Columbia (Mnititm'tp tntl)eCitpofiJmg0rk THE LIBRARIES I '.-v '■ " :' \"« < 1 ; ' Vi.f 'tf*' ( AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY OF IRELAND^ FROM THE PERIOD OF THE ENGLISH INVASION TO THE PRESENT TIME. FROM AUTHENTIC DOCUMENTS. BY DENNIS TAAFFE. y'Qti L DUBLIN: PRINTED BY J. CHRISTIE^ 16, ROSS-LANE 1811. rn u I 4 « f^ INTRODUCTION. THOUGH the ancient History of Ireland, as comprising the period of her glory and indepen- dence, may be generally more flattering to the feelings of Irishmen, yet the period since the English invasion is more interesting and instruc- tive to the mixed race who now inhabit this island. The turbulence, the almost constant wars, the perpetual struggle between the inva- ders and the invaded, the one contending for power, the other for independence and property ; the massacres, confiscations, famine, and other cruel methods resorted to, are distressing to a feeling mind: but, narrated with impartiality and judgment, it will afford a most instructive lesson to statesmen and to people; teaching the remedy of present ills from the experience of the past ages. Governors may therein learn the im- policy and weakness of the former system of ruling Ireland, acknowledged by her ablest statesmen when debating on the Union; and the people may learn to mitigate the asperity of re- ligious prt^judice, on seeing that English and IV INTRODUCTION. Anglo-Irish catholics ^vorc poisoned with illihe- ral piTJudicc against ancient Irish catholics, and rioted in the licentiousness of oppression as madly and >vickedlj, if not more so, as English or Anglo-Irish protestants can be accused of. This is the proper office and the great end of history: it is then truly philosophy teaching by examples. Written in the spirit of conciliation and truth — 'tis the school of moral and political wisdom. 'Tis the more necessary in this age and country, as we arc still torn by religious and political animosities, inflamed, instead of being liealed, by the perusal of almost all the histories hitherto published. The sacred duty of the his- torian was basely transgressed, and truth was sacrificed to the spirit of party. The English and Anglo-Irish writers on Irish affairs, gene- rally brandished the pen of defamation with a mind no less hostile than that of the warrior -wielding the sword in battle: all was panegyric for one side, all satire for the other, dated from the first English libeller, Gyraldus Cambronsis, fhrough the whole pedigree of his successors. Campion, IMorrison, Cox, Burnett, Clarendon, Temple, IVIusgrave, &c. &c. To give one instance, a little ludicrous, of ihe extreme partiality of those writers to (heir own nation and colony, we shall quote Carn- pioi|. In a battle between the English and INTRODUCTION. V Irishj both Catholics^ in which the latter were worsted^ this chronicler gravely asserts^ that the sun stood still four hours^ to enable the conquering army to make a hearty slaughter of their vanquished fellow Catholics. By this continual havoc of national character, continued so many ages^ %y writers of different descriptions, the minds of many are so embittered, that truth dare not appear before them in a His- tory of Ireland, but as a lawyer goes to court. It must be armed with documents and evidences; it must be supported with critical ability, to un- ravel the tissue of falsehood, compiled, sometimes with ability, but always with malice: it requires the abilities of a pleader to detect and expose the false evidence of lying history, by cross-exami- nation and comparison, by chronological accu- racy and moral probabilities. Even thus sup- ported, with all requisite authorities and evi- dences, the number is small, who can so divest themselves of party prejudice, early imbibed and constantly inculcated, as to acknowledge its force. This was not the only obstacle his- torical truth had to encounter. Power, in the hands of guilty men, dreading its appearance, consigned numerous records to destruction, and made its publication dangerous: nevertheless, the historian must not desert his duty, however arduous or hazardous. When truth advocates VI INTRODUCTION. for a fallen people, once renowned for learnings sanclilv, and valour, it would be cowardice to abandon it from motives of personal interest or safety; wberc it lays open tlieir errors and their crimes, it must not be concealed from their pos- terity by any blind partiality. It is the right and the interest of th^)resent and future gene- rations, to receive nothing but the wholesome instructions of sacred truths from those who >vrite for them. This shall be inviolably adhered to^ with all possible care and caution, in the fol- lowing work. A faithful portrait shall be givea of the parties^ whether English or Irish, Protes- tant or Catholic; in so doing the liberal spirit of our Irish annalists shall be followed, who wrote in their jiative tongue of the transactions of the English and their Irish colonists with as great impartiality as if they were a neutral and friendly nation who had not inflicted a wound. It will not appear amiss to preface the narra- tive with a brief delineation of the state of Ire- land at the arrival of Strongbovv. Without this the reader will find it difficult to reconcile the ancient and modern history of Ireland. After reading the monuments of Irish valour, display- ed in tiieir noinestic and foreign wars^ he will be astonished at the facility with which a hand- ful of foreigners obtained such ample posses- sions, in spite of so brave a people; nor can he INTRODUCTION. Vil easily reconcile it with the lone: and obstinate wars afterwards maintained by the natives in their own defence. Before the arrival of the English the consti- tution of Ireland was annihilated; anarchy and insubordination succeeded to order and regular government^ and facilitated the subjugation of the country. We are not to suppose^ with some prejudiced writers, that the Irish were a barba- rous and uncivilized people, destitute of laws and regular government, because the English found them in a state of anarchy on their arrival. A constitution that lasted upwards of 3000 years, under which learning and religion flourished to that degree, that Ireland became the mart of literature, and merited the title of The Island of Saints, could not be entirely destitute of merit. It was at once the most ancient and the most simple; the most conformable to the laws of na- ture and the revealed law of God. The land was distributed among the clans, as among the tribes of Israel; the landed property among both na- tions was inalienable; and in each nation mea- sures were adopted to prevent any great inequa- lity of property from intermarriages or mort- gages. By the law of Moses, landed property reverted to the original owners at the fiftieth year^ or the year of jubilee. By the law of Ire- land, every chieftain, at his accession to power, mightj with the consent of the seniors of the Vlll INTRODUCTION. clan^ cause a survey to be made of the territory of the chin, and a fresh distribution thereof, if any great inequality was apparent. The authors of those laws wisely considered, that any consi- derable inequality of property would be sub- versive of liberty. The boasted constiftition of Great Britain is destitute of these salutary precautions and reme- dies, without which liberty, however obtained, cannot subsist long : her property is power. If the . property of a country be in the possession of a few thousand families, the power of the country is consequently in their hands, notwithstanding any popular forms of freedom that may subsist. The tributes, paid to the chieftains of clans, provincial kings and monarchs of Ireland, were very moderate, and unalterably fixed by the con- stitution. No monarch, king or chief, could at his pleasure, or by the vote of any body of men, levy a new tax, that was not marked in the con- stitutional laws of the country; nor can there be found a departure from this fundamental law of the Irish constitution, except in the single in- stance of the Boroimhe Laighean, or Leinster tribute, the exaction of which frequently occa- sioned bloody wars between the prince of Lein- ster and the monarch. The government was patriarchal ; that is to say, it was monarchy, partly hereditary, partly elective^ through all its gradations, from the INTRODUCTION. ix monarch to the chief of a clan'; as Justin de- scribes the original governments of mankind to have been. It was hereditary in some certain branch of a clan; but not in any one particular Jine^ descending from father to son^ as in the modern hereditary monarchies. It was^ by neccs- sily^. a free constitution; because a king or chief, >vho could not encroach upon the property of his subjects^ nor keep up a standing army, was utterly unable to enslave his people, who might w ith greater propriety be stiled his brethren than his subjects. There were no hereditary titles, as at present in Europe, for all were considered equally noble: the only distinction wa§ that of office and profession. Like the Hindoos, the ancient Persians and Egyptians, they were divi ded into seven casts; that is, warriors, druids, who professed both philosophy and religion, bards, lawyers, antiquarians, mechanics and tillers. The chief defect in this constitution consisted in the weakness of the supreme executive, and the excess of liberty which frequently degene- rated into anarchy and insubordination. In their jealous precautions against the encroachments of tyranny, and for the security of liberty, they did not sufficiently provide for the support of the monarchical government. Without distinguished abilities, virtue and valour, no monarch of Ire- land sat securely on his throne, nor always with VOL. I. B X INTRODUCTION. them^ so that few of the Irish monarchs died a peaceable death. To remedy these deficiencies in the constitution, some wise monarchs, favoured by circumstances, adopted some useful plans: the first was, the institution of the famous Mi- litia of Ireland, called Feine Erin, probably occasioned by a dread of the Roman power, composed of seven battalions, of 3000 select men each: the second was, the annexation of Meath, both east and west, to the crown, as an hereditary domain. The alienation of that do- main, by a monarch of the Hy-Niall race, was one of the greatest faults ever committed in poli- tics, which finally led to the overthrow of the monarchy and nation; for a king of Ireland, de- prived of that domain, was little better than an emperor of Germany without his hereditary states. The second cause of the downfall of the monarchy and the people, arose from the long and bloody wars between the Normans and the Milesians. For though the conquerors of Eng- land and France, after a warfare of two hundred years, were unable to subjugate Ireland; but, on the contrary, were utterly defeated, and irre- trievably overthrown,. by the victorious arms of the great Brien Boiroimhe; yet the long and bloody contest shook the machine of govern- ment, and enabled the conquered to break the feeble springs of a too weak executive. INTRODUCTION. xi The usurpation of a provincial king, Brien Boiroimhe, on the hereditary rights of the Hy- Niall race of kings, \vho commanded respect more from the veneration of the people to the antiquity of their race, and their personal vir- tues, than from revenue or a standing force, of which they had but a shadow, proved fatal. Other provincial kings followed the example, and the chieftains of clans thought themselves entitled to resist provincial kings, as they had resisted the monarch. Thus, though Roderic O'Connor be commonly considered the last monarch of Ireland, the monarchy may be fairly considered as extinguished by the usur- pation of that illustrious hero, Brien Boiroimhe. The south would not acknowledge a monarch of the northern race, and the north would not acknowledge a monarch of the southern race, so that an inexpiable war broke out, which ended in the ruin of the contending parties and of the nation. - Some time before the arrival of the English, Murchertach O'Neill, prince of Ulster, set up his claim to the monarchy. Endeavouring to limit the extravagant pretensions of subordinate chieftains to independence, but by means too harsh, and unsuitable to the turbulent temper of these anarchists, a formidable confederation of chieftains was formed against him secretly, m ho Xll INTRODUCTION. suddenly came upon him unawares, with an arnijr of seventy thousand men, headed by Roderic O'Ronnor, king of Connaught, demanding his surrender of the diadem. This brave but un- fortunate monarch scorned to parley; and, at the head of three thousand men of the Hy-Nial race and their followers, formed the magnani- mous resolution to dispute it with the sword against such mighty odds. Unfortunate in his plan of a night attack, in the execution of which his little army, divided into two parties, missed their way_, met, mistook, fought, and slaughtered each other miserably; the next day he died, fighting at the head of his men for the hereditary rights of his family, and with liim expired the greatest support of Ireland „ It sunk under the dominion of the same peo- ple, under a new name, whom it had success- fully combated during two hundred years, and finally expelled the country scarcely a century before. The catastrophe, though unexampled for con- tinuance and cruelty, is not without a parallel as to change of dominion among other nations renowned for science and valour. Greece, di- vided at home, was subdued by the Macedo- nians, and afterwards by the Romans. Egypt, subdued by the Persians, passed from them to the Greeks, afterwards to the Romans, thence INTRODUCTION. XIU to the Saracens, and lastly to the Turks. Spain, parUy subdued by the Carthaginians, entirely by the Romans, afterwards by the Goths, then by the Saracens, \^ horn after a long struggle she finally expelled. But the fate of Ireland was by far more lamentable than that of any of those ancient people; for other conquerors, even hea- thens, contented themselves with wresting a portion of land from the conquered countries. Rome, for example, took the one-seventh, and left the remainder to the ancient possessors : the Visigoths and Burgundians, on establishing themselves in Gaul, divided the land into three parts, two of which they took to themselves, leaving the third to the vanquished: Clovis, king of the Franks, used a similar policy to those whom he subdued; but those who sub- mitted by treaty and capitulation had not to share their lands with the Franks. But the invaders of Ireland were not satisfied with a part, they should have the whole. From the very commencement they doomed the ancient proprietors to extermination and plunder, fol- lowing in this the maxim of Gyraldus Cam- brensis, debilitcntur deleantur, i. e. let them be weakened and exterminated. Henry II. after confirming to each provincial king and chieftain the possession of their territories, honors, and rightSj immediately afterwards, w ithout the least XIV INTRODUCTION cause of complaint, bestowed three-fourths of Ireland on the adventurers. Besides the forementioned downfall of the monarchy, and the anarchy and interminable feuds which succeeded that fall, other cause* contributed to facilitate the reduction of the kingdom. The difference of arms; the supe- riority of the English, accustomed to continen- tal wars^ in planning and conducting a cam- paign; their knowledge in the construction of fortifications^ and carrying on sieges; the use of the cross-bow; their acquaintance with poli- tical intrigues, w hereby to inflame into mutual hostility a divided people, gave them advantages over a people brave but simple, accustomed to fight in the open plain, frequently appointing the place and day, as if to fight a duel; nor was the bull of Pope Adrian, bestowing Ire- land to his countryman Henry II. without its effect, on the minds and fortunes of a people extremely religious and submissive to ecclesiaS"* tical authority. AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY OF IRELAND. FROM THE PERIOD OF THE ENGLISH INVASION TO THE YEAR 1810. THOUGH the disordered state of Ireland, occasioned by tlie overthrow of the constitution and monarchy^ threatened sooner or later the downfall of the nation^ the catastrophe was ac- celerated, as usual, by proximate causes, beyond which the generality of mankind do not look. As the downfall of Troy was immediately occa- sioned by female lubricity, though without that cause it must have fallen under the dominion of the Greeks, so Ireland had its Helen, captivated not by a buxom youthful Paris, arbiter of ce- lestial beauty, but by an athletic grey-beard, Dermod Mac Morrough, king of Leinster. Ejervorguile, daughter of Mortough Mac Floinn, a prince of Meath, had been espoused against her inclinations to Teighernan O'Rourk^ prince of Brefney ( Leitrim ). This princess al- >vays cherished a secret partiality for Dermod, a son of Morrough, king of Leinster, who had paid her his addresses before her marriage. Pro- fiting of the absence of her husband on a pilgri- mage, she wrote to him by a special messenger^ 2 A\ I^rPAKTIAL HIPTORY requesting Iiim, in violation of conjugal fi(leli<3% to come and deliver her from conjugal engage- ments contracted with a husband whom she did not love. O'llourk, on his return, being apprised of the elopement of his spouse^ addressed himself to the monarchy demanding satisfaction for the affront put upon him and his family. O'Connor^ being an equitable prince, gave a favourable ear to the complaints of O'Rourk, ordered the forces of Con naught to assemble^ w ho^ joined by those of Brefnev, Orgiel (Louth), and Meath, en- tered Lcinster, to avenge the insult offered to the prince of Brefnej. 13ermod, aware of the march of the royal army, and the sentence of excommunication hurled against him by the clergy, called a meeting of the nobles of his kingdom, at Fearna (Ferns), in the county of Wexford, to deliberate on the means of averting the stornj that menaced him. His subjects, scan- dalised by the enormity of his crime, and dis- contented by the tyranny of his government, in- stead of supporting him in this critical, moment, renounced their allegiance, and put themselves under the protection of the monarch. In this plight, Dermod, abandoned by his own sub- jects, and too haughty to bend to circumstances, or make reparation for his sins, embraced the desperate and traitorous resolution of calling in a foreign power, and embarked for England. Hereupon the monarch, finding no enemies to combat, destroyed the castle of Ferns, whence he took the unfortunate Dervorguile^ whom he OF IFIELAND. 3 shut up in the mf)nastcry of St. Bridget, in the Co. Kildare; after which he dismissed his troops^ and' returned to the kingdom of Connaught. The haughty Dermod, in a manner obliged to seek an asvhini amongst strangers, breathed ven- geance against his revolted subjects, and against the nation in general. He went to request the aid of llcnrjll. king of England, then in Aqui- tain, in order to recover his dominion, promising to yield him obedience as a vassal. Henry II. was a powerful and ambitious prince. Besides England and Wales, he possessed the duchies of Normandy, Anjou, Aquitain, Poitou, Touraine, and Maine. He was highly flattered by the offers of the Irish prince^ as favouring designs he long had upon Ireland; but replied, that the actual situation of his affairs upon the continent did not allow his giving him any troops; but if he would goto England he would give him the royal authority for levying volun- teers. Accordingly he sent orders to his minis- ters to favour the enterprise of the fugitive. Taking leave of Henry, Dermod embarked for England, and, arriving at Bristol, he com- municated the orders of Henry to the magistrates of that city, who made them public. Richard Strongbow, son of Gilbert, earl of Pembroke^ was then at Bristol: he had dissipated his for- tune, and contracted immense debts, and was further in disgrace with the king. Thus capable of any enterprise, that might promise to mend his broken fortune, he offered his services to Der- mod, who kindly received him^ with a proffer VOL. I, c *t AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY far above \vbat he had reason to expect. For he promised hini his daughter Eve in marriage, with an assurance of his succession to the crown of Leinster after his own death, on condition he would aid him to the utmost in its recovery. The condition was joyfully accepted by earl Richard. Dermod, relying on the promises of his future son in-law , addressed himself to Ralph Griffin^ governor of Wales, and solicited the liberation of Robert Fitz-Stephen, a courageous and expe- rienced officer, who was four years a prisoner of state. Fitz-Stephen having by this means ob- tained pardon, willingly accepted the condition of volunteering to Ireland, from a country whence he was banished forever, together with Maurice Fitz-Gerald, his step-brother, who got a pro- mise of the town of Wexford, and some adjoin- ing territory for him and his posterity. Dermod entered into similar engagements with many others, whom he attracted, as Nubrigensis, an English cotemporary writer says, by the hope of a profusion of wealth. The greater part of these volunteers were indigent people, according to the same author, '•'men struggling with poverty, and ffreedv of 2;ain.'' The king of Leinster, satisfied with the suc- cess of his negociations in England, returned to Ireland, where he remained incog, in the city of Ferns, waiting the arrival of his allies. Fitz-Stephen was urged by two powerful mo- tives not to forget his engagements with Der- mod: the liberation he had obtained, on consi- OF IRELAND. d deration of departing from England as soon as possible; and the flattering recompence that awaited him in Ireland. Having recruited 400 volunteers, of desperate fortune like himself, he landed with them in the month of Maj^ 1169^ on the coast of Wexford. The king of Leinster, overjoyed at the news of their arrival^, put himself at the head of 500 horse, and joined the invaders. In a council of war the first enterprise they resolved on was^ the siege of Wexford, inhabited then bj Danes;* in consequence of which their troops marched be- fore the place, the inhabitants of which surren- dered, made homage, and gave hostages with presents to the king of Leinster. He, to acquit his promise to Fitz-Stephen, gave him the town, with some adjoining territory, where he esta- blished his adventurers; to a paternal uncle of Fitz-Stephen, Hervey de Mountmorrcs, he gave an estate: by these and similar grants were those adventurers .encouraged to the greatest enter- * It is a vulgar mistake, that the Danes were all expelled Ireland in consequence of tlieir defeat at Clontarf. None were expelled but those who invaded the country as allies of the king of Leinster. Such as dwelt in the seaport towns, as peaceable mechanics, merchants, or farmers, were not disturbed in their persons or properties, but allowed to live according to their own usages, on paying a moderate tribute to the prince of the territory. Accordingly, at the entrance of the English, all the seaport towns of Ireland were inha- bited by Danes. It is another mistake to suppose that the inhabitants and language of the barony of Forth are from England. The inhabitaats and dialect of them and the Fingallians are from 6 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY prises. Meanwhile Maurice Prendergast arrived at Wexford with a reinforcement to the confe- derate armj^ whicli then amounted to 3000 men. Dermod, animated hy his first success, re- solved to follow up his conquests, and with that view turned his arms against Donough Fitz Patrick, prince of Ossery, who hecame the first victim of his resentment. At the head of his victorious army, Dermod struck terror into Os- sery, and forced this prince, after three days hard fighting, in a well chosen position, covered with an abbatis, to give hostages, and to pay an annual tribute to the crown of Leinster. The fame of the progress made by the king of Leinster and his English allies having spread through the island, the princes and nobles ad- dressed Roderic O'Connor, to concert the means of quelling this rebellion^ so capable of creating confusion in the kingdom. It was ordained in the conference held for this purpose, that the provinces should furnish their contingent to the monarch, to enable him to suppress the revolt. the Baltic; as theword Fingallian sufTificntly proves. There were two descriptions of adventurers from the lialtic; those from the north side were called in Irish Finghal, and those from the south side Dubhghal. These fought a bloody battle at Clontarf for the possession of the country. The Finghallia having prevailed, retained possession of Dublin and the ma- ritime district called Fingal, where the same dialect was spoken formerly as in the barony of Forth. The first En- glish adventurers came over, not to turn farmers on the sea- coast, and remain there, but to fight their own and Dermod's battles, to satiate his vengeance, and gain estates for them% celvcs. OF IRELAND. 7 The army of the monarch being reinforced by the allied troops^ he marched to the county of > Wexford. Dermod, unable to keep the field against an army so superior^ took refuge in fo- rests and inaccessible bogs near Ferns^ where he held on the defensive. If what some historians relate be true^ that Roderic, at the head of his army^ wanted to reason these greedy and needy adventurers^ en- riched by the donations of their patron^ out of Ireland, instead of relying on the sword alone for their extirpation, it argues great weakness in the monarch of Ireland: it would be just as effi- cacious to argue the vulture or the wolf from their prey. The interposition of the clergy of Leinster with Roderic, in favour of peaceable measures, was much more effectual. The king, moved by their remonstrances, made a truce, and negociatcd with the confederates. A treaty of peace w as concluded on the following condi- tions: first, permod should be put in possession of his kingdom of Leinster, with all the autho- rity of his ancestors, and should be indemnified for the expences of the war: secondly, the king of Leinster should render homage to the monarcJi, and promise him fidelity: thirdly, that he would bind himself by oath not to send for any more English into his states; and that he would re- fuse to intruders his protection: fourthly, that Robert Fitz-Stephen should nevertheless remain in possession of Wexford. Dermod, for the ra- tification of this treaty, and to remove every sus- picion of bad faith, gave his son Arthur hostage 8 THE GENERAL HISTORV to the monarch, who thereupon disbanded his army, and returned to Con naught. It is not easy to find an instance of so shame- ful and dislionorable a treaty, between the mo- narch of a country and a revolted chief. It is such as might be dictated by a conqueror to a defeated prince, hopeless and resourceless. The rebellious prince was to be reinstated in the so- vereignty he forfeited by his crimes, though he had been excommunicated by the clergy, and detested by the chieftains and clans as a tyrant. He was to be indemnified for the expences of the war; the confederates of his rebellion were to keep peaceable possession of the territories ravished from the lawful proprietors; and all this was submitted to w ithout citlier lighting or losing a single battle, and that when the enemy, who dictated the treaty, is stated as hiding in bogs and morasses. Was Roderic influenced by the clergy^ or by his fears? most probably by the former. However that be, they were mise- rably disappointed in their hopes of peace. The treaty was a stroke of perfidy and policy, to dis- entangle the confederates from an embarrassing sitv-ation, and to gain time for the arrival of succours from England. The treaty was hardly concluded when Mau- rice Fitz-Gerald, step-brother to Fitz-Stephen, arrived at Wexford, with a considerable rein- forcement of English, which greatly raised the spirits of, the revolters. On the first news of the arrival of Maurice Fitz-Gcrald^ Dermod hastened to Wexford^ OF IRELAND. )) where he held a council wilh Fitz-Stephen, Fitz- Maurice, Prendergast, Barrj, Mjler^ Fitz- Gerald, and other English leaders, whose inte- rest accorded ^^ith his ambition and vengeance. They filled him with the extravagant notion of aspiring to the monarchy of the island, promising troops from England sufficient for the enterprise. The king of Leinster, linding himself supported by the English, and a considerable part of his subjects, led by fear or attachment, marched to- wards Dublin, whose environs he laid waste, especially Fingal. }{is chief design was to avenge on the Danes the insults that he and his father had received from them; and to levy a contribution to defray the expenccs of the war. He commenced the siege of the capital with Maurice Fitz-Gerald, who commanded under him. Asculph, son of Torcall, commandant of the place, alarmed by the danger which menaced the town, assembled the principal inhabitants, to d(;liberate on the measures they should adopt. It was concluded, that a prompt submission was necessary to avert the storm. In consequence of this they sent deputies io the king of Leinster, with considerable sums in gold and silver; As- culph did him homage in the name of the city, and sent him hostages, as guarantees of their obedience. Robert Fitz-Stephen was not with this expedition, being busied in building and fortifying the fort of Carrick^ near Waterford. Such was the state of the king of Leinster'i afJkirs when earl Richard Strongbow landed in this island. 