. CHAPTER X. LORD CHANCELLORS OE IRELAND DURINO THE REIGN OF HENRY Til. Ireland during the Reigns of Edward V. and Richard III., 136. State of Re- ligion, 136. Doubts about Election of Lords Justices, 137. Arrangement for future Elections, 137. Death of Richard III., 137. The Young Pretender, 137. Sir Thomas Fitz Gerald, Lord Chancellor, 138. Promises of Support, 138. Lambert Simnel, 138. Ormond sides with Henry VII., 138. Aid from Burgundy, 138. Coronation in Dublin, 139. Lord Chancellor resigns the Mace for the Sword, 139. Becomes a General of Division, 139. Battle of , Stoke— Ex-Chancellor Slain, 139. Fate of the Boy-King, 140. Alexander THE FIRST VOLUME. xvii Plunkett, Lord Chancellor, 140. The Plviaketts of Killeftn— How Sir Thomas Plunkett met the Heiress, 140. Mary Cruys of Eathmore, 141. The Fate of Sir Christopher Cruys, 141. Plunkett and the Heiress — His Fee, 142. Be- comes Chief Justice of Ireland, 142. Ancestor of the Duke of Wellington, 142. How the Government was administered in Ireland, 143. Accession of Henry VII., 143. His Irish Policy, 143. Sir Edward Poyning, Lord Deputy, 144. Poyning's Parliament at Drogheda, 144. Poyning's Law and effect of Poyn- ing's Law, 145. Eoyal Grants revoked — War. Cries, 145. Irish excluded from Offices, 146. Peers to wear Eobes, 146. Walter Fitz Simon, Chancellor, 146. Equitable Jurisdiction of Chancery, 146. Early Career of Fitz Simon, 146. Elected Archbishop of Dublin — Consecrated in St. Patrick's, 146. Renews his Allegiance, 147. Also the Earl of Kildare, 147. Fitz Simon named Deputy — Endeavours to reform the Irish, 147. Younger Sons — Lower Orders — Idle- ness — Vagrants, 148. A Parliament, 148. Fitz Simon goes to the King, 148. Reception by Henry VII., 149. Prince Henry, afterwards Henry VIII,, Viceroy, 149. Fitz Simon, Lord Chancellor, 149. Early Equitable Jurisdiction of Chancery, 149. Licence to build Hospital, ISO. Chancellor's Death, 150. Buried in St. Patrick's, 150. Irish Statutes passed in the Eeign of Henry VII., 150. Ancient Irish War Cries, 151. CHAPTER XI. LORD CHANCEtlOBS OF IKELANB BTTIUNa THE REIGN OP HENRT VIII. English Laws limited to the Pale, 152. Operation extended, 152. Eoyal Title, 152. William Eokeby, Lord Chancellor — His Family, Education and University Career, 153. First preferment, 153. Bishop of Meath, Lord Chancellor, and Archbishop of Dublin, 153. Accession of Henry VIII. — Provincial Synod, 154. TJnclerical Sports, 154. Condition of the Clergy, 154. Clerical College at Maynooth, 155. The Fitz Geralds and Butlers, 155. King Henry's letter to the Viceroy, 155. Unfortunate Policy, 155. Mortuary Chapel, 156. Last In- junction, 157. Death, 157. Sir Nicholas St. Lawrence, Lord Chancellor — Family of St. Lawrence, 157. Agreement between two Knights, 158. The Bridge of Evora— Howth — Sad Plight of Sir Americus Tristram, 168. Spirited Address to his Troops, 159. His example followed — two escape, 159. Name of St. Lawrence — Parents of Lord Chancellor, 159 — His Father's Career, 160. Exploits of the Chancellor, 160. His Death, 160. Hugh Inge, Lord Chan- cellor, 161. Birth-place and Education, 161. Character of William of Wick- ham, 161. Studies at Oxford and obtains a Fellowship, 161. Preferments, 162. Mission from Rome to the King, 162. Doctor of Divinity — Bishop of Meath — Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor, 162. The Earl of Kildare, 163. SpiritedReply to Wolsey, 163. Deatli, 164. Office of Master in Chancery, establislied in Ireland — Duties of Ancient Masters — Of Modern Masters, 164. Salary, 164. Office abolished, 165. OHA.PTER XII. IIFB OE lOBD CHANCELLOR ARCHBISHOP ALAN. John Alan, 166. From Oxford to Cambridge — Preferments — Succeeded by Erasmus — Selected by Warham as Agent, 166. Warham's Rudeness, 167. Chaplain to Wolsey, 167. Judge of Legatine Court, 167. Warham, Chan- cellor of England, 167. Wolsey building Colleges — Lord Chancellor of Eng« land, 167. Suppression of Monasteries, 168. Monks as Agriculturists — a2 XVlll CONTENTS OF as Transcribers, 168. Fate of the Suppressors, 169. Alan, Archbishop and Lord Chancellor, 169. Letter to Lord Cromwell, 170. Chancellor's Fee in Arrear, 170. Asks for a Prebend — Promises Gifts, 170. Earl of Kildare, Viceroy, 171. Eeady Wit, 171. Alan removed from the Chancellorship — Cromer appointed, 171. Alan plots against the Viceroy — Memorial from the Privy Council, 171. Eeeommends English Viceroys, 172. Kildare accused of High Treason, 172. Silken Thomas, Deputy, and Kildare's Advice to his Son, 173. The Deputy and Council, 173. Kildare sent to the Tower, 174. False Eeports — Lord Offaly Eebels, 174. Obtains Sinews of War — Contradictory Advice, 175. Lord Offaly perseveres — Proceeds to St. Mary's Abbey, 17o. The Deputy takes his Seat — Speech to the Council, 176. Henry's Foe — Presents Sword of State to Lord Chancellor, 177. Chancellor dissuades him, 177- His Eeply — Throws down the Sword and Departs, 177. Applica- tion to Lord Mayor, 178. Chief Baron and Archbishop fly to the Castle — Lord Offaly and House of Ormond, 178. Archbishop on Board Ship — Lands at Clontarf— Concealed at Artane, 178. Pursued, 179. The Last Appeal, 179. Lord Offaly orders his Eemoval — The Death Blow, 179. Works of Lord Chan- cellor Alan, 180. The Fate of the Geraldines — An Heir preserved, 1 80. CHAPTEK Xni. rOED CHANCELLOES OP IKELASTD DUEINa THE KEIGN OP HENKT VIII. — CONIINUEB. IIPB OP LOKD CHANOEILOE CEOMBK. George Cromer— His Character, 181. Archbishop of Armagh — ITncompIimentary description of Armagh — Succeeds Alan as Lord Chancellor, 181. Imprudence of Kildare — His Conduct accounted for, 182. Memorial against him, 182. Kildare committed to the Tower, 182. Conduct of Lord Chancellor — His Able Speech, 182. The Subject's Duty, 183. The Name of King Sacred— Power of Henry VIII., 183. Foretells Consequences of Revolt — Appeals to Lord Offaly's Birth, 184. Seasons for submitting, 185. The Address unheeded, 185. Lord Chancellor refuses to acknowledge the King's Supremacy, 186. Eemoved — Succeeded by Lord Trimlestown, 186. Primate Cromer convenes the Clergy and Bishops. There comes a Change. Sentence of Suspension, 186. Death, 186. Lord Trimlestown, Lord Chancellor, 187. Family of BarneviUe — Vale of Shanganah — ^Legal Offices of the Barnewalls — Baron of Trimlestown — Parents of Lord Chancellor — John Barnewell studies Law, 188— Second Justice of the King's Bench — Married Four Times— His First Wife — Family of Bellew, 188. Vice-Treasurer and Treasurer — Archbishop Brown — His Mission, 188. Want of Success — Letter to Cromwell — Complains of Lord Chancellor Cromer; 189. Cromer removed— Lord Trimlestown, Chancellor, 189. Proxies in Parliament, 190. Second Letter to Cromwell— Proxies must be excluded, 190. Eeforming Circuit — Eesults — Death of Lord Chancellor, 191. Parliaments during Eeign of Henry VIII. Enrolled Decrees of the Eeign of Henry VIII., 191. CHAPTER XIV. tIPE OP SIE JOHN ALAN, lOED CHANCELLOE. Family of Alan— John a Law Student, 193. Practises in Ireland— Master of the EoUs— Letter respecting Lord Offaly, 194. Clerk in Parliament- Grant to Sir John Alan, 195. Lord Keeper— Lord Chancellor— Cusaek intrusted with the Great Seal, 196. Deputies to Vicar-General, 197. Suppression of Eeligious Houses, 197. Sir Anthony St. Leger, Viceroy, 198. Legal Education in Ire- land, 199. Letter to Cromwell respecting Inns of Chancery, 199. Petition THE FIEST VOLUME. six from Judges and LaTvyers, 200. The Judges separated — Importance to Stu- dents — House of Black Friars — The King's Inn, 200. Lease to Lord Chan- cellor and others, 201. Alan deprived of the Chancellorship — Death of Henry VIII., 201. No Pension — Compensation — Sir Nicholas Eeade, Lord Chancellor, 201. Indulgences to Ex-Chancellor, 201. Eeade's Appointment confirmed. Queen Mary's Letter, 202. Alan retained a Privy Councillor- — His Conversa- tion with St. Leger, 203. Spends the Evening with the Dean of Christehurch, 204. The Archbishop's Opinion of the Viceroy — Words attributed to Alan, 204. Denial — Archbishop tries to sustain his Charge, 205. Alan corroborated Conduct of the Ex-Chancellor, 205. Viceroy removed, 206. Eeiustated, 206. Death of Sir John Alan, 206. CliAPTER XV. LIFE OF SIE THOMAS CTJSACK, FEOM HIS BIEIH TIXI THE DEATH OP KINS HENKr Tin. Family of Cusack, 207. High Offices — Deeds of Arms, 208. Estates acquired by Marriage — ^Birth of Thomas Cusack, 209. Young Irishmen in the Time of Henry VII., 209. County of Meath, 210. Tara, 210. Monastic Schools, Duleek, 210. Want of Legal Education in Ireland, 211. Law Students and Barristers, 211. Irish Law Students not admitted to English Inns, 212. Ee- monstrance — The King corrects this — Dove House — Law Students in London, 212. Learningof Thomas Cusack, 212. Court of Henry VIII., 214. Wolsey, Chancellor of England — Cusack called to the Bar — Eebellion of Silken Thomas — Cusack a Judge — Chancellor of the Exchequer, 215. His Judicial Cha- racter — Private Life — First Marriage — Family of Hussey, 216. Divorced, 216. Second wife — Family of D'Arcy, 216. Black Mail — Mischievous Policy, 217- ' Cusack elected Speaker, 217. Letter from Sir W. Brereton to Earl of Essex, 217. Lord Grey's Parliament — Letter from Archbishop to Henry VIII., 218. A Parliament — Cusack again Speaker, 219. Letter from Lord Deputy to the King, 219. Lords and Commons in separate Houses, 220. Public Ee- joicings in Dublin, 220, Monasteries — Cusack takes Care of himself, 221. Application on his Behalf — Eequest granted, 221. Effects of Dissolution, 221. Cusack's Devise, 222. ' Wise Counsels, 222. Master of the Eolls, 222. Sur- render of St. Patrick's Cathedral — Dean Swift's Endorsement, 223. St. Leger's Policy — Cusack's Letter to Paget, 223. Grief for the Deputy's Departure, 224. Eesult of Kindness — Object of Letter, 225. CHAPTER XVI. LIPE OF LOKD CHAHOELLOE CUSACK — CONCITJBEI). Accession of King Edward VI., 226. Commission respecting St. Patrick's Ca- thedral — Courts held in St. Patrick's, 226. Sir Thomas Cusack, Lord Chan- cellor — Insufficient Salary, 226. Custody of the Eecords, 227. Cusack, Lord Justice, 228. Suit for Captaincy of a Country, 229. Death of Edward VI., 230. Decrees in Chancery, temp. Edw. VI., 230. Mary, Queen, 230. Amnefety, — St. Leger again Deputy, 230. St. Patrick's — Decrees in Chancery in Ire- land enrolled, temp. Phil. & Maiy, 231. Letter from the Queen to Lord Chan- cellor, 231. Cusack prevents reversal of Grants, 232. Condition of the Colony, 233. Chief Baron Finglass— Dublin in a.u. 15.'54, 233. Hospitality of the Lord Chancellor — A Jovial Lord Mayor, 234. Charity of the Citizens, 234. Cusack ceases to be Lord Chancellor — Commission of Gaol Delivery, 235. Shane O'Neil —Treaty with Earl of Desmond, 235. Death of Ex-Chancellor Cusack, 236. XX CONTENTS OF CHAPTER XVII. LIFE OP LOED CHANCELLOR ARCHBISHOP CURWEN. Family of Curwen or Curran, 238. Resolves to get on, 238. Peto'a Sermon, 238. Peto gets out of the King's Way, 239. Curwen preaches before the King and attacks the absent Peto, 239. An unexpected Keply — The King com- mands Silence, 239. Friars before the Council, 240. Curwen supports the King's Supremacy— Dean of Hereford, 240. Changes with the Sovereign, 240. Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor, 241. Patent — Queen's Letter — First Sermon in Dublin, 241. Lord Justice,, 242. Eestores Emblems of Catholic Piety, 242. Earl of Sussex, Viceroy, 243. His Reception, 243. Directed to restore Catholic Eeligion, 243. Supposed Cause of St. Leger's Removal, 243. A Parliament — Acts against Papacy repealed, 244. Important ' Proviso respecting Church Lands and Toleration of Irish Roman Catholics, 244. Death of Queen Mary, 245. Ireland on the Accession of Queen Elizabeth and her Policy, 24.5. Prohibition against marrying Irishmen, 246. Family Feuds — Litigation, 246. The Queen reports her Accession — Sidney, Lord Justice, and Curwen, Lord Keeper, 246. Reappointed Chancellor with a New Great Seal, 247. The Chancellor in favour — Catholic Symbols removed, 247. Curwen disliked by the Bishops — His desire to leave Ireland in his Letter to the Queen, 247. Solicits an English See or a Pension, 248. Fears the Queen is prejudiced against him and refers to Viceroy for a Character, 249. Letter to Cecil — Is dissatisfied and has Nothing saved, 249. His Age, 250. Prefers a Bishoprick in England, 250. Letter to Earl of Pembroke, 261. Opposes a University in Ireland, 252. The Prebends, 253. Ulster, King of Arms, 253. Curwen not a Shining Light — Charges, 254. A Second Letter to Cecil, 254. Wishes to leave before Winter, 255. Importunate Suitor, 255. The Viceroy's Letter to Cecil, 256. Asks for Half-Year's Rent, and Viceroy recommends it, 266. Harsh Comments on Curwen, 266. His Death, 256. Legal Changes, 267. CHAPTER XVIII. LIPB OP LORD CHANCELLOR WESTON. Family of Weston, 268. Two sons study law: Richard, Reader of Middle Temple; Robert, Fellow of Oxford, 258. Principal of Broadgate Hall, Deputy Professor of Civil Law, 258. Commissioner, Dean of Arches, and Lord Chancellor, 259. His high character, 259. Lord Justice — Success in the Government — a Par- liament — Chancellor's Speech, 260. Early sittings and Payment of Members, 261. Fatal illness of the Chancellor, 261. His last exhortation to his house- Jiold, and last advice to the Council, 262. Death and Monument, 262. Irish Acts, 262. CHAPTER XIX. LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR ARCHBISHOP LOFTUS, FROM HIS BIRTH TO THE FOUNDATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN. Loftus a contrast to Weston, 263. Birth— education— noticed by Queen Eliza- beth, 263. The Queen at Cambridge, 263. Enquires about Loftus, 264. Pro- mises to reward his industry, 264. Loftus in Ireland— perplexity of an English Bishop— Preferment, 264. Archbishop of Armagh, 265. Succession of Irish Protestant Bishops, 266. Increase of business in the Court of Chancery, 266. THE FIRST VOLUME. Xxi Licensed to hold Deanery, 266. Excommunicates — and exchanges Armagh for Dublin, 266. Resigns the Deanery to Lord Chancellor Weston, 266. Queen Elizabeth's epistolary style, 266. National education, 267. Sinecures, 267. Lord Chancellor, 267. Policy of Sir John Perrot, 267. St. Patrick's Cathe- dral, 268. Canon's house, 268. Two Universities, 269. Project resisted by the Chancellor, 269. Motives — the Viceroy and Lord Chancellor, 269. Trial of Sir John Perrot, 270. The Queen approves of a University, 270. Site selected — Monastery of All Hallows, 272. The Prior in Parliament — Monks as landlords, 272. Priory surrendered, 273. All Hallows granted to the Corpo- ration — and Chancellor's address, 273. His success — deputation to the Queen, 273. Charter — Chancellor first Provost, 274. Letter from Lord Deputy, 274. Act of Uniformity smuggled through the Irish Parliament, 274. CHAPTER XX. CONCLUSION OF LIFE OP LOED CHANCELLOR ABCHBISHOP LOFTITS. Edmund Spenser, a clerk in Chancery, Secretary to the Viceroy, 276. Defeat of the English, 276. War of Extermination, 277. Estates of Earl of Desmond, 277. Kilcolman Castle visited by Ealeigh, 277. Spenser's fate, 278. Chan- cellor accused — Commission issues, 278. Eresh change, 278. Queeu writes to Lord Deputy and Chancellor, 279. Lord Chancellor rebuked, 279. Chan- cellor to answer, 280. Persecution of the Catholic Archbishop of Cashel — a Judge an informer, 281. Arrest, 281. Archbishop tortured and executed, 281. Mode of making Protestants, 282. Frequently Lord Justice, 282. Essex re- buked by the Queen — Assistant Councillor, 282. Obtains numerous manors, 282. Lady CoUey, 283. Death and burial, 283. Character of Chancellor, 283. Decrees in Chancery from 24 Henry VIII., 283. Decrees respecting Acts of Settlement, 284. Master of the Rolls, temp. Queeu Elizabeth — to sit in Chan- cery, 284. Custody of the Rolls — Tenure, 286. Chancery Practice — Pleadings — Decretal order, 285. Cause against finding on Inquisition — Authority of Judges, 285. Interrogatories, 285. Inducement for English barristers to practise in Ireland, 286. Sir E. Fitton and Rookby Chief Justice, 286. Assistant to know Irish, 287. Irish exactions, 287. A will in time of Eliza- beth, 287. CHAPTER XXI. LIFE OF LOED CHANCBLLOE SIE WILLIAM GEEAED. Family of Gerard, 289. Parentage — his brother — zeal in the cause of Elizabeth, 289. Lord Chancellor of Ireland, 289. Asserts the Queen's right to raise money, 290. Deputation — the Queen imprisons the Deputation — also the Petitioners, 290. Chancellor in England — the Queen praises the Chancellor, 290. Sir William Drury Lord Justice, 291. Illness of Sir William Drury — Sends for Chancellor and his wife, 291. Death of Sir William Drury, 291. Pelham, Lord Justice, 291. Lord Chancellor knighttd, 291. Commissioner — ordered rest — Chancellor returns to England — Dies — Officials not to be changed, 292. Number of Viceroys, 293. Attorney-General and Solicitor-General, 293. Court of Chancery during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, 294. XXU CONTENTS OF CHAPTER XXII. LIFE OP LOKD CHANCELIOE ARCHBISHOP JONES. Thomas Jones a nat'"* of Lancashire, 296. His family, 296. Master of Arts, Cambridge — Marries in Ireland — Chancellor and Dean of St. Patrick's, 296. Eeeommended for a Mitre, 297. Bishop of Meath, a.d. 1584. Privy Councillor, 297. James I.'s opinion of him— Archbishop of Dublin, 297. Council, a.d. 1611, 298. Lord Deputy opens Parliament — State Procession, 298. Lord Chancellor's Speech, 298. Procedure of Irish Parliament, 299. Eoyal Assent, 299. Conferences between Lords and Commons, 299. Usher of Black Eod — Ser- jeant-at-Arms — Debates — Conferences, 299. Street Eegulations, 300. Parlia- ments in Ireland in the Eeign of James I. — Ludicrous Scramble for the Chair- — Offensive Acts repealed, 300. Bacon's Eulogy on Ireland and the Irish, 301. State of the Church, 302. Sad Accountof the Papists — and Protestant Ministers, 302. The Archbishop and the Catholics, 302. Protects the Privileges of St. Patrick's, 303. Grant of Wardship, 303. Death in 1619, 304. Monument in St. Patrick's, 304. Sir John Davies — Pays court to Queen Elizabeth, 30fl. James I. encourages Men of Talent — Solicitor and Attorney-General, 305. Pirst Legal Writer in Ireland — Eeports, a.d. 1615, 305. Wood Quay, a fiiTourite Eesidence of Irish Judges, 306. Davies returns to England — Lord Chief Justice — and dies, 306. Courts at Chichester House, 306. The King's Inns, 306. Order respecting them, 306. Barristers refusing to Dance, 307. Irish Barristers learning to Dance, 307. Education of Irish Law Students in Dublin— -First call to Irish Bar, 308. CHAPTER XXIII. LIFE OP LOED CHANCELLOB LOKD LOPTUS. Important period of Irish History, 310. Adam Loftus, grand-nephew to Lord Chancellor Archbishop Loftus, son of Serjeant Loftus, 310. His education, 310. Judge of the Martial Court — Commissioner, 310. Master in Chancery — and Knighted, 311. Lord Keeper, a,d. 1603, 312. Plantation of Ulster- Courts of Star Chamber and Wards, 312. Case for the Star Chamber, 313. Member for King's County, 314. Privy Councillor — Lord Chancellor, 314. Viscount Loftus of Ely — Estimate of him by the King, 316. Married— his children — Court of Chancery Decrees in Ireland enrolled, temp. James I., 315. Income of Chancellor increased, 315. Inauguration of Lord Deputy, a.d. 1622, 316. Precedence of Lords Justices — Serjeant-at-Arms, 318. Complaints against the Lord Chancellor, 319. Letter from King Charles I., 319. Chan- cellor to attend the King, 319. Commissioners of the Great Seal, 320. Of Chancery, 320. Fresh complaints— Eecalled to London— and clears his inno- cency, 320. The Great Seal restored, 320. Accusers to be tried in the Star Chamber, 321. Another Complaint, 321. Wentworth Lord Deputy, 322. Letter from the Chancellor, 322. Eeceives support from Lord Deputy, 323. Another Letter to Lord Wentworth— Ministers to be respected, 323. Eeli'es on Lord Wentworth, 324. Petition for an increase, 324. The King to Lord Deputy, A.D. 1636— Chancellor presented with 3,000^., 324. Feelings of Vice- roy changed, 326. Correspondence between Lord Chancellor and Lord Deputy, 325. Eeasons for nominating Mr. Alexander, 326. Eeply of Lord Deputy— Eecommeuds Seqeant Eustace, 326, Causes for Lord Chancellor feeling hurt. THE FIRST VOLUME. xxiii 327. His reply — Mr. Serjeant Eustace the younger man, 327. Lord Deputy's answer, 328. Qualifications of Serjeant Eustace, 329. Unpleasant relations — Letter from Secretary Coke to Lord Deputy — Chancellor's imperfect answers, 329. Great Seal to be taken, and Chancellor remored, a.d. 1639 — Sentence of Deprivation, 329. Sir Eichard Bolton, appointed, 330. Lord Loftus resides at Monasterevan — Estate given to Lord Drogheda, 330. Strafford in the Tower, 331. Lord Chancellor Bolton and others impeached, 331. Proclamation — Catholic Lords ofifended — Proclamation amended, 331. Death of Lord Loftus, 332. Sir Christopher Wandesford, 332. Ireland under Strafford's Viceroyalty, 333. CHAPTER XXIV. HFB OP SIB EICHAED BOLTON, lOED CHANOELIOE. Bom in Staffordshire, 334. Called to the Bar — Publishes the Irish Statutes, 334. Reasons for undertaking the work, 335. Obsolete Statxites, 335. Irish no longer enemies, 335. Use of old Statutes — First Attorney of Court of Wards — Chief Baron and Privy Councillor, 336. To retain his office in Court of "Wards, 336. Lord Chancellor Loftus, 336. Bolton, Lord Chancellor, 337. Addition of 500Z. a-year, 337. Unpopularity of the Viceroy, 337. Commission of Enquiry into Defective Titles — and the Galway Jury, 338. Impeachment of the Lord Chan- cellor, A.D. 1640, 338. Committee — and Articles, 338. Impeached of High Treason, 340. Application respecting the Bishop of Derry, 340. Delay in the Courts, 340. The King's Letter — Impeachment abandoned, 340. Chancellor and Chief Justice require their Characters to be cleared, 341. Bolton compiles the ' Justice of the Peace for Ireland,' 341. Rules for a Grand Juror, 341. Coifs granted to the Judges, 341. Irish Judges' robes, 342. Lord Enniskillen, 343. Informations, 343. Courts in Christ Church— Trial of Sir P. O'Neill, 344. Death of Sir Richard Bolton, 344. Decrees in Chancery during the Reign of Charles I., 344. CHAPTER XXV. CirSTODT OP THE GEEAT SEAX OP lEBLAJSTD BUEINS THE COMMOKWEAITH. Three Commissioners appointed by Oliver Cromwell, a.d. 1655, 345. Powers and Duties, 346. Chief Commissioner Pepys, 346. Parentage — his Uncle — Richard a Law Student — Reader in 1640 — Treasurer- — Serjeant — Baron of Exchequer in England, 346. Chief Justice in Ireland — Chief Commissioner of the Great Seal, 347. His son, Samuel Pepys, 347. Sir Gerard Lowther, Second Commissioner, 347. Serjeant — Chief Justice of the Common Pleas — Privy Councillor, 347. Consulted by Charles I. — Continues Chief Justice under Cromwell, 347. Impeached with the Chancellor — Acquired Property, 348. Miles Corbet, Third Commissioner, 348. Admitted to the Bar — In arms against the King, 348. Favourably noticed by Cromwell — Employed in Ire- land as Commissioner, 348. Claims to be Chief Baron, 349. Fleetwood's Project, 349. Corbet Chief Baron, 349. Cloghleagh divided between Fleetwood and Corbet — Dispute about the Name, 349. Corbet a Prisoner, 349. Sentenced — the last Interview, 350. William Steele, Lord Chancellor a.d. 1656, 351. Family of Steele — William called to the Bar, a.d. 1637, 351. Candidate for Judge of Sheriffs Court— Bradshaw preferred, 351. Steele prosecutes Captain Bailey, 351. Expects Eecordership of London, 352. Attorney-G-eneral, 352. Is absent from the King's Trial, 352. His excuses— Recovers after the King's ■XXIV CONTENTS OF Execution, 352. Eecordor, 1 649— Privileges, 353. Member of Committee on Law Eeform— obtains the Coif in 1664, 353. Chief Baron Wilde disliked by- Cromwell, 354. Steele, Chief Baron— and Wilde's complaints, 364. Wilde wittily rebuked, 354. Lord Chancellor of Ireland, a.d. 1666— Appointment, 355 — Continued by Eichard Cromwell, 355. Henry Cromwell, Deputy of Ire- land, 366. Death of Oliver Cromwell, a.d. 1 658— and Eestoration of Charles II., 356. Eoyalists disappointed, 366. Cromwell's OiEcials after the Eestoration — Disgraceful behaviour of Steele, 356. Death— his Character, 367. Business of . the Court of Chancery during the Commonwealth, 357. CHAPTER XXVI. IIPE OP LOKD CHANCELLOR SIR MAUEICB EUSTACE. Previous Lord Chancellor of this Family, 358. Eustace Lord Baltinglas — Engaged at Grlenmalure, 358. Lord Baltinglass attainted, 368. The Family of Harristown, 358. Estates pass to William Eustace, 358. Maurice born about 1690, 359. Accession of James I., 369. Designed for the Law — Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, 1619, 359. A Barrister of Lincoln's Inn — Legal Attainments, 369. Serjeant — Favourably noticed by Lord Wentworth, 360. Judge of Assize and Speaker, 1639, 360. His Speech, 360. Master of the EoUs, 365. Speaker's Cattle taken — Complaint — and Order thereon, 365. Speaker in trouble, 365. Words after Dinner, 366. Eulogium on the Speaker, 366. State of Ireland, 1656, 367. Charge at Sessions, 367. The Eestoration, 369. CromweUians in Office, 369. Eustace, Lord Chancellor — New Great Seal, 369. Chichester House in 1661, 370. Houses of Lords and Commons, 370. Chancellor Lord Justice — the Primate Speaker, 370. His Address, 370. Act of Settlement — ■ Three classes to be provided for, 371. Payment of Members, 371. Conflicting Claims — Letter from Duke of Ormond to Lord Chancellor, 372. Conduct of Lords Justices, 372. Their Agents — Colonel Eichard Talbot, 373. Talbot committed to the Tower, 373. False report of Eebellion, 373. Conduct of two Lords Justices, 374. The King's Promise, 374. Ormond's Letter, 375. Court of Claims, 376. Puritan Conspiracy — Betrayed — Members expelled, 375. Act of Explanation, 376. Disappointment of the Irish Catholics, 376. The Chan- cellor resigns— Lives at his Country Seat, Harristown — Death, 376. His WiU, 376. A good Chancellor, 377. CHAPTER XXVII. LIFE OP LOKD CHANCELLOB BOYLE, ARCHBISHOP OV ARMAGH. Family of Boyle— Career of Eichard, the Great Earl of Cork, 378. Early Life- Seeks his Fortune in Ireland — What he started with, 378. Complaints against liira, 379. Eecommended to Essex, 379. Complaints renewed— is taken Pri- soner—Examined before the Queen, 380. First and Second Marriage, 381. Knighted — Bears Despatches to the Queen, 381. Purchases Estates of Ealeigh —Letter to Ealeigh's Son, 382. Youghal College, 383. Bishop Atherton, 384. Earl of Cork Lord Justice, 386. Wentworth Lord Deputy, 385. Letter to Lord Treasurer, 385. Dispute about the Cork Monument, 386. Laud's Pro- posal, 386. The Earl in the Castle Chamber, 386. Heavy Fine, 387. Laud's Letter, 387. Strafford in Danger, 388. The King's Promise, 388. Strafford in the Tower, 388. Irish Parliament assist in his Prosecution— and Earl of Cork a Witness, 388. Twenty-eight Articles, 388. Case of Lord Mountnorris's Court THE FIEST VOLUME. XXV Martial, 389, True reason for impeachment of Lord Chancellor Bolton and others, 390. Strafford's Trial and his Opinion of Counsel opposed to him, 390. Whiteloek's Praise of his Defence, and Lord Chief Justice Whiteside's Eulogy, 891. Earl of Cork's Diary— and Death, 391. Michael's Father, 392. Birth, A.D. 1609, 392. Takes Dfgrees — His fiiBt Xiring, 392. Dean of Cloyne and Chaplain-General, 392. Affairs of Ireland— Negolaates forDoneraile — Important Events, 393. Bishop of Cork, 1661) — Sinecures — Watches the Act of Settlement — and is Complimented by Irish House of Lords, 394. Archbishop of Dublin, 1663— and receives \fiOOl. from the King, 395. Lord Chancellor, 395. Trans- lated to Armagh, a.d. 1678, 396. Koyal Hospital, 396. Eeports of Judicial Decisions in England and Ireland, 397. Accession of James II., 398. Eemoval of the old Chancellor, 399. Submits -with Cheerfulness, 399. Sir Charles Porter appointed, 400. Letter from Viceroy, 400. Attends King James II.'s Irish Parliament, 400. Death — Leaves little in Charity, 401. Last Ecclesi- astical Chancellor — Buried in St. Patrick's — with Monument in Blessington Church, 401. Orders in Chancery, 402-404. CHAPTER XXVIII. IIFE 01' LOKD CHANCEILOE POETEE Tltl HIS EEMOVAL BT KING JAMES II. Porter an Englishman, 405. Law Student, 405. Audacious Eobbery, 405. Question of Eight of House of Lords to hear Appeals from Courts of Equity, 406. Counsel Privileged by Order of the Lords — Summoned to attend the Commons — their Excuses, 407. Mr. Porter and others in Custody — Indigna- tion of the Lords, 408. The Usher of the Black Eod, 408. The Serjeant-at- Arms ordered to arrest Counsel, 409. Mr. Porter arrested, 409. Prisoners sent to the Tower — Usher of the Black Eod tries to release them — ^Eefusal, 410. Parliament Prorogued, 410. Porter Selected as Irish Chancellor, a.d. 1685 — and Earl of Clarendon Lord Lieutenant, 411. Letters from Ireland, 411. Acquainted with the Chancellor, 412. Income of Irish Chancellor, a.d. 1686, 412. Arrival, 412. Eeceives the Great Seal, 413. Statement concerning Act of Settlement, 413. Judicial Changes, 413. Lord Clarendon's Estimate of Judge Johnson — of Sir Eichard Eeynells — of Sir Standish Harstown— and oF Mr. Nugent, 414. Of Mr. Justice Daly, 415. Changes on the Bench — and Oath of Supremacy dispensed with, 415. How Sir E. Eeynells bore dismissal, 415. Character of Sir Charles Porter — King James Pensions the Chancellor, 416. Disquiet respecting Act of Settlement, 416. Lord Clarendon's Advice — and Lord Chancellor agrees with him, 417. Why Commissioners should have no Salaries, 417. Eoman Catholic Privy Coun- cillors, 418. No Practising Barrister a Privy Councillor, 418. Mr.Nagle, 419. Eoman Catholics eligible for Offices, 419. Eemonstrance of Lord Tyrconnel, 419. High Sheriffs— Course taken by the Chancellor, 420. Paymentof Eoman Catholic Bishops by the Crown, 420. Proposed Commission — Opinion of Mr. Nagle, 421. Free Parley with Lord Chancellor, 421. Vindicates his Conduct, 422. General Macarty's Opinion of him, 423. The Charge of Bribery, 423. Mr. Nagle and Lord TjTconnel leave for England, 424. Lord Lieutenant's Letter to the King, 424. Letter to Lord Chancellor respecting his Eemoval, 425. Character of Porter as Lord Chancellor, 425. Arrival of Lord Tyrconnel and Sir Alexander Fitton, 425. Changes, 426. xxvi CONTENTS OF CHAPTER XXIX. CONCLTISION' OP THE LIFE OP lOEB CHANCELLOE POKIER, PEOM HIS APPOINTMENT BY KlUe WILLIAM III. TILL HIS DEATH. Sir Charles Porter in the Temple, 427. Again Lord Chancellor of Ireland, 427. Williamite and Jacobite War, 428. Articles of Limerick— Porter and Coningsby Lords Justices— Arrival at the Camp, 428. Articles Signed, 428. Articles of Limerick, 429-431. Clause omitted Confirmed, 432. Military Articles, 432. Violation of the Treaty, 432. Lord Chancellor and others Lords Justices— and Distracted State of Ireland, 432. The Eapparees, 433. Lord Chancellors en- deavours to give Confidence, 433. County Lieutenants and Deputies, 433. Commissioners Abolished, 434. Lord Sydney calls a, Parliament — Catholics Excluded, 434. Opening the Session, 434. Peers— Lord Lieutenant — The Commons, 435. Sir Eichard Levinge, Speaker, 436. His Speech— and Lord Chancellor's Eeply, 437. Lord Lieutenant's Speech on the Prorogation, a.d. 1692. Complains of the House, and Protests against the Votes, 438. Lord Chancellor's Address — Parliament Dissolved— Seasons for Viceroy's Anger, 439. Struggle commenced, A.D. 1 576. Offer of the Commons— Scoffing Eeply —Lord Lieutenant consults the Judges, 440. Complaint against Lord Lieu- tenant, and his Oifence, 440. Lord Sydney recalled — Lord Chancellor and Coningsby Impeached, 441. Articles Scouted — Lord Capel, Lord Justice — His Policy, 442. Chancellor desires to adhere to Articles of Limerick, 443. Ne- cessity of Sacrificing the Treaty, 443. Letter from two of the Lords Justices as to whether a Parliament should be called, 443 -447. Letter from Lord Capel, 447-451. Division in Irish Government, 451. Viceroy recommends Removal of Lord Chancellor, 451. Parliament meet — Passive Obedience, 451. Attack on Lord Chancellor, 452, 453. Motion, 453. Witnesses — Attendance of Peers in House of Commons — Peers Eefuse, 454. The Commons Persevere, 454. Chancellor Defends Himself in the Commons — Impeachment abandoned, 455. Nocturnal Adventure of Lord Chancellor, 455. Unseemly Conduct of Mr. Speaker, 456. Lord Chancellor complains, 456. Preamble to 9th William III. c. 2 — Chancellor Powerless to Protect the Catholics, 457. Lord Lieutenant in Declining Health, 457. Attempt to create Lords Justices — Forcible Possession of the Signet — Eequires the Great Seal, 458. Chancellor refuses without Authority, 458. Death of the Viceroy, 458. Chancellor Lord Justice, 459. Chief Justice Hely Speaker of the Lords — Congratulation — Sudden Death — Eegret of William III., 459. Molyneaux Case of Ireland stated, 469. CHAPTER XXX. LIFE OP LOEB CHANCELLOK PITION, LOED OAWSWOETH. Odious Eeputation of Sir Alexander Fitton— Party Spirit— Hume, 461. Macaulay 462. Archbishop King, 462. Family of Fitton— Their Connection with Ire- land, 463. Baronets, 1617, 463. Ancient Seat of Gawsworth and Modern Hall, 464. Mr. Samuel Johnson's Epitaph, 465. Parents of Alexander Fitton, 465. Death of Sir E. Fitton and Marriage of Alexander Fitton, 466. Saying of Sir E. Fitton— Litigation— Allegation of Forgery— Issue, 466. Finding against the Deed, 467. Fitton's Witnesses Prosecuted — and Granger's Decla- ration, 467. House of Lords Interfere — Alexander Fitton Fined and Impri- soned— Ormorod's Eemarks, 467. Lord Chancellor of Ireland, a.d. 1687 THE FIEST VOLUME. xxvii Baron Gawsworth, 468. No Expression of Dissatisfaction from the Bench or Bar — A Precedent for this Course, 468. No complaint from the Suitors — ■ Archbishop King the Sole Complainer, 469. Dr. Stafford, Master in Chancery, 470. Anecdote of Sir Theobald Butler, 471. The Potato Ambassadors, 471. Irish Chief Justices, 471. Election of Irish Eoman Catholics, 472. Promotion to High Offices, 473. Humours of Eepealing Act of Settlement, 473. Effect upon the Protestants, 474. Eoyal Progress of James II., 474. Arrival in Dublin— and Reception, 475. The King meets with a Startling Incident, 476. Eoman Catholic Primate and Bishops — Te Deum, 476. Proclamation for a Parliament — Number of Lords and Commons, 476. King's Speech, 477. Eeference to Act of Settlement, 478. Sir Richard Nagle, Speaker, 478. Account of Sir E. Nagle, 479. Peers in Parliament, 480. House of Commons, 481. Opinion of Plowden, 481. Catholics desire to Eegain their Homes, 481. Bill to Repeal the Act of Settlement, 481. Com- pensation — Lord Chancellor to appoint Commissioners — Dismay of the Settlers, 482. Address to the King, 483. TheBishopofMeath— Speech, 483. Bill passed — Lesley's Statement, 484. Old Proprietors seek to Eecover their Estates by a Speedy Method, 485. Chancellor Refuses Relief in Equity, 485. Abortive Acts of King James' Parliament, 485. Its Legality Asserted, 486. Arguments againt it, 486. Convention Parliament of William and Mary, 487. Fate of Fitton of Gawsworth, 487. Chancery Business of Ireland during the Reign of James II., 487. CHAPTEE XXXI. IIFB OF LOED CHANCELLOR METHTJEIT. Methuen more known in Diplomacy than in Law, 489. An Englishman prac- tised at the Bar, 489. Envoy to Portugal, 489. Letter Eecommending him to the Duke of Shrewsbury for Chancellor, 489. No Irish Lawyer likely to be Ap- pointed, 490. Lord Somers approves — Interview with Lord Somers— Methuen appointed, 491. Eecommends his Son as Envoy to Portugal, 491. Lord Chancellor sworn into Office, 492. Bishop of Derry's Case, 492. Protest, 492. Career of Sir Paul Methuen, 492. Appeal heard — Order of Lord Chaueellor Methuen Reversed, 493. Question Referred to the Judges — Their Opinion — The Bishops Disagree with the Judges, 493. Roman Catholics not to be Soli- citors, 494. Methuen a Bad Chancellor, 495. Earl of Rochester, Lord Lieute- nant 1701-3, 495. Absence of Lord Chancellor, 495. Ambassador at Lisbon The Methuen Treaty, 496. How King Pedro treated the Treaty, 496. Ex- Chancellor's Death, a.d. 1716, 496. Duke of Marlborough's Letters, 496. CHAPTER XXXII. LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOK SIE EICHAED COX, BAKT, Family of Sir Richard Cox— Richard Cox— Married to Mrs. Katherine Batten, 497. Bandon-bridge, 498. Eichard's Birth, 1660, 498. His Father Assassi- nated, 499. Misfortunes of Mrs. Cox, 499. Eichard at School— Selects the Legal' Profession— Practises as an Attorney— and Aspires to the Bar, 499. Distinguished student of Gray's Inn— is Called to the Bar, 1673— Marries in 1674— Life at Clonakilty, 500. Eecorder of Kinsale— Attacks the Catholics- is Publicly Thanked— Deplorable State of Feeling in Ireland, 501. Accession of James II.— Cox flies to Bristol— Practises at the Bristol Bar, 502. Com- piles ' Hibernia Anglicana,' 603. Writes a Pamphlet in Support of the Prince XXVUl CONTENTS OF of Orange, 503. Offered Secretaryship to the Duke of Schomberg, but Declines, 503. Becomes Secretary to Sir Eobert Southwell, 504. His Correctness tested, 604. Writes King William's Declaration, 505. Recorder of Waterford and made Second Justice of the Common Pleas, a.d. 1690 — Commissioner, 505. Thanked by Lord Sydney — ^Prevents exchange of Lord CSancarly — Military Goyemor, 1691, 506. Ejnd Letter to Sir James Cotter — Eeply, 507. Is Knitted — Reads Paper before the Philosophical Society, and Elected a Fellow, 508. Visits London, 608. The Secret Proclamation, 509. Bishop of Meath's Sermon — ■ Bishop Removed from the Privy Council, 509. Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, 510. CHAPTER XXXIII. CONCLTTSION OP THE LIFE OF LOKD CHANCELLOR SIR RICHARD COX. Chief of the Common Pleas and Privy Councillor, 510. His Daughter Married, 610. Advises the Queen, 610. Important Statement of Lord G-odolphin, 511. The Queen Presents him with 500Z., 511. Sounded as to his wish to become Lord Chancellor — Reasons for Declining — Obeys the Queen, 512. A Parlia- ment, 1703 — Compliment of Archbishop Vesey, 512. Anti-Catholic Legisla- tion, 513. The Sacramental Test — Ordered that Counsel be heard, 513. Argument of Sir Theobald Butler, 514. Contends the Act is a Breach of the Articles of Limerick, 514. Imposes Disabilities on Protestant Dissenters, 617. Eeply, 619. The Chancellor sums up, 620. Duhigg's Character of Sir Richard Cox — Lord Justice in 1704 — Letter of Thanks to the Chancellor, 521. Pal- merstown — Created a Baronet, 1706, 622. Statute Regulating Election of Viceroy, 'pro tern., 622. Chancellor Consults the Privy Council — Their Advice — Chancellor Differs from the Council, 623. Precedent in Point — Chancellor Right, 524. Duke of Ormond Removed — also Lord Chancellor, 524. Chief Baron Freeman appointed, 1707, 524. Sir Richard Cox attacked in Parliament — Resolution of the House of Commons, 525. Writes Religious Books, 526. Chance of again being Chancellor — Lord Chief Justice, 625. On Death of Queen Anne, Loses his Place, 626. Cases of G-rimes — of Haydon — and Erwin — of Moore, 526. Motion of the Attorney-General, 627. Practice in England — Judgment Granting the Motion, 527. Charges in Report of the Commons on Lord Mayoralty of Dublin, 528. Tribute of the Recorder, 528. Cox Prepsires a Vindication for the King, 529. Dissuaded from Presenting it, 629. His later days — Personal appearances, 629. A good Equitj' Judge, 529. Kingsland V. Barnewall, 630. Domestic and Social Character — Death in 1733, 630. CHAPTER XXXIV. LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR FREEMAN. Lives of Mere Lawyers, 631. Birth of Richard Freeman — Called to the Bar Law Reports, a.d. 1670, 631. Obtains the Friendship of Lord Somers, 532. ' Recommended for Chancellor of Ireland — Mistake as to Date of Appointment — Chief Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland, 532. Maladministration of tlie King's Inns, 632. Cox Removed from the Chancellorship, 633. Chief Baron Freeman appointed, 833. Affront to Lord Chancellor as Speaker of the Lords, 633. Culprit Reprimanded and Discharged, 534. Reform in the King's Inns, Chancellor Deranged, 534. Death in 1710 — Great Seal in Commission, 636. Sir Constautine Phipps Appointed, 535. THE FIB8T VOLUME. xxix CHAPTER XXXV. LIFE OF SIR CONSIANTINB PHIPPS, lOKD CHANCBLIOE. Father of Sir Constantine Phipps the Inventor of the Diving Bell, 636. Pro- fitable use of it — His Epitaph, 5*6. Birth of Constantine Phipps, 537. His Professional Reputation, 537. Lord Chancellor of Ireland, 537. Earl of Wharton Lord Lieutenant — His Character, 538. Removes the Solicitor- General, 538. Privy Council of Ireland, 538. Unworthy Associate of the Viceroy, 539. Salary of Lord Justice, 539. Wharton Succeeded by the Duke of Ormond, 539. Chancellor tries to Abolish Party Processions, 540. How the Anniversary of William III.'s Landing was kept, 640. Chancellor as Lord Justice Refuses to March, 541. High Sheriff Takes the lead, 641. Indignities to the Statue — Resolution of the Lords, 541. Culprits Expelled from Trinity College, 641. Intimacy of Lord Chancellor Phipps with Literary Men — Letter to Dean Swift, 542. Resolutions of Irish House of Com- mons against the Lord Chancellor, 643. Address to the Queen to Remove him, 544. Cause of Hostility to the Chancellor, 544. He is Supported by the Lords, 644. Slanderous Words against Lord Chancellor, and Attorney-Gene- ral Directed to Prosecute, 544. Lords Address the Queen on behalf of the Chancellor, 645. Case of E. Lloyd, 546. Recommendation of Law OfBcers, 646. The Viceroy Directs Lords Justices to Stay Proceedings, 646. Lord Chancellor's Speech to the Lord Mayor, 546. Controversy about ' the Lord Chancellor, 547. Letter to Archbishop King from Dr. Swift, 547. From the Earl of Anglesey, 548. Address of Grand Jury, County Cork, 548. Parlia- ment Prorogued, 549. Death of the Queen — Chancellor, Lord Justice, 549. Effects of Importing Chancellors, 660. Phipps Removed, 1714 — Brodrick appointed, 560. Ex-Chancellor Returns to the English Bar, 550. Swift's Proposal for the Use of Irish Manufactures, 561. Hage of the Government, — A Proclamation, 552. Arbitrary Conduct of Chief Justice, 562. Jury find a Special Verdict, 562. The Judge Censured, and Swift Desires a Writ of Error, 652. Letter from Ex-Chancellor Phipps to Dean Swift, 552. No Writ of Error in Criminal Cases without Direction, 652. His Opinion of the Chief Justice, 653. Death of Sir Constantine Phipps, a.d. 1723 — His Descendants, 853. Swift's Posthumous Opinion of Lord Chancellor Phipps, 553. LIVES LOED CHANCELLOES OF lEELAND. INTRODUCTION. OP THB LESAL TEIBTTNALS OP THE lEISH, PKBVIOTJS TO THE INTEO- DTJCTIGN OP ENGLISH LAWS, 'WIIH THE APPOINTMENT AND DITTIES OP LORD OHANCELLOE IN THAI COUNIKT. Bbpokb we proceed to narrate the Lives of the Lord Legal Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of Ireland, it *" ^^^ ^ may be instructive and entertaining to glance briefly at ancient the legal tribunals and customs of the ancient Irish, previous to the arrival of the English, Cormac MacArt, monarch of Ireland, a.d. 227, was Cormao distinguished for his devotion to literature and his success ^j^_ 227. in the government of his kingdom. He is said to have regained his ancestral throne by his intellectual powers. A usurper, named MacCon, having defeated King Art, Defeat of father of Cormac, in the battle of Magh Mucruimhe, near •^'°' ^'^*" Athenry, seized the crown of the Ard-Righ, ' and became MacCon chief monarch of Ireland. For some time after the death ^^'^^^ ^^^ crown. of his father, the young prince, like Alfred of England, had to remain in concealment among his friends in the province of Connaught, while the grievous taxes and oppressive rule of the usurper were daily making the ^^g people anxious for his fall. Cormac's friends pressed his i^isurper rights to the throne, and, when matters were sufficiently ' Chief kingj VOL. I. B LORD CHANCELLOES OF lEELAND. Prince Cormac at Tara. Case of trespass, clausum fregit. The deci- sion of tlie King pro- nounced unjust by Cormac. Oormac's sentence approved of. The King orders his arrest. The usurper dethroned. Cormac called to the throne, A.D. 227. Collects thp Brehon Code. Bardic description matured, the young Prince repaired to Tara, where the King held his Court. Cormac found the Ard-Eigh sitting in the Judgment- seat, with the chiefs and rulers of the nation gathered around, listening to the decrees of their sovereign Judge. The case then at hearing was deemed of much importance ; in fact, a kind of State trial. Some sheep, the property of a poor widow, whose whole wealth they constituted, had strayed from a field at Tara, and, yearning for better browsing, trespassed on the Queen's lawn, and eat of the grass thereof. Being captured in the very act, they were impounded, and the Queen demanded justice for the injury she sustained by this trespass, qua/re clausum fregit. The King declared that ' the beasts were forfeited ; ' but young Cormac came forward, and boldly declared the judgment unjust ; ' for, as the sheep had only eaten the fleece of the land, it was only their own fl,eec6 that should be forfeited." This decision struck the assemblage as most just ; and even MacCon proclaimed, 'This is the judgment of a King.' At this moment he recognised the features of the Prince, and commanded his arrest. The people formed a living rampart round their rightful Sovereign, the guards of the palace declared for Cormac, and the power of the Usurper was at an end. He was banished, and Cormac ascended the throne of Tara, a.d. 227. When firmly established on the throne, he felt the necessity of governing the Kingdom by just and well- considered laws. He collected and arranged that code which was administered by the Brehons or Judges, until the English introduced their laws, and which obtained for centuries after the arrival of the English, among the Irish who dwelt outside the pale. King MacArt's appearance and dress, as described by the bards, were splendid, though considerable allowance must be made for poetical license and courtly flattery. ' His hair was slightly curled, and of golden colour ; a scarlet shield with engraved devices, and golden hooks, ' This equitable decision was worthy of the Woolsack. INTEODUCTION. 3 and clasps of silver ; a white folding purple cloak on him, of King ■with a gem-set gold brooch over his breast ; a gold torque °'^"^'^- around his neck ; a white collared shirt, embroidered with gold, upon him ; a girdle with golden buckles, studded with precious stones, around him; two golden net-work sandals, with golden buckles upon him ; two spears with golden sockets, and many red bronze rivets, in his hand ; while he stood in the full glow of beauty, without defect or blemish. You would think it was a shower of pearls that were set in his mouth ; his lips were rubies ; his symmetrical body was as white as snow ; his cheek was like the mountain ash-berry ; his eyes were like the sloe ; his brows and eye-lashes were like the sheen of a blue- black lance.' ' Cormac also collected the chronicles of Ireland into one book, called the ' Saltair of Tara.' This contained Saltair of the tribute the Kings of Ireland were entitled to receive •'•^™' from the Provincial Kings; and the rents and dues payable to the Provincial Kings from their subjects, like- wise to the nobles from their vassals. In it were accu- rately described the boundaries of Ireland from shore to shore, from the provinces to the cantred, from the cantred to the townland, from the townland to the traighedh of land.* . It is most probable the ancient Brehon code underwent revision when Christianity introduced new modes of pro- cedure and a kindlier feeling amongst the Irish. Indeed the 'Annals of the Pour Masters ' record this fact, and the Beanchus Mor was sometimes called Cain Phadraig — Patrick Law or Tribute. We must not dwell too long upon these Ancient Laws, now in the course of translation and pub- lication. The most noticeable feature was the compen- Compen- sation for murder and other offences by the Eric, which »^t'on by J ' Eric, is forbidden in Holy Writ — 'You shall not take money of him that is guilty of blood, but he shall die forth- ' O'Curry's Lectures, p. 45. This translation is from the Book of Bally- mote, quoting the TJachongbhail. ' Four Masters, p. 117. These are denominations of land in Ireland. B 2 LOED CHANCELLOKS OF lEKLANB. Tanaistry. Gavel- kind. Tribe land held in common. Cattle chiefly the mode of payment. Posterage. with.' This law of Eric kept its place in the Brehon code long after Ireland was rescued from Paganism. By the law of Tanaistry the eldest son succeeded to the Chieftainship on the death of his father, unless labouring under some bodily or mental infirmity, or crime. The eldest son being thus presumptive heir, was called tanaiste, or second in rank, and had a separate establishment as such.^ Landed property was equally divided amongst the males by the ancient Celtic Law, called gavail Ttirme, gavelkind. If there was no male issue, females were allowed an estate for life. The tanaist always obtained the mansion-house with his portion, having to sustain the dignity of the family. The state of society being patriarchal and pastoral, the land belonging to each sept was held in common, every member having a right of pasturage and his share of the tillage-land commensurate with the number of his cattle. The tribe being, so to speak, one family, the claims of each individual was subordinate to the general interest of the tribe. Thus the demesne lands were assigned to the Chief, next to the Tanist or Chief elect, the Brehons or Judges, the bards or doctors. Although tribvites or rents were payable, and metals — gold and silver — existed from an early period, cattle was the usual equivalent, instead of coin in Ireland, as in other nations of anti- quity. Cattle constituted the medium of exchange and barter in England as late as the eleventh century. Selden mentions that ' pounds and shillings were not abundant in England in 1004, but paid in truck and cattle.' A peculiar, custom among the ancient Irish was foster- age.' Every member of the nobility was bound by law to send his sons to foster — brought up with one of the family of his tribe. There was a regular fosterage fee, payable while the child was with his foster-parents. There was a 1 Numhors xxxr. 31. 2 This is still retained in the Scottish title of Master, given to the eldest son of a peer. " Vide Seanchus Mor, vol. ii. INTRODUCTION. ^ 5 doctor's fee, proportionate to the rank of the patient and Doctors' nature of the malady. No fees were payable unless a payable cure were effected. The dress of the ladies was regulated unless a by their rank, and its value was described by that of so effected. many cows. The ancient laws of Ireland are now preparing for pub- Publica- lication, under the direction of a commission, authorised Brehon by Parliament for that purpose. This Commission has Commis- commenced its labours very properly with the Seanehus g^„^f^^g Mor, as the oldest and most important work relating to Mor. the ancient laws of Ireland. The Seanehus Mor was so much reverenced in olden time, that the Brehons, or Judges, were not allowed to abrogate any portion of it. The preface to ' The Law of Distress ' ' gives an interest- ing account of this digest of the Brehon laws, the time when composed, the occasion on which it was compiled, and names of its authors. The progress of colonization Decline of throughout Ireland, the establishment of circuits, and the laws!"" extension of English language and laws, caused the Brehon code to fall into disuse about the year 1600. The ancient Trials by Irish employed many modes of determining guilt or inno- °^ ®^ ' cence by ordeal, Judicium Dei. Many of these very singular customs deserve a brief notice. That which is best known was called Moran's Collar, of which there are Mbran's some strange traditions related. If a guilty person put '^° '^''' this collar round his neck, it compressed until he was choked. On the contrary, if innocent, the collar fell to the wearer's waist. Another was called Tal Modha. Tal Moc- tha This was the bronze axe of Moctha, a carpenter. The mode of trial was by heating the metal portion in a fire made of blackthorn, then the tongue of the accused was to be rubbed to the hot weapon. It burned the guilty, and the innocent remained unhurt. The Crannchur, or casting of lots, was used in various Crann- forms. In one, the bard or poet recited a poetical incan- tation over the one lot for the King, and one for the accused. Then the lots were drawn, when, if the accused ' Seanehus Mor, vol. i. LORD CHANCELLOES OF IRELAND, The branch of Sen MacAige. Ordeal by water. Trelia Mothair, Ordeal by battle not used by the Irish. was guilty, the lot adhered to his hand ; if innocent, he drew it forth without any lot sticking to his fingers. The Chal-med Branch of Sen MacAige was used in deciding guilt or innocence. This consisted of three portions, or lots, put into water. The mode of ordeal here mentioned agrees with that practised by the Jews and other Eastern nations, as is recorded in the 2nd book of Kings (vi. 6) . The ordeal by water was used by the Irish thus : Three lots were put in the water. The Prince's lot, the OUamh's lot, and the lot of the litigant. If the litigant was guilty, his lot went to the bottom ; but if he was innocent, it floated on the top. This mode of ordeal by water is contrary to the commonly received application of this custom in Germany, Prance, and England. In these countries the ordeal was employed upon persons suspected in propria persona. With a rope fastened round the body, he or she (for, alas ! the gentler sex were often the victims of popular suspicion) was cast into a running stream, and if the body sank it was deemed a proof of innocence, and the accused was sometimes taken out alive ; while, on the contrary, if it floated, it was proof of guilt, as though the holy element — the pure stream — was supposed to reject the criminal. Another ordeal by lot was called Trelia Mothair (Three Stones of Blackness) ; a pan was filled with duhh-rota (black-rye), coal, or other black stuff, and three stones imbedded — one white, one black, and one speckled. The accused then thrust his hand into the pan, and drew forth a stone. The black was indicative of guilt, the white of innocence, the piebald somewhat like the Scotch verdict of ' ]S"ot proven ' — left the case doubtful, and neither acquitted or condemned. It appears somewhat strange that among so warlike a nation as the Irish, the ordeal by battle does not appear to have been used. In the valuable paper on the forms of ordeal anciently practised in Ireland, read before the Eoyal Irish Academy by the learned Celtic scholar, William M. Hennessy, and published in the ' Pro- ceedings of the Academy,'^ no mention is made of this ' Proceediings of the Eoyal Irish Academy, vol. x. p, 34. INTEODUCTION. 7 ordeal, wMch was common among other European nations. "We shall find, however, that it was introduced by the Anglo-Normans, and, unhappily, survives to this day in the sanguinary duel, though the practice is daily becoming obsolete. Although the English settlement in Ireland may be English considered to date from a.d. 1172, it was long before m^ent^in English legal institutions embraced the entire king- Ireland. dom. In that year Henry II. landed at Waterford, Progress proceeded thence to Lismore, whereof the Bishop, Chris- jj ^"^^ tian O'Conarchy, was Papal Legate for Ireland. Henry ordered a castle to be erected at Lismore,* and marched through Leinster to Dublin, where he arrived on Novem- ber 11. A spacious hall of woodwork was prepared for The King his reception on the ground on which the south side of ctristmas Dame Street now stands, and here he kept in great state ™ Dublin, the Christmas of that year. By his policy and repre- sentations, Henry induced the Irish Bishops and Clergy to convene a synod at Cashel, in which several of the Synod of Cashel Anglo-Normans, Lay and Churchmen, took part, and letters were procured from the Irish Bishops declaring Henry ^.'^^ their sovereign lord. Before returning to England Henry acknow- planned his mode of governing Ireland by the Anglo- ^enr II Norman rule. Then probably was prepared the ordinance their sove- known as the Statute of Henry Eitz-Empress, which pro- ™^° vided ' that in the event of any Viceroy or Chief Governor Henry for Ireland vacating office by death or otherwise, the ^''z-Em- principal nobles and officials of the Anglo-Norman colony there should be empowered to elect a successor, to exercise full Viceregal power and authority, until the King's in- struction had been received.' In the list of the first state offi- Anglo- Norman officials of Ireland, we find no mention of "^ ^' a Chancellor. The high officers there named are : Lord Marshal, Lord Constable, Seneschal, Chief Butler, and Eoyal Standard Bearer. The first title of legal import was that of Gapitalis Justiciarius, Chief Justiciary, a title Capitalis used both in England and Normandy, and conferred on ^^^3'°^'^' ' Now the picturesque seat of the Duke of Deyoushire, LOED CHANCELLOES OF IRELAND. Hostages. English Law con- fined to certain families. Accession of Henry III. A.D. 1216. General amnesty. Magna Cliarta extended to Ireland. Chancel- lor ap- pointed. the higliest official who, in the King's absence, was in- trusted with the whole civil and military administration. The Justiciary, or Viceroy, of Ireland was required to giye hostages for his fidelity, and was directed to take the advice of the Lords of the colony, as Privy Councillors. The colonists and such of the Irish as dwelt within the pale and acknowledged the English authority, were re- garded as subjects entitled to the protection of English law, but all the Irish who dwelt outside the pale, not being recognised as subjects, were styled ' Irish enemies.' In- stances occur in which certain septs of the Irish were, by special grants, enfranchised and entitled to the benefit of the English laws. On the Plea EoU of the 3rd of Ed- ward II. all the septs or bloods ' qui gaudeant lege An- glicana quoad brevia portanda,' are named — viz., O'JSTeil de Ultonia, O'Molaghlin de Midia, O'Connogher de Con- nacia, O'Brien de Thotmonia, et MacMurrogh de La- genia.' On the death of King John, a.d. 1216, he was succeeded on the throne by his eldest son, Henry III. The first correspondence of the new sovereign with Ireland was of a conciliatory nature. A general amnesty was granted, and a royal letter to Hugh de Lasci prayed him to forget and forgive any oppressions he had suffered from the Government of England, and to return to his allegiance. The provisions of Magna Charta, that charter of freedom, won by the mailed barons and mitred prelates of England, was extended to Ireland, and we find the office of Chan- cellor established henceforth. In the reign of King Henry III., John's son and suc- ' On Plea EoU of Edward III. vre find — Simon Neal brought trespass against William Newlagh. Defendant pleaded that Plaintiff ' est Hibernicns et non de quinque sanguinihus, de les O'Neeles de Ulton.' Plaintiff replied, ' quod ipse est de quinque sanguinihus, viz. de les O'Neles de Ulton, qui per concessionem progenitorum Domini Eegis, libertatibus Anglicis gaudere debent et utuntur, et pro liberis hominibus reputantur.' The defendant traversed this, and, on issue joined, tlie finding was for the plaintiff, who had judgment and damages. Several cases to the same purport are met with in the Plea EoUs. Vide Morrin's Calendar, Patent^ and Close EoUs, Chancery Ir. vol. ii. preface xxxix. INTRODUCTION. 9 cesser, we find the office of Chancellor of Ireland men- tioned for the first time in Mr, Smyth's ' Chronicle of the Law Officers of Ireland.' ' John de Worchley is named as Chancellor, with the date of his appointment, 1219, 3rd Krst Henry III. Lord Campbell, in his ' Lives of the Lord iq^ Chancellors of England,' declines engaging in the contro- ■^•"- 1219. Tersy attending the definitions of the word Chancellor. Definition Some deriving the word Cancellarius, from cancelling cellor. the King's letter patent when contrary to law; others because he sat behind a lattice, called in Latin cancellus, to avoid the pressure of the suitors. In the earliest times the Chancellor was required by his office to hear and determine petitions addressed to the King ; and, in pro- gress of time, these petitions, instead of being addressed to the King, were addressed to the Chancellor. He is the Custody of highest legal functionary in the realm, per traditionem g^^j "^'^ magni sigilli per dominam regem, and by taking the oaths. The Lord Chancellor of Ireland ranks in the roll Chancel- of precedence in Ireland next after the Archbishop of ^"nco^'^'^''^' Armagh, if a Peer ; if not, the Archbishop of Dublin has precedence, but he ranks before the other great Officers of State, Judges and Peers. In Ireland, the office of Chancellor was, and indeed still Political is, an office of great political importance. He was always o?office!"'° the chief civil officer employed by the Sovereign to draw up his commands in a formal manner, and authenticate them with the Great Seal, placed in his custody. As the laws introduced into Ireland by the early English colo- nists were those of England, the practice of the two coun- tries was similar. By the writ of 6th John it was the English manifest intention of that monarch that the benefit of all p'^Y^ '"i troduced the laws of England should be extended to the Irish gene- ty King rally, as well as the English, though abundant proofs exist that such wise intentions were frustrated by the Viceroy and nobles, who, for their own purposes, preferred to keep the natives beyond the benefits of English laws. The early Chancellors, Judges, and Lawyers were English ! Smyth's Law Officers, 1. 10 LOED CHANCELLORS OF lEELAND. Chancel- by birth and professional training. Learned men were Judges, those Chancellors, for the most part Prelates of highly and Law- cultivated minds, attached to the land of their birth, yers Eng- ' i t j.- • ^ t lish, and while exercismg important sway over the destmies oi ire- Ecclesias- ^^^^^ rpj^g influence of the Clergy in these days over tem- poral as well as spiritual affairs, was naturally great. Possessed of all the learning of these times, they were the chief counsellors of the Sovereign, as well as the advisers of the subjects. By right of office the Chancellors were Speakers of the House of Peers, paramount in the Council Chamber. They were called on to frame laws for the legislature, and decide the rights of the subject from the bench. Through their acquaintance with Civil Law, no small share of Roman jurisprudence mingled with laws of England, and helped to mould the equitable jurisdiction of the High Court of Chancery. The Courts The Courts of Law were originally held in Dublin Dublin Castle. Here was combined every adjunct suited for the Castlei protection and convenience of its inmates. It was at once Account of a palace, a fortress, a court of justice, and a prison. The palace of the Viceroy, with fortifications for his defence, Courts of Justice as well for the adjudication of civil rights, for the trial of offenders, and a prison for evil doers. There was also a chapel under the patronage of St. Thomas of Canterbury, and two chaplains assigned; each received an annual salary of fifty shillings, with two shillings for wax.' There was also a mill, called the King Mill. Around the Castle, for the most part, was a moat, called the Castlegripe, while on the massive walls were bastions, and gate towers, the narrow entrances being defended by portcullises, and iron-barred doors ; a draw- bridge on the southern side of Castle-street admitted communication with the city. The hostages or pledges, which the Viceroys in early days obtained from the Anglo-Norman Lords, and ch iefs of native clans, as securities for their due observance of the compacts entered into, as also for their allegiance to the English ' Probably for altar- lights. INTBODUCTION. 11 GovernTnent, were usually lodged in tlie Castle of Dublin- Here also, at first, were lield tlie Courts of Justice, wherein the Chancellor, and other Judges .sent from England, ad- ministered the English laws to the Anglo-Normans set- tled in Ireland, as also to such of the natives as were entitled to the protection of English law. The Exchequer, for some time the Court most fre- TheEs- quented, was established early. This Court received and disbursed the Crown revenues which accrued from the royal estates, rents of towns, fines, customs, treasure- trove, and other casual profits. The simple method of computation then in use was by counters placed in rows upon the squares of the chequered cloth covering the table; and squared rods notched at the comers, styled tallies, were employed as vouchers.' In .the, manuscript This Court Eed Book of the Exchequer is a picture of that court in Cenfury. Dublin in the 14th Century. It represents six persons, probably official, at the top, to the right three suitors, op- posite them three Judges, beneath the Sheriff. A crier to the right is adjourning the Court by the label, ' A de- maine.' The official to the left, supposed to be Second Eemembrancer, holds a parchment inscribed, ' Preceptum fuit Vice-comiti, per breve hujus Scaccarii.' The Chief Eemembrancer, pen in hand, holds an Exchequer roU, commencing, ' Memorandum quod x° die Maij,' &c. ; while the Clerk of the Pipe prepares a writ, placed on his left kuee. To the extreme left the Marshal of the Exchequer appears with a document, on which is written, 'Exiit breve Vice-comiti.' One of the Judges is represented as saying, ' Soient forfez.' Another, ' Yoyr dire.' On the cheque-covered table we see the Eed Book, a bag with rolls and counters. The suitors are also addressing the court. One with outstretched arm says, 'Oy de brie;' another, ' Chalange ;' while the third, girt with a sword and laced boots, utters the words., ' Soit oughte.' The salary of Lord Chancellor was anciently 40L a year. Salary of . exclusive of fees and perquisites. He had to maintain a c^Incel- lor 1 Gilbert's Viceroys, p. 118, 12 LORD CHANCELLORS OF IRELAND. Gradual increase of salary. special body-guard of six men-at-arms and six archers, fully equipped, for the protection of the Great Seal in- trusted to his custody. The salary afterwards was in- creased. Eoger Utlagh, in 1335, had 160 marks a year ; Laurence Merbury, in 1407, had 6s. 8d. a day ; Archbishop Cranley, in 1415, 10s. a day ; Sir Eichard Bead, in 1546, 300 marks ; these sums were besides fees. The value of such payments may be estimated from the prices of cattle, &c., in the Anglo-Norman colony in Ireland : — Cows from 5s. to 13s. id. each ; heifers, 3s. 4d. to 5s. ; sheep, 8d. to Is. ; horses, 13s. 4d. to 40s. ; pigs. Is. 6d. to 2s. ; salmon, 6d. each. From the year 1 598 the salary attached to this high office has largely and progressively augmented, thus : ' — In 1598 „ 1629 „ 1666 „ 1709 „ 1727 £ s. d.' £ 3. d. 415 6 8 In 1802, pension 4,000 415 17 8 Present salary . 8,000 0^ 1,000 With retiring 2,000 pension . 4,000 0» 2,500 Cliancery the officina justiciee. Royal grants. Keeper of the Great Seal, and the King's Consci- The office of Chancellor, as we have seen, was instituted in Ireland as early as the reign of Henry III. The Chan- cery was the officina justitiw whence writs, or letters, issued in the King's name on a statement of facts by the aggrieved party. Remedial writs were directed to the Judges. Eoyal grants of dignities, offices, and lands passed through the Chancery, and were framed a.nd authenticated by the Chancellor. The art of writing being little known in early times, when it was almost wholly confined to the Churchmen, seals were much used, and the King's writs and grants were sealed by the Chancellor, to whom, as the responsible officer, the King intrusted the custody of his seal, called the Great Seal. He was almost always a Clergyman in those times, generally a dignitary, and called the ' Keeper of the King's Conscience,' which I have no doubt was often a sinecure office. As time rolled on, and ' Vide Ware's work, vol. ii. p. 99. ^ 2 & 3 Wm. IV. >:. 116. » 40 Geo. III. c. 69. INTEODUCTION. 13 the jurisdiction of tlie Courts were better defined, tte Court of King's Bench was considered the proper tribunal to take cognizance of all matters of criminal law ; the Common Pleas, the court for civil suits. The Exchequer entertained the cases of the -King's revenue. The Chan- Hanaper eery was divided into the Hanaper, or Hamper, in which f'"'^ ^^^^y writs were kept, and the Petty-bag side, where the records peculiar to the Court of Chancery were stored. There was also a Law Court where the validity of Royal Grants and other matters were tried by scire facias. But the peculiar Scire jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery is its equitable juris- ■f'"'^'^- diction, established most fully by the ingrafting of uses and Equitable trusts of real property. It has likewise important juris- J^i"s Vide Chapter VI., History of Dundalk, by D' Alton and O'Flanagan, p. 46. = Eot. Pari. vol. i. p. 386. ■■ Gilbert's Viceroys of Ireland, p. 120. VOL. I. D 34 EEIQN OF EDWAED II. CHAP. II. Pounder of the First University in Dublin. The ancient Irish famed for their schools. Difficulties of the un- dertaking. Tinder the civilising influence of University education, Arclibisliop de Bicknor laboured to effect this object in A.D. 1320. He was aware of the great schools of Ireland in days long past— of the saints and sages who sprang from those schools. He was as an ecclesiastic famihar with the writings and teachings of Aidan, and Gallus, Adamnan, and Columba, Johannis Scotus Brigena, and others famed for their knowledge. ' That so early as the eighth century,' says Mosheim, 'the Hibernians were lovers of learning, and distinguished themselves in those times of ignorance by the culture of the sciences beyond all other European nations, travelling through the most distant lands to improve and communicate their know- ledge, is a fact with which I have been long acquainted ; but that these Hibernians were the first teachers of the scholastic theology in Europe, and so early as the eighth century illustrated the doctrines of religion by the prin- ciples of philosophy I learned but lately from the testimony of Benedict Abbot of Armaine.' ' He felt something ought to be done to revive the past glories of Irish literature, and sought to make the portion of the country occupied by the English the site of a University. It was a bold proposal undoubtedly, only to be accomplished with great dif&culty, and it required no small courage to attempt such a work at that period. A University usually is pro- vided by schools or educational establishments, to which it seems as a natural result or completion ; but these do not seem to have had existence in the colony, and the learning then existing was chiefly supplied by Oxford. And as De Bicknor thought of Oxford he felt with a late gifted author "^ that even side by side with eternal Eome the Alma Mater of Oxford may be fitly named for pro- ducing a deep, a lasting, and peculiar impression. De Bicknor wished by the side of the Anna Liffey to raise aloft the standard of education, such as gained for Ireland her reputation in the days of old. He looked with the ' Mosheim, Cent. VIII. Part 2, Chap. III. ^ Hecker. ALEXANDER DE BICKNOE. 35 prophetic vision of one in onr own day' 'who loves this dear country with the devotion of a son, though not native of our soO, for a more central position than Oxford has — Eeasons for a city less inland than that sanctuary, and a country ingOubUn. closer on the highway of the seas. He looked towards a land both old and young — old in its Christianity, young in the promise of its future; a nation which received grace before the Sason came to Britain, and which has never quenched it — a Church which comprehends in its history the rise and fall of Canterbury and York, which Augustine and Paulinus found. He contemplated a people which have had a long night and wiU have an inevitable day. The capital of that hopeful land, seated in a beautiful bay and near a romantic region, and remembering what activity and energy, perseverance and patient toil did for Athens with its rocky, barren, and sterile soil, its shallow streams, purposed to combat all difficulties, and saw again in his hopeful glance a flourishing University ; whither, as of old, students were flocking from all quarters of the globe, all speaking one tongue, all owning one faith, all eager for one large true wisdom ; and thence, when their stay was over, going back again to carry peace to men of good will over all the earth.' ^ Having laid the matter The Pope before Pope John XXII., his Holiness approved of the approves. undertaking, and the rules for the University were as follows : ^ — " In the name of God. Amen. We, Alexander de Bick- Eules for nor, by the Divine permission Archbishop of Dublin, do ^^^g^J"^'' will, grant, and ordain, with the consent of our Chapter of the Blessed Trinity, and St. Patrick's in Dublin, to the Masters and Scholars of the University of Dublin, that the Masters Regent of the said University may elect a Chan- Election of cellor, a Doctor of Divinity, or the Canon Law. So that Cl^ancel- if in either of our churches of the Blessed Trinity, or St. Patrick's in the said place, any have obtained that degree ' John Henry Newman, D.D. ' The Catholic University Gazette, p. 24. Dublin : 1854. ' Antiquities of Ireland, by Sir James Ware, p. 37. D 2 36 EEIGN OF EDWAED II. CHAP. II. His juris- diction. Power to appoint a deputy. in either of the said faculties, he shall by the same per- sons be chosen Chancellor before all others. And if, which God forbid, any division happen in the election, that then the election shall be carried by the Totes of the major part. Upon the resignation or decease of the Chancellor of the said University, another shall be elected within fifteen days, and shall be presented to us, or our suc- cessors, or in our absence to our Vicars, and in the vacancy of the See to the Guardian of the Spirituals, to obtain confirmation. Moreover, we ordain that the Proctors actually regent, when there are many regent Masters, be elected in like manner as aforesaid. And that the said Proctors, when the University is without a Chancellor, shall supply his place. And if the election of the Chan- cellor be not made within fifteen days, that then the juris- diction shall devolve to the ofiieial of the Court of Dublin, the See being full, or in the vacancy of the See to the Guardian of the Spirituals, till the Chancellor be elected and confirmed. ' We grant, likewise, that the Lord Chancellor shall have spiritual jurisdiction over the Masters and Scholars, where they are plaintiff and defendant, and over their servants ; and shall have approbation and reprobation of the Wills and Testaments of the Masters and Scholars, and their servants ; and shall have the disposition of their goods if they die intestate. Yet, so that the fines and mulcts im- posed for their delinquencies, and the profits arising from them, or from any other cause, shall be laid up in a chest, to be converted to the common benefit of the University, according to the disposition of the Chancellor and Masters ; and that the Proctor shall have two keys of the chest, and a third shall be in the keeping of some other whom the Chancellor shall name; and the Proctor shall, twice a year, give an account to the Chancellor and Eegent Mas- ters or their deputies. And if the said Chancellor shall think fit to substitute any person or persons in his office, we by these presents give him power ; and if appeal shall be made from such his commissioners, it shall be first ALEXANDER DE BICKNOE. 37 made to tlie said Chancellor and Eegent, who shall by CHAP. themselves or others take cognizance of the cause; and if ■ ,1 . an appeal be made a second time, it shall be to us, or the Appeals. official of our court. Moreover, Bachelors that are to be made in whatever faculty shall be presented to the said Chancellor and Eegent Masters, &c. ' Dublin, 10th February, in the year of our Lord 1320.' With the usual enthusiasm of an earnest man, the The pro- Archbishop carried his project into some degree of com- intoTffect. pletion. William Eodiant, Dean of St. Patrick's, a doctor of canon law, was elected first Chancellor, and degrees of Doctor of Divinity conferred on several clergymen. A series of lectures in Divinity was instituted, and a fund for the maintenance of scholars was provided; but these funds failed, and the constant contention of which, alas, our domestic annals, offer such abundant proof, prevented the success of the project, and the University thus founded dwindled and decayed. In A.D. 1323, affairs of State called the Archbishop to De Bick- the councils of his Sovereign. He went as Ambassador to "aLador France, deputed by the Parliament of England, having for his associate Edmund Earl of Kent, younger brother of Edward II., but their negotiation proved fruitless. He was again employed with the Earl of Kent and William Weston, LL.D., to reform the State and government of the Duchy of Aquitaine, and also to negotiate the marriage of the King's eldest son, afterwards King Edward III., with the daughter of the King of Arragon.' Having been in some measure instrumental in causing Incurs the the surrender of the town and castle of La Eoyalle, in pleasure'^' Aquitaine, when besieged by the French ; and also charging the King's Chamberlain, Hugh De Spenser, with treason, the Archbishop incurred the King's displeasure, and he determined to have him banished. Not wishing to act Complains personally against so exalted a dignitary of the Chujch, p _® King Edward applied to the Pope, and by letter, dated May 28th, 1325, made a formal complaint to his Holiness * Eymer's Fcedera, vol. ii, p. 573 38 EEIGN OF EDWARD II. CHAP. II. No notice taken of this complaint. Prince Edward Eegent. Lord Chancel- lor. The King takes re- venge. Prece- dency. of the Archbishop's oifence. He besought the Pope to banish this prelate from his kingdom and dominions, and have another Archbishop appointed in his place. How- ever, the conduct of the King showed the Archbishop had reason for his imputation against De Spenser, and no action was taken upon the King's letter of complaint. On the contrary, in the following year, 1326, the Arch- bishop was one of the prelates and barons of England assembled at Bristol when Prince Edward was constituted Eegent, while the King was absent, in company with Hugh De Spenser the younger, and other enemies of the State.' About this period he was intrusted with the Great Seal of Ireland. The King was determined to have some revenge on the Archbishop, so he sequestered the profits of the Archdiocese of Dublin, and applied the reve- nues to maintaining troops engaged in the Irish wars. The pretext was, that the Archbishop had incurred arrears to the Crown, while acting as treasurer. The Pope appointed him, in 1380, to collect the Pontifical tax, instructing him to exempt therefrom all benefices not exceeding six marks yearly. When Eichard Ledrede, Bishop of Ossory, who took proceedings against Dame Alice Kyteler, was taken pri- soner, his assailants took refuge in the Archdiocese of Dublin, where it is believed they were afforded protection from the just wrath of the Bishop of Ossory. On Bishop Ledrede visiting Prance, De Bicknor seized the profits of his See, and the Pope was obliged to interdict his metro- political power during his life.^ He had numerous con- tentions with his brother prelates. In 1337, when the Parliament convened by Sir John Charlton, Lord Justice, assembled at St. Mary's Abbey, he prevented the Arch- bishop of Armagh carrying his crozier erect before him. There had been for a long period questions of precedency between the Archbishops of Dublin and Armagh. In this year he was empowered by commission to treat with the ' Kymer's Fcedera, vol. ii. p. 600. 2 Wadding's Annals, vol. viii. p. 419. ALEXANDER DE BICKNOE. 39 Bishop of Meath, and other well-affected dignitaries, re- CHAP, specting the affairs of Meath — to establish a militia for ,' ■ preserving the peace of that county, and apprehending all traitors and their abettors.* In July 1339, the Archbishop was directed to put his Summoned fortress at Castle Keven in a state of defence, and as he jand"^ was well acquainted with the state of Ireland — that dif- ficulty for English Statesmen at all times — his presence was requested before the King's Council in London to enlighten them thereupon. What the nature of his testimony was does not appear. The state of his accounts, when treasurer, had not been satisfactory, and accusations of a very harsh character appear to have been made, for when he obtained the formal pardon from the Crown in 1347, it uses strong Pardon, language, such as releasing him ' for sundry false writs and acquittances which he had put into his treasurer's ac- counts in deceit of the King.' It was, however, very much the custom for officials in those days (and, indeed, in later times), when they considered their services not sufficiently remunerated by their official salary to help themselves. Such conduct was, of course, deserving of censure, and the higher in rank the culprit, the more guilty he should be regarded. At a Sj'nod over' which he presided in Dublin, the Eegula- Acts of which are preserved,^ many excellent ecclesiastical graod^' " regulations were promulgated. Such as beneficed clergy should not be bailiffs or seneschals of laymen. Monks not to be executors except under certain regulations; that the property of testators, or intestates, should be fairly distributed. He exhorted all to loyalty and peace. The last year of De Bicknor's life was disturbed by the inroad of a very renowned prelate, Archbishop Fitz Ralph, who was determined to assert the primatial rights of his Primatial See, Armagh, over that of Dublin. He was fortified by "S^t=- the authority of the King, and entered Dublin with the crozier erect before him, lodged in the city for three days, ' Eot. Tur. Benning. ^ Wilkins' Concilia, vol. ii. 40 EEIGN OF EDWABD 11, CHAP. II. Death of De Bick- His cha- ractsr. His desire to encou- rage in- dustry. Ancient Statutes. and openly proclaimed tlie privileges of his province, and tlie Bulls of his primacy. This prelatic raid must have been very galling to the aged Archbishop of Dublin, especially when Fitz Ealph insisted on asserting his right before the Lord Justice, as also the Prior of Kilmainham, and such other peers as were then in town, but they, evidently, wished to get rid of their troublesome visitor, and he was sent back to Drogheda.^ On July 14, 1349, Archbishop de Bicknor died. He had administered the government of Ireland for a consider- able period, and the See of Dublin for thirty-two years, and was in no way inferior to any of his predecessors either in point of wisdom or learning.^ He deserves to be remembered with gratitude for his efforts towards the establishment of a University in Dublin, and also he was a strenuous advocate for the employment of the people. One very remarkable discourse of his attracted much ob- servation. He preached in Christ Church against sloth and idleness, and of the mischiefs arising from the strag- gle;rs and beggars that infested the streets of Dublin. He inveighed warmly against everyone who would not ex- ercise some trade or calling every day. His sermon had the effect of inducing the Mayor of Dublin to exert his authority for the spread of industry throughout the city. He would not suffer an idle person to beg within his liberties, but only those who spun and knitted as they went to and fro, which kind of exercise even the begging Friars were obliged to imitate.^ The earliest mention of a Parliament in Ireland by name is to be found in the great EoU of the Pipe of 10° to 12° Edward I. On the close roll, 13° Edward I. m. 6. is the following memorandum : — ' Quod die Veneris in festo exaltationes sanctse crucis anno regni Edward 13°, apud Wynton, liberata fuerunt Eogero Bretan, clerico venerabilis patris, Stephani, "Waterfordiensis Episcopi, ' D'Alton's Lives of tlin Archbishops of Dublin, p. 133. 2 Sir James Ware. ' Mason's St. Patrick's Cathedral, p. 135. ANCIENT STATUTES. 41 tunc justiciarii Hibernise, quidam statuta, per regem et CHAP. consilium suum edita et provisa ; viz. statutum Westm. I., . ^ . statutum post coronationem regis editum, et statutum Glouc, et statutum pro mercatoribus factum, et statutum Westm. II. in Parliamento regis pascbse, anno prsedicto, provisum et factum in Hibemia deferenda et ibidem pro- clamanda et observanda.' The first are declared to be statutes enacted by the King and bis Council. The latter in the King's Par- liament, that is, the King's Court of Justice, which were transmitted to Ireland to be observed there as law. Much information relative to the publication of Irish Eedbook legislative proceedings is contained in the Red Book of Ler^*^ ^' the Exchequer, which contains a mandate from Edward II. to his Chancellor of Ireland, Stephen Riddel, in 1318, to have the statutes of Lincoln and Tork enrolled, exem- plified, and sent to all the King's Courts, and every county of the land ; and commanding the officers of these Courts to cause the same to be published and observed.' When statutes were passed by the early Parliaments, , transcripts of them were immediately sent for the guidance of the Judges and their officers. They were also directed to be read, published, and firmly maintained, by the Mayor and baUiffs of Dublin." The contents of the Red Book of the Exchequer is Contents, thus summarised : — ' Statutum Dublin 11° Henry IV. ; Statutum Westmonaster. ; Sheriffs, Justices of Peace, Treasurers and Escheators' oaths of office ; Writ for the observance of the stat. 3° Eic. II., De Absentibus : Writ 4° Eic. II. De Absentibus : Writ 7° Edward III., relative to Customs : Articles of grievances sent to the King with the King's answer, tempore Edward HI. Statute 2 West- monaster. : Brev de pardonatione debitorum Domini Eegis 41° Edw. III. Le Statut fair encontr les Admirals 13° & 15° Eic. II. Some Latin verses, and four causes assigned quare sancta crux adoratur: Ordinances of Kilkenny 3° ' Eed Book of the Exchfiquer, Dublin. ^ Morrin's Pat. and Close EoUs, Chanc. Ir. vol. ii. preface, p. xlvi. 42 EEIGN OF EDWAED 11. CHAP. II. Eed book continued. Edw. II., the four first chapters wanting : Ordinationes in Pari, Dublin 13° Edw. II. : Le Serement des CoUectours : Statutum in Pari. Dublin 11 Henry IV. : Bone Estatut pour le Peuple, and a drawing of the Coart of Exchequer.' Statutes of Lincoln and York, with a writ for their ob- servance: Averment encinte protection, 10° Henry IV., an ancient calendar, the twelve months complete. Some sacred writings; Latin verses; Qui jurat super librum tria facet, primo : Allowance to the Master of the Mint in England, pro operag' et Monetag'; and a memorandum quod W. de Wymundham misit 24 picias cuneorum in Hibernia pro moneta ibidem facienda: Proclamation for decrying false money — 27° Edwd. III.; Oath of Justice; De Juramento Vice Comitum et Ballivorum, and a writ of levari to the Sheriff of Dublin for the King's debts ; 11° Edward I. The Great Charter of Ireland 1° Henry III. : Latin verses : Terms of agreement with the King by Walter de Lacy, pro habenda terra sua in Hibernia ; Writ for the observance of certain ordinances : Writ of Ed- ward IV. to the Treasurer and Barons, with the tenor of an Act of Parliament made at Naas, 13° Henry VI., to discharge the Sheriffs of old debts; Statute of Hutland Edw. I. Serement des Viscomtes, Mairis, et Bailiffs Stat. I. West. Stat. Gloucestir ; Ancient tables of calculation ; Writ of Privilege for Clerks of Exchequer ; Statutum de anno 38™, Chap. 2, 2° H. : Kings of England from William the Conqueror ; Four writs de Capitali Banco ; Oaths of allegiance, supremacy ; Lists of Officials, Officers of T'-^- chequer, Oaths of Commissioners of Appeals. EOBEET DE WICKFOED, CHANCELLOE. 43 CHAPTEE in. OP THE CHANCELIOES rKOJSI THE EEIGB" OF EDWAED 11. TO THE DEATH OP CHANCELLOR DE WICKFOKD. Several names appear in the list of Chancellors during CHAP, the reigns of the Edwards II. and III., but few have left _ ' . more than their names. We find Johm" L'Archee,' John Names of MoEiOE,^ John Eeowtk,^ John de Bothbt,^ William i^^^H ' Tant/ John Kippoch/ who held the Seal, but few materials whom for a memoir of any until we come to a very wise and learned known. Judge, a Chancellor who presided in his Court with great ability, and afforded an excellent example to the judicial functionaries of his time. This was Robert de Wickford, Eobert de VV 1 C kf OPQ Archbishop of Dublin, to whom the Great Seal was in- chancel-' trusted in 1377. This distinguished Prelate was descended ^°'^- from the ancient family of De Wickfords, of Wickford HisfamUy. HaU, in Essex. He was born about the year 1330, and displayed much ability during his student days. He Graduate graduated in the University of Oxford, and became one of the Eellows of Merton College. Having obtained the degree of Doctor of Civil and Canon Laws, he devoted himself to the Church, and was advanced to the dignity of Archdeacon of Winchester. His learning and varied Arehdea- accomplishments recommended him to the notice of King \vinches- Edward III., who required a skilful and trustworthy am- ter. bassador to send abroad, and selected the Archdeacon de Wickford to carry out his views with reference to Con- tinental States. In 1370, he was commissioned by the ' Piior of St. John of Jerusalem. Patent in 1343. ' Patent West. 1346. ^ Prior of St. John. Patent 1367. ■■ Pat. 1371. ° Prior of St. John of Jerusalem. Patent 1374. " Justice of the Common Pleas. He was appointed Lord Keeper during the absence of WiUiam Tany, Chancellor, in England. Patent 1375. EEIGN OF EDWARD III. CHAP. III. Treaty ■with Duke of Bra- bant. Constable of Bour- deaux. Judge of Appeal Court. Prosecuted while absent. Pined. King to treat witli Wenceslaus, Duke of Brabant, respect- ing tlie pay and allowances to be granted to tbat prince and bis army during the wars in which he served the King. In the following year De Wickford received a commission as ambassador with others to the Earl of Flanders.^ Edward III. was ever ready to avail himself of the abilities of his talented subjects, and about this period was engaged in building Windsor Castle, the design having been furnished by a Chancellor of England, the famous William of Wickham. De Wickford's rank in the Church and his character for abstruse learning were not deemed inconsistent with military duty, for we find him, in 1373, Constable of the Castle of Bourdeaux, and treating with Peter, King of Arragou, for a league, offensive and defensive. In the month of AprU of that year De Wickford was joined in commission with Thomas Felton, Seneschal of Aquitaine, to take possession of that principality on behalf of the King's eldest son. Prince Edward, to whom it had been granted for life. De Wickford was also empowered to hear appeals in the Courts of that province, but he was not allowed to discharge his judicial office for any length of time, as the King had other employment for him. It is not a little singular that in a suit against himself, in which Ivo Beauston was prosecutor, concerning a right to a prisoner, heard before Sir Guy de Bryan and Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, the King's Judges in Aquitaine, he was treated with little consideration, if not injustice. Without citation, or other legal process necessary for the proper conviction of an offender, especially one absent on the King's business, and the Appellate Judge, he was adjudged guilty, ordered to pay and render 7,626 francs, 200 marks of silver, two good coiu-sers, and one hackney. It is possible the Judges had some antipathy to the learned Canonist, and revenged themselves thus by sum- marily disposing of the case, but they did not long enjoy their triumph. De Wickford appealed to the King and ' Kymer's P'osdera • EGBERT DE WICKFOED, CHANCELLOR. 45 Council in England, and Edward III. at once directed a CHAP. mandatory writ at the prayer of the appellant, whom he ,J — • honours with the title of his ' beloved Clerk,' bearing date Sentence June 26, 1375, commanding Thomas Eelton, Seneschal of by com- Aquitaine, William de Elmham, Seneschal of Gascony, and ™^°'i- Eichard Eotour, Constable of Bourdeaux, to supersede the said judgment, and citing Ivo Beauston to appear before the King and Council at Westminster, the day after the Purification following, then to abide such decree as the King and Council should make in the premises. I could not find if the case proceeded further. Thomas Minot, Archbishop of Dublin, died in London in the year 1375, whereon the Prior and Convent of the Holy Trinity of Dublin, and the Dean and Chapter of St. Patrick's Cathedral of that city, applied to the King for his Eoyal license to enable them to choose a Bishop in place of the deceased Prelate. This was speedily granted. Elected when, probably assisted by an intimation from the Throne, A'^^' - their choice fell upon the King's 'beloved Clerk,' which Dublin, • • • • 1375 was ratified by a provision from his Holiness Pope Gre- gory IX., dated Avignon, October 12, 1875. Before the close of this year the new Archbishop of Dublin was consecrated, and immediately summoned to take part in a Parliament assembled at Dublin. His heart must have been heavy with the woes of his patron. King Edward III., then watching by the deathbed of his son, the Prince of Wales, illustrious for every virtue, and from his earliest youth, till the hour he expired, unstained by any blemish.' There are but scanty records of these early Parliaments, yet that such were held appears from many works, to which I refer the reader desirous to inves- tigate this subject.^ During the reign of Edward III. the power of the En- state of glish in Ireland was in perpetual danger. In proof of this ^^ ^° ' I may quote a mandate addressed, in 1355, by the King ' Hume's History of England, vol. iii. p. 100. ' 2 Rich. III. c. 8. Essay on Parliaments in Ireland, by Mason, p. 3. Whiteside's Irish Parliaments, Part I. p. 17. 46 EEIGN OF EDWAED III. CHAP, to Maurice Fitz Thomas, fourth Earl of Kildare, one of in, the noblemen most respected in the country, complaining Mandate of that nobleman not more effectually repressing incursions ward llf. on the marches or boundary dividing the English territory '^°iJ'.?,^'^^l from that held by the native Irish. The King v^rote thus ofKildare. . , *', , , , n ,-i ■ reprovingly: — 'Although you know oi these invasions, destructions, or dangers, and have been often urged by us to defend these marches jointly with others, you have neither sped thither, nor sent that force of men which you were most strongly bound to have done for the honour of an Earl, and for the safety of these lordships, castles, lands, and tenements which, given and granted to your grandfather by our grandfather, have thus descended to you. Since you neither endeavour to prevent the perils, ruin, and destruction threatening these parts, in conse- quence of your neglect, nor attend to the orders of our- selves, or our Council, we shall no longer be trifled with; and now ordain that you, in your proper person, with five other mounted men-at-arms, twelve mounted hobilers, forty archers, and other foot-soldiers in good array, shall be at Eathmore, on Monday next, after the Octave of the Holy Trinity, or on the Tuesday following, at the farthest, to maintain a guard there, at your ovm costs, for the defence of your lands and of those parts. Therefore, on your allegiance, and on pain of forfeiting both your body and all your lands, held from us in the County of Kildare, we command you to perform and continue in this service, with our other subjects, against the enemies as occasion may require ; otherwise the confiscation shall be enforced against you.' Difficulty Considerable difficulty was encountered by the Anglo- of travel- j^ormans planted in distant parts of the country, in making their way to Dublin to attend Parliament, or for business or pleasure, partly arising from having to traverse districts occupied by the hostile Irish, and partly from advantage being taken of their absence, by the old proprietors, to regain the possessions of which they were BOBEET DE WICKFOED, CHANCELLOE. 47 deprived. The higli legal officials were usually English chap. Ecclesiastics. - ' . The Chancellor was allowed as guard for his personal Chancel- safety, and for that of the Great Seal, which he held in g^ard. custody, six men-at-arms, and twelve mounted archers. The King's Treasurer had a like number, and they usually formed the retinue when they rode beyond the suburbs of towns, or escorted the Viceroy from place to place. Among the incidents of this reign, I may mention a St. Pa- pilgrimage, performed by Maletesto TJngaro, Lord of p„^„atoiT Eimini and other territories, renowned for his intrepidity, learning, and piety, to the Purgatory of St. Patrick's in Lough Derg.^ The temporalities of the Archdiocese of Dublin had A writ been committed, on the death of Archbishop Minot to ^^^X'"*"^ Stephen, Bishop of Meath, and it was some months before bishop' of the new prelate obtained the writ of restitution. Having got into possession, Easter 1376, his grace was un- pleasantly reminded that he was possessed of attachable property in Ireland. A clerk in England named Thomas, who had obtained a judgment against him for 107. previous to his elevation to the Archbishopric, made affi- davit that ' the defendant lived in Ireland and had goods and lands there, and that the sheriff made return to a former writ, that he had neither lands or goods in Eng- ' This is certified by King Edward III., as follows : ' Whereas Maletesto Ungaro of Eimini, a nobleman and knight, hath presented himself before us, and declared that, travelling from his own country, he had, with many bodily toils, visited the Purgatory of St. Patrick, in our land of Ireland, and for the space of a day and a night, as is the custom, remained therein enclosed, and now earnestly beseeches us that for the confirmation of the truth thereof, we should grant him our royal letters : We, therefore, considering the dangers and perils of his pilgrimage, and although the assertion of such a noble might on this suffice, yet we are further certified thereof by letters from our trusty and beloved Almarie de St. Amand, knight. Justiciary of Ireland, and from the Prior and Convent of the said Purgatory, and others of great credit, as also by clear evidence, that the said nobleman hath duly and courageously performed his pilgrimage : We have, consequently, thought worthy to give favourably unto him our royal authority concerning the same, to the end there may be no doubt made of the premised, we have granted unto him these our letters under our royal seal.' 48 EEIGN OF EDWARD III. CHAP. III. Chancellor of Ireland. Eichard II. King. Chancellor to alter the Great Seal. Absentees from Par- liament fined. Case of the Bishop of Emly, Temp. Edward III. land, wliereupon he was ordered a writ of fieri facias empowering the sheriff of Dublin to levy the amount of said judgment off the lands and chattels of the Arch- bishop within his bail wick.' Toward the close of 1376,^ the Archbishop was ap- pointed Chancellor of Ireland, and, in the ensuing year, 1377, receired a mandatory writ to alter the Great Seal, the ill-fated King Eichard II., then only eleven years of age, having succeeded the chivalrous and strong-minded Edward III. The King's guardians sent Sir Nicholas Dagworth to scrutinise the conduct of the officials in Ire- land, and with a view to economy, issued an order to the Chancellor, to change the circumscription on both sides of the Great Seal in his custody, by having the name of Edward removed, and that of Eichard substituted for it.^ The Archbishop was awarded, at this time, a liberate of 20Z. from the treasury, for his expenses attending a Great Council at Tristedermot, also the Parliament held there, which continued for four weeks. Absentees summoned to Parliament were fined. On the Memoranda EoU, 9° Edward III., the Bishop of Emly not having attended pursuant to his summons, was fined. He petitioned, praying to be excused, and by inquisition it was proved, ' that, on the vigil of the Nativity, as the Bishop was riding towards the church, his palfrey stumbled and threw him to the earth, whereby he was grievously wounded, and had three of his ribs broken ; in conse- quence, during the whole session, he lay so sick that his life was despaired of, and without peril of his body he could not approach the Parliament.' Whereupon the King, in consideration of the Bishop's misfortune, and wishing to show him special grace, ordered him to be exonerated and discharged from the fine.^ The Archbishop was summoned to attend a Parlia- ment at Castledermot, in the County Kildare, where now ' D' Alton's Archbishops of Dublin, p. 141. 2 Eot. 01., 1 Ric. II. f. E. 2. = Gilbert's Viceroys, p. 243. * Morriu's Calendar Pat. and Close Eolls, Chan. Ir. vol. ii. p. xlvi. EGBERT DE "WICKFORD, CHANCELLOR. 49 humble cabins and mean dwellings contrast painfully CHAP. "vvith ruins of stately castles and magnificent ecclesiastical ^__,J_^ remains. It was, anciently, a pltice of great importance, and largely endowed by the powerful Geraldines of Kil- dare. A Franciscan Monastery was erected bere in 1302 by Thomas Lord OfFaly, and the town was enlivened by the holding of several Parliaments. The hospitality of the Monks, and other Clergy, must have been pretty well tested during the sessions, for hotel accommodation had not then extensively prevailed, and the members sought the shelter of the religious houses of the town. De Wickford, in 1378, had an amplification and con- firmation of the Manor of Swords to him and his suc- cessors, and, in 1380, all its possessions were conveyed, as D'Alton remarks,' ' by one of these little slips of parch- ment which formerly conveyed whole baronies, while the smallest estates of modern times require a pile of skins for their transmission.' The Chancellor, in these primitive days, had very ex- Duties of tensive jurisdiction, and a proportionate sphere of duty, [egiastieal Beside presiding in the Court of Chancery, attending Chancel- Parliament, and assisting the Lord Deputy with his advice ; ministering to the wants of his diocese, and the important functions of an Archbishop or Bishop, he pre- sided as Judge of Assize, and disposed of the business civil and criminal. The absence of the Chancellor in Assizes England, in 1380, caused the assizes which were to be chancel-'^ holden before him to lapse. On his return his services lor's ab- were put in requisition to raise money. He was directed, by royal letter, to appoint collectors of a clerical subsidy a subsidy. for the service of the State. He was also summoned to attend a Parliament at Dublin, with proxies for his Dean and Chapter. The absence of legal records at this time prevents me from giving any detailed account of the state of legal pro- cedure which was in use at this period. In England the practice, which was afterwards constantly used in Ireland, ' Archbishop of Dublin, p. 14.5. VOL. I. E 50 EEIGN OF EDWARD III. Health fails. m com mission. Dies. Street beg' CHAP, of impeacliing Lord Chancellors commenced,' and the - ™' -. troubles of the unfortunate King Eichard II. occupied a large share of attention. In 1387, De Wickford obtained a confirmation of the right of holding a fair at Swords to the See of Dublin, and also a grant of half a cantred of the Abbey of Glen- dalough lying next the Castle of Ballymore, and, in 1389, he was one of the Commissioners named to assess the Clergy and Commons of the County of Dublin for the subsidy they had granted. His health became much im- paired as he grew old, and trusting his native air and the society of friends in his beloved England would tend to restore him, the Chancellor Archbishop obtained a Great Seal year's leave of absence early in 1390, and put the Great Seal in Commission. He lingered over the summer, but there was no amendment in his health, and his death took place in England on August 29, 1890. Among the uisef al acts he performed, one was suppress- ing street begging, of which an ancient Registry of St. Patrick's Cathedral has the following record : — ' After the burning of St. Patrick's Church, sixty straggling and idle fellows were taken up and obliged to assist in repair- ing the church and rebuilding the steeple, who, when the work was over, returned to their old trade of begging, but were banished out of the diocese in 1376 by Arch- bishop de Wickford.' ' In the book of Obits of Christ Church, it is recorded that this Archbishop released to that cathedral an annual payment of five marks, which his predecessors had re- ceived for proxies, and, in return, a yearly commemo- ration was appointed for him there, with an oflice of nine lessons.' In the time of King Edward III. the Norman French began to be disused in the Courts of Law, and English to be substituted. The English language, also, was now used for the first time in Parliament. The viva voce discussions were in English, but the assent, or dissent ' Lord Campbell's Lives of the Lord Chancellors of England, vol. i. p. 239. = D' Alton's Archbishops of Dublin, p. 141. 3 Jd. p. 146. EGBERT DE WICKFOKD, CHANCELLOE. 51 of Bills, was then, and indeed, to some extent, still is, in CHAP. Ill the language of the Plantagenets. ■ ^ — - During the latter part of the reign of King Edward Dissen- III., the feuds of the English by descent, and English by Ireland, birth, reached such a height, that the King ordered the Viceroy and Lord Chancellor to interfere, and prevent these dissensions weakening the English power in Ire- land. He gave them authority to punish by fine and imprisonment for two years all English subjects, born in England or Ireland, who, within his Irish territories, should use contumelious language towards each other, or engage in quarrels or strife among themselves.^ An incident occurred about this time which reminds Crystede's us of what we read of in Indian warfare. It was related by Henry Cryst^de, a Norman protege of the Earl of Ormond, to Sir John Froissart : — ' I,' said Crystfede, ' know the language of the Irish as well as I do French and English, for, from my youth, I was educated amongst them, and the Earl of Ormond kept me with him. out of affection for my good horsemanship. It happened that this Earl was sent with three hundred lances and one thousand archers to make war on the frontier of the Irish; for the English had kept up a constant warfare against them in hopes of bringing them under their sub- jection. The Earl of Ormond, whose lands bordered on his opponents, had, that day, mounted me on one of his best and fleetest coursers, and I rode by his side. The Irish having formed an ambuscade to surprise the Eng- lish, advanced from it, commencing to cast and throw their darts, but were so sharply attacked by the archers, whose arrows they could not withstand, for they were not armed against them, that they soon retreated. The Earl pursued, and I, being well mounted, kept close by him. It chanced that in the pursuit my horse took fright, and ran away with me, in spite of all my efforts, into the midst of the enemy. My friends could never overtake me ; and, in passine through the Irish, one of them, by a ' Gilbert's Viceroys, p. 221. E 2 52 REIGif OF EDWAED III. CHAP, great feat of agility, leaped on the back of my horse, and >-"/•-. held me tight with both his arms, but did me no harm with lance or knife. Turning my horse, he rode with me for more than two hours, till we reached a large bush in a very retired spot, where he found his companions, who had retreated thither from the English. He seemed much rejoiced to have made me his prisoner, and carried me to his house, which was strong, and in a town, sur- rounded by wooden palisades and still water : the name of this town was Herpelipin. The gentleman who had taken me was called Brin Costerec, a very handsome man, Brin kept me with him seven years, and gave me his daughter in marriage, by whom I have two girls. ' I will now tell you how I obtained my liberty. It happened in the seventh year of my captivity that one of their kings. Art MacMurragh, King of Leinster, raised an army against Lionel, Duke of Clarence, son to King Edward of England, and both armies met near the city of Leinster. In the battle that followed many were slain and taken on both sides, but the English gaining the day, the Irish were forced to retreat, and the King of Leinster escaped. The father of my wife was made prisoner under the banner of the Duke of Clarence ; and as Brin Costerec was mounted on my horse, which was remembered to have belonged to the Earl of Ormond, it was jB.rst known that I was alive, that he had honourably entertained me at his house in Herpelipin, and given me his daughter in marriage. The Duke of Clarence, Sir William de Windsor, and all of our party were well pleased to hear this news, and he was offered his liberty on condition that he gave me mine, and sent me to the English army with my wife and children ; but when he found no other terms would be accepted he agreed to them, provided my eldest daughter remained with him. I returned to England with my wife and youngest daughter, and fixed my residence at Bristol. My two children are married ; the one established in Ireland has three boys and two girls, and her sister four sons and two daughters. The Irish language is as fa.miliar STATUTE OF KILKENNY. 53 to me as English, for I have always spoken it with my CHAP, wife, and introduce it among my children as mnch as I -_ — ,.1 — - can.' ' This romantic story is very interesting, and highly creditable to all concerned. It shows the kindly feelings of the Irish, the attachment between the captor and the captive. The natural desire of Brin Costeric not to lose aU his family in retaining one of his grand-daughters displays these heart-yearning which denote the love of our kind. The adoption by vast numbers of the English colonists The Eng- of the Irish language, dress, and customs, caused a series of ^^^^ °^^ ordinances to be passed at a Parliament in Kilkenny under names and the presidency of the Duke of Clarence, in the spring of 1367. It declares, 'that many of the English of Ireland, Kilkenny, discarding the English tongue, manners, style of riding, ^'^' ^^^^' laws, and usages, lived and governed themselves according to the mode, fashion, and language of the Irish enemies ; and also made divers marriages and alliances between them- selves and the Irish enemies, whereby the said lands, and the liege people thereof, the English language, the allegi- ance due to their lord the King of England, and the English laws there, were put in subjection and decayed, and the Irish enemies exalted and raised up contrary to reason.' This Statute of KUkenny prohibited alliance by mar- riage, gossipred, fostering of children between English and Irish, under penalty of treason ; also selling to the Irish horses, armour, or victuals, under a like penalty. All Englishmen or Irish living among them were to use the English language, be called by English names, follow the English customs, and not ride otherwise than in saddles, according to the English manner. If eccle- siastics, dwelling amongst the English, did not use the English language, the profits of their benefices were to be seized by their superiors, but they had respite to learn the English language. As may readily be supposed from this, the laws of ' Eroissart's Chronicle, Buchon, 1835. 54 HEIGN OF EDWAED III. CHAP. III. English laws neg- lected. No Irish admitted into any benefice. The bards denounced. English not to hold parleys without license. Irish sports prohibited. Soldiers for defen- ces. England were little observed outside Dublin, and the statute provided that the English should not be governed, in the determination of these disputes, by Brehon law. A very stringent clause prohibited the natives from being admitted to the Ministry, that no Irishman should be admitted into any Cathedral, collegiate Church, or bene- fice, by promotion, collation, or presentation, and that religious houses should not receive Irishmen into their profession. The bards or minstrels, who were often wel- come visitors to amuse the nobles and their retainers in days when the use of letters, reading and writing were accomplishments by no means general, when newspapers were unknown, when books existed only in manuscript, and were therefore scarce, were proscribed under severe penalties. The English should not admit, or make gifts, to Irish musicians, storytellers, or rimers, who might be spies or agents. Dwellers on the borders should have legal permission to hold parleys or make treaties with hostile Irish. English subjects should not make war upon each other, nor bring Irish to their aid for such purpose. The amusements most familiar with the Irish, and which they practise to this day, were hurling with a ball and staff curved at the end, called a hurley, and throwing the discus or quoit. These were prohibited. 'The common people dwelling on the borders should not use the plays called hurlings and quoitings, which had caused evils and maims, but accustom themselves to draw bows, and cast . lances,' and other gentlemanlike spoi-ts, whereby the Irish enemies might be better checked.' For defence, there should be appointed in every county four of the most substantial men as Wardens of the Peace, with power to assess the inhabitants for providing horse- men-at-arms, hobilers, and foot-soldiers, who were to be reviewed by them from month to month. That Constables of Castles, with the exception of the Constable of the King's Chief Castle in Ireland at Dublin, should not take from, any prisoner a fee of more than fivepence ; and that they should not use cruelties for the purpose of extortion. STATUTE OF KILKENNY. S5 Against violators of these and other enactments made CHAP, regarding the internal government of the colony, very - severe penalties, ranging from forfeiture of property, and imprisonment, to death, were decreed. The oifice of Chancellor was not unattended with con- siderable personal risk in these wild days. Owing to attacks, the King's officers petitioned for the removal of the Exchequer from the strong castle of Carlow, where it was exposed to danger, to Dublin. To bring the mutinous De Birminghams to terms, a Danger of parley was arranged, which met in Kildare, at which the ^^ ^ ^ Chancellor, Thomas de Bueel, Prior of the Hospitallers, of Ireland. John Fitz Eichard, Sheriff of Meath, Sir Eobert Tirell, Baron of Castleknock, took part. Good faith was broken by the De Birminghams, who captured the high contract- ing parties, holding all to ransom except the Chancellor, whom they refused to liberate upon any terms, holding him for the purpose of exchange for James de Birmingham, then heavily ironed as a traitor in Dublin Castle. As we have no record of any lengthened imprisonment of the Chancellor, we may presume these terms were agreed to. Sir Eobert Preston, who had been Chief Baron in the Preston's reign of Edward III., assigned his spacious mansion to ■^°°" his legal brethren. They called their inn " Preston's Inn,' as a compliment to the generous donor. Here the Judges and Barristers occupied chambers for many years, but I do not find any effort was made to establish a Law School, and Irish students were compelled to enter an English inn when they desired to adopt the law as their profession ; but they had a right to practise, at their option, in either England or Ireland. 56 REIGN OF EICHARD II. CHAPTER IV. OP THE LORD CHANCELLOES OP IRELAND DTJEING THE REIGN OP KING RICHARD II. CHAP. IV. John Colton, LordChan- cellor. Birth and education. Prebend- ary of Bugthorp. Dean of St. Patrick, Dublin. LordChan- cellor. Eetinue. Death of the Lord Lieute- nant. Chancellor and Peers proceed to elect a Lord Jus- tice. John Colton, Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, was ap- pointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1379. He was born in Torrington, Norfolk, and educated for the Church. When ordained, he became Chaplain to William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich, and his attainments were such, that in 1348 he becam.e first Master of Gronville Hall (now Caius College), Cambridge. In 1348, Colton took his degree of Doctor of Canon Law. Having remained for some years in Cambridge University, he obtained prefer- ment, and was Prebendary of Bugthorp, in the Arch- diocese of York. In 1373, he accepted the onerous office of Treasurer of Ireland and Dean of St. Patrick's, as suc- cessor to Dean Bromley. The Great Seal of Ireland was intrusted to his custody in 1379, and his duties appear as much military as civil or ecclesiastical. On the Viceroy, Earl of March, undertaking a progress to Munster in 1380, he was attended by the Lord Chancellor, who had^ for his guard, besides his personal attendants and clerks, four men-at-arms armed at all points, and eight archers on horseback, for whom he received an allowance of twelve pence a day for each man-at-arms, and sixpence for each archer. This journey was a melancholy one. The Lord Lieutenant died on December 26th, at the house of the Dominicans, at Cork. Next morning, the feast of St. John, the Chancellor and John Keppok, Justice of the King's Bench, sent letters to the Bishop of Ossory, Trea- surer of Ireland, to James le BoteUer, Earl of Ormond, and Gerald Fitz Morice, Earl of Desmond, to signify the ALEXANDEE DE BAESCOT, CHANCELLOK. 57 death of the Lord, Lieutenant, and requiring their presence CHAP. to elect a Lord Justice in his place. On the assembling - of the. Peers and others of the Council, this office was offered to the Earls of Ormond and Desmond, but declined by those noblemen, who assigned as their reason, 'that they had sufficient occupation in defending their terri- tories.' It was then offered to the Chancellor, who at Chancellor first refused the honour, but at length accepted it, on ofBee on condition that the Earls of Ormond and Desmond and the conditions. other Peers and Prelates then present assisted him in the discharge of his duty, and that in the next Parliament he might be exonerated from the charge. He was sworn into office, and letters patent passed the Great Seal on January 20th following constituting him Lord Justice, with a salary of bOOl. per annum. ^ This salary was in- Salary creased in a very complimentary manner by the King, '^creased. who ordered him ten shillings a day in addition, in conse- of of" ^^ quence of his singular virtues and great hospitality. I Chancellor mention this for the especial attention of Chancellors, and pitable. I hope the hint will not be lost. The patent to Dean Colton being revoked, William William Tant, Prior of St. John, was again sworn in Lord Chan- appmnted cellor. On February 13, 1382, John Orrewell, the King's Serjeant-at-law, came to Kilkenny, and in the chamber and presence of Alexander, Bishop of Ossory, Treasurer of L-eland, and other persons, produced letters patent under the Great Seal of England to Friar William Tany, consti- tuting him Chancellor of Ireland, who gratefully accepted the same, and was sworn in by the Bishop of Ossory.^ WiUiam Tany having relinquished the Great Seal, it was Alexander given to Alexander de Balscot, Bishop of Ossory, in chaneei™ 1385, who continued Lord Chancellor for three years, l*""- This eminent ecclesiastical Chancellor's real name was His family Petit, but he is called De Balscot from the place of his " ^^' birth in Oxford, as was usual at this period. He was a Canon of Canon of the Cathedral of Kilkenny, and held in such ^ ®°"^' ' Memorandum on EoU 5th Bic. II. 2 Smyth's Law Officers of Ireland, p. 6.. 58 EEIGN OF EICHAED II. .CHAP. IV. Bishop of Ossory in 1397. Treasurer. Treasurer and Lord Cliancel- lor. Ireland torn by dissen- sions. Chancellor and Arch- bishop of Dublin repair to th^ King. repute for his great learning and wisdom that he was elected to succeed John of Tatenale as Bishop of Ossory in 1371, which was confirmed by Pope Gregory XI. The state of affairs in England at this period was critical, and the clouds lowering in the horizon soon extended over Ire- land. All the glories of Edward's long reign were speedily obliterated by the faults and follies of his successor, and it was with sad forebodings Bishop de Balscot cast the weight of his character and talents into the scaJe of the State officials in Ireland. He was too able a man not to hold a high office under the Crown, and accordingly was selected in 1376 for the responsible office of Treasurer of Ireland. As this post required much precaution for the safety of the treasure, a guard of six men-at-arms and twelve archers, paid out of the Exchequer, were assigned to Bishop de Balscot while he continued Treasurer, This shows the insecurity of the country at this period when the property or persons of the King's officers were not safe without a military guard. In the reign of King Eichard II. he was also continued Lord High Treasurer, and appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland.' The jurisdic- tion of the Court of Chancery was then very extensive. When any injury resulted to a subject by the act of the King or his officers, a petition of right was allowed by the Lord Chancellor. Relief was also had against judgments of the Courts of Law, and in cases of fraud, accident, or breach of trust. ^ It was a time of extreme peril ; the duration of English rule in Ireland was threatened by internal dissensions and external foes. The rival houses of Ormond and Desmond were at war within, while Spanish and Scotch pirates plundered from without. In this emergency a Council was assembled at Kilkenny, where it was resolved, ' That the Archbishop of Dublin and the Chancellor should hasten to Eichard II., and assure him of the danger then existing. They were directed to impress upon the King ' In 1377-1385 and 1394 ; also temp. Hen. IV. in 1400. 2 Lord Campbell's Lives of the Lord Chancellors of England, vol. i. p. 271. ALEXANDER DE BALSCOT, CHANCELLOE. 59 the urgent necessity of his visiting Ireland in person. CHAP. Should they be unable to induce the King to cross over to Ireland, they were instructed to implore his Majesty to send one of his most powerful nobles to protect his Irish dominions from impending ruin.' The King was reluctant to leave England, which had manifested a disposition to rebellion the previous year ; but he nominated to the De Vere Viceroyalty his favourite, Eobert de Vere, Earl of Oxford; ^'"^^y- and the English Parliament, being anxious to get rid of Liberality him, voted him a liberal sum, viz. thirty thousand marks, ^. ^ft rid with two years' pay for five hundred men-at-arms, and a thousand archers, on condition of his proceeding at once. He was invested with almost regal authority over Ire- Continued land ; empowered to issue writs in his own name, to ^"^^ "' ^' appoint or displace the Chancellor,' Treasurer, Privy Council, and officials ; to nominate his own Deputy, and pardon treason and felonies. He was created Marquis The first of Dublin — a higher title than previously existed in Ire- '*'^^""*- land, and unknown in England; — authorised to coin gold and silver, to use his Oreat Seal instead of the King's ; His and, in place of the English banner, to substitute his own ^^^^*^S^*^- ' — displaying three golden crowns on an azure ground, with a silver border. From April 19, 1386, when he Letters was granted the land and dominion of Ireland, all letters P*'®"'- patent, and public documents connected with State affairs, were executed in the name of Eobert, Marquis of Dublin, Earl of Oxford, and Chamberlain of England. He did not repair to Ireland as quickly as had been Sir John expected, but sent thither, as his Deputy, Sir John de ^^^^nl^^y Stanley, who landed at Dalkey, on August 30, 1386. His appointment by letters patent under De Vere's Great Seal, was read in the Great Hall of Dublin Castle, in the presence of the Chancellor, the Earl of Kildare, and Eoyal officers. He was empowered to pardon treasons and felonies as representative of the Marquis of Dublin, in ' The Viceroys usually had power to appoint to all offices except those of Chancellor, Master of the Rolls,. Treasurer-at-Waj, Marshall, Treasurer, Jus- tices of either Bench, and Master of the Ordnance. GO EEIGN OF EICHAED IL CHAP. IV. Duke of Ireland. English Peers de- mand his removrtl from the Council. Exiled Judges. whose name, conjointly witli that of the King, the legal business was transacted. Recognizances were taken, ad- mitting persons to the peace of the King and the Marquis of Dublin.' In October, 1386, De Vere, with the consent of the Parliament of England, was advanced to the rank of Duke of Ireland, and received a new patent, conferring upon him additional powers — relieving him from any rent until he had conquered Ireland, and authorising him to hold all Crown estates which he might recover by the sword. It is believed that the weak and infatuated Richard intended to make his favourite King of Ireland, and applied for the Pope's sanction. The King and De Vere went to Wales in 1387, when the English Lords resolved to hnmble the pride of the favourite, and demanded his removal from the Council. Discontent had reached such a height that several of the English nobility were in revolt. The King, to gain time, deferred his reply until the meeting of Par- liament ; and De Vere, having, by virtue of Royal Com- mission, raised an army in Wales, marched to support the King against the combined Peers, but was defeated by the Earl of Derby, near Oxford, and with difficulty escaped by plunging into the Isis.