10 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY Tliis Eng;lisli ;ulvcntiirer, not forgetful of his promise of succour to the king% nor of his hope to become his son-in-hi\v and successor to tlic throne, in hopes to be on good terms with his sovereign, Henry II. appeared at court, demand- ing his permission to quit the kingdom, and to seek his fortune elsewhere. Henry, being dis- satisfied with him, granted his j)ermission in an ironical manner, as to a man whose name he did not wish to hear mentioned. Richard, wishing to profit of this permission, however equivocal, made the necessary preparations for his expedi- tion to Ireland; but previously detached Ray- mond le Gros, with a small body of men, to reconnoitre the country, facilitate his intended descent, and announce his intentions to the king of Leinster. Raymond disembarked on the first of May, 1 170, at the little port of Don Domhnall, within four miles of Waterford, where he threw up en- trenchments, to prevent a surprise. The Danes of Waterford, hearing of a body of English troops being encamped in their neighbourhood, assembled, with the clan of O'Faolan, king of the Desies ( Co. Waterford ), to the number of two or three thousand, but without discipline, and ill provided with arms. Raymond, without waiting for the enemy in his trenches, sallied out to meet them on the plain. The battle began with vigour, and the English were driven back to their entrenchments, where being enabled by the courage of despair, they rallied, and made head against their disorderly assailants^ of whom OF IRELAND. 11 they made a great carnage. This victory of the English, though inferior in number^ was owing to their discipline, and to a number of archers, Avho took sure aim from their ramparts, on a people unaccustomed to such a weapon of war- fare. The victory was disgraced by the massacre of seventy prisoners, consisiing of the chief citi- zens of Waterford. At a council of war, held to deliberate on their treatment, Raymond was for observing the customary laws of civilized war- fare, but Hervey de Mountmorres harangued the soldiers, and prevailed on them to murder the prisoners. This they brutally performed by first breaking their legs, and then casting them from a precipice into the sea. This was civilizing the Irish, both Danes and Milesians, on the plan of an Anglo-Irish writer, w1io said, that the only way to civilize the Irish was, to kill them and take their properties. It ■was conformable to the maxim of Gerald Barry, commonly called Gyraldus Cambrensis, a catholic priest, tutor to king John, and a relation of the Geraldines, some of the chief invaders, w ho laid it down as an invariable rule for the conduct of the adventurers, to debilitate and exterminate the ancient catholic proprietors of Ireland. A sanguinary maxim, more becoming tiie preacher of the Alcoran than a minister of the gospel, which was but too fatally adhered to. Slaughter, confiscation, colonization, formed the fatal circle of English policy towards the native Irish, Di- vision, famine, fictitious plots, assassinations of distinguished men,, were among the means of VOL. I. D 12 \N IMPARTIAL illSTOFlY accomplishing the dcstiuction and degradatian which they call civilization. The suppression of schools and colleges, the extinction of learn- ing and language, and the destruction of books, formed their methods of refining and improving a nation ! Strongbow landed at Waterford, on the 24th of August, with 1200 clioice troops, where he was speedily joined by the king of Leinster, with his Irish and English forces. They held a coun- cil of war, in which it was resolved to lay siege to Waterford. This they considered as an easy conquest. That ill-fortified place was defended by the burghers who had escaped from the late defeat, and was attacked by an army superior in number, well disciplined, and commanded by able officers; yet it was defended with obstinate valour by the inhabitants. At length, taken by assault, the besiegers rushed in, making an in- discriminate slaughter of the inhabitants, until the arrival of Dermod, whose interposition saved the lives of many of his countrymen. A terrible specimen of the cruelty of those adventurers, proving that Suwarrovv was not the first butcher of men who civilized mankind by destruction. Soon after the king of Leinster fulfilled his engagements with earl Richard ; and betrothing to him his daughter Eve, declared them heirs of his crown. Their next enterprise was against the Danes of Dublin, whom the treaty concluded the year before, the hostages, the homage, the tribute yielded^ could not protect from the further ag- OF IRELAND. 13 gressions of those lawless treaty-breaking plun- derers. Thej accordingly attacked it with all their forces. Asculph^ the governor^ unable to maintain a siege^ charged St. Laurence O'Tool^ the archbishop^ to negociate a fresh peace with the king of Leinster. On the 21st of September^ while this holy prelate was treating with the king in his camp, Raymond, Maurice Fitz-Gerald, and Miles Cogan, with their followers, entered through a breach into the town, making an in- discriminate slaughter of the inhabitants, with- out sparing age or sex.* Thus the laws of na- tions, the laws of war, the laws of humanity, were trampled under foot, and men, women and children barbarously butchered, while they were treating for capitulation ! Dermod, leaving a garrison in the city, of which he trusted the command to Miles Cogan, turned his arms against O'Rourk, chieftain of Brefney, with whose wife he had eloped; by whom he was twice defeated, and with difficulty escaped. Meanwhile no effort was made by the monarch of Ireland, or its divided princes, to stem the torrent of carnage and plunder, while it remained at a distance, until it approached their own fron- tiers; then Roderick had recourse to expostula- tions, reviling the king of Leinster for his breach of treaty, threatening to execute the liostages^ given as a security of good faith, among whom was his own son Arthur. But the arguments of religion and morality were thrown away on a * Stanihurst. de Reb. in Hib. Oest. Lib. III. p. 106. i4 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY Landitti spreading devastation \vitli arms in their hands. Derniod's replj was laconic. Threat- ened to revenge the death of the hostages on O'Connor and his whole race. The winter fol^ lowing the king of Lcinster took up his quarters at FearnSj where he died in the mouth of May, 1171. lie was a man of extraordinary stature, strong, valiant, aiid warlike: his nation he sa- crificed to his vengeance: his principle was rather to inspire terror than to win the affections of his people, for whose interest he lived too long: his memory was long held in execration hy his couiitfymcn. After his*death earl Richard, preiei^der to the crown, l)ecame the real heir of his tyranny. He led his troops into Munster, where they commit- ted great devastation; but he was arrested in his career by Roderic O'Connor, wh4. gained some advantages over him. Henry II. then in Aquitain, hearing of the progress made by Strongbow and his other sub- jects in Ireland, entertained violent suspicions that the earl was endeavouring to conquer a kingdon] for himself, which he was long desi- rous of uniting to his other dominions. To de- feat tlie supposed ambition of this subject, in whom he never had any confidence, he prohi- bited by edict all intercourse witli Ireland, and forbade men, arms or provisions to be conveyed thither. By the same edict he commanded his subjects actually in Ireland to come to England, on an appointed day, under pain of being consi- dered as traitors and rebels. OF IRELAND. 15 Earl Richard was disconcerted by this edict, which interrupted all his projects. Though mas- ter t)f Dublin^ Wexford and Waterford^ he was not in a condition to preserve them without suc- cours from England^ which could not be ob- tained without an ^commodation with the king. For this purpose he held a council with the En- glish chiefs^ when it was resolved to send Ray- mond le Gros to represent to his majesty, that it was with his permission the English assisted the king of Leinster; but that they still considered themselves as his subjects, and did nothing but for his interest. Raymond having acquitted himself of 1^ commission, Henry W?* returned to EnglanoJ^Rm whence he sent Raymond with orders for the^peedy return of Strongbow to England) to give an account of his conduct. About this time Asculph, chief of^e Danes of Dublin, who had escaped at the last siege of that city, returned with sixty ships and troops, collected from the Hebrides, Orkneys, &c. to besiege it. He encamped at the eastern gate of the town, and made such vigorous attacks, that the^English, conscious of their inability to resist the "superior force of the Danes, had recourse to stratagGm. Miles Cogan, the governor, sent his brother, Richard Cogan, with a squadron of cavalry, through the southern gate, with orders to attack the besiegers in the rear. This stra- tagem had complete success. The Danes dis- heartened, thinking it was the advanced guard of a reinforcement coming to relieve the town^ took to flight. The carnage was great. Asculpb, 16 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY tlie chief, was broiicrlit prisoner to Dul)lin — we need not add lliat lie was murdered — however they did not torture him^ they only cut off his head . This unsuccessful attempt of Asculph was fol- lowed by a greater effort of O'Connor, the mo- narch, without much better sticcess. St. Lau- rence O'Tool, animated with zeal for his coun- try, for the purity of morality and religion, of which in the spirit of prophecy he foresaw the ruin, moved heaven and earth to avert the im- pending calamity. By his eloquence and his authority he suspended for a while the heredi- tary fends of the Irish chieftains, jj^ succeeded in forming a confederacy for th^R^pulsion of those barbarous invaders. To lender their de- struction inevitable, he negociated with the Danes of ^le isle of Man, the Hebrides, and the Orkneys, to blockade the harbour of Dublin_, while tlie confederates invested the town by la!id. These measures were wise, and seemed to promise success. The blockade lasted two months, and the besieged felt already the ap- proach of famine. At the same time Domhnall^ son of Dormod, very unlike his father, assem- bled some troops, and besieged Fitz-Stephen in a fort at Carrick, near Wexford. Fitz-Stephea found means to let the garrison of Dublin un- derstand, that if he was not succoured in two or three days he must inevitably fall into the hands of his enemies. This news, coming upon them in their great distress, left no resource but the courage of despair, and that succeeded. The OF IRELAND. 17 besiegers, confident of reducing the town by fa- mine^ and despising the weakness of the garri- son-^ indulged in all the negligence of an assured victory. Individually as brave and skilful in arms as any nation upon earth — in the aggregate they were but a host without discipline or sub- ordination. Every commander of a clan was, by the constitution, the general of that clan, inde- pendent of the monarch, who could neither pro- mote or dismiss him: invested with the power of making peace or war, without consulting the monarch, his obedience to orders was rather a matter of complaisance than of necessity. If the monarch wty^ a hero, a veneration for talents, natural to ^Plrish, made his orders respected; but, if an ordinary man, he was liable to all the evils of insubordination, of which O'Connor felt the consequences. No entrenchments, no out- posts, patroles, and those other precautionary measures, that always attend a regular army, the besieged saw they might be taken by surprise. Accordingly they made a sally at the break of day, fell upon O'Connor's quarters, while they were as yet asleep, dispatched a great many of them, and the rest tied. This victory enabled the garrison of Dublin to send succours to Fitz-Stephen, besieged in the fort of Carrick. But the detachment, led to their relief by Strongbow, being harassed by the O'Ryans, in the defiles of Idrone ( Co. Carlow );, arrived too late: a part of the garrison fell in the conflict, and the rest, among whom was Fitz-Stephen, were made prisoners of w ar, and 18 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY confined ill Ihc island of Ilcg- Erin, in the county of AVoxford. It srems that tho Irish liad not as yet learned, from those English adventurers, to bufeher their prisoners. One of those writers, which are peculiar to this country, has given a tale of Irish perfidy in this transaction. He tells us, that Fitz-Stephen ^vas led to capitulate by perfidy and fraud! But memory failed. lie forgot that, in three pages before he narrates this libellous fable, he had stated, that '' intelligence was brought by the faithful Donald Kavanagh, ( to the English in Dublin,) that the gallant Fitz-Stephen was besieged in the fortress of Carrid^ by the men of Wexford, and must, unless relieved be- fore THE END OF THREE DAYS, fall intO the hands of a revengeful and cruel foe." Here we see that famine, and not perjury or fraud, com- pelled Fitz-Stephen to surrender. And that the prisoners did not experience the treatment of a cruel and perfidious foe^ is also manifest. Had the men of NVexford been tutored by the massa- cres of Dublin, Waterford, and Wexford, and the constant murder of their prisoners by those barbarous invaders, Fitz-Stephen ^vould not have lived to be presented to his sovereign by bis captors, then requiring his punishment for the enormities he had committed. Strongbow, pressed by the orders of his mas- ter, embarked for England, leaving the colony in an unpromising situation. He was presented to the king, at Neweham, near Gloucester, then preparing an army for bis expedition to Ireland. OF IRELAND. 19 Henry reproached him bitterly for the robberies and massacres committed in Ireland; and that, not satisfied with the honorable lot granted him by the king of Leinster^, he behaved as a cruel tyrant^ and usurper of the lands of others. This was the language of truth, and would appear also to be that of an honest man_, if we did not know that Henry was as great a tyrant and usur- per as the man whom he reproached. After this stern reprimand, the king's indignation at the enormity of his adventurers was appeased by submission, a promise of amendment, and of putting into the king's hands Dublin, and all the other places wrested from the Irish. Meanwhile O'Rourk, prince of Breifne, made an effort against the English garrison of Dublin. He enticed them outside of the fortifications, where a bloody battle took place between the two parties, without further effect than the ef- fusion of blood. The son of O'Rourk, '' a youth," says Stanihurst, '' illustrious in the arts of war and peace," after signalising his valour in the midst of the enemy, was, with several of his followers, mortally wounded ; but they dearly sold their lives to their adversaries, of whom a great number lay on the field of battle. Having completed all his preparations for the expedition to Ireland, Henry, aged 41, in the seventeenth year of his reign, embarked at Mil- ford, in October 1172, with a formidable and well appointed army, and arrived at Water ford on the festival of St. Luke, where he established his head quarters. His English subject?, from VOL. I. E 20 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY Dublin^ Waterford^ Wexford^ and their other possessions, hastened to pay him homage, and renew their oath of allegiance. Their example was soon followed by some of the native princes^, Avho basely submitted instead of uniting in de- fence of their country's independence. Mac CartjMore^ king of Desmond (south Munster), was the first of these deserters. He presented himself to the king of England at VVaterford^ and paid him homage. Henry, after consulting with his English subjects on the means of re- ducing the island^ assembled his forces, and marched to Lismore; whence, after a repose of two days, he advanced towards Cashel. He was met on the road, near the river Suff, by Donald O'Brien, king of Thomond (north Munster), who submitted to him. The example of these two leading princes of the south was followed by the other chieftains of Munster. Henry there- upon dispatched garrisons to Limerick and Cork, to take possession of these two cities surrendered to him. Thence he returned to Waterford, wliere he received the homage of Fitz- Patrick, prince of Osscry, and of O'Faolan, prince of the De- sies. He treated all those princes with distin- guished honor, made them magnificent presents, and guaranteed the possession of their properties and dignities.* He also imprisoned Fitz-Stephen for the tyrannies and robberies exercised by him on the natives; but restored him to liberty on surrendering the town and territory of Wexford^ * Stan, de Rcb. in Ilib. Gest. Lib. L p. 125. OF IRELAND. 21 which he had obtained as a present from the plunderer Dcrmod. Henrj^ appointing Robert Bernard governor of Waterford, marched to Dublin, where his feudal sovereignty was acknowledged by several princes of Leinster. He loaded all these princes with presents, and strove to win them by caresses, in order to blind them to the chains he was pre- paring for them: he promised to maintain them in their properties and dignities, though he had no intention of keeping his word. O'Connor, seeing the general desertion of the chieftains, was necessitated to yield to the times. Henry sent him two ambassadors. Lacy and Fitz- Aldelm, to negociate for an interview. In con- sequence the two princes met on the banks of the Shannon, without coming to any conclusion. O'Connor had his forces covered with bogs and woods, where Henry did not think it proper to attack him. But there was a treaty concluded between them at Windsor some time afterwards. Having thus settled the affairs of the infant colony, and obtained from most of the native princes a sort of a feudal homage, which did not compromise their dignities, nor interfere with their authorities, laws or revenues, he returned to England at Easter, 1173, whence he shortly went to Normandy, where his son Henry, whom he had entrusted with the government of his French dominions, had revolted against him. Eleanor, his wife, resenting his numerous con- jugal inlidclities, excited her son Henry to claim the crown. The prince, aided in his rebellion 29 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY by his brothers Richard and GcoflTiv, was also supported bj his liither-iii-hiw, Louis VII. and Philip Augustus, his successor. The consequence of this revolt was tlie invasion of several part^ of his territories by neit^libouring princes, and his own subjects. Verneuil, in Norniandj, was taken in the time of Louis VIL, and the city of Mans^ his birth-place^ was taken under Philip Augustus. Ilis chagrin at losing the latter place caused him to blasphemously exclaim, '' I wont love God any more, since he suffered my dear city to be ravished from me!'* Henry was too busy in his continental affair* to ^\\c personal attention to Ireland. As an able politician, he thought it prudent to interest the English subjects he had left there to support his pretensions. With a liberality only equalled by that of his countryman, Adrian IV., he be- stowed the territories of the princes, who had acknowledged his feudal domination, in defiance of his solemn promises to maintain them in their property and dignity, and of the treaties which he had concluded with them. Notwithstanding his jealousy of Strongbow, he confirmed to him the donation of the kingdom of Leinster, made to him without any just title by his father-in- law Dermod, except the seaport towns and some forts that he reserved for himself. This dona- tion of a property not his own was confirmed by a charter, granted by king John to William Marshall, earl of Pembroke, son-in-law of Strongbow; a copy of which is preserved in the Tower of London OF IRELAND. 23 Strongbow^ imitating the predatory liberality of his sovereign^ distributed the greater part of Leiiister^ on military tenure^ among his follow- ers. But the grantees did not always obtain peaceable possession of the illegal donations. Marching to take possession of C'Dempsey's country, in OfFaly (King's county), where he plundered and burned several villages. Strong- bow had the mortification to lose his son-in-law and general, Quincy, who was slain in a defile where O'Dempsey attacked. Unfounded as were the pretensions of Henry to the province of Leinster, he extended his libe- rality to countries no ways connected with that kingdom. He granted by a charter dated at Wexford, which was confirmed by king John, the large territory of Meath, east and west, to Hugh de Lacy, on condition of military service. Hugh entered Meath to take possession, where not satisfied with dispossessing, he massacred a great number of the ancient proprietors; thence he made an inroad into Annaly ( Longford), where he committed great depredations, and slew Donald O'Farrel, the chieftain, in a con- fiict. O'Melaghlin, hereditary chieftain of Meath^ afflicted at the outrages committed on his peo- ple, waited ou Lacy, to make his complaints of this unprovoked aggression, who promised him an interview at Tara to explain, matters. There the prince of Meath spoke much of the injustice of England's king, who, in spite of his solemn promises and treaties, by which he guaranteed 24 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY o him, and the otlicr Irish princes, their proper- tics and dic;nities, had sent a lawless banditti to plunder and destroy his people. The unfortu- nate prince of Moatli ])aid the forfeit of his foolish confidence in the faith and honor of the invaders. He was assassinated at the conference, beheaded, his body was buried with the feet up, bis head sent to Dublin, and thence to England. Stanihurst relates this calamity as having be- fallen O'Rourk, who he falsely imagined to be the prince of Meath. With all the venom of an English partizan he endeavours to gloss the per- fidy and barbarity of Lacy; yet he acknowledges that there was a strong body of English troops placed in ambuscade, at a small distance from the place of interview, which must be to make certain the intended assassination. The assassin, in imitation of his master Henry, and of Strong- bow, distributed the territory of the murdered chieftain among a number of vassals, on military tenure. Henry, pressed by his enemies in Normandy, sent orders to Strongbow to come to him speedily, with what forces he could collect. The earl, in obedience to his orders, passed over with some picked men, where he remained some time, as commandant of Gisors, as Regan says. The king considering the English colony as yet too weak, sent Strongbow back, in quality of governor, as sooi! as he couldapare him, who was received iu Dubiin with great acclamations. Meantime the plundered Irish, seeing no ter- minal ion to the cruelly and rapacity of thosej OF IRELAND. 25 adventurers, had recourse to arms in their own defence^ and compelled the marauders to seek security in their fortresses. But after receivinj^ reinforcements from Enijcland and Normandv. they sallied out into the country called IJesies^ laying the whole country waste. The booty was so considerable^ that they were obliged to send a part of it by sea to \V aterford^ under the com- mand of Adam de Hereford. The Danes of Cork^ with a view to intercept the convoy^ equipped a fleet of thirty-five ships^ which was defeated by the valour of Philip Walsh^ who^ leaping sword in hand on board the admiral's vessel, killed him^ which occasioned the retreat of the Danes, and allowed the English a safe passage with their prey. Raymond conveyed the rest of the booty, consisting principally of cattle, by land, but not without some opposition from Der- mod, king of Desmond. Among the calamities which visited Ireland since the English invasion, may be reckoned a plague, which ravaged the provinces of Munster and Connaught at this period. In 1174, encouraged by their successful plun- der of East Munster, the adventurers resolved to try their fortune westward, and marched with all the troops they could collect towards Cashel; but, contrary to their expectation, they met Ro- deric O'Connor at Thurles, where they expe- rienced a defeat, leaving 1700 on the field of battle.* * Cambrcns. Evers. c. ix. p, 89. — Annal, c. vi. Hen. II. 26 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY After fills Roderic marched to Meatli, whence be expelled the English, who, unable to stand the field, retreated :ed to submit to the terms of Raymond. How could a nation stand, so forward to fight not only against Ccich other, but for their enemy } It was not only clan against OF IRELAND. SS clan^ or province against province^ but civil dis- sensions in tlie same familv desolated the island. - Dermod Mac Carty^ king of Desmond, was compelled, by the revolt of his son Cormac, to implore the succour of Raymond, who marched to his assistance, and subdued the revolters. Mac Carty, in recompence for this assistance, bestowed on Ravmond a considerable territory in Kerry, of which his son Maurice took pos- session; who, espousing Catherine, the daughter of Miles Cogan, left a posterity in possession of Pvlac Carty's grant, known by the name of Clan- morres. In the beginning of June, 1176, died, at Dub- lin, the chief of the English colony, Strongbow, after tyrannizing over Leinster seven years. His disease seemed emblematic of the country he in- vaded. A mortification in^the foot extended to tlie vital parts, and caused his dissolution: 'twas thus a mortification of the fundamental princi- ples of the constitution caused its extinction. His corpse was interred by St. Laurence O'Tool, in Christ-church, Dublin. He left no male issue, neither did his son-in-law, William Mar- shall; so that his immense and illegal acquisi- tions of territory fell, by intermarriages, into different families. To use the language of an English author, Nubrigensis, thewliole plunder of Ireland, for which he laboured so much, he left to strangers, who felt no gratitude for his perils and turmoils, nor solicitude for the risk of his salvation in the acquisition, A salutary lesson for posterity ! 34 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY A whimsical contradiction in the conduct of leading men in those days^ has disconcerted not a little the writers on Irish aft'iiirs. They were at a loss to reconcile the cruelty and the piety, the robhcrjes and religious donations, practised by the invaders. Churches and monasteries plun- dered, and the clergy slaughtered, in one place, and the foundation and endowment of religious liouses in other places. They did not perceive that English policy was the latent motive that explains the contradiction. Religious establish- ments, possessed by Irish natives, were invaded as the property of an enemy; and sometimes a part of the plunder was appropriated to the esta- blishment of religious houses for English sub- jects exclusively, as useful allies for the reduc- tion of Ireland. Thus the knights templars were established by Strongbow at Kilmainham, 1174, to which eight other commanderies were an- nexed afterwards. On receiving the intelligence of the death of Strongbow, Raymond hastened from Limerick to Dublin, to superintend the affairs of the co- lony, and preserve their territorial acquisitions, leaving the care of Limerick to O'Brien, king of Thomond, who thereupon set fire to it. As this trust was a matter of necessity, and not of choice, the act of a natural enemy, bound by no treaty, O'Brien might easily conceive that he only did his duty in destroying a place which was held to his injury. Henry, always jealous of the progress of the principal invaders, had sent commissioners to OF IRELAND 35 Ireland, to order the appearance of Raymond at court. These commissioners^ from an ocular in- spection of the affairs of the colony, judging that his absence would endanger its existence, Tentured to suspend the king's orders, and leave him provisional governor. Notv^ithstanding the statement of his commissioners, Henry sent, as viceroy, William Fitz-Aldelm, and gave him as assistants John de Courcy, and Miles Cogan, who had signalized themselves in the wars of France and England. Stanihurst makes an observation on Fitz- Aldelm, which is applicable to the generality of mankind, that he was not altogether wise, nor altogether foolish. It was not wise policy to disclose his enmity to the Fitzgeralds, who by alliances and property were the most powerful family of the pale. After the death of Maurice Fitz-Gerald, he seized on his castle of Wicklow; and to colour this injustice he gave to his three sons the town of Fearns. To secure the possession of this place they built a castle, which was soon after razed, by order of Walter, nephew of Fitz-Al- delm, and governor of Wexford. About this time (1177), Henry II. availed himself of the spiritual powers of Rome; and, in consequence of his alliance with the Holy See, for the reduction and the pretended refor- mation of Ireland, obtained the assistance of a pope's legate, to visit Ireland, and conjure it to obedience. Cardinal Vivian, on his arrival in England^ was obliged by Henry IL to swear VOL. J, a S6 A^ IMPARTIAL HISTORY -that he would employ all his authority to sup- port his interest. To fulfil his engageuients with llcnry, which were prohahly sanctioned by tem- poral interest^ as well as by his oath, shortly after liis arrival in Ireland, he called a meeting of bishops and abbots in Dublin, whom he endea- voured to convince, in an eloquent harangue, of Henry's (ifle to the crown of Ireland, command- ing the Irish to obey him under pain of excom- munication. Meanwhile the policy of England was build- ing castles and monasteries for the very same object, influence and defence. During the stay of the legate at Dublin, Fitz-Aldelm, the vice- roy-, founded a monastery of English canons regular, called Thomas-court. They were en- dowed with the territory of Donore, Co. Meath, on condition of praying for the souls of Geoftry,, earl of Anjou, and the empress Matilda. The charter did not enjoin these monks to pray for the souls of the proprietors of that territory. The denunciations of the legate, however, did not prevent Melaghlin Mac Loghlin, ancient proprietor of Meath, attacking the castle of Slane, which he carried by assault, and demo- lished; and in which Richard Fleming, who held forcible possession thereof, with many of his followers, was slain. This disaster did not discourage other adven- turers from daring enterprizes. The cruel and valiant De Courcy tried his fortune in Ulster, ,w hither the English had not as yet penetrated. :With 400 men, in 1177, he arrived at Down^ OF IRELAND. SI the chief city of a territory then called Ullagh, and now the county of Down. The inhabitants, apprehending no danger, were taken by surprise. They were astonished and alarmed at the outrages committed by these barbarians. No house or chest could escape the avidity of the plunderers; as Stanihurst says, quibus spoliis miseras ac diu- turnas egestates explent. It could not be ex- pected that the authority of the Pope's legate could reconcile these miserable sufierers with this strange mode of civilization. Roderick, son of Dunlevy, chieftain of the country, raised an undisciplined multitude to oppose the plunderers, but was defeated. The account that Stanihurst gives us of this battle savours much of national partiality. It is not probable that 400 Englishmen defeated 10,000 Irish, for several reasons. First, it is not proba- ble, that a petty chieftain could bring so many men into the field; because we find that provin- cial kings were not able to muster so numerous an army. O'Ncil, king of Ulster, could only muster 3000 men against Roderic O'Connor, at the head of the confederated forces. Arthur Cavanagh could only bring 3000 men into the fiield against Richard II., at the head of the greatest English army that ever landed in Ire- land. Where then could a petty toparch find ten thousand? Secondly, it contradicts the cha- racter, drawn by himself, of the men of Ulster. •' The men of Ulster," says he, '' are by nature and practice very warlike; always inured to anas, their battle with the Britons is conducted 38 AN IMPARTIAL IIISTOHY with boldness and regularity, m ithout any defi- ciency of martial valour, but God, the giver of victory, decided the battle in favour of the English." Though the authority of Cardinal Vivian, the Pope's ambassador, could not re- strain the carnage and plunder of his allies, he obtained the liberty of Malachy, bishop of Down. Courcv continued his career of devastation in Ulster. Superstition and barbarity were blended in his character. He had a copy of Merlin's Pro- phecies always about him; and thinking himself designated therein as the conqueror of Ulster, he had it in his pocket by day, and under his pillow by night. It seems Merlin did not warn him of his for- tune; as in the year following, 1178, he marched towards Oriel (Louth), where he was vigo- rously attacked in his camp of Gliury, by Mor- tough O'Carrol, chieftain of the country. The action was severe, and De Courcy's forces were entirely routed in the trenches. O'Carrol knew how to conquer, and to avail himself of his con- quest; he pursued the plunderers to the extre- mity of the county of Down, where in a second engagement he cut them to pieces, De Courcy himself, and about a dozen of his gang, with difficulty escaped to the castle of Down. Courcy, perhaps instructed by those severe les- sons, had recourse to more efficacious means than the prophecies of Merlin. He built castles, and by the plunder of Irish monasteries founded mo- nasteries of English monks, who answered all OP IRELAND. 39 the purposes of an English garrison. As an in- stance of this policjj common to the English invaders^ he destroyed the abbey of Carrick, founded near the bridge of Fane^ and applied its revenues for the foundation of a monastery of Cistercian monks^ brought from the abbey of Furnes, in England. One of these monks^ by name Jocelyn, wrote a life of St. Patrick ; a monument, which decisively proves, that phi- losophy was at a low ebb in England, where he received his education. In 1183, Courcy dispossessed the canons of the cathedral church of Down,- and brought over Benedictine monks from the abbey of St. Wer- burgh, of Chester; and gave them as prior Wil- liam Etleshall, a monk of their order. Another of those spiritual garrisons he established at Tubberglory, and another at Nedrum, in which he placed English monks from Cumberland. The churches of Inis-Catha ( Inis-Scattery ), an island at the mouth of the Shannon, were appro- priated, byHervey deMountmorres, to the foun- dation of a monastery for English monks, at Dunbrodee, near the confluence of the Suir and Barrow, county of Wexford. While the English adventurers were pursuing these judicious plans for the reduction of the island, Henry II. was meditating to secure their acquisitions to his family, by appointing his son John, king of Ireland. He did not neglect any precaution of policy to bring his projects to ef- fect. He obtained the assistance of the court of Rome, and appointed John Comyn, archbishop 40 AN IMPAKTIAL IlISTORV of Dublin^ to prepare men's minds for <]ie rec(>p- tion of the youni;- |)rinee. After being kni^lited at Windsor, by tlie kinj^, bis fatlier, at the age of twelve, John set off for Milford, in the April of] 175, Nvliere a fleet awaited to conduet Iiim to Ireland. He embarked at Easter, aecomj)anied by Ralph Glanville, jnstieiary of England, and Giraldus Cambrensis, Iiis tutor., lie was aceoni- panied bv four hundred knights, and some young dcbauehed courtiers, who possessed bis entire confidence. As soon as be landed at Waterford, tbe Irish lords in its vicinity came immediately to compliment bim on his arrival. Tbe manners and customs of the two nations were very diffe- rent. The Irisb were naturally liospitablc, free, and polite to strangers; tbe English the very reverse. Receiving the Irisb lords witb a s.ulky disdain, they fired the pride of the chieftains. Mho retired, breathing vengeance for the insults of the royal boy and bis debauched companions. A^'ar resounded from all quarters; and tbe chief- tains for a wbile suspended their private bostili- ties, to avenge wbat tbey considered a national affront. Rut these tumultuary hostilities ])ro- duced no other effect, tban that of interrupting tbe pleasures in wbicb Jobn revelled, determin- ing bim to abandon so dangerous a dignity, and return to England, after baving built three cas- tles, during his stay, for tbe protection of the colony. His tutor, Gerald Barry, vulgarly called Gyraldus Cambrensis, remained behind, to col- lect the fables wbicb be called tbe bistory of Ireland. The policy of England constantly joined OF IRELAND. 41 the pen of the libeller to the sword of the war- rior; to destroy the character as well as the per- sons of the natives, and confound in one ruin their fame and their inheritance. The king of England, instructed by John's mal-administration in Ireland, thought it expe- dient to entrust the government in the hands of military men. Accordingly John de Courcy, an able officer, practised in the Irish mode of war- fare, was appointed viceroy. He undertook some expeditions to Cork and Connaught, with various success. During the progress of the invaders it cannot be supposed, that the natives, however divided by domestic quarrels, could remain idle specta- tors of their own ruin. Here and there some va- liant efforts were made by the invaded clans. Avhich, for want of union, discipline, and a na- tional government, terminated in a fruitless effu- sion of blood. Four English officers, with a detachment of the garrison of Ardfinnan, were put to the sword, by Donald O'Brien, king of Thomond. Another detachment from the same garrison^ surprised marauding near Limerick, met the same fate. Surprises and ambuscades are allowed by the law of nations: it is not easy to justify assassination upon any principle. Ar- thur O'Melaghlin, chief of Meath, was killed by the English, three English lords were also killed; and to complete the picture of the times^ while assassination, carnage and robbery were triumphant, monasteries were founded. About this time an abbey of JBernardines was 42 AN IMPARTIAL HlSTORr founded at Lcix, near the river Nuir. The bodies of St. Patrick^ St. Columb^and St. Bridget were traiish.ied at Down, by the Pope's legate; and the Staff of Jesus was earried in triumph from the eathedral of Armagh to Christ-churchy Dub- lin, the adventurers hoping that it would pro- mote their interests. While the Irish nation was falling piecemeal a prey to their invaders, the family quarrels of the chieftains accelerated the catastrophe. O'Con- nor Maonmui entered Connaught, at the head of a hostile force, to dethrone his father; but the latter, having obtained the assistance of Donald O'Brien, of Thomond, defeated him. Roderic O'Connor, disgusted, and weary of holding the reins of a tottering monarchy, destitute of the sinews of war, and of the means of enforcing a submission to the laws, retired to the abbey of Cons:, where he spent the remainder of his days^ thirteen years, to prepare for eternity. The natives sometimes copied the example of the invaders, whose pretence was civilization, but whose practice was a lesson in every manner of cruelty and tyranny. About this time Hugh de Lacy, the usurper of Meath, was assassinated at Durrow, with the stroke of a hatchet, by a young Irish lord, disguised as a workman, while he was building a strong castle to keep the vici- nity in subjection. Henry II. on hearing of the death of Lacy, sent his son John, with a consi- derable army, to repossess himself of the govern* ment. Delayed at Chester by contrary winds^ the king, on hearing of the death of his sou OF IRELAND. 43 GeofFrj, who died at Paris^ sent him orders to return^ and charged Philip Wigorne with the expedition to Ireland. Some pretend that Henry himself came to Ireland at that time. The impending ruin of Ireland was not capa- ble of appeasing the intestine troubles of the Irish^ or uniting them for their common pre- servation. Donald, son of Hugh O'Loghlin, chieftain of Tyrone^ was dethroned by his son Roderic Lachertair. The latter made incursions the year following into Tyrconnel, where he was slain, and Donald was again established. 1186. The death of O'Conarchy, bishop of Lismore, and apostolic legate, referred by our annalists to this year, deserves to be noticed only as it elucidates the policy of the courts of Rome and London. Since the first alliance, concluded between Henry II. and Pope Adrian, and con- tinued by their respective successors, judging the reduction of Ireland to be for the interest of the allied powers, they had a Pope^s legate always in Ireland, of the king's nomination, and devoted to his interest. Three of them had already acted in that capacity^ Cardinal Vivian, O'Heney, archbishop of Cashel, and the last mentioned bishop of Lismore. A fresh spiritual ambassa- dor came from Rome, Cardinal Octavian, with an assistant, Hugh de Nunant, bishop of Co- ventry and Litchfield, to perform the ceremony of crowning his son John, king of Ireland. The ceremony was suspended, says Hoveden, on ac- count of Henry's continental afi'airs, who brought with him the two legates, to assist at a confe- VOL. I, U 44 AN IMPARTIAL HlSTORT fence he was going to hold with the king af France towards a treaty of peace. That the absurd union of bigotry and robbery could be met with in the native Irish as well as in their English invaders, Mildouin O'Dono- ghue will serve for an inslance. At the head of a gang of freebooters, he plundered the church of Ardfert, and the abbey of Inisfallen, situated in Lough Lenc, ( now called the Lake of Kil- larney), and with much effusion of blood. During the prevalence of anarchy and confusion in Ireland, the wealth of these places attracted the cupidity of a number of swordsmen, more able and willing to fight than to work. The writers on Irish affairs, as has been ob- served, seem not to have penetrated the policy which induced the invaders to plunder native monasteries, and found new ones in their room. How edifying it is, says Abbe Geoghegan, to see the plunderers of churches, and of other men's properties, making religious foundations ! This strange sort of devotion was introduced into Ireland by the English, says the abbe. For instance, Philip Wigorne, viceroy of Ireland, after plundering the university of Armagh, founded a priory of Benedictines at Kilcumin, county of Tipperary. But of what nation were the monks? It appears by the original charter, in the Cottonian library, that they were taken from the Benedictine abbey of Glaston, in Eng- land ; and were subject to that house, and to the rules of English policy to admit no native mem* bers or novices. OF IRELAND. 45 Further to illustrate the policy of the English court in pursuing the subjugation of Ireland^ we cannot avoid observing, that misrepresentation did appear necessary, notwithstanding the sub- sidies to the Pope, to obtain his concurrence. When St, Laurence O'Toole, archbishop of Dub- lin, and three other Irish bishops, were on their passage through England, to the council of Lateran, Henry II. made them swear, that they would not say anything there, prejudicial to his interests. He dreaded the resentment of the coun- cil, if they heard of the abominable cruelties com- mitted in Ireland. According to the colonial writers, the archbishop of Dublin durst not re- turn, on account of having said something in favour of his nation. Be that as it may, this holy prelate fell sick, and died at the town of Eu, in France. His life is preserved in Surius's collection, with exactitude, ac- cording to Baronius. The miracles, which God operated by his intercession, before and after his death, prevailed upon Pope Hono- rius III. to enrol him in the catalogue of saints, in 1226, by a bull dated the third of December, the tenth year of his pontificate, of which a copy is preserved in the Bullarium of Lauren- tius Cherubinus. The protestant kings of Eng- land were not the first who disliked the big O, for the catholic kings took good care that no other O should sit in the see of Dublin. 'Tis also remarkable, that O'Tool was the hist of the Irish saints. It is surprising that the Pope could not be 46 AN IMPARTIAL HISTOKY undeceived^ by the representations of that holy and learned man, of the false pretences of the invaders to civilize Ireland. It was the island of saints and learning before they came. What it has become since, the reader will see, and the present generation are sensible. Thus it appears, that no single virtue was imported from England, but the very contrary, the vices of indigent, un- principled, libertine invaders. It was not with- out reason, that Aubin O'Molloy, abbot of Bal- tinglas, and bishop of Ferns, in an eloquent dis- course, before the prelates and clergy of Leiu- ster, convened at Christ-church by the arch- bishop, John Comyn, on the chastity of ecclesi- astics, declaimed powerfully on the incontinence of the clergy who came from England and Wales. To sum up the picture then, breach of treaty, murder of prisoners of w ar, assassination, robbery and bigotry, carnage, usurpation, and clerical debauchery, were not the means of im- proving a nation; yd they were the principal things imported by English Papists into Ire- land. When any king or chieftain became formida- ble to the invaders by his talents, one of their chief means of getting rid of him was, to invite him to a feast or a conference; and if they could seduce him to put confidence in their good faith or loyalty, they gave him pledges thereof with poison or the dagger. Among the number of those who fell victims to their perfidy, must not be omitted Dermod Mac Carty, king of Des- mond. Invited to Cork, bv Theobald Walter OF IRELAND. 47 in 1186, as if to a friendly conference, to make a treaty of peace with the invaders, he was basely assassinated. Yet this chieftain had bestowed a considerable territory, in the county of Kerry, on Raymond, one of the principal leaders of his murderers, whose posterity long held it by the name of Clanmorres. But the most atrocious instance upon record, unexampled perhaps in the history of the heathen world, was the perfidious massacre of the noble families of O'Moore, in- vited to a friendly conference, by the ministers of Philip and his wife, commonly called, by Protestant writers, bloody queen Mary. This shall be narrated more at large in its proper place. I only mention it here, to shew that the policy of the colony, from the beginning, was invariable; and to make my countrymen sensi- ble, that it is not difference of religion which they ought to consider as the real cause of civil discord and animosity, but clashing interests and NATIONAL ANTIPATHIES, ncccssarily sub- sisting between a conquering and an oj)pressed nation. In a fair review of the conduct of Eng- lish Papists and English Protestants towards Ireland, it will appear to an unprejudiced reader, that the latter have not exceeded the former in outrage and inhumanity; and that the Popish pale was as truly hostile to the national interest as the Orange confederation may be supposed now. Catholics and Protestants live amicably in France, Switzerland, Germany, and Ameri- ca; and would do so in any country, where the yuling power thought proper to encourage mu- ^S AS IMPARTIAL HISTORT tual toleration, and the arts of peace. In more than one church beyond tlie Rhine, I have seen the altar at one end, and the connnunion-table at the other, where Catholics and Protestants paid the tribute of devotion to their Maker, at dilfcrent hours. Certain I am, thej were not worse Christians for this mutual toleration. They practically enforced the parable of the good Sa- maritan; in which our Saviour commands us to love a dissenter or a heretic as a brother. But when unfortunately the rulers of a country think it politic to divide the people, they will illus- trate the ingenious and shrewd reply of Mau- rice, archbishop of Cashel. Father Barry re- proached the church of Ireland, in the presence of the Pope's legate, w ith having no martyrs to boast of. The bishop replied, '' We shall not be long so. Our new visitors have given suffi- cient specimens, both in their own country and in this, that tht*y are very well inclined to make martyrs." He alluded to the murder of the arch- bishop of Canterbury, and the cruelties of the invaders in Ireland. This prediction was but too well accomplished afterwards. It is a striking instance of national character, that whilst a generous and religious people were perishing in the tumults of anarchy and confu- sion, atrocities and acts of piety and charity ap- pear together on the scene. In 1178, Donald O'Loghiin, king of Tyrone, gained a victory, and lost his life, in a bloody battle with the English. The same year Alfred Palmer, of Danish descent, founded the priory of John thQ OF IRELAND. 49 Baptist, at Newgate, Dublin, \vliich was after- wards endowed and converted into an hospital, with 150 beds for the sick, without mentioning chaplains and pliysicians. As a picture of the manners and state of the pretended civilizers, it will be apropos to mention the death of Henry II. as recorded by English historians. In 1189, Henry II. king of England, absorbed in an abyss of sorrow and despair, cur- sing his birth, and the day he was born,* a me- morable lesson to ambitious invaders ! died, at the castle of Chinon, and was buried at Font Everard. He was long languishing, but the list that Philip Augustus, king of France, sent him, of the number of those that were conspiring against him, among whom was his son John, gave him the finishing blow. His obsequies were performed in the following manner, ac- cording to Baker. His body was covered with the royal robes, his crown on his head, white gloves on his hands, boots with golden spurs on his legs, a ring of great value on his finger, a sceptre in his hand, a sword by his side, and hi? face uncovered. After the death of Henry, Richard I. known by the name of Coeur de Lion, ascended the throne. His first enterprise was an expedition to the Holy Land. It is not necessary, with some, to attribute this to any desire of expiating the crime of rebellion, of which he was guilty to- wards his father. The crusades were fashionable * Westmonast. Flor. Hist. Lib. U. an. 1189, 50 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY at thfit tinir, and ihc jomii^ king was ambitious of signalizing bis vab)ur among tbc sovereigns who took ii|) tbe cross. The aflairs of tbe co- lony be left to the management of bis brotbcr John, Nvbom bis father had appointed Lord thereof; yet lie did not omit to renew tbe alliance with tbe Pope, and strengthen tbe English inte- rest in Ireland^ by the authority of a legate from tbe Holy See. For this purpose be sent a depu- tation to Pope Clement HI., requesting the no- mination of William Longfield^ bishop of Ely, in quality of legate. It appears by the Pope's rescript, in answer to this request^ which he granted^ that the part of Ireland^ then possessed by the English^ was not considerable; for the words of the rescript are these. '' Clement, the bishop^ &c. According to tbe commendable de- sire of our beloved son in God^ Richard, the illustrious king of Engbmd, we commit to your fraternity tbe office of legate in all England and Wales, as well in tbe diocess of Canterbury as in that of York, and in those parts of Ireland in which that nobleman^ John Morton, tbe kina's brother, has authority and dominion. Given tbe third of June, the third year of our pontificate, 1188."* Meanwhile the Irish did not forget their fa- mily dissensions, or their provincial wars, which the English took care to foment. In Connaught, Catbal Carrach, the son of Catbal Maonmui, succeeded bis father, but found a formidable * Matt, Paris. Angl. Hist, ad an. 1188, p: 103. OF IRELAND* 51 rival in his uncle Cathal Crovdearg. Each had partizans to espouse his quarrel, not only of the Irish natives, but of the English colonists. Fitz- Aldelm declared for Cathal Carrach, and Courcy for Cfovdearg. After some skirmishing, they came to a decisive action; Cathal Carrach and his party were routed, after an obstinate battle, in which he and many nobles of the province were slain. Fitz-Aldelm returned to Limerick, with what troops he had left; and the victorious Crovdearg laid siege to a castle he had built in Mileach O Madden, (O Madden's country,) but the English garrison withdrawing at night, the castle was demolished. Still the fashion continued of mingling do- mestic quarrels, plunder, and bloodshed, with religious foundations, monasteries, and churches. The abbey of Knockmoel was about this time founded by Cathal Crovdearg, in gratitude for his victory. x\nd the English, as usual, did not cease to plunder the monasteries, and to appro- priate at least a part of the spoil for the esta- blishment of English monks, attached to the English interest in Ireland. The priory of St, Mary, at Kenlis, county of Kilkenny, was found- ed by Geoffry, seneschal of Leinster. It is men- tioned byDugdale and Doddsworth, in their Mo- nasticon Anglicanum. Jocclyn Nangle founded an abbey at Navat) for Augustinians. A priory, in the name of Peter and Paul;, was founded for the same order, by the Roches of Fermoy. John Comyn, archbishop of Dublin, repaired the cathedral called Christ- church, and entirely re- VOL. 1, 1 52 A-; IMPARTIAL HiSTOttY built St. Patrick's, which was fftllino; into dccaj'. While those works of policy and devotion were goins^ on, the hostilities of the natives ai^ainst each olhrr did not relax. War had some time continued hetween the O'Briens of Thomond, and the Mac Cartys of Desmond. Peace was at length concluded between these two chins, but was of no long- duration. As if Heaven were oftended at the incessant discords of these unforlunate people^ at a time when union was so indispensible for their preser- vation^ Munster was visited by storms and hur- ricanes, which demolish( d castles and churches^ and destroyed a number of people. Still new foundations of monasteries ! At Glas- carig, in Wexford, an abbey of Benedictines. At Bally niore, in >Vestmeath, an abbey of Cis- tercians; and another in the town of Down. A priory in Trim, and another in Kells, by a bishop of Aleath, and Walter Lacy. King Richard, on his return from the Holy Land, was shipwrecked in the Adriatic. He wished to travel incog, through Germany, on his return to England, but had the misfortune to fall into the hands of Leopold, marquis of Austria. That prince forgot not the aflTont he suffered from Richard, at the siege of Acre; who had snatciied from him a standard he had planted on the (op of a tower, to plant his own in its stead. He sold Richard to the emperor Henry VIL, who kept him prisoner fifteen months! His brother John, according to Ware, was wil- ling to take advantage of this incident, and took OF IRELAND. 