^ Ireland was selected as the place of exile for the five Judicial personages, who, in the Council at Nottingham, had certified that the King was above the laws, could eject Commissioners appointed by Parliament, and annul Acts which he considered prejudicial to himself. They were banished in 1388, to the following cities, — Sir Robert Belknap, Chief Justice of the King's Bench in England, was sent to Drogheda ; Sir Roger Eulthorpe and William Burgh, Justices of the King's Bench, to Dublin ; Sir John Carey, Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and John Sokton, the King's Sergeant, to Waterford ; the King's Confessor, ' Gilbert's Viceroys, p. 254. ' De Vere, Duke of Ireland, died in poverty and exile at Louvain, having been gored by a wild boar, while hunting in tlie forest of Ardennes. — Gilbert's Viceroys, p. 256. ALEXANDER DE BALSCOT, CHANCELLOR. M Dr. Eushok, Bishop of Salisbury, who was accused of chap. haviag urged the Judges to this course, was banished to ■ ^^' . Cork. There was abundant provision made for the support of the exiles. Annual pensions ranging from forty to Provision twenty pounds, were allocated — these were considerable ^°'^*^^''' sums in those days. Each was allowed two English servants, but none were privileged to roam above three leagues outside the places assigned for their residence.' The Bishop had costly episcopal attire, one of his Tlie Bishop forfeited mitres produced 333Z.2 As the blame fell chiefly dealwitli. upon him, he seems to have been treated with more harsh- ness than the others. He was only allowed to bear into exile forty marks, his bed, raiment, a prayer-book, and two" servants. He was limited to a radius of two leagues outside the City of Cork, and denied a pension, but was permitted to accept alms from anyone generous enough to give. Even this was not to exceed forty marks annually for his support. He died in exile, and was buried in Cork. Dies in Prior John Gray provided a marble coffin for the remains ^°^^' of the King's Confessor. He was reimbursed by King Eichai-d ; also for the money he kindly expended in sup- porting the servants of the banished Bishop. From 1387 to 1388, the Government of Ireland was Chancellor chiefly administered by the Lord Chancellor. De Balscot Ji^®*' *® . 1 . 1 .1 -TT- T n . T . ' Seal of De Wishing to please the King, and thinking he had his Vere. warrant, used the Seal of De Vere ; and, when he took the field, unfurled the standard of that once powerful favourite. He little foresaw the consequences of doing so. On May 4, 1388, King Richard II. wrote a very severe Eepri- letter ^ to this Prelate, for thus actingr. ™^" Pat. 1441, Eot. CI. 20 Henry VL C. E. 24. ' Pat. 1446. 106 EEIGN OF HENRY VI. CHAP. VIII. Duke of York Viceroy, A.D. 1449. Peaceful relations. Duke of Clarence born. Sponsors. The Duke beloved. Discontent at the Duke's absence. of Ireland, and, accompanied by the Duchess and his children, landed at Howth (for many centuries the chief port of Dublin) on the 14th of July of that year. He gave early indications of a better policy towards the Irish than was usually observed. Instead of attacking the native chiefs, as was the usual practice of lately appointed deputies to show their activity, the Duke employed the arts of peace, and soon contracted most friendly relations with Maginnis of Iveagh, MacMahon of Farney, Mac- Artan, O'Reilly, and other Irish noblemen. He brought the turbulent Wicklow clan of O'Byme to subjection. This chief engaged to permit the laws of England to be observed in his district ; that he, his wife, and family should wear the English dress and learn the English lan- guage. The reputation for gentle ruling which the Duke gained, in a short time caused the popular belief ' that the wildest Irishman in Ireland would, before twelve months, be sworn English.' On the birth of his son, George of York, Duke of Clarence, in Dublin Castle, on October 12, 1449, the policy of the Viceroy was mani- fested ; for, knowing the tie of gossipred was regarded ag very binding in Ireland, he procured the chiefs of the rival families — Geraldine of Desmond and Butler of Or- mond — to be the sponsors at the font. This politic and propitiatory conduct of the Duke of Tork succeeded in endearing himself and his family, not only to the English in Ireland, but also to the natives, ever grateful for kindness. Meantime the great party who regarded him as their head in England were dis- satisfied at his absence, and looked on his protracted stay in Ireland as though it were an exile, if not banishment. The surrender of Caen to the French, despite the remon- strance of the Governor of that town, Sir Davy Hall, who was appointed by its English owner, the Duke of Tork, also much displeased the Yorkists. The rebellion of Jack Cade, and more especially the nonpayment of the vice- regal allowance, caiised very serious embarrassment to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Some English rebels and LIFE OF EDMUND PLANTAGENET. 107 Irish enemies taking advantage of the state of affairs, and CHAP. the few men at the Viceroy's disposal, attacked his Meath " . estates, burned Eathniore and some adjacent villages, and caused him to send an urgent letter to the King as well as to his brother-in-law, the Earl of Salisbury, requesting His urgent prompt assistance. In this letter he says, ' I write at this the Earl of time unto the King's Highness, and beseech his good grace Salisbury. for to hasten my payment for this land, according to his letters of warrant, and late directed unto the Treasurer of England, to the intent I may wage men in sufficient number, for to resist the malice of the same enemies, and punish them in such wise, that other which would do the same, for lack of resistance in time, may take example ; for doubtless, but if my payment be not had in haste, for to have men of war in defence and safeguard of this land, my power cannot stretch to keep it in the King's obeisance. And very necessity will compel me to come into England to live there upon my poor livelihood, for I had liever be dead than any inconvenience should fall thereunto in my default; for it shall never be chronicled, nor remain in scripture by the grace of God, that Ireland was lost by my negligence. Therefore I beseech you, right worshipful brother, that you will hold to your hands instantly, that any payment may be had at this time in eschewing all inconveniences, for I have example in other places, more pity it is for to dread shame, and for to acquit my truth unto the King's Highness as my duty is.' ' I cannot say what answer was given to this pressing Compelled letter, but infer no money was forwarded, for the Duke monty! declared ' that, for lack of payment of his wages, he was compelled to sell much of his substance, to pledge his plate and great jewels, and borrow from most of his friends.' He returned to England in 1450, and found that country torn by civil broils. He left as his deputy in Ireland Sir James Butler, eldest son of the Earl of Ormond. He was not long absent ; on the breaking up of the Yorkist camp at Ludlow, in Shropshire, the Duke, ' Hollinshed's Chron. Ir., vol. vi. p. 267. 108 EEiaN OF HENBY VI. CHAP. VIII. Appoint- ment of Chancellor ratified by Parlia- ment. The Irish Parlia- ment as- serts inde- pendence. Subjects in Ireland. Appeals of treason. accompanied by his son and Chancellor, Edmund Earl of Rutland, sailed from Wales for Ireland, where he was enthusiastically received by the chiefs of the Geraldines, the Earls of Kildare and Desmond, who expressed their joy at his arrival again in Ireland. His coming also re- joiced the Anglo-Irish of his lordship of Meath, ' whose hearts,' says the historian, ' he had exceedingly tied unto him.' While the Lancastrian party were pillaging and destroying the Yorkists in England, the Irish Parliament formally upheld the authority of the Duke as Viceroy, and established a Mint in his castle at Trim. They likewise ratified the appointment of his son Edmund as Chancellor of Ireland. At this period the Irish Parliament first asserted its independence. Mr. Gilbert, in his History of the Viceroys of Ireland,' states : ' Stimulated by the presence and posi- tion of the Duke, the Parliament publicly enunciated the independence of the legislature in Ireland, and affirmed rights which had hitherto been suffered to lie in abeyance owing to the relations of the colonists with England. Having asserted the right of the King's subjects in Ireland to their own coinage, distinct from that of England, the Par- liament formally declared, that as Normandy and Guienne, when under the obedience of England, were separate from its laws and statutes, so also in Ireland, though under the obedience of the same realm, was nevertheless separate from its laws and statutes, except such as were by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons of Ireland, freely admitted and accepted in their Parliaments and Great Councils.' ^ In further vindication of independent rights, the Parliament declared, that according to ancient prescription, the King's subjects in Ireland were not bound to answer writs except those under the Great Seal of Ireland ; and that any officer attempting to put decrees from England into force in Ireland, should incur forfeiture of all his Irish property, and be fined one thousand marks. It was also ordained, that every appeal of treason in ■ Page 369. " Kot. Stat. Hib. 38 Hen. VI. LIFE OF EDMUND PLANTAGENET. 109 \ Ireland should be determined solely in the Gonrt of the CHAP. Constable and Marshal of Ireland ; that death should be " - inflicted on those who groundlessly accused others of treasdia there ; and that no pardon should avail in such cases. This Parliament also enacted that, while the Duke The Duke of York, as Lieutenant, resided in Ireland, any man who, "^ ^°^ directly or indirectly, sought to compass his death, or to respected provoke rebellion or disobedience towards him, should ^^ "^^' stand attainted of high treason against the King's person. This stringent enactment was rigidly enforced. The Lancastrian party, then in the ascendant, wished to •'^^'^"'P'' f" 3irr6Stp 1116 remove the Chancellor's father from the Yiceroyalty of Duke. Ireland, and resolved to make him a prisoner. They despatched a squire of the Earl of Ormond, named Overy, writh a writ for the Duke's apprehension, on the grounds of his being an attainted traitor in open rebellion against the King, and illegally claiming to be his Viceroy in Ireland. They little counted on the fate in store for their Fatal con- messenger. Overy was himself made prisoner, tried under of*^^™*^^^ the recent penal statute, found guilty of high treason, and attempt. suffered the ignominious death of a traitor. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered. This attempt against the person of the Viceroy being Effort to signally defeated, an effort was next made to create an hostile Irish party hostile to him, and as the Geraldines sided P^irty. with the White Eose of York, the powerful influence of the House of Ormond was enlisted on behalf of the Lan- castrians. The King, Henry VI., was induced to write Its failure, letters, under his Privy Seal, to various Irish chiefs, who were usually ranked as Irish enemies, and these letters were forwarded to the Duke of York ; but all was of no avail, the Duke, as stated by Hall,' ' got him such love and favour of the country and the inhabitants, that their sincere love and friendly affection could never be separated from him and his lineage.' Poets, as well as prose writers, attested the success of his Irish administration. In the ' Mirrour for Magistrates ' ^ he is made to state :— 1 Union of Two Noble Houses, 1548. ' Vol. ii. p. 189. no EEIGN OF HENRY VI. CHAP. ' I twice tare rule in Normandy and France, VIII.' And last Lieutenant in Ireland, where my hart Found remedy for every kind of smart ; For through the love my doings there did breede, I had their helpe at all times in my neede.' The Duke and his son, the Lord Chancellor, attracted to their side the powerful nobles of the Geraldine party, which, as I have already observed, caused the Ormond party, their hereditary opponents, to side with the op- ponents of the White Eose. The Earls of Kildare and Desmond, the heads of the Fitz Geralds, with the Prestons, and Barnewalls, secured to the Duke the Government of Ireland despite the power of the potent Butlers, the in- fluence of the Crown and Parliament of England. Visit of Meanwhile the Duke's eldest son, afterwards Edward IV., Warwick. ^""^ ^i^ nephew, Richard Earl of Warwick, held possession of Calais. Thence occurred Lord Warwick's hasty visit to Ireland narrated by Samuel Daniel: — ' Where shipping and provisions Warwick takes For Ireland, with his chieftain to confer ; And within thirty days this voyage makes. And back returns ere known to have been there : So that the heavens, the sea, the wind partakes With him, as if they of his faction were ; Or that his spirit and valour were combined With destiny, t'efifect what he designed. Capture of The fortunes of the Yorkists were again in the ascen- theKing. ^jj^^^_ rpj^gy defeated the King's forces at Northampton, made King Henry prisoner, and obtained possession of The London. This news was quickly communicated to the and^Lord Viceroy of Ireland, who, accompanied by the Lord Chan- Chancellor eellor, started for England, leaving the Earl of Kildare land. his deputy. On his arrival in London he was received The Duke '^^^^ enthusiasm, solemnly proclaimed heir to the Crown, Protector, and Protector of the realm. Alas ! the Protector soon Besieged stood in need of protection. Within a month he was Ma^arct. besieged in his Castle of Sandal, near Wakefield, by Queen Margaret at the head of a powerful army, superior by four ' Poetical works of S. Daniel, Lond. 1718, vol. ii. p. 231. LIFE OF EDMUND PLANTAGENET. Ill to one to the forces of the Duke. ISTotwithstanding this CHAP. immense majority, the Duke of York was resolved to try ' . the fortune of battle, but Sir Davy Hall, his old comrade in arms, his faithful servant and counsellor, tried to dis- suade him. He advised the Duke to have a little patience, for succour would swiftly come, that Prince Edward with his March men and the Welsh troops were on the road towards him. Yet the impetuous Duke would not be counselled. Heroic but replied with much vehemence, ' Ah, Davy ! Davy ! thrcuke. hast thou loved me so long, and now wouldst have me dishonoured. Thou never saw me keep fortress when I was Eegent in Normandy, when the Dauphin himself, with his puissance, came to besiege me, but like a man, and not like a bird included in a cage, I issued and fought with mine enemies to their loss, ever, I thank God, and to mine honour. If I have not kept myself within walls for fear of a great and strong Prince, nor hid my face from any man living, wouldst thou that I, for dread of a scold- ing woman, should incarcerate myself and shut my gates ; then all men might of me wonder, and all creatures might of me report dishonour, a woman hath made me a dastard, whom no man ever to this day could yet prove a coward. lf(Lj mind is rather to die with honour than to live with shame. Their great number shallnot appal my spirits, but encourage them ; for surely I think that I have there as many friends as enemies, which, at joining, will either fly or take my part. Therefore advance my banner in the name of God and St. George, for surely I will fight with them, though I should fight alone.' ' This valorous speech was more indicative of the chivalry Urged to of a knight-errant than the wisdom of a prudent general. '"^'* ^°^ For five thousand men to leave a strong fortress and en- gage twenty thousand on the open plain, could only be regarded as the height of rashness. Besides Sir Davy Hall, the Earl of Salisbury and other prudent counsellors advised the Duke to remain in the fortress until his son, who was levying forces on the borders of Wales, would ' HoUiushed, p. 674. Kymer, vol. x. pp. 647, 650. 312 EEIGN OF HENBY VI. CHAP. VIII. His troops resolre to (lie with him. The hattle, 1460. The Chancellor fights by his father's side. The Duke killed and beheaded. The Chan- cellor taken prisoner. Vengeance of Lord Clifford. advance to his assistance.' All was urged in vain, tlie Duke vowed he would fight, though he should fight alone, and with heavy hearts the gallant little band resolved to perish with him. There was, indeed, the chance which he had glanced at in his speech of numbering friends in Queen Margaret's camp, who, in the hour of need, would either join him or draw away from the battle. On the eve of Christmas, December 24, 1460, the Duke's army marched out of the castle and offered the Lancastrians battle. By the side of the Duke fought his second son, the young Chancellor of Ireland, whose years had not past their teens, but who, under a fair and almost effeminate appearance, carried a brave and intrepid spirit. The forces of the Queen resolved to annihilate their audacious foes, and soon the Duke found how little reason he had to hope of finding friends in the camp of Queen Margaret. The historian Hume says," ' the great inequality of num- bers was sufficient alone to decide the victory, but the Queen, by sending a detachment, who fell on the back of the Duke's army, rendered her advantage still more certain and undisputed. The Duke himself was killed in the action; and when his body was found among the siain the head was cut off by Margaret's orders and fixed on the gates of York, with a paper crown upon it, in derision of his pretended title.' The fate of the young Chancellor was soon over. Urged by his tutor, a priest named Robert Aspell, he was no sooner aware that the field was lost than he sought safety by flight. Their movements were intercepted by the Lan- castrians, and Lord Clifford made him prisoner, but did not then know his rank. Struck with the richness of his armour and equipment. Lord Clifford demanded his name. ' Save him,' implored the Chaplain ; ' for he is the Prince's son, and peradventure may do you good hereafter.' This was an impolitic appeal, for it denoted hopes of the House of York being again in the ascendant, which the Lancastrians, flushed with recent victory, regarded as ' Hume's History of England, vol. iii. p. 304. ■' Ibid. SIE WILLIAM WELLES, CHANCELLOE. 113 ' impossible. Tiie ruthless noble swore a solemn oath : — CHAP. ' Thy father,' said he, ' slew mine ; and so will I do thee - , '— and all thy kin ; ' and with these words he rushed on the hapless youth, and drove his dagger to the hilt in his heart. Thus fell, at the early age of seventeen, Edmund The Plantagenet, Earl of Rutland, Lord Chancellor of Ire- ^1^?^'='^^°' land. WhUe these deplorable events were taking place, the Goldhaii duties of Chancellor of Ireland were performed by deputy, i^^^'^^^' and that deputy was Edmund Goldhall, or Ouldhall, who is named in the Liber Munerum Publicorum Hibernise as Chancellor, ia 1451.' He is enumerated among the Probable Bishops of Meath,' and was brother of Sir William Ould- ^^^ ^' hall. Chamberlain to Richard Duke of York, who probably recommended him as the most eligible person to be Vice- Chancellor to the Duke's son. He held the Great Seal for Sir Jobn three years, and was succeeded, in 1454, by Sie John Lord Talbot, son and heir of John Earl of Shrewsbury, and Cliancel- nephew of the Chancellor Talbot, whose ' Life ' I have so fully given. Sir John held the Seal for six years, imtil John Dyn- 1460, when Johw Dtnham, Esq., had the Great Seal, chancei- This Chancellor appointed Sir Robert Preston, Lord Gor- ^°^> i-'^''- manton, his Deputy Chancellor. This arrangement did not long endure. The following Sir year the King sent a prsecipe, dated at Bristol, 1461, to Welles Thomas Fitz Morice, Earl of Kildare ; Sir Robert Preston, Loi'^ Sir Christopher St. Lawrence ; Sir Rowland Eitz Eustace, lor, i46i. Sir Nicholas Barnewall, Chief Justice of the King's Bench ; Sir Robert Dowedale, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas ; Sir Thomas Plunkett, and others, his liege people, signify- ing them that he sent over for Ireland a new Great Seal, A new by Sir William Welles, Knight, Lord Chancellor of Ire- land, and enjoining them to obey the said Chancellor, ^^y^m j|]°j whom he had sworn into office before himself in Chan- Westmin- cery, at Westminster, and to make use of that Seal, and ^ ^'^' 1 Part ii. p. 202. This is the date assigned for the appointment of the, young Earl of Eutland. ' Ware's Bishops. VOL. I. I 114 EEIGN OF EDWAED IV. CHAP, no other. And that all grants under any other Seal, from VIII J ^ , '-- the first day of his reign, should be vacated and of no force, which, by the tenor of this writ or prsscipe, be can- celled.' This Sir William was son of Lionel Lord Welles, and had his appointment for life confirmed by Act of Parliament ; ^ but he only held it one year, when he was succeeded by a nobleman whose career is very tragical, John Tiptopt, Earl of Worcester, Lord Chancellor of Ireland. John Tip- The ancestor of John Tiptoft, or Tibetot, Earl of Wor- ofWorces- tester, had claims upon the manors of Inchiquin and ter, Lord Toughal, part of the extensive territories of the Eitz lor. Geralds of Desmond. He was of illustrious descent, nearly related to King Edward lY., and possessed of ample for- tune, was well fitted to occupy a high place in the public gaze. How he fulfilled the promise of his youth we learn as we proceed. Graduated The University destined to mature the capacity of the at Oxford, f^t^re Chancellor of Ireland, was Oxford ; and the classic College of Baliol is associated with his name. The place whence he derived his title, in the humorous lay of the * Oxford Commemoration,' is described as not far distant from the celebrated University. In the words of the lively writer — From legendary Christchurch, Wiiere booms the far-famed bell, Keared by the hand of Wolsey, But when I cannot tell ; From classic quads of Baliol, Whence third-iloor men descry. The smoky roofs of Worcester Fringing the western sky, the young Earl received stores of knowledge. Effects of The youthful student was no idle one : this may be in- Oration°on furred from the incident recorded, that while on his travels Pope Pius to Jerusalem, having visited the Holy Father in Eome (the Pope was then the learned .^neas Silvius, Pius II.), he delivered a Latin oration of such pathos that he moved ' Lib. Munerum Pub. Hib., Part ii. p. 203. ■' 2 Edward IV. LIFE OF LOED WOECESTEE. 115 the Pope to tears. The Earl's reputation for learning chap. caused him to be regarded as the most accomplished — , "_^ English nobleman of his day. His leam- When he became an adherent of the House of York, his ""^^ . talents were sure to put him into high offices. He was ments. accordingly appointed Justice of North Wales, Trea- Chancellor surer and Constable of England, Chancellor during life a.d. U67.' for Ireland, and Steward of the King's Household. The impossibility of one man filling so many offices, unless by deputy, is apparent, so, as in duty bound, I foUow his for- tunes in Ireland, of which he was nominally Chancellor. He landed at Howth, in 1467, escorted by a strong Deputy to military force. Beside the offices I have enumerated, he of ciar- was Deputy-Governor of Ireland, under the Duke of *°°®- Clarence, then Viceroy. Shortly after his arrival he Heads of assembled a Parliament, and this legislative body pro- dines at- ceeded at once to attaint the Earls of Kildare and Des- t'^'^ted. mond, also Edward Plunkett, for treason. This was a most ungrateful return for the support which those noble- men had given the York party. The grounds for their impeachment were ostensibly alliances and fosterage with the King's Irish enemies. Other breaches of the statute of Kilkenny were also charged in furnishing the said enemies with horses and armour, and supporting them against the loyal subjects of the King. The penalties of Earl of the statute were pressed most severely against the Earl of ^g*)^^^"^ Desmond; his estates were declared confiscated, and, 1467. on February 14, 1467, the Earl, by the command of the Earl of Worcester, was beheaded at Drogheda. The real cause of this severity is probably that given by tradi- tion. Desmond was greatly beloved by King Edward IV. King Ed- on account of his prowess in the field, and for having J^^'^^e ' fought no less than nine battles against the Lancastrians. Earl. The King listened with attention to his counsels, and asked his advice as to his future conduct on the throne. The Earl strongly recommended his Majesty's strengthen- Desmond's ing his position by an alliance with a foreign princess ; the King. and when the King disclosed his marriage with the widow I 2 116 EEIGN OF EDWAED lY. CHAP. VIII. Character of Des- mond. The Trea- Burer ar- raigned before the Chancel- lor. of Sir John Grey, of Groby, Desmond replied, ' tliat he might obtain a divorce.' The King refused to adopt this course, but on an occasion of some connubial dissension with the Queen, imprudently communicated to her the advice he had received ; saying to her Majesty, ' her pride would be humbled, had he taken the advice of his cousin of Desmond.' Woe betide the man who comes between husband and wife. The beautiful Queen Elizabeth took these words to heart, and when their little quarrel was made up exerted those fascinations which secured her the Crown, and which the amorous King was unable to resist, to lea.rn the exact words Desmond used. The consequence was fatal to the Earl. The Queen enlisted the services of Worcester in her design to be revenged on this unfortu- nate Lord. At her instigation, Worcester was sent to sup- plant Desmond as Deputy for Ireland ; and by assembling the Parliament at Drogheda, remote from the province of Munster, the portion of Ireland in which Desmond's power and influence lay, caused him to be attainted and exe- cuted. Irish historians describe Desmond as excelling in personal grace and intellect most men of his time. At the period of his execution he was but forty-two years of age, and no praise bestowed on him exceeded his merits. They added that Erin suffered deeply by his death, the sorrow and affliction for which was felt equally by strangers and Gaels.' Mutual jealousy and great dissensions existed among the State officials of the English settlement while the Earl of Worcester was Lord Chancellor. The Treasurer, Sir Eoland Fitz Eustace, Baron of Portlester, whose daughter was married to the Earl of Kildare, was ar- raigned before the Lord Chancellor by Sir John Gilbert. The accusation against him was treason, in inciting the ' Gilbert's Viceroys of Ireland, p. 387. Eichard III. wrote of the Earl of Desmond's fate, seventeen years after it occurred, ' That he had been extor- tiously slain and murdered by colour of laws, within Ireland, by certain persons, then having the government and rule there, against all manhood, reason, and good conscience.' — Ibid. LIFE OF LORD WOECESTEK. 117 Earl of Desmond to assume tlie rank of Sovereign in CHAP. Ireland, undertaking that lie and aU the land would . - prefer him to Edward IV. Eitz Eustace indignantly denied The Trea- the charge, and expressed his willingness to appear to dedares any indictment preferred against him. This bold denial ^^^ i^no- by Lord Portlester, in the opinion of many, proved the falsehood of the accusation, and instead of bringing the charge to trial and sustaining it, GUbert fled out of the reach of the injured noble. He joined the Irish who were His at war with the Deputy, and had the tables turned on ^tSiiiTed himself, being attainted a traitor by the very Parliament which acquitted Lord Portlester from his false impeach- ment. The peerage of Baron of Eatoath, in the county of TheCban- Meath, was conferred on Robert Bold, for his services to commends the King and his father, the Duke of Tork, at the recom- ^^^ "^''^ mendation of the Chancellor, Earl of Worcester.* He Peer, was assigned twenty marks yearly out of that manor, to be held by the service of one goshawk. During the sitting of Parliament, convened by the Order of Chancellor, a very important though rather crotchety ^y^^^l^' point was settled, ' Whether the Lieutenant, or Viceroy, respecting vacated his office by passing from Ireland to any of the roy. small islands on or near the coast?' The Parliament ordained, ' that if a Viceroy, or his Deputy, went into any island near Ireland, and returned, such passage should not render the office vacant, but that the Viceregal autho- rity should still stand in full force and effect.' The Island of Lambay, then uninhabited, was given by Lambay Parliament to the Chancellor, on consideration of his the Chan- erecting thereon a fort, to prevent the Bretons, Spaniards, ^ll""^- Erench, and Scots landing, and harbouring there, and making it a rendezvous when they issued forth to plunder the liege merchants passing the eastern coast of Ireland. The English settlement was sorely pressed by the in- The furiated adherents of the late Earl of Desmond, who fetflement. marched from the south to avenge his death, and by the ' Gilbert's Viceroys of Ireland, p. 388. 118 EEIGN OF EDWARD IV. CHAP. ' VIII. Drogheda rewarded. Lord Chancellor and the Earl of Kildare. Earl of "Worcester appointed Viceroy, A.D. 1470. A conspi- racy. Tried be- fore the Ex-chan- cellor of Ireland. ravages of the O'Eeilljs and other potent chiefs from the north. The townspeople of Drogheda did such effectual service in plundering and burning the mansion and monastery of the O'Eeilly sept, that the Chancellor ob- tained for the Mayor the privilege of having a sword borne before him, as is the custom of the Lord Mayor of London ; likewise a pension of 20Z. out of the municipal rent to the Crown, for the maintenance of the dignity of that magistrate. The desperate state to which the colony was reduced, caused the Chancellor to recommend that the Earl of Kildare should be taken into Royal favour, provided he obtained proper bail for his future loyalty. Accordingly, on the Archbishop of Dublin and others en- tering into recognizance to the amount of a thousand marks, a Parliament held before Worcester, in 1468, rati- fied the pardon of the Earl of KUdare, and restored his estates. He joined the Earl and Countess of Worcester in re-establishing a perpetual chauntry to celebrate Divine service at the altar of St. Catherine the Yirgin, in the church of St. Secundinus, or Sechnall,' at Dunshaughlin, in Meath, to the honour of God and the Blessed Virgin. The Earl of Worcester left Ireland late in 1468, and the Duke of Clarence, having been discharged from the Viceroyalty by Eoyal Proclamation, dated at York, March 23, 1470, the Earl was appointed in his place. He did not, however, personally discharge the duties, but nomi- nated Edward Dudley as his deputy. It would have been better for the Earl's reputation that he had. The Duke of Clarence and the Earl of Warwick having conspired against Edward IV., fled from England to France, and Lord Scales captured many of their adherents. King Edward, on his arrival at Southampton, found a number of Lord Scale's prisoners there, and ordered them for speedy trial before the Ex-chancellor of Ireland, the Earl of Worcester. As a matter of course they were found guilty of high ' This Saint is called a native saint ; hnt the learned Irish writer, W. M. Hennessy, M.R.I.A., remarks, that as he is said to have been St. Patrick's nephew, he therefore was not a native of Ireland. LIFK OF LOED WORCESTER. 119 treason, and sentenced to death. Not content witli tlie chap. customary barbarities sanctioned as punishment for the . ^^}^'_ . highest crime known to the laws of England — by Worces- ter's sentence twenty gentlemen and yeomen were or- dered to be hanged, drawn, quartered, and beheaded, and then suspended by the legs, and their heads impaled on sharp pointed stakes. For these atrocities Worcester was named, and rightly, if they be true, the hutcher of '^^^ „ -7 J • i> J' J > J butcher of England. England. On the restoration of Henry VI. in 1470, the power Henry vi. of the Lancastrian was once more regained, and, we can 1^d.°147'o easily suppose, considerable anxiety was felt to ascertain the whereabouts of 'the Butcher.' There was a heavy J^^, uTltCilftl' score against him which could only be paid by himself in sought for. person, and the broad realm of JEngland was searched to requite the perpetrator of such cruelty as had been im- puted to him. He dared not show himself in city or town, castle or hamlet sheltered him not; the most rigilant watch was kept at every port and creek so that he should not escape by sea, and yet he could not be found ! The last days of this intellectually gifted nobleman must have been miserable. Perfectly aware of the avidity with which his life was sought, he yet clung to the hope of escape, until another turn of Fortune's changing wheel might re- store his friends to power. Afraid to trust himself near the abodes of men, he fled to the lair of the wild beast, and the haunt of the wild fowl. Here he was sought and found. The Earl of Worcester was captured by a Caught in party of his deadly enemies, who found him concealed by ^ ^^^^' the branches of a lofty tree in Havering Forest. With exultation and savage glee they consigned him to the gloomy dungeon of the Tower. Seldom was a more desponding prisoner confined within A prisoner these stern old walls. Since the days of William the Tower. Norman it had been a State prison, though, originally, a fortified residence for Kings desirous of having a wide ditch and deep moat between them and their subjects. Here in dejection and pining for freedom, the once 120 REIGN OF EDVAED IV. CHAP. VIII. His trial and sen- tence. Caxton's panegyric on the Earl, His pos- sessions in Ireland given to the Earl of Kildare. powerftil Earl of Worcester spent the last sad totirs of life. Here lie was speedily tried, and it so happened that the President at his trial was John Vere, Earl of Oxford, whose father had been sentenced and executed in the same place fonr years previously, when Worcester was the Judge. It was Lord Oxford's turn now, and he took the verdict of guilty, and sentenced the Earl of Worcester to be beheaded on Tower hill. We may hope the interval between Worcester's sentence and his execution was well employed. He had seen enough of the mutability of earthly things to turn his thoughts on heaven, and if we can credit the accounts which have reached us, his last hours were piously spent. Caxton, the father of English printers, in his edition, in 1481, of Worcester's translation of 'TuUius his book of Friend- ship,' relates, that the Earl ' flowered in virtue and cun- ning,' that ' none was like unto him among the Lords of the temporality in science and moral virtue.' ' Oh ! good blessed Lord,' exclaims the mourning Caxton, ' what great loss was it of that noble and virtuous and well-disposed Lord, and what worship had he in Eome, in the presence of our Holy Father the Pope, and so in all other places unto his death, every man there might learn to die and take his death patiently, wherein I hope and doubt not but that God received his soul into His everlasting bliss, for as I am informed he right advisedly ordained all his things, as well for his last will of worldly goods ' as to his soul's health, and patiently and holily without grudging in charity, before that he departed out of this world. I beseech Almighty God to have mercy on his soul, and pray all them that shall hear or read this little treatise, much virtuous of friendship, in likewise of your charity to remember his soul among your prayers.' • The Irish chroniclers would hardly endorse Caxton's eulogy. They attributed the fate of Worcester to his ' Honest William Caxton was, no doubt, better acquainted with type than law. The penalty of treason causing forfeiture, left nothing for disposal by wiU. HFE OF LOED WORCESTER, 121 cruelty in causing the Earl of Desmond to be beheaded. CHAP. They asserted that the Ex-chancellor's remains were " - quartered. The Irish Parliament decreed all his posses- sions in Ireland should be given to the Earl of Kildare, in compensation of his long imprisonment, and other injuries sustained at the hands of Worcester. Lambay Island which had been granted to him was restored to the Arch- bishop of Dublin. 122 EEIGN OF EDWARD IV. CHAPTER IX. 01' THE lOEB CHANCELL0E3 OP IKELANB BTJEINS THE WAKS OE THE KOSES — CONIINTJED. Ireland much dis- turbed. Thomas, seventh Earl of Kildare, Lord Chancel- lor. Maynooth Castle. Kildare Deputy. The state of Ireland during tlie Wars of tlie Eoses was little adapted to allow Courts of Justice to hear causes. The short and stern appeal to the sword was the rule, and any other mode of arbitration the exception. The at- tainder of the Earls of Kildare and Desmond, with the execution of the latter, caused infinite mischief, and made the Government of the English colony impossible, unless the powerful nobles of the House of Kildare could be in- duced to forgive the injuries committed against them. This house was then represented by Thomas the seventh Earl of Kildare, who, having fiUed the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland, fairly claims to be noticed by me at some length, although I have no judicial account to render respecting him. John, sixth Earl of Kildare, strengthened and improved Maynooth Castle, which for more than a century had been the principal residence of the Leinster branch of the powerful Geraldines. It was regarded as one of the largest and richest Earl's houses in Ireland. This nobleman had married Margaret de la Heme, by whom he had an only son, Thomas, who on the death of Earl John, in 1427, became seventh Earl of Kildare. When Richard Duke of York became Viceroy of Ireland, in 1449, he gained the affections of the Irish by his mild and paternal government, and enlisted the support of the Geral- dines to the standard of the White Rose. In 1454, the Duke appointed the Earl of Kildare his Deputy, and again in 1456. While in this responsible office he held several Parliaments at Dublin and Naas. We have seen in my memoir of Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Rutland, the THOMAS, SEVENTH EAEL OP KILDAEE. 123 enmity whicli disturbed the kingdom at this eyentful CHAP, period. In 1459, an engagement took place between the . ^^' . Anglo-Norman forces, under the command of the Earl of ■Kildare, and the Irish troops of O'Connor Faly, in which the latter suffered a great defeat.' And indeed the war of the rival Roses was as fiercely maintained in Ireland as in the more iihmediate scene of strife. The policy of ruling without favouring either of the Policy of rival houses of Boteller, or Butler, and Geraldine, or Fitz of York ^ Gerald was strictly observed by the Duke of York. He did his best, while he was Viceroy, so to deport himself, as to win the general love of all subjects. We have already The rival mentioned that when his son, George Duke of Clarence, father^" " was born, in the Castle of Dublin, the Duke seized the opportunity of connecting by the tie of gossipred the Earls of Kildare and Ormond, who stood godfathers to the infant Prince.* The necessity of providing a substitute in the place of Earl of the Duke of York was removed by the council electing Lord""^* the Earl of Kildare Lord Justice. This election was con- Justice. firmed by Edward IV., 1461, when the reappointed Lord Justice took the oaths in great state in Christ Church, Dublin, before the assembled Parliament and Privy Coun- cil. The ojffice of Lord Chancellor is confirmed by the King usually during pleasure, but has been occasionally confined to a stated period. The custody of the Great Seal of Ireland was given to the Earl by Parliament in January 1463. He was named Chancellor for life, with a salary of Lord 40i. per annum, and ten shillings per diem. This ap- ^^lf^°l^ pointment was confirmed by Statute XII. Edward IV. for life. ■ The beautiful Franciscan Abbey at Adare, county Lime- The Chan- rick, was founded by this munificent Lord Chancellor and t,„iicig the his wife, Lady Joan Fitz Gerald, in 1464 They built the -^bhey of church and gave it two chalices of silver, and the great bell, which cost lOZ. The chapel of the abbey is now the parish church of Adare. Close beside is Adare Manor, ' Annals of Pour Masters. 2 Earls of Kildare, by the Marquis of Kildare, Addenda 8. 124 HEIGN OF EDWARD IV. CHAP. IX. x..., r — ^ Implicated with the Earl of Desmond. Eestored to Eoyal favour. Attainder reversed. Appointed Lord Jus- tice. The Geral- dine's east. The Earl's justice. The angry- man's speech. the splendid mansion of one of Irelands most gifted and deservedly esteemed noblemen, tlie Earl of Dnnraven. The Earl of Kildare, as already noticed, was included with his brother-in-law, the Earl of Desmond, in the im- peachment which ended in the death of the latter, during the Yiceroyalty of the Earl of Worcester. Such was the unscrupulous conduct of the party then in power, that most likely the same tragical fate was intended for both heads of the Geraldines. The Earl of Kildare was im- prisoned, and he was by no means disposed to abide the result of a trial which ended so fatally for his noble kinsman. To the mortification of his enemies, he escaped from prison and managed to get to England, where he had an interview with the King, when the result was most favourable. His assistance was essential to the English in- terest, and he was again taken into the royal favour ; the Act of Attainder passed against him in a Parliament held in Drogheda, 1476, ' for alliance, fosterage and alterage with the King's Irish enemies ' was repealed by the same Parliament, and he was in the same year appointed Lord Justice. The description of Ireland by HoUinshed con- tains the following anecdote of this nobleman : ' — ' Within a mile of Castledermot is there a place marked with two hillocks, which is named the Geraldine, his throw or cast, the length of which inrerie deed is wonder- ful. The occasion proceeded of this. One of the Geral- dine's preded an enemy of his. The Earl of Kildare, having intelligence thereof, suppressing affection of kin- dred, and moved by zeal of justice, pursued him with a great troope of horsemen, as the other was bringing of the prede homeward. The Geraldine having notice given him that the Earl was in hotte pursuite, being nettled that his kinsman would seeme to rescue the prede of his deadlie foe, for as he was in such frittingwise, frieing in his grease, he brake out in these cholerick words, " and doth my cousiu Kildare pursue me . indeed ? Now, in good faith, whereas he seemeth to be a suppressor of his kindred, ' Chronicles, p. 17. THOMAS,. SEVENTH EAEL OF KILDARE. 125 and an upholder of my mortal enemie, I would wisli him CHAP, no more harm than that this dart were as far in his — , ' _, bodie as it shall stick forthwith in the ground." And therewithat giving the spurs to his horse, he hurled his dart so farre as he abashed, with the length thereof, as well his companie as his posteritie. The Geraldine was not farre from thense when the Earl, with his band, made hot foot after, and dogging still the track of the predours, he came to the place where the dart was hurled, when one pickthank or other led the Earl to understand of the Geraldine, his wild speeches there delivered. And to en- hanse the offense, he showed him how farre he hurled his dart, when he wished it to be pitched in his lordship's bodie. The Earl, astonished thereof, said, " Now, in good The Earl's sooth, my c.ousine in behaving so courageously is worthy "" ^^^ ^' to have the prede set free. And, for my part, I purpose not so much to stomach his cholerick wish as to embrace his valiant prowess," and therewith commanded the re- treat to be blown and recalled back.' The ' Annals of the Four Masters ' relate that, in 1471, Eaid on this Earl, with the people of Meath, made an incursion ^'^™<'y- into Farney, county of Monaghan, and committed great depredations on the MacMahons. In the year 1471, the Earl of KUdare again was ap- English pointed Lord Deputy, having been Lord Justice since ^°'^^- 1467. He held a Parliament at Drogheda and in Naas in 1472. In this latter a measure was passed, which shows the anxiety to improve the practice of the Anglo-Irish in archery. This Act compelled merchants to import from England bows and arrows to the value of 20s. for every 201. of other goods. In 1473, he was confirmed in the ofBce of Lord Chan- Confirmed cellor for life by Act of Parliament. The usual tenure of fo/j^g "'^ the of&ce was during pleasure, and this is the tenure at present ; but the pleasure is not that merely of the Sove- reign, as the words might imply, but depends on the Ministry, of which the Lord Chancellor is a Member, re- taining office. I'26 EEIGN OF EDWATBD IV.. CHAP. In 1475, the Earl was dismissed from his office of Lord TX - ;j . Deputy, and William Sherwood, Bishop of Meath, who Eemoved was his most virulent enemy, was appointed in his place. of Lord '^^ ^l^is caused great joy to the Ormond faction, and soon the Deputy, feud between the Geraldines and Butlers broke out afresh. Comiiii ^^ ^-^^ hope of settling the differences and dissensions sion to which then prevailed, Edward IV. issued a Commission to quarrel"^ Edward Connisburgh, Archbishop of Armagh, to hear and determine all controversies, suits, and debates depending between the great men or Peers of Ireland. A section of the Colonial Parliament requested Bishop Sherwood to repair to England, and solicit the good offices of the King and his brother, the Viceroy, Duke of Clarence, ' for the public weal, and relief of the country.' Bishop The Bishop, however, declined the mission. He gave dp ^urd" t ^^^•'^^^ ^ singular reason for a minister of peace, ' That he England, was SO Occupied in the field with hostings (marshalling of to leaye troops), that he could not for a time, without damage to the field, the English district, quit the camp, even to meet the Par- liament.' At length, however, he did undertake the journey, and, no sooner was his back turned, than, as he probably antici- pated, enemies set to work to traduce and accuse him. On his departure to England, charges were forwarded thither against him, but this was so constantly done that little notice was taken of these accusations. The The Earl of Kildare showed a disposition to serve the I'ood of' English interest by every means in his power. Among the St. George, efforts he made for the maintenance of English rule in Ireland, was the establishment of the military organisa- tion, called the ' Brotherhood of St. George.' This Order consisted of thirteen persons of the highest rank within the pale — that is, the counties of Dublin, Kildare, Meath, and Louth. The forces were 200 men, of whom 120 were mounted archers, and forty horsemen, with forty pages. The archers' pay was sixpence a day, the horsemen's five- pence, with four marks per diem.' Their duty was to ' The Earls of Kildare, p. 41. THOIVIAS, SEVENTH EARL OF KILDAEE. 127 defend tlie pale from English rebels and Irish' enemies, chap. The officers met annually on St. George's Day, in Dublin, , " . when they elected their captain. These thirteen officers The stand- and 200 men constituted the standing army, supported by ^"^ ^™^" the Government for the preservation of Ireland. The Earl's eldest son, Gerald, was the first Knight elected Captain. Great hostilities prevailed between English officials in chief Ireland and the Anglo-Irish. Parliament declared the puy^g^J^gj goods of John Cornwalshe, the Chief Baron of the Ex- chequer, forfeited, for his intemperate and abusive lan- guage to the Earl of Kildare,, Lord Deputy, at the Council Table, and for having tried to stir up the citizens of Dublin to insurrection. The Chief Baron subsequently asserted before the Council and Parliament, that Sir Robert Bold, Baron of Eatoath, then delegate to England, had imposed upon them by forged documents purporting to be writs under the King's Privy Seal, respecting the Liberty of Meath. This naturally excited great popular indignation against Baron Bold, and the Chief Baron resolved to have him put out of the way. He inspired the Mayor of Dublin The Chief with the belief in the truth of his assertions ; and, accom- h^ads a panied by that civic dignitary, and a great concourse of popular the excited citizens, the Chief Baron assailed Lord Eat- Escape of oath, and would have caused a vacancy in the Peerage, ^™'i but for the intervention of the Lord Deputy.' Thomas Earl of Kildare, died on March 25, 1477, leaving besides his Countess, who survived until 1486, four sons and two daughters. He was buried in the Monastery of All Hallows, near Dublin, with his father, the Sixth Earl. Again, several names appear in the list of Lord Chancel- Nnmes of lors of Ireland, of whom nothing for a memoir can be traced, jgrg"™ ' ' No wonder this pugnacious Chief Baron met with an untimely fate. Whilst at supper in his house at Baggotrath, near Dublin, he was attacked by an armed party, led on by William Fitz William, of Dundrum, and before help reached him the Chief Baron was killed. 128 EEIGN OF EDWAED IV. CHAP. Robert Allanstown,' Sir William Dudley,' Egbert IX • — r-^ — - FiTz Eustace, and John Taxton ' Gilbert de Venham.* Sir Eoland At length we reach the historic name of Sir Eoland tace Chan- ^^^z EusTACE, Lord Portlester, appointed Lord Chancellor cellor. of Ireland in 1474. ofEustacJ ^^® family of Eustace, or Eitz Eustace, was a branch of the wide-spread Geraldines, claiming descent from Maurice Eitz Gerald, to whom Henry II. granted the Barony of Le !N"aas. They were early settled in the district around KilcuUen, Co. KUdare, and, in a.d. 1200, possessed the title of Baron of Castlemartin. They had castles at Kil- cullen, Castlemartin, Portlester, and Harristown ; and, we find they filled high offices of State. In 1454, the Yiceroy, Eichard Duke of York, appointed Edmund Eitz Eustace his Deputy. Again, in 1462, on the accession of Ed- ward IV. to the throne, George Duke of Clarence being Viceroy, appointed Sir Eoland Eitz-Eustace his Deputy. Sir Eoland was suspected of partiality or traitorous acts in reference to the assumption of kingly authority by the Earl of Desmond, when John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, was Viceroy. An attempt was made to substantiate this. Sir Eoland On the execution of the Earl of Desmond, Sir Eoland was aridigne . ^j.j.^:^g^Qg^ before the Viceroy, by Sir John Gilbert, for having incited the Earl of Desmond to assume the King- ship of Ireland, and with engaging that he and aU the land would accept him in preference to Edward IV. Eitz Eustace indignantly denied the charge, and a day was named for Gilbert to bring forward his proofs, but he failed ; and, fearing the consequences of his false accusa- tion, he withdrew beyond reach of Eitz Eustace's just anger, and joined Thady O'Connor, in making war on the Deputy. He was consequently attainted as a traitor by the very Parliament from which Eitz Eustace was acquitted of the alleged treason. His wife. Sir Eoland, created Lord Portlester, was married to > Patent. A.D. 1468, 8 Edw. IV. ' Pat. 1469, 9 Edw. IV. ' Office granted to tiiem jointly, and to the survivor of them. Confirmed by Act of Parliament, April 10, 1472. 12 Edw. IV. " a.d. 1474. 14 Edw. IV. FITZ EUSTACE, LORD PORTLESTEE. 129. Margaret, daughter of Janico D'Artois, by whom he had CHAP, issue two daughters. The elder of his daughters, Allison, , ' - married Gerald, the eighth Earl of Kildare, one of the most His distinguished ofthat illustrious family. His other daughter, ^"^ Maud, married first Thomas Marward, Baron of Skrine, and, after his decease. Sir John Plunkett, Knight, of Bewley. Sir Roland Fitz Eustace was appointed Treasurer of Treasurer Ireland, an office which he held for many years. He, re- °^^^^^"°^- ceived the additional dignity of the Custody of the Great cellor. Seal in a.d. 1474, when his son-iu-law, the Earl of Kildare, was Deputy to the Duke of Clarence. During the administration of Eitz Eustace as Lord Trea- Grants for surer, the Parliament voted an annual grant of 180s. from '"^P*'''^- the issues of Court and Hanaper, and 20s. from the profits of the Master of the Mint, to pay for repairs to Dublin Castle, where the Law Courts were then held. They stood in need Courts in of repairs, being described in the Act of 1462 as 'ruinoas gj"g''°'^^ and like to fall, to the great dishonour of the King.' We may judge that Boards of Works were as dilatory then as in later days, for, by an Act passed thirteen years afterwards, 15 Edward IV., we learn these pressing repairs had never been executed, the money set apart for them having been diverted to other purposes. Some money was expended in keeping the Courts from tumbling on the heads of the Judges and practitioners, and entered in the Miscellaneous Roll for the years 1476-7. While charges were being investigated respecting the Treasurer Treasurer's accounts, he was suspended from acting. Q^lncel- These failing in proof, in 1480, Sir Roland was reinstated lor. in his Office of Treasurer, but the King transferred the WiUiam ' '^ Sherwood Chancellorship from him, and named William Sherwood, chancel- Bishop of Meath, to that high office. The Ex-Chancellor '°'"- did not give up the Great Seal. A royal precept was then Eoyal issued to compose the great dissension arising from conflict- P'^«'=«P*- ing Parliaments, and the demeanour to be observed by the great Officers in their respective offices,' The Treasurer's Duty of duty is thus set forth. ' Here folowyth the Kyng's com- treasurer. > Brit. Mus. MSS. Tit, b. xi. VOL. I. K 130 EEIGX OF EDWAED IV. CHAP. IX. To deliver the Great Seal to his Buccessor. Sad state of affairs. Objections to trayel to Parlia- ment. maundments and plesure to be showed unto Sir Eouland Eustace, Knyght, wliom his Highnesse haith. deputed to be Tresorer of his lande of Ireland : — Turst, the said Sir Eouland shall well and trewly behave hym in the occupying of his office, and justly and righteussly exerceze it, as well betwix the Kyng and his subjects, as betwix the Kyng's subjects. Item, he shall not assent nor agre to the hurt, dammage, or disherityng the Kyng of his landes, revenues, rights regalie, or pre- rogatifs, but in all that in hym is he shaU uphold, mayn- tene, encrese, and avaunce them. Item, that the same Sir Eouland remitte and forget all malice and evill will, that he haith borne and barith, unto the Bishop of Mythe (Sherwood), Bermingham, the Justice, and all others the Kyng's subjects, within y* said land. For the Kyng's Highnesse hath commanded them, in a semblable wise to do toward hym. Also, the Kyng wol that he delivere his Gret Sele beying in his kepying, unto the said Bishop of Mythe, whom he hath deputed and made his Chancellor of his said land of Ireland.' The detention of the Great Seal by Sir Eoland from the newly-appointed Chancellor, was a great hindrance to public business, and caused much inconvenience. The state of the colony was then very deplorable. Dis- sensions prevailed among the highest Officers of the State — the Chancellor and Chief Justice of the King's Bench requiring the interposition of the King to keep them quiet, while the Irish so pressed upon the narrow limits of the English settlements that the statute requiring cities and boroughs to be represented by inhabitants of the same, was obliged to be repealed upon the express ground that representatives could not be expected to encounter, on their journeys to Parliament, the great perils incident from the King's Irish enemies, and English rebels; for ' it is openly known how great and frequent mischiefs have been done on the ways, both in the South, North, East, and West parts, by reason whereof they may not send proctors, knights, nor burgesses.' FITZ EUSTACE, LORD POETLESTEE. 131 Great disobedience was displayed by men in authority CHAP, at this period. No sooner was the Duke of Suffolk named -_ , " _, Viceroy, than his appointment was superseded by nomina- Eiral tion of the King's infant son, George, and that of Henry ^'^^'^°y^- Lord Grey as his Deputy. Grey landed in Ireland in 1478, with a guard of 300 archers and men-at-arms. He had need of them, for the Earl of Kildare was selected Viceroy by the Irish Privy Council, and would not acknow- ledge Lord Grey as Deputy, whose appointment was under Privy Seal. The Ex-chancellor, Lord Portlester, Kildare's Eival father-in-law, on the same ground declined to surrender Chancel- the Great Seal of Ireland ; and James Keating, Prior of Kilmainham, Constable of Dublin Castle, refused point blank to admit Lord Grey. He garrisoned the fortress, broke down the drawbridge, and defied the Deputy and ' his men-at-arms to gain admittance. For some time both Eival Par- parties exercised the functions of Government. The Earl l'*"^™*^- of Kildare summoned a Parliament, which met in June 1478, at Naas, in his own district, which voted him a subsidy. Lord Grey procured the King's writ, com- manding Kildare to desist from acting as Deputy. The Mayor of Dublin was also directed to make proclamation 'that no subsidy should be paid to the Earl;' and, in a Parliament held by Lord Grey, at Trim, the proceedings of Kildare's Parliament were annulled. The statutes and ordinances were ordered to be cancelled by the Judges and oflBcials, and all persons having any rolls of this '.pretended Parliament,' were ordered to deliver them up under penalty of felony. The King authorised Lord Grey to have a new Great a new Seal for Ireland made, and to 'damn, annul, and suspend' <^™atSeal. that in the hands of Sir Eoland Fitz Eustace, should the latter disobey his commands, absent himself, or withhold the Seal in his custody. The Parliament enacted, that, as it was apparent that Sir Roland Fitz Eustace purposely absented himself, and retained the Great Seal contrary to the King's will, all patents, writs, and documents issued K 2 132 REIGN OF EDWARD IT. CHAP. IX. Deputy to appoint a keeper of old Seal. Prior of Kilmain- liam. Ex-chan- cellor Fitz Eustace dies. Monument in Kilcul- len. Costume in Ireland, Temp. 1496. under it, should be void, until it came to the hands of the Deputy. Thomas Archbold, Master of King Edward's Mints in Ireland, was authorised to engrave a new Great Seal, as near the other as may be in the pattern and fabric, with the difference of a rose in every part. This the Parliament decreed to be authorised, confirmed, reputed, taken, and obeyed in every respect, as the Great Seal of the King of England for Ireland, until the other had been restored to the Deputy, who was empowered to appoint its Keeper during pleasure. Eitz Eustace, being thus suspended in his Office of Chancellor, Parliament also repudiated his acts as Trea- surer, and ordained that Exchequer tallies or assignments should not be legal, unless assigned and endorsed by the Lieutenant or Deputy. They also decreed that, if Friar James Keating, the warlike Prior of Kilmainham, did not at once, repair the drawbridge of Dublin Castle, his office should be void, and the Deputy might appoint a Guardian or Keeper of the Priory of Kilmainham, until the Grand Master of Rhodes, or the Prior of St. John's of London, should make a nomination. Sir Poland Eitz Eustace, Lord Portlester, died December 19, 1496, and no less than two monuments were erected in his honour. One to the memory of him and his wife in New Abbey, Kilcullen, which they founded in 1460. Re- clining on the covering slab were the figures of Lord and Lady Portlester. The knight in plate mail with his vizor raised. Lady Portlester in the costume of the time.^ On her head she wears the cap called a cornet, bound by a fillet or frontlet of gold or silver lace wrought with the needle in no inelegant pattern. This fillet is tied behind, from which depend long lappets, or rather a kind of veil, which occasionally could be drav/n over. On her bosom is a cross of pearls. Her gown is of that species called a kirtle, made to fit close with robings, and made fast by a girdle ' This account of the Eustace monument, with a very beautiful illustration I possess, in the Anthologia Hibernica, vol. iii. p. 255., FITZ EUSTACE, LORD POETLESTEB. 133 studded witli pearl roses. The skirts are plaited in large CHAP. and thick folds, and trimmed at the bottom with a flounce. Her shoes are neat and in the present fashion.' ' The writer of the above deseription in a.d. 1760 calls attention to the cir- cumstance that the icirtle was an English, not an Irish, habit, nor did the Irish ever wear it. The Irish ladies wore the gunna, or gown, which was a long loose robe, without sleeves, and we remember Moore's lines — my Norah's gown for me. Floating loose as mountain breezes. Round the outer edge of the lid of the tomb, and surrounding the figures, was chiseled, in church text, of Gothic character, the inscription, ' Orate pro anima Kolandi Fitz Eustace de Portlester, qui hoc mo; construxit et fundavit, et qui ob : die Deeemb. 19, a.d. 1496, etiam pro anima Margaretse uxoris suie.' The lower portion of the monument was also ably sculptured. On one side were three figures in compartment. In the centre a keener, or motirner, in the costume of the Irish female peasant. On her head is the cabhin or keveen, and on her neck and shoulders the sliawl or cladlock ; her petticoat is also flounced ; but she has neither a boddice nor kirtle. Over all, even her liead, she wears the Irish fallang or mantle, called also the brattling or Conuaught cloak. The other figures represent two heralds, in the crown, sword, tunic and cloak of their office ; also on their heads is the cuif worn at funerals. Other figures were along the opposite side, but too much defaced to be defined. A monk in the habit of his order, was at one end, and shields of armorial bearings, surmounted by a rising sun near the corners — perhaps typifying the Resurrection. In the old church of St. Audoen, in the Corn-market, Dublin, there is another similar monument to Lord Portlester. He built the chapel of the Blessed Virgin, when he was Lord Deputy. The recumbent figures of Lord and Lady Portlester on this tomb, now beneath the tower of St. Aadoens, are in good preservation, and very interesting specimens of the costume of the knights and ladies of the fifteenth century. They closely resemble those on the tomb in KilcuUen already described. The following inscription runs round the margin: 'Orate pro anima Eolandi Fitz Eustace de Portlester, qui hunc locum sine capellum dedit in honorem beatae Virginis, etiam pro anima Margaritse uxoris suae et pro animabus omnium fidelium defunetorum.' It was the cross from the roof of this church which, with singular taste, a prebendary named Cobbe took down, and placed instead a boar's head with a crown. This was sufficient to provoke, if not to justify, the epigram — Christ's cross from Christ's Church cursed Cobbe hath plucked down, And placed in its stead what he worships — the crown. Avenging the cause of the Gadarine people. This miscreant hath placed a swine's head on the steeple ; By this intimating to all who pass by, That his hearers are swine, — and his church but a sty.* IX. » Gilbert's Hiitory of DubUn, vol. 1. p. 28». 134 REIGN OF EDWAED IV. CHAP. IX. Bishop Sherwood, Lord Chancel- lor. Bishop of Meath. Feuds with the Earl of Desmond. Both com- plain to the King. The Earl for a time trium- phant. Sherwood Chancel- lor. Precept of Edward IV. Conduct of Chancel- lor, &c. Sittings of Chancel- lor. In 1480, William Sheewood, Bishop of Meatli, was Lord Chancellor. This able and distinguished prelate had been Bishop of Meath for the long period of twenty-two years. He was consecrated according to the directions of Pope Pins II. in 1460. I have mentioned that unhappy dissen- sions prevailed between him and Thomas Earl of Kildare ; and Ware states a very serious charge against the Bishop, ' that in 1469 nine of the Lord Deputy's (Earl of Des- mond's) men were slain in Fingall by the instigation of the Bishop.' He seems on every occasion in which his name appears to have been engaged in feud with some of the race of Pitz Geralds, and the strifes between him and the Earl of Desmond were such, that as their quarrel could not be arranged in Ireland, both went to London to the King, and stated their case, each against the other. Here it would seem the Bishop had the worst of it, as the Earl of Desmond returned to Ireland loaded with royal favour soon to be changed for the headsman's axe. Despite the refusal of Lord Portlester to recognise the Bishop as Chancellor he received the seal and executed the office. When the royal precept, already referred to, was is- sued in 1480 by King Edward IV. William Sherwood, Bishop of Meath, was Chancellor, and the precept applies to this high functionary as well as to the treasurer and others. 'The articles followeying contayne the Kyng's comaundments and plesere how his Chanselere of Ireland, Clerc of the EoUes and the Clerc of the Hanaper ther shall demene theym there in executyng of ther offices. Purste, they and everiche of theres shall well and trewly serve the Kyng and his liege peple of the same land in the doying of ther offices. Item, that they ne none of them shall assent to the hurt damage or alienacione of y" Kyng's land, revenues, or rights, but they shall endevoir themselfe for the vauncying and encresyng therof, and lette all theym to the best of their powere that wold attempt the contrary thereof. ' Item, that the sead Chaunseler do sete alweyes in suche place and tymes, as the Clerc of the EoUes, the Clerc of BISHOP SHERWOOD, CHANCELLOR. 135 the Hanaper, and other ministeres of ye Chaunsery may CHAP, be then and their present. > t^ - 'Item, that the sead Chaunseler do delyvere to the Duties. Clere of the Eolles all such warrants cummyng to his handes, so that he may keep them as the Kyng's recordss according to his oflBce. ' Item, that the sead Chaunseler sele no pardons under Seal no the Kyng's Grete Sele unto any man upon his provisione from^Roma from the Court of Rome without the Kyng's knowledge or without consent. ' Item, that the Chaunseler in person shall in term tyme Chancellor make his abiding in the place wher the Kyng's Courts be ^ga^ t^e kept, unlesse ther be a grete and urgent cause by the Courts. Depute wytli the advice of the more part of ye Kyng's Consele it be thought his absence to be allowed.' Then follow special directions to the Clerks of the Eolls and Hanaper, the latter to receive the fees of the Seal on writs, commissions, and patents, and such jBnes as shall be made in Chancery, and thereupon pay the Chancellor his fees, wages, and rewards, accustomed, and pay the remainder into the King's exchequer, and render an account yearly. The stamp duty on writs was then set forth ' to the intent that noone ignoraunce may be pretendit what fines ben to be made there within the Kyng's Chaunsery.' Bishop Sherwood did not hold the Seal long. He died Death of in Dublin on December 3, 1482, and was buried in the chancelr Abbey of St. Peter and Paul, Newtown, near Trim, County ^°'^- Meath. The office of Clerk of the Hanaper is of old date in Clerk of Ireland. In this office the writs relating to the suits of Han:ip»'-. the subject, and the return thereon, were anciently kept in hanaperio, a hamper ; while those relating to the crown were placed in parva haga, a little bag ; whereon arose the names Hanaper and Petty Bag Offices. ' Gilbert's Viceroys of Ireland. Notes to chap. x. p. 594. 186 EEIGN OF HENEY VII. CHAPTEE X. OP THE CHANCELLORS OF IRELAND DUKIN& IHE BEIGN OP HBNEr Til. CHAP. The reigns of Edwaed V. and Eiohaed III. oifer few • i- — - points for remark in the Lives of tlie Irish Chancellors. Ireland The history of those days has little to interest the legal reians of reader. Strifes among the English settlers and conflicts ■^"^Jw^i^' °^ native chiefs proved a great barrier to civilisation. An ard III. able Irish writer thus described this period of our annals. ' At this time, we read, not only of native clans divided and warring amongst each other; but it is also quite usual to find the same sept, and even members of the same family, arrayed as open and irreconcilable enemies; Factions, such as these, planted the seeds of perennial discord, weakened the natural bonds of kindred or friend- ship, and produced frequent examples of most pernicious demoralisation ; inviting aggression from without, and fostering internal enmities, they served to effect and per- petuate hopeless ruin and national thraldom.' ' State of The state of Ireland may be inferred from an Act passed in 1484, reciting that divers benefices and advowsons of the Sees, were situated amongst Irish enemies, and as no Englishman could inhabit the said benefices, and divers English clerks who were enabled to have cure of souls, were not expert in the Irish language, and such of them as were, disdained to inh^Jbit amongst the Irish people, and others dared not, by which means divine service was diminished and the cure of souls neglected ; it was there- fore enacted, that prelates might for two years collate Irish clerks to the said benefices, without any impeach- ' Catechism of Irish Histciry, p. 187. Keligion. SIR THOMAS FITZ GERALD, CHANCELLOR. 137 ment from the King. Which privilege it was necessary CHAP. to renew to the Archbishop of Dublin in 1493. ■ ^ - When such was the state of the Church, it is in vain to look for accounts of the legal tribimals, and the Chan- cellor, I suspect, was little troubled with equit}-- suits. A question of much importance was submitted for the Elpction consideration of the Irish legal officials. Great doubts justice, existed respecting the proper manner of electing a Lord Justice or Governor of Ireland for the time being, in case of the death or absence of the Viceroy. It was the opinion of some the election should be made by seven members of the Council ; others thought it should be by the spiritual and temporal peers, together with the Coun- cil, and the most honourable English subjects of the three counties adjoining Dublin. Lord Grey's Parliament Arrange- undertook to set these conflicting opinions at rest, by ^("re""^ enacting that in future, the election of Lord Justice should elections. be by the majority of an assembly composed of the King's Council, the Archbishops of Armagh and Dublin, the Bishops of Meath and Kildare, and all the Parliamentary Lords spiritual and temporal of Dublin, Mieath, Louth, and Kildare, specially summoned upon fifteen days' notice to meet for this purpose at Dublin or Drogheda.' In 1479, on the death of Prince George, Edward IV. conferred the Viceroyalty of Ireland on his second son, Eichard Duke of York. The defeat and death of Richard III. at Bosworth, Death of placed Henry Tudor on the English throne. The Geraldines in_ "^"^ and indeed, the most powerful Anglo-Irish, were deeply grieved at the fate of a son of their beloved Duke of York, and gave ready credence to the report that the Yorkist Reported heir to the throne, Eichard, Earl of Warwick, son of the ii2.rd Duke of Clarence, had escaped from bhe Tower of London. Earl of "W sr wi ck Shortly afterwards a boy of noble aspect and suitable rpjjgpj,g/ manners was presented to the Earl of Kildare, and other tended adherents to the House of York as the heir to the English ®"'' crown. He was subjected to a strict examination respect- ' Gilbert's Viceroys of Ireland, p. 406. 188 EEIGN OF HENBY VII. CHAP. X. Sir Thomas Pitz Ge- rald Lord Chancel- lor. Promises of support. Lamhert Simnel. Ormond sides with HeuryVII. Aid from Burgundy. ing his pretensions, and many questions were asked Mm about the family from which he represented himself as having descended. He answered all in so satisfactory a manner, that no doubt remained that he was the young Earl of Warwick. In 1483, the Great Seal was intrusted to a lay Chan- cellor,' Sir Thomas Fitz Gerald of Laccagh, brother of the Lord Deputy, and he so entirely believed in the truth of the representation made, that he received the youth into his castle, where he was treated with all deference due to royalty. This naturally induced the adherents of the House of Kildare, men of high station in Church and State to wait upon the Earl of Warwick, and they un- hesitatingly undertook to aid him with their lives and fortunes. They next sent agents to England and the Low Countries where Margaret, Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, sister of the late Duke of Clarence, aunt of the Earl, possessed great power and influence. King Henry VII. was soon made aware of these nego- tiations, and quickly proclaimed ' that the youth in Ireland was a plebeian impostor, named Lambert Simnel.' At the same time a half-idiotic boy was, by royal command, paraded through London as the real Earl of Warwick. This had no effect upon the Irish, who asserted that Henry Tudor sought to delude the English people by the counterfeit Warwick. The portions of Ireland which were ruled by the House of Ormond adhered to the reigning monarch, while the rest of the Anglo-Irish were zealous Yorkists, eager to show their zeal in favour of him they regarded as the youthful Prince. The Duchess of Bur- gundy declared him her nephew, and provided a force of two thousand men under the command of Martin Swart, a leader of high birth and great military skill. The Earl of Lincoln, Lord Lovel, Sir Henry Bodrigan, John Beau- mond, and other English friends of the House of York, accompanied the army of Swart, and reached Dublin in ' This is another instanoe of a Parliamentary grant of the office of Chan- cellor. Vide Smyth's Law Officers of Ireland, p. 15. SIR THOMAS FITZ GEEALD, CHANCELLOR. 139 May 1487. Here preparations on a most costly and ex- CHAP, tensive scale were made for the coronation of the Prince, >- , " ..- and all was in readiness by the middle of May. The Crowned ceremony took place in Christ Church Cathedral on Whit Sunday, May 24, 1487, when the youth was solemnly crowned as Edward VI. King of England. The great officers of State, the Earl of Kildare, Lord Deputy ; Eitz Simon, the Archbishop of Dublin ; Sir Thomas Eitz Gerald, the Lord Chancellor; Judges, Privy Counsellors, and others, renounced their allegiance to King Henry VIL, and per- formed the ceremonies of fealty and homage to the young King of England and Lord of Ireland. The Bishop of Meath preached on this occasion a suitable discourse, and the procession from the cathedral to the castle of Dublin passed along streets crowded with enthusiastic subjects of the boy King. War was speedily declared against the usurper, Henry Lord VII. Sir Thomas Eitz Gerald, of Laccagh, resigned his ^e^,f^°f J^e office of Chancellor to grasp the sword instead of the Seal for Great Seal intrusted to Lord Portlester. Sir Thomas was evidently more conversant with fields of fight than the contests of the Court of Chancery, and wielded his weapon instead of the mace. He commanded a division of the Becomes a troops, raised in Ireland, for the expedition to England, ff^jg^on"^ The foreign auxiliaries, under Swart, accompanied by the boy King and his Lords, landed in Lancashire on June 4, 1487. Henry was ready to oppose them with a numerous army. They came in sight of their old foes, near the Battle of village of Stoke, about a mile from Newark-on-Trent. On '° ^" June 10, the battle took place, and the Irish troops, though unprovided with armour of defence, fought valiantly with the English and German allies. For three hours the victory was doubtful, and it was not until Swart and the Ex-chan- valiant Ex-Chancellor, Eitz Gerald, Lord Lincoln, Plunkett, l^^_ and the greater number of their forces were slain, to the number of 4,000, that the numerical strength of Henry's army won this hard-fought fight. The young King fell into the hands of the conqueror. 140 EEIGN OF HENEY VII. CHAP. He was declared to be the child of Thomas Simnel of . ; — - Oxford, joiner. His fate is involved in obscurity, some Fiite of writers state he was made a turnspit in the royal kitchen, king.°^' others that he was confined in the Tower ; but this was his last appearance as a royal puppet. Alexander WhenLordPortlesterresiffued the Seals inl492,they were Plunkett, , • , » -r. 11 1 Lord next given to Alexander Plunkett,' who appears, by pa- Chancel- ^gj^^ ^Q ■j^.j^^Q gj^lg^ l-jjjg Q^gg Qf Lq,,^ Chancellor for some lor. ' years. The absence of any judicial records prevent my giving an account of his abilities as a Judge. Indeed of this member of the ancient and noble family of Plunkett, I have ^lie not been able to obtain much information. The services of iLilleen. rendered by Sir Christopher Plunkett, Knight, during the wars of Ireland, procured him the favour of King Henry VI., a.nd he was rewarded with a considerable sum of money. He filled the ofiiee of High Sheriff of Meath, and in 1432 was Deputy to Sir Thomas Stanley, Knight, Viceroy of Ireland. Sir Christopher married Joan, only daughter and heiress of Sir Lucas Cusack, Knight, Lord of Killeen, Dunsany, and Geraldston, in the coanty of Meath, and in her right. Lord of Killeen. His grandson and namesake, Christopher, third Lord of Killeen, married, as his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Wells, Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1461. From this union the Chancellor, Alexander Plunkett, was sprung. There is a very interesting account of the way in which Thomas Plunkett, third son of Lord Killeen, obtained an heiress for his wife, which I extract from my unpublished work on ' Ancestral Houses.' ^ How Sir ' While a student of law in the Temple, sauntering Plunkett through the Temple Gardens, on the banks of the Thames, met the j^^g observed a beautiful young girl washing clothes in the stream. Attracted by her air of dignity, which appeared ill-matched with her mean attire, he directed his steps towards her, taking care that she should not observe him, and, to his surprise, heard her singing in the dear lan- > Patent, June 11, li9i. 7 Hen. VII. ' Ancestral Houses: Killeen Cautle, by J. R. 0' Flanagan, M.R.I.A. ALEXANDER PLUNKETT, CHAJNCELLOR. 141 guage of his native country, the venerable Gaelic of Erin, CHAP, an Irish song. The words were music to his ear, for un- / - like the degenerate Irish gentry of our time, he spoke his mother tongue, and the names of localities around his father's historic home gave truthfulness to the statements, of broad lands belonging as of right to her, that lowly yet lovely maiden, who sang by the Thames. The song is thus no less correctly than metrically translated : ' — : MABY CRtJYS OF RATHMOBE. Mary Cruys of Ah, Blessed Mary, hear me sighing, Rathmore. On this cold stone mean labour plying; Yet Bathmore's heiress might I name me, And broad lands, rich and many, claim me. Gilstown, Bathbeg, names known from childhood ; Fair Johnstown, hard by bog and Ti'ildwood ; Ba-tuaffe (Blackwater near it floweth) ; And Harton, where the white wheat groweth ; Kilslcier, with windows shining brightly ; Pilltowu, where race the coursers sprightly ; Bulreask, abundant daisies showing. Pull pails and churns each day bestowing. Thee, Ballycred, too, mem'ry prizes ; Old Oristown to mind arises ; Caultown, near bogs, black turf providing ; Rathoonuy in its ' Baron ' priding. The Twelve Poles, Armabregia follow ; Kilmainham, of the woody hollow ; Cruisetown with lake by sunbeams greeted J Moydorragh gay, 'mid fair woods seated. Still could I speak of townlands many ; Three score along the banks of Nanny ;' Twelve by the Boyne, if it were pleasure To dwell on lost and plundered treasure. ' The young Irish student of the Temple listened with avidity to the song which floated upwards from the silver Thames. He was aware that eighteen years ago the last Lord of Eathmore, Sir Christopher Cruys, had been done The fate of Sir Chris- _, topher ' Rathmore and its Traditions : Dublin University Mag. Sept. 1854. Cruys, ' The River Nanny. 142 EEIGN OF HENKY VII. CHAP. ■X. Plunkett and the heiress. His fee. Becomes Chief Justice of Ireland. Ancestor of the Duke of Welling- ton. to deatli by his wicked kinsmen, — that his helpless widow- sought safety in flight, and had since given birth to a daughter, but the kinsmen of the deceased Knight repu- diated all claims of mother and child, and no one knew where they lived, or how. And here, down by the reeds of the river was, no doubt, the lost heiress of Eathmore. The singularity of the discovery, as well as the desire to redress wrong, so dear to every just mind, decided young Plunkett on his course. He addressed his fair countrywoman in the language of Erin — at once a passport to her confidence — mentioned his name and line- age — that he was well acquainted with her sad story, and offered to be the assertor of her rights. The young heiress was only too happy to enlist such a champion ; she con- ducted him to their humble abode, and Lady Cruys soon supplied him with the title-deeds and legal proof of the identity of the fair singer, Maria Cruys. In process of time the young Templar was admitted to the bar. He lost no time in taking the necessary ejectment proceed- ings to recover the Eathmore estates. It was an excellent opportunity for proving his forensic abilities, and they fortunately proved equal to the occasion. He recovered the estates of Eathmore for the rightful owner, and re- ceived as his fee the lady and her possessions. He brought his bride in triumph to the ancestral Castle of Killeen, and a memorial of the visit was erected in the demesne — a cross sculptured with figures and inscribed with the names of the successful lawyer and his grateful client — THOMAS PLUNKETT. MAEIA CEUYS. He became Sir Thomas Plunkett, Chief Justice of Ireland. The eldest daughter of this marriage, Ismay, married WeUesley of Dungan, county Meath, from which marriage the Dukes of Wellington are descended. We must now turn our attention to the condition of Ireland and see how it was goveriied. Almost from the very earliest period in which English rule was exercised AFFAIRS OF lEELAND. 143 in Ireland, it was administered by the heads of the great CHAP. X. Anglo-Norman houses, Fitz Gerald of Kildare and Des- mond, Butlers of Ormond, De Burghos of Clanrickarde, How the De Lacys, St. Lawrance, and other potent lords, who meutwas ruled according as they had power to iafluence or thwart adminis- •' ^ tered in the Lord Deputy. In return for the assistance they ren- Ireland, dered the English Government by their influence with the Parliaments, they stipulated for the filling of offices, for titles, pensions, and preferments, lay and ecclesiastical. This caused them to be named Undertakers, and if their demands were considered unfair or impossible for compli- ance, every influence was used to perplex and baffle the Executive, and force granting of their requests. Matters stood thus for a considerable period until the accession of a wise statesman, King Henry YII., who. Accession when the battle of Bosworth made him truly sovereign of yii_ England, took the first opportunity to examine closely into the affairs of Ireland. As in England he found the power of the Crown almost eclipsed by that of the Privy Council, composed of the highest in rank of Church and State, men most distinguished by personal or professional worth ; so in Ireland, the power of the Privy Council not having any check from the presence of the Sovereign, often over- ruled the Deputy and controlled the Parliament. ' To be a member of the Privy Council was an honour tha,t was courted ; while to be a member of the Parliament was a burden that was shunned.' ' He determined to change this state of affairs ; to make the people more free and less dependent on their Lords than His Irish they had been. Finding this impossible under the exist- ^°^'^J- ing laws and customs in Ireland, when the Chief Governor and Council, or the Chief Governor alone, called Parlia- ments and imposed subsidies, whereby the obedient sub- jects were weakened and impoverished, and complaints were made by members of both Houses, of the great expense they were forced to incur in travelling to the capital or ' , Mason's Essay on Parliaments in Ireland, p. 62. 144 EEIGN OF HENEY VII. CHA.P. X. SirEdward Poynings Lord De- puty. Poynings' Parlia- ment at Droglieda. Poynings' Law wherever else the Parliament assembled, the King resolved upon a change. He accordingly sent Sir Edward Poynings,' ' a right worthy servitor in war and peace,' to repel Warbeck and meet the Parliament. He landed at Howth on October 13, 1494, and called a Parliament which met at Drogheda, on December 1, 1494. Herein was passed the celebrated Statute X. Henry VII., ' whereby it is enacted that all statutes late made within the realm of England concerning or belonging to the common weal of the same, from henceforth be deemed good and effectual in the law, and such that be accepted, used, and executed within the land of Ireland in all points, at all times requisite, according to the tenor of the same. And if any statute or statutes have been made within the said land heretofore to the contrary, that they and every of them be made void and of none effect in the law.' By this statute all the fundamental laws of England were transferred to Ireland. This is eulogised by Lord Coke as ' a right profitable Act of Parliament.' The Lord Deputy not content with this desired to go further, and accordingly a law was made, which at once made the Parliament of Ireland dependent on and subject to the King and Council of England. This famous law, known as Poynings' law, enacted ' that no Parliament be holden hereafter in the said land, but at such season as the King's Lieutenant and Counsaile there first do certifie the King under the Great Seale of that land, the causes and consideration and all such Acts as there seemeth should pass in the same Parliament ; and such causes, considera- tions, and Acts aflBrmed by the King and his Counseile to be good and expedient for that land, and his license there- upon, as well as in affirmation of the said causes and Acts as to summon the said Parliament under his Great Seal of ' He was son of Eobert Poynings and Elizabeth Paston. Sir Edward was an active supporter of the Tudor dynasty. The King gave him many pi-oofs of his favour. He was a Privy Councillor, a Knight of the Garter, had a command in Flanders, and withWarham, Archbishop of Canterbury, went as Ambassador to the Emperor Maximilian. He was sent to Ireland as Deputy for Prince Henry, afterwards King Henry VIII., AFFAIES QF IRELAND. 145 England had and obtained ; that done, a Parliament to be had and holden after the form and effect afore rehearsed ; and if any Parliament be holden in that land hereafter, contrary to the form and provisions aforesaid, it is to be deemed void and of none effect.' 'The effect of this clause,' observes a very eminent Irish lawyer,' 'was to place a bridle in the mouth of the Irish Parliament, and subjugate alike the Lord Deputy, the nobles, and the com- moners to the will of the King's Council at Dublin and London.' As for any Parliament which was assembled either before or after the passing of Poynings' law, being the Parlia- ment of the entire nation of Ireland, we may venture to assert it never was so, for to the reign of James I. it was almost entirely confined to the colonists under English rule, and from the time of James I. to the Union in 180O, it was, with few exceptions, elected by Protestants. The Effect of inconvenience of thi» course initiated by Poynings' law i^^™"^" was strikingly illustrated by a Bill returned to Ireland, altered in seventy-four places, which had been successively revised by Lord Thurlow when Attorney- General, by Lord Eoslyn when Solicitor-General, and by Mr. Macnamara. The Bill so changed was rejected by the Irish House of Commons, so all labour was lost. Owing to the want of a Renewed Revenue Act, from the inevitable delays of transit, the Irish merchants for some time imported duty free ; I dare say they prayed for contrary winds. It was also enacted by this Parliament- that all roval I^°y»l Grants re- grants made during the previous 168 years be revoked, yoked. This placed most of the titles and properties of the nobles at the King's disposal. The ancient war cries^ of the great War cries. rival houses of Fitz .Gerald! and Butler, as well as of the ancient Milesian families, were henceforth proscribed under severe penalties, and in lieu thereof men should call on St. George, or the name of the King of England. None ' Vide Life and Death of the Irish Parliament, by the Right Hon. James Whiteside, p. 20. " See note on Irish war cries in Haverty's valuable ' History of Ireland,' p. 339'. VOL. I. L 146 EBIGN OF HENEY VII. CHAP. X. Irish to be excluded from cfldce. Peers to ■wear robes. Walter Fitz Simon Lord Chancel- lor of Dublin. Equitable jurisdic- tion of Chancery. The early career of Fitz Simon. Elected Arch- bishop of Dublin. but Englislmieii were to be admitted as Priors of Hospi- tallers in Ireland, or intrusted witb the custody of any royal castle there, under a penalty of five pounds for each offence. The Lords spiritual and temporal were enjoined to appear in every Parliament in their robes, as the Lords of England. The reason assigned for this was, 'that during the space of twenty years the English Lords of Ireland had, through penuriousness, done away the said robes, to their own great dishonour, and the rebuke of all the whole land.' Poynings shortly had other duties to perform than those of a legislator. In 1495, he was sum- moned to Waterford, where Perkin Warbeck had landed. The Deputy signally defeated him, and returned to Eng- land in 1496. • During the years 1494-5, Henry Dbait, Bishop of Bangor, appears to have been Lord Chancellor of Ireland. In 1496, Walter Fitz Simon, who had been for many years Archbishop of Dublin, became Lord Chancellor of Ireland. At this period the equitable jurisdiction of Chancery was making very considerable progress. The doctrine of uses and trusts was settled, and where no action could be maintained at law by the party beneficially en- titled in the case of a feoffment to uses for breach of duty, the Chancellor proceeded by subpoena to compel the feoffee to perform a duty binding in conscience.' Walter Fitz Simon was a Precentor of St. Patrick's Cathedral, and sat as proxy in the Parliament of 1478. In this year King Edward IV. constituted John De la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, Lieutenant of Ireland for twenty years. The power of the English was then so limited, that the Archbishop of Dublin could not visit those churches and prebends which lay on the borders of the adjacent Irish territories, where the jurisdiction of the Crown of England was not recognised. On June 14, 1484, Walter Eitz Simon was elected Arch- bishop of Dublin, which was ratified by Pope Sextus IV., and on being duly licensed by the King, he was conse- ' Paunders on Uses, p, 26. Earl of Kildare. WALTER FITZ SIMON, CHANCELLOR. 147 crated in St. Patrick's Cathedral, on September 26, follow- CHAP, ing. This solemnity usually took place in the Conyent of / . the Holy Trinity, or Christchurch, for D'Alton relates : — Conse- ' On the preceding day, the Dean, Chancellor, and Trea- j™gt„ surer had solicited the consent of the Prior and Convent Patrick's. of the Holy Trinity that this ceremony should take place in St. Patrick's ; but they were refused, in consequence of which, a dispute took place that lasted until the evening,' but the ceremony was permitted to be solemnised the following day. < The Archbishop was among the Irish officials who were imposed upon by Lambert Simnel, as 1 have re- Renews lated already, and he thereby incurred the marked dis- ^'^ allegi- pleasure of King Henry VII. In the year, 1488, the Archbishop of Dublin was among those who were per- mitted to renew their allegiance and receive pardon Also the through Sir Eichard Edgecombe, for having favoured Simnel, while the Lord Deputy, the Earl of Kildare, being regarded more guilty, from his position and autho- rity, had to take the oath with the utmost solemnity. This he did in the church of St. Thomas' Abbey, with his right hand extended over the sacred host. When mass was concluded the Archbishop chanted the Te Deum, which was sung by the choir, and accompanied by the pealing organ, while all the church bells continued to TheAreh- ring.2 bishop ° 1 . . . named. In 1492, his grace Archbishop Fitz Simon was appointed Deputy. Deputy to Jasper Duke of Bedford, in place of Gerald He endea- Earl of Kildare. This appointment was ratified by the ^X?m'the. King. He made good use of his authority by endeavour- Irish. ing to excite industrious habits amongst the people, and Younger represented to the King ' how idly the younger sons of rich families spent their time ; who learned no trade, nor qualified themselves by study for any liberal profession, but lived in a state of dependance on the elder brother, or head of the family, and so became useless to the com- monwealth ; and, as for the bulk of the common people. The lower classes. ' Mason's St. Patrick, p. 139. ' Harris's Hibernica, part i. p. 33. I, 2 148 EEIGN OF HENRY VII. CHAP. X. Idleness. Vagrants. A Parlia- ment. Fitz Simon goes to the King. thej' lived in sloth and indolence on account of the great plenty of all kinds of provisions that the land naturally produceth, and for this they neglect to labour ; that it is a greater charity to find work for them, than to relieve them from door to door ; for that one is acceptable to God, profitable to the Commonwealth, and healthful to the body, whereas idleness is the root of all evil.' This prudent letter from the Archbishop induced King Henry to issue orders against mendicancy. He caused a Proclamation to be made, ' that none should be suffered to wander about the cities, towns, or boroughs of Ireland, without a certificate from the Mayor, Bailiff, or Seneschal of the places where they were born, by which means every town kept their own poor, and a workhouse was erected in each locality for the paupers to work in. The Arch- bishop appointed beadles for the purpose of enforcing this regulation, who were to keep watch over the cities, towns, and parishes, to keep beggars out and take up strangers.' In 1493, the Archbishop, while "Viceroy, held a Parlia- ment at Dublin, in which all the inquisitions before that time found against him on the instigation of Koland, Lord Portlester, were declared void, while, at the same session, all grants, annuities, leases, &c., made by this prelate were annulled. Pitz Eustace, who was father-in-law of the Earl of Kildare, was removed from the of&ce of Treasurer, which was conferred on Sir James Ormond, and Fitz Eustace directed to produce and authenticate the accounts of the revenue for forty years, during which time he held the post of Treasurer of the colony. The King requiring information respecting Ireland, sent for the Archbishop, and Lord Gormanstovm was named Deputy in his absence. He departed for England, and laid before the King a full account of his government of Ireland and the state of the kingdom. We may pre- sume he was very severe upon the doings of the Earl of Kildare, for close on his visit followed the impeachment of that nobleman. WALTEE FITZ SIMON, CHANCELLOE. 149 Previous to the Arclibisliop's departure from Ireland, he CHAP. delivered his crozier to Richard Skerrit, Prior of Christ > . „' .^ Church, to whose custody it appertained. His reception Eecpptiou in the Court of the King was befitting a royal favourite, yii. ^ and Stanyhurst relates an instance of his familiarity with his Sovereign, Being present when an oration was made in the King's praise, at its conclusion King Henry asked the Archbishop his opinion of it. 'If it pleaseth your Highness, it pleaseth me,' replied the courtly prelate. ' I can find no fault but that it flatters your Majesty too much.' ' Now in good faith,' said the King, ' our father of Dublin, we were minded to find the same fault our- selves.' \ In 1494, the King appointed his son, Henry Duke of Prince York, afterwards Henry VIII., Lord- Lieutenant of Ireland, Duj^g^^f and, greatly desiring that justice might in all particulars York, be administered in the right track, and confiding in the Henry allegiance, diligence, integrity, conscience, experience,. and ^^^■' learning of Archbishop Fitz Simon, appointed him Lord pitzSimon Chancellor. • Lord The equitable jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery may lor. be traced from the time of Richard II., when the practice Early of referring matters to the Chancellor was in use. The jj^^sdic:-'^ writ of subpoena, to compel an appearance by the-defen- tion of Cli3iDccrv dant, added much power to the authority of the Chancellor, . and the formula of ' Bill and Answer ' was deemed much Subpcena. more effectual than the petition to be heard ore tenus. Bin and It was not, however, until the reign of Henry VII. that ' the equitable jurisdiction of this Court made its greatest trusts. stride. Then, it became settled law, that there being a feoffment to uses, the person beneficially entitled could not, on violation of the trust, maintain an action at com- mon law. Thereupon the Chancellors determined they would compel the faithless trustee to perform the duty binding upon his conscience, and, in process of time, the remedy was extended against his heir and assignee, with notice of the trust. But it was not considered equitable to ' Patent, August 6, H96. 11 Hen, VII. 150 EEIGN OF HENRY VII. Chrincellor holds a synod. Licence to build an hospital. He ceases to be Chan- cellor. Lord Deputy. Again Lord Chancel- lor. Dies in 1511. Buried in St. Pa- trick's. Irish Statutes extend this remedy against a purchaser of the legal estate for valuable consideration without such notice. Equity- pleadings soon became as intricate as those of law, and we have some curious specimens on the EoUs of the time of Queen Elizabeth, to which I shall hereafter refer. Although his Court occupied a good share of his time, the Chancellor did not neglect the affairs of the Church. In 1594 he held a provincial synod in the Church of the Holy Trinity, when an annual contribution for seven years was settled by the clergy of the province for the lecturers of the University in St. Patrick's Cathedral.^ On May 19, 1497, he granted to John AUeyne, Dean of St. Patrick, licence to build an hospital for the poor, and assigned ground for the purpose in Kevins Street. All the poor therein lodged were required to pray for his soul, as the principal founder, and for the souls of the Dean, his friends, and successors for ever. This hospital was not intended for the indiscriminate poor, but such as were good Catholics, of honest conversation, of the English nation, and chiefly of former settlers in the dioceses of Dublin and Meath, named Alien, Barrett, Begg, Hill, Dillon, and Rogers. Out of these classes the Dean and Chapter of St. Patrick were to have the right of selection without fee or reward.^ In 1498 some changes took place among the State officials in Ireland which led to Archbishop Eitz Simon relinquish- ing the Great Seal to the Bishop of Meath. In 1508 he was appointed Deputy to Gerald Earl of Kildare, and the following year was again Chancellor.' He was Archbishop of Dublin until his death, which took place at Einglas, near Dublin, on May 14, 1511, having filled the See of Ireland's capital for the long period of twenty-seven years. His remains were brought to St. Patrick's Cathedral, and honourably interred in the nave. Historians characterise this prelate as a man of great gravity and learning. Among the Acts of the Irish Parliament during the ' Allen's Registry, f. 105. 2 Mason's St. Patrick, p. 142. •< Patent, 1509. 1 Hen. VIII. WALTER FITZ SIMON, CHANCELLOE. 151 reign of Henry VII. we find some description of the social CHAP, state of the kingdom. An Act restraining carrying hawks i- — - out of Ireland, enacted ' Whatsoever merchant should take passed in or carry any hawk out of the said land of Ireland should of Henry pay for every goshawk, 13s. 4(^. ; for a tiercel, ^s. 8d. ; for ^^^• a falcon, 10s.' There was a law passed on the representation of the Dean and Chapter of St. Patrick's Cathedral, that the rivers and podells were so stopped up, the close was con- stantly flooded, for remedy whereof every householder upon the podell was obliged to cleanse and scour the said precincts, within two months after the passing of the Act, upon pain of 20s., to be levied by the Proctor of St. Patrick's. Then came an Act against Provisors to Rome. An Act for the Confirmation of the Statute of Kilkenny.' An Act that every subject worth 101. shall have an English bow and a sheaf of arrows. An Act against the use of Irish war cries. This has already been brought before the reader. I subjoin specimens of the cries or war-shouts of the Ancient Irish, and the Anglo^lS'ormans who adopted Irish cus- cries, toms : — That of the O'Keils was, Lamb dearg abu — Hurra for the Eed Hand. ,, O'Briens Lamb laider an uacthor — The strong hand upper- most. „ MacSwynys — Battailah abu — Hurra for the noble staff. ,, FitzGreralds of Kildare — Crom abu — Hurra for Crom. ., Eitz Geralds of Desmond — -Sean ait abu — Hurra for the old place. „ Bourks of Clanrickarde — Gal ruadh abu — Hurra for the red stranger. „ Eltz Patricks — Gear laider abu — Hurra for the sharp and strong. „ Heflfemans — Ceart na suas abu — Hurra for the right from above. „ Hueseys, Barons of Galtrim — Coir direach abu — Hurra for strict justice. ,, Knight of Kerry — Farre buidhe abu — Hurra for the yellow men. ' Tide excellent observations on the notorious Statute of Kilkenny, and on the misgovernment of Ireland under Anglo-Norman rulers, in the Life of Edward III., by W. Longman, vol. ii. ch. i. 152 BEIGN OF HENEY VIII. CHAPTEE XI. XOED CHANCELLOES OP IRELAND DURING THE REIGN OF KING HENRY VIII. CHAP. XI. English. Laws limited to the, pale. Their operation extended. Henry- obtains the Eoyal title. William Eokeby Lord Chancel- lor. His family. Pebviouslt to the reign of King Henry VIII. the English laws had been limited in operation and partial in execu- tion throughout Ireland. Their influence rarely extended beyond the pale, and they were not always observed even there; while only a few Irish families were considered entitled to the benefits they were supposed to confer. We shall find a considerable change speedily taking place. Chiefs of clans were induced by Henry to become subjects of the English Crown ; to attend Parliament ; to give up the Brehon code for the laws and Constitution of England, while the title of Lord of Ireland, heretofore borne by him and his ancestors, was exchanged for the more royal title of King. The Superior Courts and the Court of Chancery began to assume more extended jurisdiction, and the com- mon law of England was generally resorted to, instead of the ancient laws of Erin. Archbishop Fitz Simon having relinquished the Seals in 1498, the King conferred them on William Eoeebt, who had a high reputation for learning, piety, and wisdom. The new Lord Chancellor was descended from an ancient and honourable house, which most probably derived its name from Eokeby in Yorkshire. The practice of in- dividuals taking names from their birth-place was quite common in former times. The family had considerable success in gaining good places in Ireland, for we find the Lord Chancellor's brother. Sir Eichard Eokeby, filled the office of Lord Treasurer. William, born in Yorkshire,^ was early designed for ' Wood's Athense Oxoniensis, vol. ii. p. 713. AVILLIAM ROKEBY, CHANCELLOR. 153 a religious life, and the rudiments of his education are CHAP. XI stated to have been acquired at Eotherham, where he was a ._ / ..- diligent student. Here he became a good classical scholar, William TIT . p-i Pat. U98. 13 Hen. VII. ' 1509. 1 Hen. VIII. 154 BP:iaN OF HENRY VIII. CHAP. XI. Provincial synod. Unclerioal sports. Condition of the Clergy. of disputes of long standing between successive Arcli- bishops of Dublin and the Dean and Chapter of St. Patrick's.' He seemed in every respect, by learning and legal knowledge, well fitted for the Court of Chancery; and as the chief object of Judges at this period, in Eng- land as well as in Ireland, was to enforce penal laws for revenue purposes,^ his Court was largely sought, as his decisions were consonant to the dictates of conscience. The Seal, having passed in 1513 to Sir William Comp- TON, was restored to Archbishop Eokeby in 1515, who then held it for many years. In 1518 he convened a pro- vincial synod, which had solely reference to ecclesiastical matters. The canons have been extracted from the red book of the Church of Ossory, and published by Sir Henry Spelman.^ They enjoined due examination of persons from Connaught and Ulster, previous to admission to the priest- hood ; the payment of tithes, proxies, and burial fees ; the discontinuance of tin chalices at the celebration of the Mass ; the appraisement of the goods of intestates by two valuators appointed by the Bishop ; prohibited the disposal of the property of the Church by laymen without the con- currence of the clergy ; and the playing at football by the clergymen under the penalty of 3s. 4c?. to the ordinary, and 3s. 4c?. to the repair of the parish church. These regula- tions show the condition of the Irish churches in remote districts, where we may suppose the clergymen not very learned, and where the use of tin chalices denotes the poverty of the Church. In the provinces, at far earlier times, there must have existed considerable wealth and taste in Church adornment, as is evidenced, in the relics of Celtic art preserved in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, therefore we should not have expected a prohi- bition against tin chalices. Perhaps these humble altar vessels, used for most sacred purposes, were employed in ' Mason's St. Patrick, p. 143. ^ Lord Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors in England, vol. i. p. 425. 2 Concilia, t. ii. p. 726. WILLIAM EOKEBY, CHANCELLOR. 155 very poor districts, in wMcli tlie poverty of the parish was CHAP. unable to procure costlier sacramental plate. ._ , ' _- The very high penalty attached to the recreation of football, shows that the taste for ' muscular Christianity ' is of ancient date, and must have been carried to excess to cause its prohibition. I can well understand the necessity of preserving due respect for the minister of the Church by his flock, which must be lessened in the rude shocks of a game of football. In this year, 1518, the Archbishop confirmed the esta- Clerical blishment of a clerical college, founded at Maynooth by Mayfooth. Gerald Earl of Kildare, and modelled the rules for its government. ' In 1520, the old family feuds of the houses of Fitz The Fitz Geralds of Desmond, and Butlers of Ormond, reached such and a height that the Chancellor was dispatched by the Lord Butlers. Deputy and Council to Waterford, ' for the pacifying of such discords, debates, and variances, as existed between the Earl of Desmond and Sir Piers Butler.' The dissen- sions between these powerful nobles materially weakened the Ejiglish rule in Ireland. Henry YIII. was well aware of this. Writing to his Viceroy on the subject, he says : King ' And right comfortable news it should be unto us to hear fo^^J and understand of a good concord betwixt them, so that Viceroy, they, being so pacified, might, with their puissances, join and attend personally with and upon you, our Lieutenant, for your better assistance in repressing the temerities of oar rebellious Irish enemies.' The fatal policy, too long Un- practised by England in dealing with Ireland, of arraying f°^^unate race against race, and creed against creed, is disclosed in this document. '^ ' Now, at the beginning, political prac- tices may do more good than exploit of war, till such time as the strength of the Irish enemy shall be enfeebled and diminished ; as well by getting their captains from them, as hy putting division among them, so that they join not together.' ' Mason's St. Patrick, p. 144. '' State Papers, temp.. Henry VIII., vol. ii. p. 34. 156 REIGN OF HENKY VIII. CHAP. XI. Mortuary chapel. The Irish. Viceroy at this period was an accomplished English nobleman, Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, Lord Lieutenant in 1520. The following beautifully written account of his character shows his great qualities : " Excel- lent in arts and arms, a man of learning, a genius, and a hero ; of a generous temper, and a refined heart, he united all the gallantry and unbroken spirit of a rude age with the elegance and grace of a polished era. With a splen- dour of descent, in possession of the highest honours and abundant wealth, he relaxed not his efforts to deserve dis- tinction by his personal worth. Conspicuous in the rough exercises of tilts and tournaments, and commanding armies with skill and bravery in expeditions against the Scots under his father, he found time, when our literature was rude and barbarous, to cultivate his mind with all the exquisite spirit of the models of Greece and Eome ; to catch the excellences of the revived muses of Italy, and to produce in his own language compositions which, in simplicity, perspicuity, graceful ornaments, and just and natural thoughts, exhibited a shining contrast to the works of his predecessors, and an example vfhich his suc- cessors long attempted in vain to follow.' ' This accomplished statesman soon found the Irish Government was beset by difficulties ; that as only a small portion of the country submitted to English rule, no general system of action could be effected unless the whole country was brought under subjection, and to effect this the available resources of England were insufficient. By his wise and conciliatory policy he served the English interests well during his short stay. He returned to Eng- land in 1521, and Piers Butler became Lord Deputy.^ The judicial functions of Lord Chancellor Eokeby were limited, and my materials do not enable me to describe their nature. He was declining in health, and finding the end drawing near as the year 1521 was approaching its close, he prepared for his departure hence. He was resolved each of his English preferments should retain portions ' Sir Egerton Brydges. ' Catechism of Irish History, p. 203. NICHOLAS LOED HOWTH, CHANCELLOE. 157 of his remains. He erected a mortuary chapel at his CHAP, favourite church of Sandal, which is described as a fabric ■ " , ' . of singular beauty ; the most perfect existing specimen of what the sepulchral chapels of former times used to be.' He directed a stone monument, with an inscription to be placed thereon ; also that another mortuary chapel should be built under the inspection of his executors and church- wardens at the south side of the Church at Halifax, and that therein a tomb also be erected over his heart and bowels, on which was to be placed his statue, with a similar inscription to that of Sandal. And as he had His last obtained an indulgence for the parish of Halifax, and the ^"■^"'"' '""' parishes thereunto adjoining, for eating white meats in Lent; he willed that his executors, at their discretion, should solicit for a renewal of the said licence sub plumbo, the profit thereof to be employed on a priest to sing at Halifax, in his new chapel, as long as may be, by the advice and discretion of his executors, and the church- wardens ; and that a doctor of divinity may have ten pounds to be occupied in preaching, &c. An abstract of his will is given in the ' Athense Qxonienses.' He styles himself Archbishop of Dublin, and perpetual Vicar of Halifax ; and orders that when dead he should be em- bowelled, his bowels and heart buried at Halifax, and his body at Sandal. After his death on November 29, 1521, Death, his wishes were carried into eifect.^ The words inscribed on his monument at Sandal were : ' Ego Willielmus Dublin, Archiepiscopus, quondam Eector istius Ecclesise, credo quod Eedemptor mens vivit — qui obiit— cujus animse propitietur Deus. Amen. And at Hali- fax : ' Hie jacet Willielmi Eokeby nuper Dublin. Archi- episcopi & Vicarii perpetui istius ecclesise, qui credo quod Eedemptor mens vivit.' ^ Sir Nicholas St. Laweeb-ce, Lord Howth, was appointed The family Lord Chancellor of Ireland, in 1509. History and tradi- Lawrence ■ D' Alton's Archbishops of Dublin, p. 181. 2 Hunter's South Yorkshire, vol. i. p. 200. " Athense Oxon., vol. ii. p. 717. EEIGN OF HENRY VIII. CHAP. XI. Agreement between the two knights. The hridge of Evora. Howth. Sad plight of Sir Araoriciis Tristram, tion, lays and legends, combine to give the Lords of Howth an abiding place in the annals of Ireland, The original family name was Tristram, and it is related that when the Anglo-JSTormans invaded Ireland, Sir Amoricus Trist- ram, with his brother-in-law and companion-in-arms, Sir John De Courcy, arrived at Howth, a.d. 1177. De Courcy received letters patent from Henry II., entitling him, his heirs or assigns, 'to enjoy in Ireland all the land he could conquer with his sword, reserving to the King homage and fealty.' According to tradition, while in Normandy, these two knights entered into a solemn compact, in the Church of Notre Dame, at Eouen, to assist each other in acquiring territory in foreign lands, and to share equally whatever wealth they should acquire by conquest. On reaching Howth, De Courcy was unweU, and was obliged to remain on board ship; so Sir Amoricus disembarked with the troops. They were met on landing by a party of the Irish, who resisted their progress at the bridge of Bvora, where the mountain stream falls into the sea. The opposing troops fought on the north side of the promon- tory, nearly opposite the small island of Ireland's Eye. The battle was long and stoutly maintained on both sides, but went in favour of the invaders; and the King, to reward the valorous knight, allotted him the land of Howth. The tenure was subsequently confirmed by let- ters patent from King John, which are still extant.' After this gallant commencement the two warriors reduced the province of Connaught to subjection ; but in 1189, when De Courcy was removed from the Government of Ireland by King Eichard I., Sir Amoricus, then in Connaught, being attacked by O'Connor, king of that province, with a large force, while the Norman knight had only two hun- dred men-at-arms and thirty horse, these latter, seeing the vast disproportion of numbers opposed to them, ap- peared desirous of seeking safety by flight. Sir Amoricus thus harangued his little army in these heroic words : — ' A facsimile was engraved for the Ecport of the Commission on Public Kecords, Irelund, appointed by George III. NICHOLAS LORD HOWTH, CHANCELLOE. 159 " Who will may save his life by flight on horseback, if he CHAP, can ; but, assuredly, my hea,rt -will not suffer me to leave . ' . those, my poor friends, in their necessity, with whom I Spirited would rather die in honour than live in dispraise. But to ^^ j,™^" all those that will stand this day I can say no more than troops. this ; as our lives shall together depart, so shall my soul accompany with yours to the latter day ; and in doing this, I give you all my most humble thanks, and this day will live and die in the field. And, my worthy fellows and friends, all bear witness with me the latter day, that to God I render and yield my sonl, my service to my natural Prince, my heart to my brother,' Sir John Courcy, and his wife; my force, might, pain, and good- will, to my poor friends and fellows here.' This he spoke kneeling, and kissing the cross of his sword thrust it through his horse, saying, ' he should never serve against them, with whom he had so truly and so worthily served afore.' ^ Then every horgeman in his band dismounting, did the same, tt- And in that company no steed alive was left but twain, example On one there rode De Courcy's squire who came from Ulster wild, followed. Upon the other young Oswald sate, Sir Tristram's only child. These two were placed on a hill, and alone survived the Two slaughter of that disastrous day. escape. The name of St. Lawrence was acquired by a member Name of this family having gained a victory at Clontarf, which 'f ^'■ he attributed to the intercession of St. Lawrence, on whose festival the battle was fought. It has since been retained as the surname of the Lords of Howth. This family, for many generations, have zealously maintained what has been called the English interest in Ireland, and held a high position as Lords of the pale. Mcholas, the sixteenth Baron of Howth, was the eldest Parents of son of Eobert, the fifteenth Lord, a nobleman of consi- 'J'" ^^^ fj j-i Q yt ppl * derable abilities, who filled several offices connected with lor. the Government of Irela,nd. He had married Joan, second daughter of Edward Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, by whom he had four sons and two daughters. Of these sons ' Brother-in-law, and in arms. " Burke's Peerage, title Howth. 160 EEIGN OF HENRY VIII. CHAP. XI. His father's career. Exploits. Lord Chancel- lor. Death. Nicholas was the eldest, and had excellent opportunities of acquiring hahits of business under his father, who, on February 22, 1467, was intrusted with the responsible office of Chancellor of the Green Wax of the Exchequer. Eobert Lord Howth was one of the thirteen distinguished nobles who, in the reign of Edward IV., were elected Knights of the Brotherhood of St. George in Ireland, associated to defend the pale. This institution did not last more than about twenty years, as the taxes requisite for the support of the troops became obnoxious, and the organisation failed in the object for which it was founded. The exploits of Nicholas Lord Howth, as may be sup- posed, are better known in the military than the legal annals of Ireland. He led the bill-men' on foot at the well-named battle of Knocktough (hill of slaughter), in Connaught, fought on August 19, 1504. This is described by the historian as the most bloody battle that stains the Irish annals.^ Such was the vehemence and obsti- nacy of it, that at a great distance from the field might be distinctly heard the violent attack of the martial chiefs; the vehement blows of the champions, the des- perate charges of the royal heroes, the voice of the nobles running through the ranks, the clamour of the troops when thrown into confusion.' The Lord Justice gained the victory, but clearly with great loss. This was rather rough training of Lord Howth as an Equity Judge. His Lordship was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1509 ; ' and as we may take it for granted his decrees were just and satisfactory, dismiss him from further detail. As in the case of so many who held the Irish Seals, the legal inquirer can find no trace of his career. Ex-Chancellor Lord Howth died in 1526, and was suc- ceeded by his eldest son (Christopher), by his first wife, daughter of Lord Killeen. ' Not men who filed Bills in Chancery, but men armed with weapons so called. ^ Taafe's Ireland, vol. i. p. 310. = Annals of Donegal. * Patent, June 11, 1509. 1 Henry VIII. HUGH INGE, CHANCELLOE. 161 The Great Seal of Ireland was again intrusted to the care of an ecclesiastic. This time the selection was of Dr. Hugh Inge, who succeeded Archbishop Eokeby in the Hughlnge, See of Dublin, and was made Lord Chancellor of Ireland chan- in 1527,' for the term of his life. Hugh Inge was a native <=''llor. of England, born at Shepton Mallet, in Somersetshire. Jll^' His parents were pious Catholics, who gladly observed the growing excellence of their child. From his boyhood he was destined for the Church, and showed even in early youth, great piety in attending the practices of the Roman Catholic religion. He was educated at the famous school Education,, of William of Wickham, Winchester, and prolDably de- rived much of his capacity for business from the example of this eminent Prelate, who was Lord Chancellor of Eng- land. We are to admire him, says his biographer,^ not Character only for his unrivalled skill in one of the fine arts, but for wickha™ his extraordinary aptitude in civil business, his equal and benevolent temper, his enlightened munificence, and his devoted love of learning. Hugh Inge profited by the instruction of Winchester School, and lost no opportunity in fitting himself for his University career. When sufficiently forward in learn- ing he entered Oxford, and devoted much time to study, studies at and qualified himself for the ecclesiastical state. There ^^°^^- can be no doubt his career in William of Wickham's school prepared him well for the University, which owed much to the same munificent Prelate who built St. Mary's College. Inge obtained a perpetual Fellowship in New College, Obtains a Oxford, in 1484, and having gained his degrees with fy'°^" credit, indulged his curiosity to see foreign lands by making a Continental tour. It is probable he passed some time in Eome, which was much frequented by English ecclesiastics, and the Popes had then a representative at the English Court. On his return to England he was ordained, and the Eev. Hugh Inge commenced climbing the ladder of ecclesiastical > Patent 1627. 19 Hen. VIII. ' Lord Campbell's Lives of the Lord Chancellors of England, vol. i. p. 295. VOL. I. M 162 EEIGN OP HENEY VIII. CHAP. XI. Prefer- ments. Eoman mission. Doctor of Divinity. Bishop of Meatli, 1512. Arch- bisliop of Dublin, 1521. Lord Chan- cellor. preferment. He was successively Prebendary of East Harp- - tree, Sub-Chanter of tbe Church of "Wells, and Warden of Wapulham, in the Diocese of Lincoln. Eichard the Abbot and the Monks of Glastonbury presented him with the Wardenship of Duttying, in Somersetshire, and he also obtained that of Weston. When King Henry VII. sent orators to Eome in 1504, the Rev. Hugh Inge was selected to take the renunciation of all prejudicial clauses in the Apostolic Bulls for the translation of Cardinal Hadrian to the Sees of Bath and Wells, and the Cardinal's oath of fealty and allegiance to the King. He did not foresee what changes were at hand, and that in the reign of the young and talented Prince Henry, Duke of York, second son of Henry VII., the relationship between England and Eome would be rudely broken. In April 1511, this divine while absent on the Continent was dignified by the degree of Doctor of Divinity of Ox- ford. The following year saw him advanced to the Bishopric of Meatli in Ireland. While in the See he acquired the esteem and regard of the natives, who had in their Bishop a kind adviser in their difficulties ; he was also on good terms with the nobles of the pale, who con- sulted him frequently respecting the government of the colony. The death of Archbishop Eokeby, in 1521, left the Archdiocese of Dublin vacant, whereupon the Bishop of Meath was deemed worthy to be his successor. Inge is mentioned with great approbation in the chronicles of the time as an honest man, and one who, by many good offices, had got a great share of intimacy and familiarity with the Earl of Kildare, and hath put the country into as good a condition as the Irish would suffer him.' The learned writer by connecting the Earl of Kildare and wild Irish seems covertly to imply cause and consequence. In 1527, Archbishop Inge was appointed to the impor- tant office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland, wherein, says ' Polydore Virgil, Sir James Ware, vol. i. p. 346. HUGH INGE, CHANCELLOE. 163 "Wood,^ ' he was accounted a person of great probity and CHAP, justice.' Tlie hearing of causes before the Irish. Chan- • ^ — - cellors was still limited, but the decisions of Archbishop Inge carried great weight. He was well skilled in the Roman civil law, and blessed with good sense, applied the principles of that code so as to gain rery great respect as an Equity Judge. The Earl of Kildare was one of the great nobles who The Earl exercised powerful influence over the destinies of Ireland while Dr. Inge was Lord Chancellor. The Earl filled the highest offices in Ireland, was a man of great boldness and ready wit. When Wolsey, in the height of his power and magnificence, accused him of desiring to reign in Ireland, the Earl spiritedly replied, ' I would, my Lord, that you and Spirited I had changed kingdoms but for one month, I would trust ^ojsey! to gather up more crumbs in that space than twice the revenues of my poor Earldom. But you are well and warm. I slumber in a hard cabin, while you sleep on a soft bed of down. I serve under the cope of heaven, when you are served under a canopy. I drink water, while you drink wine out of golden cups. My courser is trained to the field, where your jennet is taught to amble ; when you are graced and belorded, and crouched and kneeled unto, then find I small grace with our Irish borderers except I cut them off by the knees.' ^ Had the Earl of Kildare followed the sage counsels of his friend Archbishop Inge he would have lived a more tranquil life. Among many meritorious acts of the Chancellor, I have to relate his expending a very considerable sum of money in repairing the Archiepiscopal palace of St. Sepulchre, which had been suffered to become dilapidated. He caused competent architects to examine it, and with a munificence worthy of Wolsey, completed the work. He appears to have been desirous of identifying the restoration with his name, as we find his shield of arms placed over the door at the entrance from the library. After presiding over the High Court of Chancery for a ' Athens Oxonienses, vol. ii,p. 732. ' Cox, vol. i. p. 219. M 2 164 EEIGN OF HENRY VIII. CHAP. XI. Death. Office of Masters in Chancery established in Ireland. Duties of ancient masters. year, his health broke down, and the physicians could afford no aid. His death occurred in Dublin, on August 3, 1528, and his remains were interred in St. Patrick's Cathedral. His death is stated to have been caused by Sudor Anglicus, and his was the first case which occurred in those countries.' The important office of Master in Chancery in Ireland can- not be traced further back than the year 1632, when Cormac Eothe was appointed.^ The original duties of the Masters in Chancery consisted in comparing those records and writs that emanated from the Chancery, and examining the State and official documents, which, at this period when know- ledge was very limited, and all legal records and pleadings were either in Latin or Norman-French, required con- siderable ability. Mr. Beasley, in his Synopsis, very fairly considers these officials were called Magisters Gancellarice, Masters in Chancery, from their superior knowledge over all other clerks that were under them, and Cursitors were forbidden by statute' to exhibit any writ to the Great Seal before they showed it to the Lord Chancellor, or to one of the Masters in Chancery that commanded them to make it out. In Ireland, the Masters were occasionally included in the Commission to hear causes.* They became Judicial officers during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and of her immediate successor, when the practice of referring to ' D' Alton's Archbishops of Dublin, p. 184. ' The grant is as follows : — ' Know ye that we of our special grace in the assent of our beloved cousin, Gerald Earl of Kildare, Deputy, and of our right trusty and faithful cousin, Henry Duke of Richmond and Somerset (issuing from our race), our locum tenens of our land and kingdom of Ireland : have given and granted to our beloved Cormac Eothe, Archdeacon of Armagh, the office of one of the Masters in, Chancery of our land of Ireland, and him, the said Cormac, in the aforesaid office we constitute : to have and to hold so long as it shall please us and our said Deputy. Receiving into that office yearly the fees of the same office due and accountable. In witness whereof, &c., at Dublin.' -Translated from the Latin Roll, Rolls Patent, 24 & 25 Hen. VIII. — Beasley's Synopsis, p. 2. ' 18 Edw. III. • "Ware's Antiq. vol. ii. p. 116. MASTERS IN CHANCEEY. 165 one of the Masters appears to liave existed.' In recent CHAP, times tlie office was of the greatest importance — a judicial ■_ , ' . ^ station requiring an Equity lawyer of eminence, and Modem imposing great labour. The duties of the Master were chanceryr various — to enquire and report upon all cases referred to him under orders by the Lord Chancellor, to audit tlie annual accounts of guardians, receivers, committees of idiots and lunatics, to tax costs, execute deeds of con- veyance to purchasers under decrees, make leases to tenants under the Court of Chancery, grant fiats for the enrolment of deeds and powers of attorney, approve of purchases of stock and other securities; to sit in the absence of the Lord Chancellor if required, with one of the Judges, to hear causes ; to undertake the guardianship of minors and lunatics. The salary was three thousand Salary. pounds per annum. This judicial appointment has re- cently been abolished by the New Chancery Ireland Act.^ Offico aboliiihed. ' ' Corporation of Gowran v. Edmund Blashfield. Upon motion of the Attorney-General, of counsel with the defendant, for inasmuch as nothing was done upon the referment made of this cause, hy the consent of both parties, to Mr. Henry Manwaring, one of the Masters of this Court, and Mr. P. Archer, of Kilkenny : therefore it is ordered that both parties shall be ready to attend the said referees upon Wednesday in Whitsun "week next, without further delays, and to that end, that the plaintiff and defendant do agree upon their meetings on the lands in controversy. Monday, 8th May, 1620.' — Extracted from the Eegister Book, High Court of Chancery, E. Dowdall, Eegistrar. ' 30 & 31 Vict. t. 44, sec. 27, abolishes the office of Master in Ordinary of the Court of Chancery in Ireland, except the of&ce of Eeceiver Master. The existing Masters to continue in the discharge of their duties until released. One of the Masters has recently been released by the hand of death — an excellent lawyer, a conscientious judge, a humane and amiable man — the Eight Honourable Edward Litton. 166 EEIGN OF HENEY VIII. CHAPTBE XII. LIPE OF LOED CHANCELLOE AEOHBISHOP ALAN. CHAP. XII. John Alan. From Oxford to Cam- bridge. Prefer- ments. Succeeded by Eras- mus. Selected by Warham as his agent. John Alan, or Allen, as the name is more constantly written, was born in the year 1476. He was of English descent, and, as far as I can learn, of a Norfolk family, several members of which subsequently settled in Ireland. Having resolved to enter the Church, he acquired an excellent knowledge of classics, and was a student of Oxford, but, for some reason or other, removed to the sister University of Cambridge, where he took the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Stirring events followed each other in quick succession, and have found enduring place upon the page of history, while John Alan was preparing for holy orders. The wars which desolated England, the short reigns of Ed- ward V. and Richard III., the victory of Bosworth, which made Henry of Lancaster master of the situation and King, under the title of Henry VII., all occurred before the young priest received his first mission. The Church of Sundrithe, in the Diocese of Kent, witnessed his early ministry at the altar. In 1510, he was collated to Alding- ton, in the same diocese, in which, on his being promoted to the Deanery of Riseburgh, ia 1511, he was succeeded by the celebrated Erasmus. Dean Alan had an eye for better preferment, and, in 1515, became Rector of South Oxyndon, in Essex. About this time William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, had need of an intelligent and able agent at Rome, and selected Dean Alan, who then obtained his degree of Doctor of Laws, for the place. To the intimacy which then grew up, and was very great between Warham and ARCHBISHOP ALAN, CHANCELLOE. 167 Alan, we may trace much of the subsequent career of the CHAP, latter. Warham was a man rough in speech, if we are to ~, ., '_. judge by his coarse language to the Duchess of Burgundy, Warham's when sent by Henry VII. to remonstrate with that to the Princess for the aid she had given Perkin Warbeck. Duchess of jDurguEuy. ' That how, in her later age, she brought forth, within the space of a few years, two detestable monsters, Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck, and being conceived of these two great babes, was not delivered of them in eight or nine months, but in one hundred and eighty months, for both were fifteen years of age, yet she would be brought to bed of them, and show them openlie, not infants, but of age sufficient to do battle with kings.' These taunts, as may be supposed, angered the Duchess to the heart.' Whether Alan considered the service of a Cardinal pre- Chaplain ferable to that of the Archbishop I know not, but on his *^" '^^o^sey. return from Rome he was appointed Chaplain to Cardinal Wolsey, then Archbishop of York, who named him Com- Judge of missary or Judge of his Legatine Court. Warham had made ^ine Court a very efficient Lord Chancellor of England, with the as- Warham, sistance of the Masters in Chancery, and, in difficult cases, of'^"*^"''" he called in the aid of the common law Judges. He thus land. kept down arrears and gave general satisfaction.^ The Cardinal, in selecting Alan for Judge of the Legatine Court, we may be sure was well aware of the character of the Judge whom he chose. At this period, Wolsey was "Wolsey actively engaged in erecting colleges at Oxford, and also coiwgf in his native town, Ipswich, and among the sources whence he sought to procure funds for this purpose, was the dissolation of monasteries. He and Warham were not friendly towards each other. Wolsey had received the Wolsey, Cardinal's hat, and his appointment of Legate d Latere q^^^_ gave him jurisdiction and precedence over all ecclesiastics Sf^'°^°f in England, which he employed to mortify the Primate. Wolsey was all-powerful with Henry VIII., whom he caused ' Holinshed, vol. iii. p. 606. « Lord Camplieirs Lives of the Chancellors of England, vol. i. p. 423. 168 EEIGN OF HENEY VIII. CHAP. XII. Suppres- sion of Monaste- Monks ai agricul- tvirists. As tran- scribers. to dismiss Warham from the office of Chancellor, and con- fer it on himself.' The step now taken to enable the Cardinal to continue his works did not please the Primate, who was a friend to the monastic orders. This process of suppressing monas- teries was actiyely promoted by his Chaplain Alan, and as no doubt this suppression was little short of a startling revolution, it caused the originators, as well as all who promoted their project, to be regarded very differently by those who approved or condemned this measure. A very eminent clergyman, when referring to the labours of the monks, who uses very eulogistic terms towards them, thus speaks of them as reclaimers and improvers of the soil: — ' The usual indomitable energy of the monks has done much to cover barren spots with cultivation ; but, like an imperfect garment, it only calls attention to the nakedness it would fain conceal. Yet I saw phalanxes of sheaves along the mountain side, and many unpromising spots were fragrant with sweet clover. Almost every Protestant in books, letters, and conversations, is ready with the hack phrases of " lazy monks," " drones of monasteries," " fatteners upon the poor," &c. Yet, if they would only wander up river courses, through sequestered valleys, and on sterile hills, they would see how, under the toiling hand of the monks, green grass and yellow corn encroached upon black heath and unhealthy fen, how lordly and precious woods rose upon unproductive steeps, how waters became a blessing where they had been a curse, irrigating the lands which once they ravaged ; how poor communities were held together by their alms in unhopeful places for years, till the constrained earth yielded her reluctant fruits. If we are to add to this the improvements in hus- bandry and domestic arts, which we owe to the monks, and the copies of the Holy Scriptures, and other good books, multiplied by their astonishingly indefatigable pens, when printing was not, we surely shall not be so ready with our " drones." ' ^ ' Lord Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors of England, vol. i. p. 450. ^ Life and Letters of the 'Rev. Frederick W. Faber. AECHBISHOP ALAN, OHANCELLOE. 169 Considerations such, as these did not deter Cardinal CHAP. Wolsey or his Legatine Judge, John Alan, and others of ^ the King's Court, from shutting: up the monasteries and The fate of turning the revenues into cash. It was a project wnicn, pressors. according to the remarks of Dr. Godwin, Bishop of Here- ford, ' like the gold of Tholouse, brought either destruction or some great calamity on all who touched it.' Two of them fought a duel, one was killed, and the other hanged ; A third threw himself headlong into a well ; and a fourth, though a rich man, came after to beg his bread ; Wolsey was thrown out of the King's favour, and died miserably ; and the Pope, who gave his consent to the dissolution, lired to see Rome taken and plundered by the Imperial army, himself and Cardinals made prisoners, and become the sport and mockery of the licentious multitude. Alan's own fate we shall learn in the termination of his life. Wood is very severe with him for his unworthy conduct in the case of the dissolved Priory of Daventry, Northamp- tonshire.' Jealousy prevailed between Alan and Stephen Gardiner,^ another of Wolsey's chaplains, and, for the purpose of preventing a continuance of their contentions, which cer- tainly was not creditable to the character of clergymen, Wolsey thoiight better to part them. He was not un- mindful of the services Alan had rendered him in the dissolution of the monasteries, and, on the death of Arch- bishop Inge, in 1628, despite the opposition of the Earl of Kildare, Wolsey's all-powerful influence in Rome and England procured for Alan, not only the Archbishopric of Alan, Dublin, but the Lord Chancellorship of Ireland.^ In 1529, bishop and he was confirmed by the Pope in this See, and, in ISSO, ^^"iqjP'^^"" held a Consistory in Dublin, of which the records remain. He also promulgated rules for regulating his Metropolitan Court in St. Patrick's.'' ' Athense Oxonienses, vol. ii. p. 742. ^ G-ardiner was Wolsey's confidant. He calls him ' primarium secretissi- morum consiliorum seeretarium, mei dimidium, et quo neminem habes eario- rem.' G-ardiner was Secretary of State to Henry VIII., Bishop of Winchester, and Lord Chancellor of England. He died in 1555. " Patent, September 19, 1528. 20 Hen. VIII. < Mason's St. Patrick, p. U6. 170 EEIGN OF HENRY VIII. CHAP. XII. Letter from the Chancellor to Lord Cromwell. Lord Chancel- lor's fee in Asks for a prebend. Promises gifts. In 1531, the Chancellor Archbishop addressed the fol- lowing letter to Lord Cromwell. He first mentioned many obligations conferred on him by Cromwell.' The Chancel- lor continues: — 'For the which your gentle manners I give you entire thanks, accordingly, no less now in heart, mouth, and writing, than I trust heretocome, if ever it fortune me to be able in deeds and acts effectually. In accomplishment whereof, and to the intent I may the sooner perform this my said unfeigned promise, I must instantly require you (necessitas facit licitiim quod alias est ilUcitum) to move my Sovereign Lord, the King's good grace, to give unto me a prebend of lOOL per annum in commendam, to maintain the state that his highness hath called me unto, being Primate of his Church in Ireland, and Chancellor of the same, without my merits and by obedience against my will truly. And here with us I cannot have the forty mark fee of the Chancellorship, now two years and a half past in arrear, nor yet such money as I laid out upon the King's letters, as well for ships and mariners' wages, as for reparation done in the King's Chancery, also his castle. Sir, afore God I desire none translation, nor any manner of benefice of cure, or yet of dignity, but only (if it might please the King's highness to have some compassion upon me) a prebend which should cause no murmur of absenty from thence, whereby I might keep a dozen yeomen archers in wages and livery, when I lie in the marches upon the Church lands, to keep me in the King's service from his Irish enemies and English rebels. So knoweth God, who may send you (when I am out of half my debt) this next year, one hobby, one hawk, and one Limerick mantle, which three things be all the commodities for a gentleman's pleasure in these partes.'^ Prom this very pressing appeal I find the Court of Chancery was not in a flourishing condition, either in ' Cromwell was another protege of "Wolsey. He was son of a fuller, had been a trooper, then a merchant's clerk, Wolsey's steward. Member of Parlia- ment, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Chamberlain, and Lord Cromwell. '^ State Papers, temp. Henry VIII. ARCHBISHOP ALAN, CHANCELLOE. 171 structure or in business. Tlie Cliancellor havingr to ex- CHAP. XII pend his own money in needful repairs shows the one, and — ^ - his small stipend of forty marks having fallen into arrears for two years and a half shows the other ; for had there been much business in Court I presume the fee would have been paid. In 1 532, Gerald Earl of Kildare was appointed Deputy Earl of to Henry Duke of Richmond, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, viceroy! There are many anecdotes told of this Earl. One is, that His ready being brought before Henry and accused of burning a ^''•• church he admitted the fact, but alleged as excuse, ' that he thought the Archbishop was in it.' On being asked ' who he would select as his counsel to undertake his defence,' he pointed to the King, saying, ' I don't desire to go beyond this good fellow here.' On one of the Lords of the Council saying, ' All Ireland cannot govern this man.' ' Then,' said the King, ' he shall govern all Ireland,' and appointed him Yiceroy. As considerable ill-feeling Alan re- had long subsisted between the Earl and Archbishop ]I^omthe Alan, one of the first acts of the Lord Deputy was to dis- Chan- place Alan from the ofBee of Lord Chancellor, and transfer the custody of the Great Seal to George Cromer, Arch- Cromer bishop of Armagh, a man of considerable ability and a ^PP"'" devoted friend to the house of Kildare. There were several discontented men about the castle Alan plots ready to side with the displaced Chancellor, and several ^ceroy. ^ meetings were privately held, the object being to sow feelings of distrust of the Lord Deputy in the breast of the King. Alan from his high rank, great talents, and Memorial his recent grievance, naturally took the lead in their -^°^y meetings, and, in 1633, procured the Privy Council of Council. Ireland to sign a memorial to the King, setting forth the misgovernment of Ireland, and praying redress. This document states ' the great decay of this land, which is so far fallen into misery, and brought into such ruin that neither the English order, tongue, nor habit be used, nor the King's laws obeyed above twenty miles in compass.' It advises ' that all the lords and gentry within the four 172 EEiaN OF HENRY VIII. CHAP. XII. Becom- mends English Viceroys. Kildare accused of High Treason. shires, Dubliu, Kildare, Meath and Uriel (Louth) be com- pelled to obey the King's laws.' It also deplores the mischief arising from the black mail and tributes, which the Irish by violence obtained from the King's subjects. It condemns admitting of natives of Ireland to the government of the country, and also to the constant change of Lords Deputy.^ The negligent manner in which the Records of the country were then kept was severely censured, as likewise the way in which the Exchequer was managed, and the memorial recommended sending thither to the govern- ment of Ireland, some loyal subject from the realm of England, whose sole object should be the honour and in- terest of the Crown, unconnected with Irish factions, and uninfluenced by prepossession or prejudice ; a most valu- able suggestion well worthy the consideration of those who regard the welfare of the United Kingdom. The memorial had due effect with Henry VIII. No doubt the animosity of Alan's patron, the potent Cardinal, to the Earl of Kildare was not allowed to cool, and it was rumoured the Deputy would be summoned from Ireland to account for his conduct, if not to answer a most serious bill of indictment. As no standing army had existence, all the great Lords, spiritual and temporal, had to con- tribute certain numbers of men. Regulations were made in 1534, respecting the number of soldiers to be sent by the Archbishops and other spiritual dignitaries to host- ings. The Archbishop of Dublin was rated at twenty able archers or gunners appointed for the war ; the Archbishop of Armagh, sixteen ditto. The rumour proved well founded, Gerald, ninth Earl of Kildare, was summoned to England by Henry VIII. to answer certain charges of treason against the English rule in Ireland. He was at no loss to guess at whose instiga- tion. He summoned a council at Drogheda, where in the presence of the Lords he nominated his son Thomas Lord Offaly Vice Deputy during his absence. This young ' State Papers, temp. Henry VIII. ^ Ibid. ARCHBISHOP ALAN, CHANCELLOE. 173 nobleman, the ' Silken Thomas ' ' of Irish history, was then CHAP, only twenty years of age, and of a ' hot and active temper.' - Previous to his departure the Earl addressed a very sage Silken discourse to his son, advising him the course which he Deputy!' should pursue, and the advice he ought to take. I give the following extract from this discoiu'se to his son in the presence of the council of Ireland : — ' Wherefore my sonne, consider that it he easy to raze, Kildare's harde to buylde, and in all your affayrs be schooled by jijg son. this boorde, that for wisdom is able, and for the entier affection it beareth your house, will be found willing to lesson you with sound and sage advice. For albeit in authoritie you rule them, yet in counsaile they must rule you. My sonne, you know that my late maimes stifleth my talk, otherwise I would have grated longer on this ma.tter, for a good tale may be twice told, and a sound advice effcsoones itirated, taketh the deeper impression in the attentive hearer his mind. But although my fatherly affection requireth my discourse to be longer, yet I trust that your good inclination asketh it to be shorter, and upon that assurance, here, in the presence of this honorably assembly, I delyver you this sword.' ^ Shortly after the Earl's departure the young Deputy The De- found those who held high offices in the Government were coifndl. not pleasant persons to associate with. Many were Alan's creatures and rather desirous to embarrass than assist the Deputy. At a banquet which he gave to the Lords of the Council and the Chief Officers of State, the conversation turning on heraldry, John Alan, Master of the EoUs, a relation of the Archbishop's, said to Lord Offaly, ' My Lord, your house giveth the marmoset, whose propertie is to eate his own tail,' alluding to the Eitz Gerald sup- porters. The Deputy promptly replied he ' had been fedde by his tail, and should take care that his tail did not eate him.' Another day, happening to be late at the ' So called from silken fringes ornamenting the caparisons of his horse, also floating from the helmets of his attendant knights. ' Holinshed, p. 89. ' • 174 EEIGN OF HENRY VIII. CHAP. Council, the Lord Archbisliop Alan petulantly exclaimed, > r-L-^ ' My Lords, is it not a prettie matter that we all should stay thus long for a boy?' The Deputy, who, at the moment was coming tip stairs and heard the remark, at once replied, 'My Lords, I am heartily sorry that you stayed thus long for a boy.' This put the Arch- bishop out of countenance. Both the Alans, who were enemies of the Geraldines, were much irritated by these taunts.' Kildare Proceedings were taken to curtail the power of the Tower ^ ^ Geraldines, and it is extremely probable Archbishop Alan lent them his best aid. When the Earl reached London he was committed to the Tower, and a rumour was spread he was to be beheaded; and that Lord Offaly and his uncles were to be apprehended. Letters were also written by persons in office ' howe the Earl of Kildare was already cut shorter, as his issue presently should bee.' False re- ' Qne of these letters,' relates the Marquis of Kildare,'' ' fell into the hands of a priest, who threw it among other papers, meaning to peruse it at leisure. A gentleman, a retainer of Lord Offaly's, who lodged with the priest, sought in the morning when he rose for some paper to draw on his strayt stockings, and taking this letter, bore it away in the heel of his stocking. At night he found the paper, and on reading it saw that it annoxmced the Earl's death. He immediately mounted his horse and took the letter to James Delahide, one of Lord Offaly's principal counsellors, who showed it to Lord Offaly, and, without further inquiry, advised him to rebel openly against the King, as the only means of avenging his father. Lord and saving himself. Lord Offaly being " rash and head- rebels long, and assuring himself that the knot of all Irelande was twisted under his girdle," consulted O'Neill, O'Connor, and other friends of his father, who confirmed what Obtains Delahide had said, and, in order that he might prosecute of war.^^' the war, delivered to him his father's " Manors, Castles, ' The Earls of Kildare, by the Marquis of Kildare, p, 129. ' Ibid. p. 130. ARCHBISHOP ALAN, CHANCELLOB. 175 garrisons, goods, and substances, of which they had CHAP. charge, together with a large amount of the King's .,, , ' .. ordnance and artillery that were in the Castles." ' The advice of these fiery chieftains was, however, op- Contrary posed by wiser heads, the best friends of the Earl of " '^'^^' Kildare — Thomas Earl of Desmond,' Sir Thomas Eustace, created Lord Baltinglass, Edmund Lord Kerry, James, Lord Slane, the Lord Chancellor Cromer, a singularly able and prudent prelate — one, and all, endeavoured to dissuade the vain and impetuous young nobleman from this mad enterprise. He was not to be diverted from his Lord purpose; with that fatal impetuosity and enthusiasm geyeres!""' which, in after years, impelled another of his race to risk all for his native land, to peril life and rank, to leave wife and children, to whom he was so justly dear, and join those among whom the paid spy and the hired betrayer ever have their venal place. Lord Offaly unfurled the standard of revolt. It must have been a stirring sight for the citizens of Dublin, when the sua streamed on the narrow streets of the capital of the pale, on the Eeast of St. Barnaby, June 11, 1534, to witness the gallant cavalcade of a hundred and forty mail-clad riders, with silken streamers from their helmets, attending as a body guard on the young and noble-looking Lord Offaly, as he rode through Dame's Gate to St. Mary's Abbey,^ bent on casting Proceeds to St. Mar/s ' Husband of the celebrated Catherine, styled the Old Countess of Desmond, Abbey, and with good reason. She was daughter of Sir John Fitz G-erald of Decies ; born at Dromana (now the seat of Lord Stuart de Decies) in 1464, tempore Edward IV. In 1484 she married Thomas Fitzgerald, who, in 1529, became twelfth Earl of Desmond. Though strongly urged by Lord OflFaly to join the revolt, he remained quietly at Youghal, and tried to dissuade him, but in vain. TheEarl died in 1534, and the widowed Countess, then in her seventieth year, survived for seventy years longer, having lived at her castle of Inchequin until she reached the extraordinary age of one hundred and forty years. Her death was caused by a fall from a tree, into which this lively old lady had climbed to gather nuts. A very interesting account of her is given in Sir Bernard Burlse's Vicissitudes of Families. ^ Dublin at this period was very different from the crowded and weU-built city of to-day. The north side, then called Ostman or Oxmantown, consisted of but few streets in the neighbourhood of the church of St. Michans. These, called St. Mary's Lane, Church Street, and Pill Lane, extended to the only 176 EEIGN OF HENEY VIII. CHAP, a brave defiance in the face of the Lords of the council ; XII ■ ,_1_- loud shouts rose along the crowded streets, for we may be sure that ' Thamaus an Sioda,' or Silken Thomas as he was usually called, was beloved by the men and adored by the women. On swept the troops, their weapons glitter- ing in the sun, as sword and spear point, steel bit and bridle rein, caught the rays. Having arrived at St. Mary's Abbey, where the council were already assembled, they The De- had not to wait this time for the boy. The boy now clad his^eat.^^ in Complete armour, with stern resolve depicted on his eager yet youthful face, strode haughtily to the vacant place at the head of the council board. Scarcely was he seated when his knights also entered in armour, to the astonishment of these members of the council who were not aware of the report then spread. Having commanded Speech to silence, Lord Offaly said — 'Howsoever injuriously we be cii. handled, and forced to defend ourself in arms, when neither our service nor our good meaning towards our Prince's Crown availeth, yet say not hereafter, but that, in this open hostility, which we here profess and proclaim, we have showed ourselves no villains, nor churls, but warriors and gentlemen. This sword of estate is yours and not mine. I received it with an oath, and have used it to your benefit. I should abstain mine honour if I turned the same to your annoyance. Now have I need of mine own sword, which I dare trust. As for the common sword, it flattereth me with a painted scabbard, but hath, indeed, a pestilent edge, already bathed in the Geraldine blood, and now is newly whetted in hope of a further dis- tinction. Therefore save yourselves from us, as from open Henry's enemies. I am none of Henry 'sDeputie, /"am Ais/oe .' I ^°®* have more mind to conquer than to govern : to meet him bridge over the Liffey, opposite Bridge Street, which the passengers entered through Bridge Gate. "Walls of considerable height surrounded the south side of what was called the city. Beside the Bridge Gate, there were many other gates — Ormond's Gate, New Gate, St. Nicholas Gate, Pale Gate, and Dame's Gate. The tide flowed near the last, and a passage extended from it to the Castle, then defended by flanking towers, and was a place of consider- able strength. AECHBISHOP ALAN, CHANCELLOR. 177 in the field than to serve him in office. If all the hearts of CHAP. YTT England and Ireland that have cause thereto would join ' - dissuade him. in this quarrel (as I hope they will) then should he soon aby (as I trust he shall) for his tyranny, for which the age to come may lawfully range him up among the ancient tyrants of most abominable and hateful memory.' ' So saying he presented the Sword of State (symbol Presents of British rule in Ireland) to the Lord Chancellor ; but of State to he, a mild and gentle Prelate, and a sincere friend to the ^® ^^^ family of Kildare, with tears in his eyes, again tried by a lor. very argumentative speech ^ to dissuade Lord OfFaly from Lord his course. At this moment Nelan, an Irish bard, who. tries to accompanied the young Geraldine, commenced chanting, in Irish, an heroic poem in honour of Silken Thomas, reproaching him for tarrying so long. The harp of the minstrel prevailed against the counsels of the sage Chancellor ; roused by the rebuke of the poet, turning to the Chancellor, Lord OflPaly said : — ■ ' My Lord Chancellor, I came not hither to take advice Eeply to what I should do, but to give you to understand what I chancel- had a mind to do. It is easy for the sound to counsel the ^°'^- sick; but if the sore hath smarteth you as much as it festereth me, you would be percase as impatient as I am. As you would wish me to honour my Prince, so duty willeth me to reverence my father. Wherefore he that will, with such tyranny, execute mine innocent parent, and withal threaten my destruction, I may not, nor will not, hold him for my King. And yet, in truth, he never yet was our King, but our Lord, as his progenitors have been before him. But if it be my hap to miscarry, as you seem to prognosticate, catch that catch may ; I will take the market as it riseth, and will choose rather to die with valiantness and liberty than to live under King Henry in bondage and villany.' ^ On these words he cast the sword on the council table Throws and left the room, accompanied by his knights- He g^^^^^^^^ ' Hollinshed's History of Ireland, p. 78. ' Vide post, p. 182. ^P^"*^" ' Ibid. p. 88. VOL. I. N 178 EEIGN OF HENEY VIII. CHAP. XII. Applica- tion to the Mayor of Bublin. Chief Baron and Arch- bishop fly to the Castle. Lord Offaly and the House ofOrmond, Arch- bishop on board ship. Xands at Clontarf. Concealed at Artane. had no sooner quitted the Chamber, than the Lords of the Council deliberated what was best to be done. They sent a message to the Mayor of Dublin, ordering the arrest of Lord OfFaly and his adherents ; but this was fruitless, as the Mayor had no power to enable him to effect an affair of such magnitude. Chief Baron Einglass, wrote to Lord Cromwell, Secretary of State, urging him to send some troops to meet the rebels' without delay; and, meantime, the Chief Baron, with Archbishop Alan, who knew he could expect no mercy if captured, sought refuge in the Castle of Dublin. Anxious to increase his forces by obtaining co-operation with the troops of the powerful house of Ormond, Lord Offaly sent messages to his cousin. Lord Butler, the Earl of Ormond's son, offering to divide the kingdom with him, if he would unite his aid ; but the proposition met with an indig- nant refusal. Many nobles and chiefs, however, com- bined with the Geraldines, and the Lord Archbishop, fearing the Castle of Dublin would be taken, determined to make his escape into England. He consulted a con- fidential servant, named Bartholomew Pitz Gerald, who provided a small vessel, in which the Archbishop em- barked, near Dame's Gate on July 11, 1534. The cruel destinies were unpropitious ; the Archbishop was baflled ; the wind proving contrary, the vessel ran ashore near Clontarf, and the Prelate with his attendants, landed most reluctantly and sought the nearest shelter. They were concealed in a mansion at Artane, the seat of a Mr. Hothe. In later years I have passed many a happy day in the present Artane, and traced in the demesne of my friend, the late Mathew Callaghan, Esq., the site of the former mansion, where the tragedy I am about to record took place. Whether the sailors proclaimed who was their passenger, or the Geraldine in the Archbishop's service proved false to his trust, or betrayed Archbishop Alan to his liege Lord, I cannot vouch ; but a few hours after the Arch- bishop taking up his abode in Artane, Lord Offaly was ARCHBISHOP ALAN, CHANCELLOE. 179 apprised that escape was thus far ineffectual. He at CHAP, once ordered the Archbishop into custody, and, deter- mined to hare his orders promptly executed, he started The Archr in company with two of his uncles, Sir James and Oliver pj^gued. Fitz Gerald, escorted by forty soldiers. In the early dawn of a summer morning the band of merciless soldiers entirely surrounded Mr. Hothe's house. Having thus cut off the possibility of escape, Lord Offaly sent two of his escort to bring forth the Archbishop. The Prelate was in bed dreaming, perhaps, he was out of danger, when he was rudely shaken. He was not allowed a moment to dress himself, for in their rude haste, these ruthless men dragged the Prelate almost naked before their leader. Alarmed, as The last well he might be, by this discourteous and inhuman con- ^^^^* ' duct, the Archbishop fell on his knees before Lord Offaly and ' besought him not to remember former injuries, but to consider his present calamity, and, whatever malice he might bear his person, to respect his calling.' ' It would be strange if any Christian could remain un- Lord moved by an appeal thus made. Lord Offaly, struck with 0^% pity, desired the Archbishop to be removed, using the removal. Irish words ' heir naim an hodach' (take away the churl). But his followers mistaking it for an order of summary The death execution instantly beat out the Archbishop's brains. ^'°^- Such was the end of Archbishop Alan. Whether his death was intended by Lord Offaly or not is unknown. He himself declared what he meant was, that the Arch- bishop should be removed in custody ; but the prevailing impression on the minds of contemporary writers was, that he was guilty of giving the order which caused the Arch- bishop's death. It is said when the account of these calamitous acts reached the imprisoned Earl his heart was broken, weU knowing the inevitable result. The cold hand of death rescued him from the sharp edge of the headman's axe. The fury of the King was unbounded, and Henry was not a man to be bearded with impunity ; he resolved to ' D'Alton's Archbishops of Dublin, p. 195. N 2 180 EEIGN OF HENKY VIII. CHAP. XII. Laboiu's of Lord Chftncellor Alan. His writings. The fate of the Geral- dines. An Iieir happily preseryed. be revenged for the insult offered by Lord Offaly, and he kept his stern resolve. Lord Chancellor Alan was a careful observer of Irish antiquities, and compiled the ' Liber Mger,' which D'Alton describes as a mine of antiquarian treasures re- lating to the Archdiocese of Dublin. He also left an account of the state of the churches in his diocese, a work which he calls ' Eepertorium Viride.' He wrote ' Epistola de Pallii significatione activa et passiva,' and a work entitled ' De consuetudinibus ac statutis in tuitoriis causis observandis.' ' The deaths of the Geraldines followed fatally the sla.ughter of the Archbishop. The young and im.petuous Silken Thomas was taken prisoner and beheaded in Lon- don on February 3, 1536. Five of his uncles, charged with aiding and abetting his rebellion, expiated their treason on fatal Tyburn; they were hanged and quartered. This noble race was preserved to reach our time through Gerald the younger son of the Earl of Kildare, who was prudently conveyed to Italy, the cradle of the race. The principal part of the estates of his family were restored to the young Earl by King Edward YI. and the ancient honours by Queen Mary. An Act of Parliament passed in the time of Queen Elizabeth freed him from the attainder, and in the person of his Grace the Duke of Leinster, his son, the Marquis of Kildare, and his grandson. Lord Offaly, the family is well represented at present. Athense Oxon. vi. 76. PRIMATE CEOMEE, CHANCELLOE. 181 CHAPTEE XIII. lOEB CHAJTCELLOES OP lEBLAND DTTEIIfG THE EEIGN OE HENET Till. — CONIINTIED. George Ceomee, Arclibisliop of Armagh, was appointed chap. Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1632. Ware describes Dr. . ^ ^^^- . Cromer as an ' Englishman of great gravity, learning, George and a sweet disposition.' I have not been able to ascertain Lord ^^' the period of his coming into Ireland, but he succeeded Chan- John Kite in the Archdiocese of Armagh. His prede- ^. °^' cessor Archbishop Kite's tomb had this quaint memento raoter. mori : — Eor whose soul good pepul of cherite Prey, as ye would he preyed for ; for thus must ye lie. Dr. Cromer was appointed Primate in 1622. I hope he Arch- did not find the inhabitants of Armagh quite so uncivi- Armagh. lised as they were described to a predecessor in the See ' Octavian de Palatio. I give the Latin and translation : — Civitas Armachana, Armagh is notorious, TJncompli- Civitas nana, Por being vain-glorious, mentary Absq. honis morihis ; Tlie men void of manners, their spouses descnption Mulieres nud 28 Hen. VIII. Ir. ^ A construction was put upon this singiilar statute in the case of the Earl of Shrewsbury, also Earl of Waterford, reported in the 12th part of Lord Cokes' Keports : ' It was resolved by the Judges in England, to whom the ques- tion was by the Privy Council referred, that the Irish Act against absentees did not only take away from the Earl of Waterford the possessions which were given to him at the time of his creation but also the dignity itself.' The Court said : ' It was with good reason to take away such dignity by Act of Parliament, and although the said Earl of Shrewsbury be not only of great honour and virtue, but also of great possessions in England, yet it was not the intention of the Act to continue him Earl in Ireland when his possessions were taken from him ; but that the King at his pleasure might confer as well the dig- nity as the possessions to any other, for the defence of the said realm.' In lec- tures by the Eight Hon. James Whiteside (now Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, Ireland), on the Irish Parliament, he states : ' I ought to mention that the propriety of this decision of Lord Coke and others came before the Lords in 1832, in the case of the Earl of Shrewsbtiry, claiming as Earl of Waterford, to vote at the election of Eepresentative Peers of Ireland ; and it was held, that the dignity of the peerage was not taken away by the Irish Act against absentees ; and that the opinion above cited was not binding upon the House of Lords, or any other court of justice.' Life and Death of the Irish Parlia- ments, part i. p. 41. * « I have examined the enrolled Chancery Decrees of this reign, number- ing sixty-one, in the public Eecord Oifice, Four Courts," Dublin, they are chiefly on bills filed for account — to give parties quiet possession of dis- puted lands — one or two were somewhat peculiar and might have been tried at law, such the cause of Maurice Eustace and Lord Killyn. Decree directing payment of eight marks in satisfaction of a horse taken by defendant, and an injunction to issue to enforce compliance with the decree. A decree decides a certain wall to be a party wall. Another directs the Archbishop of Dublin to be put in possession of the island called Ireland's Eye.] LIFE OE SIR JOHN ALAN, CHANCELLOR. 198 CHAPTBE XIV. LIFE OF SIE JOHN AlAN, LOED CHAKOBLLOE OF lEELAND. John Alan, or Allen, was a native of England, and lias CHAP. XIV been described of Cowtishale, in the county of Norfolk, ^ — ^J— ' gentleman.* He was one of a large family ; four brothers Sir John beside himself having established themselves in Ireland, chan- They acquired considerable stations and high legal ap- ':^^^' pointments, chiefly in connection with the Court of The family Chancery. It is stated, and I believe with truth, they of Alan. were cousins of the Chancellor and Archbishop Alan, whose sad fate at the hands of Lord Offaly I have already recorded. From a letter which I insert in this ' Life of Sir John Alan,' I fear it must be concluded that ' Silken Thomas ' was not as free from the stain of that deed as his friends would have wished. John Alan devoted him- John a law self to the study of law. He was admitted to the bar, " ^ ^° • and selecting Ireland for the theatre of his forensic in Ireland. operations, quickly obtained practice and place. The office Appointed of Master of the Rolls of Ireland was conferred on him theRoUs. by patent, read in the Council Chamber in Dublin Castle, on August" 18, 1634. On August 81, he was sworn in, before the Archbishop of Armagh, Lord Chancellor, and took the oath of office.'* ' Pat. Roll of Cane. Hit. 29 and 30 Hen. VIII. ^ ' Ye swear that ye well and trulie shall sen'e o' Sovraigne Lord the King Oath of the in the office of the Clerc, Keper, and Master of the RoUes of hie Chancery of Master of Ireland, and the roUes, process, records, and muniments of the said Corte ye i^qi ■ shall truelie and aurelie conserve and kepe or see them to be conserved and kept to y' power. Ye shall not assent ne procure the disherison ne ppetual hurte of the King to ye' power. Ye shall do no fraude, ne procure non to he don to the hurt of the Kynge's peple, nor in anything that toucheth the keeping of the Great Seale, and faithfully and trulie shall you counsaile the things which touch the King when ye thereto shall be required, and the counsaile that ye know VOL. I. 194 EEIGN OF HENRY VIII. CHAP. In the montli of February, 1584, Gerald Earl of Kil- - •^ , • - dare went to London, leaving Lord Offaly Viceroy. On Letter May 17, John Alan, then Master of the EoUs, and four of res^pectmg -^^ brothers, all enemies of the Geraldines, wrote to an- Offaly. other brother, named Thomas, Warden of Youghal College, who was in London, the following letter : — ' Eight worshipful brother, — We heartily recommend us unto you, notifying you that my Lord of Desmond ' marvels greatly at your long tarrying ; moreover we cer- tify you of truth, that Thomas Mtz Gerald, the Erie of Kildare, his son, is now with my Lord O'Brien,' and makes all that ever he can to obtain my Lord of Desmond's good will, and as yet we do our best to keep him from his pur- pose in that behalf, and shall do, with God's grace. More- over the said Thomas hath burned all your cornys that lay in Little Bewerly, and he says wheresoever he meets with you he will slay you (with) his own hands, for be- cause that you hold so soor with the King's grace, and causeth the Erie of Desmond to buy his fees, also vnth all your brethren and kinsfolk do stand in jeopardy of their lives for your sake,' wherefore we counsel you to instruct the King of this promise, and cause his Grace to write a letter to my Lord of Desmond in all haste to take the said traitor, and also to cause my Lord O'Brien to withdraw touching him shall ye conceal. And if ye know the King's disheritance, or his ppetual hnrte or fraude in things to be doon, touching the keping of the said Seale, ye shall put y' lawfuU power to redress it and amend it ; and if ye cannot do it, ye shall shew it to the King or the Chancolor, or other that may amend it after y' intent. Ye shall see the patents, writtes, and other proces of the chancerie to be recorded and enrolled by yo' self or yo' clerkes, as to yo' office apperteyneth ; ye shall admit no clerke, attorney, or other officer or mynyster to serve or mynyster in the said corte, but soch as in yo' conscience ye shall think to be able thereunto ; ye shall minister indifferent right and justice to all the King's peple that shall have to do before you, according to the King's conscience. And all other things that apperteyneth to yo' office as Master of the KoUs, ye shall doe and observe, soe God ye helpe, all his saynts, and the holy evangelestes.' Pat. EoU 25 Hen. VIII. ' Thomas twelfth Earl of Desmond, the "Warden of Youghal was his officer. 2 O'Brien, of Thomond. ^ This letter was written about six weeks before the slaughter of the Arch- bishop, on July 19, 1634. LIFE OF SIR JOHN ALAN, CHANCELLOR. 195 his favour from the said Thomas and all other his Lords, CHAP, for the rather the better ; for if you were with us, we put . ^^J- . no doubt but we should, with your wisdom and help, dis- place him and his, and that soon ; moreover you send to me for more costs ; by my troth, I have lost 300?. in the river of this year ; I thank God of all : I send you by this bearer 31. 3s. 4d., for I have paid to your priests for their wages at Easter last past 201, 6s. 8d., and I have paid to your workmen 121, 8s. 2d, Wo more to you at this time, but Jhesus bring you home shortly. ' Written in all haste at Youghyll, in Ireland, the 17th day of May, by your brethren, ' EioHARD Allen, John Allen, • ' Egbert Allen, Jaspee Allen, and ' Mellshee Allen. ' To his right worshipful brother, ' Mr. Thomas Alien, ' Warden of the College of Youghyll.' It was only a few weeks after the date of this letter The rebel- the rebellion of Thomas Lord Offalv startled the king- Jl°° °^ . . ,.111 1 . Thomas dom, and, like the insurrection of that ill-fated enthusiast, Lord who much resembled the impetuous young noble, Robert ^^-'y- Emmet, commenced with the slaughter of a high digni- tary, in one case the Archbishop of Dublin, in the other the Lord Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench.^ I find it was not deemed infra dig. for his Honour to be cierk in a clerk in Parliament. The entry in the Patent EoUs of Parlia- 1584-6, recite — ' Appointment of John Allen, Vice-Chan- cellor or Master of the EoUs of Chancery, to the ofilce of clerk of the Parliament, with a salary of 2s. a day during the parliamentary session.' By letters patent on Decem- gjant to ber 1, 1538, he had a grant of the site, circuit and lands of ^y ■^°^'^ the late monastery of St. Wulstans, the manor of Donagh- ' Proceedings Kilkenny Arch. Soc. voL ii. N. S. p. 336. " Lord Kilwarden, murdered in 1S03. o 2 196 REIGN OF HENRY VIII. CHAP. XIV. Lord Keeper. Lord Chan- cellor. SirThomas Cusack. Intrusted with the Great Seal. Chancellor not a Ma- gistrate ex officio. cumper, and other denominations of land in the county of Kildare for ever, by the service of one knight's fee, rent 101. Both in England and Ireland the lands of the sup- pressed religious houses became the prey of those who did King Henry's will. At this time, Audley, Chancellor of England, in consideration of the bad law laid down by him on the trials of Eisher, Sir Thomas More, Queen Anna Boleyn, Courtnay, and Pole, obtained the Priory of the Trinity, near Aldgate, in addition to the Garter, and other marks of royal favour.' When Sir John Barnewall, Lord Trimlestown, died in 1538, John ALAiT,MasteroftheEolls, was appointed Keeper of the Seal, and on his resigning the office of Master of the Eolls, was succeeded by Sir Thomas Cusack, of Cussington, knight. In the following year, a.d. 1539, Alan was granted the office of Chancellor of Ireland.^ Directions were given to the Under Treasurer respecting the allowances to be made to him for exercising the office of Chancellor, with such ' issues and profits, as the Bishop of Perns, the Archbishop of Dublin, or Roland Eustace enjoyed, and for this purpose to make search among the records of the treasury, by which the perfect truth thereof may be made known. Signed, Thomas Ceomwbll.'^ Lord Cromwell, though apparently in high favour, having a seat in Parlia- ment above the Archbishop of Canterbury, as Vicar- General, was hastening to his fall. Leave of absence being granted to the Lord Chancellor to repair to the King's presence. Sir Thomas Cusack, Master of the Eolls, was intrusted with the custody of the Great Seal in his absence. The King probably wished to preserve some uniformity in the religious doctrines he prescribed for the Eeformed Churches of England and Ireland. By letters patent of 32 & 33 Henry YIII., it appears the Chancellor was not ex officio a magistrate, for it appoints ' Vide Lord Campbell's Chancellors, vol. i. p. 611. ' Pat. Roll in Cane. Hib. 30, Henry VIII. » lb. Patent tcj hold during pleasure with custody of the Great Seal and power to examine and determine all causes and suits according to the law and custom of Ireland. LIFE OF SIR JOHN ALAN, CHANCELLOR. 197 John Alan, Chancellor, with others to be Justices of the CHAP. XIV Peace for the county of Meath. . ^_:_> King Henry was now taking very bold measures to assert the Royal supremacy in Church and State ; and woe be- tide the unhappy laj'^man or ecclesiastic who dared to resist his might. On June 7, 1539, ' the bloody Bill of Six Ar- biters ' was carried through the House of Lords in three days, and obliged, under the most penal consequences, the doctrines of the Catholic Church to be rigidly observed. In the Commons it passed through the various stages with equal rapidity. The expulsion of twenty-seven mitred Abbots and Priors from Parliament hastened the downfall of the monasteries, and showed a strange way of uphold- ing the Church. To enable the despotic King to dispense with Parliaments altogether, the English Chancellor, Audley, procured an Act to be passed, whereby the King's proclamation, having the assent of the Privy Council, was to have the force and effect of an Act of Parliament.' In 1539-40, a Royal Commission issued to George Arch- Deputies bishop of Dublin, John Alan, Chancellor, and William General? Brabazon, Vice Treasurer, appointing them to act as de- puty to Thomas Lord Cromwell, Keeper of the Privy Seal, whom the King had constituted his Vicar-General and Vicegerent in ecclesiastical matters. The Chancellor soon had plenty of work in reference to Suppres- Church matters. In the April of the same year, he, with re",^i°us the Archbishop of Dublin (Brown), the Vice Treasurer, hou&es. Robert Cowley, Master of the RoUs, and Thomas Cusack, Esq., were named Commissioners for the purpose stated therein. This sets forth in terms more forcible than polite, 'that from information of trustworthy persons, it being manifestly apparent that the monasteries, abbies, priories, and other places of religious or regulars in Ire- land are, at present, in such a state, that in them the praise of God and the welfare of man are next to nothing regarded, the regulars and others dwelling there being so addicted, partly to their own superstitious ceremonies, > 31 Hen. VIIL c. 28. 198 EEIGN OF HENKY VIII. CHAP, partly to the pernicious worsliip of idols, and to the pes- • ,-l_- tiferous doctrines of the Eoman Pontiff, that unless an effectual remedy be promptly provided, not only the weak lower order, but the whole Irish people may be speedily infected to their total destruction by the example of these persons. To prevent, therefore, the longer continuance of such religious men and nuns in so damnable a state, the King (having resolved to resume into his hands all the monasteries and religious houses, for their better reforma- tion, to remove from them the religious men and women, and to cause them to return to some honest mode of living, and to true religion) directs the Commissioners to signify this his intention to the heads of the religious houses ; to receive their resignations and suiTenders will- ingly tendered ; to grant to those tendering it liberty of exchanging their habit, and of accepting benefices under the King's authority ; to apprehend and punish such as adhere to the usurped authority of the Romish Pontiff, and contumaciously refuse to surrender their houses ; to take charge for the King's use of the possession of these houses, and assign competent pensions to those persons who willingly surrender.' ' We may well conceive the state of alarm, which the promulgation of the edict caused among the monks and nuns of Ireland. They were to be torn from the houses in which they served God and His poor, and Henry VIII. was to take them into his royal care for their hetter reformation ! ! This pious monarch, so tender of the souls of the religious men and women, was engaged at that moment breaking the solemn vows with which he had wedded Anne of Cleves, merely because he did not like her High Dutch face ; and he married the Lady Catherine Howard, whom he speedily beheaded. Sir An- A change in the Viceroyalty was made at this time, and Seynt- the office of Deputy of Ireland conferred on Sir Anthony ^ser Seyntleger, knight, one of the gentlemen of the King's Privy Chamber. On July 25, 1541, the new Viceroy took the oath of office in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, ' Morrill's Calendar of Pat. and Close EoUs, vol. i. p. 55. LIFE OF SIR JOHN ALAN, CHANCELLOR. 199 Dublin, before the Lord Chancellor and the Lords of the chap. Council. He thereby pledged himself faithfully to main- ' - tain and defend the law of God and the Christian faith, to observe the usages, rights, ceremonies, and liberties of Holy Church ; to give faithful counsel to the King's people, and keep the King's counsel.' It was a task requiring no small courage to undertake the Irish Government at this period. Lord Leonard Grey, who had been recently Viceroy, was tried on several charges preferred against him for maladministration in Ireland ; among them, that he had secretly aided the Geraldines, their allies and Irish chiefs hostile to the English interests ; and after the re- bellion of Silken Thomas, had allowed young Gerald, the Earl of Kildare's son, to escape to Rome. The trial ended in conviction, and the usual sentence of Henry VIII. cost Lord Grey his head on Tower Hill, a.d. 1541.^ While Sir John Alan was Lord Chancellor, a step towards Legal legal education in Ireland was taken. Patrick BarnewaU, [ji'j^ei'ii"^^ King's Sergeant, in a letter to Cromwell, suggested the Letter propriety of establishing in Dublin an Inn of Chancery, ^ ^°^^ that is, a house wherein, as Eortescue observes, ' the respecting students are, for the most part, young men, .iearning the chancer"* first elements of the law, and becoming good proficients, weth that there should be a house of Chancery here, where such as were towarde the lawe, and other yonge therein, whence as they grow up they are taken to the greater hostels, which are called the Inns of Court.' In this letter BarnewaU says, ' Yf your lordchippe thoght fyt gentlemen might be together; I reckon hyt wold doe moche good, as I have declared ere now unto your lord- chippe, and in especyall for the incresse of Englishe tonge, habits, and ordyr, and allesoo to the mene as such as hath or shal be at study in England, shold have the bettyr in remembrans ther laryng, for defaut whereof now in effect, we doe forgyte moche of that lytyll laryng that we atteyned there.' ^ ' Pat. Roll in Cane. Hib. Temp. Hen. VIII. « Catechism of Irish Hist. p. 219. ' State Papers, II. 671. 200 EEIGN OF HENEY VIII. CHAP. XIV. Petition from the Irish judges and lawyers. The judges Import- ance to students. The house of Black- friers. This letter was written at the right time. The suppres- sion of monasteries placed at the disposal of the Crown the once splendid structure of the Dominicans, or Friars Preachers, and this Abbey of St. Saviour was well adapted to serve for the future Inns of Court. A petition in sup- port of the letter was addressed to the Privy Council of England in these words : — ' Our humble duties remembered to your most discreet wisdoms, — Please it the same to be advertised, that whereas we, our soveraine Lord the King's Majestie's Judges and learned Counsaill of this Realm of Ireland and others lerned in his Highnes' lawes, and such as hath pre- sedet us in our romhis before this tyme hathe been searved in terme tyme, in several merchantes' howsis within the citie of Dublin, at borde and lodging ; so that whensoever anything was to be done by the said Judges and Counsail and others lerned for the setting forthe of our said sove- rain Lorde's causes, and other to our charges comraytted, tyme was lost ere we coulde assemble ourselves togither, to consult upon every such thing, therefor we, pryncypaly considering our humble and boundyn duties unto our said soveraine Lord, the comenwelthe of this realme, and also the bringing upe of gentlemen's sonnes within this realme, in the English tong, habits, and maners, thoght it mete to be in our house togithir at bord and lodging, in terme tyme, for the causes aforesaid, and for the same intent and purpose we toke the late suppressed house of Blakfriers,in the South Barbis of the said citie, and kept commons ther the last two yeris termely. And considering our said terme and faithful unfamed purpose in our judgementes and under- standing to be bothe to the honor and profitt of our said soveraine Lord, the comenwelthe of this realme, and th'encres of virtue, we mooste humble beseeche your dis- creet wisdoms to be so good unto us as to be a meaneunto our said soveraine Lord, that we may have the said house and the landes thereunto belonging, which is surveyed at the yerly valer of alevyn (eleven) marks sterling, or ther- about, whiche is not able to maintaine th continuiall repera- LIFE OF SIR JOHN ALAN, CHANCELLOB. 201 cions thereof, after suoli like sorte and facion as shall CHAP, XIV please Ms Majestie to depart with unto ns, and to name — ,, '..^ the said house as the same shall be thoght good by his Majestie, for we doe call the same now the King's Inn — The King's and for the furder declaraoyon of our myndes in this behalfe, it may please your discreet wisdoms to give credens to Master Dowdall, bearer hereof, who can relate the same at large. And thus we commit your discreet wis- doms to the tuicion of God with continuall encres of honour. ' Fro the Kinge's citie of Dublin, 29th of August (1541), 'Tour Orators, &c., ' To the Kinge's most Honorable Counseille in England.' The same year the King demised to John Alan, Chan- Lease to cellor. Sir Gerald Aylmer, Justice, Sir Thomas Luttrel, chancellor Justice, Patrick "White, Baron, Patrick Barnewall, King's and Sergeant, Robert Dillon, King's Attorney, and Walter Cowley, and to the other Professors of the Law, the Monastery of the Priars Preachers, declaring this house of Chancery ancillary to the Inns of Court in England. Prom some cause or other Sir John Alan did not give Alan de- satisfaction to the Viceroy, Sir Anthony St.-Leger, who thrchan- made such representations to his disfavour that he was ceilorship, deprived of the Great Seal. This seems to have mortified No retiring Alan extremely, because, thereby, he was not only deprived P'^''^'°°- of a post of great honour, but his very means of exist- ence were taken, as the comfortable retiring allowance of later days ' was not then granted to Ex-Chancellors. It is. Some com- however, only fair to state that, whatever could be done to !„. joss of alleviate the loss was done on this occasion, as we shall °®<=^- presently find. When the Great Seal was received from Alan, it was Succeeded immediately given to Sir Eichard Eeade. There appear ^^J'^Jj.^ from the records considerable indulgences were granted at Eeade. this time to Ex-Chancellor Alan. In a letter from the l'"^"!- /^ . . gences to Lord Protector Somerset and the Lords of the Council in Ex-Chan- ' Pour thousand pounds per annum is the allowance to ex-Lord Chancellors of Ireland. cellor. 202 EEIGN OF HENEY VIII. CHAP. XIV. Keade's appoint- ment confirmed Queen Mary's letter. England, wlien the young King Edward ascended tlie throne, addressed to Sir Anthony St. Leger, Lord Deputy, and the Council in Ireland, Master Alan was to have ' restoration of all his leases, offices, goods, and chattels, notwithstanding the surrender of his office of Chancellor, with liberty to convey his goods without search or seizure into England ; that he shall have the Constableship of Maynooth, with the arrears of the fee, and the rest of his offices, tlie farm of Kyle, and all his farms, leases, and things, notwithstanding his absence ; and that at all times, when he shall think iit he may, either by his wife or ser- vants, transfer from Ireland all his moveable goods without any search or restraint, as they would be lothe he should have cause to make further suit.' ' Sir Richard Eeade was appointed Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper by Henry VIII. ; but his patent having determined by the death of that King, a new one was issued by Edward VL, confirming his appointment. The surname of this Chancellor is derived from the Saxon word red or reed, which shows its Saxon origin.^ During the time Sir Richard held the Great Seal, there was little business in the Equity Courts. The anxiety respecting a threatened invasion by the partisans of Gerald, the young Earl of Kildare, kept the inhabitants of the maritime towns on the alert, while his allies in the country burned and plundered Ballymore-Eustace on the Liffey, and other towns. The O'Mores and O'Connors Ealy joined in the insurrection, and the Deputy St. Leger was defeated in trying to reduce them to submission. He returned with superior force; and, with great destruction to life and property, the authority of Government was successfully vindicated and established.^ Queen Mary held Ex-Chancellor Alan in much esteem, as appears by the following letter, written in 1558, entitled ' The Queen to the Lord Deputy and the Chancellor : — 'Having licensed our trusty servant. Sir John Allen, ' Pat. Roll in Cane. Hib. Hon. VIII. " Catechism of Irish Hist. p. 223. ^ Burke's Peerage. LIFE OF. SIR JOHN ALAN, CHANCELLOR. 203 late Chancellor of that our realm, to repair hither, and CHAP, demore or return at his pleasure; and, considering the ' - trusty functions which he had, for a great time there, both under our father and brother, and his long experience and travail in public affairs, we judge him worthy such trust, as he is meet always to remain one of the Privy Council ; Eetamed and, in respect of his infirmities and age, we mind not that Councillor, he should be compelled to go to any hosting or journies, but when he conveniently may ; and, as we signified our contentation unto you, that upon surrender of his leases not yet expired, you should make a new lease to him for twenty-one years. That same be made notwithstanding difiiculties.' ' Alan's account of words charged to be spoken hj the Alan's Viceroy, Sir Anthony St. Leger, against the Protestant reli- conversa- gion, is curious, and not creditable to the then Archbishop tjon Jith /^ -1 r- the Viceroy of Dublin. Having received letters from the Council of St. Leger. England of the coming of Lord Cobham, with an army, and that all due preparations should be made against their arrival, Alan went to Kilmainham to apprise St. Leger, the Deputy, of this event; St. Leger, with others of the Council, being in a room called St. John's Chamber, drew Sir John Alan aside to the great window, and enquired the cause of his coming. Alan informed him ; and, in order to uphold the authority of the Deputy, asked him for his Commission to certain persons, who would provide all things requisite. He did so, he informs us, for the Deputy's sake, rather than do so by virtue of the authority contained in the letters. The Deputy, aware of his kind motive, promised compliance. The conversation then turning upon a French invasion, St. Leger enquired of Sir John Alan, as a man of knowledge in Irish affairs, ' what the French expected ? ' Alan replied, ' They ex- pected to persuade the Irish to have Ireland united with the Crown of France.' ' That were a vain device,' replied St. Leger, 'for the Irish would be no longer subject to them than they pleased themselves, but would be as ' Pat. Rolls in Cane. Hib. temp. 1 and 2, Philip and Mary. 204 EEIGN OF HENEY VIII. CHAP, wavering with them as with the English.' Alan observed, .T'^J'^. ' If they could banish the English and keep the seaports, the French would be content.' The Deputy then said, ' The King of France is in the flower of his youth ; and, if the Emperor were gone, he aspires to be Lord of Chris- tendom ; and, knowing there was no impediment but the King of England, would try so to occupy the English troops in Scotland and Ireland, that he should find no hindrance elsewhere.' After having remarked on ' the cold- ness of the Emperor towards England,' Alan said ' he never could hear of any cause, except offence at the Church of England.' To this St. Leger answered, ' It was no great marvel that he should be offended therein, for, in that matter, among themselves, they disagreed, and that every man of experience must know, that if the French came to Ireland, they would have more friends among the Irish, for religion's cause than for their own ; and, so God help me, for my own part, when the Lords of the Council sent me to further matters of religion here, I had much rather they sent me to Spain, or any other seat of war ; and I told my Lords no less.' After this they went to dinner, and, not having a clerk at hand, Alan made out the requisite Commission, which the Deputy signed ; after this he bade St. Leger farewell. Spends the On returning to Dublin, Alan spent the evening with with^Dean ^^^ Dean of Christchurch, with whom he met the Arch- of Christ- bishop of Dublin, and Mr. Basnet, late Dean of St. Patrick's, clmrcli and, after supper, the news of the day and the expected The Arch- French invasion were spoken of. The conversation then opinion turned on the faults of the Viceroy, and the Archbishop °i^^^ said, 'he was but a dissembler in religion, and was never viC6roy. a ^ willing to have it set further here.' On this Alan stated, ' he was not far amiss there, for that day his Lordship had confessed as much to him.' 'Did he,' replied the "Words Archbishop ; ' I prae you to remember that.' Some time to AUn."^ after, Alan was informed, the Archbishop stated the Deputy delared to Alan, ' that if the Lords of the Council had let matters rest as King Henry VIII. left LIFE or SIR JOHN ALAN, CHANCELLOE. 205 them, and had not sought to alter the religion of the CHAP. people, there would have been no rebellion in Ireland ; ' ,_L- and he, the Archbishop, would produce Sir John Alan to prove this. Alan at once stated, 'that although he con- Denial.- sidered the Lord Deputy had done him great injury, by taking from him honour, estimation, and means of sub- sistence, so that if he followed the natural desire for revenge he might suffer, and the usage he sustained would not make him an indifferent witness. Yet, for all that, he would tell no lie to harm him, therefore the Archbishop would not be able to prove his case by his (Alan's) evidence.' The Archbishop having been sent for by the Lords Arch- of the Council of England, to substantiate his charges tries'to against St. Learer, sent for Sir John Alan, bade him re- sistain the ° . charge. member the conversation related above, and the words ' If the Lords of the Council had left matters as King Henry VIII. left them, &c.' Alan replied, ' that besides his not being an indifferent witness against St. Leger, he remembered no such words spoken by him.' The Arch- bishop insisted he had told him so in the presence of the Dean of Christchurch and Mr. Basnet; whereupon Alan referred to these clergymen, and both concurred with him Alan cor- — ' they did not hear him say, as the Archbishop alleged.' ^o''™"'^- The Archbishop sent the Bishop of KUdare to induce Conduct Sir John Alan ' to write down the words used by the qjj^^ ^^' Viceroy,' and he replied, ' he would do nothing of the cellor. kind' — I suppose, regarding the conversation as confi- dential. ' So, my Lord,' said he, ' that albeit I love his little toe better than all Mr. St. Leger's body, yet I will do nobbing against truth, nor that which shall not be decent for one that hath been placed as I have been. Therefore, if it shall please my Lords of the Council to command my Lord Deputy to examine me on oath, I will truly declare what Mr. St. Leger said to me in Eil- mainham.' ' ' Deposition of Sir John Alan touching certain worda laid by the ArchbiBhop of Dublin to Sir A. St. Leger'a charge,— Shirley's Original Letters, 63. 206 EEIGN OF HENEY VIII. CHAP. XIV. ' r The Viceroy removed. Reinstated by Queen Marv. Death of Sir .Tohii Alan Sir Anthony St. Leger was, however, removed throngli the influence of the party then bent on establishing the Protestant religion in Ireland. This, of course, was a strong recommendation of him to Queen Mary, who on her accession restored him to his post, and gave him in- structions to restore the Catholic rites.' This was in 1553 ; but he did not remain in office more than three years, having been superseded by Lord Fitzwalter, after- wards Earl of Sussex, in May 1556 ; and this year Ex- Chancellor Alan died. Judging from his conduct with reference to the forbearance he had used towards the Viceroy, St. Leger, he appears to have had a high sense of honour and regard for truth very commendable. Shirley's Original Letters, 75. LIFE or LORD CHANCELLOR OUSACK, 207 CHAPTEE XV. LIFE 01" SIB THOMAS CTJSAOK TO THE DEATH OV KlJSra HENEY Till. The family of Cusack is of great antiquity. Sir Bernard CHAP. Burke, in his valuable Dictionary of 'Landed Gentry,' traces them from the Sieurs de Gusac, an illustrious race Family of in Guienne, whence they passed with the Norman chivalry who conquered under William on the plains of Hastings.' Hence they accompanied John into Ireland. In the same careful work, another, and more national descent is given. That the race have sprung from OlioU OUum, King of Munster, a.d. 234, who was ancestor of Isog, head of the Clanna Isog, or Cusack, of Clare, where they held large territories as a sept of the Macnamaras. A brief glance at the high offices filled by members of High this family, sufficiently attest the repute in which they ° "^^ were held. Geoffrey de Cusack, Lord of Killeen, was summoned to the first Irish parliament a.d. 1295. A de- scendant of this nobleman, named Joan, married Sir Christopher Plunkett, and, being an heiress, brought Killeen Castle, County Meath, as portion of her estate to her husband. It has since been the family residence of the Earls of Fingall, and gives the title of Viscount to the eldest son of that nobleman. In 1309, Walter de Cusack was summoned to the Parliament of Kilkenny, ' They bear for their crest a mermaid, holding in the dexter hand a sword, in the sinister a sceptre. The motto is a pious one : Ave Maria plene gratia. A second motto is also indicative of religioiis faith : En Dim est mon eapoir. This last motto, when taken in conjunction with the fact that this family obtained place and power in Ireland immediately after the settlement of the Anglo- Norman here, inclines me to the opinion of the French, in preference to the Irish origin. 208 EEIGN OF HENRY VIII. CHAP. XV. The deeds of arms. Estates acquired by marriages. and, a little later, Sir John Cusack, Lord of Beaupeyr and Gerardstown, in tlie County of Meath, had also sum- mons to Parliament. Nor was it alone for wisdom in the councils of the nation the Cusacks were distinguished. They were famed for deeds of arms. On the invasion by the Scots, when Edward Bruce, fired by the victory gained by his brother Eobert over the English at Bannockburn, sought in Ireland a fresh field for his prowess, and, united with the Northern Irish, spread the crimson tide of war over Erin, he advanced to the walls of Dublin, and struck such terror into the breasts of the citizens that they set fire to the suburbs, burning their Cathedral in their haste, — the representative of the family of Cusack was ready to oppose him. This was John Cusack, second Lord of Gerardstown, who, with his brothers and men-at- arms, hastened to the field. They joined the troops led on by Sir John Bermingham against the Scots, who had retired to the friendly shelter of the Ulster hills. The opposing forces met near Dundalk, and a desperate conflict ensued. It was long and bloody; the troops were well matched, and fought with equal bravery, but an English Knight, named Maupas, encountered the Scottish leader in single combat, and gained a victory at the cost of his life, for his body was discovered lying over the corpse of his valiant foe. The death of Bruce terminated the en- gagement, and the Lord of Gerardstown, with his brothers Walter and Simon, were knighted on the field as a reward for their distinguished valour.' Sir Geofirey Cusack married the daughter and heiress of Adam Petit, who brought him the Manors of Cloney and Gonock, in frank marriage. A grandson of Sir Geoffrey, named John, married the daughter and heiress of Eobert Cosyne of Cosyneston (now Cussington), who thus added this property to the other possessions of the Cusacks. Prom this ma.rriage lineally descended John Cusack of Cussington, who married Alison, daughter of William Wellesley, of Dangan, and Mary, daughter of ' History of Dundalk by D'Alton and O'Flanagiin, c. v'l. LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOR CUSACK. 209 Sir Thomas Plunlrett, of Eathmore. Tlie Welleslevs, or CHAP. Wesleys, first came to Ireland in 1172 ; the founder of <__,_!_- the Irish branch having filled the honourable office of standard-bearer to Henry II., which, probably, entitles them to bear the standard in the crest. They obtained various grants of land in Meath and Kildare in conside- ration of military services, and were soon recognised among the magnates of the land. William de Wellesley sat in the Irish Parliament in a.d. 1330 as Baron of Novagh, and Sir Richard de Wellesley was Sheriff of Kildare in a.d. 1418. They, like the Cusacks, had success in the matrimonial line, for, by the marriage of Sir Eichard Wellesley with Johanna, daughter of Sir Nicholas de Castlemartin, he obtained the manors of Dangan and Mornington. From them descended Alison, wife of John Cusack, of Cussington. This marriage was blessed with Birth of increase ; and, about the year 1490, Thomas Cusack, the cusack. subject of my present memoir, was born. The absence of any detailed account of this great man, who filled so large a space in public estimation, renders it impossible for me to give any very precise narrative of his earlier years. It is quite true, however, that his parents resolved he should not incur the reproach conveyed in the representation of the then Archbishop of Dublin, Walter Fitz Simon, to King Henry VII., who deplored the state of young Irish- Young men — spending their time in idleness, disdaining trade, ;„ i^^^ neglecting to qualify themselves for any learned profession, t™** °^ but depending entirely on the eldest son or head of the family, became useless to the public. The condition of the lower orders was not much better. Indeed, as the organisation of society is so closely connected that one class is, to a great degree, the reflex of others, when we find habits of unthrift and improvidence in the superior, we generally remark the like disposition in those of in- ferior rank. The mansion house of John Cusack being situate in the County County Meath, there passed the youth of his children. Meath, signifying a flat country, is named from its almost VOL. I. P 210 EEIGN OF HENEY VIII. CHAP. XV. Tara. Monastic schools. School of Duleek. uniformly level surface. Here no mountains stretcli their sheltering arms to embrace the plains. No lofty peaks tower to the clouds, few highlands break the expanse of fertile champagne country. It is full of historic memories. Here on the hill of Tara stood the Teamor (Great House) where the national convention was held, when Ireland was governed by her native Kings. It was here St. Patrick first promulgated the Christian doctrine, and, after the advent of the English, King Henry II. granted the ancient kingdom of Meath to one of his principal warriors, Hugh de Lacy. Situated within the limits of the Pale and adjoining Dublin — it soon boasted a numerous band of resident nobles and gentlemen, and castles of Nangle's, Phepoes, Missetts, De Bathes, and DeGemons, are extant in the walls of Surlogstown, Dunmoe, Athlumney, Slane, and Athearne. In this district, consecrated by the piety of St. Patrick and his successors, there arose many abodes of religious men; and at Duleek, Navan, Scryne, Slane, and other towns, monasteries were established. Here the pious monks diffused the blessing of religious teaching to the inhabitants, and, labouring in their scriptorium, tran- scribed those classic works which, but for their protection, would have been lost to us. 'Had not these retreats,' observes the eloquent historian Macaulay, 'been scattered among the huts of a miserable peasantry and the castles of a ferocious aristocracy, European society would have consisted merely of beasts of burden and beasts of prey. The Church has been many times likened to the Ark which we read of in the book of Genesis, but never was the re- semblance more complete than during those dark times when alone it rode, amid the gloom and the tempest, over that deluge in which aU that remained of ancient power and ancient wisdom lay ingulfed.' To the neighbouring school of Duleek, most probably, Thomas Cusack owed the seeds of learning first implanted in his breast, and from those revered lips of the monks he learned the languages of Greece and Eome. Duleek, in the vicinity of his paternal mansion, had long gained a well-merited name LIFK OF LOED CHANCELLOR CUSACK. 211 for sanctity. It derived its name, signifying ' A house of CHAP, stone,' from a church said to be built by St. Patrick. . _ • . Here the zealous St. Kinnian presided, but located near the coast ; its reputation for holiness was no protection from the marauding Northmen, and it was often plundered. When Thomas Cusack resolved to study law he had to repair to England, for I cannot find there was any recourse to Preston's Inn, and am disposed to concur in the remarks of an able Irish solicitor, Mr. Littledale, who observes, 'This kingdom at an early period of English Want of rule, seems to have been particularly unfortunate in the cation in want of legal education even of the highest of its law Iceland, officers, for we find that, in 1320, (14 Edw. II.) the liege people of Ireland petitioned Parliament " That inasmuch as the law is badly kept for want of wise justices, the Xing do order that in his Common Bench there he men knowing the law." ' It cannot have been the case that Preston's Inn was kept up in the time of Henry VIII,, for we find from the State Papers extant of that time, that the Judges and members of the Bar in term times lodged with merchants in the city of Dublin, so that I am inclined to think Preston's Inn must have fallen into ruin.'* When young Cusack entered as a student at law, either Law here or in England, the students at this period were and Bar- divided into three classes.' ' First, mootmen, which are risters. those that argue readers' cases in the Houses of Chancery, both in terms and grand vacations, but of these, after eight years' study, or thereabouts, are chosen utter Barristers ; but of the latter. Barristers, after they have been of that degree twelve years at least, are chosen Benchers, or Antients : of which one that is of the puisne sort reads yearly in summer vacation, and one of the Antients that hath formerly read, reads in Lent vacation, and is called a Double Reader ; it being commonly betwixt his first and second reading about nine or ten years ; out of which • Eot. Pari. I. 386. ' Littledale, On Legal Education in Ireland. • Coke's Reports (a.d. 1628), Preface, p. 2. p 2 212- EEIGN OF HENEY VIII. CHAP.- XV. Irish law students not ad- mitted to English Inns. Double Eeaders the King makes choice of his Attorney- and Solicitor-General, &c., and of these readers are Ser- jeants chosen, and out of them the King electeth two or three, as he pleaseth, to be his Serjeants; and out of them are the judges chosen.' . Shortly before this time when young Cusack was pre- paring for his law studies, the kindly feelings towards students from Ireland which now exists was not estab- lished. Some of the Inns of Court in England would not receive Irish students. In 1414 a statute enacted in not very complimentary terms — ' That for the quietness and tranquillity of England, and for the increase and mainte- nance of Ireland, all Irish, and Irish mendicant clerks called Deacons should quit the kingdom by a certain time, on pain of life and limb, except graduates in the schools, and Serjeants and apprentices of the law, and those who had inheritances in England, and religious persons. Lin- coln's Inn passed a rule in the 16 Henry VI. that Irishmen should not be admitted into their society." This conduct produced results so disastrous that the Privy Council in Ireland addressed the following remonstrance to the English Council. ' And where dyverse gentlemen of this realm mynding to study the causes in the Innes of Courte in England, be by the resolutions of the said Innes re- stranyed from the same, so that in the Myddle Temple ys suffered to be none, we shall moste hartily beseche your Lordshipes, that, considering the cyvilite that this Realm ys now towarde, so as ther ys like to resorte thither from hens, for the purpose aforesaid, more students than did hitherto, and for that by the lawes by them in the said Innes lerned and to be lerned, the cyvilitie and good order of this Eealme ys moche mayntayned, and like to be more, to move the Kynges Highnes that all gentlemen of that countrey repairing to any Inne of Courte their to study the lawes may be admytted as other the King's subjects be.' This reasonable proposition was favourably received, and the King replied 'that he had taken order with his ' Eot. Pari. IV. 13, in dorso. LIFE 03? LOED CHANCELLOE CUSACK. 213 Council,' and ' that all our subgiettes of that our realme chap. resorting hither to study our lawes shal be as free in all . ,_L_- the Innes of Courte as our subgiettes of this realme be." The King Lincoln's Inn submitted, and set apart a chamber called tj^jg the ' Dove house ' (rather a sentimental name for an Inn Dove of Court, where few of those very irmocent creatures could "°^^®- find rest), for Irish students, thence called the Irishman's chamber. So we may conclude Master Thomas Cusack consorted with the doves in the Irishman's chamber. In early times, I doubt not, this compulsory attendance Law in London was productive of great advantage to the Irish «fidpnts m law students, however questionable the necessity for its observance now. The order and method observed in the course of procedure at Westminster Hall, the decorum and respect prevalent in the Courts, the able men who presided on the Bench and practised at the Bar, must have impressed itself strongly on the minds of the students, and given an influence to their conduct, a decorous tone and demeanour greatly beneficial during their career at the Irish Bar. Now that all these can be acquired in the ^ State Papers, III. 417, 430. 214 KEIGN OF HENEY VIII. CHAP, knowledge, the foundation of his future eminence. Troni • ,-1— the hands of the pious teachers of Duleek he received the ■writings of philosophers whose fame is fresh after three thousand years, and by their aid he mastered those price- less volumes which have come down through ages of antiquity, at once a memorial of the taste and industry of the laborious monks who preserved and perpetuated them. Imbued with skill in logic and scholastic reasoning, he was enabled readily to apprehend the abstract reasons on which all laws are founded, and soon the works of Justi- nian, Bracton, and Fleta, the Tenures of Littleton, the Treatises of Glanville, and other legal authors then extant were familiar to him. The young student reached London and entered his name at one of the English Inns, and pursued his studies with diligence and care. There was Court of mucix in the appearance of London in 1515 to interest the VIII. youth. Henry VIII. was then not above thirty years old, and extremely fond of all kinds of manly sports which were carried on in public. He was very expert in arms ; and the stately jousts, the frequent hunting parties, his playing at tennis, his processions to and from Richmond and Greenwich, attended with the utmost magnificence, Wolsey must have dazzled and delighted the beholders. These of Em- °^ were the palmy days of the renowned Wolsey, Cardinal land. Archbishop of York, Lord Chancellor of England, whose retinue was little inferior to that of his Royal master. Cloth of gold, palfreys with housings embroidered in gold, triumphal cars with musicians and singers, lutes, harps, and viols, giants, dwarfs, and jesters, were continually met. But, intent on acquiring the requisite learning of his profession, Mr. Cusack was far better employed in mastering the Entries and Year books, and copying the precedents then in use, than attending many shows or Cusack parties of pleasure. Having kept the requisite terms pre- the Bar! vious to his admission to the Bar, he was duly admitted, and soon acquired the character of an able lawyer. Eebellion For some time after Mr. Cusack commenced to practise, Thomas!' ^'^ rebellion of Silken Thomas, as Lord Offaly was popu- character. LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOR CUSACIC. 215 larly called, prevented the due administration of the law. CHAP. During this distracting event, men's minds could hardly ' - have much thought of the peaceful pursuits of industry, Cusack a and the professional reputation of Mr, Cusack must have the Gom- been well established, for immediately on the promotion mon Pleas, of Gerald Aylmer, who was appointed Chief Baron from cellor of the Bench of the Common Pleas, Mr. Cusack was ap- *u^ ^^' ' -t chequer. pointed Justice in his room, and at this time also filled the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was re- garded as a truly practical man, carefuUy discriminating between truth and falsehood, and for his minutely examin- ing every fact, as if upon it the whole case depended. „.^ ■ He was also remarkable, in times of great danger, for his dicial prudence and moderation on the judicial bench, and held in great respect. What contributed much to his popu- larity was, because he so respected the customs, the feelings, nay, the very prejudices and traditions of the Irish, and, however they dissented from his views or judg- ments, they always respected his motives, and gave him credit for uprightness in the discharge of his duties. In Prirate private life he was essentially domestic, with simple tastes ^'^^• and inexpensive habits. When he sought out a wife to First mar- share his advancing fortunes, he married a kinswoman, ^'^s^- Joan Hussey. Her family was of Anglo-]S"orman de- The family scent, came over with Strongbow, and formed an alliance °^ Hussey, with the founder of the Ormond race ; Sir Hugh Hussey having married the sister of Theobald Pitz Walter, in the reign of Henry II. When Meath became a palatinate. Peers were named, having a local rank, and, in 1347, Sir John Hussey, Knight, Baron of Galtrim, was summoned to Parliament. In the reign of Henry VIII., an Act of Parliament in 1534 recognised Nicholas Hussey as Baron of Galtrim,' and from this marriage of Thomas Cusack with Joan Hussey was issue a son named Robert. The marriage, however, was not a happy one, causes arose which darkened the sunshine of the young couple and ' Patent, May 24, 1535. 216 EEIGN OP HENEY VIII. CHAP. XV. Divorced. Second wife. Family of D'Arcy. extinguislied the fire of love. A separation was resolved upon, and they were divorced. Undeterred by the ill-success of his first marital venture, Thomas Cusack resolved to try a second, and sought to strengthen his family interest by a prudent connection. He did not delay in fixing his choice, and married Maud, daughter of Sir George D'Arcy, Treasurer of Ireland. Sir Bernard Burke, in his 'Landed Gentry,' considers this family as the most eminent established in England by the Norman Conquest, and amongst the peerages of past times. As proof, this eminent genealogist reckons two baronies in abeyance, one forfeited barony, and three ex- tinct baronies, all of which had been conferred upon the family of D'Arcy besides the earldom of Holderness. This house had large possessions in this country, especially in Westmeath, where the D'Arcys of Plattin have been re- cognised for centuries as among the most respected families in that county. This union appears to have been productive of that domestic felicity which the previous one failed to afford. One son and seven daughters were the issue, and the state of distress to which the country was reduced at this period does not appear to have cast its shadow upon the mansion of Cussington. While Dublin was beset by hostile bands, so closely that the inhabitants were afraid to venture without the walls on the southern side, no apprehension was felt by the Judge or his family. We learn how towns and villages were glad to purchase that security which the State was unable to grant by money paid to some Irish chieftain, and many a haughty English noble was forced to procure peace for himself and his dependants by yield- ing black mail to the Celts of the district. The terror of the English was aroused, and kept excited by the maraud- ing Irish, who used to descend from the fastnesses by night, and, crossing the Liffey close to the capital, would traverse Fin gal, then the granary of Dublin, making prey of flocks and herds, and escape ere the return of day. Matters of State, and especially the state of the Church, LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOR CUSACK. 217 soon brought Judge Cusack prominently before the public. CHAP. Efforts were made to induce the Irish nobility to give up . , " — the Brehon laws, which diverted the order of succession by Tanisty, and accept in lieu thereof hereditary peerages. From a mistaken policy, the benefits of English law were Policy. for centuries denied to the mere Irish, and when the mis- chief of this was proved, a change was desired, and the Privy Council and Courts of Law took cognisance and en- tertained most willingly the suits of all Irish who submitted their differences to the decision of the Judges. These learned functionaries were clearly of opinion that Ireland could never be under due government until the bonds which linked the aborigines to the customs of their fore- fathers and the regulations of the Brehon code were severed, and in their place were substituted the wise maxims and sound rules of the common laws of England. The zeal and energy which Judge Cusack displayed in Cusact these reforms procured him the honour of knighthood, gpg^^er. and, in the Parliament of 1541, Sir Thomas Cusack was elected Speaker. The esteem in which he was held at this time appears in a letter, dated May 17, 1540, written by Sir William Brereton, Lord Justice of Ireland, to the Earl of Essex. ^ ' And to certifie your good Lordship, as I am bounden. Letter of all tho that doo the Kynges Highnes good servis, ^Yimfm emongs whom, at this tyme, I do commend to your good Brereron Lordship Sir Thomas Cusack, for faithful!, diligent, and of Essex. paynfuU service, as well in Councill gyving, as other the Kyng's affairs, to his powre and farr above, since my commynge here and afore (as it is said), is no less worthy than to have your lordship's thankes, for I doe not per- ceyve him to doo it for any profitt, but only for the Kynges honor, and your lordships.' In such times there was, I fear, very little morality among public men, and assuredly in Ireland it could not be found. Handed over, like India in later days, to the care of Viceroys, whose government was, at most, of brief ' State Papers, Hsn. VIII., vol. ii. p. 205. 218 BEIGN 01? HENRY VIII. CHAP. XV. Lord Grey's Parlia- ment. duration, there was but one idea pervading the minds of those in power, viz., to make the most of it, and accord- ingly each chief Governor and his needy followers seized with avidity every thing that fell in their way. The law for dissolving monasteries was attended with disastrous results, not alone to the pious inmates, but to the poor, for whose benefit and relief the resources of the monks were so lavishly expended. When brought into operation in Ireland, it afforded a fine opportunity for providing means to satiate the avarice of hungry Peers and courtiers, and Ireland, having been prepared for obedience by a martial circuit of the Lord Deputy, Lord Leonard Grey, a Par- liament met in 1537, which evinced great alacrity in obeying the will of Henry VIII. It declared the King supreme head of the Church of Ireland, the provisions made in England for payment of first fruits to the King were adopted, and he was invested, not only with the first fruits of bishoprics, and other secular promotions in the Church of Ireland, but with those of religious houses. The authority of the Bishop of Rome was solemnly renounced, the oath of supremacy enjoined under pain of high trea- Thirteen religious establishments were suppressed. son. Letter from Arch- bishop to Henry VIII. and their possessions vested in the Crown. Hitherto the style of the Sovereign was Lord of Ireland, but, at a meet- ing of the Privy Council, it was thought advisable to recommend his Majesty to alter the title, and, accord- ingly, Browne, then Archbishop of Dublin, addressed a letter recommending 'that if it may so stand with your Majesty's pleasure, that it were good that your Majesty were from henceforth called King of Ireland ; whereunto we think that in effect all the nobility and other inha- bitants of this land, would agree, and we think that they of the Irishry would more gladly obey your Highness by the name of King of this your land, than by the name of Lord thereof; having had heretofore a foolish opinion among them, that the Bishop of Eome should be King of the same. For extirpating whereof, we think it meet under your Highness's pardon, that by authority of Parliament LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR CUSACK. 219 it should be ordained, that your Majesty, your heirs and CHAP, successors, should be named Kings of this land, which, • ,-l_- nevertheless, we remit to your excellent wisdom.' ' A Parliament was accordingly summoned in 1541, Cusack when Sir Thomas Cusack was chosen Speaker of the Com- g^^^^^^. mons. He was likewise a Member of the Privy Council of Ireland. I cannot say for what place he sat in Par- liament, although I have carefully examined the Lists as given in the ' Liber Munerum Publicorum Hibernise.' In a later year (1559) he was returned a Member for Athenry. Great ceremonies attended the opening of this Parlia- ment. The Houses met on Corpus Christi Thursday. After hearing Mass, the Lord Deputy was escorted by the Lord Chancellor, the Archbishop, the Bishops, and Mem- bers of the Privy Council, the Judges and a numerous retinue of guards. In the procession rode the Earls of Ormond and Desmond, the Lords Barry, Roche, Fitz Maurice, and Bermingham ; and the despatch of the Lord Deputy (St. Leger) to the King, says : 'AH were present Letter at the said Mass, the most present in their robes, rode Deputy"^ in procession in such sort, as the like thereof hath not ^°}^^ been seen here of many years. And the Friday following being assembled at the place of Parliament accustomed, the Commons presented unto us their Speaker, one Sir Thomas Cusack, a man that right painfully hath served your Majesty at aU times, who made a right solemn pro- position, in giving such laud and praise to your Majesty, as justly and most worthily your Majesty hath merited, as well for the extirpation of the usurped power of the Bishop of Eome out of this your realm, who had, of many years, been a great robber and destroyer of the same, as also for your innumerable benefits showed unto your realms and subjects of the same, which proposition was right well and prudently answered by your highness's Chancellor here.'^ As there were several Irish Lords present, MacGillaPhadrig, chieftain of Ossory ; the O'Bryans, the MacCrathy Mor, the O'EeiUy, and others, ■ State Papers, Temp. Hen. VIII. ' Sir John Alan was Chancellor. 220 REIGN OF HENEY VIII. CHAP. XV. Lords and Commons in separate houses. Public rejoicings in Dublin. Monas- teries sup- to whom tlie learned speeeties of Sir Thomas Cusack and the Chancellor were unintelligible, because they knew no English, the Lord Deputy informs us, ' both the effect of the proposition and answer was briefly and prudently declared in the Irish tongue to the said Lords by the mouth of the Earl of Ormonde, greatly to their contenta- tion.' The matter of title having been formally announced, the Speaker and Members of the Commons withdrew to their own House,' when the Lords proceeded to pass the Bill, changing the King's title, which was read in English and then in Irish. It was unanimously agreed to, and being read three times in the Lords was committed to the Com- mons, who were equally ready to agree to its passing. 'Next day, Saturday, it was again read in ' plain ' ^ Par- liament, before the Lords and Commons, before it received the assent of the Lord Deputy. There were great public rejoicings on this occasion in Dublin, 'bonfires, wyne sette in the streetis, greate feastinges in their howses, with a goodly sort of gunnes.' Theatricals, too, increased the merriment. ' The Mne worthies — viz.. Hector, Alexander the Great, Julius Csssar, Joshua, David, Judas Mac- cabseus. King Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon.' Tournaments, the favourite pastime of knights and nobles, gave opportunities for expert tilters to win favour in the eyes of the ladies by their martial deeds. Sir James Ware sums up the whole in these words : ' Epulas, comoedas, et certamina ludicra quae sequebantur, quid attinet dicere.' This Parliament formally suppressed the monasteries and other religious houses in Ireland, but this Act was only obeyed in the Pale, for there alone the laws of Eng- land obtained, and the English rulers of the land could enforce submission. The abbeys and monastic institu- tions in other parts of the kingdom remained in the hands of the religious communities until the Plantation of Ulster, in the reign of King James I. When Sir Thomas ' The houses were separate at this period. ' Probably for plein, fuU. LIFE OF LORD CHANCKLLOE CUSACK. 221 Cusack found tlie Order for the Dissolution of Monas- CHAP. teries placed several eligible estates at the disposal of ■ ^ - the Irish Government, he was desirous to profit by the Cusack opportunity, and take his share of the good things. He of himself. had only to give a hint, and his wishes were readily com- Applica- plied with. The Lord Deputy and Council were anxious h\°\ehalf. that such, services as Sir Thomas rendered should be rewarded, and they addressed the King, in his behalf, as follows : — ' That it wolde please your Majestie, at this our humble ptycyon, to be so good and gracious Lord unto Sir Thomas Cusack, as, having respect to his honest service donne to your Majestie, both in this Parlament and otherwise, as well as to give hym your most gracious thanks for the same, as otherwise to consider hym as to your Highness shall be thought convenyent, whereby he shall be incouraged to proceed in your Grace's servis as he is bounden to do. His especyall suite to your Majestie is, to have the prefermente of the Nonnery of Lismolyn, which he hath nowe in farm of your Highnes, being nigh to his house very commodious for him, yf it might stande with your Highnes pleasure to prefer hym to the same by purchase or otherwise.' • This request was promptly ^"^l"^^' granted, and Sir Thomas Ciisack had a grant of the Abbey of LismuUen, founded in 1240 by Alicia, sister of Richard Bishop of Meath, but neither antiquity, or purity, or learning, or charity, availed against the policy of Henry and his Ministers. Wherever the houses of religion were suppressed a sad Effects of ' change took place in, the neighbourhood. The poor had lution" no refuge ; the wearied in body, or in mind, were deprived of the pious retreats, where in meditation and prayer, their spirits could find rest. The devoted inmates were added to the number of alms-seekers, and those who had been the liberal dispensers of charity were doomed to solicit food for themselves. When the monasteries were suppressed, no means likely to succeed were taken to supply religious teaching instead of that heretofore given. ' State Papers, Temp. Hen. VIII., p. 315. 222 EEIGN OF HENEY VIII. CHAP. XV. Cusaok's devise. Wise advice. Master of tlie Kolls. Surrender of St. Patrick's Cathedral. Sir Thomas Cusack pointed out strongly the necessity ■which existed for the maintenance of divine service, with- out which no King could expect good subjects. The Par- liament, whereof he was Speaker, made provision, indeed, for the erection of vicarages into parish churches, and endowing them ; but the Act proved abortive, because the Irish language was almost wholly used by the people, and there was no use in nominating English-speaking divines, while no Irish clergyman would own the King's supre- macy in spiritual affairs. In the year 1541, Sir Thomas addressed a long letter to the Council of England. He called it * Cusack's Devise to your Most N"oble and Honorable Wisdomes, concerning such giftes as the King's Maiestie shall make to Irish- men of the lande and countrie which now they have, and to give them names of honour, and upon what conditions they shall have the same, and their rights to have the land by gift.' He advises that the natives should be treated as sub- jects, not enemies — the law of primogeniture established instead of gavelkind — that in place of the Brehon code, whereby the inferior in rank could not recover in a suit against his Lord, the people should be accepted as liege subjects and entitled to the benefit of the King's laws.' On the promotion of Sir JoHir Alan to the office of Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas Cusack was appointed Master of the EoUs.* He had custody of all records of the Court of Chancery, with power to, hear suits and occa- sionally execute special Commissions. Sir Thomas Cusack continued to fill the office of Master of the Rolls in Ireland to the death of Henry VIII. Previous to his decease, that monarch resolved that St. Patrick's Cathedral should share the fate of so many kindred edifices, and he sent letters patent to Sir Anthony St. Leger, Lord Deputy ; Sir Richard Reade, Lord Chan- cellor, and others, empowering them to receive, in the ' state Papers, Hen. VIII., toI. iii. p. 326. '■' Patent dated June 10, 15i2, 34 Hen. VIII. LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOE CUSACK. 223 Chapter-iouse of St. Patrick's, from the Dean and Chapter, chap. xy. a surrender of the Church, and all its possessions.' This was promptly yielded; but Dean Bassenet took special care, before complying, to make good terms for himself, so as not to retire empty-handed. He managed to secure for his own benefit, and that of members of his family, a considerable portion of the possessions of the deanery. One of the grants made to his brother, falling, subse- Dean quently, into the hands of Dean Swift, his sarcastic sue- ^^Qjent^" cessor in the deanery recorded on the back of the deed, his indignation at the perfidious conduct of his prede- cessor. ' This Bassenet was related to the scoundrel of the same name, who surrendered the Deanery to that Beast, Henry the VIII.' ^ Sir Anthony St. Leger, who, for some time, filled the St.Leger's arduous office of Lord Deputy of Ireland, was a man of ^° '°^" great administrative capacity, and seems to have well un- derstood the attachment the people of Ireland bore to the Catholic faith. He changed, altogether, the line of con- duct pursued by the English rulers to the native chiefs, and which tended far more to alienate and disgust than conciliate and please. So kindred a spirit soon formed a very great friendship with Sir Thomas Cusack. The high opinion which the Irish Chieftains enter- tained of the Lord Deputy St. Leger, may be seen from the following letter written by Sir Thomas Cusack to Sir Thomas Paget, Chief Secretary of State :' — " Eight honorable and my singular good Master, after Cusack's all due and most hartie comendacions, with lyk thankes paleV for your honorable goodnes and gentlenes to me ex- tended, as yet undeserved, which I wyll have in remem- brance during my lyffe. Pleased the same to be advertysed that, wheare I have wryten to my Lord Chauncelor of the State and quyetnes of this Eealme, which thankes be to G-od, is now verifyed in such sorte, as men wyll purchase ' Hist, of St. Patrick's Cathedral by Mason, p. 150. ^ Mason's Hist, of St. Patrick's Cathedral, p. 150, «« note. ' State Papers, Hen. VIII., Ireland, vol. iii. p. 563. 224 EEIGN OF HENRY VIII. CHAP. XV. Deputy's departure. Kesults of kiuduess. small homstie tliat wyll aver the contrary. For at my Lord Deputies departing herefrom, he sent as well for the Erles of Desmounde, Tomounde, and Tyrone, the Lord of Upper Osserie, Oconnor, Omolmoy, the Kerroules and MacGoghecan, with dyverse other Iryshe Lordes, as also for all the Englyshe Lordes of this Eealme; and they assemblying togyther in Dublin, I coulde not perceive non of bettre conformitie than those Iryshe lordes, promissing to helppe to see the country deffended as nead shall re- quyre from tyme to tyme, to the uttermost of ther powers, till the retourne of my Lord Deputie ; weeping and lamenting his departing, giving his Lordship comen- dacion and prayer, in thanking Grod of his commying emonges them ; ascrybing, that if such trouth and gen- tylnes had been shewed to them by the governours and rulers that were before his tyme, they had been refourmed as well then as nowe : and being so miche in dyspayre of his retorne they lament therefor his departing ; the more, because they found him so good and just in his pro- cedinges, who never toke of them nothing, but would give apparaile, and plate to them, and to his power woulde not suffre wrong to be doun to them, whereby they fealet both welth and gi-eyetnes. So that, thankes be to God, those, which woulde not be brought undre subjeccion with 10 thousande men, cometh to Dublin with a lettre, which is no smale comforte to every faithfull hart to see. Fynally, this lande was never by our remembraunce, in so good case, be nothing lyke, for honest obedyence ; and after that cometh the proffyte to the Kinge's Majestic, if their contynew in the quyetnes they be in at this instant. Therefore it were great pittie, that the thing so well framed shoulde tourne to any other kynde, by th occa- sion of sedicious practis ; and that his honorable proceed- inges should be dysparaged, through the yll reapoi'te of malycious hartes, which wyll not tell trouth, although they knowyit to be trew, as well as I. I assure your good Mastership, that ther never lefte Ireland one that hath the prayers of pore people more than he hath ; trusting LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOE CUSACK. 225 to God tliat he sltall prosper accordingly. Pyttie it were, CHAP that the occacioners of our inquyetnes here shoulde not be • ,-: — - known, that such punyshment mought ensue, as others should therby feare to attempte the lyke ; for tyll then men wyll be more busy than neadeth. Thus I am bold to encomber you with my rude lettre, which I trust you will accept and take in good parte. So beseeching Almightye God long to preserve your honourable Good Mastership in long lyffe with all fellicite. ' Your Eight Honorable good Masterships ' to command, (Signed) ' Thomas Ctjsake. ' To the Eight Honorable and his Singular good Master Sir Thomas Patched, Knight, Chief Secretary unto the King's Most Excellent Majestie. ' From Di\blin the 28th of March, Anno 1545.' This letter was evidently intended to refute the reports Object of of negligence and misconduct, and hostility to the E,e- ^ ^ ^^ ^^■ formation, theh made to the Government of England against St. Leger, by Browne, Archbishop of Dublin. It would seem from the letter that the author of these reports was not then known, but they were soon found to have originated with Browne, who preferred a variety of charges against him.' ' Vide ante, p. 205. VOL. I. 226 EEIGN OF EDWARD VI. CHAPTER XVI. riFE OP lOED CHANCELLOK crSACK — CONCLTTBED. CHAP. XVI. Accession of King Edward VI, Commis- sion re- specting St, Pa- trick's Cathedral. Courts held in St. Patrick's. Sir Thomas Cusack, Lord Chancel- lor, 1551. Iusuf&- ci'jnt 6 alary. On tlie accession of King Edward VL, Sir Thomas Cusace, Knight, Master of the Rolls, was one of the Commis- sioners named in the King's letters patent, to dispose of St. Patrick's Cathedral and its appendages. The other Commissioners were the Lord Deputy, Lord Chancellor, Sir John Alan, the Yice-treasurer, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and the Chief Baron. Among Tarious matters to be enquired into was the following : — ' And, as touchinge the dysposition of the said Cathedrall Church of Saint Patrykes, oure minde and pleasure ys, that our said Commissioners shall appoint and sorte one part, or portion thereof, for the ministration of our lawes, and other our Courtes, then to be holden and kepte as to there descretyons shall be thought meate and sufficient for the same.' This was resolved upon, and, in 1548,' the Judges sat in the Cathedral during the sittings in and out of Term, and the Courts were held therein until its restoration. On the removal of Lord Chancellor Eeade, King Edward VI. by warrant under the Privy Seal, dated at Windsor, August 5, 1551, ' having been well informed of the wis- dom, learning, good experience, and grave behaviour of Sir Thomas Cusack, appointed him Lord Chancellor.' Sir Thomas had, on a former occasion of the absence of the Lord Chancellor, been intrusted with the custody of the Great Seal.^ The stipend of the Chancellor was insufficient to main- tain the dignity of so high and important an official. Dyer's Eeport. ' Windsor, August 5, 1651. LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR CUSACK. 227 In looking over the patents of several, I find various CHAP, sums allowed in addition. The ordinary mode of pay- - . ' ^ ment was to grant a certain sum, usually 100 marks sterling out of the customs of boroughs, Dublin, Drog- heda, and Dundalk ; and if this was too inconsiderable, then a larger grant was given. Thus Sir John Alan, besides 100 marks, received 6s. 8d. sterling a day ; and when Sir Thomas Cusack was appointed Chancellor, ' in consideration' of his diligent, faithful, and chargeable service, his Majesty added lOOL a-year to his present allowance, to begin at Christmas next, and directed the Treasurer, by letters dated at Westminster, November 23, 1551, to pay the same. About this time there was an effort made to place the Custody Irish records in security. The state in which they were Records. kept and the necessity for their removal, is fully shown in the order made by the Lord Deputy, Sir James Crofte, and Council of Ireland, on November 11, 1551 : — ' Whereas on being informed by the Lord Chancellor Order for (Cusack) and Master of the Rolls (P. Bamewall) that there if^^^^"^' is no place certain or convenient for the safe guard of the public i*pporcis King's Majesty's records and muniments of his High- ^^ jj, 1551. nesses' Chancery of this his Grace's realm of Ireland other than the Tower within his Majesty's Castle of Dublin, which is both ruinous and far distant from the late Cathedral Church of St. Patrick's, where his Highness's Courts be now kept, which is not a place meet for the daily resort of his Majesty's officers, and others his Grace's subjects, having charge or occasion to have the order, sight or copies of any of them as shall appertain, through which the losses of the said records and muni- ments, besides other inconveniences, have and may well ensue; and for that the late library of the said late Cathedral Church is a meet and sure place for the safe- guard and custody of said records and muniments near unto said Courts, whereunto his Majesty's said officers having charge, and others his Highness's subjects, upon honest occasion, may, from time to time, conveniently a 2 228 EEIGN OF EDWARD VI. CHAP. XVI. Ciisaek Lord Justice. resort ; we order and appoint that the said late library be the place for the safe keeping of such of the said records and muniments as shall be kept out of the said tower of his Highness's said Castle of Dublin ; and all such of the said records and muniments as shall be out of the said tower shall be put and safely kept in the said library; and that you, the Clerk of the Hanaper of his Majesty's Chancery for the time being, shall provide and foresee that presses, or stages, chests, windows, doors, locks, and other necessaries shall be provided, furnished, and made, as well in and for said library as the said tower of the Castle, for the safegard, sure keeping, and good ordering of the said records and muniments from time to time. And this our order, with your account of your disbursements about the same, upon your account of revenues and profits coming and growing of his Highness's said Hanaper, to be made before the Barons of his Grace's Exchequer of this said realm, shall be your sufficient warrant and discharge in that behalf.' By letter dated from Westminster, November 7, 1552, King Edward YI. appointed Lord Chancellor Cusack and Sir Gerald Aylmer, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, to supply and jointly occupy the place of Lord Justice in the Government of Ireland during the absence of Sir James Crofte, the Lord Deputy.' They were elected accordingly, and letters patent made out, sealed, and dehvered to them under the Great Seal, and then took the oath pre- scribed.^ ' Pat. EoU in Cane. Hib. Temp. Edw. VI. ■■' Oath of office taken by Lord Justice : ' Ye shall swere that ye shall faith- fullie and trulie to yo^r power serve our Soverayne Lord the King in the rowlme and authoritie of Lord Justice and Governor of this his Grace's realm, Ireland, and inespeciallie ye shall maintain and defende the lawes of God and the Christian faith ; and as farre as the King's laws do or shall permit the usages, rites, ceremonies, and liberties of hooUe Church ; and ye shall like- wise to your power not oonelie keepe the King's peas among his peple, but also meyntane the King's officers and ministers in the execution and admynis- tration of justice, and defende the King's garysons, castels, dominions, people, and subjects of the same realme, and repress the King's rebells and enemyes. Ye shall pot consent to the damage or disherison of the King, his heirs, ne successors ; neyther ye shall not suffre the rightes of the crown to be destroyed LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOR CUSACK. 229 Matters pendine: for decision before the Chancellor were CHAP. . XVI not always questions of law or equity. In 1553 a suit was ■ , "- depending, wherein Shane O'Ferrall, Faghery McTeige Captain- O'Ferrall, and Hubert McTerras, contended for the cap- country.^ tainship and rule of the country of Mysoreone ; which having been submitted to the decision of Thomas Cusack, Chancellor, and Gerald Aylmer, Chief Justice, they decided in any waie, but ye shall let it to your power ; and if ye can not let the same, ye shall eertifie the King clearly and expressedlie thereof; further ye shall give your true and faithful counsaill for the King's profiete and the King's counsail ye shall conceale and keepe, and all other things for the preservation of this his realm of Ireland, and the pease among his people, and execution of justice according to his Grace's laws, usages and customs of the realm, ye shall perform and do to your power. So God you helpe, all Saints and Holy Evan- gelystcs.' We have the amount paid to Lords Justices from the following record: 1552. ' Whereas upon the departure of Sir James Crofte, Lord Deputy, into England, it pleased our Lord, Edward VI., by His Grace's letters patent, to appoint Sir Thomas Cusack, Chancellor, and Sir Gerald Aylmer, Chief Justice of His Grace's Bench, to be Lords Justices, and to have the charge and government of the realm ; by virtue whereof, and upon the election of the Lords and nobility according to ancient custom, they were sworn the 4th of December in the sixth year of Edward VI., wherein they continued to the 19th of November last, being the first year of our most gracious Sovereign Lady Mary the First ; and forasmuch as our Sovereign Lady tendering their travail and service, and minding to recompense these charges sustained in that behalf, by Her Grace's letters, hither directed, dated 14th December last, willed us to appoint such allowance to the same Justices as we should think meet ; whereupon, pondering as well Her Majesty's pleasure as the travail, care, and pains of the said Sir Thomas Cusack, besides the extreme charges sustained by him, for which, as appeared by divers evident circumstances, he is much indebted to sundry persons, who lent him several sums of money for his furniture, in the said office ; and as it also appeared unto us that others here, in the same room and office, heretofore, were allowed one hundred marks monthly, their burthen not Salary of ^ being then so onerous and chargeable ; it is condescended and agreed by us, L"™ the Lord Deputy and Council, that the same Sir Thomas should have, by way of reward and in recompense towards his charges, which were little in com- parison of his other pains, the sum of 200^. sterling ; and for that also it appeareth by declaration of such money as Sir Thomas in the said office laid out in rewards and recompense of service done by divers gentlemen and captains of this country, and sithens his departure that he has defrayed to His Majesty's use the sum of 1,076^. — grant him the same.' By this, the money was divided, 200?. for Mr. Justice Aylmer, and 1,076^. for Sir Thomas Cusack, Lord Chancellor.' Justice, 100 marks monthly. Pat. Eot. in Cane. Hib. 1 Mary. REIGN OF QUEEN MAKY. Decrees in Chan- eery, temp Edw. VI. Mary Queen. CHAP, that Shane O'Ferrall, as well on account of his dig- XVI — r "— nity as by the ancient custom of the country, should be captain and governor, together with ' Callaghe and Clo- nialle,' by the name of O'Ferrall Buy, in as ample a man- ner as his ancestors enjoyed that dignity. This decision was confirmed by the Lord Deputy and Council.' During the short reign of Edward VI. there are not above fifty-two decisions of the Court of Chancery enrolled, but more might have been made. The suits then instituted were chiefly for obtaining quiet possession of land and premises, bills to perpetuate testimony, and for account. On the coronation of Queen Mary, the following clause was inserted in her Majesty's instructions for Ireland : — ' And whereas we have given and openly published the day of our coronation to our good and loving subjects of Amnesty. England our free and general pardon, our pleasure is that you, our Deputy and Council, shall give in our name the like general pardon to all our loving subjects of Ireland, to the intent that they whom we account our natural sub- jects, no less than our subjects of England, may taste also 6f our clemency, and thereby be the more moved to ac- knowledge their duties towards us, which pardon we will shall be free and take effect without payment of any money. ^ ' Dated at Westminster, October 4th, 1553.' On Sunday, November 10, in the first year of Queen Mary, Sir Anthony St. Leger, once more Lord Deputy of Ireland, took the oath of office in the Cathedral of Holy Trinity, before Sir Thomas Cusack, Lord Chancellor, who swore him duly to execute the office of Deputy, so long as he should continue therein, by letters patent of the Queen; which letters were then, according to custom, read aloud and delivered to the Lord Deputy.^ We may be well assured he was welcome to the Chancellor and the Irish nation, who remembered the kind rule of the Viceroy during his former residence in the country. ' Pat. Roll in Cane. Hib. Temp. 1 Mary 1553. ' Ibid. ' Ibid. St. Leger again Deputy. LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOB CUSACK. 231 In 1553, King Philip and Queen Mary addressed a CHAP, letter to the Lord Deputy, Sir Thomas Cusack, Chan- - ^^^- - cellor, and the Council of Ireland, desiring them 'for the St. Pa- glory of God and advancement of his service and true "'^ ' worde, to review and restore the Cathedral Church and Chapter of St. Patrick to its pristine state. To make out letters patent of presentation to the several persons named in their Majesties warrant.' During the reign of Philip and Mary, I find about a Decrees in hundred decrees of the Court of Chancery in Ireland en- irl^^^af' rolled. The subject-matter of these suits presents nothing enrolled, very peculiar, being for rights withheld or wrongs com- pini. and mitted, and redress was sought in the Court of Equity ^^^y- in preference to the Courts of Common Law. Bills pray- ing account : — for injunctions ; to perpetuate testimony ; complaints for breaches of trust ; and similar causes of action, form the basis for the Chancellor's decrees. I find from a patent under the Privy Seal, dated at Westminster, December 14, 1553, in the reign of Queen Mary, that Sir Thomas Cusack again filled the office of Lord Justice. His conduct must have been discreet to please all parties ; and, as evidence of the tact with which he trimmed his sails in the tempestuous sea that surged in his time, I give the following tribute from Queen Mary, dated Westminster, December 14, 1553 : ' — ' We have received advertisement and good report from Letter our Deputy, and others in our Council of that realm, of Qu^h your good behaviour, industry, and diligent service exhi- ^^^y *<> bited unto us, and our dear brother King Edward VI. chan- ( whose soul God pardon), as well in your own office as '^ ■ supplying the room of our Deputy during the absence of the same, for which we yield unto you our right hearty thanks ; and like as we have noted sufficient of your good perseveration and continuance, so shall ye find us, your good Lady, mindful and inclined to regard you and your said service, to your comfort ; letting you wit, that at this present, by our letters addressed to our Lord Deputy, we ■ Pat. Roll in Cane. Hib. Temp. 1 Mary. 232 EEIGN OF QUEEN MARY. CHAP. XVI. Cusack prevents reversal of grants. Condition of the colony. Chief Baron Finglass. have given order that, by his discretion and the rest, ye shall be reasonably considered for your entertainment in respect of your travel and charge sustained in our service, not doubting but our said Deputy will ensure our pleasure therein as appertaineth.' It was very well for those who profited by the dissolu- tion of monasteries, and held grants of the Church lands from Henry VIII. and his son, that Sir Thomas Cusack was Lord Chancellor. Had that office been filled by one less capable of maintaining firmness amid the mutations of religions, politics, and laws, these grants would have been of little avail to secure these properties. But throughout the reign of Queen Mary there was no attempt made to disturb the existing state of things. Even the grant of the Dominican monastery, to be used as the King's Inns, was respected, though the friars of this order were then, as now, in the highest repute for their piety and learning. The country was progressing in general prosperity. Professional talent was in great demand. Commercial enterprise and energy were developed, and manufacturing skill employed. The attention of various eminent men was directed to remove the disabilities which pressed upon the natives of the country, for as yet the greater part of Ireland was denied the advantages of the English Constitution. Patrick Einglass, who was Chief Baron of the Exchequer in the time of Henry VIII., and, in 1534, made Chief Justice of the King's Bench, wrote a treatise on the causes of the calamities of Ireland, which he called ' A Breviate of the Getting of Ireland, and of the Decay of the same.' Sir William D'Arcy also, a man of wisdom and virtue, who did great service to the English interest in Ireland, wrote on the same subject ; and Sir Thomas Cusack addressed to the Duke of Northumber- land a long epistle on the state of this kingdom, dated May 8, 1S52. In Holinshed's Chronicle is a graphic account of the civic festivities which were kept up in Dublin in the year 1554. It affords so complete a picture of the habits of LIFE OF LOED OHANCELLOE CUpSACK. 