53 some steps to get himself crowned king of Eng- land ; butj mistrusting the issue, he was content to fortify some castles in England; after which he had an interview with Philip Augustus, king of France, then in Normandy, who received him with distinction. English writers say, that Richardj on his return from captivity, was re- ceived with acclamations of joy. But it is dif- ficult to reconcile that with his long captivity, when a ransom would have extricated him at once. Perhaps the English had not at that time learned to pay foreign subsidies. The hereditary hostility of Irish chieftains continued to furnish the invaders with inexhaus- tible facilities for depredation and conquest. The O'Briens, at enmity with the Mac Cartys, the chieftain of Thomond allowed the Eni>;lish to build the castle of Briginis, as a place of safety, to protect their incursions into Desmond. Aided by such means, the invaders never ceased to pillage: they held nothing sacred that was Irish. Gilbert Nangle pillaged the abbey of Inis Cloghran, situated in Lough Rea; while the spouse of Courcy founded an abbey in Ulster, with the usual English policy, endowed for English monks. Our, annalists place the death of Dervorgeile, \yife of Tighernan O'Rourke, to this year, 1193. She differed from Helen in this: the Greek beauty brought destruction on Troy, the coun= try of her gallant, while the Irish beauty plunged her Dative country, by her debaucheries^ into irretrievable calamities. 54 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY DuriDg this reign Richard was so much taken lip with contintMital uiFairs, beiiig almost con- stantly at war with the king of France^ that he did not follow up his father's views^ on the con- quest of Ireland J by the powerful means he pos- sessed, lie left the English colony to avail themselves of the divisions of the Irish; and to derive from England such reinforcements, from time to time, as might be necessary for their security. IMany of the Irish chieftains, like Dermod O'Brien, of Limerick, who died about this time, repented the confidence they placed in these foreigners, and the footing they allowed them in the country. Notwithstanding the allowance of building a castle^ for the annoyance of Desmond, the English, by their usual means of fraud, got possession of his second son Mor- tough, and put out his eyes. It is probable, that it was not without the consent of Doncugh O'Brien, his successor, that Mac Carty was able to demolish the castle, and drive the English out of Limerick. Such occasional victories availed not the Irish^ because they either would not or could not follow them up. Regular campaigns can only be carried on by standing forces, which the Irish never kept on foot. After this defeat a reinforcement arrived on the coast of Munster, under Philip Wigorne, which restored the affairs of the colonists. In Ulster, Roderic, chieftain of Ulidia^ in con- junction with the English, made an inroad into Tyrone; but was attacked at Armagh, during OF IRELAND, 5d his retreat, byO'Loghlin, prince of Tyrone, who was soon afterwards assassinated by O'Cahan. A similar invasion of Tirconnel, by Russel, governor of the castle of Kilsandra, was at- tended with worse consequence to the invaders. On their return, with a considerable booty, they were attacked by O'Mildouin, chieftain of Tir- connel, and most of them slain. Mac Carty, of Desmond, irritated by the depredations of the English, put the garrison of Imaculla to the sword, and demolished the fortress. He treated in the same manner, the garrison of Kilfecal. The English, to arrest his progress, mustered all the forces they could; in consequence of which a truce was made, without coming to blows. That no part of Ireland should have repose, Gilbert N angle, one of the invaders planted in Meath, assembled a number of freebooters, and committed great depredations in the neighbour- ing countries. Had he done so in the Irish countries, he would be praised and rewarded: but, committing outrages within the Pale, drew on him the resentment of the justice, Hamon de Valoin, who demolished his castles, and confis- cated his estates. Such was the state of unfortunate Ireland. Her annals present nothing to the view but in- cessant storms and outrages. Here and there, indeed, the dreadful scence is diversified, by some acts of bigotry or devotion. At Termon Feckin, in the county of Louth, a nunnery was founded by Mac Mahon, a nobleman of that country. And De Courcy ravaged Tirconnel, and slew its OG AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY chieftain, O'Dogherty, who had succeeded the heroic O'Mildouin. The English did not forget their policy of fortifying themselves; they huilt the castles of Ardpatrick and Astrettin, in Minister. One would be surprized^ that the adventurers were able to carry on war against the natives, in so many, and so distant parts of Ireland, at the i-ame time^ if he did not know, that most of their forces consisted of native Irish, whether as allies or mercenaries. Without such auxiliaries, they could not effectually carry on their plan of exter- n)ination. For the natives were so swift of foot, according to the accounts of their enemies, that the English cavalry could not overtake them in a retreat. But they had bodies of their own countrymen, as light infantry, for pursuit and slaughter. By such means were the English enabled to carry on their hostilities in Ireland. In 1199, Courcy made a second irruption into Tyrone, laid waste the country, and brought with him much booty, but not with impunity. O'Neill overtook them at Donoughmore, where he com- pletely defeated them, and recovered the booty. At the same time the English of Desmond over- run the country of Munster, and laid waste the whole of it, from the Shannon to the sea. And Richard Tuite built a castle at Granard, to check the O'Reillys, who annoyed the quarters of the invaders. With a similar policy, the Whites of the county of Down established a garrison of Cistercian monks, brought from Wales. The earl of Pembroke established b^ OF IRELAND. 57 similar one at Tintcrne, on the coast of Wexford, garrisoned by Cistercian monks from Wales ; Tinother at Kilrush, in the county of Kildare, of a different order, but for a similar purpose^ to which he added two more in Wexford, of mili- tary orders. Such was the deplorable state of this divided country, when Richard L died in Normandy. He survived his captivity but five or six years. In attempting to take the castle of Chalus, near Limoges, by assault, he was wounded in the arm with an arrow, and his wound, by the ignorance of his surgeon, became mortal. His sudden death afforded John Lackland, stiled Lord of Ireland, a favourable opportunity to seize on the crown^ to the prejudice of the right- ful heir, Arthur, son of Geoffry, the eldest son and heir of Henry II. Arthur took arms in de- fence of his right, encouraged by Philip of France; but, taken prisoner at Mirabel, in Poi- tou, by his usurping uncle, he was brought under a strong guard to Rouen, and put to death. By these means John Lackland gave the lie to his name; uniting under his dominion the extensive continental territories of his father, together with England, the Irish colony, and his pretensions to the whole of Ireland. This is an instance of the inscrutable ways by which Providence rules the fortunes of nations. Had Henry II. lived to crown his son John king of Ireland, and that his elder brothers, or their heirs, lived to inherit England and Normandy. Ireland would have remained an independent 58 AN IMPARTIAL IIlSTORy kingdom. Jolir»'s posterity, reared in Ireland, education and interest would make them Irish- men. The invaders, instead of being freebooters, would become good subjects. They would learn a language more copious and elegant than their own, which at that time was a barbarous jargon, half French, half Saxon. As the Tartar conque- rors of China were civilized and became Chinese, so it would be counted no degeneracy in the English or Welsh to become real Irish, and ini- bive the native virtues. Well it had been for their posterity; for in the various revolutions in religion and politics, and the confiscations that usually succeeded them, few of their offspring that are not found mingled in the mass of Irish sufferers. Fresh swarms of adventurers pouring in, during the wars of Elizabeth, Cromwell, and W illiam, used the same language and con- duct towards them as they did to the antient natives; '' the only way to civilize them was, to kill them and take their properties." This was not the plan of Henry the Second; as he demonstrated, by his intention of making his son John king of Ireland. It was the language of the detestable father Barry, the first libeller of Ireland, and tutor to king John, but too faithfully put in execution by the adventurers. The same maxim was af- terwards repeated by bishop Jones, who had been scout-master to Oliver Cromwell's ar- my. And it must be allowed, that the adven- turers of that day, and ever since, acted their part in Ireland's tragedy, with no less ability OF IRELAND. 59 the destiny of this nation „ Was it the effect of chance? Was it the decree of Providence? Nu- merous prophecies^ published by the Irish saints, warned this nation of its downfall; but thej likewise consoled it, with the prospect of a more glorious uprise. King John, no less avaricious than his father, screwed his subjects for money. His reign might be justly called a continual tax. He sold, ac- cording to Hoveden, to William de Braosa and other adventurers, for 4000 marks of silver, all the country of the O Carrols, O Kennedys, O Meaghers^ Fogartys, O Ryans, O Heffernans, &c. which Henry II. his father, had bestowed to Philip de Worcester and Theobald Fitz- Walter. The pope and the king of England no doubt were very liberal in bestowing what was not their own; but king John, like most other robbers, thought it better to convert it into cash. Worcester however, who was then in England, came to Ireland through Scotland, and retook possession of his grant by force of arms. Fitz- Walter, with the assistance of Hugh Bere, his brother, archbishop of Canterbury, compounded with Braosa for his grant, by paying him 500 marks, which bargain was signed in the presence of the king. Henry II. had already appointed Fitz- Walter grand butler of Ireland. From this office his descendants took the name of Butler, The sudden prosperity of the adventurers, rising at once from indigence to opulence and power, had its usual effect. Envy and jealousy soon began to divide them like the ancient na- VOL. I. K 60 AN IMPAUTIAL HISTORY lives. The secret enmity between Lacj and De Courcy burst forth in the beginning of the reign of king John. His usurpation of the crown from the lawful heir, Arthur, his nepliew, rendered him odious to the public; and his inhuman but- chery of the innocent youth made him detestable. De Courcy^ a valiant though cruel warrior, was not very guarded in his expressions of abhor- rence. In some of his transports he went so far as to curse the tyrant, of which the king was informed. Apprised of the enmity between him and Lacy, he appointed the latter justice of Ire- land, with orders to arrest De Courcy, and to send him in irons to England. Lacy, delighted with a situation, and a command, so flattering to his sentiments, neglected nothing to fulfil his commission. He marched with the forces of the Pale and his own, to Down, where De Courcy^ with his Irish mercenaries and allies defeated him, Lacy^ seeing it impossible to conquer him by force of armS;, published a royal manifesto, de- claring him a traitor to the king, and offering a reward to whomsoever would take him, dead or alive. The valour of his allies could not save him from the treachery of his domestics. By some of these miscreants he was secretly conveyed, on Good Friday, to the justice, who, after paying the promised reward, hanged them. Lacy, with- out delay, brought his captive to the king, who, in recompence for his service, bestowed on him De Courcy's possessions in Ireland, with the title of earl of Ulster. Notwithstanding the dissensions amongst the OF IRELAND. 61 chiefs of the colony, they were not unmindful of any means to strengthen the English interest, by multiplying the garrisons of spiritual invaders. At Granee, in the county of Kildare, one was erected by Ridlesford, for Augustinians of English descent, mentioned by the authors of the Monasticon Anglicanum, with the bull of con- firmation of Pope Innocent III. anno 1207. At Nenagh, county of Tipperary, Theobald Walter, chief of the Butlers, founded a priory of the Hospitallers. At Ahassel, ( Ass's-ford, ) in the same county, a priory of canons regular was founded by De Burgh, from whom the Burkes. At Kilbeggan, in the county of Westmeatb, there was a Cistercian abbey founded by the Daltons. At Tristernagh, in the same county, a priory of canons regular of St. Augustine was founded by Geoffry. In the town of Wexford, the priory of Peter and Paul, for canons regular of St. Au- gustine, was founded by the Roches of Fermoy. At Naas, in the county of Kildare, a priory of the same order was founded by the baron of Naas. At Connall, on the banks of the LifFey, county of Kildare, a rich priory for canons re- gular of St. Angustine, was founded by Meyler Fitz-Henry, a bastard son of Henry II. This priory depended on the abbey of Anthony in England; the original act of its foundation is in the Bodleian library. An abbey, dedicated to St, Wolstan, lately canonized by Pope Innocent III. commonly called Scala Celi, in Latin, was founded by Richard and Adam de Hereford, and filled jWith English monks, anno 1205, At 62 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY Ounry, in the couiUy of Limerick, an abbcj ot* Cistercians, peopled \vilh Norman monks from Avranche, by Tli(^)bald Fitz- Walter, the first jj^rand butler of Ireland. It would be tedious to the reader to go over the long detail of similar foundations, recorded by English and Anglo- Irish writers; such as that of Inisteige, in the county of Kilkenny, founded by the seneschal of lieinster; that of the Cross-bearers, founded in Drogheda; that of Newtown^ near Trim, by Rochefort, bishop of iMeath; that of Douske, county of Kilkenny, founded by Marshall^ earl of Pembroke, for Cistercians; that of Ardee, county of Louth^ founded by Pipard^ for cross- bearers, &c. The reader will not imagine that the plun- derers of Irish monasteries, and of Irish property ingeneralj the breakers of treaties^ the murderers of prisoners of war, and of innocent and unof- fending people, were actuated by piety, in dis- posing of a part of the plunder in the building of monasteries. If they were not moral and just^ they were at least politic, and in these founda- tions they closely followed the Roman policy of establishing colonies in conquered countries. They also had a fair pattern of the same policy in the conduct of the See of Rome; who, in con- firming the establishment of any new order of monks, took care that the novices should, on their admission, swear passive obedience to their superiors; and that the chief of the order, under the title of general, should remain at Rome, under the eye of the Pope. This did not escape OF IRELAND. 63 the penetrating eye of Frederic 11.^ who^ on the suppression of the order of Jesuits^ was heard to say, '' I wonder what could induce Gauganelli to disband his grenadiers/' To root out Irish monks, and plant English in their place, to keep a strict alliance with the Pope, by an annual subsidy, was to wield the two edged sword of the temporal and spiritual power, for the subjugation of Ireland. This policy has been exemplified in the dumb creation. After the destruction of the Irish fo- rests, for hunting the Irish natives, the importa- tion of timber became necessary. Together with the timber from the Baltic, the rats, commonly known by the name of Norway, were imported; who, without regarding the prescriptive title of the little black rats of Ireland, or the imme- morial possession of their rat -holes; without soliciting a grant, either from the Pope or the king of England, but with all the ferocity of invaders, they gave no quarters. Fighting them under ground, and above ground, they de- stroyed the race. A siniilar revolution attended the Milesian bees. More long and slender than those now commonly seen, and of a darker hue; a few of them are still to be found wild in dif- ferent parts of the country. In imitation of their ancestors of a warmer climate, they collect less wax, make their cells thinner, but gather more honey than the present race; and, with Milesian hospitality, they will not fight for their treasure, but, if plundered, they flit, and begin to work again. 64* AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY While tliesc measures of profound policy and powerful means were preparing for the destruc- tion of the ancient Irish, as if blinded by fate or Providence, they were still a prt^y to civil dis* sens ions. Hugh O'Neil, chieftain of Tyrone, was destroyed by Cornelius Mac Loghlin; but on the latter being slain in battle shortly after by O'Donnel, he was re-established. Such was the anarchy of the Irish, that the discord of the English chiefs availed them nothing. The sale of the grant to Philip de Worcester, by the king, to William de Braosa, caused a great deal of trouble in Munstcr, as the grantee sought for- cible possession: but the matter was compromised by the surrender of Knock Graft'an, and some other places, to William. GeofFry Mac Morres, from some motives of ambition or discontent, at present unknown, raised an insurrection against his fellow adventurers in Tipperary. Lacy, in quality of king's justice, marched with all the troops he could collect towards Thurles, to quell the insurrection. He razed Castle-Meyler; but, after losing a great number of men in the taking of it, and in different actions with the Irish, he was obliged to give up the enterprise. This, and all the other instances, which are numerous, of Irish valour, availed the unfortu- nate natives nothing. Actuated only by chival- rous principles, and torn by hereditary feuds and vehement passions, their arms were directed against themselves, by the cool, cruel policy of a phlegmatic people. England, with its conti- nental possessions, was powerful and near. It OP IRELAND. 65 was an inexhaustible source of men and arms. The divisions of the numerous clans of Ireland^ fomented by the intrigues of England, made them at last a sure, though a difficult prey. The difficulty of the conquest may be estimated by comparison. The vast empire of Hindoostan, almost as distant from England as the antipodes, has been conquered in less than a century. And Ireland, so small^ so contiguous to England, so distracted by anarchy and civil war, was not subdued during four hundred years. 'Twas the introduction of gun-powder alone, which deprived the natives of the advantages of superior strength, agility, and skill at arms, that enabled all Eng- land, and half Ireland, after a contest of fifteen years, to subdue the North. In 1209, the city of Dublin was taught by severe experience, that the Irish had learned some lessons of cruelty from the invaders. The citizens of Dublin were regaling themselves at Cullen's-wood, (so called from O'Cullen, the ancient proprietor,) on Easter- Monday, when they were unexpectedly attacked by the O'Bumeg and the O'Tooles, and a great number of thera massacred. This gave rise to an annual custom^, long observed by the citizens of Dublin, of com- memorating this disaster on the spot where it happened; and the day was denominated Black- Monday. In succeeding ages new actors ap- pear — the feast of the Pale is forgotten — the fes- tivals of the Cromwellians and of the Williamitcs now yearly fan the breeze of civil dissension. The situation of the English colony induced 6G AN IMPARTIAL HiSTOUy king John to inidertake an expedition to Ireland in person, lie landed at \> atcrford, in 1^209, at the head of a niiinerons and well appointed arnjv, to suppress the bordering clans, who were making; severe reprisals on the murdering, ma- rauding invaders. He advanced towards Dub- lin, where he received the homage of several chieftains, but there were many who did not condescend to pay him court* The object of this expedition appears to have been, rather the establishing order and obedience to the royal authority in the Pale, than the conquest of Ire- land. For this purpose he took possession of the castles and strong holds of the adventurers. All fled before him. Among the rest William de Braosa, with his whole family; but they were taken, conveyed to England, and confined in the castle of Windsor, where they died of hun- ger. Nor did the Lacys entirely escape the con- sequences of their tyranny and rapine. Walter^ and Hugh, justice of Ireland, tormented by re- morse for their crimes^ and terrified by the com- plaints made to the king, fled to Normandy; upon which, John Gray, bishop of Norwich, was appointed the king's deputy. For the pur- pose of concealment, they presented themselves at the abbey of St. Taurin Evreux, as labourers^ where being received, they tilled the fields and gardens of the abbey during three years. After some time, the abbot, suspecting from their manners and language, that they were not ori- *■ Matt. Paris. Angl. Hist. Major, ad an. 1210. OF IRELAND. ^« not originally bred to manual labour, questioned them about their descent and family. Having learned from them their history, he took com- passion on them, and undertook to make their peace. His interposition with an avaricious king had its full force. John allowed them to return to Ireland, and repossess themselves of the grants of his father, on paying a large ran- som. Walter paid for Meath 2500 marks of silver, and his brother Hugh had to pay a more considerable sum for his grants in Ulster and Connaught. After establishing some laws for the govern- ment of the pale, and the regulation of the mint, he passed over to Wales, where he took twenty-eight children of the first quality as hos- tages; but on hearing that the Welch began to revolt, in a transport of rage, he ordered these innocents to be hanged in his presence, while at dinner. This trait of barbarity alone, sufficiently depicts this cruel and barbarous tyrant; but the murder of his nephew Arthur, the rightful heir to the crown, had already made him odious and contemptible both at home and abroad. For this he was cited to appear before a court of the peers of France. Not appearing, he was declared a rebel; his territories in France were confis- cated, and he was condemned to death, as the crime was committed within the jurisdiction of the French monarchy. Normandy, Touraine, Anjou and Maine, were reunited to the French domain, and Guienne alone remained to Ens:- land. Another false step, taken by John, com- VOL. I. L 68 AN IMFAKTIAL HISTORY pletcd liis hmniliafion. Ilaviiic^ opposed the election ofcardiiijil Laiip:ton for ou, sealed with the seals of our lord Gaulon, legale of the apostolic see, and of our trusty earl William Marishal, our governor, and the governor of our kingdom; because, as yet, wc have no seal. And the same shall in process of time, and our fuller counsel^ receive the signature of our own seal. Given at Gloucester the sixth day of February/' The partiality of the chief justice to the An- glo-Irish interest, appears clearly in these grants^ which were voluntary concessions of the same rights and privileges extorted from king John by the English. The same partiality appears in the unjust donation of the kingdom of Con- naught to his kinsman De Burgo. After the death of Cathal O'Connor, Richard endeavoured to enforce the grant; but O'Nial interposed, in support of the ancient house, and got Turlongh O'Connor proclaimed king. The justice, Geoffry Maurice, had recourse to the established usage of divide and conquer. He marched with an army to Connaught, and set up a rival to the new king, Hugh, the son of Cathal. The demands of the English, in reward for this transfer of power, seeming to him and his party excessive, they resisted them with some success, and took a son of Geoffry prisoner. Invited to an amicable conference by the justice, and assas- sinated, his uncle Turlough re-assumed the so- OF IRELAND, 79 vereigntj. But De Burgo succeeding Geoffry, as king's deputy, soon raised him another rival. ,His claims of remuneration appearing exorbitant to Phelim O'Connor, he had recourse to arms. The deputy set all the power of the English set- tlers in motion against him ; and further to wea- ken his resources, declared for the uncle, against whom he had set him up. Yet Phelim had the good fortune to defeat both the English and their Irish partisans, and re-assume the sove- reignty without a rival. But what was still of more advantage than a victory, Hubert was in disgrace; his favourite, De Burgo, ceased to be deputy, and Maurice Fitz-Gerald succeeded him. The king of Connaught took occasion of the favourable moment, and endeavoured to secure his people and country from further insults, by royal protection. The king could not but be astonished at the representations of O'Connor; who, with unaffected candour and simplicity, told the grievous tale of his own and people's sufferings, from the enormity of the settlers; so contrary to the false impressions made on him, by his interested governor, concerning Irish af- fairs. Accustomed to hear the natives of Ireland described as uncivilized barbarians, he was sur- prised to see an accomplished and polished gen- tleman. He was no less shocked to find, that the enormities, falsely imputed to the natives, were most commonly committed by their accu- sers. In compliance with O'Connor's request, he addressed a letter to Maurice Fitz-Gerald, 80 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY his deputy, recommending the affairs of convivial murder, the dagger of an assassin, or division, delivered from embarrassment. In 1270, the Irish natives made some severe reprisals on the settlers, but were afterwards tranquillized by David Barry, the deputy, after the English fashion VOL. I, 92 AN IMFAHTIAL IIISTOKY The liistorians of Ihe |)alc, and lihrllers of the ancient Irish, ridiculously callinj^ Ihcir ])artial and malevolent compilations, histories of Ireland, (hvell largely on the extortions of the Pope, and the king ot England. " At this lime a fifteenth of all cathedrals, churches, and religious h.ouscs, and a sixteenth of all other ecclesiastical reve- nues, were demanded by the king, with the con- currence of the Pope. Mere the wretched laity were stripped, even of their very necessaries, and the churches of all their ornaments, to supply the rapacious demands of legates and nuncios."* The pale historian ought to have remarked, that these oppressive tributes were confined to the popish limits of English jurisdiction, and were effectually resisted by the native catholics, who acknowledged no superior in temporals. The king of England, and the Irish settlers, were equally interested to cultivate their alliance with the court of Rome, and, consequently, to tolerate its extortions. The native Irish, sensible of the injurious abuse of the Pope's spiritual authority to their disadvantage, were less than ever in- clined to pay him tribute. 