233 the age, that I give the account as in the old chronicle. CHAP. It certainly speaks well of the flourishing condition of the ■ ^-^ Mayor, who could afford to keep this state so expensively : — ' The hospitalitie of the Maior,' and the Sheriffes for Dublin, the year being, is so large and bountifull, that soothlie ^'"^ •'^^*' (London fore priced) very few such officers under the crowne of Englande keepe so great a port (state), none, I am sure, greater. The maior over the number of officers that take their dailie repast at his table, keepeth for his year in manor open house. And albeit, in terme time, his house is frequented as well of the nobilitie as of other potentates of great calling, yet his ordinarie is so good, that a verie few set feasts are provided for them. They ' In the year 1554 Patrick Sarsfield was Mayor. Of Norman extraction Hospi- originally, the Sarsfield, or Scarcefield, as the name is sometimes written, were tality of among the early English colonists in Ireland, and soon rose to the highest Patrick eiyic dignities, filling the office of Mayor of Dublin in the years 1531, 1554, ^''^*^®^*'' and 1S66. The renowned Sarsfield, Earl of Luoan, was descended from this ri v,l,'„ stock, and the liberal manner in which his namesake filled the civic chair may be judged from the dialogue given in the work from which I have already quoted. One of his friends towards the close of his year of office asking what he thought all his expenses for that year amounted to, received the following reply. ' Trulie James,' quoth Maister Scarsfield, ' I take between me and God, when I entered into mine office, the last saint Hierome his day (which is the morrow of Michaelmasse, on which dale the Maior taketh his oth before the Chiefe baron, at the excheker, within the CasteU of Dublin), I had three barnes well stored and thwackt with come, and I assured my selfe, that anie one of these three had been sufficient to have stored mine house with bread, ale, and beere for this yeare. And now, God and good companie be thanked, I stand in doubt whether I shall rub out my maioraltie with my third barne, which is well nigh with my yeare ended. And yet nothing smiteth me so much at the heart, as that the knot of good fellowes that you see here (he ment the Serjeants and officers) are readie to flit from me and make their next yeares abode with ■the next maior. And certas I am so much wedded to good fellowship, as if I could mainteine mine house to my contentation with defraieng of five hundred pounds yearelie ; I woidd make humble sute to the citizens, to be their officer these three years to come.' — Holinshed's Chronicle, vol. vi. p. 100. His cellar was as much resorted to as his barns. During his years he spent ' twentie tuns of claret wine, over and above white wine, sacke, malmseie, mus- cadell,' &c. In these times, so different from ours, hospitality in Dublin was on a generous scale. The habits of the people, especially their hours of rising, were very dissimilar. Men and women ! rose at five o'clock ! breakfasted when thry rose, and dined at ten or twelve, supped at six and went to rest at nine. 234 EEIGN OF aUEEN MARY. 9?j*^- tliat spend least in their maioraltie (as those of credit, ~- — r-^ yea and such as bare the office have informed me), make an ordinarie account of five hundred pounds for their viand and diet that yeare, vrhich is no small summe to be bestowed in housekeeping, namlie when wittles are so good, cheape, and the presents of friends diverse and sundrie.' Hospita- The Chancellor was not behind the fashion of the age, lity of ^ , . '^ ' the Lord his buttery and cellars were well stocked, and his good j^°' cheer allured many guests. The worthy Mayor, Sarsfield, "was once expostulated with by some close-fisted miser, for his ' lavishing and outrageous expenses,' as they termed it, A jovial jjg replied, ' Tush, my maisters, take not the matter so Mayor hot : whoso commeth to my table, and hath no need of my meat, I know he cometh for the good will he beareth me ; and therefore I am beholding to thanke him for las companie : if he resort for need, how male I bestow my goods better than in relieving the poor ? If you had per- ceived me so far behind hand as that I had been like to have brought haddocke to paddocke, I would patientlie permit you both largelie to controU me and friendlie to reprove me. But so long as I cut so large things of my owne leather, as that I am not yet come to my buckle, and during the time I keepe myself so farre afiote as that I have as much water as my ship draweth, I praie pardon to be liberal in spending, sith God of his goodnesse is gratious in sending.' * I find mention made of Robert and Walter Cusack as keeping great state; 'but indeed,' adds the old writer, ' the greater part of the citie is generallie addicted to such ordinarie and standing houses, as. it would make a man muse which waie they are able to beare it out, but onlie by the goodnesse of God, which is the upholder and Charity cf furthcrer of hospitalitie.' The zeal and care which the citizens of Dublin now manifest for the poor, is the conti- nuation of the ancient alms hourly extended to the dis- tressed. On each Wednesday and Friday there were ' fair- ' Holinehed's Chronicle, vol. vi. the. citi- LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOK CUSACK. 235 like markets ' held ; shambles well stored with meat, and CHAP, markets with corn. The poor debtors and other prisoners , " - - were kept in Newgate and the Castle ; these were con- stantly relieved by the citizens, who also attended to the sick in the hospitals and beggars in the streets. Any document which throws light upon the manners and cus- toms of this remote age is deserving of being preserved and made known. I have now traced the life of Sir Thomas Cusack through the various stages of his career, from his first judicial appointment of Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, then Master of the Rolls, to that of Lord Chan- cellor, and also Lord Justice ; in all which high sta- tions he was one on whom the English Grovernment could always rely. The Great Seal was held by Sir William Fitz William, as Lord Keeper, for a few months, in 1555, when it was delivered to Archbishop Curwen, who held it sometimes by patent as Lord Keeper, and sometimes as Chancellor, for twelve years.' Although Sir Thomas Cusack does not appear to have Commjs- taken a very active part in the Irish Government after he gaol de- ceased to be Chancellor, we find his name occasionally in I'^ery. commissions for gaol delivery in various parts of Ireland ; ' also for the government of the English Pale (Dublin, Meath, Kildare, Louth and West Meath), during the absence of the Lord-Lieutenant. That he possessed the confidence of Queen Elizabeth's Government, and was also trusted by the Irish, may be inferred from letters patent for the restitution of Shane O'Neil, son of Con, late Earl of Shane Tyrone, to her Majesty's favour, stating this was at the intercession of Sir Thomas Cusack.' In the treaty between the Earl of Desmond and Queen Treaty Elizabeth, the Earl was ' bound to repair to Dublin in the '^^^■^ '^^ company of Sir Thomas Cusack, and there remain until Desmond, he shall have license to depart for his own country.' ' In the order of his highest judicial appointment Sir Thomas Cusack much resembled the late distinguished Irish Lord Chancellor, Francis Blackburne, obit. 1866. ' Pat. Roll in Cane. Hib. 2 Eliz. ' 3rd Eliz. Id. 6 Eliz;. 236 EEIGN OF aUEEN MARY. CHAP. XVI. Death of Ex-Chan- cellor Cusack. . Some of the conditions and stipulations of this treaty display the state of the country at this time, a.d. 1563.' Sir Thomas did not meddle much in the troubled times which Ireland witnessed during the reign of Queen Eliza- beth, and was gratified at seeing his place on the judicial bench taken by his son, Robert Cusack, Chief Baron of the Exchequer. He died at his country-seat, in the county of Meath, in 1571, and was buried at Tryvett, or Treyett, near Dunshaughlin, where in ancient times there was a monastery and a considerable town, now dwindled to a small hamlet. NOTE. The name of Cusack has since been an honoured one in the legal records of Ireland. In the year 1671 Adam Cuhack was Chief Jus- tice of Connaught, and afterwards a Judge of the Common Pleas. Sir Michael Cusack-Smith, Master of the Rolls in Ireland from 1801 to 1806. His son, Sir William Cusack Smith, Bart., was Baron of the Exchequer, whose son, the late Right Hon. Thomas Ber?y Cusack Smith, likewise filled the high judicial office of Master of the Rolls ' That all Irish laws called 'Brehon laws should be abolished within those shires ; and the Earl and the Lords should be bound in penalties for the per- formance of this condition. And as no small enormities occur by the continual recourse of idle men of lewd demeanor called rhymers, bards, and dice players, called carroghes," who under pretence of their travail, bring privy intelligence between the malefactors inhabiting these shires, to the great destruction of all true subjects, care should be taken that none of these sects, nor other evil persons, he suffered to travel within these rules, and that proclamation be made, that whosoever should maintain any such idle men within these terri- tories, should pay such fines as the President or Commissioners should think fit. Aud as those rhymers, by their ditties and rhymes, made for divers Lords and gentlemen in Ireland, in commendation and high praise of extorsion, rebellion, rape, rapine and other injustice, encourage these Lords rather to follow those vices than to abandon them, and for the making of such rhymes rewards are given by the gentlemen ; for the abolition of so heinous an abuse, order should be taken with the said Earl, the Lords and gentlemen, that henceforth they do not give any manner of reward for any such lewd rhymes, under pain of forfeiting double the sum they should so pay, and that the rhymer should be fined according to the discretion of the Commissioners." * There is amongst them Carroghes that play cards all the year round and make it their only occupation. — Camp. Ir. 18U9. " Pat. Boll in Cauc. Hib. (3 Eliz. FAMILY OF CUSACK. 237 for twenty years, from 1846 to 1866. A talented and justly re- CHAP, spected member of the House of Cusack, Ealph Smith Cusack, Esq., ■^"^- Barrister, is the courteous and attentive Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper in Ireland. Another member of the family of Cusack must not be forgotten, Mary Frances Cusack, a nun in the St. Clare Con- vent, Kenmare ; author of several excellent works, one of them the ' Illustrated History of Ireland.' In a highly complimentary poem addressed to this lady by D. F. MacCarthy, our most popular poet, he thus refers to this valuable work : — Here i.s Clontarf s ' ware trampled ' strand ; Here the Milesian chieftains' land ; , Here flashes out O'Neill's red Hand ; Here fought the famed Eed Hugh ; Here, loving man and fearing God, In green Tyrone O'Hagan trod, Like him who now doth bear the rod,' The upright and the true. ' The Chancellor's mace, now borne before the Eight Hon. Lord O'Hagak, Lord Chancellor of Ireland. His talented sister Mary is Superioress of the St. Clare Convent, Kenmare, in which Miss Cusack is one of the nuns. 238 EEIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAPTER XVIL LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOR ARCHBISHOP CTTEWEN. CHAP. XVII. Family of Curwen, or Curran. Eesolves to get on. The family wlience Hugh Cuewen, Archbishop of Dublin, and Lord Chancellor of Ireland, descended, is of consider- able antiquity in Westmoreland. The name was written Culwen by Sir Christopher de Culweu, High Sheriff of Cumberland, ancestor of the subject of this memoir ; the name was also often written Corran and Curran, and the famous Irish advocate, John Philpot Curran, Master of the EoUs in Ireland in 1806, was of the Westmoreland race, a member of which settled in Newmarket, county of Cork. Hugh was born in 1505, and early intended for an ecclesiastical career. He received an excellent education, and determined that his worldly prosperity should not be obstructed by any scruples of conscience, a principle, or rather a want of principle, which regulated his future life. Acting on the example of the Vicar of Bray, when he was ordained, in the days of bluff Harry VIII., the ambitious youth resolved to wear his creed according to the rather varying fashions of the ruling powers. His character was well defined by Strype, who called him ' a compiler in all Pete's sermon at Greenwich in A.D. 1333. He gave a very notable proof of his zeal, if not his dis- cretion, by taking the side of Henry VIII. when the royal polygamist, tired of Catherine of Aragon, desired to wed her Maid of Honour — Anna Boleyn. The amorous King must have been deeply incensed, when, on attending mass at Greenwich, in 1533, the preacher, a Franciscan friar named Peto, very devout, but not very wise, fulminated from the pulpit the words of the prophet — ' Even where ' Lib. Mun. Hib. part i. p. 37. LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CUEWEN, CHAKCELLOE. 239 the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, even there shall the CHAP. dogs lick thy blood, also, King,' and, in the progress of • , '., his discourse, had the temerity to say, ' I am that Micheas, whom thou wilt hate because I must tell thee truly that this marriage is unlawful, and I know I shall eat the bread of afB.iction, and drink the water of sorrow, yet because the Lord hath put it in my mouth I must speak it.' This bold discourse could not be allowed to pass un- noticed. In order to get him out of the way of the Peto out enraged King, Peto was ordered to attend a provincial jjing^s council at Canterbury, and the courtiers of Henry resolved ''^^y- to select a more discreet preacher for the Chapel Eoyal in future. The choice fell upon the Reverend Hugh Ciirwen, who at once perceived this was a meet opportu- Curwen nity for ingratiating himself in the good opinion of the before the King. He determined to use strong language in reference ^^"S- to the audacious Peto. He was the more inclined to do this, because he was aware the superior of the Fran- ciscans, supposing a storm was about to burst on the courageous brother, had sent him out of the way. Ac- cordingly, the following Sunday, Curwen mounted the pulpit, and did not hesitate in the King's presence to use the language addressed to criminals of the deepest dye ; when referring to the reverend denouncer of the monarch, he called Peto a ' slanderer, a rebel, and a traitor,' add- ing ' that no subject should speak so audaciously to Attack on princes.' Having commended the King's marriage, he p/jQ^ ^™' concluded, ' I speak to thee Peto, who makest thyself Micheas, that thou mayst speak evil of Kings, but now thou art not to be found, having fled for fear and shame, as being unable to answer my arguments.' The preacher paused triumphant. He had not left the pulpit before a full-toned voice from the rood-loft came Unex- loud and resonant over the heads of the astonished con- ^^'^^^ reply. gregation, and in those words sounded a brave defiance to the boasting orator. ' Good Sir, you know that Father Peto, as he was commanded, is now gone to a provincial council holden at Canterbury, and has not fled for fear of 240 EEIGN OF aUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. XVII. The King commands silence. The friars before the Council. Supports the Boyal Supre- macy. Bean of Hereford. Changes •with the Sovereign. you, for to-morrow he will return again. In the mean- time I am here as another Micheas, and will lay down my life to prove all these things true, which he hath taught out of the Holy Scriptures ; and to this combat I challenge thee, before God and all equal judges, even thee Curwen, I say, who art one of the four hundred prophets, unto whom the spirit of lying is entered, and seekest by adul- tery to establish succession, betraying the King into end- less perdition ; more for thine own Tain glory and hope of promotion than for the discharge of thy clogged con- science and the King's salvation.' The King in a rage commanded the speaker to be silent. He proved to be another friar, named Elstow, and he, with Peto, were arrested. When brought before the Privy Council, the Earl of Essex told them ' their conduct was so outrageous they deserved to be put in a sack, and thrown into the Thames.' Whereupon Elstow gravely replied — ' Threaten these things to rich and dainty folk, who are clothed in purple, fare deliciously, and have their chief hope in this world, for we esteem them not, but are joyful that in the discharge of our duties, we are driven hence ; and with thanks to God, we know that the way to heaven is as short by water as by land, and therefore we care not which way we go.' • But Curwen went further than defying Peto. He preached publicly in favour of the Eoyal Supremacy.^ He was made a Doctor of Divinity and soon obtained eccle- siastical preferment. We find the Eev. Hugh Curwen was Dean of Hereford in 1641. On the accession of Queen Mary a new light broke upon the pliable conscience of the Dean of Hereford. He was no longer the champion of Eoyal Supremacy, but so orthodox a Papist, that the easily deluded Queen nominated him one of her chaplains. His zeal and devotion for the religion to which Mary clung ' Ellis's Original Letters Illustrative of English History, ii. 41, 42. Edin. Review, January 1825. History of Archbishops of Dublin by Eev. Dr. Moran, pp. 43-5. ' Strype's Life of Parker, vol. i. p. 508. LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CUEWEK, CHANCELLOR. 241 deserved the first mitre that appeared worth his accept- OHAP. . • XVII ance, and accordingly he was appointed Archbishop of • , L- Dublin. The letter, under the privy signet to the Dean Areh- and Chapter of Christ Church, for his election, dated i)ubi^° July 18, in the first and second year of Queen Mary's reign, is preserved in the Chapter House, with her auto- graph at the top — 'Mary y'' Queen.' He was not con- secrated, however, until September 8, following. This Lord ceremony took place in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, and *^'jj*°" four days afterwards Curwen received from the Queen the Ireland, appointment of Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Hugh Corren, so written in his patent, was appointed Patent. Lord Chancellor of Ireland, September 18, 1554, 2nd and 3rd Philip and Mary. To hold during pleasure, and receive such fees as his two immediate predecessors, John Allen and Richard Rede, received, payable out of the great and small customs of tonnage and poundage in the ports of Dublin, Drogheda and Dundalk ; or if the customs be not sufficient, out of the other revenues in the hands of the Treasurer, with power to keep the Great Seal of the office of Chancellor, and of sealing therewith all writs of common justice and other charters, writs, commissions, letters, offices, tenements or hereditaments. He was then sworn into office.' In the Queen's letter to the Dean and Chapter of Christ The Queen's letter. ' The oath taken by the Chancellor before the Lord Deputy and Council of Qath of Ireland for the due execution of his office was this : ' Ye shall swear, that you office of shall be faithfull and true Counsailloiu' to our most deare Sovereign Lorde the Lord Kinge, and Our most deare Sovereign Lady the Queene's Majesty, their heirs Chan- and successors, Kings of England, Prance, and Ireland, and shall faithfully, '^^''"'^■ truly, and uprightly demeane yourself in the room of Lord Chancellor of the realm of Ireland, as well towards their Majestys, their heirs and successors, as towards their Highnesses subjects and all others that shall have to do before you ; you shall maintain, execvite, and keep the laws, ordinances, and rights nf our Mother, the Holy Church, in all their points and articles, and the laws ordinances and most godly statutes of this realme, agreeable and consonant to the same ; you shall administer justice indifferently to all persons, refusing no man thereof; you shall also do all other things that appertaineth to the office of Lord Chancellor and Counsaillour to the uppermost of your power ; soe helpe you God, all Saints, and by this book.'— Pat. Eot. in Cane. Hib. Temp. Philip and Mary. VOL. I. B 242 EEIGN OF QUEEN MAKY. CHAP. XVII. First serition in Dublin. The Chan- cellor Lord Justice. Curwen restores emblems of Catholic piety. Church she requests them to receive the Archbishop honourably and with due respect, as he was repairing to reside on the cure of his bishopric, which now, of long time, hath been destitute of a Catholic bishop, as also to occupy the office of our High Chancellor of that our realm. ^ A notice of his first sermon in Dublin is most compli- mentary — ' The Archbishop of Dublin did preach his first sermon that he read in this land the Sunday after St. Andrew, in Christ Church, Dublin, and did set forth the Word of God in his sermon sincerely and after such a sort, that those men, who be learned and unlearned, both do give him as high praise as I have heard given to any one man, so that those men who favour the word of God are very glad of him, and prayeth for him so to continue.' ^ In the month of November 1656, the Queen wrote to the Lord Deputy, Thomas Earl of Sussex, commanding him to repair to England 'to open to her Majesty the state of Ireland, and receive her resolution and instruc- tions concerning its weal and commodity ; for the trans- action of his own affairs and setting things in good order.' During the absence of the Earl of Sussex, the Chancellor and Sir Henry Sydney, Vice Treasurer, were appointed Lords Justices. The Viceroy sailed on the night of Sunday, December 4, and the Lords Justices were sworn in next day in the Cathedral of St. Patrick before the Privy Council, where they took the oath ' to maintain and defend the laws of God and the Christian faith, and, as far as their Majesties' laws do and shall permit it, the usages, rites, ceremonies and liberties of holie Church.' ^ Firmly resolved to ingratiate himself yet more with the ruling powers, in 1556 the zealous Chancellor Archbishop of Dublin set to work to restore the ancient ritual in all its splendour. One of his first acts was to replace in Christ Church the marble statue of our Saviour, which the ' Harleian MSS. vol. v. '' D' Alton's Archbishops of Dublin, p. 237. " Pat. Rot. in Cano. Hib. Temp. Philip and Mary. LIFE OF AECHBISHOP OUEWEN, CHANCELLOE. 243 Protestant Prelate, Dr. Browne, caused to be removed. GHAP. ■VVTT He also convened a provincial synod in Dublin, which was __,__L.. necessary in consequence of the alterations of Divine worship, made by his predecessor.' At this synod many laws were enacted, regarding the administration of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, and the restoration of Catholic ceremonies, which were generally abolished by Archbishop Browne. A very notable occasion for showing the Queen the judicious selection she had made of her Chancellor occurred this year at the inauguration of the new Viceroy, which, to the great annoyance of those who retained the Protestant creed, was solemnised with great splendour. In the annals we read how the Earl of Sussex Earl of was appointed Viceroy, and proceeded to St. Patrick's viceroy. Cathedral in great state, accompanied by the high officials and Privy Council. He was received at the principal Eeceired entrance by the Chancellor Archbishop under a canopy of chancelloi state. The Prelate and attendant priests were clad in ^7^^' . Dishop. rich vestments. The Viceroy, kneeling, had incense, and having kissed the sacred symbol of redemption, received the benediction from the Archbishop. He then proceeded to his place at the high altar, while the Te Deum was sung by the choir. Having made an offering of a piece of gold, his Excellency dined with the Archbishop.^ The new Lord P"'^'^*^'^ , , , , to restore Deputy had strict injunction to annul the anti-Catholic the Ca- and penal Acts of the preceding reign, and the first ^pJigfon article required of him and the council, was, ' by their example, and all good means possible, to advance the honour of God, and the Ca,tholic faith.' Indeed the previous Supposed Viceroy, Sir Anthony St. Leger, was supposed to have in- st^Lpger's curred the Queen's severe displeasure, by some satirical removal, verses he composed, attacking the church of which she was a member.^ The Irish Parliament assembled in Dublin on June 1, ^.""^ ^*'' liament. ' Lofter's MS. March Library. ' Mason's St. Patrick's Cathedral, p. 163. ' It is curious to find he incurred the censure of Henry VIII. for indifference to the progress of the Protestant Church in Ireland and of Queen Mary for ridiculing the Catholic Faith. E 2 244 EEIGN OF QUEEN MARY. CHAP. XVII. Acts against the Papacy r( Important Proviso respecting Church lands. Toleration of Irish Roman Catholics. 1557, received witli great ceremony the Papal Bull of Paul IV., transmitted through Cardinal Pole, which was read by Archbishop Curwen. This Parliament repealed all the sta- tutes passed since the twentieth year of King Henry VIIT. against the See Apostolical of Eome, and declared that the title of Supreme Head of the Church was not justly attributable to any King or civil governor. An Act passed, which regulated ecclesiastical matters and restored the rectories, glebe lands, and other spiritual emoluments which had been seized by the Crown, with a very im- portant proviso, ' That this Act should not extend to, or affect in any way, siich grants of ecclesiastical property as had been made by the Crown to private individuals, or to any public or civil corporation.' In a short time the ancient Catholic faith was fully restored in Ireland ; and Catholic historians , can proudly record, without one single case of persecution against those who professed Protestant doctrines. Nay, such was the state of toleration in Ireland that many English fami- lies, friends to the Reformation, fled thither for protection.' Leland, in his ' History of Ireland,' relates an amusing story, showing that the persecution of the Protestants, which was confined to England, very nearly extended to Ireland. The anecdote is, that Cole, Dean of St. Paul's, was sent into Ireland armed with a commission to take proceedings against heretics with vigour. While halting at Chester, he showed this Commission at the inn, in the presence of the landlady. She had some Protestant re- latives, who had fled to Ireland for refuge, as many others had done. Resolved to baulk the design, she managed to abstract the Commission from the box in which it was placed, substituting a pack of cards in its stead. The unconscious messenger sailed for the verdant shore, ap- peared before the Privy Council, and stated the Queen's views. When he produced his box, and the pack of cards ' Leland's Hist, of Ireland, book iii. chap. Tiii. Hist, of Civil "Wars in Irrliind, vol. i. p. 169. 1st Lib. Mun. Hib. Reign of Queen Mary, p. 38. RpT. Dr. Moran's Hist, of Archbishops of Dnbliii, p. oo. LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CUEWEN, CHANCELLOR. 24. fluttered on the table, instead of the Eoyal Commission ; CHAP, we can imagine the blank dismay of the Council, and the ^ '^^,^^' horror of the Dean. Queen Mary died before any steps were taken to renew the Commission. A descendant of Sir Thomas More had a lease of land in Louth. Among the Letters Patent of Queen Mary, is one to the Lord Deputy and Council, requiring them to make to Thomas Eiston and Alice his wife, late wife of Germayne Gardiner, put to death, and daughter of Eliza- beth Dauntesy, one of the daughters of Sir Thomas More, also put to death, a lease under seal, in reversion, of the farms of Eatoath and Haggorde, in the County of Louth, for the term of forty years after existing lease.' Queen Mary died November 17, 1568, leaving a memory Death of of which her conduct at the commencement of her reign ^j^'^y" did not give such sad promise. No Irish Parliament met for many years : none at all during the reign of King Edward VI. But the important enactment, that, in every prosecution for high treason, there must be two credible witnesses to every overt act, was held to be requisite in Ireland.^ At length, after an interval of thirteen years. Queen Mary summoned a Parliament in Ireland, in which the anti- Popery statutes of her father, Henry YIII. were repealed, and the Catholic religion restored ; but these laws were themselves repealed in the ensuing reign. The condition of Ireland at the time of the accession Ireland of Queen Elizabeth was extremely critical. Not onlv ^'"^''. , "^ accession were the native Irish more averse than ever to English of Queen government, but most of the Anglo-Norman families, '^^ "^ ^' who, by intermarriages and other ties, were allied to the Irish, had actually become Hibernes ipses Hiberniones, and appeared disposed to prefer foreign rather than English rule. The policy pursued during the reign of Queen Her policy. Elizabeth was to counteract this state of things; and, the immense tracts of land, which constant insurrection ' Pat. Roll in Cane. Hib. 2 and 3 Philip and Mary. 2 The English Stats, are 1 Edw. VI. c. 12; 5 & 6 Edw. VI. c. 11. 246 EEIGN OP QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. XVII. Prohibi- tion a^gainst "Inarrying trishjneu. Family I'euds. Litigation prevalent. The Queen reports her accession. Sidney Lord Justice Curwen Lord Keeper. Ee-ap- pointed Chan- cellor. placed in her hands, by the attainder and forfeiture of the possessors, enabled her to introduce crowds of English- born subjects into Ireland. She not only required them to be English by birth, but clauses were introduced into their patents that, 'in case daughters succeeded to their grants, such daughters should be bestowed in marriage to noe persons but to such only as be of English birthe for two descents, successively to foUowe.' ' It also happened that considerable division prevailed among the Irish chiefs, the junior, and often illegitimate, branches, of a family consenting to do homage to the Queen, and, in return, receiving support and recognition from the Queen's Viceroy, and thus virtually ousting the elected chief. Instead of a Government of peace, such as might have been hoped for, war and martial law extensively prevailed. The Courts of Law were, however, kept in full operation. The boundaries of Church lands, claims in respect there- to, conflicting demands respecting Abbey lands, confis- cations of estates for rebellion, afforded extensive fields for litigation. The- contradictory claims set up by rival grantees, by rival patentees — some claiming existing, others reversionary, interests — afforded ample pretexts for appeals to Courts of Law and the Chancery. The time of Judges and practitioners was fully employed in profes- sional duties, arranging the conflicting rights of com- plaining natives, rapacious courtiers, and intriguing adventurers. Queen Elizabeth commenced her reign ISTovember 17, 1658. She wrote to the Lord Deputy and Council of Ireland, notifying the death of Queen Mary on that day, and commanding proclamation of her accession to the throne to be published in all convenient places. The Council immediately proceeded to elect Sir Henry Sidney Lord Justice, and Hugh Cubwen, Archbishop of Dublin, was appointed Keeper of the Great Seal.^ His reappoint- ment as Chancellor was not made out until the following June,^ when he received a new Patent, with a new Great ' Eot. Mun. 24" 25' 26° Eliz. « Pat. Rot. on Cane. Hib. 1 Eliz. = Ibid. LIFE OP AECHBISHOP CURWEN, CHANCELLOR. 247 Seal.' We do not find that tlie perquisite of tlie old CHAP. Great Seal, usually granted to the Chancellor on a change __,_1_ of Seals, was formally bestowed upon him, but, from his A new reputation for appropriating to his own use and benefit ^^^ "'^ ' everything of value which came in his way, I may assume that he kept this to himself. The accession of Queen Elizabeth must have been a trying time for State of&cials. The temper of that poten- tate was known to be hasty ; and any attempt to trifle with, or disobey her commands, was sure to call down the royal wrath. The Chancellor- Archbishop of Dublin was a The Chau- wily politician, and accommodated himself so well to the favour." changes of the times, that he held his place, and soon became as great in favour with the Protestant Elizabeth as he had hitherto been with the Catholic Mary. He lost no time in effacing all the symbols of Catholicity with which he had recently adorned the cathedral and parish churches. Statues, pious pictures, and beautiful frescoes Catholic were removed, and orders given to paint the walls of removed. St. Patrick's ; and, instead of pictures, to place passages of Scripture thereon. Like orders were issued respecting alterations in Christ Church. Although the Chancellor manifested such zeal in the Curwen cause of the Reformation, he was regarded with suspicion the Irish ^ by his brethren ; and this caused injurious reports of him bishops. to reach the Queen. Aware of this, he was desirous of P^-si^s to leave leaving Ireland ; and, to attain this end, in 1564, he wrote Ireland, to Queen Elizabeth : — 'It male please yo'' most excellent maiestie, wheare Letter to information hath been given to yo'^' maiestie, that by ^^ 1564"' reason of my great age I am insuiScient, and not legable to serve yo' Grace in th' office of Chancillo'' of this Realm, and to accomplish the mynisterie belonging to Th' arch- busshop heare, I acknowledge that having served yo'' highnes, and the Queene your sister, eight years and a half in th' office and function of Chauncello'" of this ' Borlase Reduction of Ireland. 121. 248 EEIGN OF aUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. Eealm, and Archbusshop of Dublin, by travaylles in the . — 1_- oiiice gotten in my later yeares, sickness, and not age, tbat maketb me the lesse liable to continewe my servise in theis places as my hart desireth, I am bould humblie to beseech yo"" maiestie to disburden me of theis charges, and Solicits an to bestowe upon me some busshoppricke in England at See^^ yo' pleas"", to spend the rest of my life in the svice of God, and of yo'' maiestie, in that vocaofi, in continuance of the good name which I trust hitherto I haue had and de- served, wheare I trust I shuld recouar better health than I haue had in this Realm. ' And yf yo*" maiestie can not pntlie bestowe upon me a °^ * . busshopprick, then to graunt to me by pencon, or outher speiall promotion, to the yearelie value of my busshop- pricke heare, of which value this bearer, being my naturall brother, can informe yo"" grace, thereby to kepe my ould servauntes, which long haue taken paines w* me, and con tin ewe som part of the hospitalitie which hitherto I haue ever kept, sith I bad ecclesiastic all promotion, untill yt shall please yo*" highnes to bestowe some souch busshop- pricke upon me. ' And yf yo'' maiestie meaneth not to bestow such a lyving upon me, than I humblie besech youe to dispose Th' office of Chauucello'' upon such parson as yo"" maiestie shall thinke meete, and to pmitt me to continewe Arch- bushopp here, and to giue me some pencon or outher leyving in coffienda to suplie the small value of my said archbusshopprick, w'^'' was well helped by the ffee of the office of Chauncello'' ; in respect of the true service that I haue w'out corruption don unto yo"" maiestie and the Quene yo"^ sister in thois offices; that thereby the evill disposed have no cause to conceave or report that for my evill desertes, or lack of due service in them, I was thought worthy to lose them; and especiallie Th' archbusshop- prick, the leaving whereof, and not receiving a nother, shall ingender sclaunder against me, that I was deprived yf obteigning any of theis my pore suites at yo"" maiestie's LIPE OF AECHBI8H0P CUEWEN, CHANCELLOK. 249 liandes, I shall dispose my-sealf to serve God and yo"^ CHAP, maiestie to the uttermost of my power and calling. XVII. ' I feare much, lest yo"" hignes upon sinister information Fears th e have conceaved some misliking towardes me and my p"ehidiced doings, which greveth me more than any worldlee matter, against and therefore I humblie besech yo'' maiestie to will my ■□ ^'^.^ ^^ Lord Lievetenant, or the Commissioners, to inquier and the Viceroy certifie my doings to yo'' maiestie, wherein I trust yo'' lacttrV maiestie shall understand my dutie, doinge with out cor- ruption, and my travayll in furthuring all yo'' proceadings belonging to my function, and so referring my sealf holie, and my cause to yo"" highnes onlie, alwaies contented to be ordred as shall please the same, I shall daylie praie to God to send yo'' grace a long and prosperous raigne over us, a good health, with victorie against all yo'' enemyiss. ' Yo"^ Grac' is most humble subject, ' Daylie orator and pore chapplen, ' H. DiBLEN, Cane' ' At Dublin the third of Aprill 1564. ' To the Quene's most excellent maiestie his most graciouse souvraigne ladie.' At the same period his Grace wrote to Sir William Cecil, then principal Secretary of State, the following equally characteristic letter •? — ' My humble eomendacons pmised unto yo'' right honor- Letter to able M''shipp, wheare my especiall good Lord, the Lord Lieutenant of this Realm, hath shewed me in the Quene's behaulf her maiestie's pleas'' to be, that I should be per- swaded in respect of myne a.ge to sue to be exonerated both of my Archbusshopprick and Th'office of Chauncellor, and to take a pencoii of Four hundred poundes. It male Dissa- please yo"" hono'' to understand I have more neade of an ^j^j^ j^j^ augmentacoii to my poor lyviiig, than to have it dimi- pension. nished ; ffor sith I have served here in this Realm, I have Nothing yearelie spend the hole revenues of my Archbusshopprick ^^'^^'^■ ' Original Letters, edited by Shirley, p. 142. ' Id, p. 145. 250 EEIGK OF aUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. XVII. His age. Prefers a tishoprick. and tlie fee of Chauncello'^ everie penye, I have served her liighnes and her Noble Sister in this Eealm the space of eight yeares and a haulf, and have done them true service, I trust, and the same without anie kind of corruption, howe so ever I have bene reported ; and have stand in the futherance of her Maiestie's proceedings to the best of my power, so that they have taken the better successe by my means, as my singular good L, the Lord Lieutenant knoweth ; and touching the giving up of these two romes, al though I am not of so great age as to be utterlie un- nable to serve in them, and so gladly would, being three years under the age of threescore ; yet yf her pleas'" so be, I will gladlie give them up unto her handes. In respect whereof my most humble suite mito her Maistee shalbe, that in the lew of them yt male please the same to give me such a beesshopprick in England, as shall stand wt her pleass''; ffor in leving this that I have and not receeving annother I shall run into the sclaunder that I am put from this, and deprived for evill deserving, which I take God to record I have not deserved but in both thoffices rather as I thinke, thankes, than to lose anything ; and wheare [as I feare] I have been untrulie reported to her highnes, most humblie I beeseech yo"" hono"" to move her said highnes to will my L.-Lievetenannt or her highnes' Commissioners to inquire of my doings in both the said offices, and citifee her grace the truth, ffor nothing so much greveth me as to thinke yt her said grace shall have an evill opinion in me ; yf yt be not her maestie's pleas'' to give me a bees- shopprick in England, then I must humblie beeseech her maistie to pmit me to kepe this still that I have, and in respect of th'exilitie thereof [which was increased and helped by the fee of Chancellor] to give me some pencon or anu'itee in augnientaeon thereof such as her grace shall think meete in respect of the poor service T have done : Unless it male please her highnes of her most gracious bountie to give me a pencon or other promotion in England, of as good yearlie value as my said Archbushop- pricke is, otherwise I shall be constrayned to put awaie LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CURWEN, CHANCELLOR. 251 many of my pore servaundes which be Eiiglislimen, and CHAP, have taken paynes wt me here all the tyme of my being in - Ireland ; and for that sith the first time I had any ly ving I have alwaie kept pore hospitallite which I would be loth to give up in my latter dales ; I humblie besech her maistie yf I shalbe put to a pencon, that the same or a part thereof, male stand in ecclesiastical fruietes, by reason whereof I male continnue pore hospitallitie ; Thus I am bound to writ my whole mynd unto y' bono'' offering mysealfp in all things to be ordred as shalbe her highnes most gracieuse pleass'. Most humble beesechyng yo'' good M'^shipp, not to be offended with this my rude bouldness thus trubbling yo' bono'', having nothing deserved toward youe, but being ntterlie unaquaynted, and annimated thereunto by the comfortable report made by all men of yo' goodness in fauorable hearing of pore suters. Beseeching the same to proffer this my simple sute with my lers to her maistie, procuring the knowledge of her pleass' thereon to this bearer, which is my naturall brother, whom yt male please youe to permit to repayer unto your hono' from tyme to tyme to know yo' pleass"" herein. Thus I humblie take my leave of yo"" bono', wishing the same good health, long lif, with increase of much bono''. At Dublin the third of Aprill 1564. ' yor dailie orator, alwais to command, ' H. Dublin, Cane. ' To the right honourable Sir William Cicill, Knight principall Secretarie to the Quenes Maieetie.' The state of Ireland was much disturbed at this time. The Viceroy, Earl of Sussex, led an army from Dublin, and routed and defeated the formidable Irish chieftain, Shane O'Niell, near Dundalk, with considerable loss. A Pro- clamation issued against priests and friars assembling in Dublin, and a tax was levied upon any inhabitants who absented themselves from Protestant houses of worship. Meanwhile the position of the Lord Chancellor grew 252 REIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP, more unpleasant every day. Even in liis Courts lie oli- XVII i- J J • , — — served a growing want of respect paid to him ; and, though from his position in Church and State a high official, he was seldom consulted upon any subject. Another .letter from the Chancellor is given in Mr. Shirley's interesting collection. ' It is addressed to WiUiam Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, one of the Lords of the Privy Council, to whom Queen Elizabeth particularly intrusted the settlement of the Reformation. The occasion for ad- dressing Lord Pembroke appears in this letter. Letter to ' After my humble comendacons, wheare in my last Ires Pembroke. I was suter to yo"^ bono'' to be good unto Sainct Patrickes Church here, which church yt is reported that the Queue's Maiestie myndeth to alter and to convert the prebendes thereof unto a Univsitie, my pore request at this tyme is, to desier yo'' good L. yf ye here any such thinge toward, to helpe to stale the same Church in the state that nowe yt is in, the notion of the chaunge cometh of certen greedye psons which bathe repaired out of this Eealm to the Court, w"'' loke more for theyre owne gaine than any profitt to the country, thincking at the dissolving thereof to have the prebendes to fearme at a low pryse as divers Opposes a of them have made theyre boast here. My veraie good L. inTreland. ^^ ^^^^ Realm of Irland a Univsitie wilbe but of small profytt, for here be no promotions to bestowe upon clerkes when they be learned, which is requisitt of necessitie, and an Univesitie heare weare unprofitable, for the Irish enemyes, under coUo'' of study, would send their ffrendes hither, who would learne the secretts of the country and advtyse them thereof, so that the Irish rebells should by them knowe the pryvitie of the English pale, whereof we are Ij'ke to growe noe small hurt, and besides theis the prebends beproch churches, having cure of soules, and therefore needfuU to be bestowed upon auneient men, and not amongst young scollars, the hole proffet of them ' Original Letters, edited by P. E. Shirley, Esq., a valuable work -which entitles the respected editor to gratitude from historians of the Reformation. LIFE OF AECHBISHOP CUKWEX, CHANCELLOE. 253 standeth in Tythes, -w'oiit any temporal land, w"'' nowe CHAP. corne being extremelie deare, be some what wortb, but yf •_ , 1^ the price of corne shal fall, they would be of to smale a value to healp any number of scollars, moreou the chaung of the Church would be a destruction to Th'archbusshopp heare, who hath not one benefice w*in the English pale to bestowe upon learned men, but onlie the Prebendes of St. The Patricke's which be in number not past xxiiij., so that yf ^'^^ ™ ^' they be altered, he shall not be hable to have one learned man to preach Grode's word in his diocess, and wheare the Deanry being nowe void, and they prohibited to elect them a newe Deane according to the ordnance of that Church. It male please yo"^ hono'' to be a sutor for them to her highnes to license them to proceed to the ellection of a newe Deane, whearein ye shall doe a meritorrouse deade to godward, and bind the pore company of that Church, and we and all o"^ successors to be yo"^ dailie orators. Thus being bould to trouble yo'' bono'' w' my pore suites I humblie take my leave comitting yo'' good L. to almightie God, who loiig preserve the same in health, with increase of much bono"". ' at Dublin the xxi" of June, 1664, 'H. DiBLiN, Cane. ' To the righte honorable and my reraie good L. Therle of Pembrouke geue thies.' In June 1566, Nicholas ISTarbon was appointed to the uister office of Ulster, principal Herald and King-of-Arms, with ^mg-of- a fee of forty marks a year.' ' Contemporaneoualy with his appointment a warrant issued to ' all noble King-of- estates and gentlemen,' as well spiritual as temporal, authorising the King-of- Arms make Arms to make a visitation, and oversee their arms, as was customary in Eng- visitation, land ; and that they should show their devices, conusances, and arms to him, and if any default should be found in their coats-of-arms, standards, banners, pennons, or counsances, or other tokens of nobility and honour, contrary to the laudable usage of the realm, they should he reformed in such like manner as to, the law of arms appertain ; to correct all false armoury, and all such as, without his consent, presume to bear arms or sign of nobility, except they be honourably descended of blood and name from their ancestors ; to register the descents and marriages of all nobles and gentlemen of the realm, and to inform 254 EEIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. XVII. Ciirwen not a shining light. Charges, The Chancellor devoted himself with great assiduity to the functions of his office, and as he had studied the Roman civil law with great industry, made a very able Equity Judge. From the estimation in which he was held by his brother prelates, we may easily perceive he was not regarded as a shining light of the Eeformation. Dr. Loftus, Archbishop of Armagh, writing to the Primate of all England, his Grace of Canterbury, reminded him how his Grace had promised to aid him (Loftus) in all Church causes in Ireland, especially for removing the Archbishop of Dublin. That he was a known enemy, labouring under open crimes, which, states Loftus, in somewhat enigma- tical earnestness, ' though he shamed not to do, I am almost ashamed to mention.'^ The consciousness that he was not trusted, as indeed from the repeated proofs he had given of the unsettled notions he entertained of religion, is not surprising, em- bittered his life. He repeatedly cited proofs of his regard for the Crown, ' that no man of his coat ^ had been more devoted,' as indeed from the repeated number of times he had turned it to suit the change of the Court creed, we may readily admit. He must have rejoiced when the Queen signified her intention of granting his prayer of removing him from Dublin to Oxford, in the year 1666, and at that time his health was very indifferent, as appears from his letter to Sir William Cecil : — A second letter to Cecil. '■ My humble comendacens premised nnto yo'' right hono''able mastershippe, whear yt hath pleased the queue's most excellent Maiestie to signyffie her most graciouse pleasure hyther to bestowe upon me the bushoppericke of Oxford, considering my sicknes and inhabillitee heare longer to srve, I am so bonld upon yo"" said good m^'shippe. all those -who, at funerals, wear gowns, hoods, or tippets, above their estate or degree, also to see that no painter, graver, goldsmith, or other artificer, make or devise any new arms, or devices other than used by antiquity, without the authority of the Ulster; and all parties were directed to obey him in the execution of his duty.'— Morrin's Calendar Vat. and Close Bolls Chanc. Ir. ' Strype's Life of Parker, i. p. 221. LIFE OF AECHBISHOP CUEWEN, CHANCELLOR. 255 all thougli I have not desf ed any tiling of yo"^ bono"" for tlie CHAP, goodness that I hare heretofor found in yo" to desyr yo"^ >__,_L, said honorable M^'sbipp to move her Maiestie that yt might stand with her graciouse pleasure that I myght come hence befer the winter next ; for I am heare in the Wishes to winter so sicke, and lycke wise weke, as heartofore I have forewinter ben scant hable to pass yt over with liffe, and very glad wold I be if it might stand with her graceouse pleasur to come awaye in such tyme as I myght paid fire for winter, a.nd haye for my borsses ; moreou, yt should be well done of her Highnes, after my going away hence, to appoint Suggests another Archbeessboppe with sped ; for yf the See stand ^"^^^'^ vacant, much of the lands wil be pilfered awaye by Irish- bishop, men, and the bowses spoylled, which nowe I leave in good estate. Thus am I bould to truble yo'' bono' with my rude suttes, not hable to recompense the same with any thing save my prayer, which yo"" bon'' shall be assured of during my lif, as knoweth God, who long presve yo'' hono^'able M''shippe in good health, and increase yo"" bono''. 'At Dublin the xxi»' of Maii, 1566, ' yo"" bono' at commandment, ' H. DiBLiiT, Cane' ' To the right Honorable Sir William Sissill, Knight, principal Secretary to the Queen's Ma"', be this gueven with speid.' The Queen's principal Secretary of State must have been impor- beartily tired of the Archbishop's ' little sutes ' which '^"""''^ showed the great activity of the Most Reverend Prelate in looking after bis personal comforts. But if the Secretary supposed he was done with him, after the letter just quoted, he was a trifle mistaken. The next post brought him the following, in which the prelate solicits ' the last half year's rent of the See of Oxford.' This time he has the modesty not to ask himself, but has influence enough to induce Sir Henry Sydney, Lord Deputy of Ireland, to ask for him. This letter is also to Cecil: ' Shirley's Original Letters, p. 248. 256 KEIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. 'S'', after my most hartee coraendacens, the Arche XVII . . ^ L-.,-L- Bishop of Dublin, (who imputeth all his good happe of The ^ his revocation to my Lord of Lecester and you, as by lettfir to whose mediation he hath received comfort and favo"^ from Cecil. -the Queen's Ma*y,) hath been verie earnest with me to recomende unto you his desier to be disburdenid forthw"* of his ofS.ce here, alleadgying his infirmity of the pallsey, and thereby his dishability to travell towards winter, add- ing to this, his desire of speedy departur hence, an humble Asks for gute to be relieved and recompensed for his long service 3-ear's rent, w* the last half yere's rent of the Bishopricke of Oxforde. The Vice- I have weied his requests meet to receive my coinendacon, mends!"'"' ^^ ^^® being necessary for her Ma's Service, if any other Chauncello'' were sufficient for the place might forthw* be appointed, the other honorable for her Highness to graunt, wherein his long continued faithful service should receive a contented recompense, both such I laie befor you, desiring yo"" accustomid favo' to pswade this his honest pitticion. ' And so I bid yo most hartely fare well, from Kyll main- ham, the xxiij of May, 1566, ' Tour assured freynd to comand, 'H. Sydney.' This graceful letter from the accomplished Lord Deputy must have been very consoling to the veteran courtier, who, in the words of some of his brother prelates, was Harsh called ' an old unprofitable workman,' a ' disguised dis- 0^0™! sembler,' to be numbered among 'the dumb dogs who neither teach nor feed any save themselves.' ' His health began rapidly to fail under the infirmities of sickness, notwithstanding his translation to Oxford. He His death, did not live long in this See, for we learn he died at Swinbroch, near Burford, in October 1 568. He was buried in the parish church of Burford on November 1, 1668. The character of Gurwen as an ecclesiastic and politician is so apparent from his life that I am spared further notice ' Shirley's Original Letters, p. 201, 226. LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CUEWEN, CHANCELLOE. 257 of one, who, had lie lived a century later, might fairly be CHAP, regarded a trimmer. I must, however, mention some of the legal changes of his time. His experience as an Legal Equity Judge helped to mould the Court of Chancery in j^ Aetime Ireland upon the English model, and there the equitable "^ Lord jurisdiction was greatly extended. The process of the cellor' Court to compel the defendant's appearance, and carry Curwen. decrees into effect, was materially assisted by the process of sequestration and commissions of rebellion, which ren- dered persons as well as property amenable to process of equity, as well as of Courts of Law. Power of granting costs, of directing issues to be tried before common law Judges, each obtaining their assistance in cases with which they were more familiar than the Chancellor, was also gaining ground. The office of Master in Chancery was now assuming increased importance, and ' References ' increased, which enabled the Chancellor to save himself trouble, and often proved advantageous to the suitors. Bills of discovery, and to perpetuate testimony in cases of disputed legitimacy, were very prevalent in Ireland at this time. In the comprehensive Institutes of the Court of Chan- cery, recently published by Mr. Griffith, of Crovm Office Eow, Temple, the state of the law regarding the mercan- tile classes, at this time, is shortly but clearly stated. By 34 and 35 Henry VIII., c. 4, commissions against Bank- rupts issued out of Chancery. VOL. I. 268 EEiaN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAPTEE XVIII. LIPE OV LOEB CHANCELLOR ■WESTON. CHAP. xvni. Doctor "Weston. Norman descent. of Eobert Weston. Two sons study law. Eichard, Eeader of the Middle Temple. Eobert, a Fellow of Oxford. Principal of Broad- gate Hall. Deputy professor of civil law. When Archbishop Curwen resigned the Irish Seals, in 1567, the Queen selected as his successor Doctoe Weston, Dean of Arches, a very different character ; for I find few who led more pious or amiable lives than the individual whose career I have now to relate, Eobert Weston, The genealogy of this family, Mr. Foss states ' in his most valu- able repertory of legal biography, ' The Judges of England,' is traced as high as Eainaldus de Baliole, in Normandy. He became Lord of Weston, Berton, Broton and Newton in Staffordshire, in the reign of the Conqueror. Eobert, the future Lord Chancellor of Ireland, had noble blood in his veins ; he was third son of John Weston of Lichfield, by Cicily, sister of Ealph Nevile, Earl of Westmoreland. The tastes of two of the sons of this marriage was for the legal profession, in which both acquired great distinc- tion. Eichard, the second, entered the Middle Temple, where he arrived at the rank of Eeader in 1554.^ Eobert, the third son, was educated at All Souls' College, Oxford, and so distinguished himself, that he became one of the Fellows. He applied himself to the study of civil law, and his proficiency gained him his Bachelor's degree in 1537. He was appointed principal of Broadgate HaU, and ful- filled the duties of that station until 1549. At the same time he was deputy professor of civil law at Oxford to assist the venerable Professor W. John- Storie, who had been appointed by Henry VIII. In 1556 he was admitted to 1 Vol. V. p. 643. 2 He was successively Solicitor-General, Queen's-Serjeant, and a Justice of the Common Pleas in England, ib. 544. LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOE WESTON. 259 the degree of D.C.L., being tlie only doctor of this faculty CHAP, who was licensed that year. There was such a scarcity of v^_,__L, Doctors of the civil law in the University of Oxford at this period that a dispensation was issued allowing that an inceptor might undergo the place of Doctor.' In 1559, Dr. Weston was appointed by Queen Elizabeth one of the Commissioners for administering the oaths prescribed by 9°™™'^" the Act of Uniformity to be taken by ecclesiastics,^ and, at the same period he was consulted with reference to the propriety of the Queen's Commission granted on December 6, 1569, for confirming Dr. Parker as Archbishop of Canterbury. He was named Dean of the Arches durinsr ^^^'^ °^ Arches. the same year, and also one of the Commissioners em- powered to examine into and determine all controversies between the subjects of the Crown of England and those of Philip King of Spain.^ The time of the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir Henry Sydney, being greatly occupied by the protracted and incessant wars of the chieftains of Ireland, North and Soath, he required the assistance of a more learned Chancellor than of late held the Seals, and became a suitor to the Queen for such a man, to aid him by his advice, as well as for knowledge of the law. Her Majesty complied by sending over the Dean of Arches, who arrived at Dublin in July, and was sworn into office on August 8, 1667." We can readily suppose the state of Ireland at this time, so different to the order and tranquillity of England, afforded plenty of work for the new Lord Chancellor. Luckily the Court accompt had been kept pretty free from arrears. Weston speedily was a favourite. ' The Chan- His high cellor,' says Hooker, ' was a noteable and singular man, by '^ a"^^*^'*"^- profession a lawyer, but in life a divine, a man so bent to the execution of justice, and so severe therein, that he by no means would be seduced, or averted from the same ; and so much good in the end ensued from his upright, diligent and dutiful service, as that the whole realm found ' Mason's St. Patrick, p. 168. ^ Eympr, vol. xv. p. S47. • 3 Xbid. p. 639. ■* Mason's St. Patrick, p. 169. s 2 260 EEIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. XVIII. Lord Justice. Success in the Go- vernment. A Parlia- ment. Chan- ellor' peeeh . themselves most liappj' and blessed to have him serve among them.' ' The Queen having summoned the Lord Deputy to return to England, by letters dated August 12, 1667, directed the Chancellor and Sir William Fitz William, Vice-Treasurer, to be appointed Lords Justices,^ to ad- minister the government in the Viceroy's absence. They were very competent men — one being very learned, the other very wise, and possessed of great experience in the affairs of the kingdom. As Hooker quaintly says, ' Both being very weU-minded to do her Majesty service, did most lovingly and brotherly agree therein, each one advis- ing and advertising the other according to the several gifts which God had bestowed on them, by which means they passed their government very well and quietly, to the great contentation of her Majesty, the commendation of themselves, and the common peace of the country.' The Viceroy, Sir Henry Sydney, having returned to his government in Ireland, summoned a Parliament, which met Januarj' 17, 1568, in the Parliament House, Dublin, and the Viceroy having taken his seat, the Lord Chan- cellor addressed the Lords and Commons in very eloquent speech, declaring what the law was, the gTea.t effect and value thereof, and how the common society of men Was thereby maintained. He next commented on the vigilant care of the Queen over the interests of her subjects. That she caused Parliament to be assembled, in order that, by their advice, she might be able to frame such laws as would tend to the honour of God, the preservation of her Majesty's person and Crown, and the safety of the Com- ' Holinshed's Chronicle, vol. vi. p. 336. ^ The Queen's letter thus continues : — ' And that done, and our realm put in order, and especial regard heing had to the keeping in order of the late recovered countries in Ulster, we are pleased that you (the Deputy) shall return hither unto us, that you may be so instructed for conferehce -with us in all manner of causes of that realm at your coming, as your abode here be not longer than shall be necessary, whereof more regard would be had by you, because we mean not to make any full conclusion of tlie keeping of any Par- liament there until your coming.' ' Holinshed's Chronicle, vol. vi. p. 509. LIFE OF LORD CHANOELLOE WESTON. 261 mon wealth.. He then addressed the members of the House CHAP, of Commons, whom he desired to assemble in their own , ^^' - House and elect a Speaker. Some interesting particulars of Queen Elizabeth's Irish Parliaments deserve place here. One shows the early hours of legislators. During a debate, an honourable Member rose to continue the discussion, but the time and Early day were so far spent above the ordinary hour, being well °"^^' near two of the clock m the afternoon, that the Speaker and the Court rose up and departed. At. this time the Payment members were paid — Knights of Shires received 13s. 4d. bers.*^™" a-day ; representatives of cities, 10s. ; of boroughs, 3s. 4<^. Contention sprang up amongst the honourable Members, and the Judges were called on to interfere, notwithstand- ing which a considerable delay ensued before any business was done. The orders and rules which regulated Parlia- Parlia- ments in England were adopted. In these rules there is ™''"J^''y not any form of oath prescribed to prevent Roman Catho- tions. lies or Dissenters sitting in Parliament.' During the winter of 1572, and the ensuing spring, the Fatal Chancellor was much indisposed; but he attended his ' ^^^' court pretty regularly, though it was painfully apparent that his health sadly failed, and he was no longer able to attend to affairs of State. In him the Viceroy lost a faith- ful counsellor,^ and one of his chief supporters. He died His death, during the month of May, his death being deeply lamented. A contemporary writing in language very eulogistic of the deceased Chancellor, thus relates the sad event : — ' It hath pleased God to call out of this miserable life Doctor Weston, Lord Chancellor. A man in his time most god- His oha- lie, upright, and virtuous, and such a one as that place was not possessed of the like in many currents of years. In his life he was most virtuous and godlie ; in matters of council most sound and perfect ; in justice most upright and uncorrupted ; in hospitalitie very bountie and liberal ; in manners and conversation most courteous and gentle ; ' L'ish Parliaments, by the Eight Hon. James Whiteside, pt. i. p. 47. 2 Mason's History of St. Patrick, p. 171. 262 EEIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP, faithful to his Prince, firm to his friend, and courteous to , — 1^ all men ; and as was his life, so was his death, who a little time before the same called his household, and gave them such godlie instructions as to their callings appertained ; Exhorta- then he set his private things in order, and he spent all tion to his . , ° . ^ household, the time that he had in praiers and exhortations. ' At last, feeling a declination towards, he appointed a general communion to be had of his household and friends in his chamber, unto which all the Council came and were partakers ; and then, these actions finished, he gave a Last ad- most godlie exhortation to the Council, persuading them Coimcil. to be zealous and virtuous in God's true religion ; then to be mindful of their duties to her Majesty ; and lastly, re- membering their callings and estate, and the great charge of the Government laid upon them, and committed unto them, that they would be valiant, careful, and studious to perform the same, as might be to the glorie of God, honor to the Queen, and benefit to the whole realme ; which points he handled so godlie, learnedly, and effec- tually, that he made their tears to trill and their hearts to be heavy. This done, he' bade them farewell, and not long after, he being fervent in his prayers, he died most godlie, virtuously, and Christian like.' ' His remains were interred in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and his efiSgy, in a recumbent posture, arrayed in his State robes, occupies an arch in the upper part of the Moira- monument erected by his grandson, the Earl of Cork. An inscription to his memory is placed beneath the figure. There are few finer characters among the Irish Chancel- lors than Weston, and I wish my memoir of this amiable and excellent man was fuller ; but I have collected all respecting him my industry enabled me to discover, and I have not spared any pains. Irish Acts Amongst the laws passed in Ireland during this reign was one for the punishment of perjury ; another for the establishment of free schools in each diocese. The Statute against Fraudulent Conveyances, though enacted in Eng- land, was not extended to Ireland until a subsequent period. ' Holinshed'a Chronicle, vol. vi. p. 373. AECHBISHOP LOFTUS, LORD CHANCELLOE. 263 CHAPTER XIX. LIBE OF LORD CHAKCEILOR I,03?ITJ9, FROM HIS BIRTH TO THE FOUNDATION" OE THE UNIVERSITY OF DTrmiN. As Weston was a very different Chancellor from Ms pre- CHAP, decessor, tlie versatile and avaricious Curwen, so his sue- - cesser, Adam Loptus, the celebrated Archbishop of Dublin, Loftua a differed in many respects from both. He resembled them weston. also in some points — Weston in his great business habits ; Curwen in his unscrupulous conduct and insatiable ava- rice. Loftus had much more power than any of his pre- decessors, and though he mainly used it for personal aggrandisement, in one important matter he merits the thanks of men of letters — he established the University of Dublin. This distinguished prelate was born at Swines- head, in Yorkshire, in 1534. Prom an early age he Birth. showed great abilities, and, destined for the Church, entered, though somewhat later than usual, as a student His edu- the University of Cambridge. It was his fortune to have ''^''°"- been called upon to take part in a public exhibition while at CoUege, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth, and his graceful elocution, in addition to his comely person. Touched the stout heart of England's Queen, Noticed Though French or Spaniard could not trouble it. l,y Queen Elizabeth. It requires no great stretch of imagination to fancy the The Queen scene which shaped the boy's future destiny. It was a ^^dge!' busy day ia the University city. Studious-looking men, whose pale thoughtful faces told of many midnight vigils, and whose strained eyeballs told of severe study, wandered about in cap and gown ; the curious gaze, as though the sight of the every-day world around was strange and novel to them. A busy day in the grave city, where the 264 EEIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. XIX. Enquires about Loftns. Promises to reward his industry. Loftus in Ireland. Perplexity of an English Bishop. Sovereign Lady of tKe realm, attended by the pageantry whioli Elizabeth so vcmch. loved, made her Eoyal progress through the streets, turning the thoughts of the students from their books to shows and gay revelry. In the examina- tion which ensued, Adam Loftus bore a very distinguished part, and the Queen sought him out from his feUow students. With that quick insight into character, which was proved by her notice of Ealeigh, Spenser, and others, she enquired into the circumstances of the young student, and encouraged him by her commendations. She bade him persevere in his studies, and promised to reward his proficiency. Her Eoyal favour no doubt was a spur to his ambition, and Adam Loftus resolved that one day his name should be known and honoured beyond the walls of Cambridge. When ordained, he sought a field for his ministry ; Ireland was, at this time, a theatre where adventurous spirits sought renown by intellectual pursuits as weU as martial prowess, and hither he turned his steps. The Eev. Adam Loftus came to Ireland about the year 1559 as chaplain to Alexander Craike, then appointed Bishop of Kildare. This conscientious Prelate wrote on April 30 in that year to Lord Eobert Dudeley, 'that he could not preach to the people, nor could the people understand him,' and desired to be released from his bishopric. He states that his chaplain, 'Mr. Lofthouse (Adam Loftus) who lately came over "with him, was his only help in setting forth God's word.' On August 5 following, the poor Bishop wrote to Cecil ' that he was in the Marshalsea for his first-fruits,' and imploring his in- tercession with the Lord Chancellor for a pardon. He had to undergo a lengthened incarceration. On October 26 he again wrote, complaining that he received no answer to his petition desiring to be discharged of the first-fruits, which was promised to be remitted before he left London, and praying to be disburthened of his bishopric, as he could not understand the Irish language.^ Morrin's Cal. Pat. and Close Eolls, vol. i. p. 435. AECHBISHOP LOFTUS, LORD CHANCELLOR. 265 While Thomas Eatcliff, Earl of Sussex, continued in the CHAP. Viceroyalty of Ireland, the Eeverend Adam Loftus was - '^ ^' . appointed his chaplain. During this time a Parliament A Parlia- was held in Dublin, by which the greater number of the ™™ ' Acts passed in Queen Mary's Parliament were repealed. Seventy-six members were returned, writs having been issued for the counties of Dublin, Lotith, Kildare, Meath, Westmeath, Oarlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford, and Tipperary, and for certain towns where the English in- terest felt secure of being represented. It passed several Statutes for the establishment of the Protestant religion in Ireland. The care of Loftus' Eoyal patroness was not remiss. In 1561, we find him appointed by Letters Patent Prefer- to the rectory of Painstown in the Diocese of Meath. '"™'' Further preferment was close at hand. Archbishop Dowdall's death in the following year left the Primacy vacant, and the Rector of Painstown, at the early age of twenty-eight, was nominated to the Archbishopric of Arch- Armagh. It is stated that, through him, the Irish Pro- ^'^"^ifj^ testant Bishops derive their succession, ' for he was con- io62. secrated bv Ourwen, who had been consecrated in England Succession " . . of Irish according to the forms of the Roman Pontifical in the Protestant third year of Queen Mary.' ' At this period the Chan- ^^^°^^- cellor. Archbishop Curwen, found the business of his business in Court exceedingly arduous. The recent rapid advance in ™® ^"""^t equitable jurisdiction caused by the Statute of Wills and eery. the Statute of Uses, was beginning to tell upon a consti- tution never very robust, and the number of important suits respecting the suppressed monasteries was swelling the arrear in the cause list. His health was greatly broken, and it was doubtful if he could continue to preside in the Court of Chancery, from which he was most anxious to be released. The revenues of Irish Sees were then unlike what they incomes, grew to be in after years. The license to hold other prefer- ments, to supplement their incomes, had to be frequently given to the Bishops. Thus in 1564, Archbishop Loftus ' Ware's Bishops, p. 34. 266 REIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. XIX. Licensed to hold Deanery of St. Patrick's. Excom- municates a Catholic chieftain. Exchanges Armagh for Dublin, the Deanery to Lord Chancellor Weston. Queen Elizabeth's epistolary style. received Queen Elizabeth's license to hold the Deanery of St. Patrick, to which he had been elected, together with the Primacy; his Archbishopric being a place of great charge, in name and title only to be esteemed, without any worldly endowment resulting from it.' Although the State had ceased to hold communion with Eome, in the opinion of ecclesiastics, the censures of the Church ought to produce terror, for when, in 1566, the Irish chieftain, O'Neill, ravaged the Primatial city and the Cathedral of Armagh, Primate Loftus fulminated the thunders of excommunication against him, not only by himself but by the clergy of his diocese. As, however, O'Neill held fast by the Catholic faith, he utterly and ostentatiously disregarded these Protestant denunciations.^ At the close of this year, the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on the Archbishop by the University of Cambridge, and the Primatial See of Armagh was ex- changed by him on August 8, 1567, for that of Dublin, then deemed more valuable. The Queen required him to resign the Deanery of St. Patrick in favour of Dr. Weston, whom her Majesty appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland, which he did ac- cordingly, though, we can readily believe, nothing but the peremptory command of Elizabeth Eegina would have caused him to do so, as he derived very considerable profits from the Deanery. No doubt Archbishop Loftus had in mind the letter — short if not sweet — addressed by the Tudor Queen to a brother Prelate, which contained a memorable threat.* ' Proud Prelate, — I understand your are backward in complying with your agreement ; but I would have you to know that I who made you what you are can unmake you, and if you do not forthwith fulfil your engagement, by — I wiU unfrock you. ' Yours, as you demean yourself, ' Elizabeth.' ' Rot. in Cane. Hib. " Ware's Eh'zabeth, c. 9. ' Letter to Bishop Cox. Vide London Society, vol. ix. p. 560. AECHBISHOP LOFTUS, LOED CHANCELLOR. 267 By no means anxious to be favoured with a like speci- chap. men of the Queen's epistolary style, Loftus -with alacrity _3^^L_- yielded the Deanery to Lord Chancellor Weston. National education in Ireland was a favourite project Rational with the Archbishop, and it was probably owing to his exertions an Act was passed in 1570, directing that free schools should be kept in the principal town of every diocese, at the cost of each diocese, the ordinary of each to pay one-third of the master's salary, and the remainder to be contributed, in due proportions, by parsons, vicars, prebendaries, &c. Dr. Loftus was by no means content with the revenues of his See. He made such representation of its poverty to the Queen, that, in May 1572, she granted him a dis- pensation to hold, with his Archbishopric, any sinecures Sinecures. > he might obtain, not exceeding 100?. a-year in value ; a license of which he very fally availed himself.' On the lamented death of Lord Chancellor Weston Lord in the year 1573, Archbishop Loftus succeeded him as cellor. Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Some persons might have supposed the possession of two such important dignities as the Archbishopric of Dublin a4id the Lord Chancel- lorship would have contented any man, but they failed to satisfy Adam Loftus. Harris relates that, ' beside his promotion in the Church, and his public employments in the State, he grasped at everything that became void. The Chan- either for himself or family ; insomuch that the Dean and 2t^- Chapter of Christ Church were so wearied with his im- ijishop. portunities that, on August 28, 1578, upon granting him some request, they obliged him to promise " not to petition Promise. or become a suitor to them for any advowson, of any pre- bend or living, nor for any lease of any benefice." ' When Sir John Perrot was Deputy, he had opportunity Policy of to see and discretion to mourn the mischievous policy peuot, by which the inhabitants of Ireland wasted their energies and means in injuring each other by internal feuds, instead of uniting to advance the common weal. Mr. " D' Alton's Archbishops of Dublin, p. 242. 268 SEIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. Taylor well observes,' ' Being a man of vigorous benevo- -- ' , " -.• lence, he made great exertions to ameliorate tlie condi- tion of tlie people, and hoped, by the removal of unwise distinctions, to give Ireland a common feeling with a nation to which she had not been yet more politically allied. As England was rapidly rising from comparative rudeness into commercial wealth, and that state of information which foreruns a graceful prosperity, he justly concluded that mere Acts of Parliament could never produce a sin- cere coalition between two countries in different stages of mental progression, or rather while one was invigorated and the other repressed. It was necessary, for the real union of both, that there should be a sympathy of habits, and a perception of mutual interests.' The Viceroy's idea was to erect institutions, wherein learned men might raise the intellectual standard of the people, and diifuse through all classes the benignant in- fluences of education. He also was anxious to provide better Courts for the legal profession. With this view he wrote to the then Lord Treasurer of England, ' That whereas there is no place for the Courts of Law, save only an old hall in the Castle of Dublin, dangerously placed over ^'; yn _ the munition of powder, that the Cathedral of St. Patrick, thedral. being spacious and large, would sufficiently serve for all the several Courts, and there being a want of a store- house for grain, and other provisions, and no fit place for it, whereby the waste in victualling is the greater, that the Canon's house environing the Church might aptly The serve for an Inn of Court, to hestow the Judges and lawyers house. '^»*5 ill exchange for which their Inns of Court, lying com- modiously over the river, and hard by the bridge for load- ing and unloading, might aptly serve for a storehouse and granary. That there being two Cathedrals in Dublin, this being dedicated, to St. Patrick, and the other to the name of Christ, that St. Patrick's was in more super- ' History of the University of Dublin, by Taylor, p. 3. It is singular that it is only in our day, after a lapse of nearly three centuries, statesmen are carrying out the policy of Sir John Perrot. AECHBISHOP LOFTUS, LORD CHANCELLOR. 269 stitious reputation than the other, and therefore ought to CHAP. be dissolved.' As the revenues of St. Patrick's Cathedral _ — ^_- were very large, he suggested their application to educa- tional purposes, and to found two "Universities in Dublin. He then stated the revenues at 4,000 marks, which would serve to lay the foundation of two Universities and a TwoXJni- couple of Colleges. Six masters for each, and a hundred scholars to be instructed in learning, civility, and loyalty. This project was strenuously resisted by Archbishop Thepro- Loftus, on the plea that it was an attempt to misappro- sigterby priate the Church revenues ; but it was generally believed ^"^^ Chan- the real motive which influenced him was to prevent jjojives alienations he had himself made, when Dean of St. imputed to Patrick's, from being discovered. In Sir John Perrot's eellor. Life ' it is stated the Archbishop ' was interested in the livings of St. Pa.trick by large leases and other estates thereof granted, either to hymselfe, his children, or kins- men, for which reason the Lord Chancellor did, by all means, withstand the alienation of that livinge, and being otherwise a man of high spirit, accustomed to bear sway on that Government, grew into contradiction, and from contradiction into contention with the Lord Deputie, who, Conten- on the other side, brooking no such opposition, it grewe vi'ceroy into some heart-burning and heate betwixt them.' and Lord The want of cordiality between Sir John Perrot and eellor. the Lord Chancellor was highly prejudicial to Ireland. Seldom had a more efficient ruler been placed in Dublin Castle than Perrot. He was a statesman, wise in counsel, just in policy, and conciliatory in manner. He was a Character soldier, fit to command, prudent to order, and swift to perrot^"^"^ execute. Connaught and Ulster were the scene of his mili- tary operations, and he divided the latter province with the counties of Armagh, Monaghan, Tyrone, Coleraine, Donegal, Fermanagh, and Cavan. Sheriffs, coroners, and Commissioners of the Peace, were appointed to these dis- tricts. He called a Parliament in 1585, which was pro- Calls an bably the first ever assembled to which the name of a J"'*^ ■^^'^' ' London: 172S, p. 2i2. 270 EEIGN OF aUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. XIX. Attempt to repeal Poyning's Act. Opposed by the Lord Chan- cellor. The trial of Sir John Perrot, Parliament of Ireland might justly apply. However we may endeavour to assert the antiquity of Parliaments in Ireland from a period shortly after the arrival of the En- glish, we must admit that for centuries the constituent Members only represented the four obedient shires, as they were called, of Dublin, Louth, Meath, and Kildare, until the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when, in addition to noble- men and commoners of English descent, Irish chiefs, and heads of septs, were also in attendance. It is curious to find one of the measures designed by this Irish Parlia- ment was the repeal of Poyning's Act, which was sug- gested by the Deputy, to enable the Parliament to pass such laws as were requisite, without the circumlocution inseparable from Poyning's Act. The Lord Chancellor, and other Anglo-Irish Peers, opposed this, and got up such a strong party that it was rejected on the third reading.' Finding his measures constantly thwarted, the Deputy ■procured his recall. His enemies caused him to be im- prisoned for misgovernment, and he was called on to answer for his conduct The accusations against the Viceroy were for high treason, but the evidence was of a trivial character. He was blunt of speech, and when excited used expressions which the Chancellor Archbishop and others at enmity with him considered tantamount to denying the authority of the Queen. The prosecution was conducted by Sir John Puckering, Queen's Serjeant,^ a very zealous Crown lawyer, who, aware of the weak case against the prisoner, tried to con- vince the jury of the guilty intentions which the words disclosed : ' Por the original of his treasons proceeded from the imagination of his heart, which imagination was in itself high treason, albeit the prisoner proceeded not to any overt act; and the heart being possessed with the abundance of his traitorous imagination, and not being ' Eev. J. O'Hanlon's Catechism of Irish History, p. 270. ' This rank, analogous to that of Prime Serjeant in Ireland, put the holder over the Attorney and Solicitor-General. For a report of the trial see State Trials, vol. i. p. 1300. AECHBISHOP LOFTUS, LOED CHANCELLOR. 271 able to contain itself, burst forth in yile and traitorous CHAP. XIX speeches, for Hx abundantia cordis os loquitur,' ' . , "-.- The evidence mainly consisted of ebullitions of temper when the Lord Deputy was at the Council table. At one time he said, in reference to a letter from the Queen which he did not approve of, ' Stick not so much on the Queen's letters of commandment, for she may command what she will, but we will do what we list.' Another time he said, ' This fiddling woman troubles me out of measure ; it is not safe for her Majesty to break such sour bread to her servants.' In reply to the charge, that he moved to sup- press the Cathedral of St. Patrick's, Dublin, he declared, ' that the Archbishop of Dublin was his mortal enemy, and the reason why he was moved to suppress the said Cathe- dral Church was to have a University founded thereon; but he was opposed by the said Archbishop because he and his children received by the said Cathedral 800 marks a-year.' The case being closed, Serjeant Puckering, as leading counsel for the Crown, again addressed the jury and ' prayed them to consider well of that which had been said, and willed them to go together.' This so excited the prisoner that he called aloud in passionate entreaty on the jury to remember ' and have a conscience in the matter, and that his blood would be required at their hands.' The jury then retired, and for three quarters of an hour the brave Sir John Perrot, the Court, and audi- tory were in suspense awaiting the verdict. Many pre- dicted it would be the ominous word, ' guilty.' ^ The dread sentence was passed upon Sir John Perrot, but he was not executed. The Queen was touched with Noble compassion, and, on reading the report of the trial, re- Q^tn"*^ °^ membered the rescript of the Emperor Theodosius, Elizabeth. which, she said, should rule this case : ' If any person speak. iU of the Emperor through a foolish rashness or inadvertency, it is to be despised ; if out of madness, it deserves pity ; if from malice, it calls for mercy.' ^ > state Tr. 1318. ' Id- 1326. ' Lord Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors, vol. u. p. 168. 272 KEIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. XIX. The Queen approves of the Uni- versity. Site se- lected. The Mo- nastery of All Hallows. The Prior in Par- liament. Monies as landlords. Her clemency did not avail tlie ex- Viceroy, for he died shortly after. Elizabeth did not lose sight of the University project, and Loftus was shrewd enough to know he could do nothing more j)leasing to the Queen than realise the idea of Sir John Perrot at the least possible expense to himself. He accordingly fixed his eye on the ancient and decaying Monastery of All Saints as a fit site for the University, and which might be readily obtained. This ancient Monastery of All Saints, or All Hallows, had long been a fountain of piety and charity to the neigh- bourhood of Dublin. It was founded in 1168 by Dermod, son of Murchart, and endowed with broad lands and rich offerings by successive benefactors. Blessed by St. Lawrence O'Toole, fostered by Henry Fitz Empress — native saint and foreign sinner continued to protect the pious inmates. Miles De Cogan, one of Strongbow's war- rior chiefs, shared with the monks the lands he won at the sword's point ; other Norman Barons added valuable possessions in return for prayers offered for their souls' health ; and, for four centuries, the monks of the House lived in peace, going about their Master's business. Hourly the chime of bells pealed some work of devotion. Matins and lauds, prime and vesper — the Mass for the living, the Eequiem for the dead — and daily a liberal dole awaited the poor at the postern gate. Not without some occasional show and parade lived the brethren. During the sitting of the Parliament of the Pale, the Prior rode forth to assist at the Colonial Legis- lature, amid the homage of burghers, on whom he bestowed his blessing as he passed through the streets. Again, in days of festival, the gorgeous procession, attended by the pomp of the Catholic ritual, with incense burning and tapers alight, impressed the rude spectators with awe and reverence for the Supreme Being to whom such tributes were paid. Then the Abbey lands were well tilled, no rude violence was displayed by the monks towards their tenants, and repaid with the assassin's bullet. They were LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOE ■ AECHBISHOP LOFTUS. 273 Christian churchmen, devoted to their creed, having no CHAP, families to enrich, no temporal dignity to sustain, at the - ^^^_. expense of their vassals. When not employed in prayer and confessional, they visited the sick, gave alms to the poor, illuminated manuscripts with artistic skill, copied the Holy Scriptures, and preserved for posterity those works of Pagan erudition popularly called classical literature. In the days of Henry VITI. learning and sanctity was of no avail when hid beneath the cowl of the monk or the veil of the nnn. Irish Abbots and Priors, dismayed by the ruthless measures taken to suppress the Abbeys in England, yielded to force what they were powerless to protect. Walter Handcocke, the last Prior of All Hallows, Prior sur- made formal surrender of the House on November 16, t^e'lSrig" 1638, and the Priory, with all its endowments, was granted ah Hal- to the Corporation of Dublin. The buildings, tenantless '"^^ and uncared for, soon became mere ruins, affording a pre- the Cor- carious shelter for cattle grazing upon Hoggin Green ; and P°™''°°- this was the site selected by Archbishop Loftus for the Dublin University. Having proceeded so far, the Chancellor-Archbishop's Chancellor next step was to interest the citizens of Dublin in the tj^e cor- eompletion of his project. He caused a meeticg to be T"?™''"" convened at the Tholscl, and addressed the Mayor, Citi- zens, and Common Council, in a speech in which he detailed his plans, stating the Queen's earnest wish to found a University in Dublin, and the result was most satisfactory. The mayor and corporation complied with his request to His suc- grant the proposed site, and labourers were forthwith employed in clearing the place for the University building. Henry Ussher, Archdeacon of Dublin,' with Lucas Chal- Deputa- loner, were sent by Loftus to the Queen to petition for a Queen, charter. This prayer, with a readiness which ought to charter serve as a precedent in modern times, was at once granted ; ^^l^J^ and, by a warrant of December 29, 1591, a license was ' Ussher was afterwards Archbishop of Armagb and Primate of all Ireland. Uncle to the celebrated James Ussher. VOL. I. T 4, 274 EEIGN OF aUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. XIX. The Chan- cellor first Provost. Letter from the Lord Deputy. The Act of Uni- formity in England. Smngglfd through the Irish Parlia- ment. ordered to pass the Seals for tlie grant of the Abbey and the foundation of the college. The charter was dated the following year.^ By this charter, Adam Loffcus, Doctor of Divinity, Arch- bishop of Dublin, and Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was named first Provost of the CoUege of the Holy and Un- divided Trinity, founded by Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin, The monopolising spirit which preserved the principal emoluments of the College exclusively to Protestants for several hundred years, was not the intention of the origi- nal founders. When the Lord Deputy (Fitz WOliam)'^ addressed the gentry of Ireland for the purpose of raising funds for building halls and other necessary expenses of the institution, he applied to all, irrespective of creed, and besought ' any contribution, whether in money, lands, or anie other chattels, whereby their benevolence may be shewed to the putting forward of so notable and excellent a purpose as this will prove to the benefit of the whole counirey, whereby knowledge, learning, and civilitie may be increased to the banishing of barbarisme, tumults, and disordered lyving from among them, whereby their children, and children's children, especially those that be poore (as it were in an orphant's hospital freely) male have their learning and education given them with much more ease and lesser charges than in other Universities they can obtain it.' True that, in the Act of Uniformity, passed in England the second year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the Oath of Supremacy imposed on all who took degrees in any University, Would, if extended to Ireland, preclude Roman Catholics taking degrees ; but this Act did not extend to Ireland, and it was smuggled through the Irish Parliament in the following manner. Mr. Stanyhtirst, of Corduff, then Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, being in the Protestant interest, privately assembled on a day when the Souse was not to sit, a few such members as he knew to be favourers of that interest ; and, conse- ' 34Eliz. A.D. 1592. ' Heron's Ilifclory of the University of Dublin, p. 21. LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOR ARCHBISHOP LOFTUS. 276 quently, in the absence of all those who, he believed, would CHAP, have opposed it, carried the measure through the House. , _. But these absent members, having understood what passed at that secret convention, did soon after, in a full and regular meeting of Parliament, enter their protests against it; npon which the Lord Lieutenant assured many of them, in particular with protestations and ' oaths, that the penalties of that Statute should never be inflicted,' which they, too easily believing, suffered it to remain as it was.' Notwithstanding the efforts of the Archbishop, and the The Uni- patronage of the Queen, the first few years of the Uni- [t^'^go^.'"' versity's existence were far from flourishing. Students mence- were few, owing to the general ignorance of the English ™™ ' language throughout the country, and the heads of the College being strangers to the soil. The Fellows did not pull well together ; and, owing to the disturbed state of the kingdom the College lands, lying in remote districts, proved very unproductive and unprofitable. This, how- ever, was but of brief duration. Having kept the high places and emoluments of the fellowships and scholarships exclusively Protestant* for ' about two centuries and a half, a declaration is now made by the heads of the University, expressing their willing- ness to abolish religious tests. It is thought this may have the effect of preventing a Charter being sought for by the Catholics of Ireland, who have been long in hopes of obtaining one for the Catholic University. ' Analecta Sacra, p. 431. O'Connell's Ireland and the Irish, -p. 141. "^ The charter of King Charles I., however, removed an}' doubts as to the institution being exclusively Protestant. * 2 276 EEIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAPTEE XX. LIPE OF LOED CHANCEltOE AECHBISHOP LOPITTS — CONCLITDBD. CHAP. XX. Edmund Spenser a Clerk in Chancery. Secretary to the Viceroy. Defeftt of the Eng- lish. At this period, filling the lucrative, but, I imagine, not' very congenial office of Clerk of Decrees and Recogni- sances in the Court of Chancery of Ireland, was Edmund Spenser, the poet. He had published, before leaving London, an exquisite pastoral poetn, which won him the friendship of a great and good man. Sir Philip Sidney. Spenser was also known to Sir Philip's uncle, another great but not good man, the Earl of Leicester, who be- friended the poet ; and, when Lord Grey of Wilton, was sent as Viceroy to Ireland, in 1580 (to shorten the wars by an effectual prosecution), he made Spenser his Secretary, on the recommendation of Lord Leicester. I suppose then as now, the Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant had a very considerable share in the Irish Administration. In our days we have heard of Secretaries to the Viceroy who were Viceroys over him ; and, it is probable, Leicester imbued the new Secretary for Ireland with his notions of ' shortening the war ' by extirpation, for that was the project of pacification Spenser recommended. The first essay in arms of the Viceroy was not fortunate to the English. He imprudently entered the Wicklow defile, known as Glenmalure,' and, when encompassed by hills, found to his cost that he was in the midst of enemies. A volley of musketry threw his army into confusion, and the O'Toole's and O'Byrne's, with the Eustaces of Baiting- glass, and other disaffected Anglo-Irish, turned the con- • The river that flows through this vale, called by Spenser the ' baleful Oure," has been fully identified by my friend P. W. Joyce, Esq., M.E.I.A., as the Avonbeg, which, at its confluence with the Avonmore, forms the ' Meetin'^ of the Waters,' in the lovely vale of Ovoca. LIEE OF LORD OHANCELLOE ARCHBISHOP LOFTUS. 277 fusion into a rout. Eight hundred killed, including several CHAP, officers of rank, and the loss of baggage and other stores, .- were the result of Lord Grey's rash expedition. Heavy This ignominious defeat, which, it is said, was witnessed by Spenser, and is referred to by him in the fifth book of the ' Faery Queen,' rankled in the breast of both Viceroy and Secretary. The most vigorous measures were pressed on against the natives, until, in the fearful words of the Secretary, 'neither man, woman, nor child was spared.' The war The fertile province of Munster presented a scene of ruin ^„ation and desolation. Famine followed the fiery track of war, and Spenser, if he had any feelings of humanity, could hardly congratulate himself upon the success of his share in Irish adrninistration. On the attainder of the Earl of Desmond, his vast estates The estates were divided amongst English adventurers. Raleigh had pg^ou^ an immense tract in Cork and Waterford ; Sir Arthur granted Hyde a fair slice in the lovely Valley of the Munster ^^*^' Blackwater, in which Castle Hyde was long the residence of his descendants ; but, through the process of the Landed Estates' Court, has now passed into other hands ; > while Spenser got three thousand acres, also in the County of Cork, with the then picturesque Castle of iEilcoiman, in Kjlcolman which he resided for some years. Here he spent his '^^^'^^• time in poetic composition, and wrote also very merciless ' Views of the State of Ireland.' Occasionally his seclu- sion was enlivened by the presence of friends. Sir Walter Visited by Ealeigh visited him while at Kilcolman ; and it lends addi- -^'^'S^r tional interest to the portions of the castle yet standing, owing to the fostering care of a valued friend,^ to think these two great and gifted men here sojourned. Both enjoyed the world's fame ; and their melancholy fate teaches the impressive lesson, how fleeting are the joys of this life. When the rebellion of the Earl of Tyrone broke ' Castle Hyde, County Cork, is now the residence of John R. H. W. Beeher, Esq., who married Lady Emily Hare, daughter of the late and sister of the present Earl of Listowel. » John. Harold Barry, Esq., J.P., on whose estate Kilcolman stands. 278 EEIGN or QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. XX. Spenser's sad fate. The Chan- cellor accused. Commis- sion issued. out, Spenser's Castle was set in flames, and lie, witli his wife and some of his children, barely escaped, while one perished in the conflagration. He died a few years after in poverty in London. The end of Raleigh was also tragical — he perished on the scaff'old. I now return from Spenser and Raleigh to the more prosaic Life of Lord Chancellor Loftus. Words, imputing corrupt conduct, having been uttered against the Lord Chancellor, a Commission issued to Robert Gardiner, Ser- jeant-at-law, Chief Justice of the Chief Place, and Robert Dillon, Chief Justice of the Common Bench, to inquire into the matter, as the Chancellor determined to prosecute and examine witnesses, ad perpetiiam rei memoriam, on behalf of Adam, Archbishop of Dublin and Chancellor.' ' The following interrogatories were put i — ' Do you know Kellam Shrawley, of London, skinner ? When did you hear him pronounce and declare any infamous or slanderous speeches against the Archbishop of Dublin, either touching his person or his behaviour in any judicial or other ofS.ce he holdeth or exprciseth for Her Majesty? If you did hear such infamous speeches, then, when, where, upon 'arhat occasion, and who was present? '* * Depositions taken on May 23, before the Commissioners set forth, John Tyrrell deposes that about the 1st of August last, upon a conference had between him and Kellam Shrawley, the latter stated ' that the Lord Chancellor had offered him great injustice in staying one Eichard Wilcocks, his man, being bound to shipboard, because he would not deliver a bond wherein one Ueynoldes of Dublin, merchant, stood bound to Shrawley ;' to which deponent answered, ' You say not well, for my Lord Chancellor is a good Justice.' Unto which Shrawley replied, ' My Lord was unfit to be a Judge, and was a corrupt and partial judge ; and, by reason of his alliance, none could have justice tliere but such as himself pleased, by reason of the marrying of his daughters ;' and further said, ' What was he before he was Chancellor but a jack and a knave, and, setting his Chancellorship aside, his man was as honest a man as he ; and that he would prefer a Bill to the Council in England showing his injustice.' These words were spoken in London, at the shop door of deponent, in Cheapside, at the sign of the Fox. Mathew Handcock, of Dublin, merchant, stated he heard Shrawley affirm 'that by reason of my Lord Chancellor's alliance in Ireland, no Londoner could have justice.' Christopher Challoner deposes he heard Shrawley say ' the Lord Chancellor of Ireland did offer to his man, Wilcocks, great injustice ; that he was a corrupt Judge, and that his man was honester than the Chancellor, setting his authority aside ; and that by bribes he did maintain his daughters in their braverv.' And further, that by means of alliance, by marrying his daughters with gen- LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOR AECHBISHOP LOFTUS. 279 How far Slirawley was able to justify His attack upon CHAP, the judicial conduct of the Lord Chancellor does not , " - appear, but I fear the charge was not wholly unfounded, Fresh for he was soon in another scrape. The Queen wrote l/^l^' to the Lord Deputy, on September 2, 1583, the follow- writes to jng letter ; — •' We have been informed, that our Chan- ^^ ^°^^ cellor, in a variance between our servant Williams and one Colclough, married to the Chancellor's daughter, upon a supposed contempt in great e^tremitie and choUor, comytted our servant to the Marshalsea, a noysom place, repleat with sundry prisoners, and detained him there by the Sipace of twelve days, with comaundment that he should not goe abroad with his keeper, and that at a time when the employment of his service for us was thought to be most needful ; and in the end, our Chan- cellor's allegations being heard before our Deputy and Council, his witnesses examined, who could not prove any one point, notwithstanding the Chancellor very earnestly required the continuance of his imprisonment, and in his own house, yea in open asseniblies in our Courts of Kecord of Exchequer and Chancery, and before our Deputy and Council ther«, did not forbear to use him with hard speeches and sundry disgraces. We do not a little mar- Lord Chan- vayle that a man of the good justice, wisdom, and tem- tuked™' perence expected in a man supplying his place, should so much forget himself, and so long, as to use our servant and officer' so severely, reproachfully, and unadvisedly; to which abuses we, minding to give redress, and willing to understand our officer's misdemeanor (as well yt con- cerneth us to doe), our pleasure is, that you, our Deputy and Council, shall receive the particulars of them from our servant, and that the Chancellor shall directly and tlemen in Ireland, no Londoner oould have justice at his hands; that he was a, corrupt man, and so he would prove him, (Signed) 'E. GAEDNEE. < EOBEET DILLON," — Morrin's Calendar Pat. and Close Rolls, Ir. vol, ii. p. 124. ' Williams was Clerk of the Cheque and Muster Master to the Queen. 280 EEIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. XX. Case of the Roman Catholic Arch- bishop of Cashel. partictdarly, under liis own hand, thereunto make answer ; and the truth of each pointe being by you duly examined, you shall again to us certify, unless our servant be in credit restored, and by our Chancellor theretofore satisfied. And further, our pleasure is that our servant and officer henceforth be better respected than to receive any such disgrace, but rather to be supported in our service and all his honest causes, a thing not impertinent for our better service. Oatland, Sept. 20, 29°.' • While these discreditable matters were casting odium on the Chancellor of Ireland, a very upright Judge presided over the same Court in England. This was Lord Chan- cellor Bromley, of whom the noble and learned author of the ' Lives of the Lord Chancellors of England ' says — ■ ' Bromley is not celebrated as a great Jurist, or as one of those who laid the foundation of our system of Equity; but while he held the Great Seal I find no trace of any complaint against him as a Judge, either on the ground of corruption, or usurpation or delay, and we may be sure if there had been abuse there would not have been silence.' ^ I have now, with regret, to darken still more the shadows which rest upon the life of Lord Chancellor Loftus. The case of Dr. O'Hurley, Catholic Archbishop of Cashel, is peculiarly striking. He was one of the most distinguished men of his time. Had been a professor of philosophy in Louvain,^ and subsequently filled the Chair of Canon Law at Eheims. "When in Rome he gained the esteem of the Pope, Gregory XIII., who, in 1580, appointed him Arch- bishop of Cashel. To a dignified appearance and deport- ment he united mild unassuming manners. When, in 1583, persecution raged against the Irish Catholics, the Archbishop of Cashel sought refuge in the house of a friend, the Castle of Sla,ne, County Meath. It chanced, however, that one of the Judges, Eobert ' Pat. Boll, 30 Eliz. ' Lord Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors, vol. ii. p. ' Eev. Dr. Moran's Archbishops of Dublin, p. 135. 122. LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOE AECHBISHOP LOFTUS. 281 Dillon,' came on a visit to the Castle, and during dinner, CHAP, at which a number of persons of the reformed creed ' - were present, the conversation turned upon Papists, and the most revolting charges were preferred against the Catholic faith. The Archbishop, who was also at the table, though wishing to retain his disguise, could not listen to these absurd and untrue allegations without a word in defence of his faith. He accordingly refuted the charges, with so much grace, eloquence, and learning that he filled the whole company with reverence and surprise. The Judge at once suspected he was some eminent Catholic The Judge priest, specially sent to this country to stay the progress of foj.^gy the Reformation, and on his return to Dublin informed the Lords Justices of the circumstance. Archbishop Loftus, Dord Chancellor, and Sir HenryWollop,then Lords Justices, were at once on the alert. The culprit's arrest was imme- Arrest. diately decided on, and a force was sent to Slane Castle to effect that object ; but Archbishop O'Hurley fearing this, sought safety by flight, and had' gone to Carrick-on-Suir. He was followed and taken. When brought to Dublin he was asked, ' Are you a priest?' He replied, ' I am, and an Archbishop.' This was an admission of guilt in those days, and he was conveyed to a loathsome prison, and kept in chains until the following year, when he was again brought before the Lords Justices. They sought, first by" gentle The Arch- means and persuasion, to induce him to subscribe to the fi^nj°|^ft)i Oath of Supremacy, and renounce the spiritual supremacy of the Pope ; they promised him, if he complied, not only pardon for the past, but rewards for the future, Dr, O'Hurley replied, ' that no temporal reward would induce him to give up the Catholic Church, the Vicar of Christ, and the true faith.' He was then fearfully tortured, his execution ordered. Tortured and, lest there should be public excitement, he was led l^^^l^^' forth in the early dawn to die. On Friday, May 6, 1584, ' He is named in O'SuUivan's History, p. 124, Chancellor, but this is a mistake ; Robert DiUon, of Eiverston, County "Westmeath, was not Lord Chan- cellor. He was Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. 282 REIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. XX. Lord Chan- cellor's plan of making the Irish Protes- tants. Fre- quently Lord Justice, Essex re- buked by the Queen, Assistant Cbuncilloi. Obtains numerous manors. he was hanged on Osmantown Green, and his remains in- terred in the churchyard of St. Kevin.' Lord Chancellor Loftus showed a very persecuting spirit, which was, unhappily, the prevailing spirit of this time. Writing to Lord Burghley on the general decay of the Protestant religion, he recommended putting the Ecclesi- astical Commission in force, ' for this people are poor, and fear to be fined ; if liberty be left to myself and* such Commissioners as are well affected in religion, to imprison and fine all such as are obstinate and disobedient, and if they persist, to send them into England for example's sake, I have no doubt but, within a short time, they will be re- duced to good conformity.^ Between his duties as Judge in the Court of Chan- cery, looking after his Archdiocese, making Protestants of Papists, and attending to his family, Adam Loftus had plenty to do. He frequently administered the Irish Go- vernment as Lord Justice during the temporary absence of the Viceroy. He held this important trust in 1597, and again in 1599, on the memorable occasion when the once- favoured Earl of Essex left Ireland without leave, and startled the Queen by presenting himself before her in her dressing-chamber, before she had completed her toilet. We know what a warm reception he got. At the close of the year, the Archbishop was named one of the Assistant Councillors to the Lord President of Mnnster, and, in 1603, had pardon of intrusion and alienation in reference to numerous grants he acquired of the manors and estates of Eathfarnham, Ballintryer, Newtown, Stagonil, Timothan, Old Court, Eilclogan, Wexford, Hooke, Pajnstown, Le ISTaas, &c.' The latter years of this Prelate were for the most part spent in amassing riches by accumulating estates. Fortunately for him, he was not required by the Government, as in former years by the Chapter of St. ' Eor a full account of this martyrdom, see ' History of Catholic Archbishops of Dublin,' by Rev. Dr. Moran, vol. i. p. 135. " State Paper Office, Temp. Eliz. ' Rot. in Cane. Hib. LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOE AECHBISHOP LOFTUS, 283 Patrick's, to pledge himself ' not to ask for more.' His CHAP, cry was ever, ' Give ! give ! ' His daughters made great marriages. Anne, the second Lady daughter, married Sir Henry CoUey, of Castle Carbury, ° ^^' and from that union the late Marquis Wellesley and Arthur Duke of Wellington have descended. But honours and lordships, mitre and mace, vrere soon to lose their pos- sessor. The three score years and ten, after which we are told comes travail and sorrow, l}.ad been passed. The Chancellor survived the Royal Lady who had shown him such favour by two years, and the powers of life were draw- ing to a close. He expired at the Palace of St. Sepulchre Death and on April 6, 1605. His death took place forty-two years ^prit, ™ after his consecration, the greater number of which were i^'^^- passed as Archbishop of Dublin. He was buried in St. Patrick's Cathedral, at the right side of the monument of his former associate in the office of Lord Justice, the Earl of Cork. In his time religious disputes and persecutions so His cha- greatly occupied the time of public men, we have little to chan^ ^^ relate of the Archbishop as a Chancellor. But from his eellor. talents and capacity we may presume he did the business of suitors with despatch, and, when unbiassed, with ability and equity. The complaints made against him must, of course, detract from his merit, but they do not appear to have proved prejudicial, for, to the time of her death, he retained the favour and confidence of his early patroness, Queen Elizabeth. The proceedings of the Court of Chancery in Ireland Decrees of • ji ■ n 1 mi Chancery were now assuming something oi arrangement. The from 2+ Decrees of the Court preserved, commence in the 24th ^''°- ^^•^• Henry VIIL There is a chasm in the series, from 1643 to 1655, when the business of the Court of Chancery, as well as of the other Courts of Justice in Ireland, was suspended by the unhappy civil war then prevailing. Thence, until the Restoration of King Charles II., there are rolls of the Decrees and Adjudicatiens of the Commissioners for the administration of justice in Ireland. 284 REIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. XX. Decrees respecting Acts of Settle- ment. Duties of Master of the Rolls, tempore Queen Elizabeth. To sit in Chancery. Custody of the Rolls. Appoint- ment of Edward Fitz- Symon, Esq., Serjeant- at-Law. The Decrees of the Commissioiiers appointed for exe- cuting the Acts of Settlement and Explanation are separately preserved, in very good condition. As some notice of the duties of the Master of the EoUs may be interesting to legal readers, I give an account of them, also specimens of the Practice and Pleadings in Chancery, de- positions, and the encouragement for English barristers to practise in Ireland, vrhich are curious and worth preserving ; they serve to display the state of the legal profession in Ireland during the days of Queen Elizabeth. The duties of the Master of the Rolls in. Queen Eliza- beth's time vrere disclosed by a warrant appointing Edward Pitz Symon Master of the EoUs. It runs thus, ' Whereas Nicholas White, Master of the Rolls, is, for abusing and non-using of his office, sequestrated to do therein until our gracious pleasure be known to the contrary ; and for that there is none in the mean time to sit in our High Court of Chancery, to hear, decide, order and determine causes between party and party, and othervdse to continue that Court as hath been accustomed, and to have the keeping and custody of the Rolls, records, files, books, and other writings of the Court, whereby those that have need of the sight of them may have recourse for copies, and such like furtherance of their causes as to justice apper- tains ; we have thought good, by the advice and consent of our right trusty and well-beloved Counsellor, Sir Henry Sidney, Knight of our Order of the Garter, Lord President of our Marches of Wales, and Lord Deputy General of Ireland, to give and grant, like as we do hereby give and grant, full power and authority to our well-beloved Edward Pitz Symon, Esq., our Serjeant-at-Law, not only to sit in our High Court of Chancery, and there hear, decide, order, decree, and determine such cause and causes as depend in the said Court, or hereafter shaU be brought in suit in the said Court, and to do, execute, proceed, and set forth, all and every other thing and things in the Court in as large and ample a manner as the said Nicholas White, Master of the Rolls, or any other before him in that office, might and LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR ARCHBISHOP LOFTUS. 285 ouglit to have done in the said Court of Chancery, which CHAP, perteyneth to the keeping of the Master of the Eolls' _^_. Office ; to have, hold, use, occupy, and exercise, the said Tenure. office of setting, hearing, ordering, decreeing, and deter- mining causes, as aforesaid, and the keeping of the rolls, documents, records, files, books, writings, and other the premises unto the said Edward, until our pleasure be further known touching the said Master of the Eolls. April 20, 20 of Elizabeth.' ' The Chancery practice seems to have been well settled at Chancery this time. In a suit in which William Birt, of Drogheda, P^'''='''='- was plaintiff, and Patrick Bathe, of Euthleigh, county Meath, defendant, the pleadings are much as in our time.^ ' Morrin's Calendar Pat. and Close Rolls Chan. Ir. vol. ii. p. 269. ■'' The Bill stated plaintiffs title to certain lands, and prayed to be con- tinned in quiet possession, which he alleged he could not enjoy without insti- ^1"ity tuting a suit at Conimon Law for each disturbance and trespass, where he P^^^"^'^^' stated he could not have an indifferent trial, in consequence of the great alliance, friendship, and connection of the defendant in the country. The defendant's answer denied the plaintiff's statement of title. The plaintiff re- plied. The defendant rejoined. The plaintiff sur-replied. Issue being joined, a Commission was directed to examine witnesses, and the cause coming on for hearing, it was adjudged and decreed by the Lord Chancellor and Court that the suit shall be dismissed; that the defendant and his heirs shall hare the Decretal pasture in controversy until the plaintiff shall recover same by order of the °™®'^* Court or by the course of the Common Law ; and that the defendant shall have his costs against the plaintiff, in consequence of the wrongful vexation of the plaintiff, 61. Given at Her Majesty's Castle of Dublin, November 20, 1593. Ad. Dublin, Canc. — Morrin's Calendar Patent and Close Bolls in Chancery, Jr., vol. ii. p. 330. The technicality and clearness of reasoning of Counsel is well shown in the following : — Cormaek MacCartie complained in Her Majesty's Court of Chancery that he was to be impeached by colour of an oflBiee (inquisition) taken before Cause the Bishop of Cork, and William Saxey, Chief Justice of the province of f^'i'.'^'^'"- Munster, at Cork, on the 20th of November, in the 37th year of her Majesty's ?°'^'p? *"'' reign, whereby it was presented that King Edward III. gave and granted to ^ion John Lombard and his heirs the Castle of Guynes, near Cloghroe, with other lands of which those iu the possession of the said Cormaek were said to be parcel; to which office the Counsel of Cormaek objected divers imperfections and objections of insufficiency : first, for in the title and style of the office, which was part of the substance and essential part of the office, it was said that the Bishop of Cork, and Saxey, Chief Justice, did inquire (as by inquisition appeareth) ' by virtue of the writ of the Lady the Queen,' whereas no writ ought to have been directed, but to such as were officers, sheriffs, escheaters, or coroners, and not to any Judge — authority being pro- Authority perly given to Judges, not by writ but by Commission ; — also the thing annexed °^ Judges, 286 EEIGN OF aiTEEN ELIZABETH. Induce- ments for English ban-isters to practise in Ireland. Common- law Judges called to assist the Chan- cellor. Inquisi- tion Toid. Interro- gatories. Strong inducements were held out to entice English lawyers to settle in Ireland. Ealfe Eookby was directed to the inquisition not being a writ but a Commission, they took the inquisition ■without authority, and so coram nonjudice ; also if it had been intended as a Commission, yet was it but to inquire in crociis et marcJiiis cancellarie Dominie Eegine as well liberties as without, for the word ' ejusdem,' being a relative, ought to have related to the last antecedent, and so be limited to inquire in crociis et marcMis cancellarie, within which limits the county of Cork or the land inquired of was not, and so void ; further, they did not name themselves ' Commissioners,' and they said that the writ was directed to them, whereas the Commissioners showed it was directed to them 'and others ;' and the Com- mission not being returnable, it was objected that the Commission came into Court without warrant, not coming by certiorari or other means ; it was further objected that the words 'pro salvo custode ' were not words of con- dition, but rather of consideration, and if they had been words of condition, yet the seisin of King Edward III. not being found, or the seisin of Lombard, the patentee, but rather the contrary, for it appeared by the inquisition that the MacCarties were 'time out of mind' seized of the castle and lands, which ' time out of mind,' being no other than time of prescription, the time of prescription extending before the time of Edward VI., it was gathered that they were, at the time of the patent, before and after, seized, and so could not be impeached by the condition, if it had been a condition ; all which being moved by the counsel of Cormack, and a day being given to consider the exceptions, and all parties being called into Chancery on a day prefixed, before Sir Robert Gardiner, Chief Justice of the Bench ; Sir Eobert Dillon, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas ; Sir Eobert Napper, Chief Baron of the Ex- chequer, being called on to assist the Chancellor and Court, and the matter being fully debated, and the argument of all parties heard and considered, it was resolved by the Court that the office (inquisition) was imperfect and insufficient to entitle Her Majesty to the lands comprised therein ; and it was therefore ordered by the Lord Chancellor that the inquisition and Commission should be considered void, fi-ustrate, and to no eflfect. Given at Her Majesty's Castle of Dublin, May 24, 1596, and in the 38th year of Her Majesty's reign. (Signed) A. Dublin, Canc. — Morrin's Calendar Patent and Close Soils in Chancer^/, Ir., vol. ii. p. 381. As a specimen of the pleadings of the period, I give the following: — The charter of the guild of St. James the Apostle (Cork) having the seal broken, interrogatories were directed touching the said charter : viz., A¥hether the charier produced in Chancery, enclosed in a box, with the seal detached, had ever been properly sealed ? What quantity of the seal had been seen upon the label of the charter ? How was the seal broken ; and at what time ? Depositions of witnesses taken in Chancery in reply to the above interroga- tories, on November 28, 1566 : — Denis Neile states ' that he saw the charter sealed with the Great Seal ; the same year that Mr. Tirrell was married to Margaret Fitz Symon, one Walter Browne was Master, and having the box, wherein the charter was enclosed, in a woman's house by the cuckold's post, he and deponent went into the house, and calling for the box, Walter said that the woman had taken some of the droppings of the " pricketts " that remained in the box, and the woman with LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR ARCHBISHOP LOFTUS. 287 by a clause in a letter of Queen Elizabetli, on Patent Roll CHAP, of the twelfth of her reign, ' to have one month's enter- ^•_. tainment, to commence from his arrival in Ireland ; and an allowance for his residence to practice his profession of the law.' He accepted the offer and was soon provided with a place. The Queen sent over Sir Edward Fitton Sir (ancestor of Sir Alexander Pitton, Lord Gaws worth, Lord pititon. Chancellor of Ireland in 1689), to be Lord President of Connaught, at a salary of 133L 6s. 8d. a-year, and Ealfe Eookby was nominated Chief- Justice of that province. Eookby The salary was modest for a Chief- Justice — lOOL a-year — Justice. and as no doubt Irish customs and practices were un- His as- known to Chief- Justice Eookby, the Lord-Deputy was kn^'*° directed to select a suitable man of Ireland, learned in I"sh. the laws, and with a knowledge of the Irish tongue, to be assistant to the said Justice. If he was not so assisted, I can well imagine the perplexity of the lately-arrived Judge when called on to decide whether lands were rightly subject to 'coin and livery, toll, cuttings, i-eliefs, refections, kernitie, cosherie, cuddy, gellatynny, gillection,' and other Irish Irish exactions. exactions. Some extracts from a will of the time of Queen Eliza- -A- ■«"ll of beth must close my legal specimens of this reign : — ' Wil- Elizabeth. liam Nathaniel DiUon, of Dublin, gentleman. He be- queathes his soul unto the hands of Almighty God, his maker, and to his Sonne, Jesus Christ, his Saviour and Eedeemer, and to all the glorious companye of Saynts in Heaven, and his body to be buried in Christ's Church, or any other place where God and his executors should think good.' He then proceeds to dispose of his property, and does not forget the needy. ' To four poor houses in Dub- lin, 20s,, equally to be delivered, and out of those poor- houses, six men and six women to have gowns of frieze and their dinner at his funeral. To Alice, his wife, the profits of all his leases and lands during the minority of her hand striking the charter, supposing it to have been a book, broke the seal with such violence that part of it flew into deponent's bosom.'— Morrjn's Calendar, vol. i. p. 491- 288 EEIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP, his cliildren, his basin and ewer of silver, parcel gilte, his — ^J — . nest of tunnes, and great salt silver double gilte, and the rest of his plate, as jewels not already disposed of. To Patrick Fox a satin doublet, a pair of velvet hose, his best cloke, faste with velvet and a mourning cloke. To every of his men a mourning cloke. March 15, according to the computation of the Church of England, 1693, 36th of Elizabeth.' ' ' Morrin's Calendar Pat. and Close Rolls Chancery, Ireland, vol. ii. p. 620. SIR WILLIAM QEEARD, LORD CHANCELLOR. 289 CHAPTEE XXI. LTFE OF SIR WILIIAM GEEARD, LOEB CHANCELLOR OP IRELAND. Sir William Geraed, Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin, CHAP. XXI received the Great Seal of Ireland in tlie j-ear 1576.' The -_ , " . Gerards are very distinguished in legal annals. Lord 'Williara Chancellor Gerard was grandson of William Gerard, of j^l^ Ince, in Lancashire, sprung from the same family as the Chan- cellor. Gerards of Bryn, who claim a common ancestry with the ^j^ j, ^^j, Dukes of Leinster, in Ireland, and the Earls of Plymouth, of Gerard, in England. The Gerards of Bryn are now represented by Sir Eobert T. Gerard, Bart., of Garswood Hall, War- rington. His family have always remained steadfast to the Catholic faith, while the ancestors of the Chancellor embraced the reformed creed. William, the future Chan- Parentage. cellor of Ireland, Avas son. of James Gerard and Margaret, daughter of John Holcroffc, of Holcroft. Like Chancellor His Weston, he had a brother on the English Bench, Sir Gil- Master of bert Gerard, Master of the EoUs ; ^ thus it not unfre- ^^^ ^olls quently appears that several members of the same family land, occupied seats on the bench of England and Ireland con- temporaneously. It is most probable that the zeal which Zeai in the Gilbert Gerard displayed in support of Princess Elizabeth,^ mllheth caused her, when Queen, to lose no opportunity of advanc- ing such members of his family as displayed capacity for business. William Gerard arrived in Ireland on June 16, Lord 1576, as Dean of St. Patrick's and Lord Chancellor. His ^^^^^'^f Ireland. ' Mason's St. Patrick's Cathedral, p. 172. '■' Foss's Judges of England, vol. v. p. 491. = In the time of Queen Mary, when the Princess Elizabeth was questioned at the Council table, Gilbert Gerard was permitted to plead there on her behalf, and performed his part so -yrell as that he suffered imprisonment for the same in the Tower, — Dugdale, Saroii. vol. ii. p. 417. VOL. I. V 290 EEIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, CHAP, first measure was not likely to make him popular ; he was . ^J—. speedily engaged in. litigation with the Lords of the Pale, Asserts ^ who maintained they ought not to be assessed to pay right to taxes by proclamation of the Council, but by Act of Par- raise taxes, liament, according to the custom and constitution. The Chancellor asserted the Eoyal prerogative, contending the demand made for cess was a branch of such right of the Queen, and had been exercised since the time of Edward III. ; that necessity and self-preservation required it. The Lords of the Pale were not contented with this rea- soning, but laid the case before her Majesty, and sent a deputation of three lawyers to London to support their cause. A voluminous memorial was presented by this Deputa- deputation, signed by the chief Lords and gentlemen of the Pale, in the name of all the inhabitants. The Queen referred the matter to her Privy Council ; and, after due discussion, her characteristic decision was, ' that the im- post originated in times beyond the memory of man, and Her Ma- of course ought not to have been questioned.' Then, as a prisons the punishment for the petitioners resisting the Eoyal prero- deputa-. gative, she sent the agents, first to the Fleet Prison and afterwards to the Tower ; and ordered the Lord Deputy Also the ^o ^Q ^jjg game with the petitioners in Ireland, who were petitioners. , . -^ accordingly committed to the Castle of Dublin. On find- ing how little their opposition availed against the impe- rious will of Queen Elizabeth, they were only too glad to compound for their liberty by paying the tax.' The Chancellor was soon impressed with the difficulty of governing a country where jealousy and the desire to lower individuals of mark in the public esteem was so Chancellor common. In September, 1677, he was sent to London by England. Lord-Deputy Sidney and the Council of Ireland, to answer accusations preferred against the Deputy and his adminis- tration. During his absence, Ex-Chancellor Loftus held The Queen the Seal. Gerard's mission was completely successful. The Chan-^ ^ Queen highly approved of the course taken, and in her eellor. letter to the "Viceroy she speaks in high terms of Lord ' Cox, vol. i. p. 349. Holinshed's Chronicle, vol. vi. p. 589. SIR WILLIAM GERARD, LORD CHANCELLOR. 291 Cliancellor Gerard, gave him liberty to export yarn,' and CHAP, requested the Deputy, Sir Henry Sidney, not to leave the - .'^^' - Government until his arrival. Shortly after the Chancellor's return, Sir Henry Sidney took shipping at the Wood Quay, Dublin, delivering the Sword of State to the Chancellor, with whom it remained ' until transferred to Sir William Drury, Lord President Sir Wil- of Munster, whom he swore into office as Lord Justice.^ LolJd Jus- Sir William Drury had but a short tenure of office. *"^^' Through zeal for the Queen's service he undertook more labour than his constitution could endure. In order to set good example, he underwent privations unknown to Viceroys — such as living in camp like a private soldier — and, no wonder, his health gave way. In the Autumn of Illness of 1570, he was taken very sick at Waterford ; and, feeling f^^^ ' ' his death near, he sent for Lord Chancellor Gerard and Drury. Lady Thane, his wife, who attended him at Waterford. Sends for ' . , T . . . the Chan- He was perfectly conscious, and having given full instruc- cellor and tions to the Lord Chancellor respecting the Government, ^''^®" he tried to console his wife, so soon to be a widow. In I'eath of Sir Wil- two days after her arrival death parted them. His body liam. was embalmed, brought to Dublin, where it lay in state several days, and was interred by the Queen's command in St. Patrick's Cathedral. A monument was erected, but faithless to its charge, is no longer traceable.' To Drury succeeded Sir William Pelham, who, on re- Pelham ceiving the Sword of State as Lord Justice, in the presence ^°g chamber of the Castle, made the first use of it by confer- The Chan- ring knighthood on the Chancellor. This was done in r^'°^(.g3 consideration of his good services, in causes of the Council table, and iii token of Her Majesty's approbation of the same.* It was also decided that the Lord Chancellor should pass into England, with letters of advertisement to Her Majesty and Council of the State of Ireland, and the proceedings taken by the Lord Justice against the rebels. ' Chancellors still, sometimes, deal in yarns. '' Cox, vol. i. p. 353. " Mason's History of St. Patrick's Cathedral, p. 173. * Holinehod's Chronicle, vol. vi. p. 421. u 2 292 EEIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAP. XXI. Commis- sion, Ordered rest. Chancellor returns to England. Dies in 1581. Officials not to be changed. Sir William Gerard was also instructed to utter by speech, what was to be advertised and answered upon Her Ma- jesty's demands and Councils. In 1680, the Lord Chancellor was called on to take his share in the troublesome work of settling the disputes on the subject of religion. He was appointed Commissioner for Ecclesiastical Cases in Ireland ; and the labour and anxiety he suffered in endeavouring to reconcile con- flicting claims soon severely told upon his health. Having had a medical opinion to the effect that he needed both change of scene and rest from his heavy judicial labours, he reported the advice of his physicians to England, and had promptly the Queen's letter of license for leaving Ireland, dated August 8. He accordingly returned to England, and hoped his native air would restore him ; but it was not possible to avert the final blow. Sir William Gerard died at Chester in the Spring of 1681 ; and, on May 1, he was buried in St. Werburgh's Church, in that ancient city.' An important improvement was effected about this time, which shows that the Queen exercised considerable watchfulness over Irish State officials. Writing from the Manor of Richmond on March 11, 1682, to the Lords Justices, Archbishop Loftus and Sir Henry Wallop, she forbids the removal of any public officer on the occasion of the change or alteration of the Chief Governor ; ' for it had been found that they abused their offices by making private gain for the time, without respect to the due dis- charge of these places, expecting every day to be removed.'^ She especially forbids the removal of the following offi- cials — Nathaniel Dillon, Clerk of the Council; Thomas Masterson, Constable of Ferns; Thomas Plunkett, Searcher and Comptroller of Dublin and Drogheda ; Eichard Col- man, Chief Remembrancer of the Exchequer ; and Thomas Browne, Keeper of the Gaol in the Castle of Trim. The Viceroys held office for a short time on an average, ' Mason's History of St. Patrick's Cathedra], p. 174. 2 Morrin's Calendar Pat. and Close Rolls Chan. Ir. vol. ii. p. 39. STATE AND LAW OFFICEES IN lEELAND. 293 In the few years following the invasion of Strongbow, CHAP, between 1172 and 1200, Ireland had no fewer than seven- ■ teen Chief Governors. In the thirteenth century, they Number of numbered forty-six; in the fourteenth, ninety-three; in "^^^y^- the fifteenth eighty-five ; in the sixteenth, seventy-six ; in the seventeenth, seventy-nine; in the eighteenth, ninety- four. While such a constant succession of Chief Governors continued, there could be little sympathy between the Go- vernors and the governed. The former had no time to become acquainted with the people over whom they ruled ; and, taking their views of the country from those who were their official coadjutors, often antagonistic in race, in creed, and political action to the Irish, were naturally biassed by them. Thus the Viceroy was often beset by todies and sycophants, who, like Mr. Isaac Corry, ' thanked God they had a country to sell.' Then some- times the officials were counteracted by each other ; and, in our own time, a Viceroy, Chancellor, and Attorney- General were said to have been opposed in political action to the Chief and Under-Secretary, and Law Adviser. Law officers appear to have been treated with great consideration by. Queen Elizabeth. In a letter to Sir Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy, in 1578, she nominates Thomas Snag, Attorney- General for Ireland, Her Majesty Attorney- observing ' that the public service had been not a little <*«">^'^'*l- hindered through the default and insufficiency of the officers of the law previously appointed ; for redress where- of Her Majesty thought that a person well-chosen in England, might be sent over to exercise the office of Attorney-General; and, therefore, she made choice of Snag, being sufficiently persuaded of his learning and judgment in the law, wherein he had been a long practiser as a Counsellor, and grants him an extraordinary pension of 100^ year, in addition to the official fees incident to his office, and wages of two horsemen, and their footmen, ac- cording to the ordinary entertainment ; and, for as much as for an infirmity taken by an extreme cold, he hath once 294 EEIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. .CHAP. XXI. Solicitor- General. Court of Chancery during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. in the year used his body to the baynes (baths) in England, the continuance whereof was requisite to his health, Her Majesty requests he shall have license to repair to Eng- land once a year, for six weeks, at such time of vacation as may best agree with his cure, and be least hind- rance to the public service.' — Oteland, Septemier 13, 19th Eliz.' The office of Solicitor-General, also claimed attention. — The Lords of the Council in England wrote to Sir John Perrott, Lord Deputy, relating to the appointment of Roger Wilbraham to the office of Solicitor- General, and inform- ing him that, ' as the fee appointed for that place was very inadequate to answer the charge incident thereof, and, seeing that Her Majesty, by reason of other great charges that she was at, could not be induced to increase or supply the same out of her own coffers, they thought it proper earnestly to pray and require his Lordship to give order that the Solicitor should have the allowance of four dead pays, out of such bands as could most conveniently spare it, whereof we eftsone require you that there be no default ; and so we bid you heartily farewell. Postscript. — Our meaning is, that the said Master Solicitor's entertainment should be made as good as that of the Attorney -General there, either by dead pays or otherwise, as hath been ordered for the Attorney.'^ — Greenwich, February 12, 1685.3 The best idea of the judicial labours which the various Chancellors of Ireland were called upon to discharge in the Court of Chancery during the reign of Queen Eliza- beth, may be found from examining the decrees of the Court. There are no less than 780 decrees enrolled ; and, ' Morrin's Calendar Pat. and Close Eolls Chan. Ir. vol. ii. p. 11. » Ibid. p. 108. " There was a difference between the allowance to the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General in England at this period. The former receiving a fee of 611., with 201. as a Justice of Assize; the latter having a fee of 501. It is strange to find the Attorney-General entitled to an allowance as Judge of Assize. In Ireland he could not be thus employed because he directs all criminal prosecutions. STATE AND LAW OFFICERS IN IRELAND. 295 when we bear in mind tliat many of these causes took chap. • XXI several days to hear, what with motions, arguments, and .. , ' _^ adjournments, we find the Chancellors had no sinecure. I have already given specimens of pleadings, so shall not occupy the reader further on this point. 296 EEIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. CHAPTEE XXII. IIFE OF THOMAS JOITES, AECHBISHOP OF DTJEIIN AND LOED CHANCELIOB OE IRELAND. CHAP. This eminent individual was a native of Lancashire, XXII • . — '-^ younger son of Henry Jones, Esq., of Middleton, in that Thomas eounty, whose elder son, Sir Roger' Jones, Alderman of Chan- London, was knighted at Whitehall. Thomas, whose ceilor. career I am about to trace, was born about the year 1550. IS ami y, jj^ received an excellent education, which was completed Master of at Christchurch College, Cambridge, Avhere he graduated Q^^.° as Master of Arts. He was destined for the Church ; and, bridge. when he received holy orders, he made his way to Ireland, Married in where he married Margaret, daughter of Adam Purdon, re an . j]sq., of Lurgan Eace, in the county of Louth, widow of John Douglas. This was a judicious choice, for Mrs. Jones was sister to the wife of Archbishop Loftus, and that dis- penser of patronage soon held forth no empty hand to his sister-in-law's husband. The first preferment of the Rev. Thomas Jones was Chancellor the Chancellorship of St. Patrick's Cathedral. He sub- of St. Pa^ sequently was elected Dean in 1581, and combined with trick's. his chapter to make some of those disgraceful demises of the property of the Church (as of the Manor of Coolmine for eighty-one years to Mr. Allen, of Allenscourt), which Dean Swift has so severely censured.^ 1 There seems some doubt as to the name. Lodge's ' Peerages of Ireland ' states it Eoger, and so do other works, but I think Sir Bernard Burke gives the correct one. * The endorsement on the original lease by Dean Swift is as follows : — ' A lease of Colemine made by that rascal Dean Jones, and the knaves or fools of his Chapter, to one John Allen, for eighty-one years, to commence at the ex- piration of a lease for eighty-one years, made in 1585; so that there was a ARCHBISHOP JONES, LOED CHANCELLOR. 297 The merits of Dean Jones for a mitre were soon made CHAP. v VTT apparent to Queen Elizabetli. He was recommended as . ^-L^ a person well qualified for a bishopric by his learning, Recom- wisdom, and other virtuous qualities. This led to his a mitre. appointment to the See of Meath in 1584, when the Queen Bisliop of wrote from Westminster to the Lords Justices to make ^^^^'1584 out such writings for his election and consecration ; also for the restitution of the temporalities of Meath Diocese as were necessary. On May 12, in that year, he was consecrated in St. A Privy Patrick's Church, and, shortly after, called to be of the lor. Privy Council. This was done by Sir John Perrot, Lord Deputy, at the special instance of the Queen. When the venerable Archbishop Loftus departed this James I., life in 1605, King James I. of England pronounced em- him. phatically in favour of Doctor Jones for the vacant mitre of the Metropolitan : ' Whereas, since the death of the late Archbishop, we have given an order for the supply of that See, because of same being a place so eminent within that kingdom ; we took time to advise of a meet person for it; we have since, upon conference with divers of our Council, found none more fit for the present time than the Bishop of Meath, in regard of his long experience in that kingdom, both in the ecclesiastical state as Bishop, and in the civil affairs as a Chancellor,' wherefore we have made choice of him, and we are further pleased that he shall Arch- hold in commendam a prebend, which now he hath in D„y^_° possession, which he will nominate unto you.' He ac- cordingly held the prebendary of Castleknock, and the rectory of Trim, in conjunction with the Archdiocese of Dublin. In the same year, 1605, he was appointed Lord Lord Chancellor of Ireland. (.eUor. lease for 161 years of 253 acres, within three miles of Dublin, for 11. per annum, now worth, 150^.' Vide also D' Alton's Lives of the Archbishops of Dublin, p. 251. ' As I find no patent for his appointment before 1605, I presume the King here refers to his experience as a Commissioner in Chancery and Keeper of the Great Seal, which had been made to him and others on the death of Lord Chancellor Loftus. 298 EEIGN OF JAMES I. CHAP. XXII. Council of Prelates, A.D. 1611. Lord Deputy. Opens Par- liament. State pro- cession. Lor4 Chan- cellor's speech. At this period King James I. was endeavouring to bring Ireland into coniplete subjection by his favourite scheme, the Plantation of Ulster. He also did a great deal to forward the then rising University of Dublin, and Was solicitous to allow Irish law-students the great advantages of legal education in Ireland. In 1611 Jones, with the other Archbishops and Bishops of the Protestant Church, held a Council in Dublin for the regulation of their dioceses, ' to prevent sectarianism and to extirpate Popery.' The following year he attended the opening of Parliament, which assembled in great state, there. Then was the Lord Deputy with his Peers and magnates in their robes — the Prelates in their lawn, Barry ViscoUnt Buttevant bearing the Sword of State — and the Earl of Thomond, with the Cap of Maintenance. The Lord Deputy on horseback, in a rich robe of purple velvet, a present from the King, and the cortege attended by guards, and trumpeters, proceeded in state from the Castle of Dublin to the Cathedral of St. Patrick's, where divine service was celebrated, and a sermon preached by the Eight Rev. Christopher Hampton, D.D., Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland. Such of the Peers as adhered to the Catholic faith, although they paid the Lord Deputy the compliment of attending him to the church door, remained outside during the service, and, on the Lord Deputy and the other state officials reappearing, took their places in the procession and returned to the Castle. On arriving at the Castle they all assembled in the Parliament House, where the Viceroy presided in a chair of state. The Lord Chancellor and other Peers, spiritual and temporal, having taken their seats, according to their degree, the Lord Chancellor made a grave and worthy speech concerning many greab and important causes of estate there to be debated upon for the good of the kingdom and for the common worth thereof.' • The ceremony of opening Parliament in Dublin was a very imposing one. Soldiers lined the streets, an escort of cavalry attended the Viceregal cortig'e, ARCHBISHOP JONES, LOKD CHANCELLOK. 299 The Parliamentary history of Ireland may be said to date from the time of Lord Chancellor Jones, in the reign CHAP. XXII. bands played, and trumpets sounded. On reaching the Parliament House the Viceroy repaired to his robing-room, put on royal robes, and, attended by two Earls, one bearing the sword of state, the other the cap of maintenance, and three noblemen's sons acting as train-bearers, he proceeded to the House of Lords, when, after a bow to the racant throne, he took his seat in a chair of state beneath the canopy. Until the Viceroy was seated, the peers, spiritual and temporal, stood in their robes uncovered ; on his being seated, they also took their seats. The mode of giving the Royal Assent to Bills was thus : — The Lord Chan- cellor, kneeling, conferred with the Viceroy, and then, standing on the right of the chair of state, commanded the Usher of the Black Rod to acquaint the House of Commons it was His Excellency's pleasure they should attend him immediately in the House of Lords. The Commons, headed by their Speaker, having obeyed the summons, were conducted to the Bar, when the Speaker, after a speech, read the titles of the Bills ready for the Royal Assent. The Bills were then delivered, at the Bar, by the Speaker to the Clerk of the Par- liament, who brought them to the table, when the Clerk of the Crown, having read the titles, the Clerk of the Parliaments pronounced the Royal Assent severally in these words: — In case of supplies or other Bills concerning revenue — ' Le Roy remercie ses bons sujets, accepte leur benevolence et ainsi le veut.' When the Bills were not money Bills, the words of assent were : ' Le Roy le veut,' or, ' Soit fait comme il est desirfe.' His Excellency then withdrew in the same state as he proceeded thither, and the Commons, having returned to their House, the Lords unrobed, after which they adjourned. Meetings between the Houses of Lords and Commons were thus arranged : — When the Commons sought a conference, they sent their Usher to inform •the Lords, who, after finishing any business on which they were occupied, sent for the Commons, who, on entering the House of Lords, stood at the lower end of the chamber. The Lord Chancellor, with any other Peers who pleased, then rose and went to the middle of the Bar, where the leader of the committee, and his fellow members stood. Having bowed thrice, he delivered his message to the Chancellor, who, thereon, returned to his place, and the Commons having retired, he stated what the message was for their Lordships' consideration. The matter being discussed and decision arrived at, the Lords sent for the Commons, who, on re-entering, made their obeisances to the Peers, and the answer of the Lords was given by the Lord Chancellor from his seat on the Woolsack. The Usher of the Black Rod waited outside the Bar, and spoke there when occasion required him. The Serjeant-at-Arms was also outside the Bar, in an adjoining apartment, and entered only when summoned. None were allowed to be present at debates in the House of Lords but sons of Peers, and persons required to be in attendance under very severe penalties. At conferences with the Commons, none but members of the committee were allowed to speak, and when any matter that had been committed was reported, the Lords of the Committee stood uncovered. Great care was taken to keep the streets as free as possible from noise or obstruction during the sessions. The constables and messengers of Parliament were ordered to prohibit hackney- coachmen from coming to the door of the House ; and the Lord Mayor, by Procedure of the Irish Par- liament. Royal assent. Confe- rences be- tween the Lords and Commons. Usher of the Black Rod and Serjeant- at-Arms. Debates in the Lords. Confer- ence with the Com- mons. 300 EEIGN OF JAMES I. CHAP. XXII. Parlia- ments in Ireland during the reign of James I. Ludicrous • scramble for the chair. Offensive Acts re- pealed. Natives of Scotland. Causes under the Irish Great Seal: Street re- gulations. of James I. The Journals of the House of Commons commence May 18, 1613. At that period a Tery violent contest took place for the Speakership, the Catholic party supported Sir John Everard with 101 votes ; the Protest- ants, Sir John Davies, Attorney-General, with 125 votes.. There was a scuffle as to which was elected, and, it is said, one honourable member sat upon the other in the chair. Sir John Davies succeeded in retaining the seat. He read a long speech to the Lord Deputy, and referred to the Acts of former Irish Parliaments. He was supported with all the Chancellor's influence. No Parliament had been held for twenty seven-years before the 5th James I. A number of old Statutes offensive to the Irish people were repealed on this intelligible ground, ' That all the natives and inhabitants of this kingdom, without differ- ence and distinction, were taken with his Majesty's gracious protection, and do now live under one law, as dutiful subjects of our Sovereign Lord the King, by reason, whereof, a perfect agreement is and ought to be settled between all his Majesty's subjects in this realm.' The King had that watchful regard to the interests of his own countrymen which, I think, forms one of the best traits of Scottish character. I wish the Irish would imi- tate them, An Act was repealed against bringing over Scots, retaining them, and marrying with them. In Lord Coke's Reports we find, in reference to Parliaments of Ireland, the following resolution : — ' That the causes and Acts transmitted hither, under the Great Seal of Ireland, ought to be kept here in the Chancery of England, and not to be remanded. Second, if they be affirmed, they ought to be transcribed under the Great Seal, and returned into Ireland ; and all that which passes the Great Seal ought to be enrolled here in Chancery. Third, if the Acts proclamation, forbade all drivers of carts, cars, and drays to pass, repass, or go through the streets in front of the Houses from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., during the sitting of Parliament, in order to prevent stoppages and obstructions to people resorting thither." > Desid. Curios. Hib. vol. i. p. 166. AECHBISHOP JONES, LORD CHANCELLOE. 301 sent over be in any part altered or changed here, the Acts CTIAP. so altered or changed ought forthwith to be returned . ■^^^- under the Great Seal of England; but the transcripts under the Great Seal of Ireland,- which remain in the Chancery here, shall not be amended, but the amendment shall be under the Great Seal of Engla,nd, so as returned into Ireland without any signification or certification of their allowance by that in Ireland; so that the amend- ments and alterations made here in England, and all the Acts which are affirmed or altered, are returned under the Great Seal of England.' While the Great Lord Chief Justice of England was ^°^^ , mindful of Ireland, his greater contemporary. Lord Chan- eulogy on cellor Lord Bacon, was also considering how the position '^^''w?'^ of the fertile yet impoverished land could be improved. Irish. On New Tear's day, 1606, Bacon presented to King James I. ' A discourse touching the Plantation of Ireland,' saying, 'I assure myself that England, Scotland, and Ireland, well united, is such a trefoil ' as no Prince, except yourself, who are the worthiest, weareth in his crown.' He recommends liberality and kindness, and speaks with just appreciation of the natural gifts of the soil and of the people : — ' This desolate and neglected country is blessed with almost all the dowries of nature— with rivers, havens, woods, quarries, good soil, temperate climate, and a race and generation of men, valiant, hard, and active, as it is not easy to find such confluence of commodities — if the hand of man did join with the hand of nature ; but they are severed.' The conclusion is no less true than sad : ' the harp of Ireland is not strung or attuned to concord.' The wise and liberal sentiments of the Lord Chancellor of England were unhappily not shared by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. The obstinacy with which the natives clung to the faith of their forefathers made the Chancellor regard them with rooted aversion. Unfortu- nately I have many more proofs of this than of his conduct as an Equity Judge. ' This shows the shamrock was thrn the national emblem. 302 EEIGN OF JAMES I. CHAP. XXII. State of theChurch. Sad ac- count of the Pa- pists, and of the English ministers. Conduct of the Arch- bishop to- wards the Catholics. The Chan- cellor's son made a Peer. His remarks on the condition of the Deaneries of Omurrough and WicMow, in 1614, show the small pro- gress of the Eeformation in Ireland. ' I confess there is but a slender account yielded of these two last deaneries, which lie in places remote. I humbly pray my true excuse may be considered, which is, that I cannot possibly get curates to supply the service of these churches ; the rec- tories are inappropriate, and the farmers cannot be drawn to yield any competent means to a minister for serving the cure; besides, if we could get means, we cannot possibly get ministers, for the natives of this kingdom being generally addicted to Popery, do train up their children in superstition and idolatry ; so soon as they come of age they send them beyond the seas, from whence they return either priests, Jesuits, or seminaries, enemies to the religion established, and pernicious members to the State. Such English ministers and preachers, as come hither out of England, we do take them upon credit, and many times they prove of a dissolute life, which doth much hurt. I do humbly desire a small supply of minis- ters, and I will have an especial care of their placing in the best manner I can.' ' This is but sorry tribute to the clergy of the Reformed Church. While the Archbishop was thus bewailing the state of his diocese he was treating with unrelenting vigour such members of the Roman Catholic Church as fell beneath his authority. He excommunicated eight members of that persuasion for recusancy, and they were imprisoned. They were released by the indulgence of Parliament, but not with the consent of the Archbishop, for he thundered anew his excommunication, and sent them again back to prison.^ The Lord Chancellor was able to push into notice those who had claims upon his care. He had an only son named Roger. This son ac- quired high rank ; first knighthood, then a peerage, as Baron Jones of Navan, and Viscount Ranelagh. He ' D' Alton's Archbishops of Dublin, p. 256. ' Curry, Hist. Eev. Pub. Ed. p. 86. ARCHBISHOP JONES, LOED CHANCELLOR. 303 married first Frances, daughter of Garret Moore, Viscount CHAP. Droglieda, and secondly Catherine, daughter of Sir Edward -_,__1^ LonguevUle, Bart.' In 1617, the Corporation of Dublin procured an order Protects front the Privy Council against certain inhabitants of the leges of '' liberties of St. Patrick's, who sold goods without license ^^: ?j^' . tricks. from the Mayor and Commons. This order was passed in the absence of Archbishop Jones, who, on his return, had it suspended, on showing it was a direct encroachment on the privileges of the Dean and Chapter of St. Patrick's, and the Mayor and Commons concealed this fact from the Members of the Council. We are able to ascertain the expense of supporting a stadent in Trinity College, Dublin, at this period, when the Archbishop had a grant Grant of from the Crown of the wardship of Patrick, son and heir of William Bermingham, then late of Corballis, at a certain annual rent, retaining thereout 71. 9s. 6d. for his main- tenance and education in religion and habits in Trinity College, Dublin, from the twelfth to the eighteenth year of his age. The duties of the Lord Chancellor were not very onerous '^^'' Chan- at, this period. The practice of the Court was settled by an Equity his predecessor, the rules generally known and observed, J"'ig«- and such orders as he made, steadily a.dhered to. The de- cisions of the time have, from the want of contemporary reporters, unfortunately not reached us, but the high repu- tation which the Chancellor bore in his Court for wisdom and good sense make me disposed to regard him as a Judge whose decrees gave satisfaction to the Bar and the public. The cathedral of Christchurch had been greatly in need of repairs, and Archbishop Jones caused them to be made. He also restored the steeple, and placed three weather-cocks thereon. By the preservation of the vene- rable Black Book of Christchurch, Ave learn this church was originally built by Anliff, the Danish Prince of Dublin, about the year 1038. King Henry II. made many grants to this church, and Richard Earl Strongbow was interred ' The present Viscoant Ranelagh is his descendant. 304 EEIGN OF JAMES I. CHAP. XXII. Death in 1619., Burial in St. Pa- trick's Cathedral. Monument and epi- taph. Sir John Davies. here, ScTeral relics, including a staff covered with gold and precious stones, called the Staff of Jesus, which it was alleged had belonged to St. Patrick, were preserved here. In 1559, a Parliament began to be held in this church in a room called the Common House, probably the House of Commons. On April 2, 1662, the roof and part of the body of the church fell to the ground, whereby the ancient monument of Earl Strongbow was broken. The fracture is visible. The Chancellor's health very suddenly gave way; he died at the Palace of St. Sepulchres, on April 16, 1619, having governed the See of Dublin for thirteen years, and presided in the Court of Chancery for the same period. He was interred beside the remains of his wife in St. Patrick's Church, near the Communion-table, where a handsome monument was erected to his memory. It bears this inscription : — Thomas Jones, Archiepiscopus Dublin. Primas et Metropolitanus Hibernice, Ejusdem Caneellarius, necnon bis e Justitiariis uniis. Obiit Decimo Aprilis, anno reperatse salutis humanse 1619. In noticing the progress of the legal profession in the various reigns, we must not omit the name of one emi- nent lawyer, though not among the Irish Lord Chan- cellors, Sir John Davies. It is related of him that having been guilty of assault and battery on a fellow student of law, in the Middle Temple, in 1598, he was expelled from that society. He then sought to earn a reputation in lite- rature, and published a very able poem, in 1699, entitled ' ^osce teipsum.' He also wrote ' Orchestra, a poem on the Art of Dancing,' an accomplishment held in great favour among the lawyers of that time : — When grave Lord Keepers led the brawls, And Seals and Maces danced before them. Having the success of Sir Christopher Hatton ^ before his eyes, Davies probably hoped to reach the same rank by ' Lord Chancellor of England in 1687. SIR JOHN DAVIES. 305 tlie same means. He also sought to recommend himself CHAP. "5CXTT to Queen Elizabeth by fulsome flattery, which, I suspect, __,__Lx was common enough in her reign, judging from the poems ^"^l of Spenser — the effusions of Ualeigh — Shakspeare — and Queen others less celebrated authors. He addressed twenty-six ^^^ "' ' acrostics to her Majesty's name, Elizabetha Eegina, and these tender lines are said to have been graciously re- ceived. Through the influence of the English Chancellor, Lord EUesmere, Mr. Davies was admitted to the Bar, and elected Member of Parliament in 1601.' On the accession of James I. he was noted for Government em- ployment, for, whatever may have been the faults and follies of the Scottish King, he had the redeeming virtue James I. of rewarding talent. ' Nosce Teipsum ' so pleased him, he ''■"'''''^'^I'S'^s appointed the author Solicitor-General for Ireland in talent. 1603. Davies received the honour of knighthood, and Dayies, became Attorney-General in 1606. and*A^ Sir John Davies may fairly be regarded as the earlist toriiey- legal writer in Ireland. His treatise 'A Discoverie of the T^ • \t ° DavifS the True Causes why Ireland was never entirely Subdued, first legal nor brought under obedience of the Crown of England, ^"i^ancC" untill the beginning of His Majestie's happie Eaigne,' True was published in a.d. 1612. It displays considerable Ireland knowledge of the ancient laws of the Irish, which show ^^s never 1 . 1 1 • /. n • subdued. the industry and habits of observation of the writer. He also compiled and printed, in 1615, Reports of Cases Publishes adjudged in the King's Courts in Ireland.^ The cases ^^^f^"" reported peculiar to Ireland are — the case of Mixed I6i5. Money ; the case of Tanistry, decided in the King's Bench; of the Count}' Palatine of Wexford, in the Ex- chequer ; the cases of Profits ; of Customs payable for Merchandises ; of the Dean and Chapter of Ferns ; of Legitimation, and Bastardy, in the Court of Castle Chamber; of a Commenda, in the Common Pleas, and a Premunire. They contain many curious points of interest relative ta the laws, history, and antiquities of Ireland. ' He represented Corfe Castle. ' English translation published in Dublin, 1?62. VOL. I. X 306 EEIGN OF JAMES I. CHAP. XXII. "Wood Quay, favourite residence of Irish Judges. Davies returns to England. Appointed Lord Chief Justice, and dies. The Irish Law Courts re- moved to Chichester House. State of the King's Inns, Dublin. Order re- specting the King's Inns in 1607. While in Dublin Sir John Davies resided in the Wood Quay, a favourite locality for members of the legal pro- fession. Here, also, lived Sir Jerome Alexander, one of the Judges of the Common Pleas ; James Donnellan, also Judge of the same Court ; Sir Adam Loftus, Lord Chan- cellor ; Sir Faithful Portescue and William Samback, King's Serjeant. Davies left Ireland for his native coun- try in the year 1616. After his return to England he discharged the duties of Justice of Assize, and sat in the English House of Commons as Member for Newcastle- under-Lyne in the Parliament of 1621. He was actually nominated Lord Chief Justice of England, and had pur- chased his Judge's robes, when he died quite suddenly on December 7, 1626.' During the Michaelmas Terms of 1605, and two ensuing terms, the Courts of Law were held in a large building erected in a garden in the east suburbs of Dublin, by Sir George Carew, President of Munster, and Lord Treasurer of Ireland. It was designed for an hospital, and is de- scribed as a large mansion, with a gate-house, a garden, and plantation, and was first called Carew or Carye's Hospital; but, becoming the property of Sir Arthur Chichester, acquired the name of Chichester House, by which it was best known. ^ This removal to Chichester House was absolutely neces- sary, for at this period the King's Inns of Dublin were sadly out of repair, so much so that, in 1585, Sir John Perrot proposed to make a granary of them, and remove the Law Courts to St. Patrick's Cathedral.' At the Kinsf's Inns the Court of Chancery was held in the Friar's Hall, the Exchequer in the Dormitory, the Common Pleas in the north end of the Dormitory, and the King's Bench in Sir Robert Dillon's Chamber. On June 24, 1607, the Society of King's Inns ordered ' that, forasmuch as the present restauration of the Society of the King's Inns doth ' Imp. Diet. Uniy. Biog. vol. ii. p. 37. ^ Gilbert's History of Dublin, vol. iii, p. 60. ' Harris's Ware, vol. ii. p. 13. IRISH LAW STUDENTS. 307 require an admission of the practisers, officers, attorneys, CHAP. and others of the several Courts, whose auncientye is not >_ ' . yet sufficiently known, it is therefore this day ordered that the admittances shall be received and entered in the book of admittances, as thej' shall appear and desire the same.' Mr. Littledale in his pamphlet on the ' King's Inns ' ' Comments remarks : — ' This order was an attempt to obtain, by ""^g^ means of the Lord Deputy, what the King had refused, viz., the organisation of an independent Inn of Court. The Judges, who were the lessees of the Inns, had full power to make the officers and attorneys do as they chose, and the admission of the Lord Deputy to Membership was a bait thrown out to barristers, who were already members of an Inn of Court, to enrol themselves in an Inn of Chancery.' The attention of the Attorney-General, Sir John Davies, who was a member of the King's Inns, was directed to the want of a proper building for the purpose of legal educa- tion in Ireland, and the result of his activity was to grant to the Judges the Dominican Abbey to hold to them 'that the justices and professors of the Common Law in the said Kingdom of Ireland shall have and may possess all and singular the premises for a common hall for ever.' The taste for dancing already noticed was regarded a necessary accomplishment for a lawyer in those days. The King ordered that none but gentlemen of descent should be admitted to the Inns of Court, and, in the Penalty on seventh year of his reign, under barristers of Lincoln's Inn r^fusing^^ were, by decimation, put out of Commons, because they to dance. ■.•efused to dance before the Judges on Candlemas -day, and were told if they repeated this offence, they would be fined or disbarred. In reference to barristers dancing, I give the follow- Irish bar- ing from the Memoranda Eoll of 9 Henry VIIL, which lelrnhig to dance. ' Littledale, on the King's Inns and Legal Education in Ireland. s 2 308 IRISH LAW STUDENTS. CHAP. XXII. Education of Irish law stu- dents in Dublin. First caU to Irish Bar. describes the studies and habits of Irish law students in the reign of Edward IV. ' I, Thomas Netterville, the Kyuge's attorne, was with Sir Willym Darcy, of Plattone, on Monday next before the feast of the Nativity (9 Henry VIII. 1517), and ther, among othyr cowyunts, inquired of him whether he knew John Bermingham and Nicholas Tryers or not, and what age or stature the said Nicholas was of; the which Sir William shewed me, that he and his cosyn, Sir Thomas Kent, being lurning their tenours and Natura Brevium^ with Mr. Street at Dovelyng (Dublin), was tabelyd at Hugh Talbots, the said Hugh then dwelling where John Dillon now dwellyth, and that rfyllip Bermingham, then Chief Justice of the King's Bench, att that time dwelled there, as Ann White dwelleth now, having one John Harper in his service, unto which said John Harper the said Sir William and Sir Thomas, with other their companyons, on holydays resorted to learne to harpe and to daunce, at the said Justice's place, where was there John Bermingham ; and Sir William and Sir Thomas so being there in dwelling, was sent for to the marriage of Nicholas and Luttrel's doghter to Luttrel's town, where they accompanied by divers of Dublin went, at which tyme Nicholas was as tall a man as ever he was, and the best and strongest archer then at that marriage, and at the least, so the said Sir Willyum remembrans, there was forty good bowes there ; and after Sir Willym, his father fell sicke, and sent for him home ; but here he raght (ere he rode) home ' his father died, the Newyere's Day nest before the death of Edward IV.' 2 For a considerable period the right of calling gentle- men to the Bar did not exist in Ireland, but English barristers were obliged to become members of the King's Inn before they could practise in Ireland. The earliest ' Littleton's Tenures, and Fitz Herbert's Natura Brevium, -n-ere the class- books of law students in former days. ' Morrin's Calendar Pat. and Close Eolls Chancery, Ireland, Preface, xxviii. IRISH LAW STUDENTS. 309 instance I find of a gentleman called to tlie Irish Bar was a CHAP. King's Inn student, wlio was called to the Irish Bar in ' . 11 James I., but it was not in the usual way, by the Lord Chancellor, but by Eoyal letter. This was William Hilton, of Dublin.' ' He was Treasurer of the King's Inn in 1640, and afterwards in 1644, Baron of the Exchequer, and Justice of the Common Pleas. 310 EEIGN OF JAMES I. CHAPTEE XXIII. CHAP. XXIII. Important period of Irish history. Adam grand ne- phew of Lord Chancellor Arch- bishop Loftus ; son of Serjeant Loftus. His edu- cation. Judge of the Martial Court. Com- mission to execute Martial Law, A.D. 1597. IIPE OE lOED CHANCELLOR LORD LOMUS. The term comprised in tlie life of Lord Chancellor Adam Lord Loftus of Ely may be considered of the utmost in- terest in the history of Ireland. During this period occurred the flight of the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel, by which the Province of Ulster was at the disposal of the Crown, and enabled King James I. to plant his countryman on the confiscated lands of the exiled Irish chiefs. The province was formed into counties, tanestry and gavel- kind abolished, the Brehon laws set aside, and the country brought under the laws and constitutions of England. Lord Loftus was Chancellor under James I. and Charles I. While Falkland and Strafford were Viceroys, he had no enviable hold of the Seals. Adam Loftus was grandnephew and namesake of Arch- bishop Loftus, for many years his predecessor on the Bench of the High Court of Chancery. He was second son of Robert Loftus, Serjeant-at-Law, and was early intended for the legal profession. He was educated in Trinity College, Dublin, of which his great uncle was Provost, and obtained the degree of LL.D. His reputa- tion for ability in his profession soon obtained him practice, and, as was only natural, the patronage of his relative the Lord Chancellor procured him a place. He was appointed Judge of the Martial Court in 1597.' ' The Commission to execute Martial Law, issued by Queen Elizabeth to Adam Loftus, was as follows : * ' Forasmuch as in martial governments as in civil, there must be discipline ; and the same is to be accommodated to times, occasions, and countries, and accordingly, statutes, laws, and ordinances, are to be made and published, and being so, then to be executed, for otherwise they become fruitless, dead, and contemptible escripts. We have, therefore, » Morrin's Calendar Pat. and Close Rolls, Chanc. Jr. vol. ii, LOED LOFTUS OF ELY, CHANCELLOB. 311 On tlie accession of King James I. to the throne of CHAP. Great Britain and Ireland, he wrote from Holyrood on " March 29, 1603. To the Lord Chancellor and Council of Ireland :— ' Albeyt we doubte not ye are snfficintye certi- fyed of our being proclaymed the onely lawful heire of the crowne of England, France, and Ireland, lykeas we have notifyed the Lord Deputye ; yet we would not omitt to render you hartye thankes, if ye have given the lyke proofe of your affection to our service by proclaiming our autho- ritye.' He then confirms them in their offices, with power to do and decree whatever they might have done by virtue of the jurisdiction granted to them.' The valuable office of a Master in Chancery falling Appointed vacant tlie following year, was given to the young Judge ^"^'^^ '" by the advice of our Deputy General, set down and published divers ordinances Knighted, and orders for the better government of all marshall men, and for the re- straining of such insolences and extortions as have heretofore been exercised by some of them upon our good subjects, especially of the English Pale, which as our garden, on our account is to be preserved and freed from all noysome weedes, spoyls, and disorders," and that these ordinances and laws are to be orderlie and judiciallie examined and determined, and therefore executed ac- cordingly ; know ye, that we, of our special grace, with the consent of our Lord Deputy, and in respect of the good suflfieiency and dexterity well known to us to be in our trusty and well-beloved Adam Loftus, Master of Arts, and Bachelor of the Civil Laws, for his good knowledge of the civil law, his other good parts and carriadge of himself, and for the better preventing and punish- ing of the said disorders and offences, do give and grant to him, the said Adam Loftus, the office and Judge of our Marshall Court, in and throughout the whole realm of Ireland, with full powor and authority to hear, determine, examine and judge, all manner of offences, and the offenders of them, and every of them, against the statutes, laws, and ordinances made, or to be made or otherwise ; in as ample a manner, and in like nature, jurisdiction, and course, as any Judge of our Marshal Court in England, or in any of our dominions might or ought to do, by virtue of any grant heretofore made to any judge or judges, concerning the punishment of such offenders, either by fine or imprisonment, loss of life, or other corporal punishment according to the nature and quality of the offence ; to hold by his sufficient Deputy, during good beha- viour ; and in consideration of the pains, travail, and expense which the said Adam'shall be at, in the exercise of his office, as well by his attendance upon our Deputy in camp, as in giving judgment and sentences against the offenders, upon complaint to be made by any of our subjects, in breach and violation of the laws and ordinances, we grant to the said Adam Loftus a pension, or daily pay or stipend of six shillings and eight pence, with such other fees and emolu- ments as appertain to the office. — Dublin, Sept. 17th 39°.' ' Erck. Pat. Eoll, Chanc. Ir. vol. i. p. 17. • This is very like the style of Edmund Spenser, the poet. 312 REIGN OF JAMKS I. CHAP. XXIII. Lord Keeper, A.D. 1603. The Plan- tation of Ulster by James I. Courts of Star Chamber, and Wards, of the Marshal Court, and, on the accession of James VI. of Scotland to the throne of England, which he occupied as King James I., Master Loftus received the honour of knighthood. Honours now began to follow in rapid suc- cession. In 1603, Sir Adam Loftus was made Keeper of the Great Seal, when the failing health of his great uncle ren- dered him unable to fulfil the functions of Lord Chancellor. The darling project of James I. was the Plantation of Ulster. He was greatly disappointed that those to whom he allotted large tracts of land made slow progress in colonisation, having, after a lapse of some years, either done nothing at all, or so little that the work seemed to perish under their hands than be advanced by them ; some having begun to build and not planted, others planted and not built, and all of them in general retaining the Irish still in their hands, the avoiding of which was the funda- mental reason of the plantation designed by the King. He wrote to the Viceroy, Lord Chichester, threatening to resume the lands, and either to dispose of them for the benefit of the Crown, or regrant them to more active undertakers, and as he wished all the original planters to have notice of his intention, commanded the Deputy to give such notice, in order that they should be aware, if they failed in their duties by August twelve months, he would carry out his threat. By way of showing the determination with which he was prepared to act, he wrote, with his own hand, on the letter this postscript : — ' My Lord, — In this service I expect that zeal and up- rightness from you, that you will spare no flesh, English or Scottish, for no man's private worth is able to counter- balance the perpetual safety of a kingdom, which this plantation, being well accomplished, will procure.' ' This produced some effect, and James resolved to in- troduce changes into the legal procedure of the country. The desire of the House of Stuart to establish tribunals for the administration of the law more under the influence of the Crown than the ordinary tribunals of the country ' Morrin's Calendar Pat. and Close Rolls, Chanc. Ir. p, 628. LOED LOFTUS OF ELY, CHANCELLOE. 313 led to the establishinent of the Star Chamber' and Court CHAP, of Wards. • ^~L, The Lord Chancellor, or Lord Keeper, a Bishop, a tem- poral Lord, and the two Chief Justices constituted the Court ; other Peers and Judges sometimes sat with them. The mode of procedure was by Bill of Complaint on parchment signed by Counsel, showing a case within the jurisdiction of the Court ; thereupon the Clerk of the Court made out a warrant, under seal, summoning the offenders to answer the matter alleged. A record was taken of the defendant's appearance, the defendant an- swered on oath, and if interrogatories were lodged within three days, defendant should answer ; or, on plaintiff's ap- plication, a.ttachment issued. When issue was joined, the Court proceeded to order and judgment, and the party convicted was sentenced to be fined, or imprisoned, accord- ing to the offence. Costs followed the judgment.' The Court of Wards was instituted in Ireland by Court of James I. He alleged as the reason for its establishment his care for the good and welfare of his subjects, and for preventing the great inconveniences which might happen in Ireland, if the children of noblemen and gentlemen, who should be in ward, should be deprived of good breed- ing and education, religion and learning, and that their ' The Court of Star Chamber was established by James I. immediately after his accession. He considered it necessary for the peculiar state of Ireland to have this court. Its prOTinee was ' finding and punishing unlawful main- tenances, imbraceries, confederacies, alliances, false bondings, and taking of money by the common jurors of that realm, and by untrue demeanings of sherifis in making of panels, and other untrue returns, and by riots, routs, unlawful assemblies, forcible entries, and other like hateful disorders, by which the policy and good rule of that realm was well nigh subverted, and on enquiring little or nothing done for punishing these inconveniences, but there ensued great increase of murders, forgeries, and unsurities of the subjects, and loss of their lands and goods, to the great hindrance of the King and dis- pleasure of God ; ' for remedy whereon King James I., by Special Commission, and letters patent dated Hampton Court, the 10th of August, 1st of his reign, appointed a Court in Dublin Castle, called the Castle Chamber, or Star Chamber, where the causes were heard and determined as authorised by Statute of 3° Henry VII. ' Erck's Eepertory of Pat. Eoll in Chan. Ireland, p. 38. 814 REIGN OF JAMES I. CHAP. XXIII. Member for the King's County. Lord Chan- cellor, 1619. possessions, during their minority, should be preserved in protection from all waste. He also had in view the aug- mentation of his royal revenue, and named members of his Privy Council Commissioners. There was a considerable number of officials in this Court. The Master, or principal judicial officer, with the keeping of the Seal, had a salary of 300L per annum ; also the First Attorney and second judicial officer ; First Surveyor and third judicial officer to hold during pleasure. The appointment of these officers was vested in the Crown, and the patronage enabled the King to provide lucrative places for those who, in return, did their best to please him. SiE Adam Lofttjs was named of Council to the Earl oi Thomond, Lord President of Munster, and represented the King's County in the House of Commons. He was shortly afterwards called into his Majesty's Privy Council, and on May 13, 1619, became Lord High Chancellor of Ireland. The Irish Courts had not the immediate superintendence of the pedantic King, like the English. We read in a very interesting work,' that King James I., on being told by Sir Edward Coke, ' that it was not competent for the King to decide questions of law,' replied, ' he thought the law was founded upon reason, and he and others had reason as well as the judges.' To this Coke answered, ' That true it was, that God had endowed his Majesty with excellent science, but his Majesty was not learned in the law of his realm ; they are not to be decided by natural reason, but by artificial reason and judgment of law ; that the law was the golden mete-wand and measure to try the causes of the subjects ; and which protected his Majesty in safety and peace.' The King, greatly offended, said, 'that then he should be under the law, which was treason to affirm.' Wherewith Coke replied, ' Bracton saith, " Quod rex non debet esse sub homine sed sub Deo et lege." ' ^ I find ample proof that the Chancellor's conduct was at ' Foss, Judges of England, vol. vi. p. 1. 2 12 Coke, Rep. 65. LORD LOFTUS OF ELY, CHA>'CELLOE. 315 first most gratifying to King James I., who created him CHAP. Lord Loftus of Ely. Lodge's ' Peerage of Ireland ' ' recites : , L- ' Among others of our best deserving subjects in that king- Loftus'of dom, we have, for many years together, taken especial notice Ely. of the faithful and industrious services performed, in many ^^^\ ^% kinds, by our right trusty and well- beloved Sir A. Loftus, him by Knight, our Chancellor of that our realm ; and in a gra- jameg i. cious consideration of his merits, we are pleased out of our goodness and favourable respect of him, to look beyond himself, and to add to that eminent office of Chancellor, which we have bestowed upon him, such a title of honour as may descend upon his posterity for his sake ; that thereby his virtues maybe recorded to future ages, so long as there shall remain an heir male of his house.' The Privy Seal is dated at Westminster, April 23, 1622, and Married. the patent, May 10, same year. His lordship had married Sarah Barlow, widow of Richard Meredyth, Bishop of „. Leighlen, and had four sons and two daughters. children. During the reign of James I., there prevailed consider- able dissensions between the Courts of Common Law and Equity as to the jurisdiction of the Courts of Equity over the judgments of the Courts of Law. The violent conduct Court of of the great Common Law lawyer and Chief Justice, Sir decreerui Edward Coke, brought about his dismissal, and the Court Ireland of Chancery had its functions established.^ The number temp. of decrees of the Court of Chancery in Ireland enrolled -^^"^^^ ^■ during the reign of King James I. is 312. The income of the Chancellor was increased by the re- Income presentation to the King that the profit of his place was °ellor''''' so small he was in much need of assistance, and the King increased. directed Sir Thomas Blundell, Vice-Treasurer and Eeceiver- Greneral, to allow the Chancellor the fee of 6s. 8d. a day, granted to him by letters patent for the execution of Judge Marshall's place, together with a pension of 9s. a day, both subject to some abatement.^ The allowance to the ' Vol. vii. p. 247. ^ Foss, Judges of England, toI. vi. p. 4. ' Morrin's Calendar Pat. and Close EoUs, Chanc. Ir. vul. iii. p. 11. 316 EEIGN OF JAMES I. CHAP. Lord Chancellor and Keeper of tlie Great Seal was for , — 1^ wages, duties, robes, and liveries of himself and the Mas- ters of Chancery. He had a special allowance for his attendance at the Star Chamber, but in some instances I fear the emoluments of the office were increased by means not quite regular, as we shall find elsewhere. Inaugu- The Lord Chancellor has always taken a very important Lord part in the State ceremonials, as appears from the follow- ■^'^P"*y- ing account of the inauguration of Lord Falkland given A,X)i \.Xi^£i, in the Harleian Manuscripts : — ' On Friday, September 6, 1622, Sir Henry Carye, Knight, Lord Viscount Falkland, late Comptroller of the Privie Counsell in England, and now Lord Deputie of Ireland, landed at Hoathe late in the evening, wherefor that nyghte he was entertayned by the Lord of Hoathe. And on Saturday, in the afternoone. Sir Adam Loftus, Knight, Lord Viscount Loftus of Elye, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and Sir Eichard Wingfield, Knight, Lord Viscount Powerscourt, and Marshall of Ireland, Lord Justices of this Kingdom of Ireland, being attended with divers of the nobilitie and Privie Counsell of this king- dome, mett said Lord Falkland within midway between Dublin and Hoathe, and so they came together to the Castle of Dublin. And upon Sunday morning, being Sep- tember 8, the Lord Justices and Counsell met together in the Counsell Chambre in the Castle, and the Lord Chan- cellor, leaving the rest of the Counsell in the chambre, being attended by Francis Edgeworth, Clerke of the Crowne of the Chancerye, with the roll of the Lord Deputie's oathe, went into the withdrawing chambre, to acquaint the Lord Falkland with the same. And (after a short conference between them) the Lord Chancellor returned into the Counsell Chambre again, from whence the Lord Justices, with all the Counsell, having the King's sword borne be- fore them by Sir Charles Coote, Knight and Baronett, one of hisMaiestie's Privie Counsell, repaired unto the cathedrall Church of the Holie Trinitie in Dublin, commonly called Christ Church, where, being seated in their seates, and his Maiestie's sword being left before them ; all the Counsell, LOED LOFTUS OF ELY, CHANCELLOR. 317 together with the gentlemen pensioners, attendants, re- CHAP, turned back to the Castle, from whence the Lord Falkland, '- being by them attended, and accompanyed with the Lord Viscount Wilmott of Athlone riding by his side, they came all together to Christ Church, and being their seated in their usual seates, Doctor Usher, Lord Bishop of Meath, made a learned sermon,' and the sermon being ended, the Lord Justices came down from their seats, the sword being borne before them, and the Lord Falkland following them to the Communion-table, when the Lord Justices being sett in two chairs provided for them, the said Lord Falkland delivered unto the Lord Chancellor's hands, his Maiestie's two patentee under the Create Scale of England for the aiithoritie and place of his Maiestie's Deputie-Generall of this realme of Ireland, which the Lord Chancellor delivered to the hand of Francis Edgeworth, Clerke of the Crowne aforesaide (the Master of the Rolls being absent), to be publiquely read. After the reading whereof the Lord Chan- cellor ministered unto the said Lord Viscount Falkland as well the oathe of his Maiestie's' supremacy as the oathe of the said place and room of Lord Deputie-Generall, both of which he received upon his knees. Which being done, the said Lord Viscount Falkland delivered unto the said Lord Justices a lettere from his Maiestie, sealed with his Maies- tie's privie signett, and the same being by them opened and publiquely read by Sir Dudley Norton, Knight, Principall Secretary of Estate, did impart his Maiestie's pleasure unto the Lord Justices for the acceptance of his said De- putie, and delivering unto him his Highnesses sword. Whereupon they joyfully taking the sword, delivered it to the Lord Deputye, who presently, upon his receiving thereof, conferred the honor of knighthood upon Mr. Cary Lambert (second son of the Lord Lambert deceased), and then delivered the sword unto the Lord Caulfield, Baron ' He selected for his text 'He beareth not the sword in rain ; ' Eomans xiii. His language was so violent, and excited such apprehension in the minds of the Eoman Catholics of Irelund of religious persecution, that he was censured by the Primate. 318 EEIGN OF CHARLES I. CHAP. XXIII. Precedence of Lords Justices of Ireland. Case for the Star Chamber. Serjeants- at-Arms. of Charlemont, to be by him carried tliat day. And so they departed from Christ's Church in solemnitie of estate ; the Lord Justices taking place for that day, next the Lord Deputie before anie other of the Lords, according to the ancient custome." Serjeants-at-Arms were appointed to attend the House. ^ Lord Chancellor Lord Loftus discharged his duties of Chancellor witliout any complaint during the latter years of the reign of King James I., who was carried off by ague in the spring of 1625. The year 1625 witnessed the death of James I., and immediately his son, the hapless Charles I., was proclaimed King. He continued Lord Falkland Viceroy, and Lord Loftus Lord Chancellor of Ireland. During the Viceroyalty of Lord Falkland, in 1626, the King ordered the Counsel for the Crown to inform against Sir Pierse Crosby in the Court of Castle's Chambers for exhibiting a scandalous petition to the King in the name of Sir Edward Blaunchville, Knight, without the said Blaunchville's authority or knowledge, reflecting upon the Lord Deputy. The petition complains ' that the Lord Deputy granted away Blaunchville's lands while he was under trial for his life. Blaunchville having declared him- self innocent of any such charge, the King ordered Sir Pierse Crosby to be proceeded against "ore tenus," or otherwise, as the cause shall require, and so that such due punishment be inflicted upon him, as his fault in justice shall deserve, that men may beware how they presume ' Harleian MSS. ^ ' The appointment of William and George Peisley to the office of Sergeant- at-Arras, to attend at all times when required, but more especially to attend the Speaker of the House of Commons in every Parliament to be held in the Kingdom, with a fee of 201. a-year, to hold for life. The patent recites that in ancient times there was but one Serjeant to attend to the State, who did some- times wait upon the Deputy, or Chief Governor, and sometimes upon the Lord Chancellor, so as there was no Sergeant-at-Arms to attend the Speaker of the Commons, and to perform other services in the House in any Parliament to be holdin in the Kingdom according to the manner of England. — Dublin, August 23, 1628.'" ° Morrin's Calendar Pat. and Close Rolls, Chanc. Ir. Temp. Charles I. 329. the Chan- cellur. LOED LOFTUS OF ELT, CHANCELLOE. 319 hereafter, to exhibit false matters against you, our prin- CHAP. cipal Minister there, with purpose to wound your reputa- • , — '^ tion, or break the good opinion we deservedly hold of you.' ' The next person complained against was the Lord Chancellor, very shortly after the King's accession to the '^°™' throne. against It must have been most unpleasant for the Lord Chan- cellor to find his conduct as a Judge impeached, as appears by this letter from the King : — ' The King to Lord Viscount Loftus, Chancellor. ' Right trusty and well-beloved cousin and Counsellor, Letter we greet you well — Whereas we have received an humble charles I. petition of Henry Wright and Richard Blacknall, showing that divers controversies are arisen between the Earl of Cork^ and the petitioners, which controversies are de- pending before you in our Court of Chancery there ; for- asmuch as the petitioners do allege that the potency of the Earl is such as it is not for them to contest with him in law, fearing to be worn out with long and tedious suits ; we, taking gracious consideration of the poor estate of the petitioners, and of their great disability to contend with so rich and powerful an adversary, have thought fit to recommend them and their cause to your good care, re- quiring you speedily to give them a hearing in our Court, touching the matters in difference between them and the Earl, and to put an end thereunto with all possible ex- pedition, that the poor men may have no great source of complaint: Westminster, September 18, 1626.'^ The following year the King required the Chancellor to Lord attend him in London, and ' directed Lord Falkland, Lord ^^ attend"' Deputy, to notify the same, and to command him to deliver the King, into the Viceroy's hands the Great Seal ; then to entrust the Seals to Commissioners, any four of the Privy Council, ' Morrin's Calendar Pat. and Close EoU, Chanc. Ir. vol. iii. p. 148. 2 The Earl of Cork was nearly related to the Chancellor. ' Morrin's Calendar Pat. and Close Eolls, Chanc. Ir. Charles I., p. 159. Vide also for another complaint the same vol. p. 213. 320 EEIGN OF CHARLKS I. CHAP. XXIIL Commis- sioners of the Great Seal. Of Chan- cery. Fresh com- plaints. Recalled to London. Clears his innoceucy. The Great Seal to be restored. two or more being resident in Dublin ; then by Commission to empower Lord Aungier, Master of the Rolls, one of the second Justices of the King's Bench, one of the second Justices of the Common Pleas, one of the second Barons of the Exchequer, and all the Masters in Chancery in Ordinary, and to any three or more of them whereof the Lord Aungier be always one to hear and determine causes in Chancery: Westminster, May 12, 1627." The Commissioners of the Great Seal were the Lord Primate, Lord Dockwoa, Sir William Parsons, and Sir Adam Loftus. While those named to determine causes in Chancery, to punish all contempts and sign all judg- ments ov decrees, were Lord Aungier, Sir Christopher Sibthorp, John Philpott, Sir Laurence Parsons, Henry Mainwaring, and Thomas Cary.^ Considerable dissension prevailed between Lord Loftus and the Deputy, Lord Falkland, who was very unwilling to allow the Chancellor to treat the suitors as he was in the habit of doing. All remonstrances of the Viceroy were disregarded, and an open rupture threatened to disturb the Government. Complaints against the Lord Chancellor had been sent to the King, backed with the sanction of Viscount Falkland. Lord Loftus was charged with un- dutiful behaviour towards the King in not raising money for the royal service, and especially in improperly acting as Lord Chancellor, and in not showing due respect to the Viceroy. These accusations were of too serious a nature to be lightly treated ; therefore the Chancellor was com- pelled to repair to London, where, before the Privy Council, the King examined the truth of these charges, and weighed the varying allegations made on both sides. The decision of his Majesty was that the Chancellor ' showed his innocency and justified his proceedings.' The King wrote to the Deputy, desiring that on the Chancellor's arrival in Dublin tlie Great Seal should be returned to him, and his Lord- ship be fully restored to the free execution of his ofiice. ' Morrin's Calendar Pat. and Close Rolls, Temp. Charles I., p. 199. 2 lb. p. 200. LOED LOFTUS OF ELY, CHANCELLOE. 321 The Chancellor was also commanded to carry hiinself more CHAP. ■VYITT respectfully to the Viceroy, and that he in return would ._ , "- receive all due respect from that high personage, so that all former scandals may be avoided.' By a subsequent letter from the King to Lord Falkland authorising a license to be made out for the Chancellor's absence from Ireland, either on the King's business or his own, leaving the Great Seal with the former Commis- sioners, his Majesty writes^- ' And whereas he (the Chancellor) complaineth that he hath suffered muchb}- causeless clamours, and false charges laid against him, whereof as he hath cleared himself here to the satisfaction of us and our Council, so he desires his honour and justice may be vindicated there by a legal prosecution of those that have so wronged him ; we, being Accusers tender of the reputation of our good officers and servants, j° the*Star and knowing it to be our part to give them protection and Chamber. punish false aspersions against them, do hold it very just and fit that all those who have preferred any scandalous and false information or charges against our Chancellor, for his carriage in the execution of his office, be proceeded against in our Court of Castle Chamber, and punished according to the demerits as by law is provided.^ — South- wick, August 16th, 1629.' But these accusations were constantly cropping up. Another Another impeachment of the Chancellor's judicial integrity '^°^^ is shown in a letter addressed by the King to the Chan- cellor himself and the Earl of Cork, when Lords Justices. Eeferring to litigation subsisting between the Earl of Ormond and Sir Thomas Butler respecting the Manor of Cloghrenan, the proceedings were directed to be heard and determined by the two Chief Justices, Chief Baron, Master of the EoUs, Second Justice of the King's Bench, and third Baron of the Exchequer, being the fittest persons to settle these controversies, by reason of their equal interest in both parties, leaving out the Chancellor in regard to some ' Morrin's Calendar Put. and Close EoUs, Chanc. Ir. Charles I. p. 384. ' Id. p. 464. VOL. I. T 322 REIGN OIT CHARLES I. CHAP, relations lie had to tlie parties to the cause in question.' JE^JEL Westminster, April 18, 1632. The corruption which in England notoriously pervaded almost every department of the State in the reign of James I. took some time before it crossed the Channel, but I fear it did at length extend to Ireland, climbed the bench of justice, and sullied the judicial robe. The pro- ceedings against Lord Chancellor Bacon show that bribery was common, though dignified with the title of presents and New-year's gifts.'' Went- No sooner was the rumour confirmed that Sir Thomas Lord Wentworth was to be the King's Viceroy in Ireland than Deputy. the Lord Chancellor wrote him a congratulatory letter as follows : — Letterfrom ' Right Honorable and my very good Lord, — It is now Chan °"^ signified hither that his Majesty hath declared your Lord- cellor. ship for his Deputy of this Kingdom, which hath long waited for the Guidance of so noble a personage, the Fame of whose Virtues and able Parts is not limited within that Kingdom, but hath hither outrun your own Presence, and the Report of your coming into this Government, which, as well in Respect of the Good of this People and his Majesty's Service, as for my own Particular, I have just cause heartily to desire may long continue in so worthy hands. ' I acknowledge the unmerited Respects lately received from your Lordship, upon occasion of some Affairs there mentioned touching me, which the Lord Mountnorris ac- quainted me with ; and I humbly beseech your Lordship to make Account that you shall find me always ready to apply my utmost Endeavours to deserve the Increase of your Lordship's good opinion ; and though the displeasure of the former here begat me many troubles and such Ad- versaries as yet cease not to pursue me without cause, yet I never gave him other occasion than the sincere discharge of my duties required, as your Lordship will hereafter > Morrin's Calendar Pat. and Close Rolls, Ir. Temp. Charles L p. 652. ' Foss's Judges of Enghind, vol. vi. p. 3. LOED LOFTUS OF ELY, CHAKCELLOE. 323 better understand at your Arrival here, whicli I heartilv chap. XXIII wish may be as safe as it shall be welcome unto " Your Lordship's faithful and humble Servant, 'Ad Loftus, Cane. ' Jan. 27, 1631.' This rather fulsome epistle was not likely to impress EeceiTes Lord Wentworth very highly with the self-respect and f"^^°Lorcl integrity of the writer. As, however, he was aware the Deputy. Chancellor had many enemies, and was desirous of sup- porting so exalted an official, the Deputy did his best to uphold him against those who tried to injure him, as appears by the next letter. ' The Lord Chancellor of Ireland to the Lord Deputy. Another — Eight Honourable and my very good Lord, — Having \^^^?^ '° received two Letters from your Lordship, the one of the Went- 18th, the other of the 28th February, I make humbly bold "^°'''''- to represent these few Lines in answer of both. In the first, your Lordship hath been pleased to express your care that the complaints against me there, since your being of the Irish Committee, should be kept intire, without my Prejudice, till I might be heard. For which honourable and just Favour I shall ever dedicate myself to your Lord- ship's service ; I have found by true and dear experience your Lordship's opinion to be most certain and infallible, " that where His Majesty's Ministers in eminent Places Ministers are not preserved in Honour and reverence, but under- *° X^' valued, there his affairs must certainly suffer in them." This hath been my case for many years past, occasioned through the dissonant affections of the Chief Governor and some others of the State, who never accorded more in any one thing, than in work that might tend to my Prejudice and Diminution. From hence have sprung private searches and scrutinies into all my Words and Actions, secret and underhand Detractions, and some- times more open and plain Disrespects, daily endea- vours to irritate and stir up clamours and complaints, some exhibited here, others to the Lords there. The Answers to all which have not taken up a little of the 324 EEIGK OF CHAELES I. CHAP. XXIII. Eelies on Lord Weut- ■«orth. The Chan- cellor pe- titions for increased allowance. The King to the Lord Deputy, A.D. 1636. Chancellor presented ■with 3,000;. Time whicli I might have better employed in his Ma- jesty's service. The Root from vfhence all these injurious Branches take Life, and receive Abetment and encourage- ment remains there, and not altogether here, for if here only, I could either avoid them or in some measure pro- cure my own Eedress ; but being there, I find no other sanctuary to fly unto, but the tribunal of his Majesty's Eoyal and Free Justice, which hitherto hath acquitted and set me free from all Aspersions that Malice could cast upon one. And now that your Lordship hath been pleased to yield me this Protection, I shall rest in Peace without care of any evil Intentions. . . . Thus acknowledging myself to be infinitely bound unto your Lordship for your manifold Favours, I take leave and remain your Lord- ship's Wholly to be Commanded, 'Ad Loftus, Cane. 'March 16, 1631.' The unpleasant position of the Chancellor formed a good ground for additional pecuniary compensation, which Adam Lord Loftus was not likely to forego. I find that in 1636 the Lord Chancellor presented a petition to the King, praying some additional recompense for his services, which caused the following despatch to be addressed to the Lord Deputy : — ' Charles E.ex. — Eight trusty and right well-beloved Cousin and Councillor, — We greet you well. We have taken notice of that which came in a despatcli of yours not long since to our Secretary, with reference to a report touching a Petition presented unto us on behalf of our right trusty, and right well beloved Cousin and Councillor, Adam Viscount Loftus of Ely, our Chancellor of Ireland, for some reward in respect of his long services to our Crown, and are therefore pleased in Testimony of om- gracious acceptance of his good and faithful services, as well to our dear father of happy memory as to ourself, and for his future encouragement, to bestow upon him the sum of three thousand pounds. [The warrant then shows how it is to be raised.] LORD LOFTUS OF ELY, CHANCELLOE. 325 ' Griven under our signet at Eafford Abbey, the 7th day chap. of August, in the twelfth year of our reign 1636. . , — 1^ ' By his Majesty's Command, 'JoHisr Coke.' It was very fortunate for the Lord Chancellor that the Feelings Royal bounty was so promptly extended, for the feelings Viceroy of the powerful Yiceroy towards him, shortly afterwards, changed. were so changed that, I venture to say, if the money was not thus readily given. Lord Wentworth would have caused it to be withheld. The displeasure of the Viceroy I find followed on the nomination, by the Lord Chancellor, of a barrister named Alexander, in a Commission as Judge of Assize.' In the Earl of Strafford's letters, published by the Eev. Dr. Knowler,^ we find some sharp letters passed from the Lord Deputy to the Lord Chancellor in respect to this matter. The first is from the Chancellor, and states the cause of his Excellency's rebuke. It is entitled ' The Lord Chancellor to the Lord Deputy.' ' May it please your Lordship, ' Upon Monday last I received letters from Baron Letter Lowther, signifying the death of Serjeant Catlin, and ac- j^°j^ ' ^ quainting me that upon his first notice thereof he repaired Chancellor to Trim, in his own person, and, understanding that the Deputy. County of Meath was the last county of the Session, he, of purpose, adjourned the same, until the Monday fort- night next after ; and, in the interim, returned the old Commission unto me, wherein he and the Serjeant were joined, and desired the renewing of that Commission to himself, and such other as should add unto him. Where- ' The arrangement of Judges of Assize is usually according to rank by the Judges themselves, who select their circuits. The Chiefs are entitled to the lightest, if they prefer them ; and when a Judge is sick, or prevented from going his circuits, the selection of deputy is with the Lord Chancellor, who generally gives precedence to the Serjeants, if available. In this case the selection was not for the Serjeants, which placed the Chancellor under the censure of the Viceroy. ^The Earl of Strafford's letters and despatches from the originals in the possession of his great grandson, Thomas Earl of Malton, by William Knowler, LL.D., Eector of Irthingborough, vol. ii. p. 67. 326 EEIGN OF CHARLES I. CHAP, upon, after some pause, I could think of no other for that last -^ — , — '^ despatch than Mr. Alexander, who dwelt in that country, fornomi- ^^*^ ^^^^ *^^ place where the Commission was to be exe- natingMr. cutcd ; all other Judges and the King's Counsel being otherwise imployed by your Lordship's commandment. So I presently issued a new Commission unto these two, to perform that service. And if any error or mistake hath been in the nominating the last of these, it may time enough be altered, if, your Lordship so command. This being all which your Lordship by your letters is pleased to require of me concerning this particular, I humbly take leave, and remain ready to do your Lordship's service. ' Ad Loptus, Cane. ■ April 13, 1637.' This letter indicates that it was with some doubt of his wisdom in the selection the Chancellor inserted the name of Mr. Alexander, and was required by the Lord Deputy to state how he came to include this barrister's name in the Commission, passing over the Serjeants. The reply of the Viceroy is short, and not very sweet, for the perusal of the Chancellor. Keply of the Lord Deputy. Kecom- mends Serjeant Eustace, TAe Lord Deputy^ Answer. ' My Lord, ' To appoint so young a man as Mr. Alexander to such a charge, as is the being Judge of Assize, and delivering so great a goal as is now at Trim, I did not judge it to stand either with honour or the good of a service so highly importing His Majesty and the public peace of the kingdom. And, therefore, I shall rather advise your Lordship to design Mr. Serjeant Eustace for that work, not being otherwise imployed in His Majesty's service, but that he may well be spared so much time as the des- patch of that service will borrow from him ; and so T remain ready to do your Lordship's service. ' Wentwoeth. 'Naas, April U, 1637.' LOED LOFTUS OF ELY, CHANCELLOE. 327 It is no wonder the Lord Chancellor felt hurt at such a CHAP. XXIIT rebuke. The head of the law, and, supposed to be best . , L, acquainted with the members of the profession, to be ac- ^^J^^j^""^ cused of appointing a young man, not competent to dis- Chan- charge the important duty committed to him, was the j^g ^^_ ' most severe censure that could be passed upon his conduct ; and that the Viceroy should himself designate the proper person to be appointed must have been most galling. He was, however, not willing to allow the Lord Deputy to dictate to him without some show of resistance, while not daring to disobey his mandate. The, Lord Chancellor's Reply. ' Ma,y it please your Lordship, ' I shall, as speedily as may be, direct a Warrant to His reply, the Clerk of the Hanaper to renew the Commission for the Assizes in the County of Meath, and present it to the Seal with a blank ; and, when it comes, I will insert Mr. Serjeant Eustace therein, or some other fit person; for, Serjeant Eustace, I fear, is not provided with such neces- Mr. Ser- saries as that journey will require. If there were no other Eustace, difference between him and Mr. Alexander but matter of years, ' sure Mr. Alexander is the elder man ; but in this and all other things, I shall comply with your Lordship's commandment, and so remain, ' Tour Lordship's, ' in all due services to be commanded, 'Ad Loftus, Cane. ■April 14, 1637.' This letter of the Chancellor's touched the high spirit of Wentworth. The sly taunt at his Excellency's object- ing to Mr. Alexander's youth, and nominating in his place a younger man, roused the haughty blood of one of the proudest men of his age, and called forth a crushing retort. It fell as follows : — 328 REIGN OF CHARLES I. CHAP. xxin. The Lord Deputy's answer. ftuslifica- tions of Serjeant Eustace. Unplea- sant rela- tions. The Lord Deputy's Answer. ' My Lord, 'Indeed I am not able to resolve your Lordship, whether Mr. Serjeant Eustace or Mr. Alexander be the elder man ; only I know the one is the King's Serjeant, and the other is not ; which enables him, or at least qualifies him, to be trusted as a Judge of Assize before the other ; and know I do, too, that to those who know them both, the Serjeant is held as able in his own profession. Besides (but that I am not apt unnecessarily to touch personally upon any), something I could have mentioned in Mr. Alexander's particular which doth not render him alto- gether fit for such an employment. In fine, I hold places of that honour and trust, as are Judges of Assize, not decently communicable with every ordinary Counsellor-at-Law, and that I am very confident that Mr. Serjeant Eustace is well provided with all the necessaries requisite for that journey and employment; to wit, with learning and in- tegrity ; for, as concerning the rest, his journey to Trim is not so far, or his stay there like to be so long, as that he shall need to overburden his horse ' with the weight of his sumpter or other carriage. And so not doubting but that your Lordship will have that regard to the honour and good of His Majesty's service that ever best becomes us all. ' I remain, ' Your Lordship's very affectionate friend, ' Wentwoeth. 'Naas: April 15, 1637.' As no further correspondence is published, it is fair to infer that the Lord Chancellor did not reply to this letter from his "very affectionate friend.'' The terms of this last rankled in his mind ; and the next letter to which I direct my reader's attention shows the relations of the Lord Chancellor and the Government were on a most un- pleasant footing. In fact, the Chancellor's conduct in his Court had caused grave complaints to be made to the ' Judges of Assize travel differently now. LOEB L0FTUS OF ELY, CHANCELLOR. 329 King. Mr. Secretary Coke wrote thus to the Lord CHAP. Deputy : — - , ' Eriglit Honourable. ' It displeasetli His Majesty very mucli, that the Lord Letter Chancellor, so great and ancient a Judge, and who best Secretary understandeth how to make perfect answers, should now Coke to , the Lord by three imperfect answers to your Lordship ' and the Deputy. Council Board show disrespect to justice, and so much Lord dishonour both to your Lordship and the State. For cellor's preyention, therefore, of further publick scandal to the imperfect ■V , answers. Government by so eminent an example of contempt, His Majesty thinketh fit and requireth your Lordship (if he persist in disobeying the orders of your Lordship and the Lords) to take the Seals from hira, and then to proceed with such compulsory means as law and justice do require. And yet His Majesty, calling to mind his Lordship's former services, and considering his old age, is graciously pleased, if he conform himself by answering more perfectly, and by obeying and performing the decree that shall be made thereupon, then your Lordship may restore the Seals to The Seal him, which, if he continue in his contempt, will be other- wise disposed of. ' Tour Lordship's ' Most humble and obedient Servant, 'John Coke. 'Whitehall: April 25, 1637.' The manner in which the Lord Chancellor received chancellor these friendly admonitions was not calculated to make his ^^™°i^639 further tenure of the Great Seal more protracted. On January 15, 1639, his successor was appointed in terms strongly condemnatory of the Chancellor's conduct. 'Whereas, upon a full and deliberate hearing before us find our Council of several of the misdemeanours and irre- Sentence gularities charged against the Viscount Loftus of Ely, our ation!"^'^ Chancellor of Ireland, he hath been by Ourself and our ' Evidently concerning some memorials which the Lord Deputy required to have answered by the Chancellor. 330 EEIGN OF CHAHLES I. CHAP. XXIII. Sir Richard Bolton appointed. Lord Loftus resides at Monas- terevan. His estate given to Lord Drogheda. said Council, declared unfit to hold that place any longer ; and, forasmuch as it is most fitting that our justice, in a place of so great eminency, should be administered to our subjects in that kingdom by a person both of approved integrity and judgment, we have resolved to confer that place of Chancellor upon our right trusty and well-beloved Counseller, Sir Richard Bolton, Knight, now Chief Baron of our Court of Exchequer there, of whose integrity, abi- lities, and faithfulness, both in our service, and in the execution of the place which he now holds, you have given us so good testimony ; we, therefore, direct you to pass patent to him accordingly, &c. And our will and pleasure is, that you cause our Great Seal of that our kingdom, formerly sequestered by our directions in the hands of certain Commissioners, to be received from them and delivered to the said Sir Eichard Bolton, with that ceremony in such cases usual.' ' After the summary proceeding which deprived Lord Loftus of his oiEce, the noble Ex-Chancellor retired to his beautiful seat, now called Moore Abbey, at Monasterevan, where, in ancient times, a famous bell was kept, said to have belonged to St. Emhan;^ and, on solemn trials, it was sworn upon by the litigants. At the time of the sup- pression of monasteries in Ireland, Monasterevan was granted to George Lord Audley, from whom the Chan- cellor, Lord Loftus, purchased it. Here he resided ; and, on the marriage of his daughter Alice with Charles, Second Viscount Drogheda, Lord Loftus settled Monas- terevan upon the young couple, which brought this pro- perty into the Moore family, when it acquired the name of Moore Abbey.' ' 15, 11a pars. E. 11. Pat. Dublin, January 15, 1639. ' Hence Monaster Emhan or Evan, ' To show how little reliance can be placed on tradition, I may cite an extract from the account of this fine mansion, in a work of generally correct information. ' Adam Loftus, Viscount Ely, held the Court of Chancery during the rebellion of 1641 in the great hall of the monastery yet in being, lined with fine Irish oak.' — Anthol. Hih. vol. ii. p. 114. Lord Ely was removed from the Chancellorship two years previously, so he never held any court in the house. AFFAIRS OF IRELAND. 331 At tliis time the horizon of Iriah politics, seldom bright, CHAP, was lowering and overcast. Lord Wentworth had, in -_ , L, obedience to the King's command, returned to England, where he received the Garter and Earldom of Strafford. There the Irish Parliament, hostile to the King and his favourite, appointed a Committee to lay their grievances before the King. They were gladly welcomed by the English malcontents, eager to put both King and Minister to death. Strafford was summoned to London, and forth- with committed a prisoner to the Tower. During his Strafford absence the King desired to make the Earl of Ormond Tower. Viceroy, but was compelled by the Committee to nominate two Puritans, Sir John Borlase and Sir William Parsons, Lords Justices. The Committee pressed on the impeach- Lord ment of the Earl of Strafford, and the Irish House of Bolton and Commons impeached Sir Richard Bolton, Chancellor, the °tli^™ ^^' ■^ _ ' ' peached. Chief Baron, and other high personages. At the breaking out of the Civil War in 1641, a pro- Proelama- clamation was issued by Sir William Parsons and Sir John Borlase, the Lords Justices and Privy Council, re- citing ' That there is a discovery made by us, the Lords Justices and Council, of a most disloyal and detestable conspiracy, intended by some evil-affected Irish Papists, against the lives of us the Lords Justices and Council and many others of His Majesty's faithful subjects universally throughout this kingdom, and requiring all to stand on their guard, and shew their faith and Loyalty.' This was signed, amongst other of the Privy Council, by Adam Loftus. It called forth a speedy remonstrance from the Catholic Lords of the Pale ; for, by the words ' Irish Catholic Papists,' there being no distinction, they might doubt fended, themselves involved ; to remedy which error the Lords Justices and Council, being tender^ lest these noblemen might take umbrage at this expression, published and Proelama- proclaimed 'That by the words Irish Papists they in- amended. tended only such of the old meer Irish in the province of ' Vide Borlase, Irish EebelHon, p. 22. 332 EEIGN OF CHAELES I. CHAP. XXIII. Beath of Lord Loft us. Sir Chris- topher Wandes- ford. Ulster, as had plotted tliat treason, and none of tlie old English of the Pale.' The struggle between the Confederate forces and those of the Protestant party soon inyolved the property of the Ex-Chancellor, as well as of others who shared his prin- ciples, in ruin and destruction. It is stated that before February 5, 1642, he lost to the value of 8,330/. and 2,106?. a-year. Having left Ireland, fearing the consequences of his being taken prisoner, he resided at Middleham, in York- shire, where he died, and is buried in the church of Corkham.' Among those who were advanced to places of dignity by Wentworth, while Viceroy of Ireland, was Sir Chris- topher Wandesford, whom, at Wentworth's instigation, King Charles I. appointed Master of the Eolls in Ireland. He was distinguished for his knowledge of the laws of England, and was one of the eight managers of the im- peachment of the Duke of Buckingham. In 1 633, he was offered the post of Ambassador to the Court of Spain, but preferred accompanying his dear friend Wentworth into Ireland. He resolved to attach himself to the country, for he bought a fine mansion in Dublin, extending from Dame Street to the Liffey, with orchards and gardens, and a fine view of the port from Kingsend. He also built the Eolls Office at his own cost, a stately brick building, three stories high, containing a large muniment-room, the walls of which were panelled with presses of oak, con- taining compartments for the records of each King's reign, and the year legibly marked, so as to be easy of ' Lodge's Peerage of Ireland, vol. viii. p. 247. — The title now borne by the Loftus' family is Marquis of Ely. Charles Tottenham, Esq., M.P. for the borough of New Eoss, in the Irish Parliament, was grandfather of the first Marquis of Ely. He was popularly called ' Tottenham in his boots ; ' braving the agony of gout, and had roads, while riding post haste from his seat in Wexford to Dublin, when the question, ' whether the surplus money in the Irish treasury should he kept in Ireland or transmitted to England.' As the Irish members attended Parliament in full dress, Tottenham, who was hardly in time to give the majority in favour of Ireland, had no time for dressing, and turning the scale for the country, earned the name of ' Tottenham in his boots.' AFFAIRS OF IRELAND. 333 reference. Offices for clerks, and rooms for tlie con- CHAP. . XXIIl venience of business were also provided. He set up a . , — L^ table of fees for public inspection ; and a table of penalties consequent upon the transgressions of these orders was annexed. He purchased an estate in the County Kildare, where he completed a book of instructions to his son, which bears date 5th Oct., 1636. This property was sold to the Earl of Strafford. Sir Christopher Wandesford also purchased the ancient inheritance of the O'Brenan's in the County of Kilkenny, and here he encouraged Irish trade and manufactures, by erecting a cotton-mill and working a colliery. He received from King Charles I. the title of Baron Mow- bray and Viscount Castlecomer. He died in 1640, it is said, of grief for the sad fate of his early and lifelong friend, the Earl of Strafford. Before taking leave of this unfortunate Minister for the Ireland present, I subjoin an extract from the present Chief Strafford's Justice Whiteside's Lectures on the Irish Parliaments, Viceroy- which contain a brief notice of the strides made in Irish prosperity while he was Chief Governor : ' Ireland, under the strong Government of Strafford, was tranquil and prosperous, as she was under Harry VIII. Her com- merce increased vastly ; her manufacture of linen, under the auspices of Strafford began, grew, and flourished ; her revenue was large, she paid her debts, and yet her ex- chequer was full. We must admit that as a ruler he was suited to his time, and equal to his work, and that Ireland emerging from confusion and rebellion could not have been entrusted to firmer hands.' ' ' Life and Death of the Irish Parliament, pt. i. p. 62. 334 EEIGN OF CHAELES I. CHAPTEE XXIV. CHAP. XXIV. Sir Kichard Bolton. Born in Stafford- shire. Great men in his time. Publishes the Irish Statutes. LIFE OF SIR EICHAKD BOITOJT, KWI9HI, LORD CHANCELLOR OP lEELAliTD. SiK EiOHAED Bolton was a native of England, born in Staffordshire towards tlie close of Queen Elizabeth's reign. At this eventful period- the intellectual world made great strides, not only in literature, but in law, not merely in helles lettres but black letters. Great names were and are familiar to the student. Shakespeare and Spenser gained renown in literature 5 Coke, Bacon, EUesmere, and other able lawyers won fame in the legal annals of their native land. These men were the architects of their own for- tune, and, no doubt, their success fired the mind of young Richard Bolton and made him apply himself to the study of the law. Having been called to the Bar, he resolved to try his fortune in Ireland, and the result proved the sageness of his plans. He had been a diligent and attentive student, and the paucity of legal works, relating to Ireland, struck him at once. Here, then, was an opening to introduce him to the profession in Ireland, so he resolved to make himself known as a legal author. He selected for his first work, the Statutes of Ireland. ' The History of the Statutes ' is the most correct guide to the social and political con- dition of a country.' In the year 1621, Mr. Bolton published ' The Statutes of Ireland,' beginning the third year of King Edward II., and continuing to the llth James I., which he examined with the Parliament EoUs. In the dedication of this volume to the Lord Deputy, the Eight Honourable Sir Oliver St. John, he says, ' Considering that many good ' "Whiteside's Lectures on the Irish Parliament, p. 29. LIFE OF- LOED CHANCELLOR BOLTON. 335 Statute laws, of force in this kingdom, were never hitherto CHAP, imprinted, and (upon search), finding that, for want of imprinting many others were perished and lost in these Eeaaons troublesome and miserable times of rebellion, which hath taking this been in this kingdom, and finding also, by experience, "^°^^- that the printed books of these Statutes, which were formerly printed, are so few, that there be not sufficient to furnish only the practisers and Judges ; so as both the common people, and some of the professors of the law, yea the Judges themselves, did want the ordinary means to attain the knowledge of the Statute laws, and were constrained very often to have recourse to the Parliament Roll. And finding also, by daily experience, that Justices of the Peace, sheriffs, constables, and other ofiicers, fail short in the execution of their of&ces, to the great detri- ment of the commonwealth, I resolved to peruse all the Parliament Rolls which are extant, and to extract such Statute laws as were general, or concerned the general good, which I did accordingly ; and after your Lord- ship's perusal, they were again perused by the Chief Judges and Master of the Rolls, and by them allowed to be imprinted, together with so many of the Statutes for- merly imprinted not repealed. Howbeit some few of Obsolete those Statutes, formerly printed, are by the alterations of ^'^t'"'*^- the times grown out of use — especially those concerning Marchers — and those distinguishing between English and Irish, and persons amenable and not amenable to the law, are by implication, and good construction of 33 Hen. VIII., 3 & 4 Phil. & M. and 11 Eliz. fully repealed. For Irish no now Irish are no enemies, but subiects, with the fuU l^^s^F ' ... enemies. benefit of the laws : and all Ireland is divided into coun- ties, and the King's writ doth now run ' into all parts thereof, so as now every man is amenable to the law, and may be punished for every offence by the ordinary course of justice. Yet the Judges and Master of the Rolls Oldsta- thought fit that these Statutes, which had been formerly ^^^^^ "^ ' Previously it was humorously said, ' In remote parts of Ireland the King's writ never ran, except when it ran away.' 336 BEIGN OF CHARLES I. CHAP. XXIV. He is knighted. First At- torney of the Court of Wards. Chief Baron, and member of the Priyy Council. To retain his oiiice in the Court of "Wards. Lord Chancellor Loftus ;it variance with suc- cessive Viceroys. _ printed and were not expressly repealed, sliould be printed again, lest matters of moment were omitted, and though, these Statutes were obsolete, they may well serve for an historical use, whereby the judicious reader may partly observe the state of the Church and Commonwealth in those times.' The work was well received, and gained the learned compiler a high reputation, which recommended him for official rank. Bolton's legsi ability was not confined to ivriting trea- tises. He was regarded as an excellent lawyer, and received the honour of knighthood. He rose rapidly in his profes- sion, for once attornies feel confident their business will be well done, they push the rising Counsel rapidly forward. On the revival of the Court of Wards, 1 Charles I., the offer of First Attorney of that Court was granted to Sir Richard Bolton.^ A higher place was shortly added. On the death of Sir John Blennerhassut, Chief Baron of the Exchequer, he was nominated his successor, and, by the same letters patent, appointed a Member of the Privy Council of Ireland.' The Master of the Court of Wards, Sir William Parsons, felt reluctant to part with so efficient a colleague, and made such representation to the Go- vernment of the assistance he received from Sir Richard for raising the Crown revenues in that Court, and in despatching affairs then depending there, and the loss which must bo sustained by his removal before the tenures and revenue were better settled, that the King, by letters patent, licensed him to hold both offices.^ The relations between Lord Chancellor Loftus and the Government had long been of an unpleasant nature. Complaints prevalent against the Chancellor while Lord Falkland was Viceroy had been renewed repeatedly during the time Lord Wentworth held office, and as no amount of remonstrance effected any change in the Chan- cellor, there remained only the alternative of his removal from the Bench. This was ultimately effected, as we have seen, in terms the reverse of complimentary to the out- ' Morrin's Calendar Pat. and Close Rolls, Chanc. Ir. vol. iii. p. 3. " Id. p. 25. = Id. p. 26. LIFB OF LOED CHANCELLOR BOLTON. 337 going Chancellor. His Lordship, however, remained of chap. the Privy Council, was secure in the possession of a large ^^ • . fortune and a title, no smaU consolation to a discarded Judge. On the removal of Lord Loftus, in January 1639, Bolton Sir Richard Bolton was appointed Lord Chancellor of ^'^^ Ireland. cellor. At this time the salary of the Lord Chancellor received a very considerable increase. The King, considering the great trusts and weighty employments incident to the office, and the great charges and expenses which the Chancellor must necessarily undergo for the decent and honourable support of the dignity of this post, and the acceptable services done by Sir Richard to the King, and the late King James, as also of the smallness of the stand- ing fee and perquisites belonging to the of&ce, for his better support gave him 5001. a-year, during his continu- Addition ance in that office.^ No doubt the disgraceful state of °^ ^'*"'- affairs which existed in England indaced the King to make some eifort to prevent wholesale trading in offices in Ireland. We read that when the Mastership of the Rolls was vacant in England, Sir Charles Caesar applied to Archbishop Laud for advice and assistance about the vacancy, who said that, ' as things then stood, the place was not like to go without more money than he thought any wise man would give for it.' Sir Charles paid 15,000Z. for the office with a loan of 2,000L to the King ; but Charles I. had some compunction, and returned 3,000Z., paid by Doctor Back on the death of Sir Charles CsBsar.^ The new Lord Chancellor discovered he was to undergo some of the annoyances and troubles that made the wool- sack to his predecessor as stinging as a bed of thistles. He was obliged, from the nature of his position, to bear xjnpopu- some share of the odium which sprang from the measures l™ty °^ tlie Vice- of the Lord Deputy, Wentworth, afterwards Earl of Straf- roy. ford. This steadfast friend, but unfortunate adviser, of ' Privy Seal, West, July 15, and Patent, Dublin, August 26, 1640. ' Foss's Judges of England, vol. vi. p. 208. VOL. I. Z 338 EEIGN OF CHARLES I. CHAP. XXIV. Commis- sion for enquiry into de- fective titles. The Gal- way jviry. Impeach- ment of Lord- Chan- cellor, A.D. 1640. Committee of forty- four members. Articles : 1 . For con- spiracy to subyert the laws. Charles I. was alike unpopular with the nobles and humi bier classes in Ireland. His haughty bearing rendered him arrogant to the one and insolent to the other. He resolved to gain the Province of Connaught for distribu- tion among his partisans, and to plant it as James I. had planted Ulster, and with this object a Commission of En- quiry into defective titles was issued. He expected that this project would sweep away the old Catholic proprietors ; but the Sheriff of Galway did not pack a jury who would find for the Crown. The baffled Deputy was enraged ; he fined both sheriff and jury as his revenge. The decision of Judges at this period, when they acted with subserviency to the Crown, was regarded, as, no doubt it often was, con- trary to law, and the Commons resolved on impeaching the Chancellor and other Judges and Privy Councillors, supposed to be aiders and abettors of the arrogant Vice- roy. This was the pretext, but another motive also actu- ated them — a desire to prevent the Lord Chancellor and others giving evidence in favour of the Lord Deputy, then imprisoned by the English Parliament. Articles of Impeachment of the House of Commons of Ireland against the Lord Chancellor, Sir Richard Bolton, Knight ; John, Lord Bishop of Derry ; Sir Gerard Low- ther. Knight, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas ; and Sir George Eatcliffe, Knight, were prepared by order of the House, dated February 27, 1640. The Committee appointed to prepare these charges numbered no less than forty-four members, and the list undoubtedly contains names well known in the profession of the law. On March 5 they had the Articles prepared in the fol- lowing order : — ' First that they, the said Sir Richard Bolton, Knight (with the others as above), intending the destruction of the Commonwealth of the realm, have traitorously confede- rated and conspired together to subvert the fundamental laws and government of this kingdom ; and, in pursuance thereof, they, and every of them, have traitorously con- trived, introduced, and exercised an arbitrary and tyran- LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR BOLTON. 339 nical government against Law througlioiit this kingdom, CHAP. bj the countenance and assistance of Thomas, Earl of . , — L- Strafford, then chief Goyernor of this kingdom. ' Secondly, that they and every of them, the said Sir 2. Assum- Eichard Bolton, Knight, Lord Chancellor of Irela.nd, (and power, the others,) have traitorously assumed to themselves, and every of them, Royal Power over the Goods, Persons, Lands, and Liberties of his Majesty's subjects of this Realm ; and likewise have maliciously, perfidiously, and traitorously given, declared, pronounced, and published many false, unjust, and erroneous Opinions, Judgments, Sentences, and Decrees, in extrajudicial manner, against Law; and have propitiated, practised, and done many other traitorous and unlawful Acts and things, whereby as well divers Mutinies, Seditions, and Rebellions have been raised, as also many thousands of his Majesty's Liege People of the Kingdom have been ruined in their Goods, Lands, Liberties, and Lives ; and many of them being of good Quality and Reputation, have been utterly defamed by Pillory, mutilation of Members, and other in- famous punishments ; by Means whereof his Majesty and the Kingdom have been deprived of their services in Juries and other public employments, and the general Trade and Traffick of this Island, for the most part, destroyed, and his Majesty highly damnified in his Customs and other Revenues. ' Thirdly, that they, the said Sir Richard Bolton, Knight, 3. For Lord Chancellor of Ireland (and the others), and every of subvfrt" them, the better to preserve themselves, and the said Earl Pariia- of Strafford, in these and other traitorous courses, have laboured to subvert the rights of Parliament, and the an- tient courses of Parliamentary Proceeding; all which offences were contrived, committed, perpetrated, and done at such times as the said Sir Richard Bolton, Sir Gerard Lowther, and Sir George Radcliffe, Knights, were Privy Councillors of State, within this Kingdom, and against their, and every of their, oaths of the same ; and at such time as the said Sir Richard Bolton, Knight, was Lord z 2 340 EEIGN OF CHAELES I. CHAP. XXIV. 4. Im- peached for high trea-son. Applica- tion re- specting the Bishop of Derry. Chancellor of Ireland, or Lord CMef Baron of the Court of Exchequer, within this Kingdom, and Sir G. Lowther, Chief Justice, and John Lord Bishop was Bishop of Derry, contrary to their and every of their Allegiance and oaths. ' Fourthly, for which the said Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses do impeach the said Sir Richard Bolton, Lord Chancellor (and the others), and every of them, of High Treason against our Sovereign Lord the King, his cause and dignity.' ' While these proceedings were impending, it appears to have been the opinion of the Irish House of Commons that the Lord Bishop of Derry would give them the slip, for on May 21, 1641, a message was sent to the Lords, ' that it is the desire of this House that they would be pleased in regard the Lord Bishop of Derry lyeth so near the water, to appoint his Lordship a more secure lodg- Delay in the Courts. The King's letter. Impeach- ment abandoned There was considerable vexation and delay amongst the legal profession, resulting from these proceedings. The Court of Chancery could not sit without its Chancellor ; nor the Court of Common Pleas without the Chief Justice; nor the Star Chamber without both. While the proceedings were pressed forward in the Commons, the Lords Justices and Council did everything to create delay, and we cannot but be amused at the entry in the Journals of the Commons of Ireland, when the Speaker and Members returned from the Council Board, and re- ported to the House the Lord Justices 'had reminded them of the King's letter concerning precedents to be found out for the right of judicature in the Parliament of Ireland, that another thing was concerning Tobacco.' ^ At length, on July 10, 1641, the Lords Justices desired ' that the House would forbear proceeding of the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Lowther upon the impeachment ; that they were advertised from England about judicature in capital cases ; that they would forbear examining wit- ' Com. Jour. Ir. vol. i. p. 198. ' Id. p. 210. s Id. p. 239. LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOE BOLTON. 341 nesses in that behalf.' These high judicial personages, CHAP, unwilling so great a cloud should rest on their reputation -_ , I- as was implied by these grave charges, presented a peti- tion to the House upon the subject with a view of clearing their characters, whereon, after debate, it was fully re- The Chan- solved 'that the House should proceed no farther upon chief Jus- the said Articles of Accusation against the said Lord tioe require Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice j'''^ and thus terminated racters to an attempt to bring obloquy upon these two exalted be cleared. Judges. The Chancellor sought consolation for the sufferings he underwent in the pleasures of literary employment. The want of some manual for the assistance of Justices of the Peace in Ireland was much felt, and with the view of sup- plying that deficiency, Sir Richard prepared a work, ' A Bolton coiniDiiPS Justice of the Peace for Ireland,' consisting of two books. < The Jus- The first declaring the exercise of that office by one or ^"^^ °^ *" rt /-M « i 6&CC lOU more Justices of the Peace out of Sessions ; the second, Ireland.' setting forth the form of proceedings in Sessions — the matter to be enquired into — with precedents annexed.' I believe that once a man gets a taste for writing, it grows upon him, and he can no more resist its influence than the tree the expansive powers of spring and summer. The leaves must come, the boughs must grow, the trunk expand, the author write. Amid the conflict of civil wars and contending parties, sufficient to distract any but the most diligent writer. Sir Richard Bolton was penning his law works patiently and perseveringly. In addition to Eules for those already mentioned, he wrote ' Rules for a Grand ju^r. Juror, or Articles given in Charge to and Enquired of by the General Quarter Sessions of the Peace.' '' In the reign of Charles I. the dignity of the Coif was Coif granted to '^Commons' Journal, Ir. vol. i. p. 253. 2 Id. p. 298. ' Published in Dublin in 1678 and in 1683, folio. ' Dublin, 1681, 4to. ° It is a mistake to suppose, as has been the case, that the black patch in the crown of the Serjeant's bar wig, is the Coif; the Coif is a circular piece of white lawn, lying beneath the black cloth or silk. The ancient Coif was made the Judges, 342 EEIGN OF CHARLES I. CHAP, granted to the Irish Judges. The patent states that, • , — 1' ' Taking into our princely consideration the state of our Judges and Serjeants-at-Law, both in England and Ire- land, and how much it concerns us to countenance and encourage them in their several employments and places, particularly calling to mind the many great and effectual services performed by many of our Judges in that our realm of Ireland. We are graciously pleased to signify unto you our Royal pleasure to advance them all, both Judges and Serjeants, in that our realm, unto the state and degree of Serjeants of the Coif; in the same sort, quality, and degree, as, time out of mind, hath been used in this our realm of England for all our Judges of our Courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and sundry of our Barons of the Court of Exchequer, and Serjeants-at- Law ; to the end therefore the said Judges of both our Benches, and also our Barons of our Exchequer, and our Serjeants-at-Law, in our Kingdom of Ireland, may be dignified with the like state and degree of Serjeants-at- Law and of the Coif, as our Judges and Serjeants-at- Law here in England are. We do hereby authorize and require you to cause several writs to be framed and made Writs in our Courts of Chancery, under our Great Seal, to be Great Seal, directed to such of our several Judges and Serjeants there respectively as are not already of the Coif, thereby com- manding and enjoining every of them, at the several days therein respectively to be appointed, to ordain and pre- pare themselves to take upon them the state and degree of Serjeants-at-Law, and that they do, after their said several writs returned, together with the Coif, take upon Irisli them the very same form and fashion of robes, habits, "'^"af robes ^^^ othcr Ornaments, as are used here by our Judges in &c., as England, according to the several degrees and places in English. ^^^^_, , of white silk or lawn, and covered the Serjeant's skull, to which it was fiistened by strings tied beneath the chin. Over the white, the Serjeant wore a black Coif cap, still preserved in the black cap, which the judge assumes when passing sentence of death. Common-law Judges in the seventeenth century wore the Coif and cap, which were exchanged for wigs in the days of the Kestoration. ' Westminster, Oct. 7, 1639. 15 Charles I. 2° pars fac, E. 56. LIFE' OF LORD CHANCELLOR BOLTON. 343 -, During: tlae years from 1641 to the arrival of Cromwell CHAP. XXIV" there was little law business transacted. The country was ■ — 1, — '-- desolated by internecine strife. • Sir Richard Bolton was Lord Chancellor in 1641, when, Arrest of on October 26 in that year, Conor Maguire, Baron of En- nigfjmen" niskillen was arrested in Cook Street, Dublin, a narrow a-i>- 1651. and poor street running parallel to the Liffey.' In the reign of King James I. the Dean's house of Tempore Christ Church was devoted to the use of the Judges for •''^"*'^ • holding the Courts of Law. They were held, previously, in the Castle of Dublin, but this being found inconvenient, the precinct or close of Christ Church was selected as ' On the 2nd of November the foUowing informations were made before the Informa- Lord Chancellor and Sir Gerard Lowther, Knight, Chief Justice of the Common tions. Pleas : — ' Charles Kinselogh of Dublin sayth, that about six o'clodc on Saturday morning he heard a knocking at his door, and when opened, there came in a servant of the Lord Maguire's, who asked for good ale, and as he had none, sent examinant'e boy for some, when the boy returned, he told examinant that ten thousand Scots were drawing near the town.' Whereupon the servant said, ' That the gates were shut, and he could not come to my Lord his horses.' Then this examinant asked, 'If the Lord Maguire was up?' and was told he was, that he the servant had left him at his lodgings at Nevill's house in Castle Street, about to rise. Having called 'at his Lordship's, and not finding Lord him within, he traced him to one Kearnan, a tailor's, in Cook Street, who Maguire worked for him, and found his Lordship lying on a bed in a cock-loft, with an concealed old caddowe wrapped about him. His Lordship told examinant that his life, '° n v and goods, and all he had, were in examinant's hands, and desired him, if pos- g[j.ggf sible, to remove him secretly out of that house. They then planned a disguise, and his Lordship desired examinant to walk abroad and hear what news there was, so he left and locked the door. While he had been away, John Woodlock, one of the sheriffs of Dublin city, with some others, were on the search for Lord Maguire, and having traced him also to the tailor's in Cook Street, found a number of swords, petronels, pistols, and skeins, which the tailor declared he knew nothing of, or how they came into his house. These being shown to the Lords Justices and Council of Ireland, they commanded a close search, and his Lordship was found where Kinselogh had left him, in the cook -loft with a cloak wrapped round him. This noble- man with several other influential Irishmen, including Roger O'More, Sir James Dillon, MacMahon, Plunkett, Hugh Byrne, and Philip Brady, devoted Royalists, finding the measures which Charles the First intended for the redress of Irish grievances thwarted by the Lords Justices, resolved to seize them and the Castle of Dublin. For this purpose two hundred men were to hold them- selves in readiness within the walls of Dublin on an appointed day, and a general revolt was to take place throughout the provinces. A spy, as usual, was among the conspirators, the project was disclosed to the Lords Justices, and Lord Maguire and MacMahon were arrested. 344 THE COMMONWEALTH. CHAP. XXIV. Trial of Sir Phelim O'Neill in Irish Chancery Court. Death of Sir Richard Bolton. Decrees in Chancery during the reign of Charles I. more eei^tralj being situate in the heart of the city. The Dean's house was let to the Irish Government by the Dean and Chapter on moderate terms — ten pounds a year. The Court of Chancery was occasionally used for try- ing other than Equity suits. In a.d. 1652, Sir Phelim O'NeiU was tried in the Chancery Court, where the Judges sat, and were directed what questions they should allow by a Committee, who placed themselves in an adjoining room, called the Chancery Chamber. A communication was kept up between this Committee and the Judges by means of a messenger, who went constantly between them, relating to the Committee all proceedings that passed in the Court, and bringing their instructions to the Judges on every occasion, speaking to them through a square hole in the wall. « There is a good deal of uncertainty as to the later days of the Ex-Chancellor Bolton. He probably returned to his native country, for Ireland under the sway of Crom- well could have no charm for him. His death is alleged to have taken place about the year 1650.' During the reign of Charles I. the Court of Chancery in Ireland was in full work. I find the number of decrees enrolled is seven hundred and twenty-six, and as there were several appeals from the decisions of Lord Loftus, the duties of Judge and counsel must have been pretty severe. ' 2 Ware, p. 53. COMMISSIONERS OF THE GEEAT SEAL. 345 CHAPTEE XXV. CTJSIOBT OF THE GEEAT SEAL DUEINB THE COMMONWEALTH. In July, 1654, Oliver Cromwell had reached very nearly CHAP, the summit of his ambition. He was King in all but the — , '., name. He was Protector of Great Britain and Ireland, Cromwell, ' Lord Jrro- styled ' His Highness,' and surrounded by the insignia of tector. sovereign power. When opening Parliament, on Septem- ber 3, 1654, he proceeded to Westminster in a state coach, with an escort of Life Guards, attended by the high offi- cers of State, in their carriages, with the three Commis- sioners of the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Eng- The Great land, Whitelock, Lisle, and Widdrington. This Seal had, cotmon^^ on one side, the map of England, Ireland, Jersey, and wealth. Guernsey, with the Arms of England and Ireland, and the inscription, ' The Great Seal of England, 1648.' On the other side, the interior of the House of Commons, the Speaker in the chair, with the inscription, ' In the first year of Freedom, by God's blessing restored, 1648.' Having thus changed the Great Seal, and the title of the Keeper in England, the Lord Protector turned his atten- tion to Ireland, and appointed three Commissioners of the Commis- Great Seal of Ireland, Eichaed Pepts, Chief Justice of ^^°"^J^ ^ ' appointed the Upper Bench ; ' Sir Geraed Lowthee, Chief Justice by Oliver of the Common Bench; and Miles Corbet, Chief Baron of ^""leM; the Exchequer; but, they held the Seals only one year. The letter, under the Privy Seal, directed to Fleetwood, then Lord Deputy, notifying their appointment, is dated from Whitehall, June 14, 1655. It informs the Deputy ' that three Commissioners of the Great Seal of Ireland, shall have power to rule and manage the business of the ' During the Commonwealth, to suit the Republican notions, the title of the Kin^s Bench was the Upper Bench. 346 THE COMMOXWEALTH. CHAP. XXV. Powers aud duties. Chief Cora- mi ssioner Pepys. Parentage. His uncle. A law student. Eeader in 1640, and treasurer. Serjeant. Baron of the Ex- chequer in England. Chief Justice in Ireland. Chancery within that dominion, as the Chanceller or Keeper of the Great Seal there in times past, and shall so continue until otherwise ordered. That the Deputy, on receipt of the Great Seal, sent him by Sir John Temple, Knight, Master of the Eolls of Ireland, should deliver it to the said Commissioners.' Although not of the high rank of Chancellors, these Commissioners of the Great Seal properly come within the scope of this work, so as to have their lives recorded in its pages. The Chief Commissioner, Eichaed Pepts, was an ex- cellent Judge. The family of Pepys in England, like that of Plunkett in Ireland, has given distinguished members to every branch of the legal profession. As Mr. Poss well observes, ' In the family of Pepys is illustrated every gradation of legal rank, from Eeader of an Inn of Court to Lord High Chancellor of England." Eichard was son of John Pepys, of Cottenham, in Cambridgeshire, whence the learnei occupant of the English woolsack in our day took his title of Lord Cottenham. Eichard's mother was Elizabeth Bendish, daughter of John Bendish, of Steeple Bumpstead, in Essex. An uncle, named Talbot Pepys, was Eeader at the Middle Temple in 1623 ; and it is very likely that from him young Eichard acquired his taste for law and desire to become a barrister. "Whatever influenced him, he entered his name at the Middle Temple as law- student ; and, in process of time, succeeded his uncle in the post of Eeader in the autumn of 1640. A few years later he was elected Treasurer of the Society. He is named in Styles' Eeports as Counsel in cases therein reported, and reached the degree of the Coif in 1654. Shortly after, Sergeant Pepys was appointed a Judge of Assize through the Midland Counties, and in the following May became a Baron of the Exchequer in England. His seat on the English Bench was of short duration. In less than twelve months he was called to preside as Chief Justice of the Upper Bench in Ireland ; and for some period was the sole Judge of his Court. He lived in times of great party and ' Eoss's Judges of England, vol. vi. p. 467. COMMISSIONEES OF THE GEEAT SEiliL. 347 political dissension, and it is much to his credit that no CHAP. • XXV tamt of calumny sullies his name. His appointment as . , '_- Chief Commissioner of the Great Seal of Ireland is thus noticed in Mr, Smyth's Legal History of Ireland : ' — ' We do not hear of Pepys as a judicial bloodhound, Chief Com- soliciting the properties of convicted criminals; let us ™the°™ therefore presume him reasonably innocent, and transfer Great Seal. some respect to the father of Samuel Pepys, Secretary to the Admiralty." TMs was the writer of the egotistical yet Samuel' valuable diary, Pepys- SlE GeEAED LoWTHEE, second CoMMISSIONEE op the Sir Gerard Geeat Seal, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, is stated gejond ' to have been a very unprincipled man. He was a native Commis- of England, and acquired the rank of Serjeant-at-Law. a Serjeant- Having been appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas Q^ff^'^jg. in Ireland by Charles I., he was sworn of the Privy Council, tice of the and the King thought so highly of his judgment he ad- pi2™and dressed him by letter as follows, in 1643 : — 'Whereas we Privy have special reason to use your advice in matters which consulted very much import our kingdom of Ireland ; our will and ^7 Charles command is, that upon receipt of these, our letters, you prepare your self to repair to attend our further pleasure here, at such time as you shall receive directions from our Justices there to that purpose ; and thereof you shall not fail as you tender the good of our service, and the ' Smyth's Law Officers of Ireland. Legal History, p. 291. ' Chief Justice Pepys died in 1658. His death occasioned some difficulty, for he was the sole Judge of his Court, and if no Judge was appointed be- fore the Term, then close at hand, great public inconvenience must ensue. Many causes, civil and criminal, were depending ; there could be no prosecu- tions in the Upper Bench, and no Judge could be appointed without a patent or warrant from Oliver Cromwell, then Protector : in this dilemma the matter was referred to the Lord Chancellor Steele. He consulted Chief Justice Lowther ; Chief Baron Corbet ; Sir John Temple, Master of the EoUs ; Sir Eobert Mere- dith, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Mr. Justice Douellan, the Attorney and Solicitor- General ; and Mr. Lof tus ; who were unanimously of opinion, that, upon the grounds of unavoidable necessity, such as then existed, and to prevent failure of justice, the Lord Lieutenant might sign a warrant for passing a patent to some one person during pleasure, and until his Highness's pleasure be further known to supply the place of puisne Judge of that Court. This was acted on, and William Basil, Attorney-General, was appointed. His patent for Westminster is dated July 24th, 1658. 