1 he writers of the pale observe, that the king of England endea- voured to restrain, within some limits, the rapa- cious demands of foreign ecclesiastics, and pub- lished an ordinance, that no legate should pass into Ireland w ithout a royal licence. But it was not merely to spare the natives or settlers, that this politic precaution was used. By this check, * Leland, Vol. I. Book II. c. i. p. 233. Dub. ed. 4to 1773. OF IRELAND, 93 the legate would be obliged to share his acqui- sitions,, or at least engage on oath not to make any representations of the real state of Ireland at Rome; such as mighty, notwithstanding the sub- sidy, be prejudicial to the English interest, to which truth, religion and conscience were always sacrificed. Leland dwells with some severity, and a mixture of truth, on the sufferings of the Irish clergy from these foreigners. "^ The bold- est remonstrances were made to the king, against the scandalous abuse of investing proud and luxurious foreigners with the dignities and reve- nues of the Irish church, who contemptuously refused to engage in the duties of their function, or to reside in the country which they pillaged with their extortions . . . but the clergy had not only the partialities of the Pope, but those of Henry himself to contend with. The neglected^ the worthless, or tlie depressed, among their English brethren, sought refuge in the church of Ireland, to the utter mortification and discon- tent of the whole body of ecclesiastics, botli of the Irish and of the English race, who regarded them as aliens, and deemed the invasion of their own rights equally oppressive, whether Italy or England furnished this series of emigrants. Though forced to submit to the royal authority, strengthened by that of the Pope, they yet de- termined to exert all the power they had left, against the invasions of this strange clergy."* He forgot to remark, that these ecclesiastical * Leland, Vol. I. Book H. c. i. p. 233, 234. 94 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY usurpations were confined witliin the limits of English infliirnce. Tin; Irish princes, who as yet retained their independence, scornfully rejected such encroachments as unchristian. Yet even the clergy of English descent were SO spirited in their opposition to these intruders, that the king was obliged to appeal to the Pope. The PonlifF, in compliance with the requisition of his ally and tributary, threatened to fulminate the thunders of the Vatican against the daring colonists, who presumed to dispute his own and the king's right, to dispose of benefices to whom- soever they chose, whether English or Italian. The same partial writer, in his further remarks on the ecclesiastics of the settlers, confounds and misleads his readers, by not clearly expressing the distinction between the clergy of the colony and those of the Irish nation. '' The clergy," he says, ^' were indefatigable in their encroach- ments on the civil power."* Who would not imagine that the national clergy were meant here; but, in the very next page, it appears clearly, that they were only those of English descent, who were copying the popery of their English brethren. " An application was made to the king's courts in England, to decide on this point, (the case of bastardy ; ) the statute of Merton was therefore transmitted to Ireland for the direction of the king's subjects."f The na- tional clergy had nothing to do with tlie king's English courts, the king's common law, or the * Leland, Vol. I, B, II. ch. i. p. ^Zb, -I- Ibid, p. 236, OP IRELAND. 95 statute of Merton, but were guided bj the Bre- hon and canon laws. The same writer proves, in another instance, the difficulty of subduing inbred prejudice. '' The Irish clergy were possessed with exalted ideas of the dignity and glory of their own church/'* (and the whole Christian world agreed with them in this. ) Good reader, would you not fancy, that the following record of clerical tyranny applied to the national clergy? especially when the historian of the colony en- deavours to persuade, by an inuendo, '' but what were the manners, at least of some among them ... we learn from the curious petition of a widow, in the reign of Edward I."* This peti- tion, thus introduced, to blacken the character of the Irish clergy, is as follows. '^ Margaret le Blunde, of Cashel, petitions our lord the king's grace, that she may have her inheritance, which she recovered atClonmell be- fore the king's judges, &c. against David Mac- mackerwayt, bishop of Cashel. ^' Item, the said Margaret petitions redress on account that her father was killed by the said bishop. '' Item, for the imprisonment of her grand- father and mother, whom he shut up and de- tained in prison till they perished by famine, be^ cause they attempted to seek redress for the death of their son, father of your petitioner, who had been killed by the said bishop. Item^ for the * Leland, Vol. I. B. II. c. i. p. 234. note« % AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY death of her six broUins aiul sisters, mIio wore slaivcd <(» death hv the said bishop, ])eeause he liad their iiilieritanee in his hands at the time he kilkd their father. '' And it is to be noted, that the said bishop had built an abbey in tlie eily of Cashel, on the kind's lauds granted for this purpose, whieh he hath filled with robbers, who murder the Eng- lish, and depopulate tiie country; and that when the council of our lord the kingattcmpts to take cognizance of the offence, he fulminates the sen- tence of exconuTuuiication against them. '' It is to be noted also, that the aforesaid Margaret has five times crossed the Irish sea. \V here fore she petitions for God's sake, that the king's grace will have compassion, and that she ruay be permitted to take possession of her inhe- ritance. *' It is further to be noted, that the aforesaid bishop hath been guilty of the death of many other Englishmen besides that of her father. '' And that the aforesaid Margaret hath many times obtained writs of our lord the king, but to no effect, by reason of the inlluence and bribery of the said bishop, '' She further petitions, for God's sake^ that she may have costs and damages, &c." '^ What a prelate was this, even supposing the allegations aggravated !" says Leland. But was this Macinackerwayt one of the national clergy? Does the epithet macmac prove the felonious bishop to be of Milesian extraction.?' Many of the settlers assumed tjie title of mac; such as OF IRELAND. 97 Mac William, Mac Morris. 2dlj. None of the natives assumed the sirname of niacmac, i. e. the son of the son; because instead of that it would be 6. E. g. When any one adopted a sirname from the name of his father, then it would be joined to mac, son in English, as Mac Neil, Neil- son, Mac Sean, Johnson; but when he took it from his grandfather, or any remoter ancestor, the o was added, simply denoting descent, as de in French, and von in German, but never macmac, except applied to a recent settler, who was not of the clan. It is not difficult to perceive, that this sample of ecclesiastical barbarity, industriously pub- lished, and fraudulently interpreted, to tarnish the glory of the island of saints, really belonged to the degenerate English : an obscure adventu- rer, indigent and unprincipled, as most of them are depicted, by English and Anglo-Irish writers, settled in Tipperary. Fairwood was of that de- scription, now generally transported to the south- ern hemisphere, when they can escape the gal- lows. As he neither cared to tell, nor the Irish to know, any thing of his pedigree, his grandson was known by the name of Macmac, more cor- rectly Macmicerwayt, i. e. the son of the son of Fairwood. Makijig allowance for the imper- fection of writing from the ear, and that by and from people not masters of the language, of which we have numerous proofs, in the mang- ling of Irish words in English records, it is rather surprising that the name was so preserved as to be intelligible. A demonstrative proof, that 98 AN IMPARTIAL IIISTOnv (he reverend culprit was none of tlie native clcrji;y, is coiilaiiu d in the very act oT petition- ing tlie king of England. This proves that the bishop lived under the Jurisdiction of English kings; otherwise we know, tliatCork, Limerick, Cashel, &c. were among their earliest acquisi- tions in Ireland. Consequently, agreeal)ly to the invariable policy of popish England, a native of England, Normandy, or at worst, a settler, was nominated to the see. We had, beside this fellow, many foul specimens of these civilizing villains, as O'Molloy, bishop of Ferns, remarked, in his discourse in Christ-church, before the clergy of Leinster, from the neighbouring island. Ader- ton, bishop of Waterford, hanged for bestiality and sodomy, perhaps was the most disgraceful of the pretended civilizers of the mart of science and sanctity. Leland gives many instances of what he sets forth as clerical tyranny. The archbishop of Dublin excommunicated Stephen Longespee, or Longsword, with all his train. He fulminated the same sentence against the magistrates and citizens of Dublin, for opposing his exactions, known by the title, '' oblations of the faithful.'' In vain they applied to the deputy for protection. He, and the cardinal legate, Ottobon, were in structed by their masters, who shared the booty levied on the Irish clergy within Henry's juris- diction, to allow them to become the collectors, and raise it on the laity. Accordingly the city of Dublin was compelled to compound the matter. The death of Henry III. and the successioa OF IRELAND. 99 of Edward I. to the throne of England, made no material alteration in the state of Ireland. The new king; found sufficient employment for his talents in England, and on the Continent; leaving his Irish subjects, tributaries, and the independent chins, stiled by the settlers, '' Irish enemies," to their long accustomed broils. The melancholy picture of a magnanimous people, perishing piecemeal, in the convulsions of anarchy, exacerbated by hereditary feuds, is hardly relieved by any incident of novelty, or of consolation, to the heart-feelings of humanity. Edward, at his accession, in a letter to his de- puty, Maurice Fitz- Maurice, made a specious promise of his protection to all his Irish subjects ; but his attention was so much directed to weigh- tier affairs, that he did not live to realize his professions. Indeed his subjects in Ireland were more deserving of coercion than protection. Their insatiable encroachments on, and treach- erous dealings with the natives, sometimes pro- voked the resentment of a spirited and warlike people. The O'Moores of Leix, ( King's county, ) and the O'Connors of Ophaly, ( Queen's county, ) flew to arms, repelled the aggressors, demolished their castles, defeated the king's deputy, took him prisoner, and confined him in Ophaly. The victors retaliated on the pale the depredations committed on their own territories; and the next deputy, Glenvillj attempting to oppose them, experienced a signal defeat, Maurice Fitz- Maurice, as soon as liberated from prison, was the author of new troubles ia VOL I P 100 AN 1M1V\IITI\L inSTOKV IMunslor EinboldiMird hy Iiis alliance wiili (lie duke o( (f loncestci's son, Thonias dc Clare, married to Iiis daui^liler, and encouraged to wrest lands from llie 0'J5riens, l)v fin. promise of a reinforcement from En<»land, under the command of his son-in-law, in conjunction with Theobald Butler, he made war on that princely family. I)e Clare soon arrived from England, with a royal grant of the best of (heir patrimony, and a considerable train of followers, to support liis claim. In vain the chieftain exclaimed against the injustice of such lawless grants, made by a man, who had no juster title to Tho- mond than he had to to the empire of China. In vain he appealed to the treaties, by which the kings of England guaranteed to his family their principality, laws, rights, and privileges, as held by him before the adventurers arrived. The grantee would hearken to no reasoning on the merits of his claim, but referred to tlie motto of the O'Briens, '' Laiv laidir an uatar, The strong hand uppermost." The latter acce])ted the chal- lenge; but a seasonable assassination of their chieftain lost t4iem a battle. The warlike sons of O'Brien resolved to avenge the insult offered to their tribe, and the death of their father, car- ried on the war with energy and success. The Geraldines were totally overthrown: and the remnant, with the grantee and his father-in-law, were driven into an inaccessil)le mountain, where, blocked up, and reduced to famine, they were obliged to capitulate, and acknowledge tlie O'Briens kings of Thomond, '' Hostages were OF IRELAND. 101 <^iven for the eric, or satisfaction, demanded for the death of their late chieftain, according to Irish custom; and the castle of Roscommon, lately built, and strongly fortified, was surren- dered to the victorious enemy,"* Oh the blind partiality of these Pale writers ! In the same page he says, '' as the Irish alledge," but quotes no authority, that O'Brien fell by the treachery of his own people. Undoubtedly, ruffians could be found in Ireland, as well as in other coun- tries, capable of any enormity for a bribe; but it was not the instrument, but the principals and Cinployers, that the Thomonians pursued for eric. It was in the temper of indigent libertines, described as such by their own country writers, come to prey on an opulent divided people, to scruple no means of wresting their property. These instances are sufficient to give an idea of the state of the island in general; the Irish na- tives being there most wretched, where the power of the settlers was strongest. The incessant sufl'erings of the Milesians, in several parts of Leinster; the insecurity of their lives and properties, harrassed and hunted from every quarter, without protection from law or government, determined them to petition king- Edward, to be admitted as his sulijects, and be protected by his law. This petition, '' wrung from a people tortured by the painful feelings of oppression/'t Proves only their deplorable situation, not a decided preference to the Eng- * L.'laiid, Vol. I. B. IL ch. ii. p. ^\l^ f Ibid, p. 213. 102 AN IMPARTIVL HISTOKY lish law ovor flieir own ancient laws and consti- fiifion, un(l(T which iUc nioriarcliy lone; flourish- ed. The motives of this application an; thus stated by Sir John Davies, attorney-general to James 1. *' As longe as ihcy [the Irish] were out of the protection of the lawe, so as evrie Englishman might oppresse, spoile, and kille them without controulment, howc was it possible thej shoulde be other thanoutlawes and enemiesto the crowne of England ? If the king woulde not admit them to the condition of subjects, howe coulde they learne to acknowledge and obey him as their so- vereigne? When they miglit not converse^ or commerce with any civil man, nor enter into any towne or citty, without perrill of their lives, whi- ther shoulde they flye but into the woodes and mountains, and there live in a wilde and barba- rous manner ? If the English magistrates woulde not rule them by the lawc which doth punish murder, and treason, and theft, with death, but leave them to be ruled by their own lords and lawes, why shoulde not they embrace their own Brehon lawe, which punisheth no offence but with a fine or ericke? If the Irish be not per- mitted to purchase estates of freeholds or inhe- ritance, whicli might descende to their children, according to the course of our common lawe, must they not continue their custom of tanistrie, which niakes all their possessions uncertaine, and brings confusion, barbarisme, and incivility? In a worde, if the English woulde neither in peace governe them by the lawe, nor in war roote them out by the sworde, must they not necdes be OF IRELAND. 103 prickes in their eyes, and thornes in their sides, till the world's ende ?"* Through deputy Ufford they offered 8000 marks to the king, provided he would grant the free enjoyment of the Eng- lish laws to the whole body of Irish inhabitants; the first instance, perhaps, recorded in history, of any people offering a bribe to a foreign king to receive them as his subjects. Here follows Edward's answer to this memorable petition: '' Edw ard, by the grace of God, king of Eng- land, lord of Ireland, and duke of Aquitaine, to our trusty and well beloved Robert de Uffford, justiciary of Ireland, greeting. " The improvement of the state, and peace of our land of Ireland, signified to us by your let- ter, gives us exceeding joy and pleasure. We entirely commend your diligence in this matter, hoping, ( by the divine assistance, ) that the things there began so happily by you, shall, as far as in you lieth, be still further prosecuted with the greater vigour and success. '' And whereas the community of Ireland hath made a tender to us of 8000 marks, on condition that we grant to them the laws of England, to be used in the aforesaid land, we will you to know, that, inasmuch as the laws used by the Irish are ht^teful to God, and repugnant to all justice, and having held diligent conference, and full deliberation with our council on this mat- * Davies's Discovery. 104 AN IMPARTMF- HISTORY ter, it seems snfticienvas a m;ui of rank, fhe assassin was even ap- plauded and rewarded ! These were not the sole misfortunes of the natives. The foreign wolves, afler satina; their voracity with their spoils and blood, iuNolvcd them also in their wars with each other, ravaging and slaying without mercy. The native Irish formed the main bulk of their forces; and these were placed in every post of danger. iiesides those already mentioned, they found another mode of recruiting, from those they treat- ed as Irish enemies. While they lulled the neigh- bouring tribes, by the mockery of treaties of al- liance, never meant to be kept, they made a sud- den irruption upon some district^ marked out as a prey; and, overpowering it, they built a castle, compelling all they condescended not to kill, to work at the building. Thither they conveyed all the provision they chose, together with the best connected and handsomest young women, to be married to some of their followers. These they employed, like the Sabine women, to entice their relatives to enlist under the banners of the new bashaw, who knew how to reward military merit; to exchange famine for plenty; and the scanty and precarious tenure of gavel-kind, for the security and splendor of hereditary estates. Thus the country falling to ruin on every side, and policy dictating something to be saved from OF IRELAND. 107 the common wreck for themselves and families, multitudes were forced or seduced, by fraud and ^violence, to enlist with the destroyers; besides numbers^ who volunteered with them for a pro- mised share of plunder. Another source of booty and aggrandizement^ was the facility of exciting clans^ embittered with hereditary feuds, to make war on each other; sometimes joining one side, sometimes another, untill both were enfeebled and subdued. So easy it was to kindle such petty wars, that the parliament of the Pale passed an act, in the tenth year of Henry VII. forbid- ding any licge-man, under pain of treason, to excite the Irishry to war against the Pale, or the king's deputy. The elective form of the petty sovereignties, especially since the downfall of the monarchy and constitution, opened a wide field of con- stantly recurring opportunities, to the phlegma- tic calculating ambition and avarice of the in- vaders. On such occasions they used every art, to inflame the contest of an election into a civil war among the clan and their followers. These being the most cruel of wars, they were sure to be called in, to the aid of the weaker party, on their own terms. If their allies succeeded, lands, matrimonial alliance with the triumphant chief, and castles for their security, rewarded their ser- vices, untill they gradually became greater than the chieftain of the territory. If beaten, as some- times happened, still it was a splendid though bloody lottery for adventuring speculation; and the next contested election of a chief would re- VOL. I. Q 108 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY pair ihc\r losses, and amply rrward lliclr iiiulcr- iiiiiiing' toils. By such arts, profitiiii^ of the confusion and anarchy of the country, the Fitz-GeraUls^ Burkes, Buth^s, Eustaces, Lacys, &c. hecanie great lords, allied in hlood, and ranking Nvith the greatest Irish chieftains. So De Clare, notwiUistanding his defeat, and humiliating treaty, and the pay- ment of an eric for the murder of O^Hrien Roe, hecanie a irreat man once more. His remittances from England enahled him to interfere with ef- fect, in the disputed succession to thechieftainry of Thomond, His ally was acknowledged hy the majority of the electors. His rival, indig- nant at English interference, and supported hya powerful party, was preparing to wage a hloody war against the new chieftain, when the ami- cahlc interposition of Mac Carty, chieftain of Desmond, assuaged the fury of his countrymen. ''^ He entreated them to consider, that they were arming against their own brethren, preparing to depopulate their lands, blowing up the flame of civil dissension, which had already wasted their unhappy country. That they had a common enemy, industriously fomenting, and taking ad- vantage of their disorder, to subdue them by their own weapons. That their interest, and that of all their countrymen, called loudly on them to compose their private differences, and wait, with patience, some favourable opportunity to recover their lost rights." His mediation was successful. I see no immediate reason^, but this charitable OF IRELAND. 109 good office to his deluded countrymen^ that made Leland^ the Pale historian^ saj^ '' The Mac Cartjs, ever implacable enemies to the Eng- lish^ proceeding with a dark and determined ran- cour." I see no dark rancour in this mediation. But^ if they were really animated with implaca- ble enmity to their inhuman invaders^ it only proved they were men endowed with human feelings. If the bare recital of their deeds of treachery and bloody fills every humane breast now with horror^ how must the sufferers and spectators in the tragic scene have felt ? Unfor- tunately for the Milesian race^ they felt not an adequate degree of abhorrence for their syste- matic\v the aboniinahlt! and nefarious custom, Nvhicli is arqnirini:^ more inveteracy every day fr )in habit; naujcly, when they invite a noble- man of our nation to dine with them, they, either in the midst of the entertainment, or in the un- gu irdcd h( ur of sleep, spill the l)l()()d of our un- su^pecling countrymen, terminate their detesta- ble feast with murder, and sell the heads of tlieir guests to the enemy. Just as Peter Brumichc- liame, who is since ca]led the treacherous baron, did with Mauritius de S his fellow spon- sor, and the said Mauritius' brother, Calnacus, men much esteemed for their talents and their honour among us. He invited them to an enter- tainment, on a feast day of the Holy Trinity; on that day, the instant they stood up from the table, he cruelly massacred them, with twenty- four of their followers, and sold their heads at a dear price to their enemies; and when he was arraiperties, and murderers of our persons; so far from thinking it unlaw- ful, we hold it to be a meritorious act. Nor can we be accused of perjury or rebellion, since nei- ther our fathers or we, did at any time bind our- selves by any oath of allegiance to their fathers or to them; and, therefore, without the least re- morse of conscience, while breath remains, we will attack them, in defence of our just rights, and never lay down our arms until we force them to desist. Besides, we are fully satisfied to prove in a judicial manner, before twelve or more bishops, the facts, which we have stated, and the grievances, which we have complained of. Not like the English, who in time of prosperity contemn all legal ordinances; and, if they en- joyed prosperity at present, would not recur to Rome, as they do now, but would crush, with their overbearing and tyrannical haughtiiiess, all the surrounding nations^ despising every law human and divine. 130 AN IMPARTIAL IIISTOKY '' Tlicicforc, oil account of all (hose injuries, and a thousand others^ \\liicli human wit c.mnot easily comprehend; and on account of the kings of England, and their kicked minihters_, who, instead ofgoNerning us^ as thej are bound to do, with justice and moderation, have wickedly endeavoured to exterminate us oiTthe face of the earth; and to shake off entirely their detestable yoke, and recover our native liberties, which we lost by their means, wc are forced to carry on an exterminating war; chusing in defence of our lives and liberties, rather to rise like men, and expose our persons bravely to all the dangers of war, than any longer to bear, like women, their atrocious and detestable iiyurics. And in order to obtain our interest the more speedily and con- sistently, we invite the gallant Edward Bruce, to whom, being descended from our most noble ancestors, we transfer, as we justly may, our own right of royal dominion, unanimously de- claring him our king, by common consent, who in our opinion, and in the opinion of most men,. is as just, prudent, and pious, as he is powerful and courageous: who will do justice to all classes of people, and restore to the church those properties, of which it has been so damna- bly and so inhumanly despoiled,'' &c. On receipt of this spirited pathetic remon- strance, the Pope, though solicited by the court of London, to issue an excommunication against the Irish and Scotch, thought proper to send a copy of it to Edward 11.^ accompanied with OF IRELAND. 131 the following exhortations to attend to the grie^ vances stated therein^ and correct them. '^ Pope John, the servant of the servants of God, to the illustrious Edward, king of England, health and eternal benediction. ^^ Most beloved son, we bear a paternal love for the encrease and prosperity of jour highness, while we invite you, with earnest exhortation, to attend to those things which are pleasing to the just judge of your kingdom, and that would be productive of the peace of your lands and subjects, and worthy of your sense and honor. For which reason you ought to receive our ad- vice with a devout mind, and yield yourself flex- ible and ready to put them in execution. Behold, my son, we have received letters, addressed to us long ago, by the magnats and people of Ireland, to the address of our beloved sons Anselm, car- dinal presbyter of the SS. Marcel line and Peter, and Luke, cardinal deacon, of the title of St. Mary, of Broadstreet, nuncios of the apostolic see, and by them transmitted to us, inclosed in their own letters. In the sayings of which, among other things, we have seen a document, stating, that whereas Pope Adrian, our predecessor of happy memory, had granted the dominion of Ire- land to Henry II., your progenitor of illustrious memory, by apostolic letters, containing a cer- tain modification and limits; that the said king and his successors, kings of England, to this time, have not observed this modification, nor VOL. I. T 133 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY these limits, but, on the contrary, transgressing them, have oppressed the Irish with unheard-of grievances of insupportable servitude, and super- fluous afllictions; nor was there hitherto any who would redress those grievances, or punish those crimes. No one was moved with a pious compassion for the destruction of these people; althougli they often had recourse to you, and the loud cry of the oppressed sometimes rung in your ears. '' On these accounts, unable any longer io bear such tyranny, they were compelled to with- draw from your dominion, and to call another to rule them. '' These allegations, my dear son, if founded on truth, are so much the more distressing to our feelings, the more intensely we wish all sorts of prosperity to you. You ought sedulously to attend to those things, and to put in speedy exe- cution such measures, as may be pleasing to your Creator; and solicitously to avoid all things by which God himself, the Lord of vengeance, might be provoked against you, who does not neglect the groans of those unjustly oppressed^ who is known to have rejected his chosen people for their injustice, and made a transfer of em- pires. What we the more ardently wish for you is, to pay attention, in these times of revolution, to every means that may conciliate the affections of the people, and avoid every thing that may cause disaffection. Now, as it is your interest to prevent the evils that these troubles may cause,. !^ it is most expedient not to neglect the begin- OF IRELAND. 133 ningSj lest the evil encreasing dailj^ the neces- sary remedy might come too late. Every thing -well considered, we exhort, by these presents, your majesty, that by maturity of council, and prudence of consideration of your statesmen, you should provide a correction and reformation of these abuses and grievances, by such decent ways and means as you may be able to devise ; that so you may be able to oppose these dangerous be- ginnings, and please him, by whom you reign, and plant yourself solidly among them; that so no one may have any cause of complaint against you; and that the Irish led by sounder counsel, may obey you as their lord: or if, which God forbid, they should continue in their foolish re- bellion, theywould make their own cause appear unjust, and leave you excused before God and jnan. '' That you maybe the more fully informed of the aforesaid grievances and complaints, on which the Irish rest their cause, we send you the aforesaid letters, addressed to the aforesaid cardinals, with a copy of the letters, by which our fore-mentioned predecessor. Pope Adrian, granted the land of Ireland to the said Henry, king of England. Given at the Vatican,'' &c. In round terms he asserts the claims of Eng- lish kings on Ireland; '^ that if the Irish perse- vered in their foolish rebellion, they would ex- cuse him before God and man, and condemn their own cause/' I see no reason for these bold asjscrtions^ but the following iniquitous gract 134 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY made by Pope Adrian IV., and conrirmed by ]us succTssors, until the schism of llcnryVIII. " Adrian the bishop, the servant of the servants of Cod, to his most dear son in (lirist, the noble king of Eni;l:iiid, sendcth greeting and apostolic benediction. '' Your magnificence hath been very careful and studious how you niight enlarge the cliurch of God iiere on earth, and encrease the number of saints and elect in heaven, in that as a good ca- tholic king, you have and do by all means labour and travel to enlarge and encrease God's church, by teaching the ignorant people the true and christian religion, and in abolishing and root- ing up the weeds of sin and wickedness. And therein you have^, and do crave, for jour better furtherance, the help of the apostolic see ( where- in more speedily and discreetly you proceed) the better success, we hope, God will send; for all they, which of a fervent zeal and love in reli- gion, do begin and enterprize any such thing, shall no doubt in the end have a good and pros- perous success. And as for Ireland^ and all other islands where Christ is known and the Christian rclit!;ion received, it is out of all doubt, and your excellency well knoweth, they do all appertain and belong to the right of St. Peter, and of the church of Rome; and we are so much the more ready, desirous, and willing, to soav the accept- able seed of God's word, because we know the ^ame in the latter day will be most severely re- OF IRELAND.' 135 quired at your hands. You have (our well be- loved son in Christ) advertised and signified unto -uSj that you will enter into the land and realm of Ireland, to the end to bring them to obedience unto law, and under your subjection, and to root out from among them their foul sins and wickedness ; as also to yield and pay yearly out of every house, a yearly pension of one penny to St, Peter; and besides also will defend and keep the rights of those churches whole and inviolate. We therefore, well allowing and favouring this your godly disposition and commendable affec- tion, do accept, ratify, and assent, unto this your petition, and do grant that you ( for the dilating of God's church, the punishment of sin, the reforming of manners, the planting of virtue, and the encreasing of Christian religion) do enter to possess that land, and there to exe- cute, according to your wisdom^ whatsoever shall be for the honour of God and the safety of the realm. And further also we do strictly charge and require, that all the people of that land do with all humbleness, dutifulness, and honour, receive and accept you as their liege lord and sovereign, reserving and excepting the right of iloly Church to be inviolably preserved, as also the yearly pension of Peter-pence out of every house, which we require to be truly answered to St. Peter and to the church of Rome. If there- fore you do mind to bring your godly purpose to effect, endeavour to travail to reform the peo- ple to some better order and trade of life, and that also by yourself and by such others as you 136 AN IMPARTIAL IIISTORT sliall lliiiik meet, true and lionest in their life, inamiers and coiiversaUon, to the end the church of God may be beautified, the true Christian re- ligion sowed and phinted, and all other things , done, that bj any means shall or may be to God's honour and salvation of men's souls, whereby you may in the end receive of God's hands the re\>ard of everlasting life, and also in the mcaa time, and in this life, carry a glorious fame and an honourable report among all nations." The representations of Edward, however, at the court of Rome, prevailed. The English al- lowed his holiness both temporal and spiritual power, the Irish confined him to spirituals: this may account for the partiality in favour of the latter. The bull of excommunication was pub- lished some time afterwards, in which Robert and Edward Bruce are mentioned by name. On the 2jth of May, 1315, Edward Bruce landed in the north, with 6000 men, to assert his title to the sovereignty of this island; as just a title as ever man had to a crown. He was in- vited by independent princes, who never acknow- ledged themselves subjects; and by a people, groaning under the most galling and intolerably oppression, who would not be received as sub- jects of the English monarchs, nor be admitted to the protection of the law, though backing their petitions with large offers of money. It was the constant policy of the popish parliament of the Pale, to devise penal statutes against Milesian catholics^ and the govcraors and set- OF IRELAND. 137 tiers were equally industrious to enforce them. '^ Hence it is/' says Sir John Davies^ '' that in all the parliament rolls^ which are extant^ from the 40th year of Edward III. when the statutes of Kilkenny were enacted, to the reign of king Henry VIII. we find the degenerate and disobedient English called rebels; but the Irish^ which were not in the king's peace, are called enemies. Statutes of Kilkenny, c. 1, 10, and 11. 11 Hen. IV. c. 24. 10. Hen. VI. c. 1. 18. 18 Hen. VI. c. 4. 5 Edw. IV. c. 6. 10 Hen. VIII. c. 17. All these statutes speak of English rebels, and Irish enemies; as if the Irish had never been in the condition of subjects, but always out of the protection of the laws, and were indeed in a worse case than aliens of any foreign realm, that was in amity with the crown of England. For by divers heavy penal laws, the English were forbidden to marry, to foster, to make gossippes with the Irish ; or to have any trade or commerce in their markets and fairs.'' A still more 'grievous article, in the English penal code against native catholics, were those statutes, which made it lawful, or at most but slightly penal, to kill them. By the Beard act,* # (( No manner man, that will be taken for an English, man, shall have no beard above his mouth, that is to say, that he have no hairs upon his upper lip, so that the said lip be once at least shaven every fortnight, or of equal growth with the nether lip. And if any man be found amongst the English contrary hereunto, that then it shall be lawful to every man to take them and their goods as Irish enemies, and to ransom them as Irish enemies;" (St. 6 Hen. VI .) i^ the ransom was not paid — death. 138 AN IMPAItTIVL niSTOHV the Apparel and Surnanio acts,* against iliose English called degenerate, for conforming to national customs, we see clearly the insecurity of the life of any of the antient race. Such people are warned, that, in an Irish garh, they forfeit the protection of the law, and are liable to be treated as an Irish enemy; i. e. whoever found it convenient might take their lives and properties. By the comparison of two acts^ one respecting the line for conveying a hawkf out of the Pale^ another concerning a peaceable Milesian living * Stat. 19 Ed. ly. c. 3. enacts, " that every Irishman, that dwells betwixt or amongst Englishmen, in the county of Dublin, Myeth, Uriell and Kildare, shall go like to one Englishman in apparel, and shaving of his beard above the mouth, and shall be within one year sworn the liege man of the king in the hands of the lieutenant or deputie, or such as he will assign to receive this oath for the multitude that is to be sworn, and shall take to him an English surname of one town, as Sutton, Chester, Trym, Skryne, Corke, Kinsale: or colour, as White, Blacke, Drowne: or arte or science, as Smith or Carpenter: or office, as Cooke, Butler, and that he and his issue shall use this name, under pain of forfeiting of his goods yearly till the premisses be done to be levied two times by the year to the king's wars, accord- ing to the discretion of the lieutenant of the king or his deputy.'* + By St. '20 Ed. IV. sess. 2. it is enacted, that "what- soever merchant shall take or carry any hawk out of the said land of Ireland, shall pay for every goshawke thirteen shillings and four pence, for a tiercel six shillings eight pence, for a falcon ten shillings, and the poundage accord- ingly. And that every merchant that thall do confrary to this act, so often as he so doth shall incur the penalty of forty shUlings, the one half to the king, and the other half to the finder or informer.'* OF IRELAND. 139 bj his industry within the Pale^ we may form an estimate of the contempt in which the lives of Irish catholics were held^ bv these barbarous le- gishitors. The hnc for the hawk was thirteen shilling's and four-pence, the Milesian eric was six pence. But for those out of the Pale, living according to the antient laws and customs of the country, killing them was thought praise- worthy, and the higher in rank the greater the applause. It was not enough to deprive the antieut Irish of all legal protection, and allow every settler that could, to take their lives and properties, but a reward was put upon their heads, by the infa- mous head act, passed by the infamous junto of the Pale, at Trim, before the earl of Desmond, deputy to the duke of Clarence, the king's Irish deputy, in the fifth of Edward IV. 146^5. '' It is ordained and established, that it shall be law- ful to all manner of men that find any thieves robbing by day or by night, or going or coming to rob, or steal, in, or out, going or coming, bavins: no faithful man of 20od name and fame '& §^ in their company in English apparel upon any of the liege people of the king, that it shall be law- ful to take and kill those, and to cut off their heads, v/ithout any impeachment of our sovereign lord the king, &c. and of any head so cut, in the county of Meath, that the cutter of the said head and his ayders there to him, cause the said head so cut to be brought to the portrefTe of the town of Trim, and the said portreffe to put it upon a stake or spear upon the castle of Trim, and that the said portreffe shall give his writing under VOL. I. U 140 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY the common seal of flic said town, testifying the bringing of the said to him. And that it shall be lawful hy authority of the said parliament to the said bringer of the said head^ and his ayders to the samc^ for to distrain and levy by their own hands, of every man having one plough- land in the barony where the said thcif was so taken, two-pence, and of every man having half a plough-land in the said barony, one peny^ and every man having one house and goods to the value of fourty shillings, one peny, and of every other cottier having house and smoak, one half peny. And if the same portreffe refuse for to give the said certificate by writing, freely un- der his said common seal^ then the said portreffe to forfeit to the said bringer of the said head ten pounds, and that he may have his action by bill or by writ, in whatsoever court shall please the bringer of the said head for the said ten pounds against the said portreffe/' Here was an ample reward for the murder of a Milesian, esta- blished by the parliament of the Pale, to be re- covered from the barony, by the aid of civil offi- cers, from whom, if they refused compliance, it was recoverable by law. '' Going or coming, in or out, by night or by day ! unless some man of good name, and fame; ( i. e. of English name, and closely wedded to tlie English interest), were in his or their company, in English appa- rel!'* If a man was caught in the act of rob- bing, there might be an excuse for homicide; but going or coming! were these authorised and rewarded head-loppers gifted with second sight. OF IRELAND. 141 ©r infallible^ that they should know where or on what errand every Milesian Irishman was going or coming, to or from. There is no conventicle of robbers and assassins could devise better en- couragement to the avarice or the revenge of profligate men. Let any villain fall on a travel- ling Milesian by night or by day, if he was not in the company of some reputable man of Eng- lish descent, (if such there were,) salute him with dagger, cut off his head, bring it to the constable of Trim, and levy his head-fine on the barony. All the evidence required of him was, to declare that the head had been that of a Mi- lesian, and that he was not in company with any of the settlers, and that in his opinion he was going to or coming from some bad errand 1 what a licence, what encouragements, what re- wards for the blackest crimes ! A stranger of English descent might be sacrificed by this per- version of law. That property as well as life was insecure, is evident from the language of the parliament of the Pale, which denominates lands in possession of the ancient Irish waste ground. The king of England exceeded the liberality of the Pope, in making grants of property not his own. The latter bestowed dominion, but not the right of extermination; and of the seizure of all property the former was guilty. Encouraged by the autho- rity of both, and prompted by insatiable avarice and tyranny, the grantees, about nine or ten in number, with their followers, to whom Henry, in breach of his treaties, by which he guaranteed 142 AN IMPARTIAL IIISTOUY llicir lands and oUicr propcrtios, bestowed the vhole island^ soon set up for Iheniselves as in- dependent princes. The ancient Irish, in the dis- tricts occupied by these new kings, were held in \illcinage, after the manner ot* the labouring classes in Knt^land, who were then in the condi- tion of villeins. This explains why the petitions of the distressed Milesians, cither smarting un- der the dominion of the settlers, or galled to madness by incessant annoyance from castles planted in their neighbourhood, praying to be admitted as subjects of the king of England^ and to be protected by English law, where the Brehon law was abolished, were always stre- nuously opposed by the settlers, to whom English kings always referred them. The concession *'' would have abridged and cut off a great part of that greatness w hich they had promised unto themselves: they perswaded the king of Eng- land, that it was unfit to communicate the lawes of England unto them; that it was the best po- licie to hold them as aliens and enemies, and to prosecute them w i(h a continual warre. Heercby they obtained another royal prerogative and power; which was to make warre and peace at their pleasure in every part of the kingdome: which gave them an absolute command over the bodies, lands, and goods of the English subjects heere. The troth is, that those great English lords did to the uttermost of their power, crosse and withstand the enfranchizement of the Irish^ * Davies's Discovery. OF IRELAND. 143 for the causes before expressed^, wherein I must cleare and acquit the crown and state of Eng- land of negligence or ill policy." From their first settlement they considered themselves as well entitled to the full possession of Ireland, by the double grant of Pope and king, as the Jews were entitled to Palestine by the gift of God. They planned the utter exter- mination of the antient Irish^ as the Jews were ordered to treat the Canaanites and Philistines. The Jews were prohibited all alliances or close intimacy of any kind with the Canaanites^ lest they should be infected with idolatry; so the English settlers were interdicted '^ marriage, gossipred, or nurture of infants/' with the an- cient Irish, though the religion of the latter was purer than their own. Of this we have an exam- ple, in the famous statutes of Kilkenny, that Sir John Davies quotes on this subject. '' In the 40th year of his reign king Edward held that famous parliament at Kilkenny, where- in many notable lawes were enacted, which doo shew and lay open (for the lawe doth best dis- cover enormities) how much the English colo- nies were corrupted at that time, and doo infal- libly prove that which is laide down before: that they were wholly degenerate, and fallen away from their obedience. For first it appeareth by the preamble of these lawes, that the English of this realme, before the coming over of Lionel duke of Clarence, were at that time become meere Irish in their language, names, apparell, and all their manner of living, and had rejected 144 AN IMPARTIAL IIISTOUr the En2:lish Imvrs and submitted themselves to the Irish, wilh whom they had made many mar- riages and alliances, which tended to the utter ruin and destruction of the commonwealth. Therefore alliauncc by marriage, nurture of in- fants, and gossipred v^ith the Irish are by this statute made high treason. Again, if anie man of English race should use an Irish name, Irish language, or Irish apparell, or any other guize or fashion of the Irish, if he had lands or tene- ments, the same should be seized, till he had given security to the Chancery, to conform him- self in all points to the English manner of living. And if he had no lands, his bodie was to \fe taken and imprisoned, till he found sureties as aforesaid/' The imperfection of Irish laws, which were in a great measure corrected by Irish manners, became an intolerable scourge in the hands of the adventurers. If an Irish chief was empow- ered, in time of war, to lay a bonaght, i. e. bil- let his soldiers on his people, it was because he had no revenue, the land being held in fee sim- ple by the families of the clan. The chief was elective, and abuse of his authority could easily raise him a rival, or invite invasion from some neighbouring chief. While the Irish constitution stood, there lay an appeal to the monarch and the convention of Tara. A people of the most lively sensibility to praise and dispraise, would not willingly expose themselves to the satire of their bards; in fact, in the character, manners, and customs of the ancient Irish, there were OF IRELAND. 145 many checks to the abuse of power, and some consolations to humanity, even uuder tyranny. Not so with the English settlers; they were ac- quainted with nothing in their parent country but the tyranny established there by its Norman conquerors. All the barons were despotic ty- rants, all their laborious classes were villeins, and their laws were like the laws of Draco, written in blood. It seems those sanguinary laws either were necessary for their nature, or made their nature worse; for, like felons burst- ing from the bolts of a prison, coming from the severe restraints of English tyranny and sangui- nary laws, to a land where anarchy had suc- ceeded freedom, and where the laws were so mild, that the word death was never mentioned in the code, they gave an entire loose to their appetites for plunder and carnage. Their pro- perties were made hereditary, their landholders were obliged to pay rent and taxes; so to put the Irish bonaght on them was a grievous op- pression. There was hardly any remedy for a long time, not even the check of public opinion, because the public of the settlers was England, to which they sent what representations they pleased. The attorney-general of James I. thus mentions the grievance of coyne and livery. '' But the most wicked and mischievous cus- tome of all others was that of coygne and livery^ often before-mentioned : which consisted in tak- ing mans-meate, horse-meate and money, of all the inhabitants of the country at the will and pleasure of the soldier^ who^ as the phrase of NG AN IMPAKTIVL HISTORY Scripture is, did ciiir up ihc people as if were liread, lor that he had no other eutertaiurnciit. This extortion was originally Irish, for thej used to laj bonaght upon the people, and never gave their soldier any other pay. JJut when the English had learnt it, they used it with more insoleney and made it more intollerable; for this oppression was not temporary, or limited either to place or time: but because there was every where a continuall warre^ either offensive or defensive, and cverie lorde of a countrie, and everie marcher made warre and peace at his pleasure, it became universall and perpetuall : and was indeede the most heavy oppression that ever was used in anie Christian or Heathen king- dome. And therefore vox oppressorum, this cry- ing sinne did drawe down as great or greater plagues upon Ireland, than the oppression of the Israelites did draw upon the land of Egypt. For the plagues of Egypt, though they were 2;ricvous, were of a short continuance: but the plagues of Ireland lasted 400 years together. This extortion of coygne and livery did produce two notorious effects. First, it made the land waste: next, it made the people ydle. For when ihe husbandmen had laboured all the yeare, the soldier in one night did consume the fruites of all his labour, longique pcrit labor irritus anni. Had bee reason then to manure the lande for the next yeare, or rather might he not complayne as the shcperd in Virgil : Impius hjec tam culta novalia miles habebit? Barbaras has segetes ? En quo disco rdia cives l^roduxit miseros ? En qucis consevimus agros : OF IRELAND. 147 And hereupon of necessity came depopulation, banishment, and extirpation of the better sort of subjects, and such as remained became jdle and brokers on, expecting the event of those miseries aiid cvill times : so as this extream extortion and oppression hath been the true cause of idlenesse in this Irish nation; and that rather the vulgar sort have chosen to be beggars in forraign coun- tries than to manure their own fiuitfal land 'dt home. Lastly, this oppression did of force and necessitie make the Irish a crafty people; for such as are oppressed and live in slavery are ever put to their shifts, ingcnium mala semper movent/'* Let no man be surprised, that English writers called the Milesian Irish, at war with the Pale, rebels; while in the language of parliament, and the law, they are stiled enemy, like any other power at w^ar. They used the same abusive stile towards the Scots. '' The Scotch began to rebel anno 1079 — again they were in rebellion, anno 1090 — under king Malcolm again, anno 1103, when their king was slain. The Welsh began to rebel, anno 1121. "f In the language of this libeller, the Scotch, an independent nation, go- verned by their own kings, and their own laws, are called rebels, for defending themselves against English encroachments. The Welsh, also, go- verned by their own princes, and their own laws, are denominated rebels. The opposition of the Irish princes to English tyranny, is, in the same * Davie.s's Discovery, p. 174, &c. + Ilemingford, mors Gi»l. Nothij 1087. VOL I. X 148 AX IMPAKTIAL HISTORY libellous spirit, stilcd rcbellioo, by (be English writers of roniaiur, i'alscly calUd bistory.* The language of fbe hiw is correet and decisive on Ibis subieti. Tbe independent Irisb, at war with tbc king's deputy, are not calb"d Rebels, but Iri^b enemies; as tbe French or Jlussians would be eaUed enemies, not rebels. Tbis was uni- formly tbe language of tbe law, untill tbe reign of queen Elizabrtb. In an act of tbe 28th of lienry VI. passed by tbe parliament of tbe Pale, in tbe presence of Richard, duke of York, anno 1450, tbis distinction is clearly marked. '' And tbe captains of tbe said marcbours,f their wives, and tlieir pages, do bring with them tbe king's Jrisb Enemies, both men and women, and Eng- lisb rebels.'' In a parliament held at Drogbeda, in tbe 28th of Hen. VI., before tbe said duke of York, the limits of tbe Pale,]; i. e. the English king's jurisdiction, arc precisely ascertained. Within them limits, war against the crown was, in the language of tbe law, rebellion; witbout tbem limits it was, in tbe same correct language, stiled tbe war of an enemy. Tbe law, therefore, as it were by anticipation, has passed sentence of condemnation upon these impertinent scribblers * With a fresh cdidon of thfse slop-shop impurities, the public, it set^ir.s, is to be now regaled, by a press niiscalling itself Hibernian. + iViarchours, i. e. settlers possessed of freeholds on the borders of the Pale, on condition of keeping and practising the use of arms, to watch the movements of the independent Irish, and give the alarm Mhen necessary. Sentinels, out- posts. X Dublin, Kildare^ Meath, and Uriel (Louth). OF IRELAND. 149 of fooleries, in which they stile the resistance of independent princes rebellion. - Two acts (5 Edward IV.) for arming the Pale in a mass, prove, that the independent Irish were still formidable. Those of Irish descent, even within the Pale, were as three or four to one, to those of English extraction ; whence, to conceal their inferiority, the Surname act, the Beard act, the Apparel and Language acts, &c. The chieftains of Ulster, who had invited Bruce, were now prepared to receive their new monarch. They flocked to his standard, gave hostages, and marched, under his command, to rescue their country from a deplorable bondage mixed with destructive anarchy. The few gar- risoned towns and castles, possessed by the Eng- lish in the north, were soon overpowered. There were no English settlers in the north, except in such places, notwithstanding the outcry of the historical liar, Leland, on the butchery of Eng- lish settlers, who were '' driven from their fairest possessions in a moment.'' The settlers, their possessions, and butchery, are all fictions, in- vented to deceive the reader. There were settlers in the other three provinces, but in the north none, except in a few strong holds on the sea coast. This is not his first historical lie. The perfidious murder of Brien Roe O'Brien, chief- tain of Thomond, by Thomas de Clare, brother to the duke of Gloucester, who had invited him to dine, for that hellish purpose, he endeavours to palliate or deny, by saying '' he was killed by one of his own people, as Irish writers 150 AN IMPAUTIAL HISTORY allege." He names no \vrivas proved home. He had in his possession, the remv)nsl ranee, drawn up by the northern chief- tains, and addressed to Pope John XXII., in which they state that treacherous invitation and murder, as one of the instances of the detestable policy used by English adventurers in this un- happy land. They were cotemporaries, and could not appeal to the Pope, or the world, but on a notorious ouvert act. A lie of that magnitude^ and of such recent occurrence, would soon be detected ; the people^ interested in the detection, had most influence with the court of Rome, arid most connexion with foreign parts; and one de- tected falsehood would discredit the whole re- monstrance;, and injure their cause. It is much more easy to conceive, that an historian, evi- dently partial, would sooner smother the truth, or tell a tale, to conceal or palliate the crimes of liis favourites, than that an assernblv of the mas:- nates of Ireland, men bred in tlie principles of cliivalrous honour, could agree to publish a false aecouiit of a cotcinporary fact, the refutation of which would be so easy, and so injuri<;us to their interests. What the measures were, that occupied the attention of the English cabinet with the Irish deputies, during their long stay in London^ to repel an invasion truly formidable in the actual circumstances of the island., we are in a great OF IRELAND. 