348 THE COMMONWEALTH. CHAP. Chief Jus- tice of the Common Pleas under Cromwell. Impeached "witli the Chan- cellor. Acquired large pro- property. Miles Corbet third Com- missioner. Admitted to the bar. In arms against the Kingr. Favour- ably noticed by Cromwell. Employed in Ireland. Commis- sion. restoring that poor kingdom to some degree of happiness. Given at our Court at Oxford, October 17, 1643.' Lowther continued in his office of Chief Justice of the Common Pleas during Cromwell's Protectorate, and, as we have seen, was included by the Irish House of Com- mons in their impeachment with Lord Chancellor Bolton and others. ' He acquired,' says Smyth, ' a large landed property by steering with unprincipled craft through the boisterous ocean of contemporary troubles, and, dying with- out issue, left it to relatives or friends.' ' Miles Corbet, the Third Commissioner of the Great Seal, was a man after Cromwell's own heart. Resolute, bold, and of iron will, he united those qualities which had made the brewer of Huntingdon Protector of three king- doms. Corbet was of a respectable family of Norfolk, and having studied law at Lincoln's Inn, was regularly ad- mitted to the profession ; but, from some cause or other, abandoned its practice, and taking up arms against the King reversed the old motto, 'Gedant arma togce.' Here his courage and skill obtained him distinction which the Courts of Westminster failed to confer. Cromwell's keen insight into character made him conscious that Corbet was a man whose services and talents it would be well to secure, and whose entire freedom from any scruples of respect for Royalty, m.ade him a fitting colleague for those republicans who were resolved to bring Charles I. to the scaffold. He was accordingly appointed one of the Judges on the King's trial, and on the day sentence of death was pronounced, he signed the warrant for the King's execu- tion. Ireland was a wide field for the labours of Corbet. It has been, unfortunately, too often the experimental ground for politicians of all kinds. Hither Corbet came, and found repose from military duties in the more profit- able position of Commissioner for Civil Affairs. When the ruthless work of confiscation and distributing of the estates of Irish Catholics, which the CromweUian settle- ment caused, had been arranged, Corbet claimed as the ' Smyth's Law Officers of Ireland, p. 292. COSmiSSIONEES OF THE GEEAT SEAL. 349 reward for Ws services to be made Chief Baron of the chap. Irish Court of Exchequer, which was complied with. , ,^' , A project was then started by Fleetwood, Deputy for ^'^nT^f" Ireland in 1655, when the Tour Courts were about being Baron, re-established, that two courts — the Chancery and Upper ^l^*''- ' ./ J. jr wood s Bench — would be sufficient for the country, and that all project, causes hitherto tried in the Common Pleas could be heard in the latter. The necessity for the Exchequer did not enter into his mind. ' The lock of the Common Law and the key of the Treasury (to use Lord Coke's phrase) were to be buried by his fiat,' and for supplying the courts that were to do the Irish legal work, he offered to provide Judges. Luckily for the patronage of the profession, and for the furtherance of justice, his advice was not taken, and his design was neglected. Corbet became Chief Baron. He held this important Corbet office for some years, and acquired a large fortune. The c^^le?*^^ stately Castle of Cloghleagh, the seat of Condon, a power- Baron. ful Munster chief, with a large tract of fine land, between the rivers Euncheon and Arigiin, situate in a beautiful dis- trict of the county of Cork, including the present town of Kilworth, was divided between the Lord-Deputy Fleet- ciogUeagli wood and Chief Baron Corbet.' Dissensions existed 58. Eostora- tion of Charles II. Eoyalists disap- pointed. Conduct of Cromwell's officials jifter tho Eestora- tion. Disgrace- ful be- haviour of Steele. In 1655, Henry Cromwell, son of Oliver, received a com- mission from his father as Deputy of Ireland. His natu- rally mild and amiable disposition, the reverse of his stern father's, led him to desire just and lenient measures in the discharge of his official duties. Yet the intolerant spirit of the age obliged him to execute the laws then in force. Oliver Cromwell died on September 3, 1668, and his son Richard's feeble hands could not retain the reins of Go- vernment, which Oliver held easily. A party of Eoyalists met in Dublin, and acting in concert with friends of the exiled Charles, resolved on his Restoration. They seized upon the Castle of Dublin, and Limerick, Clonmel, Drogheda, Carlow, and other chief towns proclaimed King Charles II. He landed in England amidst the en- thusiastic joy of the nation, and Ireland echoed shouts of gladness. The Catholic Royalists expected to be restored to their ancestral estates of which the Cromwellian set- tlement had deprived them. They little foresaw that the first session of the Irish Parliament would take steps to make the settlement binding, and the Act of Explanation would strengthen the arrangement. At the time of the Restoration of Charles II. the policy of all the political members of the Commonwealth seems to have been to make the best terms for themselves as they could, at the expense of their late colleagues. Steele is related to have secured his personal safety, and made his peace with the Government, by betraying the secrets of Henry Cromwell to Clarendon and Ormond; and, what is worse, by giving up his former colleague in the prose- cution of the King, the Solicitor- General, Cook.' Cook had been rewarded for zeal in the service of the Common- wealth (by the patronage of Ireton, when Lord President of Munster) with the appointment of Judge of that pro- vince and grants of lands in the county of Cork.^ On the accession of Charles II., the wisdom of Steele, on having 1 Foss's Judges of England, vol. vi. p. 4-92. In fact, he threw the Solicitor- General into his place, ty absenting liimself under the p)lea of illness. * A castle, called Castle Cook, still frowns over the river Ariglen. LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOE STEELE. 357 absented himself at the time of the trial, was manifested CHAP. XXV by Cook's apprehension, trial, and execution. ,_ L^ The character of the Ex-Chancellor, who died about the ^jg^gj^g^. year 1670, has been variously estimated. He is described raetor. as haughty and insolent by those who disliked him; prudent and cautious, learned and able, by those who esteemed him. He had married the widow of Michael Harvey, younger brother of the celebrated Dr. William Harvey, whom the curator of an anatomical museum once sagaciously described as ' the inventor of the circulation of the blood.' On examining the enrolled Decrees of Chancery during Business the Commonwealth, I find a very fair share of business Q^^t^^f transacted. Both the Commissioners and Chancellor Chancery Steele had plenty to do, and the number of decrees pro- Commou-^ nounced amounts to three hundred and ninety-four. The wealth. suits were of an ordinary character, bills for account — to compel trustees to execute trusts — to perpetuate testi- mony, and such causes. 358 EEIGN OF CHAKLES II. CHAPTEE XXVI. LIFE OF SIR MAUKICB ETTSTACB, XORD CHAlfCELLOE OF IBELAJTB. CHAP. XXVI. Previous Lord Chan- cellor of this family. Eustace Lord Bal- tinglas. Engaged' at Glen- malure. Lord Bal- tinglas attainted. The family of Harris- town. Estate passes to William Eustace, Many centuries elapsed, and many generations of the house of Eustace had gone to their rest in the family burial place, KilcuUen, since the former Chancellor of this name — Sir Rowland Fitz Eustace Lord Portlester — held the Great Seal of Ireland in 1474. During that period a branch had, in the fifteenth century, acquired the title of Lord Baltinglas; but on the attempt to molest the O'Tooles, the clansmen of Eustace Lord Baltinglas joined the Wicklow Irish, and aided in routing the forces of Lord Deputy Grey, already narrated, in the defile of Glenmalure. Numbers of the Viceroy's force, the best and bravest, were slain, and he retreated to Dublin with a damaged military reputation, and covered with disgrace.^ This success cost Lord Baltinglas his title and estates. He was attainted, and the estates of himself and his adherents were, in 1605, granted to Sir Henry Harrington, Knight, ' in regard that he had been a very good, ancient, and long servitor in the late wars and rebellions in Ireland.' ^ The branch of Eustace, settled at Castlemarten and Harristown, held their ground, for we find the descendant of Sir Edward Fitz Eustace, of Castlemarten, who died a,bout the year 1440, ennobled under ihe title of Lord of KilcuUen, in possession of the ancient family residence of Harristown, county Kildare. On the death of Sir Eichard Eustace, Knight, of Harristown, without issue male, this estate devolved on William Eitz-John Eustace of Castle- marten, father of the subject of this memoir. ' Catechism of Irish History, by Eev. J. O'Hanlon, p. 263. ' King James, Army List, p. 719. LIFE OF SIR MAUEICE EUSTACE, LORD CHANCELLOR. 359 Maurice Eustace was born at his father's seat Castle- chap. marten, about the year 1590. He was old enough to ^^_^_L. remember the last years of Queen Elizabeth and the ac- ^^^"'^^ cession of James I. He must have shared the feelings of bom about enthusiasm with which James was regarded in Ireland, and remembered how very delusive were the hopes then entertained. The Irish regarded him as, in many respects, their rightful sovereign, descended from Edward Bruce, who was crowned King of Ireland at Dundalk, a.d. 1315. Accession They also thought that the son of the pious Catholic, Mary Queen of Scots, would have tender regard to those who professed the faith which had comforted his mother in her long and rigorous imprisonments, and made her execution more a release than a punishment. As Maurice Maurice was to practise the legal profession, he devoted himself for].|"^i^^ very assiduously to the study of the law. He received the best education his native country then afforded, was a graduate of the recently chartered University of Dublin, and therein attained a remarkable degree of learning, for he gained a Fellowship in Trinity College, Dublin, in Fellow of 1619. Having duly kept the requisite terms, and eaten of CoUeo^, the allotted legal dinners at his Inn of Court, Maurice Dublin, 1619. Eustace was called to the bar. A grant to him, by letters patent, enable me to mention that he was admitted to the practice of the law by the Benchers of Lincoln's Inn. ''^^1"^'^'^ The grant is ' of lands to Maurice Eustace utter barrister coin's Inn. of Lincoln's Inn, a native of Ireland, and his heirs, in consideration of the services of John Eustace his father.' ' The lands mentioned in the grant are Harristown, and some other denominations, which may have been part of the forfeited lands ; and Maurice Eustace had sufficient interest to obtain a grant of them, whereby he acquired a new title, freed from any question of attainder. He soon Legal at- established a high legal reputation in Ireland, and his *^"'"^'''^' knowledge of every department of law was considerable. He was a very clear-headed man and lost no opportunity ' This appears to be a mibtake. His father's name was William Fitz-John Eustace. 360 EEIGN OF CHARLES II. CHAP. XXIV. Serjeant. Favour- ably noticed by Lord Went- ■worth. Judge of Assize. Speaker in 1639. His speech, of advancing his own interests, so that lie stood well with, the antagonistic parties into which it is the sad destiny of Ireland to be perpetually divided. The natural result of confidence in legal talents followed — briefs, came pouring into the lawyer's study. Mr. Eus- tace soon acquired very extensive practice and obtained the rank of Serjeant-at-Law. His capacity for business, his gi'eat and varied learning and integrity, recommended him most strongly to the Deputy — Lord Wentworth ; a man whose favour was not lightly won. The estimate this imperious Viceroy formed of Serjeant Eustace has been already mentioned in the reprimand he gave Lord Chan- cellor Lord Loftus for passing over the Serjeant and nominating a Mr. Alexander a Judge of Assizes in 1687, when Mr. Serjeant Catlin died on circuit.' In 1639, the Irish House of Commons elected Mr. Serjeant Eustace their speaker, 'being a wise, learned, and discreet man of great integrity.' On March 20th, the Speaker, with other members of the Commons, being sent for, attended at the bar of the House of Lords, where the Lord Lieutenant sat in state. The usual formalities having been gone through, the learned speaker was de- termined to display the great stores of his mind by deliver- ing an address which is remarkable for the bombastic and inflated style peculiar to that pedantic period. As a specimen of the Serjeant's oratory I give it place : ^ ' Welcome, most worthy Lord, to the new birth of this our Parliament ; this is the voice of the House of Commons, and I am sure it is the voice of the whole assembly; it is besides vox Populi abroad, and I make no doubt but it is vox Bei ; for otherwise, how could your Lordship have had such an auspicious passage, considering how the winds blew, but that the prayers and strong wishes of the Royal Assembly prevailed against the winds, to waft your Lord- ship over to us, and that at such a time, wherein your Lordship may say. In tempore veni, &c. I hope it will prove ' Ante, p. 323. ^ Commons' Journal, Ireland, vol. i. p. 134. LIFE OF SIE MAURICE EUSTACE, LOUD CHANCELLOE. 361 SO to me, the most humble of your Lordship's servants, for CHAP. I have appealed from the House of Commons unto your ■ , — 1- Lordship's impartial justice, and all the grounds of my appeal is shortly this : — ' The Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses here assembled, by his Majesty's Most Eoyal License, to consult about the great and mighty affairs of this kingdom, not observing, as it seemeth, that cujuscumque potissima pars est prin- cipium, have, upon their first entrance into this great work, made choice of me, the most unworthy amongst them, to be their Speaker. ' It hath been heretofore the most constant use in all times, that those, who for their great parts were accounted like gods amongst men, were always chosen for this place, and, like the golden apple which fell from heaven, it had a detur digniori upon it ; but those worthiest are all passed over, and they have stooped upon me, the lowest shrub in this great Libanon; for which cause I do, in aU humbleness, appeal unto your Lordship for justice, and do humbly pray that your Lordship will be pleased, in your great wisdom, and in favour of the great service now in hand, to give directions unto them to proceed unto a more worthy choice.' This application not being ac- ceded to, the speaker continued : — ' May it please your Lordship, this gracious encourage- ment hath put new life and spirit into me, and methinks I do hear, to my great comfort, a divine whisper within me of that speech which God used to Moses, when he was unwilling to be their speaker, " who hath made man's Eesembles mouth, or who maJceth the dumb, or the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind, have not I, the Lord ? " ' Now, therefore, my Lord, be thou my mouth, as Thou didst promise to be with Moses, and teach me what I shall say, that so my mouth may speak of wisdom, and the meditation of my heart may be of understanding, and Thou that hast the hearts of all men in Thy hands, as the rivers of waters, so guide and direct this Great Council, which is now summoned and called together ad tradandum de 362 EEIGN OF CHAELES II. CHAP. XXVI. Compares the Vice- roy to one of the Greek Sagas. Spiritual Peers. arduis negotiis regni, tliat all of us may be of one mind in all such things which may concern Thy glory, the honour of our King, the safety of ourselves, and the good of our country, and all this royal assembly here present say Amen. And now that I have taken my rise from God, according to the old rule observed amongst the very heathen, a Jove principium, give me leave, before I leave this mount, to contemplate the glory which I see, a glory far surpassing that which was to be seen in the Roman senate-house when it was in the greatest glory.' He then proceeds to pass in review the constituent branches of the legislature. It is very quaint and not with- out merit : — ' For, in the first place, methinks I see your Lordship, like another Solon or Lycurgus, studying the good of this your country. Your country let me now call it, and I beseech your Lordship to account it so, seeing God hath exceedingly blessed your Lordship with a kind of blessing since your first entrance thereunto, and that we hope your Lordship will have a numerous posterity amongst us, and let it be your Lordship's greatest ambi- tion to say Mc ames did pater atque princeps, and let that of the twelve tables be most supreme in your Lordship's thoughts, salus hujus populi suprema lex esto. ' Next in order I see placed the glorious lights of our Church, the Most Reverend Archbishops and Bishops, who show us the true via laetea which leadeth unto heaven. ' When your Lordship came first amongst us, the most of these lights did but burn dim, and many of them were like to be extinguished for want of oyle in their lamps ; but your Lordship's first care was, that their lamps, as next fit, should be trimmed and replenished, and that these lights, which show us the way to heaven, should be placed in golden candlesticks, and so the thief which wasted the candle was taken away. ' I cannot think this to be the least cause of your Lord- ship's great success in all your undertakings ; for I have it from the mouth of Truth, " Those which honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." LIFE OF SIE MAUEICE EUSTACE, LORD CHANCELLOR. 363 And this is the method which his Lordship, in my poor CHAP, observation, hath hitherto kept in the course of his govern- r • . ment, " to give unto Grod the things which are God's, and unto Csesar the things which are Caesar's." Witness the great increase of revenue which hath come into God's house and into the Exchequer by j'our Lordship's means ; in both which, though many of your Lordship's prede- cessors have done worthily, yet your Lordship doth sur- mount them all ; let all who can deny it. ' Next unto these in order, I do with much ioy behold Temporal Peers, the nobles of our land, like many sparkling stars, shining in this our firmament ; and all of them gladiis succincti, ready in their order, like so many stars, to fight against Sisera, if there were occasion ; amongst which, I may say of your Lordship as was said of Julius Caesar : — Micas inter omnes velut inter ignes Luna minores. ' The time was, and that not very long since, when a man might espy in the horizon, which is now so clear and serene, some like blazing stars, or rather fiery comets, breathing nothing but ruin and destruction to their country ; others, like wandering stars, following irregular motions ; and some like falling stars, leaving the station wherein they were placed. But these, my Lords, are so fixed in their proper orbs, and move so naturally in the sphere of loyalty and obedience, following our Charles Wayne, that you may as well pluck a star out of the fixed firmament as throw any of these from their loyalty and obedience. ' Next unto these, I do with joy behold the Chief Judges Chief of the land, attended by his Majesty's learned Council, Kin?s^^° and ready to untye any Gordian knot which shall be pro- Counsel. posed unto them. The rest of the Judges are, at this time, dispersed in several parts of the kingdom, like painful bees, labouring in their several places to bring honey to the bee-hive of the Commonwealth, and to increase it. ' The time was, and not very long since, when the Judges 3C4 EEIGN OF CHAELES II. Brehon laws abandoned. The Com- mons. State of Ireland. of our land were, as it were, impaled within the English Pale, and went no further ; hut now their circuit is, like the sun, from one end of the kingdom unto the other, and there is no place where their voice and sound is not heard. The Brehon law, with her two brats of Tanistry and Irish gavelkind, like the child of the bond-woman, are cast out as spurious, and every man desireth and rejoiceth that the Common law, which is the child of the freewoman, should reign over them. Let not, God, this sceptre depart from our Judah, nor such law-givers from between her feet, until Shiloh come again ! ' And, in this survey, let me not pass over in silence the knights, citizens, and burgesses, without whom these superior bodies, which we have ail this time admired, can no more move than the natural body can walk without feet ; for take these away, or do but strain the veins and sinews, by which they are tied together, and this goodly frame, which we see like antient Rome, ruit mole sua ; for these are carda rerum, the vei'y hinge upon which all busi- ness here below doth move ; and, therefore, most excellent Lord, as I said before, salus populi suprema lex esto ; for then decies repetita placeiit.' Having at considerable length referred to the condition of many European nations, this rather prosy speaker con- trasted the then peaceful state of Ireland with the days ' when there was nothing heard but the rattling noise of the drum and trumpet, the neighing of horses, looking after lost masters, the shrieks of the wounded and slain.' ' Now every man doth sit in safety at home, under his own roof, our swords are turned into plow- shares, and we have wholly forgotten the use of war. Jam fides, et pax, et honor, pudorque Prisons, et neglecta redire virtus Andet ; apparetque beata pleno Copia cornu.' He next referred to the writs which formerly compelled the Irish nobles to attend the king in ' Westmonasterum ad tractandum cutn proceribus hujus Regni de statu LIFE OF SIR MAURICE EUSTACE, LORD CHAKCELLOR. 365 HibernBe,' lie contended that, by Poyning's Act, providing CHAP, that Bills which are to be passed here shall be first trans- .__^_1^ mitted into England, and, when approved, these are to be ^"["'"^^ sent hither, with power to reject or receive them. He said, ' Thus England is become an handmaid to her weaker sister, and that power and freedom are given nnto ns, that England cannot make laws at this day, to bind our estates without our consent ; a very great and high honour, and so to be accounted.' He wound up his long, and rather tire- some harangue by the usual formula of asking freedom of Usual speech, and the other privileges of Parliament.' The important office of Master of the Eolls was granted Master of to Mr. Serjeant Eustace in 1644, and he discharged the *'^''K°ll''' duties with efficiency and attention. The Speaker's cattle were not respected by the troops. Speaker's In 1647, Sir Maurice Eustace made an unintelligible state- taken. ment, which, in the margin of its journals, is stated, ' Com- plaint of the Speaker.' It is so incomprehensible, that, but for the order of the House, there could be no inference drawn from it. I transcribe it as printed in the jour- nal : " — ' Mr. Speaker, — That little fortune in Kildare is lost ; Complaint. and that was left I brought to Irishtowne, and from other of this House, and by the gallantry of an officer of the horse, that Lieutenant Harman may command those soldiers.' — Sic orig. It is ordered 'that Lieutenant Harman do cause the Orders troops under his command, who took the cattle from ' ®''''°°' Clontarffe belonging unto Sir Maurice Eustace, Knight, Speaker of this House, under pretence of contribution, do forthwith bring them back, and leave them at the same place from whence they were taken ; whereof he or they do not fail.' The Speaker was in some trouble about words imputed Speaker in to him, as conniving at Papists sitting in Parliament. The words were, " You need not put him to his oath. I ' Commons' Journals of Ireland, vol. i. p. 134. ■' Jbid. p. 369. 366 KEIGN OF CHAELES II. CHAP, wish we had more of them.' Simon Luttrell was the XXVI. 11 J ■, i > , person alluded to. Words It appearing^ that the words were spoken at dinner, and dinMr. ^ reference to some wager, the House considered the matter should drop ; and Captain Schoute, who was the person stating ' that a Papist sat in the House,' should he reconciled to the Speaker, whereon the following edifying scene took place.' 'Memorandum. — That Mr. Speaker would give good example ; that he did call for Captain Schoute, who cam5 to the chair, and shook hands together.' Eulogies When the Session was over, a marked compliment bpeaker. attests the sense entertained of the services of Sir Maurice Eustace as Speaker. ' The House, understanding that there is a resolution to prorogue the Parliament for some long time, and not knowing when they shall meet again, did take into theu" consideration the many good services performed by Sir Maurice Eustace, Knight, their Speaker, unto the House, his singular affections to the English nation, and public services, his earnest endeavours for the advancement of the Protestant religion, the inveterate hatred and malice of the detestable rebels, many ways declared and acted against him, and the great expense which he hath been formerly at, for the honour and service of the House, and having at the present no better way of requital than to convey the memory thereof to posterity, do think fit, in manifestation of their high esteem thereof, to declare, and do hereby declare the same to be such, as in all times ought to be remembered for his advantage, and do therefore order that this be entered amongst the Acts and Orders of this House.' It is not my province, and certainly could afford me neither profit nor pleasure, to recount the terrible civil war of this dreadful period, from 1641 to 1652. That there were fearful massacres on both sides cannot be denied ; and, whether that of Island Magee preceded that of Lisbum, or the slaughter of Lisburn provoked that of ' Com. Jour. Ir. vol. i. p. 373. ' Ibid. p. 374. LIFE OF SIE MAUEICE EUSTACE, LORD CHANCELLOR. 367 Island Magee, is now matter of little moment. Good men CHAP. . . XXVI of all parties must lament these blots upon national his- . — 1, — 1^ tory; and, I make no doubt, it is best to forget them. The results of the civil war had, however, a very disas- trous effect upon the beaten party. It placed almost unlimited power in the hands of the conquerors, who used it in exterminating, under the sanction of Acts of Parlia- ment, those spared by the sword. The horrors of the transplanting have recently been graphically described, and the subject has been fully and fearlessly exposed.' I pass on gladly to brighter days. Even in the midst of the conflict of contending parties some gleams of sunshine beamed forth. The state of the North of Ireland in 1655, State of is cleverly described in the following charge delivered to i655. the Grand Jury at the Quarter Sessions held at London- derry, on January 21, in that year :^ — ' Gentlemen, ' In obedience to this command, and in pursuance Charge at of the trust reposed in us by this Commission, which „„^,'?^lt'^ you have heard, we are thus publicldy and openly as- sembled here this day — a day which, to us, is a calm after a tempest ; a sunshine after a fog ; a time of peace and tranquillity after the horror and confusion of an intestine war, and the distraction of an unsettled Commonwealth. It were but a loss of time and labour to descant on the present state of things, or to cast into the balance the advantages and emoluments of a peaceable and orderly Government, with the spoils, rapines, and innumerable calamities of a rebellious and domestic war. Ton all that are now partakers of the benefit of the one, can give a more ample and judicious account, having a more distinct re- c membrance, and some of you a woeful experience, of the effects of the other. Religion, the mother of Peace ; Plenty, the daughter ; and Law, the guardian — how often, how long have they been obscured, estranged, and ravished ' The Cromwellian Settlement by Prendcrgast. 2ncl edn. Longmans : 1870. ^ From papers of Sir John Henry Butler (of the Orniond family), published in Anthol. Hib. Tol. i. p. 413. 368 EEIGN OF CHARLES II. CHAP. XXVI. Eeligion restored. Plenty diffused. Laws speak agaiu. Offences. from US ; and, in their stead, Heresy had misguided us. Famine devoured us, and the lawless arbitrary humours of evil men undone us ! — but now, through the great goodness of God, and the prudent care of him that governs us, we begin to recover from our miseries, and to return to our pristine establishment. Eeligion is presented to us in so many shapes, and preached to us by so many mouths of all sorts, that, unless we be blind and deaf, we cannot miss it. Plenty was never more generally, more sensibly known to this nation. The windows of heaven are largely opened, and the fertile womb of the earth hath prodigally delivered her burthen, to our comfort and refreshment; insomuch that I might well say (but that Latin is forbid- den) there is a cornucopia among you. ' The laws, which the loud clamour of war had so long silenced, do now speak aloud in our ears, the Courts are re-erected, and the law books are thrown open before us, and being translated into our mother tongue, we can now, without relying on the weak crutches of human learning, pry into those secrets which were hidden from our fore- fathers, and speak our minds in plain English. A ready instance and confirmation hereof is our free and unmo- lested meeting here this day; where, according to the several articles empowering us to sit here, I will briefly inform such as know not, and put in mind such as know already, their duty and business in this place.' He then detailed the usual business at Quarter Ses- sions. The offences were as follows. They show very lax morality of the people. ' You are impartially to present all such as are guilty of — '1. Profaning the Sabbath by keeping fairs or markets, by manual labour, by plays, haunting taverns and alehouses. ' 2. Cursers and common swearers. Common turbulent drunkards. Common adulterers. Fornicators. Keepers of common gaming-houses, and common '3. '4. 6. gamesters. LIPE OF SIR MAURICE EUSTACE, LORD CHANCELLOR. 369 ' 7. Alehouse keepers that keep misorder in their houses. CHAP. ' 8. Plowing by the tail. J^^IL- ' 9. Pulling the wool of liring sheep. ' 10. Burning of corn in the straw. '11. Selling of wine, ale, or any other liquor, in any town franchised, by measure not sealed. ' 12. Cosherers and idle wanderers.' The learned chairman thus concludes : — ' I have now only one thing to mind you of, as a general caution to you in presentments, that, in those you make you set down, to a certainty of the person presented, with the time and place, with the manner of the fact; otherwise let the matter be what it will, for which you do present any man, the presentment may become void and of no effect, for defect in the manner of making it and setting it down will make it void. ' Now, gentlemen, proceed to your business ; and let your skill and better judgment supply in your presentments, whatsoever defects you hate discovered in the charge and in the deliverer of it, whom my brethren have desired to perform this task, though being the least able, and only a probationer in this place.' The Restoration of the House of Stuart, in 1660, Was The Re- expected to be a blessing to the Catholic people of Ireland. ^*°'^^*^°°- They had fought bravely for the father of Charles II., and incurred the heavy weight of Cromwell's anger ; therefore they expected to have their estates restored, and rewards for past services in recompense for recent sorrows. To their surprise and indignation they found little assurance of these expectations being fulj&Ued. Determined enemies — Coote, created Earl of Mountrath, and the Earl of Orrery were named Lord Justices ; — with them was j olned Sie Matt- lians in EiCE Eustace, who was appointed Lord Chancellor, and ° ,'^'^' many of the most violent adherents of the stern Protector Eustace, were allowed to fill the highest offices. On the Bestoration, Jp^"^ ^ Chan- a new Great Seal was engraved for Ireland. In England cellor. the Eoyalists were sufficient to assert their superiority, and g^ J '^^^^^ the Cromwellians, who got possession of the estates of the VOL. I. B B 370 EEIGN OF CHAELES II. CHAP. XXVI. Chichester House, in 1661. House of Lords. Commons. Lord Chan- cellor also Lord Justice. Primate as Speaker. His ad- dress. Cavaliers, had to restore them at once ; it was otherwise in Ireland. The Lords Justices reported that the English troops were very numerous in Ireland, well-armed and masters of all the cities and strongholds, so that it would be dangerous to provoke them. In this state of affairs the first Parliament for the space of twenty years was sum- moned. They assembled at Chichester House on May 8, 1661. The buildiag contained at that time a large cham- ber, which was the House of Lords, two committee-rooms for their use, a robing-room, a stairhead-room, a chamber wainscoted at the foot of the stairs. The Commons' as- sembly- room, two committee-rooms for the use of members of the House of Commons, the Speaker's chambers, two rooms for the Serjeant-at-Arms, three rooms for clerks. A gatehouse next the street, with several rooms and a spacious garden, containing a large banqueting-house. Although Sir Maurice Eustace was then Lord Chan- cellor, as he was at this time one of the Lords Justices, I find John Bramhall, the Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of all Ireland, was appointed Speaker of the House of Lords by royal Commission. He accordingly sat on the woolsack, the Lords Justices, Sir Maurice Eustace, Eoger Boyle, Earl of Orrery, and Charles Coote, Earl of Mountrath, having seats elevated above the other peers, and a canopy or cloth of state over their heads. Lord Baltinglas bore the Sword of State, Viscount Montgomery the Cap of Maintenance, and the Earl of Kildare the robe. I find in this Parliament only one Roman Catholic member, and he, with an Anabaptist, were both returned for Tuam. This formed a subject of congratulation in the Speaker's (Sir Audley Mervyns) address to the Lords Jus- tices : ' I may warrantably say, since Ireland was happy under an English Government, there was never so choice a collection of Protestant fruit that ever grew within the walls of the Commons House. Tour Lordships have piped in your summons to this Parliament, and the Irish have danced. How many have voted for and signed to the LIFE OF SIR MAUEICE EUSTACE, LOED CHANCELLOR. 371 returns of Protestant elections ? So that we may hope chap. XXVT for, as we pray, that Japheth may he persuaded to dwell in - ! , " . the tent of Shem.' ' Sir William Temple,^ Sir James Wane,^ Sir William Petty,^ and D. Dudley Loftus, sat in this Parliament.'^ One of the first Acts of the reign of Charles II. was that Act of Set- for the Settlement of Ireland. Three classes were to be t^^'^ent. provided for. Firstly, the Irish Catholics, who had been Three dispossessed of their lands. Secondly, Cromwell's soldiers, ^'•^^^'^^ ^'■^ who had been allotted Irish lands in lieu of arrears of pa}', vided for. Thirdly, officers who had served the King before 1649, and whose arrears were unpaid. It provided that the soldiers Soldiers, and adventurers should be settled on the lands possessed by them, and their properties secured to them and their heirs. The officers, termed the '49 men, were to receive Ofiicers, houses, estates and securities in corporate towns, and in addition, a large sum of money, although many of them had fought against King Charles I. The claims of the Irish Catholics were postponed until those in possession of and Irish their estates were fully repaid their advances, or money Catholics. due for arrears of pay. While the Act of Settlement was in progress through ' Gilbert's History of Dublin, vol. iii. p. 60. ' Ancestor of the late Lord Palmerston. ' The learned antiquary. ' Ancestor of the Marquis of Lansdowne. ° The Irish members were paid from an early date. In the writ of summons Payment of Edward III., when James BotUer was Justiciary of Ireland, the King enjoins of mem- that rationabilis expenses be paid. In the year 1613, the fees payable to bers. Members were: Knights of the Shire, 13s. id. a-day; citizens, lOs. ; and for burgesses, 6s. 8d. a-day. In November 1614, an attempt to reduce these sums was made. On this the House ordered that every Knight be allowed but 6s. 8d., every citizen 6s., and every burgess 3s. id., but when any special agreement was made, the sum so agreed on was to be paid. The Commons afterwards returned to the former rates, until 1665, when it was reported that inconveniences had arisen in collecting the wages of Members, and that uo warrants should issue for any wages due from September 27, 1662. This practice was found to be so much abused by the perpetration of frauds and improper appropriation of the funds — Lords and gentry who had private Bills before the House, or who had other personal occasions to attend Parlia- ment, though not Members, often obtained payment as though they were, which caused the payment of Members to be altogether abolished shortly after the time of the Restoration. n E 2 372 KEIGN OF CHAELES II. CHAP, the Parliament of England, tlie Government was greatly • " , — ■ embarrassed by conflicting claims. The Duke of Ormond, dai'ms':''"^ writing in 1662 to Lord Chancellor Eustace, states this Letter Very clearly : ^ ' You will receive from other hands, who Duk ''f^ ^^® more at leisure than I am, an account how, where, Ormond to and for what reason, the Bill is at a stand for near a Chan- fortnight. I confess I am not able to see through the end cellor. of a settlement. For if the adventurers and soldiers must be satisfied to the extent of what they suppose intended for them by the Declaration, and if all that accepted, and constantly adhered, to the peace of 1648 must be restored, as the same Declaration seems also to intend, and was partly declared to be intended at the last debate, there must be new discoveries made of a new Ireland, for the old will not serve to satisfy these engagements. It' remains then to determine which party must sniffer in default of means to satisfy all ; or whether both must be proportionably losers.' Conduct ol The course taken by the Lords Justices, the Earls of Lords Justices. Mouutrath and Orrery, was to bribe all who would support the cause of the adventurers and soldiers. They raised Their privately about 30,000L, and employed as agents to further their views Dr. Boyle, the right Reverend Bishop of Cork, afterwards Lord Chancellor of Ireland for twenty years. Lord Kingston, and Mr. Pigot, Master of the Wards. These agents spared no pains to urge on the English Members that the adventurers and soldiers were in posses- sion, with power and strength to hold the lands, and had the title of the Acts of 17 and 18 Charles I., also the King's Breda Declaration, on the faith of which they advanced the King's Eestoration. On the other hand, the Irish acted so imprudently that they alienated the Duke of Ormond, who was disposed to befriend them, and whose knowledge of Ireland during the recent troubles would have given p;reat weight to his suggestions. In another letter to the Lord Chancellor, the Duke says : 'We are in the heat of our debates upon the great Bill, and I fear the liberty allowed ' Carte's Ormond, vol. ii. p. 240. agents. LIFE OF SIR MAURICE EUSTACE, LORD CHANCELLOR. 373 the Irish to speak for themselves will turn to their pre- CHAP. . ..... XXVI judice, by the unskilful use they make of it in justifying ' - themselves, instructing the King and his Council in what is good for them, and recriminating of others.' ' One of the most active, and, if his own statement could be credited, influential, agents for the Irish was Colonel Colonel Eichard Talbot, youngest son of Sir William Talbot, a f^^^^^ lawyer ^ and a man of good parts, who by his prudence and management had acquired a large estate, which he left to his eldest son. Sir Robert Talbot. When the King declared ' he would have the English interest established in Ireland,' the unfortunate Irish Catholics knew they were to be the sufferers, and, imagining the Duke of Or- mond had not befriended them as he ought, were extremely angry. Colonel Talbot expostulated roughly with the Duke, and told him his mind in such strong language, that his Grace felt it looked like a challenge, and waiting on the King, desired 'to know if it was his Majesty's pleasure that at this time of day he should put off his doublet to fight duels with Dick Talbot.' The King feeling the Talbot slight put on the Duke was undeserved, had Colonel Talbot toX'"^^ committed to the Tower, whence he was released upon Tower. making an apology.^ We may suppose this imprison- ment made a deep impression on the ambitious Talbot, and when he was subsequently of equal rank . with the Duke of Ormond, he was urgent in obtaining the repeal of the obnoxious Act of Settlement. In order to strengthen the King and the English Par- False liament in supporting the cause of the adventurers and rebellion. soldiers against the Irish Catholic proprietary, the agents of the English party spread a report of an intended Irish rebellion, founded upon meetings of the Irish Catholics for the performance of religious ceremonies at a jubilee. The Lord Chancellor was well persuaded of the injustice, and the mischief which was likely to flow from this mis- representation. He saw through the design of those who ' Carte's Ormond, vol. ii, p. 233. ' Ibid. p. 233. ' Ibid. 236. 374 EEIGN OF CHAELES II. Justices. ^^^- spread the report, and resolved to counteract it as far as - — , — '- lie could. He directed the Judges in their Circuits to cause the matter to be enquired into by the grand juries of the several counties through which they passed. The reports of the Judges — the findings of the juries, were decisive of the falsehood of this report. There was general tran- quillity — calm everywhere; no preparations for a rising, or any reason to apprehend one. Yet the Lords Justices or at least Lords Orrery and Mountrath, stated that it Insvating 'would be destructive to the English interest to admit the conduct of Irish to settle and trade in corporate towns, or to allow Roman Catholic lawyers to practise in their profession, both which had been allowed by his Majesty's letters. The Earl of Mountrath also seconded a motion in the Irish House of Peers, moved by Lord Conway, ' That the Irish Catholic Peers should be removed out of the House, and some course taken by the Lords Justices to exclude them fi'om sitting.' This motion was strongly resisted by the Lord Chancellor, and rejected with indignation.' Mean- time the Act of Settlement was the law of the land, and the Catholics discovered that their claims were postponed until those adventurers and soldiers, whom the power of Cromwell had placed in their ancestral estates, should be compensated. True the King had promised while in exile that their just rights should be respected, and Ormond had ex- pressly renewed this promise for the King before he left for Breda ; nay more, Charles told his Parliament, on his Restoration, that ' he expected they would have a care of his honour and of the promise he had made.' These most solemn engagements were so regularly violated when Irish affairs were concerned, that nothing else could have been expected.'' In order to allay any rising fears on the part of the anti-Irish settlers that they would be dis- turbed in their recently acquired estates, the Duke of Ormond, in a letter to the Speaker of the Irish House of ' Carte's Ormond, vol. ii. p. 232. ''■ Illustrated History of Ireland, p. 521. The King's promise. LIFE OF SIR MAURICE EUSTACE, LORD CHANCELLOR. 375 Commons, dated March 9, 1662, informs liim, 'that the snp- CHAP. . . XXVI port and security of the true Protestant English interest -_ — , — '— was the earnest desire of his Majesty, and the assiduous {^tter endeavour of his servants would clearly appear, when it should be considered, how the Council and Parliament were composed ; and withal if it be remembered of whom the army consisted ; who were in judicature in the King's Courts ; who were appointed by his Majesty for executing the Act of Settlement ; and who were in magistracy in the towns and counties ; in which trusts is founded the security, interest, and preference of a people.' ' Although a Court of Claims sat in Dublin to try the Court of claims of those Irish who were ejected during the Common- ^'™^' wealth, and the framer of the Act took care few claimants could be benefited thereby, yet the Puritan faction was Puritan alarmed. They devised a plan for seizing the castle and raising a rebellion. Some members of the House of Commons, several officers of the army, and Puritan mini- sters combined under the leadership of a man named Blood. The castle was to have been seized on May 21, 1663. The Duke of Ormond, then Lord Lieutenant, had The plot information in time to prevent the execution of the plot. A number of the conspirators were seized, of whom four were hanged. This put an end to the conspiracy, which was of a nature likely to have been very formidable. Dis- banded soldiers of the CromweUian army intended to place Ludlow at their head. The King and House of Lords were to be abolished, and instead of Bishops, a ' sober and painful ministry ' were to preside over matters of religion. Seven members of Parliament were among Members the conspirators ; they were ignominiously expelled, and ^^^ the prisons of Dublin were crowded with traitors. Ormond was recalled to England to assist in preparing The Act a new Act. This was called the ' Act of Explanation.' \^^^l^ '^■ It provided that Protestants should be guaranteed posses- sion of their estates, and that only such Catholics as were declared ' innocent ' should be entitled to claim any lands. ' Com. Jour. vol. ii. p. 299. 376 EEIGN OF CHAELES II. CHAP. Owing to this proviso, three thousand persons were ex- , — L- eluded from any chance of recovering their estates, which they beheld, with bitterness and sorrow, transferred to soldiers and adventurers who had been their foes in the war Disap- when they fought for the King. While these men were of the Irish ^^ft to starvation and beggary, the Acts of Settlement and Catholics. Explanation rankled in their hearts ; and we can hardly feel much surprise, bearing this chapter of Irish history in our memory, how within a few years, these Irish Ca- tholic gentlemen struggled to obtain the repeal of those measures which, in their eyes, were but legalised in- justice. The Chan- Sir Maurice Eustace continued Chancellor until failing resigns health obliged him to relinquish the Great Seal to Arch- office, bishop BoTLE, who was appointed his successor. The Chan- The Ex-Lord Chancellor took great delight in his coun- his country tiy Seat of Harristown, and by his taste for the pictu- seat, Har- resque, so aided the natural beauties of the locality, that Harristown was regarded the handsomest seat in that part of Ireland. The house was spacious and commodious, supplied with convenient and well-placed offices. A lofty terrace commanded a lovely prospect in which wood and water combined to delight the eye and please the mind. On a transparent lake the stately swan and smaller aquatic fowls floated, while a miniature ship, perfectly rigged, sufficiently large for a pleasure yacht, attracted attention from its complete proportions. The neighbouring woods were well stocked with game, and the grounds laid out with exquisite taste and kept neat and trim. Stately avenues, bowers impervious to the sun, broad alleys of noble trees met the eye in every direction, while fruit and flower gardens displayed the skiU of the florist and horti- culturist. Death of Sir Maurice Eustace died in 1665, having by will, made ceTlor.^"' ■t^^* year, bequeathed his chief estates in Kildare, Dublin, His will. and Wicklow, together with the Abbey of Cong, in the county of Mayo, and its appurtenances, severally to his nephews. Sir John and Sir Maurice Eustace, in tail male. LIFE OF SIE MAUEICE EUSTACE, LORD CHANCELLOE. 377 He also devised to the Provost and Board of Trinity Col- CHAP. lege, Dublin, a rent charge of 201. per armv/m, chargeable ._ , 1^ on the great house built by him in Dame Street,' for the maintenance of an Hebrew lecturer. With a desire to rest among his kindred, he directed his remains to be interred in the old family vault at Castle- martin. However, for what motive does not appear, this request was not complied with, for he was buried in St. Patrick's Cathedral.^ While Sir Maurice Eustace was A good Chancellor there was a fair share of business in the Court, ggjfo"" and his great talents as a lawyer enabled him to dispose of the business satisfactorily to the suitors and the pro- fession. ' King James, Irish Army List by D' Alton, p. 720. Probably where Eustace Street now stands. " Ibid. p. 720. 378 REiaN OF CHAELES 11. CHAPTEE XXVII. CHAP. XXVII. Tile family of Boyle. Career of Kichard ; the Great Earl of Cork. Early life. Seeks his fortune in Ireland. What he started ■with. lOED CnANCELLOR BOTLE, AKCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH. The family of Boyle in Ireland owe tlieir fame and for- tune to one of the most remarkable personages in history, Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork, who, though not a Chan- cellor, claims a lengthened notice in my pages. He was born at Canterbury on October 3, 1566. His father died when he was but ten years old, and he tells us : ' After the decease of my father and mother, I being the second son of a younger brother, having been a scholar in Ben- nett's College, Cambridge, and a student in the Middle Temple, London, finding my means unable to support me to study the laws in the Inns of Court, put myself into the service of Sir Richard Manwood, Knight, Lord Chief Baron of his Majesty's Court of Exchequer, whom I served as one of his clerks ; and perceiving that the employment would not raise a fortune, I resolved to travel into foreign lands, and to gain learning and knowledge and experience abroad in the world. And it pleased the Almighty, by his divine Providence,' to take me, I may justly say, by the hand and lead me into Ireland, where I happily arrived in Dublin, on the Midsummer Eve, the 23rd day of June, 1588.' It is interesting to know the stock-in-trade necessary for an adventurous youth, gaining lordships and manors to the value of a hundred thousand a-year. Richard Boyle was twenty-two years of age, and on that Mid- summer Eve, when he walked the streets of Dublin ' all my wealth then was 211. 3s. in money, with two tokens which my mother had given me — viz., a diamond ring, ' The motto over the gateway of the Castle of Lismore is, ' God's Providence te mine Inheritance.' THE GREAT EARL OP CORK. 37& whicli I liave ever since and still do wear, and a bracelet chap. ■y"V"'yTT of gold worth about ten pounds ; a taffety doublet, cut . , — L- witli and upon taffety, a pair of- black velvet breeches, laced, a new Milan fustian suit, laced and cut upon taffety, two cloaks, competent linen, and necessaries, with my rapier and dagger.' With his skill in turning every circumstance to profit, he soon acquired considerable property, and likewise con- siderable envy. He says : — ' When God had blessed me with a reasonable fortune and estate. Sir Henry Wallop ; Sir Robert Gardiner, Chief Justice of the King's Bench ; Sir Robert Dillon, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas ; and Sir Eichard Bingham, Chief Commissioner of Con- naught, being displeased for some purchases I made in that province, they all joined together by their lies, com- plaining against me to Queen Elizabeth, expressing that I Com- came over without any estate, and that I make so many La\ns1: purchases as it was not possible to do without some ^^^ foreign prince's purse to supply me with money. That I had acquired divers Castles and Abbeys upon the sea-side, fit to entertain and receive Spaniards. That I kept in my Abbeys fraternities, and convents of friars in their habits, who said mass continually, and that I was suspected in my religion ; with divers other malicious suggestions.' At this period the Desmond rebellion broke out, and all his lands were wasted. Boyle contrived to reach London, and betook himself to his former chamber in the Middle Temple, intending to renew his legal studies till the rebellion was suppressed. But he must tell his own story : — ' Eobert Earl of Essex was designed for the Go- Recom- vernment of this Kingdom (Ireland), unto whose service I was recommended by Mr. Anthony Bacon, whereupon his Lordship very nobly received me, and used me with favour and grace, in employing me in issuing out his patents and, commissions for the Government of Ireland ; already Sir Henry Wallop, treasurer, having notice, and being conscious in his own heart, that I had sundry papers and collections of Michael Kettlewell, his late mended to 380 REIGN OF CHARLES II. CHAP. XXVII. Com- plaints renewed. Taken prisoner. Examined before the Queen. The Qaeen's judgment in his favour. under treasurer, whicli might discover a great deal of wrong and abuse, done to tlie Queen in Ms late accounts, and suspecting, if I were countenanced by the Earl of Essex, that I would bring those things to light, which might much prejudice or ruin his reputation or estate, although I vow to God, until I was provoked, I had no thought of it ; yet he, utterly to suppress me, renewed his former complaints against me to the Queen's Majesty. Whereupon, by her Majesty's special directions, I was suddenly attacked, and conveyed close prisoner to the Gate-house, aU my papers seized and searched, and al- though nothing could appear to my prejudice, yet my close restraint was continued, till the Earl of Essex was gone to Ireland ; two months afterwards, with much suit, I obtained the favour of her sacred Majesty, to be present at my answers, when I so fully answered and cleared all their objections, and delivered such full and evident justi- fications for my own acquittal, as it pleased the Queen to use these words, " By G — 's death, these are but inventions against the young man, and all his sufferings are but for being able to do us service, and these complaints urged to forestal him therein. But we find him a man fit to be employed by ourselves, and we will employ him in our service, and Wallop and his adherents shall know that it shall not be in the power of any of them to wrong him, neither shall Wallop be any longer our Treasurer." Thereupon she directed her speech to the Lords of the Council then present, and commanded them presently to give her the names of six men, out of which she might choose one to be Treasurer of Ireland. Her election fall- ing on Sir George Carew of Cookington. And then the Queen arose from the Council, and gave orders, not only for my present enlargement, but also for discharging all my charges and fees during my restraint, and gave me her royal hand to kiss, which I did heartily, humbly thank- ing God for that deliverance.' Truly Eichard Boyle might have applied to himself the lines of the great contemporary dramatist : — THE GEEAT EAEL OF COEK. 381 Lo, even that which mischief meant most harm, CHAP. Shall in the hour of trial prove most goodly — XXVII. Evil shall back upon itself recoil. " ' ' Eicliard Boyle first married Mrs. Jane Apsley, wlio brought His first him landed property worth 5001. a-year. She died at Mai- "^"'"S^- low, in the county of Cork, on December 14, 1599, and was interred in Butteraut Church. He remained four years a widower, when he married secondly, on July 25, ^'^°^^ -I /-rvo /-N 1 J ' J ' marriage. 1603, Catherine, only daughter of Sir Geoffry Fenton, principal Secretary of State, and a Privy Councillor. This, he takes care to tell us, was not a mercenary marriage. ' I never demanded any marriage portion, neither promise of any, it not being in my consideration, yet her father, after my marriage, gave me 1,000L in gold with her ; but that gift of his daughter unto me, I must ever thankfully acknowledge as the crown of all my blessings, for she was a most religious, virtuous, loving, and obedient wife unto me all the days of her life, and the happy mother of all my hopeful children, whom with their posterity I praise God to bless.' On the occasion of his second marriage Richard Boyle Knighted, was knighted, and, by the patronage of Sir George Carew, Lord President of Munster, he was appointed Clerk of the Council for that province.' He was sent with dispatches to Queen Elizabeth, to announce the success Bears dis- of her Majesty's forces at Itinsale, and used such expedi- the°Queen. tion in his journey that he left the Lord President at Shandon Castle, Cork, on Monday niorning, and next day, Tuesday, delivered his packet, and supped with Sir Eobert Cecil, principal Secretary of State, at his house in the Strand. At seven in the morning Cecil presented Sir Richard Boyle to Queen Elizabeth in her bedchamber, who remembered him, calling him by his name, and giving him her hand to kiss. She said she was glad he was the happy man to bring her first news of that glorious vic- tory. ' Commission dated November 16, 1602. Salary 20/. per annum wilh large fees of office. 382 EEIGN OF CHARLES II. CHAP. XXVII. Purchases the estate of Sir Walter Baleigh. Letter to Ealeigh's On his return to Cork, Sir G-eorge Carew proposed that • Boyle should purchase the estates granted by the Crown to Sir Walter Ealeigh, which were then unprofitable. He also wrote to Sir Walter, urging him to sell these lands, then untenanted and of no value to him, and to Sir Robert Cecil, requesting that wily statesman to advise Ealeigh to sell these lands to Sir Eichard Boyle. The result was, property consisting of forty thousand acres, lying along the lovely valley of the Blackwater, in Munster, was pur- chased by Boyle for a thousand crowns.' ' This sale was questioned after the execution of Kaleigh. In Gibson's History of Cork, vol. ii. p. 31, is the following letter from the Earl written January 16, 1631, from Dublin, to Sir Walter's son : — ' ' Honourable Sir, — I received letters from you of November 11, 1630, where- unto I made you a present answer, and in these my letters did represent unto you the infinite trouble and charge that your lady-mother and yourself did undeservedly, without any just grounds, by unnecessary suits, draw upon me when I was in England, which I shall not thoroughly recover these many years. I also tendered to your consideration how I purchased your father's lands, when they were utterly waste and yielded him no profit. ' The sum that he and I agreed upon was really paid, whereof I paid him in ready- gold a thousand crowns sterling, after his attainder, when he was a prisoner in the Tower, Which debt of mine to him, being forfeited to His Majesty, I made choice (out of my love to him) rather to supply him with aU in his extremity than to accept a composition tendered to me by Sir John Eamsay, after Earl of Holderness, who, for five hundred marks in ready money, offered to procure me a discharge, under the broad seal for the debt, yet in regard your father made it appear unto me, that he hoped, so he might be supplied with the thousand crowns, that it would do him more good than a thousand pounds would have done him before he fell into his troubles, and much avail towards the procuring of his enlargement, which my affection guided me to make choice of, although it constrained me to tarry two months in London, and to sue out a release to the King for the money, under the G-reat Seal, at my own charge, which the fees, with my own stay in London for no other cause, was very expensive and burdensome unto me, it standing me in no less than two hundred pounds sterling. ' Again, upon my purchase from your father, he entered into bonds to me of six thousand crowns, which I have extant under his hand and seal, to free the land, as well from all arrears due to the Queen which amounted to abont one thousand marks, as from all other charges and encumbrances made by him, before he conveyed the lands to me. And I am confident, if Her Majesty's death and his own troubles had not happened, he would have cleared all these arrears, according to his undertaking, which afterwards I was enforced to dis- charge, as also to pay (as I can make it evidently appear) other two thousand seven hundred and odd pounds for freeing the lands from such former estates and encumbrances as your father hath made them liable and subject unto, contrary to his covenant and bond, upon either of which I could have no remedy against him by reason of his attainder.' THE GEEAT EAEL OP COEK. 383 Tlie purcliase cost the Earl of Cork more money tlian lie chap. ever paid to the unfortunate Su- Walter Ealeigh. On the - lands near Toughal, and close beside this historic town of J"^^^^^ which I have narrated the chief events,' stood the College of Youghal, a religious foundation of the Fitz Geralds of The letter further recites various sums given to Sir Walter and for his use. ' And the very day that he took shipping from Cork, on his last fatal voyage, he did me the honour to dine with me at Sir Eandall Clayton's house. Where he called unto him the Lord Barry, the Lord Eoche, his son Watt Ealeigh, Captain Whitney, and divers others ; and taking his son hy the hand told them all that I had kept continual house for three months together for him- self and his company, and that I had supplied him with several provisions for victualling of his ships, and with three hundred and fifty crowns in ready money, and also supplied most of his captains in his fleet with moneyi and that now I would needs press Upon him a hundred pounds in Trench crowns, which I have no need of nor will not take. He again took his Son by the hand, and said unto him, " Watt, you see how nobly my Lord Boyle hath entertained and supplied me and my friends, and therefore I charge you Upon my blessing, if it please God that you outlive me and return, that yoil ncVef question the Lofd Boyle for anything thai I have sold him, for I do lay my curse upon my wife and children if they ever question any of the purchases his Lordship hath made of me ; for if he had not bought my Irish land of me, by my fall it would hare come to the Crown, and then one Scot or other would have begged it, from whom neither! nor mine would have had anything for it, nor such courtesies as I now have received." I accompanied him on shipboard and at my depar- ture he reviewed the favours I had done him, and this was the last time that I saw his face. ' Sir, for conclusion I am well satisfied by very learned counsel, and 1 think you are of the same opinion, that neither yourself or your mother can either by law or equity recover anything from me, yet nevertheless, if you will both join, in perfecting such a release as my counsel shall draw wp, and I send unto you, and that without any condition I will maJce it appear unto you that I honour and respect those that your noble deceased father hath left behind him ; or if you rather desire to make your pretended right, either in law or equity, to appear before two indifferent and understanding lawyers that are men of learning and integrity, and that you likewise make it evident unto them what strength and addition of title, or any act your mother and you can do, that may tend to the bettering of your estate, I am very likely to be induced upon notice from you of the lawyer you will choose, to nominate and join another unto him to hear and determine your pretences. And so praying you to believe that I have not been so ill-bred to neglect the answering of any noble gentle- man's letters as I esteem you to be. I wish your lady-mother and yourself all happiness, so take leave. : ' Yours, Sir, to command, ' E. COEKE.' " Historical and Picturesque Guide to the Blackwater in Munster, by J. E. OTlanagan: Lond. 18-44. 384 BEIGN OF CHAELES II. CHAP, XXVII. Case of Bishop Atherton. Desmond, It possessed about 60011. a-year endowments; and in 1597, Nathaniel Baxter, then Warden of the College, was bound under penalty of a thousand marks to resign the place to Queen Elizabeth in forty days. Before this time expired Baxter assigned the College and the livings to Sir Thomas Norris, then Lord President of Munster. He trans- ferred it to William Jones of Toughal, as trustee for Sir Walter Ealeigh. Jones parted with his interest to Sir George Carew, who conveyed the same to Sir Eichard Boyle. On the attainder of Ealeigh, Boyle paid a thousand pounds to King James I., and obtained a patent, in 1604, for all Sir Walter Ealeigh's lands in Ireland, this College being on them ; but Sir James Fullarton had obtained, in the pre- vious year, 1603, a grant of concealed Church lands, which entitled him to claim the endowed lands of YoUghal College, so that Boyle ha,d to purchase afresh from !Fullar- ton, Boyle not being quite satisfied as to the validity of his title to these College lands, thought it well to have a kinsman Warden, and accordingly applied to Sir George Carew, that his relative. Doctor Boyle, be made Warden, which was acceded to. The Eeverend Dr. Boyle, when Warden of the College, conveyed the revenues shortly after the marriage of his kinsman, Sir Eichard, with the daughter of Sir Geoffrey Fenton, as a jointure for the lady. The indenture bears date April 8, 1605, and gets forth the College and all the edifices, lands, parsonageSj rectories, and vicarages, in more than one diocese, with all their advowsons and patronages, to hold in fee farm for ever, at a rent of twenty marks yearly.' The Bishop of Waterford, Dr. Atherton, took proceed- ings against the Earl of Cork for the recovery of Ardmore, Lismore, and other lands belonging to the ChUrch, which, under the purchase from Sir Walter Ealeigh, the Earl got into his possession. We learn from Eyland ^ his lordship compounded for the lands of the See of Waterford, by giving back Ardmore to the Church, but Bishop Atherton ' Gibson's HiBtory of Cork, vol. ii. p. 38. '' History of Waterford. THE GEEAT EAEL OF COEK. 385 sueing for the remainder, and being well qualified by bis CHAP, talents and spirit to go through with the si\it, fell, as "- there is too much reason to think, a sacrifice to that liti- gation,' when he suffered for a pretended crime of a secret nature, made felony in that Parliament upon the testimony of a single witness, that deserved no credit, and who in his information pretended that the crime had been some- time before committed upon himself. The Bishop, during all the time of his most exemplary preparation for death, and even at the moment of his execution, is stated to have absolutely denied the fact, and the fellow who swore against him when he came to be executed himself, some time after, confessed at the gallows the falsehood of his accusation.' * We have seen in the memoir of Lord Chancellor Lord The Earl Loftus, that, on the departure of Lord Falkland, Lord lo«i'*' Deputy in 1629, the Lord Chancellor and Earl of Cork Justice, were Lords Justices. WhUe in office, we are informed, ' several Popish houses were seized in Dublin for the King's use.' This is not quite correct, for Lord Cork contrived to become the possessor of a goodly mansion which has given the name to the hill on which it stood, close to Dublin Castle, and is called Cork Hill at this day. Lord Went- Lord worth became Viceroy in 1631, and received the Sword of -^orth State from the Lords Justices. Both pretended great joy Lord at his coming ; we have read the fulsome loiters of Loftus ; the Earl of Cork was equally adulatory. In a letter ad- dressed by him to the Lord Treasurer of England, the Earl writes — ' Right Honorable and my Singular Good Lord, — - Letter 'I gladly understand that his Majesty, in his high ^ the Lord wisdom, hath made choice of the Lord Viscount Went- worth to be Lord Deputy General of Ireland, of whose nobleness, wisdom, and plentiful estate I heard much when ' When Dr. Eyland in his History of Waterford was suggesting a serious imputation upon the character of the Earl of Cork he should have given some evidence of the Earl's complicity, if there was any, instead of recording what probably was only the whisper of his enemies. ' Ware's '. VOL. I. CO 886 KEIGN OP CHAELES II. CHAP. XXVII. Dispute about the Cork mo- nument. Laud's proposal. The Earl in the Castle Chamber. I was ait Court, whereof reports hatli made an addition from thence, since he was designed for this Government, which I shall with all alacrity yield up to him, as I am confident in general tranquillity, having a full heart, full of comfort, in that a nobleman of his abilities and reputa- tion, with so full and absolute power, shall govern us.' ' As in the case of the Lord Chancellor, this comfort to the heart of the Earl was not destined to last long. The first dispute was about the tomb which the Earl erected in the choir of St. Patrick's Cathedral, an immense pile of sculpture with a background of black marble, showing sixteen figures painted and gilt. This monument the Lord Deputy resolved to pull down, and the Earl, writing to Sir William Beecher on March 20, 1633, says—' I'd rather have my hand cut off.' Both the Earl and the Viceroy appealed to Laud, Ajchbishop of Canterbury, who clearly thought the place selected by the Earl highly ob- jectionable. In a letter to the Lord Primate, who was a friend of the Earl's, Laud wrote : — ' The information here was, that his Lordship had got up his monument at the end of the choir, just in the place where the altar or com- munion-table stood, a place most unfit for such a purpose, and not offered, for aught I know, to be taken by any King in Christendom, and therefore most unfit for a sub- ject.' Laud was willing to temporise. His plan was characteristic of the time. ' The monument,' he suggests, ' may stand, if screened off from the cJioir. I can hardly believe the Earl bad good counsel to put it there.' ^ The Earl carried his point; the monument was not removed;' but Wentworth was not a man to be conquered with im- punity. Next year the Earl was summoned to appear before the Viceroy in the Court of Castle Chamber. Here the Attorney-General, Sir Eichard Eeeves, preferred charges against him for the illegal possession of the ' Gibson's History of Cork, yol. ii. p. 41. 2 Ibid. p. 44. ' It has been placed in another part of the church during the recent restora- tion by the munificence of Sir Benjamin Guinness. THE GREAT EAEL OF CORK:. 38 College and revenues of Youghal. His cousin, the Ex- chap. Warden, then Bishop of Cork, and the Bishop of Water- .^^^^J^-, ford were likewise charged with aiding and assisting the Earl of Cork in the illegal possession of this property. The Earl played the game of delay, and, not having the deeds and documents relating to the Toughal property at his house at Dublin, pleaded his privilege, ' it being Par- liament time.' The case was postponed to the ensuing term. Then he produced his patents and leases ; Lord Wentworth adjourned the case, and sent a message to the Earl that ' if he consented to abide by his award, he would prove the best friend he ever had.' Lord Cork agreed, and we can imagine his consternation when the Viceroy's decision was ' that he should be fined A hea\y fifteen thousand pounds for the rents and profits of the Toughal College property, and surrender all the advowsons and patronage — everything except the College-house and a few fields near the town.' The Earl did not meet with much sympathy on this occasion. Some persons positively rejoiced at his being compelled to disgorge so large a share of his suddenly-acquired wealth. Archbishop Laud wrote a congratulatory letter, in rather coarse style, to the Deputy, dated November 15, 1633. It was as follows : — ' My Lord, — ' I did not take you to be so good a physician as you are Laud's for the truth ; a great many Church cormorants have fed letter. so full upon it that they are fallen into a fever, and for that no physic is better than a vomit, if it be given in time, and therefore you have taken a very judicious course to administer one so early to my Lord Cork. I hope it will do Mm good, though, perchance, he thinks not so, for if the fever hang long about him or the rest, it will cer- tainly shake either of their estates to pieces. Go on, my Lord, I must needs says this is thorough, indeed, and so is your physic, too, and that is thorough.'^ The Irish ' Lord Macaulay says that "Wentworth was the first to use this word thorovgh. The word occurs in Spenser's "View of the State of Ireland. We may conclude from Laud's play upon the word it was a favourite term with the Viceroy. Note to Gibson's Cork, vol. ii. p. 46^ c c 2 388 EEIGN OF CHAELES 11. CHAP. XXVII. Strafibrd in danger, TheKing'i promise. Strafford in the Tower. Irish Par- liament assist in his prose- cution. Earl of Cork a witness. Twenty- eight Articles. Case of Lord Mount- norris. Viceroy soon had other work to occupy his attention than . making Irish cormorants disgorge their plunder. The Long Parliament commenced sitting, and the combined wrath of three nations fell upon the devoted head of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford. I must coniine myself to the share Ireland had in laying his haughty head on the block. He was summoned from Ireland by Charles I., and, aware of his unpopularity in England, was reluctant to go to London, but the King pledged ; himself 'that not a hair of his head would be touched.' Repairing to the Court, the Viceroy was at once impeached by the House of Commons, ordered into custody, and com- mitted to the Tower. A Committee of thirteen was in- trusted with the office of sustaining the charges against him. These members of the House of Commons, joined to a Committee of the Lords, were invested with authority to examine all witnesses, to call for every paper, and to use any means of scrutiny into any part of the Earl's behaviour and conduct.' The Irish Houses of Parliament were only too glad to have the opportunity of assisting in the downfall of the haughty Viceroy. Sir John Clotworthy and others gave all their attention to carry on the prosecu- tion, and the Earl of Cork was perhaps no reluctant wit- ness of his maladministration, though he would fain have us believe he preferred not being examined. He says, ' Though I was prejudiced in no less than 40,000Z. and 2,000 marks a year,' I put off my examination for six weeks.' The Earl says, ' he was so reserved in his answers, that no matter of treason could by them be fixed upon the Earl of Strafford.' ^ But there was matter enough ; the articles of impeachment numbered twenty-eight, and re- ferred to his conduct as President of the Council of York as Lieutenant of Ireland, as Councillor or Commander in The case of Lord Mountnorris was adduced England. ' Clarendon, vol. i. p. 192. ^ This was not a small estimate for a very subordinate portion of the vast territory he bought from Ealeigh for a thousand crowns ! ' Gibson's History of Corl?, vol. ii. p. 46. THE GREAT EARL OF CORK. 389 as a flagrant proof of his arrogant, unconstitutional, and CHAP, unjust conduct while Viceroy of Ireland. It was this — - , ^ During a dinner-party at the Lord Chancellor Loftus's, it was stated that Annesley, one of the Lord Deputy's at- tendants, brother of Lord Mountnorris, in moving a stool had sorel}' hurt his master's foot, who was at that time afflicted with the gout. " Perhaps,' said Lord Mountnorris, who was among the guests, ' it was done in revenge of that puhlic affront which my Lord Deputy formerly put upon him, hut he has a brother who would not have taken such a revenge.' These words were reported by some mischief-makers to the Viceroy, who, on pretence, or perhaps real alarm lest the suggestion might prompt Annesley to avenge himself in another manner, ordered Lord Mountnorris, an of&cer Court in the army, to be tried for mutiny and sedition against '^'^^^ ' his General.' The Court-Martial, consisting of the chief officers then quartered in Ireland, appear to have taken an extreme view of the guilt of the accused, for they found the offence capital, and sentenced him to be beheaded. Lord Strafford, in reply to this article of impeachment against him, defended himself by saying ' that the sentence of the Court Martial was the unanimous decision of the Court, not of the Lord Deputy. That he spoke not to any member of the Court, nor voted in the trial, but sat uncovered as a party, and immediately withdrew, not, by his presencie, to influence their decision. That when he was acquainted with the sentence he thought it iniquitous, and did not keep Lord Mountnorris a moment in suspense with regard to his fate, but instantly told him " he woidd sooner lose his right hand than execute such a sentence,' and at once procured his Majesty's free pardon for that nobleman." '^ Hume, in noticing this case, says, ' These excuses alleviate the guilt ; but there still remains enough to prove that the mind of the Deputy, though great and ' The Viceroy is styled Lord Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland. - Lord Mountnoi-ris lived to a.d. 1660. 390 EEIGN OF CHARLES II. CHAP. XXVII. True reason for the im- peachment of Lord Chancellor Bolton and others. Strafford's trial. His opinion of the Coun- sel against him. firm, had been not a little debauched by the riot of abso- lute power and uncontrolled authority.' ' We now learn the true reason for the impeachment of Lord Chancellor Bolton, Chief Justice Lowther, and Bram- haU, Bishop of Derry. It was the Irish House of Commons playing their part of the programme to bring Strafford and his master to the block ; ' it prevented these persons who were best acquainted with Strafford's councils giving evi- dence in his favour before the English Parliament.'^ The trial of Lord Strafford must have been a solemn one. It took place in Westminster Hall, in the presence of the Lords and Commons — the one as accusers, the other as Judges. Besides the chair of State, a close gallery was prepared for the King and Queen, who attended during the whole trial. We may be sure both felt the most in- tense interest in every stage of the State trial. When Whitelock, who was elected chairman of the committee appointed to draw up the impeachment, refused to have anything to do with an article charging the Earl ' with the design of bringing over the army from Ireland for the purpose of reducing England to subjection,' on the intel- ligible ground, ' that it was not honourable for the House of Commons to proceed upon an article whereof they could not make a clear proof,' the management of this charge was entrusted to Sir Walter Earle. He made such a vvretched hand of it that the Queen, enquring his name, said, ' that water-dog did bark, but not bite ; but the rest did bite close.' ^ This shows how weU she judged the progress of the case. Strafford bears testimony to the ability and fair spirit with which some of the counsel for the prosecution acted. ' Glynne and Maynard,' he said, ' used him like advocates, but Palmer and Whitelock * like gentlemen, and yet left out nothing that was material to be urged against him.' The defence of Strafford won the following tributes from two great lawyers and orators of ' History of England, vol. vii. p. 300. « jj,j^_ p_ 297. " Hnme, History of England, toI. vii. p. 297. ' Lord Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors of England, vol. iii, p, 22, THE GEEAT EARL OF COEK. 391 different times and nations. Whitelock said, ' Certainly CHAP. ■ XXVII never any man acted such a part on sucli a theatre with —l-, '^ more widom, constancy, and eloquence, with greater J'*™*^" reason, judgment, and temper, and with better grace in tribute to all his words and gestures, than this great and excellent quent°de- person did ; and he moved the hearts of his auditors, some f""''^- few excepted, to remorse and pity.' ' Lord Chief Justice Whiteside's words are corroborative l-ord Chief of this opinion : — ' Wever did mortal man speak for another -whiteside as did Strafford for himself, for his dignities, his life.' The !,^^°s;ses . ^ ' Straffords records of human eloquence contain no finer lesson. It is speech. impossible to read his immortal defence without being touched even to tears. By the law of treason he was not guilty; a special law of attainder was enacted for his ruin, and a precedent set, too bad to follow. His enemies argued, with some plausibility, that if an offender should be proscribed who violated a particular law, ought not the great offender to be punished who violated the spirit of all law ? The Peers of England, to their disgrace, convicted him. The King deserted him at the last moment. He walked heroically to the scaffold, placed his head com- posedly on the block, repeating, as he did so, ' Put not your faith in Princes.' Another Chief Governor of Ireland executed for his crimes as Governor.^ Lord Cork's diary contains the following entry of this Earl of event : — ' This day the Earl of Strafford was beheaded. ^^■j.J'^ No man died more universally hated, or less lamented by the people.' The Earl of Cork did not long survive the Viceroy. He died in Toughal in 1643. Borlase says. Death of ' He was a person for his abilities and knowledge in affairs °^ °^ ' of the world eminently observable, inasmuch as, though he was no Peer of England, yet he was admitted to sit in the Allowed to house of Lords upon the Woolsack, ut consiliarius.' This Woolsack. clearly entitles this remarkable man to a place in these pages, and I trust I have not taken up more space than his career, so fuU of incident and interest, warranted. ' Whltelock's Memoirs, 44. 2 Life and Death of the Irish Parliaments, Part I. p. 63. 392 KEIGN OF CHARLES II. CHAP. XXVII.. Michael's father. Michael born in A.D. 1609. Takes degrees i n Oxford and Dublin. His first living. Dean of Cloyne, Chaplain General. Michael Botle, the future Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was nephew of the Earl. He might truly be said to have been ' to the mitre born.' He was son of Richard Boyle, mentioned in the foregoing narrative as Warden of Youghal College ; who, on the death of his brother, John Boyle, Bishop of Cork, Cloyne, and Boss, in 1620, was, through the interest of Eichard styled the Great Earl of Cork, appointed to succeed John as bishop of this diocese. He was subsequently, on May 30, 1638, translated to the Archiepiscopal See of Tuam. He died in 1644, having issue by Martha, daughter of Eichard Wright, of Cathe- rine Hill, Surrey, two sons and nine daughters. His sons were Michael, afterwards Lord Chancellor of H*eland, and successively Bishop of Cork, Cloyne, and Eoss, and Arch- bishop of Dublin and of Armagh, bom in 1609, and Colonel Eichard Boyle, killed at Drogheda, a.d. 1649, in the indiscriminate massacre ordered by Cromwell after he had gained possession of the town. The youth of Michael was spent chiefly in Munster, while his father resided in Cork, and being designed for the Church, in which his uncle, the Earl, possessed im- mense patronage, received a very excellent education. In 1637, Michael Boyle, the Earl's nephew, graduated as Master of Arts in Oxford, and subsequently took the degree of Doctor of Divinity in the University of Dublin. He was not long in the subordinate rank of curate. Shortly after he was ordained, July 22, 1637, he was pre- sented to the living of Clonpriest, in the county of Cork. But a rectory was not suf&cient for a divine so highly connected as the Eeverend Michael Boyle, D.D. He aspired to a position of greater dignity, and soon obtained it. In 1640 he was made Dean of Cloyne, in the diocese of Cork, and oia the breaking out of the civil war in the following year, received, in addition, the lucrative office of Chaplain-General to the Army of Munster, with the allow- ance of twenty shillings a day. He had an excellent opportunity of witnessing and sharing in most of the im- portant events which took place. The Irish, under Sir LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR ARCHBISHOP BOYLE. 393 Phelim O'Neill, were 30,000 stronsr, and soon overcame CHAP. XXVII several of the northern counties. The English possessed - . .—, the cities and towns, which shortly gave them the com- ^^f^J^^"^ mand of the rural districts ; and when they gained the power of the sword, they used it with relentless sway. In 1644, Dean Boyle used his influence with Lord Negotiates Castlehaven, who commanded the Irish army in Munster, ^j^jig^ to spare Doneraile, a pretty town in the northern part of the county of Cork, the seat of the St. Leger family (Vis- count Doneraile), and which acquires interest for all lovers of literature from its proximity to Kilcolman Castle, Spenser's Irish residence.^ When Lord Castlehaven made his rendezvous at Clonmel, he writes, ' Thither came Dean Boyle, who was then married to my Lord Inchiquin's sister; his business was to persuade me to spare Done- raile, and other houses and castles not tenable. I an- swered that I desired it ^% much as he, though hitherto they had annoyed the country equally as if they had been strong; I told him, in short, I had orders to take all I could, and such as I thought not fit to garrison to destroy. Yet, if he pleased to cause the garrisons to be drawn out, and by letters from the owners to put them into my hands, I would appoint some few men unto them, with commanders in whom I most confided, and would make it my business to intercede to the Council to preserve them. The Dean and I parted good friends ; but whether he could prevail or no with my Lord Inchiquin, or the owners, I know not ; but I heard no more from him.' ^ The northern Irish were inspirited by the valour, and Important guided by the counsels, of the famous Owen Roe O'Neil, whose death was the most signal loss his army could sus- tain. The history of the Confederation of Kilkenny ; and the government of Ireland by the Marquis of Ormond; Cromwell's ruthless rule ; and the Restoration of Charles II., are deeply interesting, but foreign to these memoirs. ' It has another claim upon me, as the Rector is a dear and valued friend, and an able literary colleague in the pages of the Dublin University Magazine. ■' Caatleliaven Memoirs. 394 EEIGN OF CHAELES II. CHAP. XXVII. Bishop of Cork in 1660. Sinecures. Watctes the Act of Settle- ment. Compli- mented by the Irish House of Lords. In 1660, Dean Boyle, with, eleven other clerg^ymen, were consecrated together as Bishops in St. Patrick's Cathedral. He obtained the united Sees of Cork, Cloyne, and Eoss. He also was admitted a member of the Privy Council of Ireland. ' Not content,' says D' Alton,' ' with the afore- said three bishoprics, he held possession of six parishes in the western portion of his diocese, as sinecures, under colour he could not get clergymen to serve them, in con- sequence of which he received a very severe reproof from his relative, Roger Earl of Orrery, Lord President of Munster. But a mission was at this period intrusted to the Bishop of Cork, which obliterated any pain from the wound in- flicted by his cousin's censure. He had been made a Privy Councillor, and was selected by the Irish Lords Justices to repair to England, in order to watch the pro- gress of the Act of Settlement, which vitaUy concerned the Protestant interest in Ireland. Having a thorough knowledge of the State of the Protestants, and, no doubt, a very eager desire that no influence should diminish their powers, or impair the fortunes which they had acquired by the overthrow of the Catholic proprietors during the civil war and the Commonwealth, and having great Parliamentary influence by his connexions and friends, he executed his trust to the entire satisfaction of the party he represented. The following proceedings in the House of Lords, Ireland, under date of Saturday, May 24, 1662, shows the sense that House entertained of the Bishop's success : — ' It is ordered by the Lords Spi- ritual and Temporal in the present Parliament assembled, that the memorial of thanks to the Lord Bishop of Cork for his services performed in England, be entered in the journals of this house, in hcec verba. ' Upon a report made this day by the Lord Yiscount Conway, and the Lord Viscount Massareene, unto this House, of the ample, clear, and undoubted testimonies which his Majesty's Lords Justices of Ireland have received ' Lives of the Archbishops of Dublin, p. 281. LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOR ARCHBISHOP BOYLE. 395 of the great and eminent services performed, both to Ms ^^^Ft Majesty and this kingdom, by the Eight Eeverend Father in God, Michael Boyle, Lord Bishop of Cork, in the late trust he was employed about in England, concerning the Bill for the Settlement of Ireland, which hath been emi- nently carried on and managed by his presence, virtue, and indefatigable endeavours. It is ordered that the said Lord Bishop, for his effectual endeavours in accomplishing that service which was committed unto him by the Lords Justices and Council, in reference to the good and settle- ment of this Kingdom, be entered in the journal book of this House, together with the Lords Justices' recommenda- tion, to remain to posterity as a mark of honour and tes- timony of the gratitude of the House to the said Lord Bishop of Cork.' ' In 1663, Dr. Boyle was translated from the Province of Arch- Munster to Leinster, on being appointed Archbishop of p^^]°n° Dublin. At head quarters, with great political influence, a.d. 1663. he was not likely to let any opportunity escape of enrich- ing the See; and the Patent EoUs in Chancery bear witness of his activity. By the Act of Settlement he had further confirmation of the lands of his See, together with an augmentation of so much of the forfeited lands as increased the total amount of the income of the Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough, over and above certain manors and several lands, to the yearly value of 2,000i!., which he subsequently further increased. He repaired and beautified the archiepiscopal palace of St. Sepulchre. To enable him to defray the expense of his removal from Cork to Dublin, and to put the palace in. Receives good repair. King Charles 11. presented him with 1,000Z., ^^^^ ^^^ payable out of the profits of the estates, of the persons King. mentioned in the Act of Settlement, who purchased decrees and lands in Connaught and Clare, in the right of persons transplanted, but whose estates were confirmed to them. He had large grants decreed to him by the Act he was so instrumental in passing. In 1663, on the death of Sir Maurice Eustace, Arch- LordChan- ' cellor, ' Law Jour. Ir. vol. i. p. 302. a.d. 1&63. 396 EEIGN OF CHAELES II. CHAr. bishop Boyle received tlie higli office of Lord Chancellor ■ , — '" of Ireland, and appears to have discharged the judicial functions with due dignitv, ability, and integrity. I sub- join to this memoir a notice of the orders in Chancery used and framed for the convenience of suitors of his Court, and, in many points, the same procedure which is now in force was then practised. It ma,y be interesting to the practitioner to find how little change 200 years have made in the High Court of Chancery in Ireland. Indeed, the principal alterations have been made by the legislation of the last few years, which tend to relieve the Lord Chan- cellor of much responsibility, and lead to the elucidation of facts by oral examination. Translated In 1678, the Chancellor was again translated from the to Armagh, g^^ ^^ Dublin to the Primacy of Armagh. He had thus worn the mitre in the three Provinces — of Munster, Leinster, and Ulster. Eoyal In 1679^ an Order in Council was made, to which the Hospital, , Kiimain- Royal Hospital of Kilmainham owes its existence. It di- ham. rected that sixpence in the pound be deducted out of the pay of the Irish army, then numbering 7,000 men, and that the amount should be issued and employed towards the building and settling an Hospital for Irish pensioners. And, for the speedy execution of His Majesty's said direc- tions, the Lord Lieutenant, Marquis of Ormond, did ac- cordingly order that Michael Lord Archbishop of Armagh, Chancellor *^^ Lord Chancellor of Ireland, John Lord Archbishop and others of Dublin, Eichard Earl of Arran, Sir Charles Meredith, a com- Chancellor of His Majesty^s Exchequer, Sir Robert Booth, raittee. Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, and many others, any three of them to be a standing Committee, to send for artists and workmen, and treat with them for building the said Hospital. A sum of 23,579L was then raised and expended, and the Royal Hospital has been since an Asylum in Ireland for brave old soldiers, natives of Ireland.' ' Attempts to abolish this institution have been made from time to time. In 1833, again in 1852 — and in 1870, there were indications wliieh caused ap- prehension the meditated injustice was not abandoned. LIFE OF LOKD CHANCELLOR ARCHBISHOP BOYLE. 397' While Lord Chancellor Boyle was presiding over the CHAP. Court of Chancery in Ireland, a great equity lawyer filled . ., '^ the analogous position in England — Heneage Finch, Earl of Nottingham. Like all the Irish Chancellors whose lives I have so imperfectly traced, this great Judge has suffered from the want of reporters ; and, though there have been, for many centxiries, some contemporary re- porters, good, bad, and indifferent in England, unfortu- nately, until within the last hundred years, we had no attempt whatever to publish regular reports in Ireland. No, doubt, as has been well observed,' ' much incon- Reports of venience does arise from the multiplicity and copiousness decisions. of reports in modern times ; but, we ought to recollect the great advantage we derive from full and accurate state- ments of all that passes in our Courts of Justice, whereby Judges, speaking to the nation, are constantly on their good behaviour ; and, while what is trivial soon sinks from notice, that which is important is imperishably pre- served.' The noble and learned author of ' The Lives of Defective the English Chancellors ' laments the want of better Eeports in reports than those miserably executed ones which gave England, the judgments of Lord Chancellor Nottingham, contain- ing defective narratives of facts, hardly any statement of counsels' points, or cases relied on, and no reasons for the Judge's decision ; merely an abstract of the Decree with the words, 'The Court ordered;' the ' Court directed;' or the ' Court allowed. ' I wish I had even so much to assist me. I have not been able, hitherto, to trace a single reported No Ee- case of any Court in Ireland, save the few contained in Sir ^"^j^^™ John Davies' little volume already mentioned. The ap- until re- pended rules and orders indicate the practice and pleadings, tempore Lord Chancellor Boyle, the same as in England; and, as by implication almost every subject of litigation Equitable could be clothed with a trust, the object of the Lord jpisdic- Chancellor was to see how far the case was one warrant- ing the proper interposition of a Court of Equity. The ' Vide Lord Campbell's Liyes of the Chancellors of England, vol. iii. p. 415. 398 EEIGN 0:F JAMES II. CHAP. XXVU. The Sta- tute of Frauds. Accession of King James II. His decla- ration in Council. Hopes of the Irish Catholics. Court of Cliancery fairly administered assets on the prin- ciple that the executor or administrator who held the property of the deceased, was a trustee, bound to pay debts and legacies, and to apply the surplus according to the will, or, in case of intestacy, pursuant to the Statute of Distributions." By the then recent Enghsh Statute of Frauds,^ trust estates in fee simple were made legal assets. This Statute has been considered the most important and useful Act ever passed by the legislature, and regulates to a great extent every transaction we engage in. On the death of Charles II., February 6, 1684-5, James Duke of York was proclaimed King. His Declaration in Council, of his ' determination to preserve the Government both in Church and State, as by law established ; to defend the monarchy, never to depart from the just rights and prerogatives of the Crown, or invade any man's property ; to defend the nation, and go as far as any man in pre- serving it in all its just rights and liberties,' was received with unbounded applause.' In Ireland his accession opened prospects of happiness and tranquillity to the Catholics ; and, as he was bound to the Irish by strong ties of gratitude and interest, being himself a Catholic, they expected repose after long sufferings. The Viceroy of Ireland, the Earl of Clarendon, was kindly disposed ; a devoted adherent of the House of Stuart ; and, though I have no doubt his knowledge of the arbitrary love of power of that shortsighted race made him fear the promises of Kiag James would not be very well kept, he tried to cheer up the spirits of the Irish Protestants, which, from the moment James II. mounted the throne, had fallen very low. No Protestant felt secure of any office held at the will of the Sovereign ; and, as the Chancellor was not only a Protestant, but an Archbishop, he justly considered the odds were against his holding on. The first intimation the Viceroy received of the King's • Adair v. Shaw, 1 Scho. and Lefr., p. 262. 2 29 Car. II. e. 3, s. 10. The Irish Act corresponding to the English is 7 Will. iii. c. 12. = fox, James II., p. 75. LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOE ARCHBISHOP BOYLE. 399 intention to relieve the octogenarian Chancellor-Arcli- chap. bishop from the fatigues of his judicial office, was in a ^ letter from Lord Sunderland to the Viceroy, dated TTeb- f/J^°™id ruary 26, 1686-6. In his reply, the Viceroy says, 'While Chancellor. I am writing, I receive yours of the 26th post, and, at the same time, my Lord Presidents, I confess they did surprise me, as to the laying aside the Chancellor; but it is re- solved, and so no reply must be made to it. No doubt he will have heard it from other hands, for several letters mention it. I believe the Marquis of Athol wUl be troubled at this change, and with reason ; for his cause, which has been for many years depending, both here and in Scotland, and has taken up thirteen entire days in hearing it pleaded on both sides since the term, was finished on Saturday last ; and yesterday the Judges, who assisted, went their circuits. My Lord Chancellor had appointed the beginning of next term to give judgment ; and, it is thought, it will go for my Lord Athol ; and now I doubt it must all begin anew.' On receiving direction to inform the Lord Chancellor, the King desired to give him his ease,^ the Lord Lieu- tenant communicated the news to the Lord Chancellor, with every kind expression which could gild the bitter pill. His Grace received the intelligence with great submission, and without showing the least surprise or dissatisfaction. No doubt the unpleasant repqrt that he was to be removed had previously reached him. He told his ' Excellency he had thought of requesting permission to resign the Great Seal, but was restrained by the idea that it would not have looked well in him to have quitted the service while the King appeared to be in any difficulties. That he made it the whole business of his life to serve the Crown, and would continue to do so though he were only a private curate, and that he most cheerfully acquiesced in his Ma- Submits jesty's good pleasure. That he would be extremely morti- ^i*ne^s_^''^" fied if he thought the King was, in any way, dissatisfied with him, because he had received many favours from his ' A polite way of turning a man out. 400 REIGN OF JAMES U. CHAP. Maiesfcy, and never found he was the least under the XXVII. ir- , ^ 1 , . — , — - King s displeasure. In the following April reports that the Archbishop would have, as his successor, Sir Charles Porter, reached Dublin, and, as he was known to be a good staunch Protestant, the hopes of the Irish Protestants again revived. King James II. having decided on removing the Arch- bishop from the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland, ap- Sir Charles pointed Sir Charles Porter in his place ; and, although pofnte/^' -Po^ts^ ^^^ sworn in, and intrusted with the Great Seal as Lord Chancellor, the Lord Lieutenant, Earl of Clarendon, was so tenacious of not slighting Archbishop Boyle, that in writing to him, after the swearing in of his successor, on April 17, 1686, he continues to address him as Lord Chancellor.' ' I gave your Lordship the trouble of a long letter so lately that I needed not to have given you any now, but only to give you an account, that on Thursday, my Lord Chancellor Porter arrived. As soon as I read the King's letters, I immediately directed his patent to be prepared ; and yesterday he was sworn, and I delivered him the Seal at Council ; so that he is now in full possession of his office ; and this morning he keeps the first Seal in order to the term, which begins on Wednesday here, as it does in England. And as for the rest I suppose he will give your Lordship an aceoiTnt himself. I have no more to add at present, but that I am with great respect, ' My Lord, ' Your Lordship's ' Most faithful and most humble servant, ' Clarendon, C.P.S.' Letter from the Vice- roy. The Archbishop of Armagh was one of the Spiritual Peers who attended King James II.'s Irish Parliament in Dublin, in 1689, but does not appear to have taken part in the debates. Great age. The Ex-Chancellor reached the patriarchal age of ninety- Attends King James's Irish Par- liament. State Letters, vol. i. p. 154. LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR AECHBISHOP BOYLE. 401 two years, in 1702, when lie died. He had outlived most chap. . . . XXVII of his faculties, sight and hearing, mind and memory, all ^ , 1. were gone, which is charitably supposed to have caused ^^*"'- him to leave so little to the poor. His charitable bequests Left but being but twenty shillings each to twenty poor men of the charity" Parish of St. Patrick's, and as much to ten of the Parish of St. Michan's. Well may Sir James Ware express sur- prise at his will. He states the Ex-Chancellor died very rich, and, in earher years, was of a disposition both liberal and public-spirited. He gave in his lifetime 200Z. towards erecting a new gate-house to the College of Dublin, and joined in a contribution of lOOZ. to the University with Thomas, Bishop of Ossory, and Dr. Jeremy Hall, towards buying books for the library.' Chancellor- Archbishop Boyle was the last of the long roll Last of the of ecclesiastical Chancellors whose memoirs I have placed ^"'^^^'^' ^ tical Chan- before the reader. He had considerable knowledge of the cellors. law and practice of his court, and the orders promulgated by him, to which I shall presently advert, were well framed. He was buried by torchlight in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Buried in under the altar, without any pomp. Stuart in his history S*- ^,*' of Armagh ^ says, ' Dr. Boyle seems to have been at once rapacious in the attainment of wealth, and liberal and public-spirited in its expenditure.' In my opinion the evidence is far greater to sustain the former than the latter allegation, save where his family or self-interest was concerned. He founded the town of Blessington, in the county of Wicklow, where he erected a splendid country- seat, with a private chapel, also a parish church. The title of Viscount Blessington was, in consequence, conferred on his son, Morough Boyle. Lord Blessington erected a monument to his father's memory in the church of Bless- Monument ington, crowned with a mitre, and beneath are the arms of ^"^ j^^" the see of Armagh. Upon black marble was the following Church. inscription : — Michael Boyle S.T.D. Archiepisco- Michael Boyle, D.D., Archbishop of pus Armaohonus, totius Hiberniae Armagh, Primate and Metropolitan of Primas pt Metropolitanus, summus all Ireland, Lord High Chancellor of ' Ware's Bishops. ^ Page 389. VOL. I. D D 402 EEIGN OF JAMES II. CHAP. XXVII. 673. Orders in Chancery by Lord Chancellor Boyle. Subpoena. Writs. In 1673, 'A collection of sucli of the Orders heretofore used in Chancery, with such alterations and additions thereunto as Michael Lord Archbishop of Dublin, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, hath thought fit at present to ordain and publish for reforming of several abuses in the said courts, preventing multiplicity of suites, motions, and unnecessary charges to the suitors, and for their more ex- peditious and certain course of relief,' was published in Dublin, printed by Benjamin Toke, printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty. These orders have reference to the practice of the Court. The first order provided, ' That no subpoena be made returnable immediate, unless the party against whom it is to issue be at the time of the service thereof in the city or suburbs of Dublin, or within ten miles distance from the same ; and that no subpoena to answer be made returnable in vacation time, but within fifteen days before or after the term.' The clerk of the Hanaper was required to enter all writs, and whatever passed the Seal, in a book to be kept at the ofSce for Eegni, per viginti annos Cancella- rius ; ejusdemque saepius Justitiarius. Inter plurima sua de ecclesia et Eepub- lica merita, Ecclesiam hane Beatse Marise de Blessington, cum Coeme- terio (ad Dei gloriam, decentem cultus Divini administrationem, et hujus ParochiEe solatium et usum) propriis sumptibus ftmdavit, erexit, et lagenis, calicibus, patinis argenteis, cseteroque Bupellectile mensam sacram et Eccle- siam instruxit, addito etiam campanile elegante, cum sex harmonicis cam- panis, Hsec omnia vicesima quarta Augusti, Anno millesimo sex oentesimo octuagesimo tertio Deo et Eeligioni Bolemniter dedicavit. TJt perpetuum sit pise hujus munificentise Monumen- tum, Lapis hie inscribitur memorialis per Pilium ejus Morough Vicecomitem Blessington. Abi et fac tu similiter. the Kingdom for twenty years, and often Lord Justice of the same. Among many other bis merits to the Church and Commonwealth, he founded and erected (at bis own expense) this Church of Blessington, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, together with the Churchyard, to the glory of God, the decent administration of Divine Wor- ' ship, and the comfort and use of this parish. He also furnished the Com- munion-table and Church with silver Flagons, Cups, and Patins, and other Ornaments ; and added to the Church an elegant Steeple with a Eing of six musical BeUs. AH these things he solemnly dedicated to God and Eeli- gion on the 24th day of August, MVCLXXXIU. His son, Morough, Viscount Blessington, hath caused this Memorial to be inscribed on this stone as a Monument for ever of his pious munificence. Go and do thou likewise. LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOE AECHBISHOP BOYLE. 403 public use. Provision was made for substitution of ser- CHAP, vice. Tor the filing of Bills ; for Attacbments ; that Coun- ,^J]^ sel be careful that no pleadings contain needless repeti- headings. tions, or matter scandalous,' and if so, ' botli tbe parties and Counsel on whose side and under whose hand it passeth shall pay good costs to the party injured, and such Counsel shall receive the reproof of the Court, and the crime will be adjudged more gross, if it shall appear that snch pleading passed his hand without a deliberate perusal.' That answers ought regularly to be positive, without Answers. saying, ' It is as to remembrance or belief,' if it be said to be done within seven years. That if a hearing be prayed Hearing. upon bill and answer, the answer must be admitted to be true in all points, and no other evidence admitted unless it be a matter of record. If the Court shall not give a decree, the laill to stand dismissed with costs, or the plaintiff, if he desire it, allowed to reply, paying fifty shillings costs. Orders referring to Demurrers follow next ; also respect- ing Pleas, Replications, Rejoinders, Dismissing bill for want of prosecution, examination of witnesses, &c. The Six Clerks, formerly the examinators of the Court, were gj^ clerks. required by Order XXVI. 'to take care they employ under them in their office none but persons of known integrity and ability, who shall take an oath not to de- liver or make known directly or indirectly to the adverse party, or any other (save the deponent who comes to be examined), any of the interrogatories delivered to be ex- amined upon any examination taken or remaining in his office,' tinder severe penalties therein stated. ' The mode of exhibiting interrogatories, credibility of witnesses, &c.. Exhibits. to be subject to the advice of the Master of the Eowles, or, in his absence, of a Master of the Court. The Carriage of Commissions, Processes of Contempt, Writs of Scire-Pacias, and other processes to be made into the county where the party is resident, and if not to be found there, the same may issue with any county where estate lyeth. Punishment D D 2 404 EEIGN OF JAMES II. CHAP. XXVII. Masters in Chancery. Sueing in forma Pauperis. Counsel and At- tornies. Decretal Orders. Number of decrees enrolled. for Contempt of Court and Injunctions are fully provided for by Orders 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, and 49,' The Master's Eeports were regulated by Orders 50, 51, and 62, wbich direct, ' The Masters are to be circumspect and waiy on giving oaths, that they be reverently and knowingly taken, and are therefore to administer the same themselves to the party, and where they discern him rash or ignorant, to give him some conscionable admonition of his oath, and be sure he understandeth the matter con- tained in affidavit.' Mode of sueing and defending In forma Pauperis was regulated by Orders 53, 54, 55, and 56. By Order 57 ' Counsellors and Attornies are to make motions proper for themselves, and after a cause is settled (hearing Counsel on both sides) no new motion is to be made to cross it, except it be upon new matter, and when any motion is made, the last order is always to be produced, and any order obtained vdthout producing the last order, to be void, and the costs occasioned by the neglect to be paid by the party aggrieved.' Decretal Orders were to be entered after ten days from the date of order pronounced. Order 58. Motion days, seal days, hearings, &c., were also definitely provided for. Not- withstanding the ability of the Lord Chancellors of Charles II's. reign, I only find two hundred and fifteen decrees of that period enrolled. LIFE OE LOED CHANCELLOR PORTER. 405 CHAPTEE XXVIII. IIPE 01? lOKD CHANCBLLOK PORTER FROM HIS BIRTH TILL HIS REMOVAL BY KINS JAMES II. It was tlie lot of Lord Chancellor Poeter to hold the chap. Great Seal of Ireland during a very eventful period. Of ■ , — '— his early career I have not been able to find much trace, ^n'^'ijgl^" but he was born in England about the year 1640, and his man, bom family held such a position in society as made him well and favourably known to the chief political leaders of the time. These circumstances are plain from the State letters of the Earl of Clarendon. Charles Porter was descended from an ancient and respectable family in Cumberland, A law and he was a law-student when the inauguration of ^'™ ^"*' Serjeants was celebrated by feasts, at which the Lord Chancellor, the Lords of the Council, with other noblemen were present ; when the Judges and old Serjeants in their scarlet robes emulated the crimson gowns of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, who also attended. Mr. Porter was admitted a law-student to the Middle Temple October 25, 1656, and called to the Bar in 1660, when Mr. Foss deplores ' the absurd use of an unknown tongue was renewed and continued to be employed, for seventy years longer.' ' Some time after Mr. Porter was called to the bar, a singular robbery disturbed the repose of West- Robbery minster Hall. In 1677, the Lord Chancellor's mace and %\^^-^. two privy purses were stolen out of the Chancellor's (Lord cellors in ISTottingham's) house. The robbers missed the Great Seal, as his Lordship had it under his pillow. Five of the gang concerned in this audacious outrage were convicted, and one of them, named Sadlier, was hanged at Tyburn. ^ At ' Stat. 12 Car. II. c. 3, 4 ; 4 Geo. II. i;. 26 ; 5 Geo. II. ^ Foss'b Judges of England. 406 EEIGN OF JAMES 11. CHAP, this period the ban-isters must have been -used to early - , 1. risiag, for the Courts opened at eight o'clock in the morn- ing and sat until noon. Mr. Porter was a very hard- working man, and soon was in good practice. Lord Nottingham, an admirable equity lawyer, held the Great Seal, and some of the most beneficial enactments of the legislature were the result of the law reforms then made in Parliament. The ' Statute of Distributions,' ' for dis- posing most justly of personal property in cases where no disposition was made by will. The ' Statute of Frauds ' for regulating contracts and forms of making wills ^ were among the most valuable Statutes passed. Also the Second Magna Charta of English freedom, under which personal liberty has received an amount of protection beyond what inhabitants of Continental nations can boast, and which, alas ! has been so often suspended in Ireland, ' The Habeas Corpus Act.' There were also improvements going on 'pari passu in the juridical system, the appellate jurisdiction of the House of Lords was established in appeals from Courts of Equity as well as of Courts of Law. This was not settled without considerable difficulty, as I will now relate : — • Some time after Mr. Porter was recognised as an able lawyer, occurred those famous cases in England which made as great a stir among the legal circles of England as Sherlock v. Annesley ^ did afterwards in Ireland. Sir Nicholas Crispe and others versus Delmahoy, M.P., was Question one of them, and the question involved was, the right of of the "^ the House of Lords to hear appeals from courts of equity. House of The jurisdiction in cases at common law was unquestioned, hear Ap- fo^ writs of error had been brought from judgments in the peals from -\^-^ courts for centuries, but appeals in equity were unusual, Eqiuty. and the right of them was questioned. In the appeal of Dr. Shirley v. Sir John Eagg, a member of the House of Commons, the Commons resolved ' That the proceedings ■ 22 & 23 Car. II. e. 10, Eng. ; 7 Will. III. c. 6, Ir. « 29 Car. II. e. 3, Eug.; 7 Will. III. c. 12, Ir. > Post. LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOB POETEE. 407 thereupon was a breach of the undoubted rights and CHAP. ■ • XXVIII privileges of the House of Commons, and the House ._ , . V desired there might be no further proceedings in that cause before their Lordships.' While the controversy was raging with violence between the Houses, a report was made to the Commons, April 19, 1675, respecting an appeal brought by Crispe and Crispe, against the decree in' Chancery, wherein Mr. Dalmahoy, M.P., was recited to be one of the petitioners, and certain Counsel were subse- quently reported as having been ordered by the House of Lords to open and manage the said cause on behalf of Sir Nicholas Crispe. The Counsel named were. Sir John Churchill, Serjeant Peck, Serjeant Pemberton,' and Mr. Porter. The danger of prosecuting the appeal, in the then temper of the House of Commons, being represented by the petition of the appellant to the House of Lords, the Lords or- dered, 'That the appellants, their Counsel, agents or solici- tors, or others employed in prosecuting the said appeal before their House, be privileged until the appeal was Appel- determined by their Lordships. And all persons whatso- co^^sel ever were prohibited from arresting or imprisoning any of ^,''-' P"- them.' Mr. Porter and other counsel, on the order of the order of House of Lords, having argued the case at the bar, were *^® Lords, respectively summoned by the Speaker of the House of Commons to attend and 'give an account to the House of their appearing at the bar of the House of Lords in the Summoned prosecution of an appeal in which Mr. Dalmahoy, a the^House member of the House of Commons, was concerned, in ofCom- manifest breach of the order of the said House, and for giving up, as much as in them lay, the rights and privi- leges of the Commons of England.' Mr. Porter and his colleagues excused themselves by Their stating ' they had no notice of the order of the House, but what they heard in casual conversation ; that because Mr. Dalmahoy, a member of Parliament, was a party, they, ' Afterwards Chief Justice, first of the King's Bench then of the Common Pleas, Westminster. 408 EEIGN OF JAMES II. CHAP, repeatedly refused to appear as counsel or to accept their XXVIII i. */ A -T A . , — 1- fees, but they were assigned counsel, and ordered to attend at their peril. That then attending, and Mr. Dalmahoy having pleaded in the Lords House, and not insisting on his privilege, they conceived they might safely appear as counsel, without invading the rights or privi- leges of the House of Commons, which they never in- tended, and submitted themselves to the pleasure of the House if they had misbehaved themselves.' Being ordered to withdraw, the question was put, ' That they be taken into the custody of the Seq'eant-at-Arms attending this house.' ' Mr. Porter The Honse divided — for the yeas, 154 ; noes, 146. Mr. in custody. Charles Porter and the others were then ordered to be taken into custody of the Serjeant, for breach of privilege of the House. When the House of Lords was aware of what had oc- curred, they appointed the Lord Privy Seal, the Earl of Bridgewater, the Earl of Shaftesbury, and the Lord Holies to draw up an order in this extraordinary case, which was done by the Lord Privy Seal. It recited the imprison- ment of the Counsel for doing their duty at the Lordship Indigna- bar, and 'judging it to be a great indignity to the King's Lords. Majesty in this his highest Court of judicature in this kingdom, and an unexampled usurpation and breach of privilege against the whole House of Peers, and tending , to the subversion of the Government, and a transcendent breach of the liberties of the subject, which is not to be The Usher impeached but by process of law,' ordered the TTsher of the Bl"k Eod -Black Rod to repair to the prison where Mr. Charles Porter, counsellor-at-law, and the others were detained in custody, and demand their delivery without fees; and the said Usher was empowered to call all persons necessary to his ' During the debate on this motion some ladies were in the gallery peeping over the gentlemen's shoulders. The Speaker seeing them called out, ' What horoughs do these ladies serve for ? ' To which Mr. William Coventry replied, ' The Speaker's.' Sir Thomas Littleton said, ' The Speaker might mistake them for gentlemen with fine sleeves, dressed like ladies.' Says the Speaker, ' I am sure I saw petticoats.' — 4 Cobb, Farl, Hist. 732. LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR PORTEE. 409 assistance, and to make return the following morning by chap. eight of the clock to this House.' By the report of the TJsher of the Black Eod it appeared, that only Sir John Churchill was in the custody of the Serjeant-at-Arms, and the Usher took him from the Ser- The jeant. The latter functionary, in reply to the inquiry of at-Trms! the House of Commons respecting the other counsel, stated * that he was by force prevented from arresting them, and they had escaped.' On which it was resolved ' he had betrayed his trust, should be committed to the Tower, and an address presented to the King to appoint another Ser- jeant-at-Arms.' The Commons resolved not to yield, so, being apprised The Ser- that Mr. Porter and the other members of the Bar were ordered to attending in the discharge of their professional duties in ^i^^est the Westminster Hall, they ordered the Serjeant-at-Arms to go with his mace into Westminster Hall, and take the learned counsel into custody. We can well imagine the scene which the quiet Court of Chancery presented on that bright June morning, a. d. 1675, when the argument which Mr. Porter was addressing to the Master of the EoUs and two Masters in Chancery, sitting for the Chan- cellor, was abruptly cut short by the Serjeant of the House of Commons telling him ' he must consider himself in custody, and accompany him to the House of Commons.' Mr. Porter refused, stating ' he was under the protection Mr. Porter of the House of Lords ; ' but the Serjeant replied, ' If he did not go quietly, he should, however unwilling, be com- pelled to use force.' Mr. Porter then acquiesced, asking leave 'to finish his argument.' This the Serjeant could not permit. The Serjeant also laid his hand on Sir John Churchill, who was within the bar before the Master of the Eolls. Sir John read the protection of the Lords, which he also contended was sufficient, but the Serjeant ; ,, ' The order was addressed, ' To the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod attending this House, his deputy and deputies, and to all mayors, sheriffs, laailiflfs, constables, and other His Majesty's officers and loving subjects, who are for aiding and assisting in the execution hereof.' — 6 State Trials, 1148. arrested. 410 EEIGN OP JAMES 11. CHAP. XXVIII. The pri- soners sent to the Tower. The Usher of the Black Rod tries to obtain their release. The Lieu- tenant refuses. The King prorogues Parlia- ment. held not. He tlien applied to his Honour the Master of the Rolls for protection, who declined to interfere ; hut stated ' he was very sorry to see that he was so carried away in the face of that Court, where his Majesty was always taken to be personally present.' The Serjeant sub- sequently brought his prisoners — namely, Serjeant Peck, Serjeant Pemberton, Sir John Churchill, and Mr. Porter by water, through Sir John Collin's garden, to the Tower, and left them in custody of Sir John Robinson, Lieu- tenant of the Tower. When these proceedings were detailed in the House of Lords, by Lord Lovelace and others, their Lordships ordered the arrest of Serjeant Topham for taking the learned Counsel into custody, and directed the Usher of the Black Rod to demand their release. The Usher, accord- ingly, took boat, and on going up stairs in the Tower to the apartments of the Lieutenant, he found that officer with his legal captives. Then taking his Black Rod in one hand and the Lords' warrants in the other, the Usher commanded him, ' in the name of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled, to deliver up the prisoners.' But the Lords Spiritual and Temporal did not obtain compliance with this demand. The Lieutenant replied, ' That they were committed by order of the Commons, and that he could not release them without their order ; and if the Lords did commit any to him, he could not release them without their Lordships' order.' ^ The Lords presented an address to the King, requesting his Majesty to remove the Lieutenant. This, however, the King refused, and made a speech complaining of the quarrels of the two Houses, which obliged him first to prorogue, then to dissolve the Parliament. This put an end to the imprisonment of Mr. Porter and the other Counsel. The affair had the effect of bringing the im- prisoned Counsel into notice, and making them objects of sympathy with their brethren of the Bar. Several of ' State Trials, vol. vi. p. 1160. LIFE OF LOKD CHANCELLOE POETEE. 411 them quifekly rose to high, positions. Serjeant Pemberton CHAP, -became Chief Justice of the King's Bench, and Mr; Porter, .^^"^"^■. who was knighted, Lord Chancellor of Ireland. The state of parties in England and Ireland on the death of Charles II. and accession of his brother, under the title of James II. (one of the most unfit men to whom the liberty of any people could be intrusted), will be considered in my next Chancellor's life. I therefore refrain from alluding to the subject here. The selection of Sir Charles Portbe to succeed Arch- Mr. Porter bishop Boyle, Lord Chancellor of Ireland for twenty years, as Irish was made by James II. in January 1685-6. At this time ^^'^^' the Irish Yiceroy was the Earl of Clarendon, eldest son a.d. 1685. of Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, Lord Chancellor of England. The Viceroy was born in 1638, and, in his seventeenth year, he was employed by his father in writing State letters in cipher upon the King's business. While thus engaged he was so discreet as well as faithful, that nothing ever was discovered by him. In 1660, he married Theodosia, daugh- ter of Lord Capel, and was appointed Lord Chamberlain to Catherine, Queen of Charles II. His attachment to the Duke of York brought him into Court favour, and he was made a Privy Councillor in 1680. On the accession of King James II. to the throne, in February 1684-5, he was appointed Lord Privy Seal, and in the December of that year constituted Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. While Earl of filling this important, and at the period most trying office, Lord^Lieu- he corresponded very frequently with the King, the Lord tenant. Treasurer Kochester, his brother, and the Prime Minister, the Earl of Sunderland.' These letters throw a great Hia letter light upon the events of that period, and show how f^nd^'^^' earnest was the desire of James II. to allow his Irish Roman Catholic subjects a fuU and free participation in the offices and emoluments of the Government. They had .been for so long a period habitually excluded from Court rights, that his attempts to do this was resented as an 1 These letters are published, together with the Diary for the years 1687-8-9 .to 1690. Dublin, MDCCLXV. 412 EEIGN OF JAMES II. CHAP. XXVIII. The Lord Lieutenant acquainted ■with the new Chan- cellor. The in- come of the Irish Chan- cellor, A.D. 1686. Arrival of Lord Chancellor in Ireland. injustice to the Protestants ; and no Protestant writer of that, or indeed any subsequent, time can forgive the King for acts which, thank God, in our day do not challenge remark. Whether he would have acted more prudently had he lived in the present time, is difficult to surmise ; but the Irish Eoman Catholics at least must remember him with gratitude. In referring to the rumour which reached Dublin, of Sir Charles Porter succeeding Archbishop Boyle as Lord Chancellor of Ireland, the Earl of Clarendon, in a letter to his brother, the Lord Treasurer,^ says : — ' You and I know him, and his talent every way ; therefore I will say nothing of him but this, that he will be mistaken if he thinks to make his fortune by the employment. The King's allowance upon the establishment is 1,000?. per annum ; and the office does not bring in besides above six or at most seven hundred a-year, which is no great wealth for a man who has but a very small estate of his own, con- sidering the figure he ought to make. The Primate lives as nobly, and as much like a gentleman throughout, as ever I knew any man in my life. But the change is re- solved, and there is an end.' It is plain the Viceroy was averse to the proposed change, and was very unwilling that his venerable friend, the Primate, should be deprived of the office he filled with ability and purity for so many years. The rumour as to the change in the Irish Chancellor- ship proved well-founded, the octogenarian Boyle yielded up the Seal, and in the month of April, 1686, Sir Charles Porter arrived as Lord Chancellor of Ireland. When the news was communicated to the Lord Lieutenant, the Earl of Clarendon, that the yacht, with the Lord Chancellor on board, was moored at Dunleary,^ his Excellency imme- diately sent his coach to convey him to the Castle, which was done so promptly that he arrived by ten o'clock A. m. ' Earl of Rochester. ' The port is close to the town now known by the royal designation of Kings- town, from whence King George IV. took his departure from Ireland a.d. 1821. LIFE OP LORD CHANCELLOE PORTEE. 413 He was the bearer of tlie usual letters from the King — CHAE. one constituting him Lord Chancellor, the other to the -^E?:!-^ Ex-Chancellor, Archbishop Boyle, directing him to hand the Great Seal to the Lord Lieutenant, The patent for the Chancellor's appointment being ready, his Excellency convened the Privy Council for three o'clock, at vrhich Sir Charles took the oath, and had the Seal delivered to him by the Lord Lieutenant. He re- Receives ceived much hospitable attention from Lord Clarendon, Seal. and his statement that ' the King was resolved not to have the Acts of Settlement shaken,' gave the Protestants of Confirms Ireland great satisfaction and peace of mind. To the ment that Yicerov himself this was welcome news. He evidently *'>'' ^'^^^ °* , , . . . ., , . , n . . , -r •; Settlement had misgivings on the subject ; when writing to the Lord will be Treasurer of England, Lord Clarendon says : — ' This de- S^j^"^ claration does me good ; for now all the discourse of the town is — " Ton see, my Lord Lieutenant told us true, and the King will have the Acts of Settlement preserved, not- withstanding what the Irish talk of their interest at Court." My Lord Chancellor has said to these, who have asked him, whether there should be any alteration of the Judges (which, he told me, had been very many) that he Enmoms knows nothing of it ; that he had heard it spoken of in changes in England, but that it was not resolved on; and he did Ireland, believe there was some stop in it : and yet, he told me, he had been assured here that Mr. Nugent had made his robes ; to which I said nothing, but smiled. But it is very true when I vrrit to my Lord President of the reports here, and named Mr. Nugent in that letter, he had then actu- ally made his robes ; if the word may be taken of the draper, who sold the cloth, and of the taylor, who made them. There are those here who have been so inquisitive as to inform themselves thus narrowly.' ' Eeports were in circulation for some time that several of the Irish Judges had incurred the King's enmity, and at a period when the term of office was during pleasure ; ' Clarendon's State Letters, vol. i. p. 149. I fear the inquisitive people were not confined to the seventeenth century. 414 EEIGN OF JAMES II. CHAP. XXVIII. Lord Cla- rendon's estimate of Judge Johnson. Of Sir Eichard Eeynells. Of Sir Sfan'dish Hars- towne. Of Mr. Nugent, this portended a change. Judge Johnson was one of those mentioned. He is praised by the then Lord Lieutenant,' and with apparent reason : — ' I am very sorry he is under the King's displeasure ; as I shall be for any man who falls under that great unhappiness. He came into Ireland with my Lord Chief Justice Smith, when he first came hither, one of the Commissioners of the Court of Claims ; and under his favour and countenance he grew up. He is the eldest Judge in this kingdom, having sat for sixteen years on the bench. Whatever faults he may be guilty of, I dare say disloyalty was never yet laid to his charge.' 'As for other Judges here, whom his Majesty is dis- pleased with, my Lord President has named to me Sir Richard Eeynells and Sir Standish Harstowne. For the first I can say nothing knowingly, but what all the world knows, that he is a very able man. He came over hither a young man, five or six years before the King's restoration. He has got a very good estate purely by his practice in the law before he was a Judge. He is of the Council, as much with the Irish as the English, and so he will again, when he is out, in all probability. In his station as a Judge no man can carry the prerogative higher than he does, no man can make greater professions of duty and loyalty to the King. As for Sir Standish Harstowne, I can say nothing but from my own observation of his beha- viour in the place he is as a Baron of the Exchequer ; where the King is more immediately concerned than in any other Court, and he certainly understands the business there perfectly weU, and, by all that appears to me, does his duty very well.' Neither the Viceroy nor the Lord Chancellor approved of the changes which the King resolved to make among the Irish Judges. Especially promoting Mr. Nugent, whom the Lord Lieutenant considered a man very unfit for the judicial bench. The Chancellor being so recently arrived was desirous of ascertaining the estimate his Ex- cellency had formed of this barrister, and inquired, ' Was ' Clarendon's State Letters, vol. i. p. 139. LIFE OP LORD CHANCELLOR PORTER. 415 his Lordship acquainted with him ? ' His Excellency re- CHAP, plied, ' Very slightly ; that he had been only a few times i^^^^S- with him on ordinary business.' When the Chancellor observed, ' He is a very silly fellow, and grows very troublesome.' The Lord Lieutenant had a better opinion of Mr. Daly, who was raised to the Common Pleas Bench on the removal of Judge Johnson. Writing to the Lord Treasurer, he says : — ' Mr. Daly seems a sober man ; he Of ^^■ has the character of one of the best lawyers of that (the Daiy. Catholic) party, there being, in truth, but three above or equal to him — Nangle, Garret Dillon, and Stephen Eice. He is reputed a modest man ; he is perfect Irish, of old Irish race ; he is very bigoted and national, and yet all he is worth in the world is of his own acquiring, and but little. He was bred a clerk to Patrick Darcy, a man famously known by all who knew anything of the late wars in this kingdom.' ' The changes contemplated were made — Sir Eichard Changes Eeynell was displaced from the King's Bench, and Thomas ^^l^^ "^ Nugent, King's Counsel, succeeded.^ He was speedily pro- moted, for, in the January following. Sir William Davy was removed from the Chief Justiceship of the King's Bench and Nugent put into his place ; while Sir Bryan O'Neill, Bart., succeeded Nugent as Puisne Judge. In the Common Pleas Judge Johnson made way for Denis Daly. In swear- ing the new Judges, who were Catholics, the Oath of Su- premacy was dispensed with by the King's letter. This Oath of occasioned some disquietude to the Viceroy, who, fearing ailpeMed'' it might be charged against him as a breach of the law, ■with. desired that the King's letter should be entered at the Signet Office, at Whitehall, as his warrant for so acting.' On receiving the news of the proposed change, the Viceroy sent for Sir Eichard Eeynell, who at once waited on the Lord Lieutenant ; and the account of the interview How Sir is so creditable to the Ex- Judge that I cannot omit it. ^eyndf When the Viceroy informed him of the King's pleasure tore dis- missal. ' Clarendon's State Letters, vol. i. p. 162. 2 Patent, Dublin, April 23, 1686. 3 State Letters, vol. i. p. 163. 416 EEIGN OF JAMES II. CHAP. XXVIII. Character of Sir Charles Porter. King James pensions the Chan- cellor. Disquiet regarding the Act of Settle- ment. he replied, ' That he very cheerfully submitted, and should always do so whatever determination his Majesty might make concerning him. He said his religion and his pro- fession had taught him loyalty to the King, and he prac- tised it ever since he was in a capacity for doing so, and if he knew what was most acceptable to the King, he would show his duty by doing it.' He then asked, ' If he might return to his practice ? ' The "Viceroy replied, ' He knew nothing to the contrary, and that his Majesty did not concern himself what his subjects did or what callings they betook themselves to, as long as they behaved them- selves dutifully.' ' Sir Charles Porter, says Smyth,^ ' was a loyal gentleman of agreeable and social manners, but equally destitute of legal talents or private fortune. The former defect it was thought must render him subject to the management of Popish Judges, and the latter necessity insure his acqui- escence in the most criminal measures ; his integrity, however, proved superior to personal distress, and once more made him a poor and private man.' But I must not anticipate events. The King resolved to supply him with a modest income, by ordering him a pension of 1,500Z. a-year, the place of Chancellor being not worth, viis et modis 600Z. per annum, and a man must live in a handsome way, or else he will hear of it. The Chancellor took Sir John Cole's house in the Strand, at 1001. a-year. This sum was considered high for a house near Dublin.^ The business of the Court was sufBcient to show the Chancellor a better judge than he got credit for, and he was courteous and social with the members of the Irish bar. Notwithstanding the assurances that the Act of Settle- ment would not be disturbed, it was so generally known to have been obtained by such glaring injustice, and worked so much suffering to the loyal and staunch Irish Catholics, who were steady supporters of the house of Stuart, that ' Clarendon's State Letters, vol. i. p. 164. ^ Law Officers of Ireland. ' Clarendon's State Letters, vol. i. p. 170. LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR PORTER. 417 tlie new possessors of the estates of the Irish nobility and CHAP, gentry were anything but easy in their minds. The Earl ^^i^Z^ of Clarendon stronarly advised the English Goyernment to ■'■''"■!,^ 9**' . . rendon s issue a Commission for settling the Irish estates. He urged advice. ' that this, more than anything else that can be thought of, would settle the minds of the kingdom, and raise a very considerable sum of money.' ' This,' he stated, ' was the opinion of not only English, but Irish Catholics ; for all men of that religion who have estates, are either confirmed in their old possessions or in their new acquisitions by the Act of Settlement, and they are as much afraid of a breach upon these Acts as the new-interested English, and would give anything to be secured.' The Lord Chancellor was Lord of the same opinion, and consulted several of the most p'^^^^l^o' eminent men at the Irish bar, who regarded it as the best with the means of quieting the distrust which existed. They added, "^^™y- it will not please all, for ' there are some of both parties who will not like it ; but they would not lihe any settle- ment.'^ The Lord Chancellor was not above asking places for The Chan- his relatives. The promotion of Mr. Eice placed the office ^^^^°^ , reiused a of Counsel to the Revenue in the gift of the Lord Lieutenant, place fDr on which the Chancellor asked it for his brother, but was ^is brother, refused, as his Excellency and the Lord Treasurer had already notified that Mr. Pyne should be appointed to the vacancy. The Chancellor then said, ' He would have done ; but Mr. Pyne was a bad man, and a very great Whig.' Let us hope the terms are not synonymous. When the subject of the New Commission of Grace was discussed between the Lord Lieutenant and Chief Justice Keating, the latter strongly recommended that the Com- missioners should have no salaries.^ ' If the Judges were jj^^ggns employed,' he said, ' they had good salaries from the King, why Com- and were bound to do him all the s^'-vice they could ; and, ^101^™"™ if salaries were allowed, there would be many pretenders have no for the salaries only, and some might get in who did not ' Clarendon's State Letters, vol. i. p. 177. ' IWJ- p. 195. VOL. I. ^ ^ 418 EEIGN OF JAMES II. CHAP. XXVIII. Eoman Catholic Privy Council- lors. Practising barristers ought not to be Privy Coun- cillors. understand the business.' ' Tlie names of Eoman Cattolics selected as Members of the Privy Council caused consider- able sensation in Dublin Castle. The new Judges were Catholic, as was also Mr. Richard Nagle, or Wangle, as the Lord Lieutenant writes the name. This gentleman was a very eminent member of the Irish bar. Writing to the Lord Treasurer, his Excellency thus alludes to these new appointments, ' The truth is, between you and me, it is a very ridiculous thing to make a puisne Judge of every bench of the Privy Council, and was never done but in Sir E. Eeynell's case, because of his great ability, and being put by from being Lord Chief Justice. The poor men are almost out of countenance to accept it (Judge Nugent excepted, who is indeed a very troublesome im- pertinent creature), and think it will bring envy on them, when it was not needed. I may add, that the making of so many Privy Councillors is an additional charge upon the revenue, for every Councillor has the impost of a certain quantity of wine every year, which, though it be no great matter, yet, according to the old saying, " every little makes a mickle." ' ^ The name of Mr. Nagle being inserted in the list of those gentlemen to be sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland, called for a remonstrance from the Lord Lieutenant to the Lord President in England. His Excellency admitted him to be ' a very learned and an honest man, but he was a practising barrister, and it was not etiquette for such to be of the Council. It will not look well that a man who has the honour to be of the King's Privy Council should be crowding at the bar of the Courts of Justice bareheaded, and his bag in his hand. I have not heard it was ever yet done, but to Sir Francis Bacon, when he was Attorney-General,^ and to satisfy his ambition, by the credit he had with the Duke of Buckingham, or rather by importunity, he was ' Clarendon's State Letters, vol. i. p. 225. 2 Ibid. p. 230. ' The Attorney-General for Ireland is now always a member of the Privy Council. LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOR POETEE. 419 made a Privy Councillor ; but lie never appeared after- chap. XXVIIl wards in Westminster Hall unless the King's business - , ^ required him.' ' How different was the conduct of Mr. Nagle to that of Sir Francis Bacon ! When Mr. Nagle was informed of the Hr. Nagle designed honour he expressed surprise, and told his Ex- p^^fit jg cellency 'he wondered his friends would move in his the honour , . . proposed. behalf without first consulting himself, and to leave his practice would be his ruin.' He added, ' that to appear at the bar, after being of the Council, would be undecent even for the King's service.^ He therefore requested his Excellency not to take any notice of him, that he was not ambitious, and preferred to be let alone. His practice brought him a larger income than a Chief Justiceship, and His rea- he had a great charge of children, for whom he was bound in ^eclin^ng. conscience to provide. That he was fully as ready and as will- ing to serve the King in his present station as in any rank.'' King James II. informed the Lord Lieutenant of his decision that his Irish Roman Catholic subjects should be Eoman admitted into all offices hitherto exclusively filled by Pro- giigibir^ testants, such as Members of Corporations, Justices of the &r offices. Peace, and High Sheriffs. His Excellency made pretence of taking the advice on this subject of the Judges, but this was mere evasion ; and matters not going on to the satis- faction of the Eoman Catholics of Ireland, Richard Tal- bot, then Earl of Tyrconnel, who may be regarded as the most urgent that the Catholics should, as the King directed, have equal privileges with their fellow-subjects, called on his Excellency to enquire the cause of the delay. His Eemon- language, as reported, reads coarse and offensive, which f^Tyr^. indeed corresponds with his general character. He told connel. the Lord Lieutenant 'the Sheriff's made were generally rogues, and old Cromwellians ; but he (Lord Tyrconnel) had excused him to the King, because that the Viceroy, a ' Vide Lord Camphell's Lives of the Lord Chancellors of England, vol. ii. p. 348. ' Bacon was of a different opinion, Ibid. p. 349. » Clarendon's State Letters, toI. i. p. 234. E G 2 420 EEIGN OF JAMES II. CHAP. xxvin. High Sheriffs. Course taken by the Chan- cellor. Payment of Roman Catholic Bishops by the Crown. stranger to Ireland, could not know people himself, and was advised by the late Chancellor.' To this Lord Claren- don replied, ' It was true he did not know many himself, and was advised by the late Chancellor, as he should always be by whoever the King put in that station, but that he was not wholly influenced by the Chancellor, as he had enquired from other worthy men, Catholics as well as Protestants, and the Sheriffs he appointed were as good a set of men as had been chosen these dozen years.' Where- upon Lord Tyrconnel swore, ' By , I believe it, for there has not been an honest man Sheriff in Ireland these twenty years.' ' That is hard censure,' replied his Ex- cellency, ' but it is not my business to find out the faults of twenty years past.' While this dialogue was going on, Lord Chancellor Porter joined them. Tyrconnel enquired, ' What was doing about the Justices of the Peace ? ' ' My Lord,' replied the Chancellor, ' my Lord Lieutenant has showed me the King's letter, and I am taking the best method I can for the speedy obeying of it. I have spoken to three Roman Catholic Judges, and to others of quality of that religion, to furnish me with the names of honest men in the several counties fit for the employment, and the thing shall be done as it ought to be ; and if your Lordship will give me any names, you will oblige me.' ' By ,' said his Lord- ship, ' I see you will be a great while about it.' ' My Lord,' says the Lord Chancellor, 'the King knows I never was slack in his service, and he shall not find me guilty of that fault.' ' There appears to have been some intention entertained by the Crown at this time, of paying the Roman Catholic Prelates. In a letter from Dublin Castle, dated June 12, 1686, the Viceroy informed tlie Lord Treasurer, ' that on Thursday, June 10, the Roman Catholic Primate was with me. He asked me whether I had received orders from the King for the paying any money to him. I told him no. He said he had sometime hence a letter from the ' Clarendon's State Letters, vol. i. p. 254. LIPE OF LOED CHANCELLOR POBTEE. 421 King, declaring that he would mate certain allowances to CHAP, the Eoman Catholic Archbishops and Bishops, and that -1 — , — '^ they were all to be paid to him, and he was to distribute the money according to his Majesty's directions. I told him I had not yet received any orders concerning him.' ' The subject of the Commission of Grace occupied the The pro- attention of the Irish Executive, and, when the Lord missiou°of" Chancellor and Mr. Nagle dined at the Castle towards the Grace, close of July 1686, a long conversation took place between the Lord Lieutenant and these two guests. Mr. Nagle Adrerse did not enter so warmly into the project as the others. X^Nagle He said ' Lord Tyrconnel told him of it, and bid him pre- r«sp6cting pare something in writing respecting it, but he could not believe a Commission would be useful, or that it would bring in very considerable sums of money. That whatever was to be done, either for confirming thfe present settle- ments, or for the relief of such of the old proprietors as ought to be relieved, would be done best by Parliament ; he thought it yet too soon to call a Parliament. The Acts ought to be first agreed on, which woidd take time ; so many interests should- be felt, and there were so many difficulties in the way, he could not put anything into writing, though Lord Tyrconnel was in great haste.' ^ The Lord Chancellor was thought by the Roman Catho- A free lies to be rather remiss in carrying out the King's wishes ^"ifthe respecting appointing members of their creed to offices. Lord Major-General Macarty, a great friend of Lord Tyrcon- ^gUo"' nel's, and an Irish barrister, Mr. Mhill, recently made King's Counsel, called on the Lord Chancellor, and, in the course of conversation, the General (who seems to have been a very free-spoken person), told him 'that he, the Lord Chancellor, had extremely disappointed them (the Irish) in the expectation they at first had of him.' The Chancellor asked ' Wherein he had deceived them? That he was a frank man, and would discourse very freely with him, if he would come to particulars.' ' 'This money was subsequently paid.'— Clarendon's State Letters, vol. i. p. 256. ^ Ihid. p. 332. 422 EEIGN OF JAMES 11. CHAP. ' Why then,' said the General, ' we did expect you should , — ^ have done all that the King commanded without any hesi- tation.' ' So I have,' said the Chancellor ; ' there is no one command I have received from the King which I have not obeyed ; and I will ever do so. I may, perchance, make some representation to the King sometimes contrary to what he has directed, as I have leave to do; but, if the King orders his former commands to be, notwithstanding, pursued, they shall be obeyed with aU possible readiness and cheerfulness.' ' You are very scrupulous,' said Macarty, ' in admitting Bioman Catholics to be Justices of the Peace, though the King has directed, by his letter, that they should be ad- mitted ; you refused our Primate's brother and several others for no reason but because they had no estates.' The Chan- ' My Lord Lieutenant,' said the Chancellor, ' gave me vindicates ^^® King's Commands as soon as he received them, and I his con- as presently put them in execution ; that is, I immediately spoke to the three new Judges, and all the other Roman Catholics who are in the King's service, and others whom I knew, to furnish me with the names of men proper for that employment. There were several lists given to me for most counties, and I admitted all whom any of the King's Counsel, or any other person of worth, fit to be credited, could answer for upon their own knowledge ; and as for the others, for whom they would not answer, I in- formed myself of them, and found they were men of no estates, many of them criminals, not fit to be put into the King's Commission. As for your Primate's brother, he is a poor country fellow, lives upon six pounds a-year, which he rents of Sir Michael Cole, and has nothing else in the world. After all this,' said he, ' if you think fit for the King's service to name such a man upon the bench, he shall be made a Justice of the Peace.' ' No, in good faith,' said Macarty, ' I do not think it fit, but you make difficulty in putting ill men out of Commis- sion, except they are proved to be rogues by some notorious LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOR POETEE. 423 villany they have committed, which will be hard for us to CHAP. prove.' lE^]^ ' Sir,' replied the Chancellor, 'it is not enough to say, in the general, " such a man is a rogue ; " the best of men may be so blasted. But if any man tells me, " such a man is an ill man upon my own experience, that he did this and that at such a time ; " without further proof I will put all such men out of commission.' ' Whereupon Macarty named one or two, and gave such good reason why they were unfit to remain in the Com- mission, but could not say for what counties they were appointed, on which the Chancellor said, ' Send me a note of them to-morrow, and I will put them out.' This ready acquiescence of the Chancellor quite pleased the General. ' Faith, my Lord,' said he, ' I think you are a very honest General gentleman, but they say you have taken ten thousand ^tntonot pounds of the Whigs ; and there are thoughts of having the Chan- , 1 , cellor. you sent home. ' Sir,' replied the Chancellor, proudly, ' I thank God I The Chan- am above bribes, and I flatter myself that the King has a refutes the better opinion of me, than to believe any such thing till charge of he sees it proved, I can safely take my oath that, directly " ^^^' or indirectly, I have not had a penny since I came hither (more than the King's allowance), but 1561. from the profits of the place ; I had been told, indeed, my Lord Tyrconnel reported the Whigs had given me ten thousand pounds. When next I see Lord Tyrconnel, I shall desire him to give me an account of this, for such aspersions are not to be borne.' Mr. Mhill said, ' Lord Tyrconnel sometimes reported things which light people tell him, without enquiring or considering, and if he takes a pique to a man, never leaves him till he ruins him if he can.' The Chancellor replied, ' If that be the humour of Lord Tyrconnel, it is an ill one, and I will be more on my guard with him. I should regret being called home, if it should be with the King's displeasure, otherwise I shall be always ' He evidentlj' meant the statement should come upon undoubted authority. 424 EEIGN OK JAMES II. CHAP. XXVIII. Mr. Nagle and Lord Tyrconnel leave for England. Lord Lieu- tenant's letter to the King. Irish Pro- testants not Grom- wellians. ready to be disposed of, as his Majesty pleaseth.' This was reported by the Chancellor to the Lord Lieutenant next morning.^ The departure of Mr. Nagle, with Lord Tyrconnel, to England, alarmed the Irish Protestants exceedingly. They guessed some mischief was brewing against them, and, knowing well how Lord Tyrconnel spoke of them, for he never minced his words or concealed his thoughts, trembled for their recently acquired properties. The Lord Lieuten- ant, in a letter addressed to King James 11. on August 14, 1686, states, ' The fears of the Anglo-Irish are excited ; 1st, by the changes made in the army, of substituting Roman Catholics for Protestants ; 2ndly, by the state- ment of the Irish, that there was no rebellion in 1641,^ and that grants made were void, the old proprietors having forbid the tenants paying rents to the present landlords ; 3rdly, the Roman Catholic Clergy in several places for- bidding people to pay tithes to the Protestant ministers.' He then says, ' Tour Majesty's gracious resolutions to preserve the Acts of Settlement did satisfy all people, even the Catholics, who had a mind to thrive, and to have the country settled, till some men, who are in places of trust, by their actions and words were thought to know more of your Majesty's mind than I do.' He wishes to inform the King it is a mistake to suppose ' that the gross of the English in this kingdom are fanatics of Cromwell's brood, and the offspring of those who served in the rebellion against your sacred father. There are very few of the original soldiers and adventurers now left, or of their de- scendants ; of the latter not twenty famili s, and no great number of the former. But the generality of these two great interests sold their lots, many of them to honest men who, upon the King's Restoration, brought with them out of England to lay out here that little which remained of their fortunes, after their families were ruined for their ' Clarendon's State Letters, vol. i. p. 335. " That of course meant no rebellion on their part, they fought for the King in the Civil War. The}' always maintained LIFE OF XORD CHANCELLOE POETEE. 425 loyaltj'. Of these men, and of those called the '49 in- CHAP. terest, who were by all accounted loyal, and of old English • , — '^ planters in Queen Elizabeth's time, does the bulk of the English interests and inhabitants consist ; these men carry on six parts in seven of the trade of this kingdom. They are of the Church of England by constant practice, and not to a late going to church only ; and I must further say that, in my life, I never met with people fuller of duty to your Majesty, nor more desirous of opportunities to manifest their loyalty." If any representations could influence the King in favour of these men, it would have been this earnest and im- pressive appeal. Serious changes were pending, and both Lord Clarendon Changes and the Chancellor were regarded as obstacles. They "^^^ '°^' were marked for removal, and Roman Catholics were to succeed. In Lord Clarendon's Diary, with the date of January 11, 1687, we learn the fate of the Lord Chancellor. The entry of the Lord Lieutenant is this , — -^ In the morning I went Letter to to see my Lord Chancellor. He showed me a letter he chancellor had received from Sir Patrick Trant, which took notice to ;in"oi}nc- him of Mr. Fitton's coming to succeed him, at which Sir removal. Patrick seemed much troubled, but said it could not be helped, and Lord Tyrconnel was dissatisfied with him, Sir Charles Porter. All the Papist party themselves seem surprised at these changes ; they were troubled to lose Sir Charles Porter, who had carried himself with great ap- Character plause, and discharged the ofiice of Chancellor to the "s Lord"^ general satisfaction of all men.' ^ Chan- Not long after this entry, Lord Tyrconnel returned to Dublin. He brought with him the King's letter to Lord Clarendon, desiring him to deliver the Sword to Lord Tyrconnel, within a week after his arrival. JSText day. Arrival of July 9, Lord Tyrconnel waited on his Excellency at the co°nnel ^^' Castle, accompanied bv Sir Alexander Eitton, whom he and Sir ' -^ "^ A FiUon. ' Clarendon's State Letters, vol. i. p. 355-6. ^ Ibid. vol. ii. p. 160. 426 EEIGN OF JAMES II. CHAP. XXVIII. The changes effected. introduced, saying the King had sent him over, but without stating for what purpose. His Excellency said he would give Lord Tyrconnel the Sword on Saturday, which he did accordingly ; and Sir Alexander Fitton succeeded Sir Charles Porter as Lord Chancellor of Ireland, In conse- quence of the reappointment of Sir Charles Porter in 1690, I postpone the life of Sir Alexander Fitton until after Lord Chancellor Pobtek's death. LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOE POETEE. 427 CHAPTEE XXIX. CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF XOKB CHANCELLOE POEIER FKOM HIS APPOINTMENT BT KING WILLIAM 111. TILL HIS DEATH. Sir Charles Poetee returned to practice at the Bnglisli chap. XXIX Bar during the interval between his losing the Great Seal -; — . — '— of Ireland in 1686, and regaining it in 1690. Lord Cla- ppj,,gj rendon, in his Diary, January 1689, says : ' I was at the i" *« Temple with Mr. Eoger North and Sir Charles Porter, ^™^ ^" who were the only two honest lawyers I ever met with.' This last remark is not very complimentary to the pro- fession to which the writer's father belonged. It must have been a great relief to a lover of peace, and of stu- dious research, like Porter, to rest for a time in the con- genial cloisters of the Temple, far from the anxieties, cares, and worry, of a Lord Chancellor during this tur- bulent period of Irish politics. After an interval of about three years, he was, once Again more, summoned from his quiet chambers to hold the LordChlu- Irish Seal. Within that brief space what important ^^"°'' °'' events occurred ! A dynasty had fallen ; the country he had left vyitnessed a short pageant of a King occupying Dublin Castle, holding a Parliament in the capital of his remaining kingdom, two others having very properly signified their disinclination longer to acknowledge his sway, and he very readily took the hint. While in Dublin, James II. managed matters better. He felt his power and used it, by giving to his Catholic subjects, at least, the reality of Eoyal rule. The Irish Parliament only sat for a few months, and subsequent events rendered its Acts nugatory. Then came the tug of war — the gallant defence of the 'prentice boys of Lon- donderry — the memorable Battle of the Boyne, where 428 EEIGN OF WILLIAM AND MARY. CITAP. XXJX. Williainite and Jaco- liite war in Ireland. Articles of Limerick. Sir C. Porter Lord Chan- cellor and O-^ningsby Lords Justices. Arrival of the Lords Justices. Articles signed. tlie limpid waters of the bright river were tainted with, the crimson tide, flowing equally from Jacobite and Williamite veins. Then the conflicts of Athlone, the hotly-contested field of Aughrim, the sieges of Limerick ; and it was for the purpose of assisting in negotiating the Articles of Capitulation of this historic city that King William III. summoned Sir Charles Porter from the smoke-stained quadrangles of the Temple to assume his former position in the Emerald Isle. He was associated as Lord Justice with Mr. Coningsby ' on his arrival in Dublin towards the close of September 1689. At nine o'clock in the evening of October 1, 1691, Sir Charles Porter, Lord Chancellor, and Thomas Coningsby, Esq., Lords Justices, arrived at the camp of the Com- mander-in-Chief of the English army to sign the Articles on which Limerick was to be delivered up. On the 2nd, at two o'clock, the Irish Generals, Sarsfield, Wauchop, and other contracting parties on the part of the Irish, proceeded to Ginckle's camp, where they discussed the respective articles seriatim. On the 8rd, the Irish officers dined with the Duke of Wurtemburg, when the Articles were interchangeably signed. The first, relating to the surrender of the city, was signed by the respective Ge- nerals ; and the others, defining the privileges granted to the Irish, were signed by Sir Charles Porter, Thomas Coningsby, and Baron De Ginckel. On the part of the British Government, these were afterwards ratified by their Majesties' Letters Patent under the Great Seal of England.'' As these famous Articles have been the sub- ject of much controversy, I give these relating to the ■ Thomas Coningsby accompanied King William III. into Ireland, and was close to the King -when, on the eve of the Battle of the Boyne, ho was wounded in the shoulder by the earth thrown up by a cannon ball aimed at him. Coningsby was the first to staunch the wound with his handkerchief. On the departure of the King, he was constituted Lord Justice with the Lord Chan- cellor, and subsequently raised to the peerage as Baron Coningsby of Clan- brassil. In the reign of Queen Anne he was Vice-Treasurer and Paymaster of the Forces in Ireland. In 1719 he was advanced to the dignity of Earl of Coningsby, and died May 1, 1729. ■ History of Limerick, by Lenehan, p. 269. LIFE OF LOKD CHANCELLOK PORTEE. 429 privileges granted to the Irish, (or supposed to be secured CH-AP. thereby) in detail : — -JJ-,-!— ' Articles agreed upon the third day of October 1691, by Articles of the Eight Honourable Sir Charles Porter, Knight, and ^™«''i<^k. Thomas Coningsby, Esq., Lords Justices of Ireland, and His Excellency Baron De Ginckle, Lieutenant-General, and Commander-in-Chief of the English Army, on the one part ; and the Eight Honourable Patrick Earl of Lucan, Percy Viscount Galmoy, Colonel Nic Purcell, Colonel Dillon, and Colonel John Browne, on the other side. On the behalf of the Irish inhabitants in the city and county of Limerick, the counties of Clare, Cork, Kerry, Sligo, and Mayo, in consideration of the surrender of the city of Limerick, and other agreements made between the said Lieutenant-G-eneral Ginckle, the Governor of the city of Limerick, and the Generals of the Irish army, bearing date with these presents for the surrender of the said city and the submission of the said army. It is agreed, that, " I. The Eoman Catholics of this kingdom shall enjoy I. Eoman such privileges in the exercise of their religion, as are J^'^en°o"^^ consistent with the laws of Ireland ; or as they did enjoy same' pri- in the reign of King Charles II. ; and their Majesties, as ],' reign of soon as their affairs will permit them to summon a Par- Cliarles IL liament in this kingdom, will endeavour to procure the said Eoman Catholics such further security in that par- ticular as may preserve them from any disturbance upon the account of their said Religion. 'II. All the inhabitants or residents of Limerick, or n. Allcer- any other garrison now in possession of the Irish, and all sons in this officers and soldiers, now in arms, under any commission enjoy their of King James, or those authorised by him to grant the '?^'^*''^- same, in the several counties of Limerick, Clare, Kerry, Cork, and Mayo, or any of them ; and all the commis- sioned officers in their Majesties' quarters, that belong to the Irish regiments, now in being, that are treated with, and who are not prisoners of war, or have taken protec- tion and who shall return and submit to their Majesties' obedieace ; and their and every of their heirs shall hold, 430 EEIGN OF WILLIAM AND MARY. CHAP. XXIX. Goods and chattels. To prac- tice their profes- sions. Oath of allegiance. III. Mer- chants out of the Kingdom entitled. possess, and enjoy all and every of tkeir estates of free- hold and inheritance ; and all the rights, titles and in- terests, privileges and immunities, which they, and every or any of them held, enjoyed, or were rightfully and law- fully entitled to, in the reign of King Charles II., and shall be put in possession, by order of the Government, of such of them as are in the King's hands, or the hands of his tenants, without being put to any suit or trouble therein ; and all such estates shall be free and discharged from all arrears of Crown rents, and other public charges, incurred and become due since Michaelmas 1688 to the day of the date hereof : and all persons comprehended in this article shall have, hold and enjoy all their goods and chattels, real and personal, to them or any of them belonging, and re- maining either in their own hands, or the hands of any persons whatsoever, in trust for or for the use of them, or any of them : and all and every the said persons, of what profession, trade or calling soever they be, shall and may use, exercise and practise their several and respective professions, trades and callings, as freely as they did use, exercise, and enjoy the same in the reign of King Charles II., provided that nothing in this article con- tained be construed to extend to, or restore any forfeited person now out of the kingdom, except what are hereafter comprised ; provided also that no person whatever shall have or enjoy the benefit of this article that shall neglect or refuse to take the oath of allegiance ' made by Act of Parliament in England, in the first J ear of the reign of their present Majesties, when thereunto required. ' III. AH merchants or reputed merchants of the city of Limerick, or of any other garrison now possessed by the Irish, or of any town or place in the counties of Clare or Kerry, who are absent beyond the seas, that have not borne arms since their Majesties declaration ia February 1688, shall have the benefit of the second Article, in ' ' I, A. B., do sincerely promise and swear, that I will be faithful, and bear true allegiance to their Majesties King William and Queen Mary. So help me God.' LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR POKTEE. 431 tlie same manner as if they were present, provided such CHAP. merchant and reputed merchants do repair into this '- kingdom, within the space of eight months from the date hereof. ' rV. Preserves to certain officers the benefit of the iv. Offi- Second Article upon certain conditions. '^'^^^' ' V. Grants a general pardon to all persons comprised V. Pardon. in Second and Third Articles. ' VI'. Provides that no person or persons comprised in ^l- Saved the foregoing Articles, shall be sued, molested, or im- pleaded at the suit of any party for any trespass, or any arms, chattels, &c. by them taken during the war, or for any rents, &c. by them received, or any waste committed. This article to be mutual and reciprocal on both sides. ' VII. Allows to noblemen and gentlemen comprised in "Vll. Arms. Second and Third Articles the use of arms. ' VIII. The inhabitants and residents of Limerick and ^'^in. Ee- other garrisons to be permitted to remove their goods, goods. &c. without search or dues, and to have six weeks' time allowed for removal. ' IX. The oath to be administered to Eoman Catholics IX. Oath, shall be the oath aforesaid, and no other. * X. Persons breaking these Articles to lose the benefit X. Breach J, of Articles. 01 same. ' XI. The Lords Justices to protect all persons compre- XI. Pro- hended in these Articles for the space of eight months. *^'^ io»- ' XII. The Lords Justices undertake that their Ma- ^ll- To be jesties will ratify the Articles within eight months, and -within endeavour that same shall be confirmed by Parliament. ojght. ' XIII. Frees Lord Lucan from engagements as to the Xlil. Lord debts of Colonel John Brown. ' These articles were signed by ' Sgeavbnmoke, Chas. Poetee, ' H. Maccat, Tho. Coning sbt, ' T. Talmash, Bar. De Ginckle.' When the articles were signed, it was discovered that after the words. Limerick, Clare, Kerry, Cork, Mayo, or 432 EEIGN OP WILLIAM AND MARY, ^\^- ^^y of them, in the second Article, an important clause, r-—-' which had been agreed upon, was omitted, viz., ' And aU omitterl ^"°^ ^^ ^^^ Under their protection in the said counties.' confirmerl Thereupon the Lords Justices, who were aware the clause Patent. was agreed upon and inserted in the draft of the Articles, caused the King by Letters Patent to ratify and confirm the omitted words. ■ Military Besides the foregoing, there were also military articles agreed upon between the respective generals, by virtue of which forty thousand of the Irish troops sailed for the French coast, and were formed into the regiments of the Irish Brigade and paid by the French King ; they were the men who changed the fortune of war against England at Fontenoy.' The Irish, who submitted on the faith of the Articles of Limerick, soon found they had little to reward their confidence. ' Justices of the peace, sheriffs, and other magistrates, presuming on their power in the country, did. Conduct of in an illegal manner, dispossess several of their Majesties' tratesin subjects, not Only of their goods and chattels, but of their violation lands and tenements, to the great disturbance of the peace Treaty. of the kingdom, subversion of the law, and reproach of their Majesties' Government.' * The Lord gij- Charles Porter had been nominated Lord Justice, aad others together with Coningsby and Lord Sydney, subsequently \°^''^}p Lord Lieutenant, and the Chancellor applied himself to Justices. ' '^'^ forward the good government of a country torn by dis- sensions and bleeding from the wounds inflicted during the Distracted recent war. It was no easy matter to preserve order Ireland. among the state of things which then prevailed. On one side were the adherents of King William III., flushed and triumphant with recent victory, and determined to fence themselves behind a rampart of law, which would prove for ever an impassable barrier to the beaten party. On the other side was the great bulk of the people, who had clung to the cause of James II. with the fervour of their creed and race, who by the terms of the Treaty of Lime- rick, were to enjoy civil and religious freedom ; but the ' Vide O'Callaghiin's Irish Brigades, p. 3.30. - Harris's Life of AVilliam III. LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOE POETER. 433 violation of the treaty left them at the mercy of men who CHAP. . . . XXIX only wanted a pretext for extirpating them. Nor was this •_ — , — '-> pretext long wanting. Scattered bands of the Jacobite army, hordes of Irish who had hoped to obtain employ- ment as camp-followers, but who had no desire to serve in the Irish Brigades on the Continent, and preferred to wander in gangs at home, seeking a precarious subsistence The Eap- on plunder from those who had been in the Williamite ^^^^^^' service, were constantly swooping upon the outlying houses of the Cromwellian or Williamite adherents. Their pre- datory habits, their lairs and retreats among pathless hills, the shelter of bogs, the houseless wilds, made it impossible to guard against their coming, or to arrest their flight. Like eagles swooping upon their prey, they fell upon a convoy of military with provision, or a well-stored house, and the work of death and devastation was prompt and sure. If rescue was attempted, no trace of the banditti could be found. Not a clue could be discovered of the formidable -array of a few minutes before, and the trooper might weary himself in search of the Eapperee, who lay, crouched like a hare in the neighbouring bog, or plunged in the stream with his mouth and nostrils above the sur- face.^ The Lord Chancellor felt the importance of uphold- LordChan- ing the authority of the law in such a state of affairs. He endeavours procured competent Judges— men of character and know- to gain ledge of the law — and tried as far as possible to give the in the legal Irish people the protection of the law, and thus induce t"bunals. confidence in the administration of justice. The counties most peaceful were intrusted to the care County of Lords Lieutenant, who had several Deputy Lieutenants tenants to share the responsibility of the internal management. ^'^^ ^^' , , puties. Strong measures for repressing outrage were needed, and arms were placed in the charge of militia officers, to be used for the protection of life and property against the enemies of both. The Privy Council was composed en- Privy tirely of those who had manifested the utmost zeal in the cause of King William. Seventeen Justices were appointed ' Dr. Curry's Civil Wars of Ireland, vol. ii. chap. viii. VOL. I. F F Council. 434 EEIGN OF WILLIAM AND MAEY. CHAP, to try prisoners at assizes in various counties, and active xxsx > , — '-^ steps were taken to allay the disturbing elements wMch prevailed throughout the land. Office of Perhaps one of the measures which tended most to in- • sioners^of "^^^^ ^^ Catholic people to assist in the re-establishment forfeitures of law and Order was the abolition of the office of Com- missioners of Forfeiture, who had shamefully abused their trust.' Lord -A-t length it was deemed necessary to summon a Parlia- Sydney ment, and Lord Sydney issued writs for a Parliament to Pariia- meet in Dublin. The Roman Catholics being excluded Koman from sitting in Parliament by the Act of the English Par- Catholics lianient of 1691, the Irish Parliament which assembled in Chichester House, a.d. 1692, was exclusively Protestant. Henry Viscount Sydney received at the Castle the Lord Chancellor, who wore his state robes, the Archbishops and Bishops in their lawn, the Judges in their judicial robes, the members of the Privy Council, Masters in Chancery, Peers, and several members of the House of Commons, who attended his Excellency's progress to open Parliament. It was a great spectacle for the citizens of Dublin, and as such sights are not now seen in the Irish capital I intro- duce an account here :— ' Progress Eirst came the State trumpets and kettledrums, the Ses^oD '^^ pages and yeomen, the Gentlemen-at-Large, three Pur- suivants, the Chaplains, Serjeants-at-Arms, Gentlemen- Ushers, and King-at-Arms. Then followed his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant, with an escort of Horse Guards, in his State coach and six, followed by the coaches and six of the nobility and members of the House of Commons ; the route from the Castle to Chichester House, where the Par- liament sat, was lined with infantry. On the arrival of his Excellency, he proceeded to his robing room, and then the business of the session commenced. The following ceremonies took place. The Bishop of Kildare, being the premier Bishop, read prayers ; the Lord Chancellor and the rest of the Lords, the Archbishops, and Bishops took the ' Harris's William III. p. 294. LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR PORTER. 435 oaths,' and subsequently the declaration,^ and then the CHAP. inferior officers of the House. The Lord Chancellor being , — L^ informed there were several Lords who desired to take J^nof"*^' their seats and be introduced to the House, appointed two Peers, of the eldest Peers (Lords Ely and Massereene) to bring them in; accordingly there were introduced the Lord Longford, Lord Blessington, Lord Shelburne, and the Lord Coningsby, one by one, preceded by the Ulster King-of- Arms and the Usher of the Black Rod ; each as he came in delivered his patent and writ of summons on his knees to the Speaker, which he caused to be read by one of the clerks ; and his claim being allowed, he was desired to take his seat. When the House assembled, notice was given to the Entry of Viceroy, who entered in great state. Before him marched ^igu. his gentlemen, two holding white staves, the Usher of the tenant. Black Rod, Cork and Athlone Heralds, Lord Donegal bearing the Cap of Maintenance, and the Earl of Meath the Sword of State. His Excellency wore his robes, the train borne by three noblemen's sons, those of the Earl of Drogheda, Lord Clifford, and Lord Santry. On his Excellency being seated on the throne, the Lord Chancellor standing on his right hand, ordered the Usher of the Black Rod to go to the House of Commons, and ac- quaint them that his Excellency commanded their attend- ance at the bar of the House of Lords. After they obeyed The Com- the summons, his Excellency addressed them in the speech ™^tend. ■ The oath ran thus : ' I, A. B. do swear that I do from my heart abhor, detest, and abjure, as impious and heretical, that damnable doctrine and posi- tion, that Princes excommunicated or deprived by the Pope, or by any authority of the See of Rome, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or any person whatsoeTer. And I do declare that no foreign Prince, person. Prelate, state, or potentate, hath or ought to have, any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-eminence, or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within the realm.' ^ The Declaration against Transubstantiation was couched in the most offensive language possible to the most sacred tenets of the Catholic Church, the belief of the Divine Presence in the Eucharist. It, as well as the fore- going oath, was imposed by Stat. 3 and i William and Mary c. 2, in violation of the ninth Article of the Treaty of Limerick. They are no longer a disgrace to the Statute Book. F F 2 436 EEIGN OF WILLIAM AND MAEY. CHAP. XXIX. The Com- mons elect a Speaker. Sir Eicbard Leviiigev Solieitor- Greneral, Speaker. from the throne, and then the Lord Chancellor directed them to return and elect their Speaker. His Excellency then retired to his robing-room, and the Lord Chancel- lor adjourned the House to Friday at ten o'clock, when the Commons were to present their Speaker to the Vice- roy. The House of Commons on their return from the Lords proceeded to choose their Speaker, and a right honourable member proposed Sir Richard Levinge, who was then Solicitor-General, for that high and important office. The motion being approved of, the question was put by the clerk by direction of the House, whereon it was resolved 'that Sir Richard Levinge, Knight,' their Ma- jesties' Solicitor-General, be Speaker of this House.' Mr. Speaker was then conducted to the chair and placed therein, by two of the members, his proposer and seconder. Then the Speaker returned thanks to the Hoase for the honour conferred on him, excusing his inability for so great an undertaking and trust, promising, nevertheless, his utmost endeavour to serve their Majesties and this country, and hoped this House would assist and support him therein.^ The Speaker being seated, the last Act of Parliament passed by the Parliament in England in the third year of their Majesties' reign, for abrogating the Oath of Supre- macy in Ireland and appointing other oaths, was rea.d. After which, the swearing in of members proceeded; the House then adjourned until Friday morning, October 10, at eight o'clock, when they were to meet in order to pre- sent their Speaker to the Lord Lieutenant, according to his Excellency's command. The Parliament having assembled on October 10, 1692, accompanied Sir Richard Levinge as their Speaker to the House of Lords, where, on being presented to his Excel- lency, the Speaker said : ' He was created a Baronet in 1704, Attorney-G-eneral in 1711, and Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in 1720. He was ancestor of the present estimable and popular Sir Eichard LeTinge, Bart, of Knookdrin Castle, County Westmeath. * Com. Jour. Ir. vol. ii. p. 9. LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOE POETEE. 437 ' May it please your Excellency, — chap. ' ' The Commons of Ireland, in obedience to their Majes- -_ — , — L- ties' writs of summons, and, according to the course of ^ 'g^j^ Parliament, have met together in their House, and have done me the honour to choose me the Speaker. I vras infinitely the more surprised, because I could turn my eyes no way in that honourable House without seeing many of its worthy members, who, in all respects, are much better qualified for the service of the House ; and when I reflect how great quickness, memory, judgment, courage, and experience are necessary to the well-filling of that chair, I blush and tremble with the sense of mj- imperfections, and since I would be much rather wanting to my own advancement by declining it with modesty than rashly execute it to the public detriment, I beseech your Excellency, with all tender regard to the Commons, to direct them to return back to their House and make another choice of a fitter person to supply the chair.' To this the Lord Chancellor replied : — ' Mr. Speaker, — For such I must now call you, the expe- The Lord rience his Excellency has of your abilities, and the great ^^i^^^'^ inclination you have shown, while you were in England, for reply- the interest of this country, are qualifications which suffi- ciently recommend you for this service ; and though his Excellency does not disapprove of your modesty in excus- ing and disabling yourself, yet he does easily distinguish between that and your real ability, and commands me to let you know that though there are many other worthy and learned members in the House of Commons, yet he is of opinion they could not have made a better choice than they have done, and therefore does fully approve of you for their Speaker, and require you to attend their service accordingly." The Speaker then thanked His Excellency and asked for the usual privileges of the Commons, which being granted, the proceedings of the sessions commenced. A notice of the short comings of this Parliament, which refused to pass some of the bills sent from England, may be ' Com. Jour. Ir. vol. ii. p. 10. 438 EEIGN OF WILLIAM AND MARY. CHAP. XXIX. Lord Lieu- t enant's speech on the pro- rogation, A.D. 1692. Complains of the House. Commons of Ireland assert their rights to originate money hiUs. Votes con- trary to Acts. Protests Hgainst the votes. judged from the speech of the Lord Lieutenant, proroguing the houses on Thursday, November 3, 1692, less than a month from their assembling. ' My Lords and Gentlemen, — Upon the opening of this session I did acquaint you with the motions which induced their Majesties to call this Parliament, which were no other than what entirely regarded a happy settlement of this kingdom, upon such foundations as might not only secure the peace, but bring you into a prosperous and flourishing condition. ' I am sorry I cannot say there has been such a progress made by you, gentlemen of the House of Commons, to- wards these ends, as their Majesties had just reason to expect ; and I am the more troubled that you, who have so many and so great obligations to be loyal and dutifully affected to their Majesties, should so far mistake your- selves as to entrench upon their Majesties' prerogative, and the rights of the Crown of England, as you did on October 27 last, when, by a declaratory note, you affirmed, that it is the sole and undoubted right of the Commons of Ireland to propose heads of bills for raising money ; and also again, on the 28th of the same month, when you rejected a bill sent over in the usual form, intituled " An Act for granting to their Majesties certain duties for one year," you voted that it should be entered in your journals, that the reason why the said bill was rejected was, that the same had not its rise in your House. These votes of yours being contrary to the Statutes 10th Henry VII. and the 3rd & 4th Philip and Mary, and the continued practice ever since, I find myself obliged to assert their Majesties' prerogative, and the rights of the crown of England, in these particulars in such a manner as may be most public and permanent ; and therefore I do here, in full Parlia- ment, make my public protest against these votes, and the entries of them in the journal of the House of Commons, which protest I require the clerk of this House to read, and afterwards to enter it in the journals of this House, that it may remain as a vindication of their Majesties' pre- LIFE OP LOED CHANCELLOR PORTER. 439 rogative and the rigM of the Crown of England, in these CHAP. particulars, to future ages.' The Lord Lieutenant then .__, L. handed to the Lord Chancellor his protestation, which Sir Charles Porter delivered to the clerk of the House, who read it aloud ; Sir Charles then, at his Excellency's request, addressed the members : — 'My Lords and Gentlemen, — His Excellency having Lord Chan- been acquainted that both Houses intended severally to addi-ess. present some heads upon which they desired bills to be prepared of such as his Excellency and the Council should approve of, commands me to acquaint you that he will take them into his consideration, and that against the meeting of the Parliament, after this intended prorogation, such of them as shall be found requisite shall be in readi- ness to be brought into Parliament.' The Lord Chancellor Parliament then prorogued the Parliament until April 6 next year, ^^l°§^!^ which it was again prorogued and before meeting dis- solved, solved. Thus, notwithstanding all the professions of loyalty to the Throne, very serious differences soon widened into a breach between the King's Deputy in Ireland and the Irish Parliament. The necessity of furnishing the supplies to meet the debts of the Irish Government — the great arrears of pay to civil and military officers — had been one of the Lord Lieutenant's chief reasons for sum- J?^*|,™ °^ the Viue- moning Parliament, and, as usual, bills were to be submitted roj's anger. to the Privy Council of England, pursuant to Poyning's Law. But a spirit of independence had arisen among the Irish members, that now displayed itself in a very marked manner, and when two money bills came over, certified by the Privy Council in England, the Irish members refused to pass them, asserting ' their right to originate all bills involving supplies of money, the same as the English House of Commons.' Despite the efforts of the Government, the Irish Parliament adhered to their determination, and re- jected one of the bills, which so incensed the Lord Lieutenant, that, after two adjournments he dissolved the Parliament on September 5, 1693. A struggle for power had been going on for a long time Struggle 440 EEIGN OF WILLIAM AND MARY. CHAP. XXIX. Offer of the Com- mons. Scoffing reply. Lord Lieu- tenant consiilts the English Judges. Com- plaints against the Lord Lieu- tenant. His offences. with more or less vigour between tlie Viceroy as represent- ing the ExecutiTC Government, and the Irish Parliament. It dated from 1576, when the then Lord Deputy, Sir Henry Sidney,' asserted the right of raising taxes by royal prerogative, without the sanction of the legislature.^ Since then the Irish House of Commons jealously resisted the least infringement on its privileges, and looked with no patient eye upon any interference by the Parliament of England in their legislative functions. Willing, however, to show respect to the throne, they intimated to the Lord Lieutenant a desire to lay before William and Mary their reasons for their conduct. The answer to this application shows how much their conduct incensed the Lord Lieu- tenant. ' They are at liberty,' he scornfully replied, ' to beg their Majesties' pardon for their seditious and riotous assemblies.' He had previously to this discourteous answer taken the opinion of the Judges of England, who, having regard to Poyning's Law, condemned the conduct of the Irish Parliament. It would appear also that he had incurred the anger of the Protestant ascendency party by endea- vouring faithfully to carry out the provisions of the Treaty of Limerick, and allowed the army to be recruited by Catholics. Upon the establishment of King William and Queen Mary on the throne, such of King James's soldiers as submitted to the new dynasty did not feel any reluctance to serve beneath the banner of England. These matters formed the ground of complaint exhibited against the Viceroy by Sir Francis Brewster, Sir William Gore, Sir John Macgil, Lieutenant Stafford, Mr. Stone, and Mr. Kerne. They were examined at the Bar of the House, their complaints considered so justifiable as to merit the attention of both Houses. Each House then prepared and presented an address to the Throne. They de- nounced abuses attending grants of forfeited estates, con- ^ ' A curious coincidence in the name. For full particulars of the case, temp. Queen Elizabeth, vide Life of Lord Chancellor Gerard, ante, p. 290. ^ Moore's History of Ireland, vol. iv. p. 74. LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOE POETEE. 441 tended that protection afforded to the Irish Catholics was CHAP. • • • XXIX injurious to the Protestant interest; that a Mayor had - , — L- been imposed upon the city of Dublin for two years suc- cessively,' contrary to the ancient privileges and charter ; that persons accused of murder were executed without proof; that the army was recruited with Irish Papists who had been in open rebellion ; that additions were made to the Articles of Limerick after the capitulation was signed, and the place surrendered.^ The usual answer was given, ' that due attention would The usual be paid to all remonstrances from their Majesties' faithful gjyen. Lords and Commons,' but for some time no steps were taken in the matter. William's sagacity, and, perhaps, the advice of the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, prevented his visiting on the Lord Lieutenant or Lords Athlone and Coningsby, who are also implicated, the vengeance of the Irish Protestant party. He doubtless, felt, that some show of observance of the Treaty of Limerick was neces- sary, for to this he was pledged. The condition of Ireland was such that the King at The King length was forced to show due regard to the remon- lot^** strances, and Lord Sydney was recalled. It is very pro- Sydney. bable that nobleman was desirous of this. He would, I believe, have afforded protection to the Catholic popula- tion, but he was powerless against the adherents of King William, who regarded the liberty to crush the Papists as a right they had won at the sword's point, and, on July 3, 1693, Lord Sydney left Ireland. Previously to his de- parture, Coningsby and the Lord Chancellor had been Lord Chan- accused of flagrant acts of oppression in Ireland. They Conlngsby were impeached in the English House of Commons by the impeached. Earl of Bellamont, but after an examination of the Articles exhibited against them, the Commons, who were at the devotion of the Government, declared that, considering 1 The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Sir William Carroll, Knt., M.D., had been in this position, 1868-9, without any complaint from any quarter. 2 Smollet's History of England, vol. i. p. 173. 442 EEIGN OF WILLIAM AND MAEY. CHAP. XXIX. The articles scouted. Lord Capel Lord Justice. His policy. Strength- ened by a party in Ireland. the state of affairs in Ireland, they did not think them fit grounds for an impeachment.' Before Lord Sydney's departure, Henry Lord Capel, a younger brother of Arthur Capel, Earl of Essex, who had been Lord Lieutenant in 1672, was appointed Lord Justice. This was a species of probation sometimes adopted to see what kind of a Lord Lieutenant the Lord Justice would make. Whether it was originally designed that Capel should pass through this intermediate grade on his way to the higher dignity, does not appear ; but his qualifications for office in the eyes of the English Ministry might be summ.ed up in this one, that he was ready to waive all inconvenient scruples in order to form, concentrate, and control a party strong enough to command a majority in the Council and in the House of Parliament, devoted to what was called the English interest in Ireland, that is, the principle of extreme encouragement of the Pro- testants by legislative and all other means, and of equally emphatic discouragement of the Catholic religion, interest, and population, throughout the kingdom. In justice to the King, it ought to be added, that neither in the with- drawal of the one functionary, nor in the appointment of the other, did he follow his own unbiassed inclination. But usually at a distance from the seat of Government his object, as Burnet remarks, too palpably was, ' so to balance factions as to neutralise any opposition powerful enough to embarrass his foreign policy.' This disposition of the Viceroy soon gathered a band of kindred spirits around him. In the words of the writer already quoted,^ ' Capel had no difficulty in finding a party as unscrupulous as himself. His game was theirs — he played for power, they for lands and houses. The great point with the latter was to strain, and, if neces- sary, to distort the Articles of Limerick, so as to throw as much property as possible into the hands of the Crown by ' Smollet's History of England, vol. i. p. 205. ^ Dublin University Magazine, vol. xlvi. p. 725. LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOE PORTER. 443 confiscation, for tlie purpose of being made the subject of CHAP, fresh grants, in which they hoped to share.' ._ , L, This conduct of the Lords Justices was exceedingly dis- The Chan- tasteful to the Lord Chancellor, who, jealous of the desires to bonour of England, and the true interests of the King, adhere lo the Treaty was desirous of supporting the Treaty of Limerick in its of Lime- integrity. But the state of the excbequer was such that ""''• honest courses were forced to yield to tbe stern dictates of poverty. The army and civil servants were clamorous for their pay, whicb was lamentably in arrear, and to secure tbe co-operation of the Irish Parliament, to raise tbe necessary supplies, tbe rigidity of tbe Articles of Necessity Limerick should be relaxed in favour of Protestants, and ficing the to this tbe Lord Capel felt strongly inclined. We find Articles to ^ ^ •' the Irish preserved amongst tbe Southwell MSS. ample proof of Protes- the adverse notions which prevailed at this date (1694) in p^Jj^^^^" the Irish Executive ; they threw sucb clear light upon tbe ment. policy dictated by prudence and by faction that I give them in full. Tbe first is from tbe Lords Justices, Sir Cyril Wich and William Duncombe, who were associated with Lord Capel as Lords Justices ; tbe other is from the Lord Capel alone, both are addressed to tbe English Secretary of State :• — ■ ' To Mr. Secretary Trenchard. ' Dublin CAstle, July 14, —94. ' Sir, — In the beginning of May, we received yours of Letters April 24, in which, amongst other things, j'-ou signify bis g°^^'"° Majesty's commands to us, that we should send him our Lords opinion, whether we think it convenient that a Parlia- ment should be called here, and at what time, and par- As to ticularly in relation to tbe sole rigbt claimed by tbe late pariia- House of Commons of beginning money-bills in their ^™*^^g House; and in order thereto, you sent us, by their Majesties' called. command, a copy of the opinion of tbe Judges in England in tbat matter, which their Majesties thought fitt wee should communicate to such Gentlemen here, and in sucb manner as we shoiild believe most advisable. 444 EEIGN OF WILllAM AND MAEY. CHAP. XXIX. Steps to ascertain the TJews of Parlia- ment. ' There are so good reasons for the sitting of a Par- liament, from the great want of money to cany on their Majesties' service, and of some laws necessary for the good of the country, that we neither presume to trouble their Majesties anew with what they are so well apprized of, nor dare we advise that a Parliament should not meet. But if it be reasonable that the inclination of the most of those who are likely to compose the House of Commons, in relation to their adhering to or quitting the pretence to the said right, should have any influence upon the resolution which is to be taken in this matter, it is neces- sary that we should faithfully acquaint their Majesties with what we believe wiU be the event of the meeting, and our reasons for it. ' We communicated the copy of the Judges' opinion in Council, which we conceived the most popular reckoning that they would (and we desired them to do so), commu- nicate it to their friends round the country. And though it be not so long a time since, as that we can yet be able to give an account of what influence it may have had upon men's minds ; yet, when we consider that this opinion of those learned gentlemen (though not coming authentically to their hands till now), yet has been heard of, and read by all who are desirous of information of this kind very long since, we are afraid that the bare acquainting men now afresh with what they knew so well before can have but little new effect towards the change of their judgments. Foreseeing that it would be of considerable use to us to know how those who are like to be chosen stood affected in this point, we have all along made it our care, as cautiously and undiscernedly as we could, to enter into these thoughts and resolutions. We have severally dis- cussed with some of the gentlemen themselves, we have consulted some of the Judges who have opportunities in their circuits of conference about these as well as other matters, and whom we desired to inform themselves there- abouts ; we have advised with many others who can very well judge of the tempers of those with whom they often LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOR PORTER. 445 conyerse in sever all parts of tlie Kinsfdom, and we cannot CHAP. m duty but inform their Majesties tliat we generally find — , L- men as stiff as ever ; and as resolved, if not to pursue the point and maintain it, yet not to retract and give it up. Some few here and there think it had been bebter that the question had not been started, and would be glad it might now be quiett and undecided ; these are, therefore, willing enough that the Parliament should not meet, that they might neither pay money, nor be put upon the necessity of declaring themselves either way, and so either lose their party by owning and retracting their error, or ob- struct the publique service by persisting ; but the greater gome number, as we conceive, resolve positively to go forwards, ™aintam and are earnest for a Parliament, that they may have a pendence second opportunity of renewing, and, as they thinke, ° ^ean . riveting their claim. Nay, we gather from what now and then falls from some of them, that they aime, not only att the immediate consequence of this right (if it be one), the having no bills sent them, which any way bring a charge upon the people, but at the endeavour of having many of the laws, which will deserve a great deal of consideration before they passe. Some speak of putting in hard for the Habeas Corpus Act, and yet would have it exclusive to all ^'^'^^ f°^ . Ireland. Papists ; some think it necessary that the Bill of Eights should be made a law here too, though it declares (among other things) a standing army in time of peace, without which this country cannot subsist (nor ever has) to lie against law. And there are some, too, who would have a Generall Act, in imitation of that in Henry VII.'s time, to make all the laws of England, made since that time, laws of the Kingdome ; and some doe not stick to say in express terms that a law made in England does not bind Ireland, tho' made with that intent. But we never yett met with more than two gentlemen who believed that the Only two House would part with their pretence to the sole right, ^^ the"""^ one of whom is a nobleman, and so not to sit there, and claim by • 1 1 f England, the other a man that was against it beiore. ' Their Majesties will, from hence, see how farr (in our 446 REIGN OF WILLIAM AND iUEY. CHAP, opinion at least) the House, when it meets, will be from - , . L^ letting goe their hold. And yet we perceive that my Lord ^f^, „ Capell is sanguine enough to believe that the chiefe as- Capelof ^ ° ° , p . 1 Ml J. • T a different serters to this right are ashamed of it, and will certainly opinion. g-^g j^^ Q^gj, . ^^^ -j^g^g 1^^^ ^g g^g much, as we have likewise told him our thoughts. We hope that he has taken his measures better than we have done, for it is evident that one of us is mistaken ; and we should be heartily glad to find (since it would be for their Majesties' service) that time would show that we are so. ' One of the likelyst ways that we know of to make gentlemen thro'ly consider what they are to doe, is to let them understand plainly that the Crown will not part with this right ; which we suppose was one of the chief ends of sending ye paper above spoken of hither, to be communicated, that all well-meaning men might have time to advise whether it will be worth their while to insist so zealously upon a point, and so much to their prejudice, which they are sure not to gain. And yet, we find (but cannot tell by what means it comes about) that a great many have expectations that their Majesties will give way, and hope by perseverence to bring it about. As long as there is any ground for this opinion, they will certainly be very tenacious, and therefore we pray to know whether we ought not to goe on as hitherto we have done, in de- claring positively to those who are concerned, as occasion offers, that their Majesties will not give up this preroga- tive, which is undoubtedly theirs. ' We have not been hasty in giving our thoughts on this question, as well because it is a matter of great moment, and required great deliberation, and sedate recollection, as because we do not see if their Majesties should resolve Circum- upon Calling a Parliament how it can well meet till after locution. ^.jjg j^ej.^ Session in England. The bills for money which were, according to command, sent over in paper long since, are not yet returned, and when they are, they must passe all the forms of the Council here, which is not like to be at this time of the yeare, before they can be ingrossed to LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOE POETEE. 447 be sent into England under the Seale. And yet all this CHAP, must be done, and they must be returned back again before . . , ' - the meeting of the Parliament, because it seems to be a necessary justification of their Majesties' right to begin with bills for money. ' We have fully and plainly, as their Majesties' service requires, told you our thoughts and our fears, and shall, "with all the prudence and diligence vyhich we are masters of, obey what commands are sent us. 'We are, &c. ' To"" most humble Servants, 'Ctkil Wich. 'w. duncombe.' The letter of Capel is quite opposite in the views it ex- presses from the foregoing. It shows how completely he was the mouth-piece of the Protestant ascendency party, and hints that the conduct of the Chancellor was opposed to the interests of the Crown. As it throws much light upon the state of parties in Ireland, and the difficulty of the Lord Chancellor acting with a man of Capel's un- scrupulous character, I give it in full : — ' To Mr. Secretary Trenchard. 'Dublin Castle: July 14, lC9i. 'My indisposition hath for some time hindered me Letter from giving an answer to yours of April 15, concerning ^°™l't"' , — 1^ land. The House of Commons at Westminster appointed a committee to examine the work. Upon the report, the House, in a body, presented an address to William III., representing the dangerous attempts of some of his sub- jects in Ireland to shake off the subjection and depen- dence upon England ; manifested not only from the bold and pernicious assertions in the book called ' The Case of Ireland,' but more fully and authentically by votes and proceedings in the Commons of Ireland. These had, during their last Session, transmitted an Act for the better security of his Majesty's person and Government, whereby an English Act of Parliament was pretended to be re-enacted, with alterations obligatory on the Courts of Justice, and the Great Seal of England. The English Commons, therefore, besought his Majesty to give effec- tual orders for preventing any such encroachments for the future by punishing those who were guilty ; that he would take care to see the laws which direct and restrain the Parliament of Ireland punctually observed, and discourage every thing which might have a tendency to lessen the dependence of Ireland upon England. This remonstrance was graciously received, and the King promised compliance.' Mr. Whiteside pleasantly comments upon these proceedings : — ' The ponderous foxhunters- of the Lower House were indignant with a treatise they could not answer ; and, finding the case of Ireland well stated they ordered the essay to be burned by the hands of the common hangman ! A severer punish- ment awaits certain pamphleteers of the present day; their essays are not burned, but they are never read.' ^ ' SmoUet's History of England, vol. i. p. 317. ' Life and Death of the Irish Parliament, part I. p. 66. LOED GAWSWOETH, LOBD CHANCELLOE. 461 CHAPTEE XXX. LIFE OF lOED CHANCELLOR SIR ALEXANDER rlllON, LORD GAWSWORIH. Some men have a reputation so blackened by odious impu- CHAP. tations as to require no small amount of courage to refer to , — !— them. Men whose career is described as a constant mount- -u^^o^*^' ing up the ladder of vice — whose perverse nature defied of Sir A. IpxRiUCiPi? the cultivation of a single seed of virtue. Sir Alexander jitton. Fitton was one of these scapegoats. Successive historians have piled such misdeeds upon him, that it almost deters me from attempting to see if the fiend is really as black as he is painted; but with patience and perseverance I have satisfied myself that party prejudice originated or embellished most of the original accusations ; and a want of care, or possibly unwillingness to discover the real facts, caused later writers to assume the truth of the previous Effects of statement. I may not be able to remove the stains alto- ^^iJ^ gether. When a reputation has been rotting under repul- sive reproaches for two centuries, the task of clearing away the crust is no light one ; but I think I shall prove that religious and political animosity supplied the darker tints with which King James's Chancellor has hitherto been coloured. Hume in his History of England ' thus refers to him : — ' But what afforded the most alarming prospect was the Hume's countenance and increase of the violent and precipitate *'^°°™ • conduct of affairs in Ireland. Tyrconnel Was now vested with full authority ; and carried over with him as Chan- cellor, one Fitton, a man who was taken from a gaol, and who had been convicted of forgery and other crimes, but who compensated for all his enormities by his headlong ' Vol. X. p. 41. 462 SIE ALKXANDER FITTON. CHAP. XXX. Lord Macaulay exceeds Hume. Arch- bishop King. zeal for the Catholic religion. He was even heard to say from the bench, that the Protestants were all rogues, and that there was not one among forty thousand that was not a traitor, a rebel, and a villain,' Macaulay, who evidently adopts Hume's description, tries to blacken the character of the Irish Chancellor yet more.* 'A pettifogger, named Alexander Fitton, who had been detected in forgery, who had been fined for miscon- duct by the House of Lords at Westminster, who had been many years in prison, and who was equally deficient in legal knowledge and in the natural good sense and acute - ness by which the want of legal knowledge has sometimes been supplied, was Lord Chancellor. His single merit was that he had apostatised from the Protestant religion ; and this merit was thought sufficient to work out even the stain of his Saxon extraction. He soon proved himself worthy of the confidence of his patrons. On the bench of justice he declared that there was not one heretic in forty thousand who was not a villain. He often, after hearing a cause in which the interests of his Church were con- cerned, postponed his decision, for the purpose, as he avowed, of consulting his spiritual director — a Spanish priest.' * Hume's account is obviously taken from Archbishop King's ' State of the Protestants of Ireland during King James's Government,' and this work is expressly quoted by Macaulay. It is only necessary to state that the writer was Dr. William King, Protestant Archbishop of Dublin in 1689, distinguished for his hatred of Catholicity, and thoroughly convinced he was doing a meritorious act in vilifying the men and measures by which King James sought to restore the people of Ireland to their natural position in their native land. As Hume called the Chan- cellor, ' One Fitton,' I infer he considered him of mean and unknown family ; and as Macaulay designates him a pettifogger — which means a petty, small-rate lawyer — and both would have their readers believe he himself had ' Maeaulay's History of 'England, vol. iii. p. 129. « Ibid. p. 130. LORD GAWSWORTH, LORD CHANCELLOR. 463 been a forofer, and convicted of crimes and misdemeanours CHAP. XXX entitling him to a place in the Newgate Calendar, I — , . ' _>■ think it but just to give a detailed account of his family, and the strange events which led to his actual imprison- ment, whereby it will be seen that the ' pettifogger,' ' One Fitton,' was lineally descended from one of the most aris- tocratic county families in Cheshire ; and there is some doubt whether he was chargeable with the guilt which has been so unsparingly imputed to him. Sir Alexander Fitton, Lord Gawsworth, was descended from the ancient family of Fitton, of Gawsworth, who had been settled in Chester since the time of Eichard 11. By an inquisition in that King's reign, ' Thomas Fitton, of Gawsworth, was Family of found to hold in his desmesne, as of fee, the manor and ^''^'*"' advowson of Gawsworth, in socage, without any service, value per annum, 201. ; also a forestship in Macclesfield ; and lands in Pownall, Norcliffe, Chorleagh, and Lythe — juxta Honbridge ; and, by courtesy, in right of his wife, Margaret Leigh, half the manor of Betchton, and lands in Lostock Graham.' The Fittons were a knightly race ; during the reigns of several monarchs they took no small share in the affairs of State. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Sir Edward Connection Fitton, of Gawsworth, Knight, was sent into Ireland by J^'* ^^' the Queen to serve as first Lord President of the Province of Connaught; and landed in this kingdom on Ascension- day, 1569. He continued Lord President of the Council for the province of Connaught until March, 1572, when he returned to England ; but his services were again needed in Ireland, and he returned the following March as Treasurer and Receiver-General of the Kingdom. He died in Ireland, leaving no less than fifteen children ; and his eldest son, also named Sir Edward, became Lord Pre- sident of Munster. Edward appears to have been a family name, for I find no less than four Sir Edward's in succes- sion. The family was advanced in dignity in 1617, a Baronet, baronetcy being conferred upon Sir Edward Fitton, whose ^®^^- son took the King's side in the war of the Commonwealth, 464 SIE ALEXANDEE FITTON. CHAP. XXX. Ancient seat of Gaws- worth. Modern Hall. and died shortly after tlie taking of Bristol in a.d. 1643. The old hall of Gawsworth, near the village of that name, lies about three miles south-west of Macclesfield, on the road to Creighton, immediately west of the, church, and consisted of three sides of a quadrangle, biailt of timber and plaster, low on two sides, but higher on the south, where there appears to have been a gallery at the top. There are traces of beauty in the grounds. On the side nearest to the church, a long and lofty terrace stretched a considerable distance, affording extensive prospects, ter- minating in a platform hollowed in the centre, where, it is related, the Fittons used to exercise themselves in wrest- ling and other athletic sports. There may be also traced deserted pleasure grounds, and large old-fashioned fish- ponds, so overgrown with sedge and reeds as no longer to reflect the venerable and luxuriant trees growing around. In the modern hall of Gawsworth, belonging to Lord Harrington, hangs a portrait of Francis Fitton, with the arms of Fitton and Neville in a lozenge under an Earl's coronet. The edge of the frame bears the following in- scription : — ' Francis Fyton married w* Katherine Countis of Northu'br. dowger, 3° 1588, eldest of the doughters and co-heiress of Joh' Neville, K'. lord Latymer, being thyrd sone of Bdw. Fyton, of Gawsworth, K* (who married Mary y" younger doughter and co-heir of Sir Yirgitt Har- butell in Northu'br., En. and Elenor, her elder sister, maried w* S*. Tho. Percy, Kn. afterwards ataynted, being father by her to Tho. and Henry Percy, Knts., and both in their tyrns earls of Northu'br. and restored by Queen Mary), brother to Edward Fyton, Kn. Lord President of Connaught, and threserer of Ireland, and sone and heir to the aforesayd Edward, which threserer and his wife dicessed in Irelande, and lye boathe buried in St. Patric's Church in Dublin.' Over the entrance door to the old hall is carved the coat of arms of Fitton, with sixteen quarterings, a good proof of the alliances of this ancient family. The motto LORD GAWSWOETH, LORD CHANCELLOR. 465 in a garter alludes to the names, pit onvs leve. Beneath. CHAP. • • -1. J XXX. IS inscribed : — . , — ^ Haec soulptura facta fuit apud ■villain Calviae in Hibernia per Richardum Ranj, Edwardo Fyton militi primo d'no presidenti totius provincise Conatise et Thomoniae anno D'ni 1670. In the grounds is a monument to Mr. Samuel Johnson, Mr.Samuel T Vi ' author of a play which had a long run at a London Theatre, epitaph. The various accomplishments of Samuel Johnson are re- corded on his monument : — Stay thou whom chance directs or ease persuades, To seek the quiet of these sylvan shades, Here undisturh'ed, and hid from vulgar eyes, A wit, musician, poet, player lies, A dancing-master, too, in grace he shone. And all the arts of op'ra were his own ; In comedy well-skilled, he drew Lord Flame, Acted the part, and gained himself the name; Averse to stinfe, how oft he'd gravely say These peaceful groves should shade his breathless clay That when he rose again, laid here alone. No friend and he should quarrel for a bone ; Thinking that were some old lame gossip nigh, She possibly might take his leg or thigh.' In the church, a picturesque building of fine architec- The ture, grey with creeping lichens and sheltered by ma- Ci'i'"^*' jestic trees, are various tombs recording the fame of the Fittons, of G-awsworth, Alexander Titton, the subject of this memoir, was son Parents of and heir of William Fitton, of Aronee, in Ireland, and Eva, p^t^n"'^'"' daughter of Sir Edward Trevor of Brinkynalt. This William Eitton was next male kinsman to the possessor of Gawsworth, Sir Edward Eitton, who, in 1641, resolved to restore the ancient entail of the Gawsworth estates, and settled the same by indenture, dated November 9, 17 Car., on William Eitton, with remainder to his sons. This is said to have been confirmed by deed poll, dated April 3, 18 Car., executed by Sir Edward Eitton. ' Ormerod's Cheshire, vol. iii. p. 294. VOL. I. H H m6 SIK ALEXANDEE FITTON. OHAP.^ XXX. Legal pro- ceedings on the death of Sir E. Fitton. Marriage of Alex- ander Fitton. Lord Brandon's claim. Saying of Sir E. Eitton. Litigation. Allep;ataon of forgery. Issue directed. Sir Edward died at Bristol in 1643. Lady Fitton, his ■, widow, held Gawsworth for her jointure, and the sisters of Sir Edward having entered into occupation of some of the estates, William Eitton took legal proceedings against them and reeoyered possession. On the death of Lady Eitton he became possessed of Gawsworth. Alexander became a law-student of the Inner Temple in 1655, and was called to the bar, 12th May, 1662. He married the daughter of Mr. JoUiffe, of Cofton, county of Worcester, with whom I presume he had a fortune, for, shortly after, the sum of money for which the Eitton estates were mortgaged was paid off, and Mr. Eitton became possessed of the whole. Charles Gera,rd, Lord Brandon, claimed these estates in right of his mother, who was sister to the late Sir Edward Eitton, though it was stated that Sir Edward, when im- portuned to leave her his estates, replied, ' he would rather settle his estate upon Ned Eitton, the bonny beggar ' (a man who kept beggars from his gates) than any of his sister's children.' After m.any bickerings and personal quarrels between Lord Brandon and Alexander Fitton, a will was brought forward, nineteen years after Sir Edward's death, giving the estates to Lord Brandon. Then the case occupied the Courts of Law and Equity. Alexander Eitton relied upon the deeds — the settlement and confirmation ; the Gerard party contended the later deed was not genuine. Alexander Fitton insisted that it was, and in his opinion, and in that of his Counsel learned in the law, the confirmation by deed poU put it out of Sir Edward's power to make a will, even if that produced was genuine, but he denied its authenticity. A commission then issued to try this, under which the signature to the deed poll was proved to have been subscribed by Sir Edward at Congleton, after which Dobson, Lord Bran- don's solicitor said, ' one Abraham Granger (then a prisoner in the gate-house) had confessed he forged Sir Edward's name to the deed.' An issue was directed by ' Bonny or Lony beggar— a provincial term for a parish beadle. LOED GAWSWORTH, LOED CHANCELLOE. 467- tlie Court of Chancery to try the genuineness of this deed, CHAP, and its validity was sworn to by Mr. Eichard Davenport, . _ ' ^ Mr. Edward Barwick, and the dying deposition of Mr. Thomas Smallwood. To meet which, and sustain the allegation of forgery, was the evidence of Granger, Gifford, Wheeler, Colonel Ralph Ashton, Captain Holland, and others, some of whom stated they heard Mr. Fitton con- fess that Granger had forged a deed for him, for which he had 40Z. It was also urged as a proof of fabrication, that Mr. Fitton could not prove when he had this deed, or who engrossed it, or that it had not been mentioned at the former trials, or at Mr. Fitton's marriage, nor could the witnesses then remember when it was exe- cuted. The jury found against the deed. Findina The Gerard party are stated to have acted in a very againat riotous manner after their victory. Process was sued out of the Crown office against the witnesses for the deed, commanding them to appear in the King's Bench, to answer the information of perjury, and Barwick was com- Fitton's mitted to Macclesfield prison. ^^oZte'd. Then Granger, conscience-stricken, declared his prevari- Granger cation in a written document, stating that he had not forged '^<"='^"^^s the deed ; that this document was signed in the presence of valid, twelve or thirteen gentlemen.' It appears that, after this statement of the due attestation of this document had come to the ears of Lord Brandon, the House of Lords regard- Houne of ing it, probably, as an imputation upon the noble Lord, ?^"^'''^ censured Mr. Fitton and those of the witnesses in the manner following : viz. ' They ordered that Alexander Alexander Fitton should be fined 500Z., and committed to the King's f^"™^„^ Bench prison, until he should produce Granger, and find impri- sureties for good behaviour during life, and the witnesses ^""^ ' were committed to the Fleet during the King's pleasure, and before enlargement, to find sureties,' &c.^ Ormerod, in Ormerod'a his valuable history of the County of Cheshire, observes : °.''^'3=^™- ' ' It is not improbable that Alexander Fitton, who, in the first instance, gained rightful possession under an _', Ormerod's Cheshire, toI. iii. p. 259. ' Ibid. H H 2 468 SIR ALEXANDER FITTON. CHAP. XXX. FittoTi, Lord Chan- cellor of Ireland, A.D. 1687. Baron Gaws- worth. No ex- pression of dissatis- faction from the Bench or Bar. A prece- dent for this course. acknowledged settletnent, was driven headlong into unpre- meditated guilt bj the production of a revocation by will, which Lord Brandon had so long concealed. Having lost his own fortune in the prosecution of his claims, he re- mained in gaol until taken out by James II. to be made Chancellor of Ireland, when he was knighted, and subse- quently created Lord Gawsworth after the abdication of James II.' This is the fabric upon which the alleged guilt of Sir Alexander Fitton is based. I have now to deal with his conduct as Lord Chancellor in Ireland. When Lord Tyrconnel was appointed Lord Lieutenant in February, 1686, he was accompanied thither by Sir Alexander Fitton. The Lord Chancellor had mar- ried Anne (daughter of Thomas Joliffe, of Worcestershire) who died in the following year and was buried in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, under the monument of her husband's ancestor. Sir Edward Fytton, there erected.^ Sir Alexander was created Chancellor of Ireland a.d. 1687, and raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Gawsworth, to him and his heirs male for ever.^ As to his special qualities for the office, I am not able to vouch. He certainly had opportunities of observing the procedure of many of the Courts in the protracted litigation con- nected with his property, but of the extent to which he profited history is silent. Very able men practised in the Irish Court of Chancery at that time ; and I think the absence of any expression of dissatisfaction from the Irish Bar, or the Irish Bench, affords some grounds to believe he was not incompetent for the high office to which the favour of his Sovereign, if not his own merits, had raised him. Archbishop King would have taken good care to inform us had any meetings of the Bar been held, and resolutions passed, that they would not practise before the new Chan- cellor. A precedent for this course was not wanting, the English Bar did so in the case of Sir Christopher Hatton ^ Funeral entry in Bermingliam Tower. D' Alton's King James's Irish Army List, p. 869. ' Lord Campbell's Lives of the Lo;-d Chancellors of England, vol. ii. p. 147. LOED GAWSWOETH, LOED CHANCELLOE. 469 but notMns: of the kind is stated in the case of Lord Chan- CHAP. • XXX cellor Fitton. The Irish Judges were men of high honour __,__L. and professional skill, and, though holding office during pleasure, they would assuredly have in some way mani- fested disapprobation of him had they considered the Bench degraded by the presence of a criminal pettifogger ; but they did not. There were able men at the Irish Bar, as we have seen ; and the business must have been con- siderable when Mr. Nagle's fees alone exceeded the salary of the Chief Justice. Neither have complaints of suitors No com- been recorded in the pages of any contemporary, and we fj.om*th6 know from experience how glibly they would assert ' that suitors. no sane man entered the Lord Chancellor's Court as a litigant without being prepared to appeal from his de- cision ; ' that ' all costs incurred, all the time wasted in obtaining his decree might as well be bestowed on a judgment by " head or tails." ' That ' in his Court no one felt sure what the Chancellor would do, as the decision of one day would be different the next.' True, indeed. Archbishop King says, ' the Lord Chancellor could not Arch- understand the merits of any difficult cause, and, there- ^'?'^°P, fore, never failed to give sentence according to his incli- chief nation, having no other rule to guide him ; ' and he T^^ instances cases in which the Chancellor refused the guardianship of a child to a Protestant mother, but gave it to the Popish relatives, by which it is perfectly plain the father was a Catholic, and, as such, no doubt desired the child should be brought up in his own religion, which the Archbishop looked on as ' against the positive words of law.' He also complains that the Chancellor overruled both the practice of the Courts and the laws of the land, declaring in open Court ' that no law could bind his con- science, that the Chancery was above all laws.'' Dr. ^ This was the universally adopted notion of Chancellors at this time. Lord Campbell praises Lord Nottingham for differing from the general practice. 'His' (Lord Nottingham's) 'great object continued to be, to redeem equity from the disgrace of being supposed to depend upon the individual opinion or caprice of the Lord Chancellor.' — Lord Campbell's Lives of the Lord Chan- cellors of England, vol. iii. p. 417. com- .iner. 470 SIE ALKXANDEE FITTON. CHAP. XXX. Duiigg's character of Dr. StaiFjrd. King also states, ' that after hearing a cause between a Protestant and a Papist, before lie gave a decree be would have tbe opinion of a Popish priest — his chaplain, educated in Spain, and furnished with distinctions to satisfy his conscience how far he should do justice to the Protestants.' This was the learned and loyal Dr. Stafford, who was an eminent Doctor of the Civil Law, a Master in Chancery, who has been thus highly praised by the histo- rian of the King's Inns — Mr. Duhigg, Assistant Barrister for the County of Wexford and Librarian to the Honourable Society of King's Inns : — ' On November 15, 1687, a Chap- lain of ancient family and unexceptionable personal cha- racter was elected (Chaplain to the King's Inns) by the ruling party; he was also a learned divine and distinguished doctor of both laws. The Government and country showed an equal discernment by suitable promotions. A Master- ship in Chancery, the Deanery of Christchurch, and a seat in Parliament were his rewards. On February 5 fol- lowing. Doctor Stafford was invited to the Bench table, and it was ordered that chambers should be provided for him.** ' The career of this learned individual showed with what ardour the adherents of the House of Stuart upheld the fortunes of that unlucky race. When the country was the scene of war, and the tide of battle rolled furiously on, the Reverend Dr. Stafford became Chaplain to the Eoyal Regiment of Foot, and followed the standard of James to the field of Aughrim. He was zealous and intrepid. He roused the drooping hearts of the Irish, and cheered the courage of the troops. Armed with the symbol of man's redemption, he passed from rank to rank, amid the shock of battle, and exhorted the forces of James to strive boldly for their native land, their re- ligion, and the property of which they were despoiled. A ball struck the gallant Master in Chancery, and next to the fall of St. Euth was the loss sustained in the death of the brave Chaplain of the King's Inus.'' Er.higg's King's Inns, p. 232. Ibid. LORD G-AWSWOETH, LOED CHANCELLOE. 471 Sir Theobald Butler was one of the most eminent CHAP. XXX leaders of the Irish. Bar at this period. An anecdote is .J ^, L. related of him which shows his partiality for the bottle ^"gj^'^"'® and almost identifies him with Theobald Butler. Sir Toby Kllpot, as thirsty a soul, As e'er cracked a bottle or plenished a bowl, When boosing at night 'twas his pride to excel, And amongst jolly topers he bore off the bell. Whatever excuse might be offered for ' boosing at night,' there can be none for boosing in the morning, and this, as the story goes. Sir Toby occasionally did. A very heavy argument coming on before Lord Chancellor Fitton, Mr. Nagle, the solicitor for Sir Toby's client, entered into a stipulation with that eminent Counsel, that ' he would not drink a drop of wine while the cause was at hearing.' Sir Toby pledged his honour to observe the compact. The learned counsel acquitted himself, as he usually did, most creditably, and the bargain reached the ears of the Lord Chancellor. One day when alone with Sir Theobald, he asked ' if it was true ? ' ' Perfectly true, my Lord, I did not drink a drop of wine.' A pecular emphasis on the word drinJc made the Lord Chancellor suspect there was more than met the ear, so he insinuated ' that Sir Theo- bald practised a ruse upon the unsuspecting solicitor.' ' Well, as your Lordship has guessed right, I'll tell you what I did,' answered the wily Sir Theobald; ' my promise was, not to drinJc a drop of wine, but as I required some stimulant for a speech, as you know, of four hours, I pro- cured a basin into which I poured two bottles of claret, I then got two hot rolls of bread, sopped them in the claret, and ate them.' ' I see,' replied the Chancellor laughing, ' in truth, Sir Theobald, you deserve to be Master of the EoUs.' It is said that James II. employed his Irish Judges in The potato diplomatic missions, and in England they were received sadors. with derision, and nicknamed '' The Potato Ambassadors.' Of the Chief Judges who, at this period, presided in the Irish Chief Irish Courts of Justice, we have a good account. In J^^'ti'^es 472 SIE ALEXANDER TITTON. CHAP. XXX. Their ac- qiiiescence of I he Chan- cellor. Election of Irish Kom-in Catholics. these judicial decisions no authenticated act of cruelty or corruption remains on record. The three powerful Judges, Nugent, Lord Eiverstown, Eice, and Daly, re- mained within the kingdom, in possession of large pro- perties, and, armed in conscious innocence, set their personal or political enemies at defiance. Two of the Judges were Protestants, who had survived the revolu- tion — even one of them was continued in office by King William, But the great ornament of the Irish Bench at this time was John Keating, Chief Justice of the Com- mon Pleas ; a great magistrate who, in a slippery or stormy period, exercised official station with mild man- ners and untainted integrity. This great man was calm, patient, and humane in the trial of prisoners ; clear, labo- rious, and consistent in the discussion of civil suits; faithful to his King and country in the indulgence of po- litical principle, and attached to God in the exercise of Christianity, Thus persecuting Protestants charged him with being a concealed Papist, whilst furious Roman Catholics were confounded at his firm attachment to the established religion. Connected with no party and dig- nifying office by despising its tenure, he equally resisted the interested views of Clarendon and Tyrconnel. Is it not certain some protest would have been made by these eminent Judges, had Sir Alexander Pitton been, in truth, the unworthy person whom Protestant historians have described ? Great allowance must be made for the violence of poli- tical writers during this and the succeeding reigns. That the Irish Roman Catholics, plundered and oppressed in the previous century, despoiled of their properties during the time of Cromwell, and looking on the Act of Settle- ment as obtained by fraud, and a base return for the sacrifices they had made towards the Restoration of the Stuart dynasty, should look on James II. as their De- liverer from the bondage in which they were kept was natural. They expected to be placed in those situations ■of power and emolument from which they had been de- LORD GAWSWOETH, LOED CHANCELLOE. 473 barred by the Act of Queen Elizabeth, which directed CHAP. ' that all ciyil and military officials, lay and clerical, ^Ll,J-_- should take the Oath of Supremacy.' James IT., who was an avowed Eoman Catholic, was desirous of showing how much he felt the sufferings of the Irish on account of their constancy to the creed of their forefathers, Eoman Catholics were commissioned to the army, to Their pro- the Bench — Catholic gentlemen were named High Sheriffs high in counties ; the Corporations, hitherto exclusively Pro- °^''^^- testant, were now almost as exclusively Catholic, and the local magistracy, who so lately scorned to allow a Papist to set beside them, found, to their dismay, they were out- numbered by the members of the hated creed. No wonder alarm and dismay fell upon the whole Protestant popula- tion of Ireland. They, who had been accustomed to look upon the Papists as the helots of the land, only fit to be hewers of wood or drawers of water, now found all those high offices and places of dignity, which had been heir- looms in Protestant hands, were grasped greedily, and clutched firmly by the favourites of the Court. What if the children of the Eoman Catholic nobility and gentry, plundered by the Cromwellian Settlement, should have their exile in Connaught ended, or return from abroad, and demand their Eestoration ! Could the Act of Set- nnmonrs tlement be repealed ? It was stated that when King teniion to James II. sent Lord Clarendon to Ireland in 1685, the T'^.'^^l o"l ' Act of Set- Viceroy declared that the King would preserve the Acts tlement. of Settlement and Explanation, and the Lord Lieutenant instructed the Judges to declare this as the Magna Charta of Ireland. Would this be adhered to? Soon it was found it would not. The first intimation of an intention to break this law was a letter written by Sir Eichard Nagle, Attorney- General for Ireland, one of the most eminent lawyers of the day, who, whilst in England, pointed out inaccuracies and imperfections in those Acts, and their great injustice. This was termed the Coventry Letter. Then, when the Earl of Tyrconnel, was appointed Lord Lieutenant, on his Proclamation, issued February 21, 474 SIR ALEXANDER FITTON. CHAP. 1686, lie promised to defend the laws, liberties, and •^Jl4^__ established religion, bat upon debate at the Privy Council, the Acts of Settlement and Explanation were omitted, and Tyrconnel so wrought upon the mind of the King, that he consented to the repeal of the Acts. EiFectiipon This was a blow at the whole Protestant landowners lestants of °^ ^^® kingdom, and had its irresistible consequence. It Ireland. alienated the affections of the entire Protestant popula- tion from the King and his Government, and before the faithless monarch fled from England, the Ulster nobles and gentry were preparing for civil war. James II. quitted England on December 23, 1688, and sought shelter at the Court of Louis XIV., who, in com- passion to his fallen state, and hoping by his means to check the increasing power of his adversary, William of Nassau, offered him a French army to assert his rights. Among the few magnanimous deeds or words related of the fugitive King is his reply to this offer : ' No Sire, I will recover my dominions by the aid of my own subjects, or perish in the attempt.' He was soon at the head of such Irish troops as were in the service of Prance, numbering about 1,200, and with a strong armament sailed for Ireland from Brest. Eoyal The progress of King James II., from his landing at of James Kinsale to his triumphal entry into Dublin,- is little }^- known. I am, therefore, induced to describe it here. On his landing, March 12, 1688-9, he was welcomed with shouts and acclamations, bonfires blazed, and windows gleamed with light. He proceeded next day to Cork, and remained at Major-General MacCarthys, where he was joined by Lord Tyrconnel. He continiied at Cork from March 13 to 20, during which time the city kept high festival in his honour. On Wednesday, March 20, he took his departure from Cork for Dublin, and lay that night at the Earl of Cork's Castle at Lismore. It was on this occasion his royal nerves were shaken by being suddenly asked to look from the window of the tower which over- , hangs the Blackwater, and he started back in affright on LOED GAWSWOETH, LOED CHANCELLOE. 475 seeing the sheer depth of the rock on which the Castle is CHAP. built.' From Lismore he made the next day's journey to -_ lA — ^ Clonmell. On Friday he rested at the Duke of Ormond's Castle at Kilkenny, and on Saturday made a short visit en passant to Sir Maurice Eustace's fine seat of Harris- town, near Kilcullen Bridge. All along his Majesty's route was one continuous demonstration of loyalty.^ On Saturday, March 24, about noon, he entered the Arrival in Irish metropolis. The streets, from James's Gate to the Castle, were lined by the regular troops, and, at the entrance to this portion of the city, called the Liberties, there was a stage, hung with tapestry, whereon were two harpers playing. Here a number of Roman Catholic ecclesiastics, in their vestments, met the King, and forty young ladies, clothed in white, preceded him to the His recep- Castle, scattering flowers upon his path. The houses '''°"' along the streets through which the Royal progress lay, displayed great demonstrations of loyalty. Banners waved from roofs and parapets, tapestry fluttered in the bi-eeze, and even the humblest dwelling showed a desire to wel- come the Catholic King. At the bounds of the city, the Lord Mayor and Corporation, with the oiEcers of various guilds, in their robes ; Ulster King of Arms, with the heralds and pursuivants, in tabards and uniforms, swelled the cortege. Having received the Sword of State, his Ma- jesty handed it to Lord Tyrconnel, who bore it before the King through the city. The Lord Mayor also presented the City Sword and Keys, and the Recorder of Dublin, Prime Serjeant Dillon, read the Address of the Corpora- tion. A line of coaches- and-six, belonging to the Irish nobility, was followed by a guard of honour, numbering two hundred Irish cavalry; then followed the Grand Prior, Fitz James the Duke of Berwick's brother, the State trumpets and drums, with twenty gentlemen-at-large. The ' O'Flanagan's Guide to the Blackwater in Munster, p. 50. ^ At Carlow he received the same tender demonstrations his grandson Charles Edward did in Scotland; in '45, when the Jacobite ladies contended for his kisses. — Vide Dublin Magazine, p. 106, 1843. 476 SIR ALEXANDER FITTON. CHAP. XXX. Appear- ance and dress of the Kino;. Startling incident. Tune played. The Roman Catholic Primate and Bishop. Te Deum. Proclama- tion i'or a Parlia- ment. Number of Lords and Com- mons. King, preceded by Lord Tyrconnel, bearing the Sword of State, rode a spirited charger ; he wore a suit of plain cinnamon-coloured cloth, and a black slouching hat ; a George being over his shoulder, with a blue ribbon. He was escorted by the Duke of Berwick, Lord Granard, Lords Powis and Melford on his right, with their hats on. Close behind rode a troop of dragoons ; then a number of Peers and gentlemen, more guards and attendants ; then coaches of Peers and gentlemen, amongst them the Judges, who wore their robes, closed the procession. A startling incident occurred while the King was riding along in this order. One Flemming, a Scotchman, rushed through the crowd in Skinner's Row, flung his hat high in the air, and cried aloud, ' Let the King live for ever ! ' Then catching his Majesty's hand, fervently kissed it, and ran capering after his hat.' As the procession proceeded, the favourite tune played was ' The King enjoys his own again,' and the shout, ' God save the King ! ' was not dis- turbed by a dissentient voice. As he approached the Castle, the Roman Catholic Primate, and several other bishops, and members of various religious orders, met him. The first act of the King, on dismounting, was to kneel and receive the blessing from the Roman Catholic Primate. Thus, in triumph and splendour, James II. entered Dublin. When he rested a brief space, he repaired to the Castle Chapel, where a Te Deum was sung for his happy arrival. Then a grand banquet followed in the new banqueting hall, which Tyrconnel had built. Next day, a proclamation issued for assembling a Parlia- ment in Dublin on May 7. No Catholic Bishops were sum- moned, though among the Spiritual Peers were six Pro- testant Bishops, including the Primate of the Protestant Church. OneDuke,tenEarls,sixteenViscounts,and twenty- one Barons, with the six Bishops, constituted King James's House of Lords. The Commons returned 224 ■* Members. ' Dublin Magazine, p. IOC, 18-13. 2 Vide The L-ish Parliament of 1689. Dublin Magazine, p. 113, 1813: LOED GAWSWOETH, LOED CHANCELLOE. 477 Thej met at the King's Inns, on May 7, and the King CHAP. opened Parliament in person. He wore his Royal robes ^!, L- with the Crown. The Commons being summoned, His Majesty delivered the Speech from the throne:' — ' My Lords and Gentlemen, King's ' The exemplary loyalty which this nation hath ex- spf^ech. pressed to me at a time when others of my subjects un- dutifully misbehaved themselves to me, or so basely deserted me; and your seconding my Deputy as you did in his firm and resolute asserting my right, in preserving this kingdom for me, and putting it in a posture of defence, made me resolve to come to you, and to venture my life with you in defence of your liberties, and my own right. And to my great satisfaction, I have not only found you ready to serve me, but that your courage has equalled your zeal. I have always been for Liberty of Conscience, and against invading any man's property, having still in my mind, that saying in Holy Writ, Bo as you would be done to, for that is the Law and the Prophets. ' It was this Liberty of Conscience I gave, which my enemies both abroad and at home dreaded ; especially when they saw that I was resolved to have it established by law in all my dominions, and made them set themselves up against me, though for different reasons. Seeing that if I had once settled it, my people {in the opinion of the one) would have been too happy ; and I {in the opinion of the other) too great. ' This Argument was made use of, to persuade their own people to joyn with them, and too many of my subjects to use me as they have done. But nothing shall ever per- suade me to change my mind as to that; and where- soever I am the master, I design (God willing) to establish it by law, and have no other test or distinction but that of loyalty. ' I expect your concurrence in so Christian a work, and in making laws against prophaneness and all sorts of debauchery. ' I shall, also, most readily consent, to the making such ' Vide the Irish Parliament of 1689. Dublin Magazine, p. 476, 1843. 478 SIR ALEXANDER FITTON. ^?:^^- good and wholesome laws as may be for tlie general good >-^^— 1- of the nation, the improvement of trade, and the relieving Reference of such as have been injured by the late Acts of Settle- Settlement. ™6nt, as far forth as may be consistent with reason, justice, and the publick good of my people. And as I shall do my part to make you happy and rich, I make no doubt of your assistance, by enabling me to oppose the unjust designs of my enemies, and to make this nation flourish. ' And to encourage you the more to it, you know with what ardour, generosity, and kindness, the Most Christian King gave a secure retreat to the Queen, my son, and Myself, when We were forced out of England, and came to seek for protection and safety in his dominions ; how he embraced my interest, and gave me such supplies of all sorts as enabled me to come to you, which, without his obliging assistance, I could not have done ; this he did, at a time when he had so many and so considerable enemies to deal with, and you see still continues to do so. ' T shall conclude as I have begun, and assure you I am as sensible as you can desire, of the signal loyalty you have expressed to me, and shall make it my chief study, as it always has been, to make you and all my subjects happy.' » At the conclusion of the King's Speech, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Gawsworth, directed the Members of the House of Commons to retire and elect their Speaker. SlrRiehard They obeyed and chose Sir Eichard Nagle, with whose « 'e^aker abilities and character we are already familiar. I must add a short notice of this ornament of the Irish Bar. • This speech corresponds with that giren by Lesley, and James's own memoirs. It is stated to be printed from an authentic manuscript, printed and sold by E. Rider, Dublin, 1740. The Acts of this Parliament were printed and sold at his Majesty's printing house, Ormond Quay, and at the College Arms in Castle Street, 1689. Great pains were subsequently taken to destroy the original editions of these Acts. They were burnt in the Castle Chamber, and 500^. penalty imposed on persons retaining copies. One only is said to be in existence — the Act for raising 20,000?. a month, in the King's Inns Library. Vide the ' Statutes of 1689 ' in the Dublin Magazine, p. 29, 1843. LORD GAWSWORTH, LORD CHANCELLOR. 479. Eicliard Nagle was born on tlie banks of "the Munster CHAP. Elackwater, and, it is said, the old Castle of Carrigna- - . cunna (now the property of Mr. Foot) was the home of ''^r'^r his childhood. King says he was educated among the Nagle. Jesuits, and designed for a clergyman, but, afterwards, studied law, and arrived at, great perfection. We have seen, in the ' Life of Sir Charles Porter,' that he declined the honour of being a Privy Councillor rather than give up his practice at the Bar, and Tyrconnel rightly con- sidered him a proper person to advise the King upon the affairs of Ireland, when he brought him to England in 1686. N'agle's reputation was so justly high, that this selection on the part of Tyrconnel was regarded with dis- may by parties interested in maintaining the Act of Set- tlement intact. It is recorded that ' on being informed of Nagle's arrival in London, they were so transported with rage, that they had him immediately sent out of the city.' Upon this Nagle wrote his celebrated letter from Coventry.' In this letter, dated Coventry, October 26, 1786, he shows the reasons which induced the passing of the Acts of Settlement and Explanation, that it was for their religion the estates of the Irish Catholics were sequestered, and the hardship of allowing these Acts to remain unrepealed. He was at once regarded as the ablest man of his party, received the honour of knighthood, and was made At- torney-General in 1687.' Duhigg ^ bears the following high testimony to his character. ' James's Attorney- General, Sir 'Eichard Nagle, dignified that situation by exchanging its usual character for that of a stern, in- flexible patriot. He carried measures similar to those of 1782, and thus paid homage to the excellence of English law by transferring its full and complete enjoyment to his ' The Irish Parliament of 1689. DuWin Magazine, p. 119, 1843. ^ The Nagles of Anakissy, Bear Mallow, County Cork, now represented by mj' talented friend and kinsman, David A. Nagle, Esq., Town Councillor of Cork, is a branch of the family from which Sir Richard Nagle traced descent. ' History of the'King's Inns, p. ;236. 480 SIR ALEXANDER WTTON. CHAP. XXX. countrymen.' On tlae arrival of James II. in 1688-9, Sir Eicliard Nagle was made Secretary of State, but this coiild not tave been for some time, as be was undoubtedly Speaker of the House of Commons during the sbort Session, commencing May 7, 1689, and ending on July 20, of the same eventful year. As tbe proceedings of this Parlia.ment were subse- quently declared null and void, and tbe Acts passed were burned and of no effect, it is only as bistorial events I refer to tbem. They show how fuUy men of all creeds and classes recognised James as their lawful Sovereign, and how blindly attached were tbe Irish to a race which, so little deserved such devotion. The Lords who sat in King James II.'s Irish Parliament at Dublin, May 7, 1689 to November 12, were — Peers who Sir Alexander Fitton, Lord Baron eat in King of Gawswortli, Lord Chanfellor ; James's Dr. Micbael Boyle, Lord ArchMshop Parlia- of Armagh, Primate of all Ireland; ment. Eiohard Tallsot, Dulie of Tyrcon- nel. BAElS. Nugent Earl of "Westmeath. MacDonel „ Antrim. Barry „ Barrymore. Lambert „ Cavan. MacCarthy „ Clancarty. Power „ Tyrone. Aungier „ Longford. Forbes „ Granard. Lougan „ Limerick. VISCOtlNTS. Preston Viscount Gormanston. Butler Dillon Nelterville Magennis Sai-sfield Bourk Dempay Brien Butler Barnewall Parsons Bourk Brown Cheevers Mountgarett. Costello and Gallen. Dowth. Iveagh. Kilmallock. Mayo. Glanmalier. Clare. Galnioy. Kingsland. Ilosse. Galway. Kenmare. Mount Leinster, A. Dopping, Bishop of Meath. T. Otway „ Ossory and Kilkenny. E. Wetenhall „ Cork and Ross. S. Digby „ Limerick and Ardfert. Bermingham Courcy Fitz Maurice Fleming St. Laurence Barnewall Plunkett Butler Fitz Patrick Plunkett Bourk Butler Boiirke Blaney Malone Maguire Hamilton Bellew Bnurke Nugent BAEONS. Baron of Athenry. )J Kinsale. !> Kerry. JJ Slane. JJ Howth. J} Trimbles- town. J» Dunsany. J) Dunboyne. )) Upper Ossory. V Louth. JJ Castle Connell. JJ Caher. )J Brittas. JJ Monaghan. JJ Glenmalure JJ Enniskillen. ») Strabane. JJ Duleek. JJ Bophin. JJ Riverstown LOED GAWSWOBTH, LORD CHANCELLOE. 481 There was, also, a very national House of Commons CHAP, assembled. The names of the Members, as given in Arch- ._ , L^. bishop King's work, and in the Appendix to Plowden, Jf'^c^"^* are unmistakably Irish, with the exception of three — mons. Francis Plowden and Dr. Stafford, returned for the borough of Bannow ; and Luke Dormer, Member for New Eoss, The Members, with six exceptions, are supposed Nearly all to have been all Eoman Catholics, and Plowden states — 5°"?^° . Catholic. ' were probably the fairest representation of the people of Opinion Ireland that ever were sent to any Parliament in that "j^^ j^"^ ^^ country.' ^ torian. The Roman Catholics now beheld the long-coveted op- 5°?*?- . „ , . „ ^ . Catholics portunity of regaining possession of their forfeited estates, desire to Many Members of the House of Commons remembered thfi^^ piun- their ancestral homes, from which they had been ruthlessly dered expelled by the troopers of Cromwell, or the merciless un- dertakers, who, for some inconsiderable sum, had become master of the broad lands in which the forefathers of the Members dwelt. Several were of families whose afflicted mothers, despairing fathers, and weeping sisters had been transplanted to the wastes of Clare, or the rock- bound coasts of Connaught, and were ready to grasp at the chance of again looking upon the pleasant fields in which they had played in their youth, the forest glades through which they had hunted in more mature years, and of eject- ing in turn those who forcibly, with the word of God on their lips, but the sword in their hands, offered the choice of 'Hell or Connaught' to the Irish Papist. These were, no doubt, the motives which made the now dominant party demand from the King the repeal of the Acts of Settle- ment and Explanation. The King could not, for, if un- willing, he was unable to refuse their demand. Accord- ingly a BiU was prepared, reciting ' the sacrifices which BiU to the Roman Catholics of Ireland had made for the Royal ^TtTlf ''^ authority ; how the usurper, Oliver Cromwell, seized and Settle sequestered their estates, and gave them to his soldiers and adherents ; that two Acts of Parliament passed here, ' Hist. Eeview, vol. i. Appendix, p. 138. VOL. I. II ment. 482 SIR ALEXANDER FITTON. CHAP. XXX. Compen- Eation. Lord Chan- cellor to appoint Commis- sioners. Dismay of the set- tlers. one intituled "An Act for tlie better execution of his . Majesty's gracious declaration for the Settlement of the Kingdom of Ireland, and satisfaction of the several inte- rests of adventurers, soldiers, and others his subjects there ;" the other Act, intituled "An Act for Explaining of some doubts arising upon an Act intituled an Act for the better execution of his Majesty's gracious declaration for the settlement of his Kingdom of Ireland, and satisfac- tion of the several interests of adventurers, soldiers, and others his subjects there ; and for making some alteration of, and additions unto, the said Act for the more speedily and effectual settlement of the Kingdom ; " by which many of the said Catholic subjects were ousted out of their ancient inheritances, without being as much as heard, and some were distributed amongst Cromwell's soldiers and others, who, in justice, could not have the least pretence, contrary to the peace made in 1648, and contrary to justice and natural equity. Be it enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, with the consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that the said two several Acts, &c., be and are hereby repealed.' The Act, which was a very comprehensive one,' pro- vided compensation for innocent purchasers, or incum- brancers, out of the estates of rebels, and authorised the Lord Chancellor to appoint Commissioners to inquire and report upon the estates of rebels on August 1, 1688. Such Commissioners to allot and reprise these, who, on petition, shall be entitled to claim reprisal. We can weU imagine the dismay and alarm of the set- tlers during the progress of this Bill through Parliament. The estates for which their fathers risked life and limb, for which they conquered or intrigued, which many had bought with cash, and from which they had expelled the Irish without the least compunction, were now to be taken ' Avery full transcript is given in Plowden's Hist. Review, vol. i. Appendix, p. 171. LORD GAWSWOETH, LOED CHANOELLOE. 