151 measure left to conjectures. Neither they nor their successors deemed it expedient to make them public. From a letter* of the earl of Essex to queen Elizabeth, we mav form a pretty sure guess at the palladium of Ensrland and its set- tlers, under the terrors of the alliance of Ireland and Scotland: '" Thirdly, your majesty, victual- ling your army out of England, and \Yith your garrisons burning and spoiling the country in all places^ shall starve the rebels in one year, be- cause no place else can supply them.'' This ■was put in practice in the golden days of queen Bess, with an addition of a base coin, forged by royal authority, for the payment of her forces, and the general circulating medium for the pur- chase of all sorts of necessaries; in order when the famine was brought on them, they should be destitute of the means of purchasing provisions from any part of the world. Famine, and the pestilence, its usual concomitant, swept away their millions, to civilize the poor Irish. Would England, and its settlers, scruple the employment of such dreadful means, to avert the storm of war threatening them from the united powers of Scotland and Ireland. Did they not know that the want of provisions alone could prevent their bringing such an army into the field, so superior in numbers and valour, as they could never be able to cope with. Or did popish England, and its settlers, leave any article in the catalogue of inhumanity, treacherj^, or barbarity, to be iu- * Dated 5th June, loS8. . 125 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY vented or iinprovrd by their prolestant succeg- sors ? On :i loinpai ison of two codes, the popish and the protestfiiit, against Irish catholics,, the latter will appear, to an impartial observer, to fall short of its predecessor, in the most features of cruelty and tjrannj. The sequel will prove, even from partial do- cuments, whether the terrible scour2;cs of plague and famine were or were not resorted to by the settlers. '' Richard, earl of Ll»ter, rose up, with such forces as he could collect, at Roscom- mon, vvhence marching to Athlone, he was there joined by Fedlim O'Connor, with his forces. He then proceeded through the territory of Meath, to the northern province, wasting and desolating the districts through which he passed, to supply the necessities of his army.'' ( Lcland. ) He for- got to add, that to deprive the enemy of re- sources he destroyed all he did not use. '' But- ler, the deputy, exerted his diligence to collect the troops of Leinstcr, offered his aid to earl Richard, who, disdaining his assistance, advised him to attend to the security of Leinster.''* This vas no act of an imperious prouc^ spirit, as Le- land would persuade us, but of a deep, though infernal policy. They divided the provinces be- tween them, in order to secure provisions for themselves in their fortresses, and by laying waste the country, to render the subsistence of a great army any where impossible. Coniiaught, while their troops were actually * Leland, Vol. I. B. II. c. iii. p. 267. OF IRELAND. 153 fighting tlic battles of the settlers^ could not escape the disasters phinned for their country- men. A rival was raised up against young Fed- lim^ durli!g his campaign against the invaders, who succeeded in getting himself acknowledged chief of the Irish division of Connaught, after much bloodshed and devastation. Thus Fedlini was obliged to march back to Connaught^, with his troopSj continually harassed by the northern Irish, who justly retaliated on him the devasta- tion of their districts, which could not be so much as attempted without his aid. The earl of Ulster was soon obliged to follow him, happy to escape the pursuit of the Scotch and northern forces with great loss of men. But want of pro- vision, in those parts laid waste, deprived Bruce of the advantages of his victory, compelling him to return back to the north, where he remained some time in a state of inactivity. Fedlim, am- bitious to recover his petty sovereignty, but un- able, with the shattered remains cf a discomfited army, to meet his antagonist in the field, assisted the earl of Ulster in putting the famishing plaa in execution. They carried on a predatory war- fare. Suddenly issuing out from their castles and strong holds, and coming unawares on a district^ they wasted all manner of provisions, which they could not speedily convey to their fortresses; thus a£:2:ravatin2: the distresses of a scarce sca- son, with all the horrors of war, famine, and pestilence. On the arrival of Sir John Bermingham with a select body of troops, Fedlim took the field. 154f AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY and ongagTcl his rivul, who lost the battle and liis life. Feclliin, discontented with the immo- derate ambition of his allies, decUired for Bruce. The cession of a hirgc part of his already too much diminished territory, demanded in recom- pence for a service jiistlj due to him, appeared to him not the act of an honourable faithful ally, but of an insidious encroaching enemy. It was his alliance with the settlers, and his devastating campaign to the north, that raised him a rival, who possessed himself of (he sovereignty. What he lost by the alliance, his allies were in duty bound to make good to him, to the utmost of their power. Wherefore, then, demand cession of territory, for doing a service due to him by the law of nature and of nations. He rejected the demand, and declared for Bruce. This was the effect of resentment, not policy; and he veri- fied an Irish proverb, applying generally to Irish- men, equivalent to the Latin adage, sero sapiunt Phryges, i.e. Phrygians are wise too late. The Irish say of tlieniselves, andiagh na ngnoithe ihigkiall an Eiriiiigh, i. e. after the deed comes the good sense of the Irishman. That sentence, pronounced by themselves, is truly characteristic, and points out one great cause of their downfall. Extremely proud, passionate and vir.dictive, tliere were always many pretenders to their elec- tive sovereignties, who by flattery and promise of succour, could easily be prevailed on to assert their pretensions with the sword. A cession of territory must reward the instigators of the civil war, if their ally is victorious. The same causes OP IRELAND. 155 perpetuated family feuds, and prevented the elec- tion of a monarch for a long time. Each of the four provincial kings thought himself too great to own a superior on earth. Passionate and pre- cipitate in their resolves, they were likewise ob- stinate in the execution of them; for though they had sagacity enough to discover an error, they too commonly wanted humility to own and correct it, unless rouzed by a contrary passion ; some deep insult to their feelings and honor, as in the case of Fedlim O'Connor. He had, how- ever, during his alliance with the English set- tlers, done more injury to the cause of the con- federate Scotch and Irish, than he could possi- bly repair by espousing it. The country was now wasted. Numerous armies could not be kept together for want of food; and the settlers lay secure in their castles and strong holds, stored with provision, while the antient natives perished by myriads, under the cruel pangs of famine and pestilence. This is the true cause of the failure of that measure; the wisest and most promising ever adopted by the Milesian chieftains, since the English invasfon. Edward Bruce was crowned at Dundalk. All Ulster, and a great part of Leinster, Munster, and Connaught declared for him. His brother Robert, king of Scotland, landed in the north, with a powerful army, to support the confede- rates. All these promising appearances were blasted by famine. The king of Scotland was obliged to return home, leaving but apart of his army to king Edward. After the surrender of VOL. I. y 156 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY Carrickforgus^ the only place in the north that held out against hinij the new monarch of Ireland marched southward^ at the head of the confede* rate Scotch and Irish, joined likewise by some of the chief settlers; as the De Lacys^ and their numerous followers. In the mean time, the English chieftains made the greatest exertions. They raised an army of 30/X)0 men, as some Pale writers sjiy, the great majority of which consisted of Milesian Irish. They could keep them together, where they had magazines of provisions. They entered into an association to support the English interest with their lives and fortunes, and gave hostages to Ilotham, the king's commissioner, for their fiiith and loyalty. To confirm them in their loyal dis- position, the king conferred some new honors on their chiefs. John Fitz-Gerald, baron of Ophaly, was created earl of Kildare, and Ed- mond Butler was made earl of Carrick. These exerted themselves with vigour in warlike pre- parations. They dispatched an army to Con- iiauglit, under the command of William de Burgo, and Richard de Bermingham, against Fedlim O'Connor. The forces met at Athenree, >vhere a desperate battle was fought, in which O'Connor lost his life, and of course the battle ; for the Irish, like the Hindoos, when the chief who commanded happened to be slain, gave up fighting and fled. Sensible of this, the chief, not protected by life guards like modern mo- narchs, was always singled out for destructioa by the English. The writers of the Pale swcU OF IRELAND. 157 the number slain by the English, in that battle, to 8000. 'Tis probable O'Connor's troops did not amount to that number. Neither was the havoc done by Englishmen. English foot had no more chance of overtaking an Irish army in its flight, than a body of cavalry ; and few of such horses as the English then had that an Irishman afoot would not outrun, according to cotemporary English writers. Accordingly, little slaughter could be made of them, unless their swift-footed countrymen were engaged in the pursuit, of whom the Anglo-Irish armies were chiefly composed. Not discouraged at the fall of this useful ally, Edward Bruce proceeded to assert his title to the throne of Ireland with spirit. He marched up to Dublin, when the garrison and citizens set fire to the suburbs, to which the cathedral of St. Patrick fell a prey, and retired within the walls, for a brisk defence of which they made great preparations. The mayor seized De Burgo, earl of Ulster, on suspicion of favouring the new king, his sister being married to Robert, king of Scotland, and committed him to prison, Bruce, finding the town well prepared for de- fence, unable for want of provisions, to form either a blockade or carry on a siege, moved off through the county of Kildare. Thence he marched through Ossory and Tipperary, and encamped near the city of Limerick. The Eng- lish forces, commanded by Roger Mortimer, of Wigmore, who came with a considerable rein- forcemcntj lay at no great distance, in a strono. 158 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY position. Leland sajs^ '' Bruce, conscious of his own real weakness, determined to avoid an engagement/* AVlio can believe the historian of the Pale ? Bruce could not avoid an engagement^ if the English chose to force him to it. He had to seek sustenance for his army through a wasted countrvj in which they must take a wide range^ to glean as much as might barely stay the gall- ing cravings of hunger. In such a situation,, if any enemy came upon him^ how could he avoid giving battle? On thecontrary^ it was the policy of the English to avoid, at that time^ a general engagement^ and wait the sure operations of fa- mine in a wasted country. Bruce several times ofi^ered battle on the plain of Fearan Singil, near Limerick ; but the English;, well knowing that he must soon decamp for want of provisions, cautiously declined it. A battle being the only military operation that he could attempt^ and that being refused, his only resource was to re- turn back again to Ulster. Leland, in his account of this frustrated ex- pedition, '' gluts his frantic malice/' to use his own words, in loading the confederate army Avith all the foul epithets his prejudiced mind could furnish — '' Marched southwards with a barbarous army, enflamed to madness by the vi- olent cravings of nature, and prepared to glut their frantic malice^ and allay the rage of hun- ger, by the bloodiest hostilities and most ruthless depredations.'* Is this language for an historian } Is it not rather the low^, vulgar ribaldry of the fish-market ? 1 see no reason why the Scotch on OF IRELAND. 159 Irish should he denominated barbarous^ by any member of the Pale. I know no better tests and means of civilization^ than religion and the fine arts. The Island of Saints excelled in both these. Of the fine arts^ music and poetry principally contribute to polish the mind and improve the feelings. In the firsts the Irish excelled all the neighbouring nations^ and that incomparably, on the testimony of the English themselves. In the latter, they excelled their cotemporaries as much as in the former; and their language was admirably fitted for every effusion of the muses. It combined the majesty of the Spanish, the soft- ness and melody of the Italian, the strength and conciseness of the Hebrew, as suited the subject and occasion. Admirably copious, and contain- ing in itself the terms of all arts and sciences till then invented, and the radicals of all the languages in the world, it was, of necessity, the language of a highly cultivated and refined people. With and through it, the philosophy of language, and the affinities of all tongues, can be traced. Even the word barbarous, here mis- placed by the too partial Doctor, cannot be ex- plained by any Grecist or Latinist. 'Tis the Celtic barb, or borb, fierce, untractable ; from barr, or borr, high-feeding, pampering, which is productive of that effect on all animals. Now the English are remarkable, among all neigh- bouring nations, for unwearied voracity, which must necessarily have its effect on the tempera^ ment of body and mind. If the one be filled with gross humours^ and a redundancy of sagi- 160 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY nation, tlie other ^vill be sulky, churlish, some- times 0[>[)ressed >\i(h a lowness of spirits termi- iiatiiiii; in suicide, always unsocial, tyrannical, fanatically hating; other nations, through the corruption of bile, the prejudices of education, and the overgrown spleen of unlimited seltish- ness. The description of our masters, copied by Leland himself from Hume, may point out the ^arty to whom the epithet would more properly apply. '* Tlie estate of an English baron waj managed by bis bailiffs, and cultivated by hi» villains ; its produce was consumed in yustic hospitality, by the baron and hisoilicers; a num- ber of idle retainers, ready for any mischief or disorder, were maintained by him : all who lived upon his estate were absolutely at his disposal. Instead of applying to courts of justice, he usual- ly sought redress by open force and violence. The great nobility were a kind of independent potentates, who, if they submitted to any regu- lations at all, were less governed by the munici- pal law, than by a rude species of the law of ^ij^tions."* '' This is the description of an admired Eng- lish historian : aiid if we were to delineate the manners of the most unrefined Irish septs, we might fairly adopt the very same terms. Add to Ihii, the vices of the English nobility, which the same writer enumerates, in the reign of Edward III., the outrageous and intolerable i^buse of purveyance, the interruption of tho * jjiiime. Vol. II, 4to. p, 153v OF IRELAND. 161 course of law from grants of franchises and im- munities, levying exorbitant fines^ unjust par- doning of criminals;, confederacies formed by great lords in mutual support of their iniquity^ and the numberless robberies, murders, and ra- Tisliments committed by their retainers; and tha whole picture, both of the English and the native i[ihabitants of Ireland, is exactly deli- neated/'* Not quite. Here INIr. Leland adds to those errors, or wilful mistatements, which disgrace so many of his pages. Tlie estate of the clan did not belong to the chief, who had but his portion of it among his brethren, his equals in bk)od, inferior only by station. Ail on the estate were by no means at his disposal, nor could he substitute violence for law. He must be governed by written laws, like the other members of the commonwealth. His re- ceipts, for the support of his dignity, were small; and an elective chief, liable to be crossed by a rival, had too much need of popularity, or ii> deed too confined means, to oppress his kindred. The social dispositions of the people, universal hospitality, and the inviolability of the guest^ among every tribe that received him, were anti- dotes to the evils of the times, of which boasting England was destitute. In Ireland, prevailing anarchy, trampling on the constitution and laws^ was mitigated in its effects by national manners^ Hence, the tendency of the greater part of the iettlers to adopt these manners and customs, and * Leland, Vol. I. Book II. c. It. p. 285. IG^^ AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY become Irislimcii in reality, as well as by name- Even numbers, in times of disturbance, look re- fuge among the Irish tribes, from the tyranny and feudal barbarify of the Anglo-Irish barons. The Irish had no villains, but such English children as they purchased from their own pa- rents: even that traflic was prohibited by an as- sembly of the Irish clergy. Was this traffic cri- minal ? ir the Irish were what they arc misrepre- sented by party writers, English parents were guilty of the most heinous crimes against nature and parental duty. If they were such as venera- ble Bede, Alfred the Great, and all the old Saxon writers describe them ; a people renowned for sanctity, learning, hospitality, indulgent le- nity to inferiors, the triillic would lose much of its criminality. In case of poverty it might even be laudable, in a distressed parent, to con- fide his child to such persons as would reward bodily labour with education, food, and clothing. All these things they were accustomed to bestow on the children of the English, as Bede and Lord Lyttleton tell us. But to return to Edward Bruce, and what Leland is pleased to call his barbarous army. For want of provisions, after various successful battles and skirmishes, he was obliged to remain quiet in the north, where the English did not think it proper to molest him for a considerable time. Now if any one chuses to doubt whether the plan of famine was or was not, that hatched by the Irish deputies, in their long conferences with the English cabinet, let him reflect on two OF IRELAND. 163 material circumstances. Bruce was frequently compelled by hunger to retreat to the north, notwithstanding the superiority of his arms in the other provinces. The north was not the most fertile^ nor the best cultivated part of the island. How came it to have more resources in provi- sions ? I can only account for the difference by a plain fact. The English power was unable to waste the north, as it did the other three pro- vinces. What else can explain his retreats to the north, while he was victorious in every engage- ment with his enemies ? Was it to repose among allies? If we credit Leland, O'Brien and other southern chieftains, declared for him ; and Mun- ster is naturally more fertile than the north. Nothing but the systematic devastation of the country can account for this difference, as the north was less in the power of the English than the other provinces; yet De Burgo and Fedlim O'Connor had committed great ravages there likewise. Bruce having thus withdrawn to the north, his partizans in Leinster and elsewhere retired homewards, where they were exposed to the fury of their enemies. Many were slain at Castle- dermot, by order of Edmond Butler. Several of the O'Moores, O'Byrnes, O'Tooles, and Mac Morroughs, underwent the same fate. The 0*Connors of Phaly, were massacred at Balli- bogan, on the Boyne, by the English of Lein- ster and Meath. The Irish, on their side, made some reprisals. The O'Nowlans of Leinster slew Andrew Bermingham and Sir De la Londe, with VOL. I. Z 164 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORr their followers, who were committing outrages in their district. Richard de Clare, Henry Capel, Thomas dc Naas, the two Cantons, and eighty more were slain by the O'Briens and Mac Ciiriys. The Lacys of Mcath, summoned to Trim by deputy Mortimer, of Wigmore, to give an ac- count of their conduct, received the summons with scorn, and slew Hugh Crofts, the messen- ger. The deputy, enraged at this open defiance to his authority, laid waste the estates of the Lacys, whom he declared traitors. It appears, indeed, that this was the only family of English descent, who adhered to the interest of Bruce. They fled to Connaught, and thence to Scotland, except John de Lacy, who, falling into the de- puty's hands, was by his order strangled at Trim. To enter into a detail of all the different skir- mishes, massacres, and assassinations, committed during the period of near three years, while Ed- ward Bruce was acknowledged monarch of Ire- land by the majority of the nation, would be neither entertaining nor instructive. The war, necessarily confined to petty hostilities, through the scarcity first caused by a cruel policy, and afterwards prolonged by impolitic revenge, dis- plays no symptom of a struggle between two powerful kingdoms. The strength of the con- tending parties could not be collected together; because great armies require great magazines of provision, and such were not to be found, while the interruption of tillage, and mutual devasta- tion, continued the dearth. Yet an anecdote of * OF IRELAND. 165 singular barbarity, recorded of the English gar- rison of Carrickfergus, should not be passed by. Holding out against Edward Bruce to the last extremity, among other expedients '' to glut their frantic rage/' ( Leland's polite phraseology ) they eat eight Scotch prisoners ! Whether they eat them dead or alive, roast, boiled or raw, our authorities do not inform us; but national hatred seems to have contributed to a cannibal act, which no pressure of want could justify in a besieged garrison, though besieged by Scotch- men, since they could relieve themselves by capitulation. Here it is proper to review the plausible pre- tences, with which the Pope and the king of England varnished over the iniquitous bargain of the sale of Ireland, for the tribute of hearth- money to the see of Rome. The Island of saints was to be reformed and civilized — religion was to be promoted! What religion? The purest branch of the catholic church they were; the most truly pious, hospitable, charitable, gene- rous, frank, manly, heroic even in the highest flights of chivalrous honor. Ah ! but they did not allow the head of the church temporal power. By whom, then, was the purity of the catholic faith in Ireland to be adulterated, under pretence of reform, with the profane mixture of temporal and spiritual power? From cotempo- rary writers of their own nation we learn, that they were indigent and profligate men, of ruined characters, broken fortunes, in debt, or disgrace, to whom any risque or perilous adventure was 166 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY - more expedient than to remain at home. From their first landing, these greedy blood-thirstj adventurers described their own characters ia deeds of matchless perfidy, atrocity, and rapine. The murder of prisoners of wsly, the perfidious invitations to murderous banquets^ \\here poison or the. dagger terminated the existence of the in- veigled guests ; assassinations of illustrious men ; the murder of the Irish clergy, and plunder of churches and monasteries: to which, when they added cannabilism, bestiality, and sodomy, they give the hideous characters of the monsters who were to reform the Island of saints, and plant popery instead of catholicity. But the Milesians, true to the catholic faith, would admit no inno- vation. Some protestant writers have deceived themselves, and endeavoured to deceive others, from this circumstance, into a belief, that the antient Irish were Bible Christians, some sort of Protestants. They were Catholics, in the true strict sense of that word, who allowed the pope spiritual, but not temporal supremacy. From this rock, no seduction or coercion, not all the eftorts of popish England first, nor of protestant England afterwards, could drive them. How different were the pretended reformers of the holy island? Like a pendulum, swung from the perpendicular point of equipoise to the extreme of poperj', they were as easily swung to the op- posite point of heresy; in whose inextricable mazes they still continue, tremulous, quivering, shifting, changing, without a fixed point of cohesion or repose. OF IRELAND. 167 Notwithstanding the damning evidences of the immorality, treachery, and inhumanity, of ihese infamous marauders, the pope supported their usurpation with the misapplication of his spiritual power, and sent his mad bulls roaring through Europe against the sacred island and its defenders. The settlers, in the mean time, had recourse to other means, which proved more efficacious. From their first conflicts with the Irish they observed, that the fall of a chief would determine the fate of a battle. The Irish, indi- vidually the best soldiers in the world, yet col- lectively only a mob^, for want of pay, and con- sequently of discipline, were held together alone by reverence for the chieftain, whose election depended on his talents, and chiefly military ta- lents. His fall, therefore, destroyed the sole connecting link, and his followers fled. This piece of English policy explains the catastrophe of Edward Bruce, hitherto unconquered. He inarched upon some secret expedition to Foghard, the birth-place of St. Brigid, within two miles of Dundalk, with about 3000 men. The deputy dispatched an army from Dublin, under the command of Sir John Bermingham, to oppose him. The two armies met at the forementioned place, where a furious engagement commenced, in which Bruce lost his life, and the greater part of his little army was slain. A trait, dis- covering the cloven foot of English policy, ap- peared in this battle. A conspiracy was made to single out the monarch of Ireland, and kill him, at all hazards^ cost what it would. The writers 168 AN IMPARTIAL IIISTORV of the Palc^ to p^loss over this dark transaction, state, that caj)Valsinghani and Haker state, that he was taken prisoner, and that liis head was cut off*, contrary to the hiw of nations, and sent as a pre- sent to the king of England, who in recompence created Jierniinghain earl of Louth, and baron of Athenry. This latter title he obtained by his victory over the Conacians, obtained by a similar military assassination of the chieftains, O'Connor and O'Kelly. It was probably the frequency of this practice, that obliged kings, who originally commanded their own armies, to keep body- guards. The unfortunate issue of the Scotch and Irish confederacy, does not authorize us to cclio the language of those writers, who call it wild and romantic. We rather agree with Abercromby, that if the military impetuosity of Edward was tempered with the superior prudence of his bro- ther, he had remained king of Ireland. Had he been counselled by him, and waited for his arri- val with a respectable force, victory could hardly be doubtful. Jealousy of sharing expected glory with any one, precipitated his fall; and Robert arrived with an army, only to hear of his death, and return home. The disastrous consequences to Ireland, of this three years war, are fairly enough deline- ated by Leland; for the support whereof, '' the OF IRELAND. 169 revenue of tlic land [the Pale] was far too shorty and yet no supply of treasure was sent out of England."