483' from them. They, in their turn, were to he transplanted, CHAP. XXX and shoots of the old stem were to grow up in the old soil. ' - - Such opposition as they best could make, they did. An address to King James on behalf of purchasers, under the Address to Act of Settlement, was prepared by Chief-Justice Keating ' ^'°S — a most able document. It was on behalf of purchasers who, ' for great and valuable considerations, have acquired lands and tenements in this kingdom, by laying out, not only their portions and provisions made for them by their parents, but also the whole product of their own industry, and the labour of their youth, together with what could be saved by a frugal management, in order to make some certain provision for old age and their families, in pur- chasing lands and tenements under the security of divers Acts of Parliament and public declarations from the late King ; and all these accompanied by a possession of twenty-five years.' This address showed that by the con- duct of Charles I. and Charles II. the Settlement was binding ; that the Acts were passed with all the formali- ties usual in Acts of Parliament in Ireland ; viz., framed Forma- by the Chief- Governor and Council of Ireland, with the ^hkhThe advice of the Judges and his Majesty's Council there ; ■'^<=ts were transmitted to England ; considered by the Council, before ^^^^^ " whom Counsel and agents of the Irish pretending to be the proprietors were heard ; and the Acts of Settlement, having passed both Houses of Parliament, received the Royal assent, as did in like manner the Act of Expla- nation. Dopping, Lord Bishop of Meath, on June 4, 1689, in his The Bishop place in the Irish House of Lords, delivered a very able f^^^^^ and argumentative speech against the Bill for repealing against these Acts. He contended this Bill unsettled a formal foundation (upon whicjh this kingdom's peace and flourish- ing were super striicted), and designs to erect another in its • • stead, the success whereof is dubious and uncertain^ He urged it was unjust to turn men out of their estates without any fault or demerit, to deprive widows of their ' Archbishop King's State of the Protestants, Appendix, p. 96. I I 2 484 SIR ALEXANDKB FITTON. CHAP, jointures, and children of their portions, whose money had been laid out on the public faith of the nation, declared in two Acts of Parliament, and on the public faith of his Majesty's Eoyal brother, expressed in his Letters Patent. He showed how delusive was the nature of the reprisals promised by the Bill ; that the repeal was neither for the public or the King's good, that it would not only rain the kingdom and people, but destroy all public faith, and was inconvenient in point of time. ^'11 Despite all opposition, the Bill passed both Houses, and received received the Eoyal assent. We are told, indeed, and I the Eoyal believe truly, that James was unwilling to pass the mea- Lesley sure, and Bishop Lesley states, ' As to his carriage in Ire- JVmes waf l^^*!? ^ have heard not a few of the Protestants confess, against the that they owed their preservation and safety, next under repea . Qq^^ to the clemency of King James, who restrained all he could the insolence and outrage of their enemies, of which I can give you some remarkable instances and good vouchers. I appeal to the Earl of Grranard whether Duke Powis did not give him thanks from King James for the opposition he made in the House of Lords to the passing of the Act of Attainder, and the Act for the Repeal of the Act of Settlement ; and desired that he, and other Pro- testant Lords, should use their endeavours to obstruct them. To which the Lord Granard answered, " that they were too few to effect that ; but if the King would not have them pass, his way was to engage some of the Roman Catholic Lords to stop them." To which the Duke replied, " that the King durst not let them know that he had a mind to have them stopt." ' Old pro- The representatives of the old inheritors having now seek to the law in their favour, were not slow to act upon it. The recover process appointed for the Acts of Repeal to be adminis- estates, tered by Commissioners was too tedious for the eager claimants. According to Archbishop King, ' the following device was adopted to get into possession more speedily. Wherever the Protestants had let their lands to Catholic ' State of the Protestants, p. 182. LORD GAWSWOETH, LORD CHANOELLOE, 485 tenants, these ten^-nts forsook tlie Protestant landlord, CHAP, and became tenants to the pretended Catholic proprietors Several Protestants filed bills in Chancery, complaining of J'^^^^ this as contrary to the Act, which allowed them to keep pos- Com- session nntil May, 1690, which not being yet come, or any chantry. Commission being appointed to execute the Act, they moved for injunctions to quiet the possessions; but the Chancellor answered, 'That this did not concern landlords who let their lands, but only such as occupied farms themselves; and that the Parliament had granted that indulgence to them, only that they might have time to dispose of their stocks. Chancellor which not being the case with those who had tenants, they relief in must go to common law and try their titles.' By this Equity, means most of the old proprietors got into their estates.' The following were among the Acts passed by the Par- Abortive liament of Ireland, elected in the reign of James II. a.d. james'a 1689 :— Parlia- ' An Act declaring that the Parliament of England can- not bind Ireland, and against writs of error and appeals ' The notice to quit served on the new proprietor, and also the order to restore possession to the old, were as follows i — I By the Lord Lieutenant of the County of Kildare and ' County Kildare. j- ^^^ ^^ -^^^ Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council. ' Sir, — This is to let you understand that I am authorised to give the pro- prietor possession of the land of Ballysannan, &c., according to the Act of Parliament ; and that you may not be surprised therein I give you this notice, from, Sir, ' Tour loving friend and servant, ' Charles White,' ' For John Annesly, Esq.' Second Okdeb. 'Whereas Lute Fitz Gerald, Esq., has proved himself before me to be the ancient proprietor of the town and land of Ballysannan, and that his ancestors were possessed of their mansion house there in the year 1641. I do therefore, in pursuance of his Majesty's orders unto me, appoint the under-named persons to give possession of the mansion house there to liune Fitz Gerald, Esq. And for so doing, this shall be your warrant. ' Given under my hand and seal this 6th day of May 1690, I do hereby appoint Captain W. Arohbold or Captain J. Dillon, of Athy, to give possession of the mansion house of Ballysannan. ' CiLiELES White. ' To Luke Fitz Gerald, Esq.' :486 , SIR AXEXANDEE FITTON. CHAP, to be brought, for removing judgments, decrees, and sen- < ,-1— tences in Ireland into England. ' An Act for repealing the Acts of Settlement and Ex- planation. ' An Act for taking off all incapacities of the natives of the kingdom. 'An Act for repealing the Act for keeping and cele- brating the 23rd of October, as an anniversary thanks- giving in this kingdom. ' An Act for Liberty of Conscience, and repealing such Acts and Clauses in any Act of Parliament which are in- consistent with the same. 'An Act for repealing an Act entitled "An Act for Con- firmation of Letters Patent, granted to his Grace, James Duke of Orraond." ' An Act for the encouragement of strangers and others to inhabit and plant in the kingdom of Ireland. ' An Act prohibiting the importation of English, Scotch, or Welsh Coals into this Kingdom. 'An Act for vesting in his Majesty the Goods of Absentees. 'An Act for the advance and improvement of Trade, and for the encouragement and increase of Shipping and Navigation. ' An Act for the attainder of divers rebels, and for pre- serving the interests of loyal subjects.' Its lega- The legality of King James's Parliament was not Avith- asserted ^^^ defenders. It was contended the three elements of a legal Parliament, King, Lords, and Commons, existed in it. The Commons were summoned by writs directed to the legal returning officers. In the upper house, the Peers, Spiritual and Temporal, were summoned, and sat in the usual way. The five new creations of Peers were made legally and in order. This was the opinion of Mr. Lynch in his Legal Institutions. Arguments On the other side, it was argued that James was no against it. jQjjggp King, when he issued the proclamation and writs for assembling the Parliament; that the English Con- LOED GAWSWOETH, LOED CHANCELLOE. 487 vention Parliament of 1688 grave the Crown to William CHAP. . . XXX and Mary ; that the moment William became King of • , "_- England, he was instantly King of Ireland, and then Par- p™i]^^*g°° liament passed a bill of rights — expelled the late King and of 1688. his dynasty ; limited the crown to Protestants ; forbade the King marrying a Roman Catholic, and limited carrying arms to Protestants ; abolished the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, substituting the oaths of allegiance and abju- ration ; gave the crown of England, France, and Ireland William to William and Mary, and the administration exclusively to King William III.i The events which followed William's progress to the Boyne are familar to the readers of Irish history. Tyr- connel accompanied James in his flight to Prance, and returned to Limerick, where he died suddenly. On his death, the Lord Chancellor, Chief Baron Rice, and Plow- den, assumed the office of Lords Justices, but their tenure of office was of brief duration. Lord Chancellor Pitton was succeeded by Sir Charles Fate of PoKTEE as Lord Chancellor in 1691. Pitton was attainted, J^ior^^^"' and it is supposed followed his Royal Master to France, Fitton. and died there. Whether the conduct of Pitton before he was made Chancellor was criminal or innocent, God only can judge, but His hand fell heavily upon the repre- sentatives of the Pittons of Gawsworth. ' In less than half a century the husbands of its two co-heiresses, James Duke of Hamilton and Charles Lord Mohun, were slain by each other in a murderous duel, arising out of a dispute relative to a partition of the Fitton estates ; and Gaws- of Gaws- worth itself passed into an unlineal hand by a series of ""°^^^- alienations complicated beyond example in the annals of this county.' ^ Though no doubt the troubled reign of James II. was Chancery little favourable to steady pursuits, the course of law in^ireknd flowed on uninterruptedly amid the crash of thrones during the and fall of dynasties. There are nearly a hundred Chan- james II, > Parliament in Ireland 1689. Dublin Magazine, p. 173, 1843. ' Ormerod's Cheshire, vol. iii. p. 295. 488 SIE ALKXANDEE FITTON. CHAP, eery decrees made durinsr tlie reign of James II. enrolled, "VW DO __,_L. I have looked careMly through those made while Lord Gawsworth held the Seals, but could observe nothing to mark ignorance of his duty, or incapacity to perform it. He confirms reports, dismisses bUls, decrees in favour of awards, grants injunctions, with the confidence of an ex- perienced equity judge. LOED CHANCELLOB METHUEN, 489 CHAPTEE XXXI. IIFB 01' LOBB CHANCELLOE MEIHTIEN. The Methuens, or Methvens, derive their name from the chap. Barony of Methven, in Perthshire, granted by Malcolm ^^^^^ Canmore, King of Scotland, to one of the knights who Methuen, escorted Queen Margaret from Hungary in 1070. The known in name and achievements of John Mbthubjst are much more ^^^°^^^ familiar to the diplomatic than to the legal world ; but as he filled the high office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland for some years, from 1697 to 1701, 1 give as full an account of him as my diligence enables me. He was eldest son of 4.?Jlt,'^^ of Wilt- Mr. Methuen, of Bishop's Canning, Wilts, and destined shire. for the legal profession. Having kept the usual terms, he was called to the bar. After several years of moderate Practised practice, his talents were employed in the diplomatic ser- ^ ^ '^^' vice, and he was despatched to Portugal as Envoy during Envoy in the reign of King William III. He was greatly esteemed for his prudence, tact, and general information ; so much so, that when Sir Charles Porter, Lord Chancellor of Ire- land, died suddenly in 1696, the high character of the Portuguese Envoy then in London, at once recommended In London, him as a fit and proper person to hold the Irish Great Seal. In a letter dated December 2, 1696, addressed by Mr. LettOT to ' ' •' the Duke Vernon to the Duke of Shrewsbury, we find the character of Shrews- of Mr. Methuen favourably mentioned.' Alluding to the ^™y- recent death of the Lord Chancellor, the letter continues : ' Mr. Secretary Trumbull came some time after with the accounts he had received of it. So I don't doubt but he is to dispatch the orders that will be requisite either for supplying the commission of justices, or appointing com- missioners for the Seal, till the King thinks of a fit person ' Letters of the Eeign of William III. vol, i. p. 100. 490 BEIGN OF WILLIAM in. CHAP, for Chancellor. I have been thinkinEf of it in the mean- XXXI . ■ ". '. — L- time, and none occurs to me more fit than Mr. Methuen, ^ous'or" ^® ^^^-^ ^'^^ ^^^ prudence and principles, as his having been Methuen bred up in these courts. otBcB of ' I have further considered, that if your Grace should Lord Chan- ever go for Ireland, as was once talked of,^ you would have in this man one that you might entirely depend on, or otherwise you might oblige him in contributing to his advancement to that post, and have the Envoyship of Por- tugal to dispose of, as once you intended. I was so full of it that I mentioned to my Lord Portland what I thought of this gentleman's deserts, and he spoke as if he had a very good opinion of him. I have since taken some notice of it to Mr. Methuen himself, who apprehends it may be thought too honourable a post for him ; but he don't look upon himself as unqualified to discharge it.^ ' I thought it worth while for him to try his friends. He thinks himself very well already in my Lord Sunder- land's good opinion, and has a friend who can fix him if he be not engaged. He believes, too, my Lord may have favourably thought of him ; and I promised him to open the matter to your Grace, believing, if you had not pre- viously entered into any consideration about the disposal of this office, you might wish one so well qualified in it, and if that were your opinion, you would write to my Lord Keeper about it. It will not be judged fit, I sup- No Irish pose, to take any of the Irish lawyers,^ both as to the likeirto country and the factions they are divided into, and one to be ap- be sent from hence should not be merely chosen for his abilities at the bar ; and when Sir Charles Porter was sent, I think he might as little have pretended to it as this gentleman, who to his knowledge in the law has added his experience abroad, and his commendable behaviour in the House of Commons. " The Bute of Shrewsbury was Viceroy but not when Methuen was Chan- cellor. ' It is related that he aspired to the Chancellorship of England. ' Very like the modern advertisement ending ' No Irish need apply.' pointed. LOED CHANCELLOE METHUEN. 491 'But I submit all to what your Grace shall judge CHAP, of it.' 1 . ^'^^^- . This able and astute letter put the qualifications of Methuen in so favourable a light, that the Duke of Shrewsbury immediately acted on the suggestion. Lord Somers, then the powerful Lord Chancellor of England, ^°^'^ recommended him to the King, who consented ; but there Somers was some delay in substituting a successor to carry on "PP™"^'^^- the negotiations with Portugal which Methuen had com- menced. Sir John Eushout was mentioned, but the King would not agree, and remained undecided with regard to removing Methuen for some time. At first the English Chancellor was rather surprised to find Mr. Methuen soli- citing this office, and. expressed as much. In an interview Interview- he received the Envoy very kindly, told him ' he had been go^eJ^"^*^ thinking who was proper for his place, but he had not yet m.entioned it to any body ; there were one or two occurred to him, but he doubted whether they would accept it if it were offered to them. He excused it to him that he could not say he (Methuen) had been in his thoughts, looking upon him as one that had addicted himself another way ; but he now promised him that he would take no resolu- tions without first communicating them to him.' The Chancellor made up his mind, and the result was alto- gether in favour of the Envoy. The fact of Lord Somers recommending Methuen to the King, shows he considered Methupn Methuen well qualified for the of&ce, and he was declared ajd!™i696- Chancellor of Ireland at a Council held in January, ^'^■ 1696-7. Before leaving London the diplomatic Chancellor tried to do a service, as was but natural, to his son. He repre- Eecom- sented that young gentleman as the fittest person to suc- son as ceed him as Envoy in Portugal; the most capable and Envoy in acceptable minister that could be sent there. He was young, to be sure — twenty-four years of age, — but a great favourite with the King of Portugal, and a good linguist, ' Letters of the Eeiga of William III. edited by James, vol. i. p. 101. 492 REIGN OF WILLIAM III. CHAP. XXXI. The Lord Chancellor sworn into office. The Bishop of Derry's Protest. speaking Erench, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, -with great fluency and exactness.' On June 15, 1697, the Lord Chancellor took the oaths and subscribed the declaration, pursuant to the Act for abrogating the Oath of Supremacy in Ireland. On that day he attended the House of Lords in Ireland as Speaker, and took his seat on the Woolsack.^ The Lord Bishop of Derry being dissatisfied with an order made by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, on June 22, in a cause wherein William Lord Bishop of Derry was plaintiff, the Society of the Governor and Assistants, London, for the New Plantation of Ulster, and the Mayor, Commonalty, and Citizens of Londonderry and others were defendants, petitioned the House of Lords of Ire- laud, praying to have an appeal received and to be re- lieved against the order. The Lords were willing to grant the prayer of the petition considering they had the right to hear appeals, thereupon the following protest was entered on the Journals of the Lords : — ' We, whose names are under written, do dissent from the last vote, for receiving the Bishop of Derry's Appeal. We think it right not to have been received now, because we conceive that the said Bishop was relievable in the inferior Courts of Justice, and therefore this appeal was nob brought regularly before this House. Career of Sir Paul Methuen. • His future career justified the Chancellor's encomium. He was the cele- brated Sir Paul Methuen, he lived much on the Continent and was bred to diplomacy. In 1706, he succeeded the Eight Hon. Richard Hill as minister to the Duke of Savoy. In September of that year, when the French were beaten before Turin, he was in attendance on the Duke, and shared his battles and skir- mishes. Voltaire, who entertained a warm friendship for him, says that Methuen gave him an account of the battle and the dying words of Marshal Marsin. In the ' Sitele de Louis XIV,' Voltaire says, ' Le chevalier Methuen ambassadeur de I'Angleterre aupris le due de Savoye, 6tait le plus g^ntoux, le plus franc, et le plus brave homme de son pays qu'on ait jamais employ^ dans les ambassades. II avait toujours corabattu a cot^ de ee souverain.' He was the friend of Pope and Gay, the latter paid him this compliment : — ' Methuen of siucerest mind, As Arthur brave, as soft as womankind.' ' Lords' Jour. Ir. vol. i. p. 696. His patent is dated March 11, 1697. LOiiK CHANCELLOE METHUEN. 493 ' That if upon any order of Court appeals be admitted, CHAP. ■when such, order tends only to the better information of ■ , — 1^ the Judges, everyone who is impatient of such post delay will bring his appeal, and the proceedings of the inferior Courts of Justice will be much interrupted ; and we do not find that this House has received appeals but in cases where judgments or decrees were given, which was not in this case. ' Mount Alexander, ' LOFTUS, ' Massaebene.' Notwithstanding the protest, the case was argued at Appeal the Bar on September 22, in the presence of Counsel. It was concerning the possession of some portion of land called Moylenan, in the city of Londonderry ; and upon due consideration, and of the answer of the respondents, and of the proofs made, ' the Lords Spiritual and Temporal ordered and adjudged that the orders of June 22, 1697, be reversed, but that the respondents should have liberty Order of to try them both at law.' ' Some doubts having arisen cellor whether the rights of the Church should be in any way M^^thuen ° . . reversed. prejudiced by a Bill entitled 'An Act for confirming estates and possessions held and enjoyed under the Acts of Settlement and Explanation,' the matter was referred Question to the Judges, whose opinion was reported to the House theJudges. of Lords by Chief Justice Pyne, on October 28, 1698, in these words : ' On consideration of the Bill entitled " An Act for confirming estates and possessions enjoyed under the Act of Settlement and Explanation," there appears Their nothing therein to us that does, in anywise, prejudice the "P^"'""- rights of the Church.' ^ This decision of the Judges did not give consolation to The several of the Bishops, who, on the majority of the Peers disagree voting for the BUI, entered a protest : ' 1. Because by the ^^^^ ^^^ Acts several Bishops were to have augmentations which had not been satisfied. 2. Because by the aforesaid Acts > Lords' Jour. Ir. vol. i. p. 695. ' Ibid. vol. i. p. 696. 494 EEIGN OF WILLIAM III. CHAP. XXXL Eoman Catholics not to be eolicitoTs, Methuen a bad Chancel- lor. all rights to the Churcli were saved, and all lands, &c. of whicli the Church was possessed in 1641 were to be restored, which was not done, and by this Act the Church would be barred from recovering them. 3. Because by the clause for discharging patentees' lands from ancient encumbrances and debts, rent charges payable to Bishops and other Protestants would be discharged. 4. Many Protestants would be barred from recovering lands if the Bill passed. And 5. ISTo saving for the King as in the Acts of Settlement and Explanation.' This protest was signed by five Irish Bishops. An Act meeting the wishes of the Bishops was then prepared and passed. The Lord Chancellor as Speaker of the Lords had to open the engrossed Bills sent up by the House of Com- mons in January 1698, entitled ' An Act to prevent Papists being solicitors,' which was speedily passed.' Some useful Acts also passed. One against ' Gaming,' another for ' Determining Differences by Arbitration ; ' another for encouraging ' Planting and Preserving Timber Trees and Woods.' As might have been expected from one who, as Lord Chancellor Somers remarked, ' had addicted himself an- other way,' from his profession, Lord Chancellor Methuen made a bad and dilatory Equity Judge. He was very desirous to do what was right, but was doubtful how to do it, and, afraid of committing grave mistakes, postponed deciding any but the plainest causes. When the cause presented matter for more than one decision, he occa- sionally made a decree partly for the plaintiff and partly for the defendant, so that he might, if possible, satisfy all parties. The Court of Cha.ncery in his time was grown very costly for suitors ; office rules and general orders beset the clients at every step, while the repeated delays occasioned by the absence of the Lord Chancellor in Eng- land amounted to a denial of justice. During the eleven years of William III.'s reign, I do not find more than ' Lords' Jour. Ir. vol. i. p. 748. LOED CHANCELLOR METHUEN. 495 ninety- eight decrees enrolled, tliongh I am quite certain CHAP. many more must have been pronounced. ^_, 1- Hyde, Earl of Rochester, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland ^^^^^^ ^f from 1701 to 1703, is mentioned by Dean Swift in very decrees high praise. He began early to distinguish himself in j,^^^ ^^ ' the public service, and passed through the highest em- Rochester ployments of the State in most difficult times, vfith great tenant credit and unstained honour. His principles of religion 1 701-3. and loyalty were instilled into him by his illustrious father and other noble spirits who had exposed their lives and fortunes for Charles I. Pulcherrima proles, Magnanimi heroes natis melioribus annis. His first great action was, like Scipio, to defend his father when oppressed by numbers ; and his filial piety was not only rewarded with a long life, but high and distin- guished appointments. The state of parties in Ireland had no attractions either for Lord Rochester or the diplomatist. While Methuen was Lord Chancellor, he was, as I already mentioned, frequently absent,' and England was a country he was Absence of much happier in than that which might be regarded as cellor. the proper sphere of his duties. When an opportunity presented itself of his filling a high position as repre- sentative of England at the Court of Portugal, all his old Offered the love of the Continent and diplomatic life returned with men°t of full force. He gladly accepted the offer made him, and Ambas- without a sigh, saw the once coveted Great Seal of Ireland Lisbon, transferred to his veteran successor. Sir Richard Cox. He filled the important office of Ambassador at the Court of Lisbon, and was responsible for the Treaty which bears his name.^ This Methuen Treaty was so distasteful Methuen to the Portuguese, that it is said, when, in 1701, it was ^'^'^'''y* ' From December 11, 1697, to August 15, 1698; again from January 20, 1700, to July 7, 1701. He returned to England December 1701, and did not again resume his judicial duties in Ireland. ^ The Methuen Treaty was for the mutual interchange of port wine and woollen manufactures, and regulated this trade until very recently. 496 REIGN OF WILLIAM IIL CHAP, carried to King Pedro II. for his signature, he Tigorously v-^,'^1^ set to and kicked it about the room. It is likewise related PeXo^i"^ the Ambassador himself was so little pleased with his own treated the work, that he privately advised Queen Anne not to ratify Treaty. j^^ rpj^^ Ambassador died at his post in Lisbon in the .^ „, year 1706. His death was sudden, and his loss much Ex-Chan- •' . mi t^ i j? cellor died lamented by the politicians of the time. The Duke oi fu'^iT^oe^' Marlborough, writing to Mr. Secretary Harley from the Camp at Helchin, on August 12, 1706, thus refers to him : Marl- — 'I had an account from Mr. Secretary Hodges of the sud- kttera '''^ den death of Mr. Methuen, at Lisbon, when the situation of affairs in Spain seemed most to require his assistance, since we have no account yet of King Charles's approach to Madrid. His timely appearance there would, in all probability, put an end to the war on that side.' ' In a letter to Mr. Secretary Hodges the Duke alluded to the same subject : ' I have received the favour of your letter of 26th past, giving an account of the sudden death of Lord Ambassador Methuen, which is very unlucky at this critical juncture, when our affairs in Spain seem much to want his assistance in encouraging the Court of Portugal to continue steady and resolute in pursuing the war, under the difficulties we are like to meet with for want of King Charles's timely appearance at Madrid.' ^ The family has since been ennobled, and is now repre- sented by Frederick, second Baron Methuen, married to Anna, daughter of the Reverend John Sandford of Nyne ■ head Somerset, and has issue. ' The Marlborough Despatches, vol. iii. p. 78. ' Ibid. vol. iii. p. 79. LIFE OF SIR EICHARD COX, LORD CHANCELLOR. 497' CHAPTEE XXXII. II^E OF LORD CHANCELLOR SIK EICHAKD COX, BART., PROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS APPOINTMENT AS CHIEF JUSTICE OP THE COMMON PLEAS. Michael Cox, grandfather of the subject of my memoir, CHAP. -Y"V"y'TT was the youngest son of Eichard Cox, of Bishop's Cannings, ■ _ ' ■ in Wiltshire. He came to Ireland during the reign of ^*"'.'y °^, ° ° SirRichard James I., when many English and Scotch adventurers Cox. settled in that kingdom. He selected a pleasant location on the banks of the river Funcheon, near KUworth, in the county of Cork. Here he amassed a considerable fortune, 5,000?. or 6,000Z. ; but, during the civil war of 1641, he was despoiled of the most part of his substance, and little remained to his family. In those days, when men's hands constantly grasped the Richard sword, the military profession was sure to be selected by members of every family. Eichard, third son of Michael Cox, of Kilworth, became a captain in Major-General Jephson's regiment of horse. He was well qualified for his calling, being strong and valiant, and steadily climbed the ladder of promotion. It was not as easy to obtain pay as rank, for the arrears of Captain Cox's pay amounted to 1,676L Captain Cox was captivated by the pretty face and ^*™;^'^*'' black eyes of a widow, Mrs. Batten, daughter of Walter therine Bird, Esq., thrice Sovereign, and for a long time Eecorder of ^ ^°" Clonakilty, a large town in the West Eiding of the county of Cork. Mr. Bird was a gentleman of highly cultivated tastes, having been a student at Oxford, and an excellent musician, playing well on the bass-viol. Although Captain Cox possessed some property in the neighbourhood of Kilworth, and was entitled to the tolls of the fairs and markets of the place, which must have VOL. I. K K 498 EEIGN OF CHAELES II. CHAP, been of some value, lie resided at Bandon, or Bandon- XXXII . - — -^ — '-■ bridge, as it was formerly called. Tliis town owed its bridger existence to Eicbard Boyle, first Earl of Cork, wbo ex- pended a large sum in making it tbe rival of Derry, in tbe nortb, and in one point may be said to have succeeded. It was exclusively Protestant. In a letter written by him to Mr. Secretary Cook, dated April 13, 1632, the Earl says, " No popish recusant, or unconforming novelist being admitted to him in all the town.' This probably gave rise to the tradition that an inscription on one of the gates announced — Jew, Turk, or atheist May enter here, but not a papist. Which caused the celebrated Father O'Leary to add — Who TTTOte these lines, he wrote them well. For the same are writ on the gates of hdl. There is no doubt that Catholics were excluded from Bandon, and by way of explanation, we find ' that it was a necessary support for the infant colony, the members of which foresaw that as they were strangers and Protestants, if a Papist took up his quarters amongst them, he only would be encouraged by his neighbours of his own religion (and they were generally of it), and would gradually in- troduce tradesmen of all sorts of the same, which would overset the scheme of this foundation.' ' In this town was born Richard Cox, who, ere his eyes were closed in the sleep of death, was to win such high honours as seldom fall to the lot of one man. Knighthood and Baronetage, Judge of the Common Pleas, Military Governor of the County of Cork, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and the King's Bench, Lord High Chan- Eichard cellor of Ireland, and several times Lord Justice. He was Cox, born born on March 25, 1650, but not destined to know either i65o! ' a father's care or a mother's love. The valiant officer and strong soldier fell mortally wounded in July 1652, not by the foeman's sword or on the battle-field, where danger was to be confronted and honour won, but stabbed by the pen- ' Seasoutible Advice, p. 15. LIFE OF SIR EICHAED COX, LOED CHANCELLOE. 499 knife of a brofclier officer, as they were walkinor tooretlier, CHAP. . . XXXII apparently on friendly terms. The assassin was a Captain ^ Norton, but the cause for the deed remains unknown. ^^^ father ' ... assassi- Mrs. Cox had been most unfortunate in her matrimonial nated. ventures. She was a widow when married to Captain Misfor- Cox. Her first husband, Captain Thomas Batten, was shot Mrs. Cox. dead at the siege of Dungarvan in 1642, a ball having pierced his forehead, and this second bereavement plunged her into consumption, which made such rapid havoc as to cause her death the following winter. The infant son was left to the care of his grandfather and ' good unkle John Bird ' ' who placed him at school with a kind pre- ceptor named Barry. Eichard at Here his diligence and industry indicated literary taste, and when of age to select a profession for the support of his future life, he chose the law, most probably because Selects tlie his uncle was the seneschal of the Manor Court of Bandon. ^f^^^ P™' fession. These Manor Courts possessed a very extensive and varied jurisdiction, and the seneschal had highly important func- tions to discharge. Young Cox served his time to an attorney, and must have been admitted to practice very Practises quickly, for we read of his engaging in the profession in torney. his eighteenth year.'' He soon gained a very general knowledge of his business, and extended his practice throughout the west of the county of Cork, until desirous of a larger sphere for his abilities, and feeling he was of the stuif of which good lawyers are made, he determined to get called to the Bar. He accordingly disposed of the pro- Aspires to perty he inherited from his- grandfather, near Kilworth, for 150L, and deriving an income from some house-property assigned to his father in Galway, for arrears of pay, which yielded 2QI. per annum, and having 501. saved from his practice, he accompanied the Earl of Burlington^ to London to keep his law terms. ' Autobiography, p. 3. " Wills's Lives of Distinguished Irishmen, vol. iv. p. 2. ' This nobleman distinguished himself early in life. He was knighted at the age of twelve, and, on the restoration of Charles II., was created Earl of Burlington ; he succee;led liis father as Earl of Cork. K K 2 500 EEIGN OF CHARLES II. CHAP. > xxxn. A distin- guished student of Gray'a Inn. Called to the Bar, August 9, 1673. Married, 1674. Life at Clonakilty. In 1671, Mr. Cox was a student of Gray's Inn, wlien his unwearied application, acquaintance with legal j)rocedure, acquired hy his practice in the Irish local courts, and his superior intelligence, obtained him considerable notice. At the same time he seems not to have been earning any money, for he mentions, 'I was not of full two years' standing, when by great providence, and at the most critical juncture (my money being almost spent), friends were raised up to me, who found means to make me one of the surveyors at Sir Robert Shaftoe's' reading.' The reader fell ill two days before he was to perform his part in the Hall, and Mr. Cox was selected by Sir Eobert himself to supply the place. He did it so admirably that he was called to the bar of Gray's Inn on August 9, 1673. The Monday before, he argued the 'Reader's case,' on short warning, so much to the satisfaction of a numerous and distinguished legal audience, that Sir Francis Eat- cliffe^ offered him a hundred a-year and other great advantages if he would settle near him in the north of England. This tempting offer was declined, and Mr. Cox, as he says, ' sequimur quo fata trahunt,' returned to Ire- land, landed at Dungarvan, and arrived at Bandon on January 11. He then took an important step, 'by my unkle Bird's advice I married my now wife, Mary Bourne,* on Thursday, February 26, 1674. She being but fifteen, I not full twenty-four years old; this was the rock I had like to split on, for though she proved a very good wife, yet being disappointed in her portion, which was ill paid by her mother, and by driblets, and from whom I also received some other unkindnesses, I retired into the country and lived at Cloghnakilty for seven years, but very plentifully and pleasantly.' ■* At Clonakilty he took ' Sir Bobert Shaftoe, of Whitworth, County Durham, Serjeant-at-Law and Eeeorder of Newcastle ; he died 1705. 2 Created Baron of Tyndal, County Northumberland, and Earl of Derwent- water, &c., March 7, 1688; he died 1696. ' Daughter of John Bourne, Esq., who had a grant of lands in the barony of Carbery, County Cork, in 1667, containing 612 acres. She died June 1, 1715. « Autobiography. Edited by Richard Caulfield, Esq., B.A., p. 11. LIFE OF SIR EICHAED COX, LOED CHANCELLOR. '501 a farm, and sank eradually into that kind of indolence to chap. XXXTT wliicli persons of intellectual temper are most liable wlien - — , — '^ deprived of their congenial and proper excitement in the atmosphere of ambition or studious conversation.' But there were little wrestlers for daily bread whose claims were too clamorous to be silenced, and as he says, ' con- sidering my charge of children, I roused myself from that lethargy and resolved to struggle for a better fortune;' accordingly he removed to Cork, the capital of the province of Munster, where a great deal of local business rewards the competent barrister. Here his legal acquirements pro- Rpcorder cured him the Recordership of Kinsale, and we may judge how fully his talents as a lawyer were employed when he made 500Z. the first year. His zeal for the Protestant religion occasionally putran his discretion. In April 1679 he was chosen chairman of the Quarter Sessions for the County of Cork, held in Bandon when 'With the zeal and sincerity of a good Attacks the Protestant,' says Harris,^ 'he took occasion to expose in his charge the villanies, the cruelties, and the impositions of Popery, with such good spirit and sense that he mightily animated the Protestants, and as highly provoked the Papists. So sensible were the former of the great service done them by this seasonable charge, that in a body they Is publicly publicly returned thanks for it that day, and one of them ° ^ ' said, " That he must expect that the revenge of the Papists, if it ever fell into their power, would be proportioned to his merit with the Protestants ; " Mr. Cox replied, " That he was not in any danger, for he had studied them thoroughly, and therefore would never trust them, nor Deplorable live under their jurisdiction." ' While such rancorous feeling i feeling was entertained by an educated and intelligent ^^'^^'°-^- judge, who, as Recorder, had power over the persons and properties of his Majesty's Catholic subjects, we cannot feel surprised at the disunion and disaffection which pre- vailed throughout the kingdom. The fearful atrocities ' Wills's Lives of Distinguished Irishmen, Cox, vol. iv. p. 7. 2 Harris's Life of Cox, p. 208. ■ in 502 EEIGN OF JAMES II. CHAP, practised upon the native Irisli by the soldiers of Elizabeth XXXII . C — L- and the undertakers of James I. led to the attempted retaliation of 1 641, and the fate of the old families during the sway of Cromwell was fresh in the memory of their children when Charles II. was restored to the throne. Instead of doing justice to these Catholic noblemen and gentry who had devoted their lives and fortunes to the cause of his father, he allowed the Irish government to remain in the hands of those who hated the religion and the people of Ireland ; and who can feel surprise if they were hated in return ? That kindness begets kindness is a true axiom, and that hatred engenders hatred is equally so ; no wonder then if the Protestants trembled when their misused power was wrested from their hands. When the failing health of Charles II. warned the Irish ascendency party their reign too was drawing to a close. Cox made up his mind to shun danger. He recollected the fate of the poet Spenser, who having roused the enmity of the Irish, had his castle of Kilcolman burned, and narrowly escaped with his life, while one of his sons was killed during the conflagration. In 1685 the accession of James II. to the throne of Great Britain and Ireland took place. This event was regarded by Irish Protestants with the greatest conster- nation, and many fled in affright from the land. Among these panic-stricken refugees was Cox. He relinquished his practice, which was considerable, and removed with his family to Bristol. He preceded them by some months ; Cox's flight the date of his departure for England being April 7, 1687, while his wife and children remained in Cork until the following June. They settled in Bristol, where he found kind friends, and probably many, who like himself left Ireland, selected it as their residence. He was too active in mind, and too straitened in purse, to remain idle. Luckily his profession enabled him to practise in Eng- land, and his reputation had preceded him ; so he soon earned an income as a barrister sufficient for the support of his family. He had a wife and five children dependent Accestion of James II. to Bristol. Prai'tises at the Bristol Bar. LIFE OF SIE RICHAED COX, LORD CHANCELLOE. 503 upon him, and when he felt those tender fingers plucking CHAP. at his gown, he was not the man to deny their claims to ■ , _L. his best exertions. Nor was his pen idle. It was at this g°"g^nS period he compiled the Hibernia Anglicana.' Anglicana. While sojourning at Bristol Mr. Cox made a most Forms the valuable acquaintance, whose friendship mainly caused anceofSir his advancement in after life — that of Sir Richard South- ?"^^'''^'^„ bouthwell. well, who at this time resided at King's Weston, near Bristol. This gentleman left an honoured name. Harris speaking of him says, ' than whom the world could not show a man of more religion, virtue, and wisdom.' Cox calls him ' one of the worthyest persons in the world, who has proved the best friend I ever had.' ^ Cox was a far-seeing politician. Judging that the English nation had resolved upon dethroning James II., and the chances of the Prince of Orange mounting the throne were very great, he hastened to London and cast the weight of his talents and the influence they com- manded into the scale of the Stadtholder. He published a pamphlet urging the necessity of giving the crown to Pamphlet William, and sending relief to the Irish Protestants. It j,f '^9^^°'^ was very successful, and recommended the writer to the Prince of future King. range. The zeal and ability displayed by Mr. Cox in the cause of the Prince was not left unrewarded. He was offered Offered the post of secretary to the Duke of Schomberg, when ofsecretary that veteran warrior was appointed to the command of to Duke ^^ of Schom- ' This work, published in London in 1689, is a history of Ireland from the \^^f.' conquest thereof by the English to the period of its publication. It is dedicated to King William and Queen Mary, and, written by a zealous supporter of the Prince of Orange, nearly all the authorities referred to are one-sided, therefore its statements must be received with extreme caution. Those who maintain the early civilisation and learning of the Irish before the invasion will be amused at the following : ' "What I aim at is to show that the Irish did con- tinue in their barbarity, poverty, and ignorance until the English conquest ; and that all the improvements themselves or their country received, and their great difference between their manners and conditions now and then, is to be ascribed to the English Government, under which they have lived far happier than ever they did under the tyranny of their own lords.'— Cox's Hibernia Anglicana, Preface. '■= Autobiography, p. 12. ,504 EBIGN OF WILLIAM III. CHAP. XXXII. Secretary to Sir EobpTt Southwell. Ml'. Cox's correctness tested. the forces against King James in Ireland, but being unacquainted with French, he did not feel at liberty to accept this office. When William determined to conduct the war against his father-in-law in person, and Sir Robert Southwell was appointed Secretary of State to accompany him. Sir Robert had the opportunity of proving his friend- ship for Mr. Cox. He selected his son, his kinsman. Captain Waller, and Mr. Richard Cox his secretaries, and treated them with equal kindness. They acted as secretaries, but were used as companions, rode in the same coach, lay in the same tent, and had their meals at the same table.' It was at this time Mr. Cox's knowledge of Irish affairs and capacity for business were displayed. The secret , despatches and greater part of the intelligence were sub- mitted to him, and his readiness and acciiracy greatly pleased the Prince, who loved to find those in his service, whether civil or military, competent to the discharge of their duties. The clearness of Mr. Cox's views and his statements, always based upon reliable information, was of such a nature that Sir Robert Southwell trusted him implicitly, and on a momentous occasion, when the fate of the kingdom was at stake, we find he was to be relied on. When the two armies were at length face to face, on the eve of the decisive Battle of the Boyne, the number and strength of the army of King James II. was reported to the Prince of Orange to be far more numerous than Sir Robert Southwell, acting on Mr. Cox's information, stated them to be. An officer lately deserted from the Irish camp, detailed their number and position in so plausible a manner that the Prince was greatly disconcerted, and told Sir Robert ' he was certainly misinformed, for the Irish forces were far more than he imagined.' Sir Robert, in great surprise and some trepidation, imparted the King's fears and the cause to his secretary. Mr. Cox bade him not be the least alarmed, that he had not reported upon any conjecture, but on undoubted authority. ' Let us, sir,' he said, ' test the accuracy of this fellow.' ' How may ' Autobiography, p. 12. LIFE OP SIR EICHAED COX, LORD CHANCELLOR. 505 that be done, Mr. Oox ? ' asked Sir Eobert. ' Let him CHAP. XXXII pass through our camp,' replied Mr. Cox ; ' survey it at his ,_ , " .. leisure, and then, when he has completed his survey, report to his Majesty what he computes the number of our forces to be.' This excellent suggestion pleased the King, and was at once acted on. When the Irish deserter made his report, he confidently affirmed the English army to be more than double the number William knew they were. He dis- missed the deserter with reproof as a 'conceited ill- guesser,' and highly commended the sagacity of Mr. Cox in so cleverly discovering the falsehood of the statement.' When the victorious monarch led his troops in triumph Writes the to Dublin, the ' King's Declaration ' was written at Ein- Ceclara- glas by Mr. Cox, and met the thoughts of William so *^'°°- exactly, that he would not alter a word of the draft, declaring, in very complimentary terms, that 'Mr. Cox had exactly hit his own mind.' Further preferment awaited the secretary. On the sur- render of Waterford, Mr. Cox was appointed Eecorder, Recorder of but the office appearing to the King inferior to what his W^t^''f°'^'^- services merited, his Majesty, with a consideration which does him credit, desired Sir Robert Southwell to enquire of Mr. Cox ' what employment he desired ? ' The Bench is naturally the object of every lawyer's ambition, and a seat in the Common Pleas being then vacant, Mr. Cox named Second this, which was immediately acceded to, and he was sworn the Com- in, April 15, 1690. He now hoped for some repose from """^ Heas, affairs of State, and, conscious of many imperfections in his Hibernia Anglicana, was meditating a new and cor- rected edition when he was selected, together with Robert Rochfort, Esq., and Sir Richard Pyne, to execute various governmental Commissions. The Commissioners had full Commis- power for ordering out and equipping the militia, to ex- amine and report upon the conduct of officers and soldiers in garrison towns, and restore the country, torn and dis- organised during the late wars, into order and obedience ' Harris's Life of Cox, p. 210. 506 EEIGN OF WILLIAM III. CHAP. XXXII. Thanked by Lord Sidney. Prevents the ex- change of Lord Clancarty. Military G-overnor, 1691. to law. Tliey set to work with great diligence at Ardee, Drogheda, Wexford, Waterford, and Cork, and Mr. Justice Cox received a letter from the Viceroy, Lord Sidney, dated at Whitehall, ' acknowledging the great zeal and affection which upon all occasions he had showed for his Majesty's service, and assuring him it would be remembered to his advantage.' He was the means of preventing Lord Clancarty, a prisoner in the hands of the Government, being exchanged for a Dutch officer, taken by the French. Judge Cox advised the grand jury of the county of Cork to represent his lordship's hostility to the English and Protestant inte- rest, and the little probability of ever seeing an English plantation in the county of Cork if he was returned to his estate. This presentment was laid before the Lords Jus- tices, and by them transmitted to the King, with such support from Lords Sidney and Burlington as induced the King to refuse the exchange, and for this Judge Cox re- ceived the thanks of the Protestants of the county. He issued protections to all adherents of the late King James II. who submitted to King William III. The state of Ireland in 1691 obliged men to fill a variety of offices, though apparently requiring quite opposite qualities. Thus, within half a year from Cox being seated on the Bench of the Common Pleas, we find him appointed Mili- tary Governor of Cork. His administration showed great talents for the field of war as well as the courts of justice. He quickly raised and equipped eight regiments of cavalry and three of infantry, which did great execution among the adherents of the House of Stuart, and took about ten thousand pounds worth of their property. Cox states : — ' I tooke no share of it myself, though I might have had the tenth, but in evei-ything I acted the part of a true Englishman, whose heart was in the cause, and in re- quital, had a very hearty address of thanks from both coun- ■ tryes, and received from the Government 150Z. by concor- datum, and from their Majestyes an abatement of half my quit-rent for ever.' ' He managed the troops under his ' Aiitobicgraphj-, p. 13. LIEE or SIR EICHAED COX, LOED CHANCELLOE. 607 command so skilfully as to be able to send 1,000 to tbe camp of William before Limerick, and to keep a frontier eighty miles long, from Tallow to Sherkin, and did not lose ten men, Wbile he was Governor of Cork the following letter was addressed by him to Sir James Cotter, of Ballinspnrrigg, an old acquaintance and a faithful adherent of James II. He was a brigadier-general in the army of King James : — 'Cork, July 6, 1691. ' Sir, — Upon the score of our former acquaintance, and Kind letter the civility which you have used to our friends whilst you t" ^"" •' •' _ _ _ •' James were Governor here, and since I think myself obliged to Cotter. let you know that I have both station and inclination to serve you. If it should happen that you throw yourself upon me, without capitulation (for your party is certainly ruined, and will every minute decay), you shall undoubtedly be used as a man of honour ; but if you are of this opinion, bring off as many as you can and their arms, because your terms will be so much the better. This will seem odd if you don't apprehend the case desperate ; but because I am sure 'tis so, therefore you have this friendly advertisement from, ' Sir, your very affectionate ' Friend and servant, 'EiCHAKD Cox.' This letter reached Sir James, who, not despairing of the situation, made the following friendly reply : — ' Sir, — Notwithstanding our former acquaintance, it Sir James seems you do not know me. Whatever I might have done reply. with sitting still, when laid aside, in civilities — which for justice's sake I distributed without distinction — I am now convinced, and will, I doubt not, be in a condition to return your kindness, for really your case is so desperate that you will soon have an occasion for it, and be confi- dent in anything that is just, you find me. Sir, ' Your very affectionate friend and servant, ' James Cotter. ' Give, I pray you, my services to all old acquaintances.' M8 REIGN OF WILLIAM III. CHAP. XXXII. Knighted. Reads a paper before the Philoso- phical Society. Visits London. Sir Eicliard Cox was better acquainted with, the true state of affairs than his old friend. Sir James sued for his protection, which was readily granted.' He continued to act as Governor of Munster until the close of the year 1692, when he received the well-earned honour of knighthood. The ceremony was performed with the Sword of State in the Castle of Dublin, by his Excel- lency Lord Sidney, who was a steadfast friend, not only during his Viceroyalty, bat when the changes of fortune had doomed both to taste the bitterness of ill-requited services. The versatility of Sir Eichard Cox's talents was dis- played on April 26, 1693, at a meeting of the Dublin Phi- losophical Society, held in the Provost's Eooms in Trinity College, when he read a paper entitled ' A Geographical Description of the City and County of Derry, and of the County of Antrim,' before a critical and gratified audi- ence. He bestowed very considerable attention on this important subject, and designed a geographical descrip- tion of the entire kingdom, of which, however, the above paper is all I can find. It was to have included a natural history of Ireland. Upon reading this valuable essay, he was admitted a Fellow of the Philosophical Society, toge- ther with the Most Eev. Dr. Vesey, Archbishop of Tuam, and the Hon. Francis Eoberts, younger son of the Earl of Eadnor, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.^ Shortly after this Sir Eichard visited London, and was most cordially re- ceived. Lord Godolphin, then Premier, told him 'that his services were so considerable that they were bound to do for him what they could.' This polite speech, unlike many ministers' speeches, meant real benefit, and he obtained an abatement of half his quit rent, and the office of Commissioner of Forfeitures, with a salary of 400L per annum . But Cox little thought this recognition of his services would cause him much obloquy and annoyance. It has, ' Gibson's History of Cork, vol. ii. p. 169. ^ Harris's Life of Cox, p. 214. LIFE OF SIE RICHARD COX, LORD CHANCELLOR. 509 however, served to place his character in the light of an chap. honourable and npright man, a rare character for a poll- . tician in those days. He was quite aware that, at the time of the capitulation of Limerick, the Lords Justices, instructed by King William III., were quite prepared to assure the Irish of much more favourable and extensive conditions than they afterwards obtained by the Articles of Limerick. His Majesty's instructions were reduced into a Proclamation, which was afterwards styled, the Secret Proclamation, because, though it was printed, it The secret never was published. For the Lords Justices, finding the tion. garrison capitulating on terms better for the English in- terest, withheld the Proclamation. ' There was, however, a vast number who considered the measure dealt out by the Treaty of Limerick far too good for the Irish Papists ; and the Sunday after the Lords Justices returned to Dublin, the Bishop of Meath, preaching before the Gover- nors at Christ Church, argued, ' that peace ought not to Bishop of be observed with a people so perfidious ; that they kept sermon. neither articles nor oaths longer than was for their interest ; and that, therefore, these articles, which were intended for a security, would form a snare, and would only enable the rebels to play their pranks again on the first opportunity.' This monstrous attack was replied to on the following Sunday, by the Bishop of Kildare, who contended ' the public faith should be kept inviolate,' and spoke so kindly Bishop of of Eoman Catholics, that he pleased the King, who re- ^^^^g^ moved the name of the Bishop of Meath from the list of from the Privy Councillors, and put in his place that of the Bishop council. of Kildare. Yet the public were so divided by those two right reverend opponents, that a third divine attempted to settle the matter in dispute, and Dean Synge discoursed on these words, ' Keep peace with all men, if it he pos- sible.' In 1701, Sir Eichard Cox became Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. ' Harris's Life of Cox, p. 214. 510 EEIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. CHAPTER XXXIII. CONCLirslON 01' THE IIFB OV LORD OHANCELLOK SIB KICHAED COX. CHAP. XXXIII. Sworn in Chief Justice of tlie Com- mon Pleas, and Privy Councillor. His daughter married. The Queen obtains his advice. In 1701, Sir Eichard, as already mentioned, was advanced in judicial dignity as successor to Chief- Justice Hely, who died at Ennis, April 7, 1701, while he, with Sir Richard Cox, were the Judges going the Munster Circuit. On this sad event taking place, Mr. Justice Cox finished the circuit alone. In the following month he was sworn in Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and member of the Privy Council. One of his daughters married at this time. The mar- riage was not fortunate, as recorded in his diary : — ' On the 15th day of June my daughter Mary marryed Mr. Allen Riggs, which had a good prospect, but proved an unfortunate match.' The Chief Justiceship of the Com- mon Pleas, with the duties of which Sir Richard's seat as a puisne judge made him familiar, was an easy post for him. He records in his autobiography, with much satis- fa.ction, his pleasant circuits round Leinster, Munster, and Connaught ; and while holding assizes on the last-named circuit, in the spring of 1702, he received a letter from Daniel Pinch, Earl of Nottingham, informing him ' that Queen Anne,' having under her consideration many mat- ters relating to Ireland, in which he might be useful to her service, had commanded him to write that he (Cox) should go to London as soon as conveniently he could, that she might have his advice.' Accordingly he set sail on the 10th of April, and whilst he attended the Queen his opinion was taken on all matters ; but especially, first, as to the most convenient time for the sitting of Parliament ; ' Queen Anne succeeded William III. March 8, 1702. LIFE OF SIR EICHAED COX, LORD CHANCELLOR. 511 second, which manufacture, linen or woollen, would be CHAP. most for the interest of England to encourage in Ireland.' ■ ' \ He recommended, with reference to the first, ' that the meeting of Parliament should be postponed as long as possible ; ' and, as to the second point, ' he was clearly of opinion that it was for the interest of England to encou- rage the woollen manufacturers in Ireland, in the coarse branches of it, which would prevent the wool and the manufacturers from being carried to France, and would not interfere with the manufacturers of England. He thought it the most impolitic step ever taken by England to prohibit the whole exportation of woollen manufactures from Ireland, and showed clearly that a very grave mis- take had been committed, which caused Lord Grodolphin important to declare, " that they were convinced all he said was true ; pf'LOT^" but they had the strong prejudice of the people to deal Gudolphin. with, who looked on the increase of the woollen manufac- ture in Ireland with so jealous an eye, that they would not listen to the most reasonable arguments in its favour ; and that they compelled the late King and his ministers to comply with their wishes against their own judgments. That nothing could change them but their own sufferings, which could not come so quickly as that he could expect to see the alteration. But whenever they shall feel the mischievous consequences of what they had so rashly done, he ventured to prophesy that they will attribute them to any causes, however improbable, rather than confess the necessity of admitting their brethren in Ireland into any share of their trade, and will try a thousand expedients before they will put into execution the natural, and there- fore the only one which can be effectual, and which France would give millions of money to prevent taking place." ' ' Although the English minister could not follow the advice of Sir Richard, they were sensible of its value, and the Queen presented him with 600Z. to defray the Tlie Queen expenses of his journey in obedience to her request. presents During his stay in London there were rumours that ^WL ' Hiinis's Life of Cox, p. 22. 512 EEIGN OF aUEEN ANNE. CHAP. XXXIII. Sounded as to his wish to be made Lord Chan- cellor. Reasons for his declining. Obeys the Queen's wish. Becomes Lord Chan- cellor of Ireland, July, 1703. A Parlia- ment, 1703. Compli- ment of Arch- bishop Vesey. Lord Chancellor Methuen was about to relinquish the Great Seal of Ireland, and Sir Eichard Cox was sounded as to his wishes to be made Lord Chancellor. Having a thorough knowledge of Irish aflFairs, he was not desirous of exchanging the safe haven of the Common Pleas Bench for the more profitable, but less secure, moorings of the Chancery. He lost his old patron, King William III., who had raised him from an humble station to high office, and whose personal knowledge of his integrity and devotion to his true interest had protected him from the rude attacks of party malignity. His ever zealous and watchful friend, Sir Robert Southwell, was also dead, and the consciousness that the station he then filled was the best for his quiet and ease, made him unwilling to ex- change it for an office which he might not retain for a year, through the violence of parties at both sides of the channel. As, however, the Queen was desirous Sir Richard should accept the custody of the Great Seal, when Mr. Methuen resigned the Lord Chancellorship of Ireland to become Ambassador to Portugal, he signified his desire to submit to the will of the Queen, and in July 1 703 he was nominated to this high dignity at the Privy Council of England. It was very gratifying to him that every Privy Councillor present, acquainted with Ireland, either having been employed in its government, or natives of the kingdom, or possessed of estates there, expressed their warm approval of the Queen's selection. On August 6th he was sworn into office, and on the 10th of that month writs issued for the assembling of a Parliament in Dublin.' Parliament met on December 24, 1703, and although we learn it was a very busy and critical session, and that various attempts were made to confound and expose the Chancellor to ridicule, yet he discharged himself so satis- factorily that Archbishop Vesey, who had sat long in that House, and was universally known to be a competent judge, said, ' That no person in his time guided the de- ' Harris's Life of Cox, p. 22. LIFE OF SIR EICHABD COX, LORD CHANCELLOR. 513 bates of that House with so much readiness, impartiality, p^^AP. and dignity as Sir Richard Cox.' -"1' , — '' The subjects dealt with in this session were principally dictated by animosity against Roman Catholics. The Lords had no sooner assembled, and the Lord Chancellor, as Speaker, taken his seat on the Woolsack, than the following entry was made in the Lords' Journal : — ' Ordered, on motion, that the Bill intituled " An Act to Anti- prevent Popish Priests from coming into this Kingdom," icgisUition. be read the first time.' The Lord Chancellor procured some salutary laws to be enacted. One for ' the Recovery of Small Debts in a sum- mary way.' This Act proved of great benefit to small traders. But No-Popery legislation occupied most of the time of the Irish Parliament. In a bill sent from England, the clause, called ' The Sacramental Test,' was inserted, Tho Sacra- providing ' that all persons having any office, civil or mili- "g™ '' tary (including corporate offices), shall be obliged to take the oaths, and to receive the sacrament, according to the usage of the Church of Ireland, and in default of so doing the office to be void, and whoever shall continue to act in such office, having neglected to qualify himself, shall incur the penalties imposed by the Test Act.' On this bill being brought before the Lords, on Feb- ruary 28, 1 /'OB, it was ordered, ' that Counsel appointed Ordered to attend at the bar of the house on the petition of l^!''" , ■*- Counsel Nicholas Lord Viscount Kingsland, Richard Lord Bellew, be heard. Colonel John Brown, Colonel Thomas Burke, Colonel Robert Nugent, Captain Arthur French^ and other Roman Catho- lics of Ireland, and persons comprised within the Articles of Limerick and Galway, be heard what they have to ofi"er against the Engrossed Bill sent up by the Commons, enti- tled, " An Act to prevent the further growth of Popery." ' ' The leai'ned Counsel were Sir Theobald Butler, Richard Malone, and Sir Stephen Rice ; the first two in their gowns, the third without a gown, as he appeared not for the petitioners in general, but for himself in his private ' Lords' Jour. Ir., toI. ii. p. 73. VOL. I. l^L .514 REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. CHAP. XXXIII. Argument of Sir Theobald Butler. Contends the Act is a breach of the . Articles of Limerick. capacity, as one of the aggrieved persons. It is to be observed tbat tbese Catholic lawyers were themselves * protected persons,' within the meaning of the Articles of Limerick; and that they were pleading on that day not only for their clients, but for themselves — for their own liberty to plead in court and to wear their gowns. It was a very remarkable scene ; and I insert here part of the argument of Sir Theobald Butler.' The speaker opens by quoting the Articles of Limerick ; he proceeds : — ' That since the said Articles were thus under the most solemu ties, and for such valuable considerations granted the petitioners, by nothing less than the General of the Army, the Lords Justices of the Kingdom, the King, Queen, and Parliament, the public faith of the nation was'therein concerned, obliged, bound, and engaged, as fully and firmly as was possible for one people to pledge faith to another ; that therefore this Parliament could not pass such a bill as that intituled "An Act to prevent the further growth of Popery," then before the House, into a law, without infringing those Articles, and a manifest breach of the public faith ; of which he hoped that House would be no less regardful and tender than their prede- cessors who made the Act for confirming those Articles had been. ' That if he proved that the passing that Act was such a manifest breach of those Articles, and consequently of the public faith, he hoped that honourable House would be very tender how they passed the said Bill before them into a law ; to the apparent prejudice of the petitioners and the hazard of bringing upon themselves and posterity such evils, reproach, and infamy, as the doing the like had brought upon other nations and people. ' Now, that the passing such a Bill as that then before the House to prevent the further growth of Popery will be a breach of those Articles, and consequently of the public faith, I prove (Said he) by the following argument : ' The argument then is, whatever shall be enacted to ■^t is fully reported in Plowden's Appendix and in Curry's Historical Eeviow. LIFE OF SIR KICHAED COX, LORD CHANCELLOR. 515 the prejudice or destroying of any obliga.tion, covenant, or CHAP. -Y-V'VTTT contract, in the most solemn manner, and for the most ; valuable consideration entered into, is a manifest violation and destruction of every such obligation, covenant, and contract : but the passing that Bill into a law -will evi- dently and absolutely destroy the Articles of Limerick and Galway, to all intents and purposes, and therefore the passing that Bill into a law will be such a breach of those Articles, and consequently of the public faith, plighted for performing those Articles; which remained to be proved. ' The major is proved, for that whatever destroys or violates any contract, or obligation, upon the most valu- able considerations, most solemnly made and entered into, destroys and violates 'the end of every such contract or obligation : but the end and design of those Articles was, that all those therein comprised, and every of their heirs, should hold, possess, and enjoy all and every of their estates of freehold and inheritance, and all their rights, titles, and interests, privileges, and immunities, which they and every of them held, enjoyed, or were rightfully entitled to, in the reign of King Charles the Second ; or at any time since, by the laws and statutes that were in force in the said reign in this realm : but that the design of this bill was to take away every such right, title, inte- rest, &c., from every father being a Papist, and to make the Popish father, who, by the Articles and laws aforesaid, had an undoubted right either to sell or otherwise at pleasure to dispose of his estate, at any time of his life, as he thought fit, only tenant for life : and consequently dis- abled from selling, or otherwise disposing thereof, after his son or other heir should become Protestant, though otherwise never so disobedient, profligate, or extravagant : ergo, this Act tends to the destroying the end for which those Articles were made, and consequently the breaking of the public faith, plighted for their performance, ' The minor is proved by the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 15th, 16th, and 17th clauses of the said Bill, all which 616 EEIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. CHAP, (said he) I shall consider and speak to, in the order as - -" ' , -' the)- are placed in the Bill. ' By the first of these clauses (which is the third of the Bill), I that am the Popish father, without committing any crime against the State, or the laws of the land (by which only I ought to be governed), or any other fault ; but merely for being of the religion of my forefathers, and that which, till of late years, was the ancient religion of these kingdoms, contrary to the express words of the Second Article of Limerick, and the public faith, plighted as aforesaid for their performance, am deprived of my inheritance, freehold, &c., and of ,all other advantages which by those Articles and the laws of the land I am entitled to enjoy, equally with every other of my fellow- subjects, whether Protestant or Popish. And though such my estate be even the purchase of my own hard labour and industry, yet I shall not (though my occasions be never so pressing) have liberty (after my eldest son or other heir becomes a Protestant) to sell, mortgage, or otherwise dispose of, or charge it for payment of my debts, or have leave out of my own estate to order por- tions for my other children ; or leave a legacy, though never so small, to my poor father or mother, or other poor relations ; but during my own life my estate shall be given to my son or other heir, being a Protestant, though never so undutiful, profligate, extravagant, or otherwise undeserving ; and I that am the purchasing father, shall become tenant for life only to my own purchase, inhe- ritance and freehold, which I purchased with my own money ; and such my son or other heir, by this Act, shall be at liberty to sell or otherwise at pleasure to dispose of my estate, the sweat of my brows, before my face ; and I that am the purchaser, shall not have liberty to raise one farthing upon the estate of my own purchase, either to pay my debts, or portion my daughters (if any I have), or make provisions for my other male children, though never so deserving and dutiful : but my estate, and the issues and profits of it, shall, before my face, be at the disposal LIFE OF SIE RICHARD COX, LORD CHANCELLOR. 617 of another, wlio cannot possibly know how to distinguish CHAP, between the dutiful and undutiful, deserving and unde- / _ j. serving. Is not this, gentlemen, a hard case? I be- seech you, gentlemen, to consider, whether you would not think it so, if the scale was changed, and the case your own, as it is like to be ours, if this Bill pass into a law. ' It is natural for the father to love the child : but we all know that children are but too apt and subject, without any such liberty as that Bill gives, to slight and neglect their duty to their parents ; and surely such an Act as this will not be an instrument of restraint, but rather encourage them more to it. ' It is but too common with the son who has a prospect of an estate, when once he arrives at the age of one-and- twenty, to think the old father too long in the way be- tween him and it; and how much more will he be subject to it, when by this Act he shall have liberty, before he comes to that age, to compel and force my estate from me, without asking my leave, or being liable to account with me for it, or out of his share thereof, to a moiety of the debts, portions, or other incumbrances, with which the estate might have been charged, before the passing this Act. ' Is not this against the laws of God and man ; against the rules of reason and justice, by which all men ought to be governed ? Is not this the only way in the world to make children become nndutiful, and to bring the gray head of the parent to the grave with grief and tears ? ' Having concluded his argument against the clauses affecting Catholics, Sir Theobald Butler directed the at- tention of the House to the evils which the Bill imposed upon Protestant Dissenters. ' The 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th clauses of this Th,. Bin Bill relate to offices and employments which the Papists Ji™'^",^)';';;^^ of Ireland cannot hope for enjoyment of, otherwise than .m Pm- by grace and favour extraordinary: and, therefore, do ofg^^ontcrs not so much affect them as the Protestant Dissenters, 518 REIGN OF aUEEN ANNE. CHAP, -who (if this Bill pass into a law) are equally with the • , — 1- Papists deprived of bearing any office, civil or military, tn^knTJ' ^i^ Life of Cox, Ware, vol. ii. p. 250. ^ Ibid. p. 251. VOL. I. MM 530 EEIGK OF QUEEN ANNE. CHAP. XXXIII. Kingsland V. BamwaU, in the English House of Lords. Domestic and social character. Dies at his country- seat, 1733. for the Court of Chancery than those of Common Law ; for as reason is the root of all law, he considered the Equity jurisdiction more consonant with reason than the proceedings in the Law Courts, which he regarded as fet- tered by precedents and rules of pleading.' His decisions in Chancery were usually affirmed on appeal, the best proof of their soundness. Mr. Harris, alluding to the respect paid to the Chancellor's judgments, says : — ' In the great cause between Lady Kingsland and Mr. Barn- well, he gave judgment for the defendant. The lady upon her appeal was supported and favoured by the Minister and the greatest influence in England, yet, after a long hearing, his decree was confirmed unanimously in the fullest House that had been known on such an occasion, to the great honour of the Lords and the Chancellor, the pleasure of his friends, and the mortification of his ene- mies, who descended so low as to solicit against his decrees, not sparing to hurt his credit and reputation at the expense of the innocent suitors.' ^ Sir Richard Cox was most exemplary in the various relations of life, as husband, father, master, friend. He was also an admir- able raconteur, telling anecdotes with great humour, and esteemed a pleasant companion. In the retirement of the country and the society of his family, he reached the ripe age of fourscore and three years. He died May 3, 1733, leaving a son who inherited the baronetcy as Sir Eichard Cox, one daughter, and several grand-children. ' The course of legislation and codification now in progress tends to efface any distinction between the systems of Law and Equity. Vide tlie able address of Lord Westbury at the Anniversary Meeting of the Juridical Society, London, March 30, 1870. ' Harris's Life of Cox, Ware, vol. ii. p. 251. LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOE FEEEMAK. 531 • CHAPTEE XXXIV. LIFE OP LOED CHANCELLOR FEEEMAN. It is seldom, indeed, that the life of a mere lawyer who CHAP, has never been much of a politician, whose years were . ^ passed in the practice of his profession, has much general ^^^^^ °^ interest. Unlike those who have won renown in science, lawyers, literature, or art, who have distinguished themselves as statesmen, or as warriors, they pass the even tenor of their lives without achieving any lasting fame. The monotonous and almost mechanical routine of Court practice, occupying them during the sittings of the Courts, and all they can expect to win, is the constant repetition of their argu- ments in the Law or Equity Reports, and the fortunes they acquire by professional labours. But it is not without value to know what manner of Birth of man an eminent lawyer, such as Richard Feeeman was. pieeman. There is something in the life of every one to instruct by example. We learn what to follow or avoid, what to imitate or to shun, and in proportion as he influenced others, is it important to us. \ Richard Freeman was born about the year 1646, and received an excellent education. He was a devoted law- student, and took great pains in preparing himself for his legal career. Having completed his legal studies, he was called to the Called tx) Bar of the Middle Temple, and soon was known in West- minster Hall. The precise time of his beginning to prac- tise I have not been able to ascertain, but his reports LawEe- commence in Michaelmas Term 1670, and show a con- 1670.' siderable familiarity with the practice of the Courts. It was not the habit of barristers at this date to confine themselves to the branches of Law and Equity which M M 2 532; EEIGN OF aUEEN ANNE. CHAP. xxxiy. Obtains the friend- ship of Lord Somers. Eeeom- mended for Chan- cellor. Mistake as to date of his ap- pointment. Chief Baron of the Ex- chequer in Ireland. Maladmi- nistration of the revenues of the King's Inns. sprang up later. In the preface to the first edition of Freeman's Eeports, the editor remarks, ' These cases in Law and Equity were collected by Eichard Freeman, heretofore of the Middle Temple, Esq., during the course of his practice of those two laudable and praiseworthy branches of the profession in Westminster Hall. That his merit, industry and genius were great, singular and conspicuous, will not, nay, cannot be denied, especially when it shall be known that his eminent qualities and rare talents introduced him to the friendship and esteem of that truly noble, virtuous, and learned lawyer, states- man, and Privy Councillor the late John Lord Somers, who, in the year 1706, had so high an opinion and just judgment of Mr. Freeman's integrity and abilities as to recommend him to the important office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland, then vacant, at which post he was deservedly placed by his sovereign.' ' The writer of these laudatory remarks is not correct in point of date. The office vacant on the Irish Judicial Bench in 1706, was not that of Lord Chancellor, but Chief Baron of the Exchequer, to which no doubt Mr. Freeman was appointed, mainly by the recommendation of Lord Somers. That great judge was well aware of the industry and legal knowledge of the learned reporter, whose pub- lished notes have been often favourably mentioned from the Bench.'' On the death of Chief Baron Donnellan in 1706, Richard Freeman was appointed in his place Chief Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland.* Duhigg, in his History of the King's Inns, makes sad complaint of the way that Institution was then managed, which he attributes to the maladministration of the Chan- ' Vide Freeman's Eeports, Preface to first edition. 2 The Solicitor-General Mitford, afterwards Lord Eedesdale, and Lord Chancellor of Ireland, remarked that Mr. Freeman's notes, though of not much reputation, -were better than they are supposed to be, that the character they had arose from their being stolen by a servant, and published without the privity of the family. The Lord Chancellor, Lord Loughborough, said, ' They were generally very good,' and Lord Mansfield also mentioned them favourably. 3, Vesey, Jun. p. 580. "Vide also Eex v. Gauge, Cowper's Eep. p. 15. ' Patent dated August 3, 1706, 3 Anne !•, pars d, E. 60. LIFE OF LOED CHANCELLOE FEEEMAN. 533 cellor Sir Eichard Cox. The Steward was displaced, and -CHAP. a minion of the Chancellor's fixed in his room. There ■ , J, were arrears enforced to make funds. Cost Comnnons traces back as far as 1690. Duhigg writes in very unmeasured language : ' What prudent man would not prefer the pay- ment of ten or twelve pounds, rather than encounter the licensed slander of a protected defendant, or the relentless fury of a ruffian armed with ministerial power, and by no means scrupulous in the exercise of it?' Chief Baron Freeman did not preside very long on the Exchequer Bench. The Ministry of Churchill, Godolphin, and Lord Somers caused changes in Ireland. The removal of Sir SirRich- Eichard Cox from the office of Chancellor having been removed decided on. Chief Baron Freeman was selected to supply 5^°" t^^e Court of his place, and the patent for his appointment bears date Chancery, June 80, 1707.' ^j^;^^ A curious order was made in the Irish House of Lords, Freeman August 28, 1710. Ordered on motion 'that for the future, jifj"^" ^ ' in all cases of Appeal, neither the appellant or respondent freshment do provide either meat or drink for the Lords.' Appeals. Among the laws which were enacted while Freeman was Chancellor were some affecting the trade and manu- facture of Ireland. The linen trade was one of the staple manufactures of the country, and zealously guarded by Acts of Parliament. Appeals were allowed in case of murder, notwithstanding the Statute of 10th Henry VII. whereby murder was made high treason.^ Some personal indignity was offered to the Lord Chan- Affront to ' cellor while acting as Speaker of the House of Lords in chan-°'^ Ireland, by a person named Luke Byrne, on August 21 , coiior, 1710. The House resolved to take notice of it, and on the the Lords. following day, Wednesday, it was ordered on motion that the Sergeant-at-Arms attending this House do forthwith take into his custody the body of Luke Byrne, for a con- tempt by him committed against this House in affronting ' 6 Anne I', pars f, B. 24. • "Lords' Jour. Ir. vol. ii. p. 360. 534 EEIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. CHAP. XXXIV. Culprit re- primanded and dis- charged. Eeform in the King's Inns. Chancellor deranged. the person of the Speaker of this House yesterday ; and him, so taken, to bring to the Bar of this House.' Luke Byrne was accordingly taken into custody, and not wishing to appear in contempt, presented a petition to the Lords. The petition being read, the culprit was brought into the House, and on his knees, reprimanded at the Bar. Thereon he was ordered to be discharged, first paying the fees due to the several officers attending the House. While Freeman was Lord Chancellor, the state of the revenue of the King's Inns was much more carefully looked after than it had been previously. A committee was appointed to take the steward's accounts from his accession to the office, and to report to the society how they find the same at their meetings. This was in 1707. The next important reference we find in connection with the Lord Chancellor was a rule of the King's Inns, dated June 16, 1710, 'that every barrister, six-clerk, or attorney, admitted to practice, be obliged previously to give bonds in twenty pounds, with sufficient sureties to the treasurer for the time being, to perform and observe the rules, orders, and directions of the society.' ' This,' observes Duhigg,' ' closed that Lord Chancellor's connexion with the King's Inns Society and Irish Govern- ment.' It is noticeable that in Queen Anne's reign, for the first time, the word Bencher appears. To the grief of his friends, and he had many, the vigorous intellect which had distinguished the Chancellor suddenly broke down, and one of the saddest afflictions that can befall sufi'ering humanity, the loss of reason, over- whelmed him. He was obliged to give up that exertion which had been the delight of his life, and relieved the most abstruse legal problem from the appearance of a task — the practice of the law. The account of his illness soon spread, and Sir Richard Cox once more hoped to receive 1 Lords' Jour. Ir. vol. ii. p. 353. ' History of the King's Inns, p. 262. LIFE OP LOED CHANCELLOR FBEEMAN. 535 the Great Seal. The Lord Chancellor did not lone outlive CHAP. XXXIV his reason. He died on Noyember 20, 1710.^ ■-. — . :. Of course the Great Seal was at once put in Commission, ^ ^,^^710 and the Archbishop of Dublin, Robert Earl of Kildare, and Great Seal Thomas Keightlj were appointed Commissioners. Their migeion" patent was dated November 28, 1710, and signed by the Privy Council, and in a short time the Great Seal of Ireland was intrusted to Lord Chancellor Phipps. I regret Sir Con- not being able to present a fuller memoir of Lord Chan- pjuVps^ cellor Freeman ; a Chancellor whose early labours have appointed, been so beneficial to the profession in preserving the judicial determinations of causes heard before such shining lights as Vaughan, Sir Matthew Hale, Holt, and North. Lord Eedesdal, subsequently Lord Chancellor of Ireland, further perpetuated his name and fame by assuming in 1809 the' surname and arms of Freeman. ' Ware's Irish Writers by Harris, p. 226. 536 EEIGN OP aUEEN ANNE. CHAPTEE XXXV. CHAP. XXXV. The father of Sir Con- stantine Phipps. Inventor of the Diving Bell. Makes profitable use of it. His epi- taph. IIPE OF LOED CHANCELLOR SIR CONSTANTINE PHIPPS. The father of Sie Constantine Phipps, ancestor of the late Marquis of Normanby,' one of the most popular Irish Viceroys, was a distinguished naval officer eminently skilled in mathematics. He was the inventor of the diving-bell, which has done so much to recover treasure lost by shipwreck. It was but just the inventor should turn his discovery to profitable use, and this achievement is thus recorded on the tomb raised to his memory, in the church of St. Mary Woolnoth, London : — ■ Near this place is interred the body Of Sir William Phipps, Knt., who in the year 1687, by his great industry, discovered among The rocks, near the banks of Bahama on The north side of Hispaniola, a Spanish plate Ship, which had been under water 44 Years, out of which he took in gold and Silver to the value of three hundred Thousand pounds sterling, and with a Fidelity equal to his conduct, brought it All to London where it was divided Between himself and the rest of the adventurers ; for Which great service he was knighted by his Then Majesty K. James II. and afterwards By the command of his present Majesty, And at the request of the principal inhabitants Of New England, he accepted the government Of the Massachusetts, in which he continued to The time of his death ; and discharged his trusts With that zeal for the interest of his country, And with so little regard to his own private advantage. That he justly gained the good esteem and affection Of the greatest and best part of the inhabitants of that Colony. He died 18th February, 1694; And his Lady, to perpetuate his memory, Hath caused this monument to be erected. ' Lodge's Peerage of Ireland, vol. vii. p. LIFE OF SIR CONSTANTINE PHIPPS, LORD CHAKCELLOR. 537- From this iust srovernor and distinguislied man the CHAP. XXXV noble line of Phippa has descended, but it is of his son ^__, — L. Constantine it is my province to write. He was born while his father 'was distinguishing himself Birth of — sustaining the British flag upon the waves — about the ^j° "^ '^^' year 1650, and, devoting himself to the study of the law, Pbipps. was in due time admitted to its practice. The name of Constantine Phipps appears in the books of the Inner Temple in 1682. He was always industrious, and, though partial to the amusements of young men in his position' — yachting, rowing, fishing, and riding — ■ he did not neglect to store his mind with legal lore. He was very well prepared when he commenced to prac- tise his profession, for he acted on the maxim, ' he who His pro- is not a good lawyer before he comes to the bar, will reputation. never be a good one after it.' Though he preferred the Equity business, and was a very good Chancery lawyer, he by no means declined the work of nisi prius, and in the King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer Mr. Phipps was not unknown. He had powerful friends, and when a barrister shows such talents as secures him abundance of briefs, and his reputation as a lawyer is well established, and he is a useful member of Parliament, politicians pro- phesy his rise, and the Ministers are sure to fulfil the prediction. Mr. Phipps acquired a very distinguished position during Queen Anne's reign. In 1709, he, being then knighted, was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and was shortly Lord Chan- sworn in Lord Justice. An entry in the King's Inn Roll ?''",'"^ °^ __ ■' ° Ireland, recites' — 'Termino Hilarii, 1710, Memorandum quod Ex- a.d 1709. ceHentissimus Constantinus Phipps, miles unus Domino- rum Justiciariorum hujus regni Hiberniae, et Dominus Cancellarius ejusdem regni, ad humilem petitionem justi- ciariorum et aliorum jurisperitorum hujus societatis, dig- natur de inter socios hujus hospitii connumerari.' The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was Thomas Earl of ^arl of Wharton, Lord Lieu- ' Duhigg's King's Inns, p. 263. tenant 538 EEIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. CHAP. XXXV. His cha raeter. Removes the Solir ci tor- General. Privy Council of Ireland. Wharton, a man, according to the account in Dean Swift's works, -who was infamous in his life, conversa- tion, and actions. Some notice of one who governed this kingdom while Sir Constantino Phipps was Chancellor will serve to display the conduct of men in power in those days. Thomas Earl of Wharton, Lord liieutenant of Ireland, by the force of an excellent constitution defied the effects of vice, either on body or mind. His character was the opposite of what that of a man in authority ought to be, and the instances of his want of truth and sincerity, recorded by Swift, would amuse if they did not dis- gust. Numerous instances of defrauding the public by peculation are recounted, of which the following is a specimen :' — ' That his Excellency can descend to small gains, take this instance : there was 850Z. ordered by her Majesty to buy new liveries for the State trumpeters, messengers, &c., but with great industry he got them made cheaper by 2001., which he saved out of that sum ; and it is reported that the steward got a handsome consideration besides from the undertaker. The Lord Lieutenant has no power to remove or appoint a Solicitor-General without the Queen's letter, it being one of the appointments excepted put of his Commission, yet, because Sir Richard Levinge disobliged him by voting according to his opinion, he removed him, and put in Mr. E , though he had no Queen's letter for so doing, only a letter from Mr. Secretary Boyle, that her Majesty designed to remove him.' The Privy Council in Ireland have a great share in the administration, all things being carried on by the consent of the majority, and they sign all orders and proclama- tions there as well as the Chief Governor. But his Ex- cellency disliked so great a share of power in any one but himself, and, when matters were debated in Council other- wise than he approved, he would stop them and say, ' Swift's Character of Thomas Earl of Wharton, in Swift's Works, Hawkes- worth's Edition, vol. iii. p. 387. LIFE OF SIE CONSTANTINE PHIPPS, LORD CHANCELLOE. 539 ' Come, my Lords, I see how your opinions are, and there- CHAP. fore I will take your votes,' and so he would put an end to . ,! — L- the dispute. One of his chief favourites was a scandalous clergyman. Unworthy a constant companion of his pleasures, who appeared pub- of t°he^ ^ licly with his Excellency, but never in his habit. His Viceroy. Excellency presented' this divine to one of the Bishops with the following recommendation : ' My Lord, M is a very honest fellow, and has no fault but that he is a little too immoral.' He made this man chaplain to his regiment, though he had been so infamous that a Bishop in England refused to admit him to a living he had been presented to, till the patron forced him to it by law. His Excellency recommended the Earl of I to be one of the Lords Justices in his absence, and was much mortified when he found Lieutenant-General Ingoldsby appointed, without any regard to his recommendation, particularly, because the usual salary of a Lord Justice in the Lord Lieutenant's absence is lOOZ. per month, and he had bargained with the Earl for 40?. Salary of These specimens of the Lord Lieutenant's character j^gtiee. must show how ill-suited he was to govern any country, more especially one torn by recent civU war and crushed by partial legislation, as Ireland then was. After a short and mischievous sojourn of little more than two years. Lord Wharton was removed, and James Butler, second Lord Duke of Ormond, again found himself in Dublin Castle, succeeded intrusted in the Queen's name with the chief place in the ^y Duke of Ormond. Government of Ireland. While party-spirit was prevailing in the country, and The Chan- the Lord Chancellor doing his utmost to allay those bitter ^eavours feelingrs from which one of the fairest kingdoms of the t" reform earth has ever been the victim, he devoted himself with his Court, the utmost diligence to his duties as a judge. He found, indeed, plenty to occupy his time, and endeavoured to correct some of the abuses of that Court, which he con- sidered led to unnecessary expense. He also intimated a 40 EEIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. CHAP. ^ wish to shorten the process by discouraging repetitions, . , — '- and refusing costs of motions, exceptions, and pleadings which were prolix or irrelevant. Any alarm which these innovations upon the old system may have excited were speedily allayed by the Chancellor becoming hateful to the dominant party in Ireland, which shortly deprived him of his place. Chancellor Among other reforms which Sir Constantine Phipps abolish tried to establish, was the abolition of the ceremony of proces- walking in procession round the statue of King William III. in College Green. Prom the time of its erection in 1701, the anniversary of liTovember 4, 1690 (day of King William's landing in England), had been a day of very natural rejoicing to those who, by the success of his campaign, had become ascen- dants in Church and State. They had the monopoly of every appointment in both kingdoms, and were not likely to allow the Roman Catholic population to forget their How the inferior position. The practice hitherto had been to hoist anniver- the British flag on Bermingham tower, to fire cannon from Ari'Uiam the guns in the park, which were responded to by volleys was kept from the different barracks of Dublin, and a regiment pa- raded in College Green. Then all the bells of the churches were kept ringing, and at noon the Lord Lieutenant held a levee at the Castle, from whence, at 3 p.m., a pro- cession issued forth, composed of the Viceroy, Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, Aldermen, the Lord Chancellor, Judges, Provost of Trinity College, and other civil and military dignitaries, with those nobility and gentry who attended the levee, and all marched between lines of troops along Dame Street and College Green, to Stephen's Green. Having made the circuit of Stephen's Green, they returned, and as they reached the statue in College Green, made three rounds, after which the troops fired three volleys. Chan- As these annual displays provoked animosity between Justice ""^ Catholics and Protestants, and were often attended with refuses tumult. Sir Constantine, while Lord Justice, during the reign of Queen Anne, hoped to put an end to them by LIFE OF SIR CONSTANTINE PHIPPS, LORD CHANCELLOR. 641 refusing to join the procession. But the spirit of the CHAP. ascendancy party was too strong to suffer this opportunity v_ , !- of showing its strength to collapse so quickly. William Aldrich, then High Sheriff, a violent partisan, took the High head of the procession, and, leaving the Lord Justice ^^^^^ i^^ alone in his glory, had the honour of being the chief actor lea^- in the annual show.^ The Jacobite party often offered indignities to this Indignities unhappy statue. On the night of Sunday, June 25, 1710, statue, the King's face was plastered with mud, and his Majesty deprived of his sword and truncheon. The next day there was a great commotion, and the House of Lords resolved, 'That the Lord Chancellor, as Speaker, do, as from this House, forthwith attend his Excellency, and acquaint him that the Lords, being informed that great indignities were offered last night to the statue of his late Majesty King Resolution William of glorious memory, erected on College Green, to Lords, show the grateful sense this whole kingdom, and particu- larly the city of Dublin, have of the great blessings accomplished for them by that glorious Prince, have made this unanimous resolution, that all persons concerned in that barbarous fact are guilty of the greatest insolence, baseness, and ingratitude, and desire his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant may issue a proclamation to discover the authors of this villany, with a reward to the discoverer, that they may be prosecuted and punished accordingly.' The Chancellor, having communicated as directed, the Chancellor Lord Lieutenant issued a Proclamation, and offered a L^o^ds' * reward of one hundred pounds for the discovery of the offenders. It was afterwards found that three young men, students of Trinity College, were the perpetrators — that it was done in a frolic. The consequences were serious. The The students were expelled from the University, sentenced on exp'S'led November 18, 1710, to sis months' imprisonment, to a Trinity fine of 1001. each, which was however reduced to five shillings.^ ' Gilbert's History of Dublin, vol. iii. p. 42. 2 Ibid. p. 44. 542 EEIGIT OF QUEEN ANNE. CHAP. XXXV. Intimacy of Lord Chancellor Phipps. with lite- rary men. Letter to Dt-an Swift. Sir Constantine was evidently a person of refined tastes, and much esteemed by literary men. Tliomas Prior the poet, who was constantly employed by the English Govern- ment in negotiations with the Continent, for which pur- pose his knowledge of foreign languages especially qualified him, writing to Dean Swift, then in Dublin, from Paris, August 1713, says, ' Pray give my service to your Chan- cellor,' and in the twelve volumes of the Works of the Dean of St. Patrick,' are several letters from the Chancellor to Dean Swift. Prom these it appears that Swift, who was on very in- timate terms with the influential men of the time, was endeavourkig to promote the interest of the son of the Lord Chancellor. Whatever was the situation which Dean Swift endeavoured to secure for Mr. Phipps there was some delay in securing the appointment. The Chancellor again wrote : — ' Dublin, October 24, 1713. ' Dear Sir, — I am indebted to you for your kind letters of the eighth and tenth instant, and I very heartily acknowledge the obligation. That of the eighth gave me a great many melancholy thoughts, when I reflected upon the danger our Constitution is in, by the neglect and supineness of onr friends, and the vigilance and unanimity of our enemies ; but I hope your Parliament proving so good, will awaken our friends, and unite them more firmly, and make them more active. ' That part of your letter of the tenth, which related to my son, gave me a great satisfaction, for though your Commissioners here have heard nothing of it, yet I believed Mr. Keightly might bring over full instructions in it, but he is arrived and knows nothing of it, so that whatever good intentions my Lord Treasurer ' had in relation to my son, his Lordship has forgotten to give any directions concerning him ; for, with him, things are just as they were before you left Dublin. If you will be so ' Hawkeswortli's Edition. ' Earl of Oxford. LIFE OF SIR CONSTANTINE PHIPPS, LOED CHANCELLOR. 543 kind to put Ms LordsMp in mind of it, you will be very CHAP, obliging. ■ ^^^^- - ' I cannot discharge the part of a friend, if I omit to let you know tbat your great neighbour at St. Pulcher's * is very angry with you. He accuseth you of going away without taking your leave of him, and intends in a little time to compel you to reside at your deanery. He lays some other things to your charge which you shall know in a little time. 'We hourly expect my Lord Lieutenant.^ The Whigs begin to be sensible they must expect no great counten- ance from him, and begin to be a little down in the mouth since they find Broderick ^ is not to be their Speaker. ' I am, with very great truth, ' Tour most obedient servant, 'Con. Phipps.' The Irish House of Commons took active steps for the Resolution removal of Sir Constantine Phipps from the Chancellor- House of ship. On December 18, 1713, it was resolved 'That the Commons Lord Chancellor, having represented Edward Lloyd, news Lord Chan- writer, who had printed proposals for publishing "Memoirs ''^^^°^' of the Chevalier de St. George," a traitorous work, as an object of her Majesty's mercy, and as not having any evil design in publishing the said libel, in order to obtain a nolle prosequi on the indictment against him, acted therein contrary to the Protestant interests of the kingdom. ' Eesolved — That it appears to this House that the said Sir Constantine Phipps, Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, in a speech by him made on the 16th day of January, 1712, to the Maj^or and Aldermen of the city of Dublin, being then one of the Lords Justices of Ireland, did take upon him, by declaring his opinion, to prejudge the merits of the cause then depending between her Majesty and Dudley Moore, Esq., and thereby influence the Aldermen, some of • Dr. King, Archbishop of Dublin. 2 Duke of Shrewsbury. ' Afterwards Lord Chancellor Lord Midleton. He was elected Speaker. 544 EEIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. CHAP, wliom are constantly returned as inrors in all causes of XXXV • -_^, ,"^ importance in tliat city. Address to ' Eesolved — That an humble address be presented to to remove ^^^ Majesty, humbly to beseech her Majesty to remove the him. Eight Honourable Sir Constantine Phipps, Knight, Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, from his place of Lord High Chancellor of this kingdom, for the peace and safety of her Protestant subjects of this kingdom.' An address embodying these resolutions was addressed to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, and on December 21, 1717, Mr. Brodrick the Speaker, with several Knights, Citizens and Burgesses, waited on the Lord Lieutenant at the Castle, with their address, who promised to transmit it by the first opportunity. Cause of The efforts of the Lord Chancellor to promote the wel- the Lord ° ^^^® *^^ ^^^ ^^^ Majesty's subjects in Ireland, and not the Chun- violent Protestant party, was the cause of the complaints to which he was subjected by this portion of the people of Ireland, and it was most gratifying for him to find, that, while the representatives of the ascendancy party in the House of Commons refrained for a moment forging the fetters of the Penal Code wherewith to bind the Catholics, in order to concoct an address to the Queen, praying for He is sup- his removal, the Peers, Spiritual and Temporal, were pre- thrHouse renting an address of directly the opposite tendency. of Lords. Some notion may be conceived of the expressions used towards this high of&cial, at the time when he was Lord Justice, by the lower orders of the populace of Dublin, from the evidence given before the Lords on December 18, 1713, when it was proved that one Eichard Nuttal said, Slanderous ' That the Lord Chancellor was a canary bird, a villain, Tgainstthe and had set this country by the ears, and ought to be LordChan- hanged.' Their Lordships directed the Attorney-General Attorney- to prosecute ISTuttal for speaking these words.' OTdered\o '^^^ Peers, Spiritual and Temporal, united in their efforts prosecute, to disconcert the enemies of the Lord Chancellor. Their ' Lord's Jour. Ir. vol. ii. p. 437. LIFE OF SIR CONSTANTmE PHIPPS, LOED CHANCELLOR. 645 address shows the lengths party spirit went to procure his CHAP. recaU:— JE^ ' Most gracious Sovereign, ' We, yovir Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, Lords the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament as- the Quenn semhled, having taken into our serious consideration the °° behulf calumnies and reproaches which have been cast upon Sir chan- Constantine Phipps, your Majesty's Lord High Chancellor ''^^°^'- of Ireland and Speaker of this House : And having this day had under our examination several groundless asper- sions thrown upon him by one Richard JSTuttall, whereby he was traduced, even whilst he was one of your Majesty's Lords Justices, as having been a promoter of all the dis- sensions which have lately happened in this kingdom, do think ourselves obliged, in justice to that excellent Mi- nister, in all humility to represent unto your Majesty that we do not find, but that, in the several eminent stations in which he hath served your Majesty since his coming into this country, he hath acquitted himself with Honour and Integrity, as becomes a discerning and vigilant Governor ; an equal Administrator of Justice ; a true lover of the Church as by law established ; and a zealous assertor of the Prerogative, in opposition to a factious spirit which hath too much prevailed in this Nation. ' We, therefore, most humbly beseech joxiv Majesty that you will not suffer any evil report against him (if any such should reach your Majesty) to make an impression on your royal heart to his disfavour.' ' On enquiry into the case of Edward Lloyd, which was one of the grounds of complaint made by the House of Commons in their address, the facts as stated in the Lords' Eepresentation to the Queen, December 24, 1713, appear as follows : — That Lloyd did, in September 1712, publish a proposal Case of to print the ' Memoirs of the Chevalier de St. George,' and " °^ ' take in subscriptions for the same. When the Lords Justices and Council of Ireland were apprised of this, they ' Lords' Jour. Ir. vol. ii. p. 437. VOL. I. N ^ 546 EEIGK OF aUEEN ANNE. CHAP. XXXV. Kecom- mendation of the Law Officers. The Vice- roy directs the Lords Justices to stHy pro- ceedings. Lord Chan- cellor's speech to the Lord Mayor. seized his papers, and thus put a stop to the printing the book. They likewise ordered a prosecution, and a bill of in- dictment was found against him for treasonable and sedi- tious libel, whereon Lloyd retired into England. WhUe there, he petitioned the then Lord-Lieutenant, Duke of Ormond, setting forth he had no evil design in the publi- cation for which he was indicted, that his poverty ren- dered him an object of mercy, and that he had given evidence of his zeal in the Queen's service by discovering a most infamous libel against her Majesty, and that he would never offend again. The Duke of Ormond, havrug referred this Petition to the Lords Justices, their Lord- ships in Council referred it to the Law Officers, the Attor- ney and Solicitor-Generals. These officials reported ' that Lloyd, being no further criminal than by intending to print and publish the book, and being in very low circum- stances, he might be an object of her Majesty's mercy.' Whereupon not the Lord- Chancellor alone, but the Lords Justices in Council, wrote to the Duke of Ormond, on May 23, 1713, this result, and his Grace, by his reply, dated June 18, 1713, required the Lords Justices to stay further proceedings on the said indictment, which they did accordingly. The Lords also found, on perusing the speech, which, luckily for himself, the Lord Chancellor had put in writing before he spoke it to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen in Council, on January 16, 1712, that so far from its being contrary to the Protestant interest of this kingdom, it was quite conservative of it. Indeed, the following extracts show, that the Lord Chancellor was as desirous of denying the Eoman Catholics the free exercise of their religious ceremonies as Oliver CromweU himself. ' There is another thing which we recommend to you, which is, the preventing public mass being said, contrary to law, by priests not registered, or that will not take the Abjuration Oath; or are otherwise disabled from offici- ating. ' We have more than ordinary reason to press this, because we suffer by your neglect. The country, gene- LIFE OF SIR CONST ANTINE PHIPPS, LORD CHANCELLOR. 547 rally, make the city their pattern ; and, after your example CHAP. become negligent of their duty in this respect. For, .__, 1^ being asked why they permit public mass to be said, their answer is, " It is done in Dublin, and, as we are informed, by the approbation of the Government, for else it could not be done ; and why should we be more officious than others ? " ' There are very good laws made to prevent this ; and we have issued a Proclamation for the due execution of these laws, and have charged it in the most pressing terms we could." The attempt to remove the Lord Chancellor occasioned Contro- a great amount of antagonism in Ireland. It was not the^oita™ merely confined to the Parliament. The Commons, ad- oelior. dressing the Queen for his removal, the Lords that he might be retained in his office ; but clergy and laity shared in the matter. Swift, in writing to Dr. King, Archbishop of Dublin, states that the Addresses had been sent to the Queen : — 'London: December 31, 1713. ' My Lord, ' Your Grace's letter, which I received but last post. Letter to is of an earlier date to what have since amved. We have bishop received the address for removing the Chancellor, and the ^'"S ^''"^ ° I ■ T ^^- Swift. counter addresses from the Lords and Convocation ; and j^^(jj.esses you will know, before this reaches you, our sentiments of and counter them here. I am at a loss what to say on this whole affair. Our Court seems resolved to be very firm in their resolution about Ireland. I think it impossible for the two kingdoms to proceed long upon a different scheme of politics. The controversy with the city I am not master of : it took its rise before I ever concerned myself with the affairs of Ireland, further than to be an instrument of doing some service to the kingdom, for which I have been ill requited. But, my Lord, the question with us here is, whether there was a necessity that the other party should have a majority. * * * * ' Lords' Jour. Ir. vol. ii. p. 4-49. N N 2 548 EEIGN OP QUEEN ANNE. CHAP. XXXV. Letter from the Earl of Anglesey. Grand Jury of On'k ad- dress in favour of the Chan- cellor. ' The address for removing the Chancellor is grounded upon two facts ; in the former of which he was only con- cerned with others ; the criminal was poor, and penniless, and a noli prosequi was no illegal thing. As to Moore's business, the Chancellor's speech on that occasion hath been transmitted hither, and seems to clear him from the imputation of prejudging. Another thing we wonder at is, to find the Commons in their votes approve the sending for the Guards, by whom a man was killed. Such a thing would, they say, look monstrous in England.'' The Earl of Anglesey, when writing to Dr. Swift, shows how strong was the feeling of the Lords in favour of the Lord Chancellor : — 'DuWin, Jan. 16, 1713-14. ' Mr. Dean, ' You judged extremely right of me, that I should, with great pleasure, receive what you tell me, that my endeavours to serve her Majesty, in this kingdom, are agreeable to my Lord Treasurer and the rest of the Ministers. * * * * * «■ 'You are very kind, too, in your good offices for Mr. Phipps, because a mark of favour so seasonably as at this time conferred on the Lord Chancellor's son, will have a much greater influence, and reach farther than his Lord- ship's person. ****** ' I shall trouble you with no compliments, because I hope soon to tell you how much I am. Dear Sir, ' Yours, 'Anglesey.'^ The Lord Chancellor had active friends throughout the country. An Address of the High Sheriff, Justices of the Peace, Clergy, and Grand Jury of the County of Cork, was adopted at the Quarter Sessions held for that county at 1 Swift's Works, vol. xii. p. 23. '■^ William Phipps, Esq., the Lord Chancellor's only son, married Lady Catherine Anneslcy, only daughter and heiress of the Earl of Anglesey. LIFE OF SIE COUSTANTINE PHIPPS, LOED CHANCELLOR. 549 Bandon, July 12, 1713-14, and presented to Queen Anne CHAP. by Lord Bolingbroke. 'We cannot but witb grief and ^^^^^■. great concern take notice, that the unhappy and fatal dis- sensions which reigned and were fomented some years past, do yet continue in this kingdom, notwithstanding the indefatigable zeal and application of the Eight Honour- able Sir Constantine Phipps, Lord High Chancellor, and your other excellent Ministers, to the contrary. We can- not but join with great pleasure and satisfaction your Majesty's most loyal Lords in Parliament, and your faithful clergy in convocation assembled, in their dutiful and humble request to continue your Eoyal countenance and favours to that great Minister, whose impartial justice, consummate abilities, and unbiassed affection to the constitution in Church and State are equal to those great trusts in which your Majesty's unerring wisdom for the safety and honour of your Majesty's interests and the common good of your people has placed him.' ' As Parliament was prorogued to Monday, January 18, Parliampnt 1713, and further to August 10, 1714, and the Queen P^°™g»<>'i- died on August 1, whereby the Parliament was dissolved, I can find no trace of any proceedings upon these Ad- dresses. That the Lord Chancellor had not been removed from his office, or lost nothing of his dignity, may be inferred from the fact that, on the death of the Queen in Death of 1714,^ he, with the Archbishop of Armagh, were ap- Q™™ pointed Lords Justices of Ireland. Chaneellor He did not long retain office. On the accession of ^o^^. King George I., a change of Government took place, and Sir Constantine Phipps ceased to be Lord Chancellor. He returned to London, and resided in the Temple, but con- tinued to correspond with his friends in Ireland, and took an interest in Irish affairs. ' Smith's History of Cork, vol. ii. pp. 231, 232. ^ The number of Chancery decrees in Ireland enrolled during the reign of Queen Anne bear no proportion to the number pronounced. I could only dis- cover one hundred and three, but this ^7as far short of the decrees actually made. 550 EEIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. CHAP. XXXV. Effects of importing Chan- cellors. Phipps removed, 1714. Brodrick appointed. Ex-Ohan- cellor returns to tlie Eng- lish Ear. The constant practice of importing Chancellors from England was calculated to act prejudicially upon the enthusiasm of the legal profession in Ireland. For no amount of legal learning, of knowledge in the practice of the Courts in Ireland, constituted a claim to the highest ofELces in the law. The noblesse de la robe was aspired to by the highest families in this kingdom, and the Bar was always regarded as the profession of a gentleman. It was, therefore, a source of discontent that strangers to the country, practitioners of another land, were elevated over the heads of the most eminent Irish lawyers, draw- ing after them tribes of relations — sons, sons-in-law, nephews, or remote cousins, on whom they bestowed registrarships, clerkships, the offices of secretary, purse and train bearers, and other offices of which they had the patronage, to the prejudice of members of the Bar of Ireland. It was therefore very gratifying that, on the removal of Sir Constantino Phipps, in 1714, King George I. delivered the Great Seal of Ireland to Sir Alan Brodrick, whom he created Lord Midleton, The Ex-Chancellor, at this period, had no retiring pen- sion, and was of too active habits, and devoted to his profession, to spend his time listlessly or idly. Accord- ingly he resumed his station at the English Bar, and became a prime favourite with Jacobites and Tories.' His legal acquirements were of too high a class not to place him in the foremost rank of legal practitioners, and when he returned to Westminster Hall he had very lucra- tive business at the Bar. Duhigg states that ' Phipps seemed to consider official station as still encircling him, and violated professional decorum at the Bar of the House of Lords, for which that august assembly most justly gave the offender a public reprimand.' ^ But the historian of the King's Inns uses such strong language in reference to all whom he dislikes, that I am not disposed to place implicit reliance on all his statements. ' Duhigg's History of the King's Inns, p. 264. " Ibid. p. 265. LIFE OF SIR CONSTANTINE PHIPPS, LORD CHAKCELLOE. 551 Dean Swift undertook the advocacy of Irisli interests, CHAP. ■wMch, hitherto, had been completely subordinate to '- those of England. One extract from the pamphlet, ' Proposal for the Universal use of Irish Manufacture,' Swift's will serve as a proof of the advice he gave in this fo°thruse matter : — of Irish ' I could wish the Parliament had thought fit to have tures. suffered these regulations of Church matter, and enlarge- ment of the prerogative, until a more convenient time, because they did not appear very pressing, at least to the persons principally concerned ; and, instead of these great refinements in politics and divinity, had amused them- selves and their committees a little with the state of the nation. For example : what if the House of Commons had thought fit to make a resolution nemine contradicente against wearing any cloth or stuff in their families, which were not of the growth and manufacture of this kingdom ? What if they had extended it so far as utterly to exclude all silks, velvets, calicoes, and the whole lexicon of female fopperies, and declared that whoever acted otherwise should be deemed and reputed an enemy to the nation? What if they had sent up such a resolution to be agreed to by the House of Lords ; and by their own practice and encouragement spread the execution of it in their several counties ? What if we should agree to make burying in woollen a fashion as our neighbours have made it a law? What if the ladies would be content with Irish stuffs for the furniture of their houses, for gowns and petticoats, for themselves and their daughters? Upon the whole, and to crown all the rest, let a firm resolution be taken by Tnale and female never to appear with one single shred that comes from England ; and let all the people say Amen.' The appearance of this pamphlet, at a time when the Eage of Irish manufactures were depressed by the partiality evinced ^^^ ^°" to the trade of England, created immense excitement throughout Ireland. Dean Swift, who was at once re- garded as the writer, became the object of popular enthu- 552 EEIGN OF QUEEN ANNE. CHAP. XXXV. A prose- cution. Chief Justice Wliitshed. Arbitrary conduct of the Chief Jubtice. Jury find a special verdict. Swift seeks a Writ of Error. siasm. The Duke of Grafton, then Lord-Lieutenant, and the Government, were furious, and a prosecution of the printer was proposed. Whitshed, then Chief Justice of the King's Bench, was a willing tool for any arbitrarj- pro- ceedings. He was son of Thomas Whitshed, an eminent Irish barrister ; was appointed Solicitor-General in 1709, and Chief Justice of the King's Bench in 1714, The Judges of Ireland were dependent on the Government, for they held their offices during pleasure ; and Waters, the printer, having been brought to trial before the Chief Jus- tice upon an indictment, this high-handed, arbitrary Judge sent back the Jury nine times in order to coerce them to find the printer guilty. Peeling they were in the power of this Judge, they, at last, made a sort of compromise between their consciences and his inclination, and found a special verdict. The Duke of Grafton, then Lord-Lieutenant, upon mature advice, and instruction from England, in- structed the Attorney-General to enter a noli prosequi, and the affair was allowed to drop. Pending these pro- ceedings, and while the prosecution was hanging over the head of Waters, the printer. Swift applied to Sir Constan- tine Phipps to try and have a writ of error, as we find by the following reply from the Bx-Lord Chancellor of Ire- land : — Letter from Ex- Chancellor Phipps to Dean Swift. No "Writ of Error in criminal case ■without direction. 'Sir, 'Ormond Street: January 14, 1720-21. ' Having been a little indisposed, I went at Christmas into the country, which prevented me from sooner ac- knowledging the favour of your letter. As to Waters' case,' I was informed of it ; and the last term I spoke to Mr. Attorney-General ^ about it ; but he told me he could not grant a writ of error in a criminal case, without direction from the King; so that Waters is not like to have much relief from hence, and, therefore, I am glad to have some hopes it will drop in Ireland. I think the Chief Justice should have that regard to his own reputa- Dcan Swift's printer. - Sir Robert Raymond. LIFE OF SIE CONSTANTIKE PHIPPS, LOED CHANCELLOE. 553 tion to let it go off so ; for I believe the oldest man alive, chap. or any law book, cannot give any instance of sucb a pro- _' ceeding. I was informed who was aimed at by the prose- ^^? . . ° J r opinion of cution, wnich made me very zealons m it ; wbicb I sbaU the Chief be in everything wherein I can be serviceable to that "^'"^• gentleman, for whom no body has a greater esteem than ' Tour most humble and most obedient servant, ' Coiir. Phipps. ' To Dr. Swift.' Sir Constantine Phipps died at his residence in the Death of Middle Temple, on October 9, 1723. He left an only sL^""; son, William Phipps, who married Lady Catherine An- ^^"PP^' nesley, only daughter and heiress of James, fourth Earl of " ' Anglesey. The grandson of Sir Constantine Phipps, Lord His de- Chancellor of Ireland, was raised to the Peerage in 1767 ^'^™'™ *• as Baron Mulgrave, of New Eoss, county of Wexford. Henry Phipps became Viscount Normanby and Earl of Mulgrave in 1812; and Constantine Henry Phipps, the most popular Viceroy of Ireland from 1835 to 1839, was created Marquis of Normanby in 1838. He married the Honourable Maria Liddell, eldest daughter of Lord Eavens- worth, and, dying in 1863, was succeeded by his son George Augustus Constantine Phipps, now second Marquis of Normanby. His Lordship is a Privy Councillor, Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms ; had been Comptroller of her Majesty's Household, and Governor of Nova Scotia. His Lordship is married to Laura, daughter of the late Captain Eussell, E.N., and has several children. Dean Swift's opinion of Sir Constantine Phipps is thus Dean expressed in his vindication of the Lord Carteret, written ' ^g^^^. in 1780, after the death of the Ex-Chancellor. Eeferring mous to the persons of merit promoted, whUe Lord Carteret was sir'con-° Lord-Lieutenant, when mentioning Doctor Patrick De- stantine lany,' Swift says, 'This divine lies under some disadvan- ' Eeverend Patrick Delany, D.D., Dean of Down. He was married to Mary Granville, whose entertaining letters have been so ably edited by Lady VOL. I. 554 EEIGN OP QUEEN ANNE. CHAP, tasre ; havinsr in his youtli received many civilities from a > I L- certain person tlien in a very liigh station here, for which reason, I doubt not, the Doctor never drank his confusion since ; and what makes the matter desperate, it is now too late ; tmless our inquisitors will be content with drinking confusion to his memory. The aforesaid eminent person, who was a judge of all merit, except that of party, dis- tinguished the Doctor among other juniors in our Uni- versity for his learning, discretion, and good sense.' I have now traced the ' Lives of the Lord Chancellors of Ireland ' from the days of the Plantagenets to the Georgian era. Their political position, constantly dis- charging the duties of Viceroy, accounts for the introduc- tion of matters which, otherwise, would be foreign to this work ; though often imdesirable, it was unavoidable. The baneful effects of party and religious animosity upon the welfare of a country has been exposed, and repeated en- deavours to decry and depreciate the characters of men holding judicial positions, censured. Happier times are before me for my concluding volume : — the glorious Irish Revolution of 1782, showing what may be achieved by Irishmen abandoning their sectarian and political differ- ences, and remembering their common country ; then the short-lived prosperity of the kingdom, checked by the disastrous events which closed the last century. The Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland was carried chiefly through the instrumentality of an Irish Lord Chancellor, who supported, with the might of his powerful intellect, a measure which destroyed the Parlia- ment of his native land. He thereby expected to obtain a wider sphere for his insatiable ambition, but ended his career in discomfiture, defeat, and early death. Then I Llanover. He built the commodious house of Del-nlle, near Dublin, and laid out the grounds with much taste. This place Swift caricatured in one of his satires. It is now occupied by the accomplished P. J. Keenan, Esq., M.E.I.A. LIFE OF SIE CONSTANTINE PHIPPS, LOED CHANCELLOR. 555 behold Chancellors of high legal talents, great political chap. integrity, and personal worth — Eedesdale, Ponsonbt, xxxv. and SiE Anthony Haet ; and the professional reader will, I trust, be compensated for the contents of this volume, by their Lives ; while the Patriot, the Statesman, and the accomplished Equity Judge were combined in the person of the illustrious Irish Chancellor, Lord Plunket. END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. LOJTDON : PBINTED BT SPOXTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STEKET SQUARE AND PABLIAMENI SXEEET 39 I'ArEii.NOSTEfl Row, E.G. LoNEON : January 1870. GENERAL LIST OF WOEKS PTTEIJCSHia) BY Messrs. LOIG-MiJS, &EEEI, REAiDER, ajid BTEE. 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