* "^ The dismal effects of war, especially in a country circumstanced as Ireland was at this time, are not to be estimated solely by the troops lost in battle, or the towns taken: those which history deigns not to record were yet more af- flicting and extensive. The oppression exercised with impunity in every particular district; the depredations every where committed among the inferior orders of the people, not by open ene- mies alone, but those who called themselves friends and protectors, and who justified their outrag(S by the plea of lawful authority; their avarice and cruelty, their plunderings and mas- sacres, were still more ruinous than the defeat of an army, or the loss of a city. The wretched sufferers had neither power to repel, nor law to restrain or vindicate their injuries. In times of general commotion, laws the most wisely framed, and most equitably administered, are but of little moment. But now the very source of public justice was corrupted and poisoned. The dis- tinction maintained between the Irish fcjedary and tlie English subject, and the different modes of jurisdiction by which each was governed, every day demonstrated, by its miserable effects, the iniquity of those who had favoured this hor- rid and infatuated policy. '' The murder of an Irishman was punishable * Davies's Discovfjry. ITO AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY only by a fine; a sliir^ht restraint on the rage of insolence and rapine."* '' The conimendions Irislif method of quar- tering the soldiers on the inhabitants^ and leaving them to support themselves by arbitrary exactions, seemed to have been pointed out by the urgent occasion, was adopted with alacrity, and execu- ted with rigour. Riot, rapine, massacre, and all tlie tremendous efiects of anarchy, were the na- tural consequences. Every inconsiderable party, who, under pretence of loyalty, received the king's commission to repel the adversary in some parti- cular district, became pestilent enemies to the in- habitants. Their properties, their lives, the chas- tity of their families, were all exposed to barba- rians, who sought only to glut their brutal pas- sions; and by their horrible excesses, saith the annalist, purchased the curse of God and man. The English freeholder abandoned his lands, rather than endure the burden of impositions in- tolerably severe, attended with such dreadful cir- cumstances of outrage: he fled to the haunts of the Irish insurgents, connected and allied himself with these, learned their language and manners, and marched out with them against the common enemy; while his lands were resumed by the barbarous natives as their original and rightful property. '' The same method of arbitrary exactions, (or coyne and livery, as it was called,) for the maintenance of the soldiery, was also adopted by * Leland, Vol. I. B. II. c. iii. pp. 278, 279. + For the Irish bonaght see pp. 144, 145, 146. OF IRELAND. 171 lords of considerable note and consequence; and particularly^ began at this time to be exercised with great severity, by Maurice Fitz-Thomas of Desmond/'* The reader must smile with contempt at the contradictions of this barbarous Leland, strug- gling between truth and prejudice. After stating that English freeholders fled from the intolerable tyranny of their own countrymen^ took refuge among the Irish clans, whom they were taught to hate as natural enemies, and found that huma- nity and protection among them^ that they did not experience from their own nation ; as if im- patient to escape from these sour truths, and revenge the pain he felt from the narrative on the unfortunate Milesians, he immediately adds, " while his lands were resumed by the barbarous natives/' Did the fugitive carry his lands on his back, that the people to whom he fled should seize on them? Is it not self-evident, that the people, from whose tyranny he fled, seized on his lands? These tyrants might plant barbarous natives on the abandoned freeholds; because the degenerate Irish, who conformed to the manners of the settlers, and because followers of English lords, were real barbarians, rather worse than the settlers themselves ; for this reason, the cor- ruption of the best things is the worst, and the strongest wine, by acetous fermentation, makes the strongest vinegar. The English freeholders, who are stated by him, to have abandoned their * Leland, Vol. I. B. II. c iii. pp. 380, 281. VOL. I. 2 A 172 AN IMPARTIAL HISTOIIY *fCi'hoIds, and take rclnge among (he Irish clans, learning their langiingr, and conforming to their manuers, must have had a feeling trial of the barbarity of their own race, and consi- dered the Milesians as far superior to them^ in humanity and generosity. What sacrifices did they not make by this exchange ? Loss of pro- perty; the sacrifice of predilection for natal soil; the conquest of deep-rooted antipathy, and inve- terate prejudices, against the antient natives, up- held by the laws, cruel policy, and savage war- fare of the settlers ; the sacrifice of their language and manners, things to w^hich mankind are pecu- liarly wedded ; the risque of committing them- selves and families to the mercy of enemies, thus incessantly provoked and injured, by a combina- tion of treachery and cruelty; the romantic hope of finding support and protection, from these very ulcerated enemies. Their choice of residing among the antient natives, in defiance of these losses, difficulties, and dangers, demonstrates which party they considered civilized, and which barbarous. As cotemporarics, eye witnesses, taught by experience, they are better evidence than any prejudiced writer, however smooth his periods may flow. Their experiment and suc- cess is the highest evidence of the hospitality and generosity of the Milesians, even in their decline; and that it was to acquire a more tole- rable state of society they made the great sacri- fices enumerated above. That emigration from the tyranny of Anglo-Irish barons, and their suite, wag not confined to the period of the OF IRELAND. 173 Bruccs, but existed from their first settlement in IrcJand, is prettj clear, from an article in the -treatj* of Windsor, obtained bj the settlers to guard against it. The country thus tranquillized, i. e. depeopled by plague, war, and famine, cum solitudinem fa- ciunt, pacem appellant, Thomas Fitz-Gerald, earl of Kildare, was entrusted with the govern- ment of the Pale. Hitherto the English adven- turers were intent on exterminating and plunder- ing the natives, lay and ecclesiastic. They had, in imitation of their Danish forefathers, destroyed and plundered many an Irish monastery, seats of learning and virtue, and planted some convents for English ecclesiastical adventurers, poisoned with the national hatred and selfishness of their lay-brethren, without adding any thing to the cause of learning or religion. Bricknor, arch- bishop of Dublin, is an honorable exception to the general inattention of the Anglo-Irish to literature. He obtained a bull from Pope John XXII., in confirmation of one already granted by Clement V. for the erection of an university. St. Patrick's church, Dublin, w^as chosen as the site for the college, anno 1320, which was established by the zealous patronage of the bishop, Bricknor. Studies were continued there until Edward III., who enlarged the ori- ginal endowment, and by special writ granted his protection and safe conduct to the students^ thirty-eight years after the first establishment. * See Article IV. pp. 20, 3 h 174 AN IMPARTIAL IIISTORT The g'ood intentions of the founders and patrons of this institution, were frustrated by the cir- cumstances of the times, and the dispositions of the people. Learning was quite unfashionable among the English and Anglo-Irish barons. The latter especially, always engaged in war, paid no attention to letters, except such as were styled degenerate Englishmen. These studied the Irish language, the most copious, and one of the most elegant in the world, and cherished bards and antiquarians. Learning, though obscured, was not extinct in the Irish countries, where schools and pro- fessors were still continued. The Milesians had always their philes, ollavs, shrubs, seanchies, bards, &c. while the university, established in the capital of the colony, after languishing for a while, expired. This contrast places in the clearest light, the disparity of the two races, in point of civilization. The enmity of the two races, fomented by the policy of England, extended to every thing. As the English Franciscans, Dominicans, &c. of the Pale, admitted no mere Irish novices, some convents of the ancient stock excluded English novices; as appears from a register in the Tower of London, recording an instance of national an- tipathy, in the refusal of the abbey of Mellifont, county of Louth, to admit novices of English descent. At an election of a bishop for the seeof Cashel^ the dean, together with the greater number of the canons, elected John Mac Carvvill, bishop OF IRELAND. 175 of Cork : another party of the canons elected Thomas O'Lonchi^ archdeacon of the same see. This contested election was referred to the Pope; w'ho^ in complaisance to the king of England, to whom Mac was disagreeahie as well as tlie big O, excluded both candidates, and named to the see of Cashel, William Fitz-John, bishop of Ossor). Whj the different Popes favoured all the encroachments of the English on the antient Irish, especially if, according to Abbe Geoghe- gan. Pope John XXII. remitted the trihute of Peter's-pence, I see but one fact that explains. The English admitted popery, i. e. the pope's temporal power, in its fullest extent. The antient Irish, and they almost alone, constantly opposed it; which may partly account for the alliance of the two potentates against them, and the willing- ness of the holy father to concur with the English monarch in rejecting the os and macs, and fill- ing the sees with staunch English papists, in- stead of Milesian catholics. From diflferent acts of Pope John XXII., commonly called Pope Joan, by English protes- tants, he seemed to have been much wedded to English interests ; for he bestowed on Edward II. a tenth of all ecclesiastical incomes within the king's Irish territories, for two years, and to be levied by the dean and chapter of Christ-church, Dublin. The prelates and clergy of the Pale, unwilling to contest the pope's authority, in im- posing this heavy income tax, least they should invalidate the basis of their own encroachments, on livings founded by Milesians, had recourse 176 A\ IMPARTIAL HISTORY to evasion. Tlioy insisted on seeina; tPARTlAL HISTORY still decreasing number of attending members gave new occasion of suspicion. Intelligence was received of some considerable havock com- niitted [victory gained] by the Irish. The go- vernour imagining with good reason, and con- firmed in his suspicion by sufiicicnt evidence, that the enemy was secretly encouraged by some lords of English race, determined to strike at the very root of such abuse. He seized the earl of Desmond, Mandeville, Walter de Burgho, and his brother, William and Walter Berming- ham. The evidence against William Berminghani was full and forcible: he was condemned and executed: his brother escaped only by his privi- lege as an ecclesiastic: Desmond, who had been obliged to submit to this rigourous governour, after a long confinement was discharged on great surety, and sent into England."* That O'Brien, and the independent Irish, were not subdued during that war, is manifest, from the '' precarious, inglorious peace," which gives the lie to '' not yet subdued." With his usual candour, he calls, in the next page, victory, *' havoc." Now havoc, from the root catbhoc, is only an affray, in its original sense; and a great liavoc, attended by victory, deserves the name of a victory. In the usual spirit of contradiction, into which every narrator, shunning or disguising truth, is liable to fall, after furnishing incontes- table evidences of the defeat of his favourites, he endeavours to overturn all he had said, by call- * Lcland, Vol.1. Book II. civ. p. 292, 293. OF IRELAND. ^01 ing that peace, dictated by necessity^ an '' inju- dicious condescention"! '"^ This injudicious condcscention to the ene- mies of the English interest, was attended by an event of the utmost danger, and most pernicious consequences, that of the death of William, earl of Ulster, who was assassinated by his own per- fidious servants at Carrickfergus. His countess, with her infant daughter, fled in the utmost con- sternation into England, and the vast demesnes of this illustrious family were left without anj' sufficient defender. By the law of England, the earl's lands should have been seized into the king's hands as guardian to the infant ward ; but this law w^as of little force against the violence of old claimants. The Northern septs of O'Nial, ia whom all national animosities were revived by this event, seized the occasion of recovering their antient power, rose suddenly in arms, passed the river Bann, and fell furiously upon the English sctlers established by the family of de Burgho. Notwithstanding a brave and obstinate resistance, the persevering virulence of the Irish prevailed ill a course of time, so as to extirpate the Eng- lish, at least to confine them within very narrow bounds. And their extensive possessions now par- celled out among the conquerours, received the name of the Upper and Lower Clan-Hugh-boy; from their leader Hugh- boy O'Nial. In Con- naught, some younger branches of the family of de Burgho intruded into the late earl's posses- sions ; of whom, two the most powerful contrived to divide the great seignory between them; and 202 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY conscious tliat the law of England must oppose tliis usurpation, and defend the rightful claim of the young heiress, they at once rejected the Eng- lish law, renounced their names, language, ap- parel and manners, adopted those of the Irish, called themselves Mac-William Oughter, and Mac-William Eighter, that is, the Farther, and the Nclher Mac- William, seduced their coun- trymen, settled in this province, by their perni- cious example, and from thenceforward trans- mitted their possessions in the course of tainistry and gavel-kind."* With the veracity of a Richard Cox, he here states, that the territory of Clan-hngh-boy O'Neil had belonged to English settlers, untill O'Niall seized on it, during this great war. He forgot his previous statement, that '' the English set- tlers of the north were instantly swept away by the confederate Scottish and Irish army, under Bruce." The fact is, that the earl of Ulster was then first endeavouring to establish settlers in that district, and lost his life in the attempt. Another proof of the victorious progress of the Milesian arms, during this just and necessary war, he furnishes unknown to himself, in this last quoted page. As the tide of victory favoured either of the races, many of the vanquished party thought it their interest to change their names and dress, and conform to the language, laws^ customs and manners of the conquerors. Thus the Leinster clans, wearied with incessant war- * Leland, Vol. I. B. II. c iv. p. 295,296. OF IRELAND. 203 fare, and distressed by their oppressors, petitioned for the English law; to understand which, and for to become subjects of the Pale, they must learn English; in which capacity, they, by a standing law, should adopt English sirnames, language, dress, manners, and customs. This reason alone explains, why all the settlers of Connaught, at this period, adopted Irish laws, language, and sirnames, as Mac William; and in Munster, as Clan-Morres, Mac Walter, and became Irish in every particular. In the next page he fun-ishes a material wit- ness, that the inglorious peace was not dictated by any *^' injudicious condescentioii'' to the king's Irish enemies, whose blood they thirsted after, but by necessity. '^ It was found necessary to seize and confine two of the noble house of de la Poer. Nicholas Fitz-Maurice, of Kerry, who avowed his attachment to the Irish of Munster, •was made prisoner by his kinsman Desmond, and confined for life; while Kildare, with equal vi- gilance and spirit, chastised the violence of those who had presumed to disturb the peace of Lein- ster'';* i.e. of those who favoured the cause of the petitioners for subjection and personal safety. The severe proceed ings-of king Edward, against the chief settlers, after this '' inglorious peace," are overpowering demonstrations of the victories of the Thomonians and Dalgaissians, over the inhuman monsters, who would refuse to all des- cendants of Milcsius, the condition of subjects, with safety to persons and property; but meant * Leland, Vol.1. Book II. civ. p. 297. VOL. I. 2 E 204 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY to treat them, as if anathematized for destruction bj heaven, in the manner of the Canaanitcs. The defence of the settlers furnishes proofs no less cogent. '' But the rig'ourous measures now pursued by king Edward, served to damp the zeal of these nobles, to enflame discontents, and extend division jet furtlier among all the lords of Eng- lish race. The evils of a distracted state, local feuds and insurrections, violence and ravage. Englishmen renouncing their allegiance and re- volting to the enemy, the enemy strengthened, emboldened, and enabled to return with double fury, and reassume those settlements from whence they had formerly been driven, were soon expe- rienced in an alarming deficiency of revenue, highly inconvenient to a prince who now medi- tated his vast designs against France. Edward was necessitated to seek every resource for sup- plying his exhausted finances. He depended for some assistance from Ireland: he was disap- pointed: and possessed as he was with the glit- tering objects of his ambition, the disappoint- ment was received with a passionate impatience. Not considering that his enormous scliemes of conquest had been the very means of diverting his attention from his Irish interests, and conse- quently the occasion of the distresses of Ireland, and the disappointments he there experienced, he accused his servants and ministers, and de- nounced the terrour of his resentment against all those whom he had employed in this kingdom. Conscious of his own power, and disdaining to OF IRELAND. 205 attend to the passions^ tempers^ and prejudices of his subjects^ in a country where his mandate he conceived was more than sufficient to secure an immediate and implicit obedience, he at once re- solved on the most violent and offensive measures. '' He began with declaring, that all suspen- sions or remissions of debts due to the crown,, either in his time or that of his predecessors (except those which had the sanction of the great seal) should be null and void; and the debts strictly levied without delay; in conside- ration, as he expressed it, of his necessities ari- sing from the war he was to maintain upon the continent and other urgent affairs. Hence he proceeded to a more extensive and vigourous re- sumption of all grants made not by him only, but by his father. Those to the prior of Kil- mainham, who had administered his government with vigour and fidelity, were specifically men- tioned. The justices of the king's bench and common pleas, Mountpessou and Baggot, were suddenly discharged from their offices. He not only dismissed Ashburne, another of his officers^ but seized his estate. The deputy was forbiddea to grant or alien any of the king's lands without a strict inquisition into their circumstances and value. The treasurer of the exchequer, who claimed a privilege to dispose of small sums M'ithout voucher, was not only prohibited for the future, but obliged to account for such sums from the beginning of the present reign: he was forbidden to take rewards for induI«:ino: the king's debtors; he was abridged of the power 206 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY of naming sherift's^ a power hitherto annexed to his office: his receipts of the king's rents were ordered to be open and public: and to complete the scheme of reformation^ the deputy was di- rected to certify to the king in his chancery of England^ the qualities^ services^ fees, number, and behaviour of all his officers in Ireland. But the most offensive and severe of these ordinances was not to be compared with one which crowned the whole intemperate conduct of the king, and aftorded just ground of dissatisfaction to a people conscious of their own, and the merits of their ancestors, and too powerful, and too far removed from the seat of royalty to conceal their indignation. It is here inserted at large, that its spirit and purport may be more clearly ap- prehended. '' The king, to his trusty and beloved John Darcy, justiciary of Ireland, greeting: ^' Whereas it appeareth to us and our council, for many reasons, that our service shall the better and more profitably be conducted in the said land, by English officers having revenues and possessions in England, than by Irish or Eng- lishmen married and estated in Ireland, and without any possessions in our realm of Eng- land; we enjoin you, that you diligently inform yourself of all our officers greater or lesser with- in our land of Ireland aforesaid; and that all such officers beneficed, married and estated in the said land, and having nothing in England, OF IRELAND. 207 be removed from their offices; that jou place and substitute in their room other fit English- mcD;, having lands, tenements and benefices in England^ and that you cause the said offices for the future, to be executed by such Englishmen, and none other, any order of ours to you made in contrarywise notwithstanding/' '' Thus were the descendants of those who had originally gained the English acquisitions in Ireland, who had laboured in a long course of painful and perilous service to maintain them, who daily shed their blood in the service of their monarch, pronounced indiscriminately to be dan- gerous, and declared incapable of filling any, even the meanest department in administration. The degeneracy and disaflection of a number of subjects of the English race, considered in the most striking and offensive view, could only have warranted some secret resolutions of entrusting the affairs of government chiefly to others: but a formal, open, and general sentence of disquali- fication, was equally iniquitous and impolitic. A just prince could have been induced to it only by the severest mirepresentations; nor can it be reconciled to the plainest dictates of prudence, unless we suppose that Edward had been made to regard the country and the people he thus treated, with the most sovereign contempt. '' But whatever representations he had re- ceived, or conceptions he had formed of the old English inhabitants, they were too spirited to endure the loss of their lands^ and their own 208 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY personal iiulii»'nitics with an abject resignation. The hitc emigrants from Enghmd triumphed over the old race, as if they had all forfeited their privileges, and were consolidated with those Irish who had been reduced by their arms. The old English, on the other hand, beheld the par- tiality shewn to those who boasted their English birth, with impatience and indignation. Jea- lousy and dissention were thus excited among those who still adhered to Eiiglish government, and proved the mistaken policy of the king's procedure. The consequences were more alarm- ing as the injured party of his Irish subjects were the more powerful, of more extensive in- fluence, and better enabled to support the inte- rests of government, or rather absolutely neces- sary to the very existence of the royal authority in Ireland. Essentially injured and wantonly insulted, they were soon agitated to that degree of ferment which threatens something violent and dangerous. The more powerful among them fomented the discontents of their inferiours; and where the interests of all were threatened, a common cause and general danger readily dis- posed them to a truly formidable combination. Their violences were so dreaded, that the chief governour deemed it necessary to summon a par- liament at Dublin on this critical occasion. '' This chief governour. Sir John Morris, was of no higher note or station than that of an English knight, and not distinguished either by his fortune or abilities. And the lords he was to govern^ regarded it not as the least of thos^ OF IRELAND. 209 insults tliejliacl sustained, that the king's autho- rity should be delegated to so infeiiour a person. 'The spirited Geraldiues werepartieularlv irrita- ted, and espoused the cause of their brethren the old English with extraordinary zeal. Their nu- merous adherents gave them consequence and power, and their consequence and power served to give countenance to these adherents, and en- couraged them to an open and violent avowal of their dissatisfactions. Desmond, too proud and powerful to be attached to government by any other means but favour and flattery, flew through all his numerous partizans of the South, conferred with the nobility who were most attached to him, and practised with those cities and corporations in w hich he had the great- est influence. Kildare, his kinsman and associate, was equally provoked and equally active and in- dustrious. So that at the time when the parlia- ment was to meet at Dublin, Morris was alarm- ed at the intelligence of another independent as- sembly more numerous and respectable, convened by Desmond at Kilkenny. They stiled them- selves the prelates, nobles, and conunons of the land, were the more formidable , as they affected to assemble peaceably, and prepared a remon- strance to be transmitted to the king. '' The only account which the English anna- lists have given of their transactions, is,* that by a '' * By their messengers, say these annalists, they pro- posed the following questions to the king. " How a realm of war could be governed by a man un- skilful in all warlike service ? 210 AN IMPARTIAL HISTOUr few short strictures tlicj intimated tlie notorious insufficiency of the present chief governour^ as well as his rapaciousness and oppressions; impu- ting the distresses of the realm, and the deficien- cies of the public revenue, to the pernicious con- duct and counsels of the king\s ministers. But we have a petition of the grievances of Ireland, together with the king's answers, among the close rolls of the sixteenth year of this reign, which seems pretty evidently to have been the act of this convention at Kilkenny ; which assembled for the first time in this year, and was too for- midable to be despised, or to have their represen- tations passed over in contemptuous silence. It is said to be the act of the prelates, earls, barons, and commons of the land, without the usual ad- dition of their being assembled in a parliament held at some particular time and place; and it contains such bold accusations of the king's mi- nisters, and such insinuations against the chief governour himself, as seem not likely to have proceeded from an assembly convened by his au- thority, and possibly consisting for the most part, of that faction which opposed the old English settlers; favoured, and therefore influenced by the governour. But wherever it was framed, the petition must not pass entirely unnoticed, as it exhibits a distinct and striking view of the irre- " Haw an officer under the king, who entered verj^ poor, could in one year amass more wealth than men of large estates in many years ? *' How it chanced, since they Avere all called lords of their own, that the sovereign lord of them all was not the richer for them ?" OF IRELAND. 211 giilarities in administration^, and the grievances which Jiad for some time enflamcd the public dissensions^ and weakened the interests of the crown. '' The petitioners begin with representing the total neglect of fortifications and castles^ parti- cularly those of the late earl of Ulster^ in Ulster and Connaughtj now in the king's custody^ but abandoned by his officers^ so that more than a third part of the lands conquered by his royal progenitors were regained by the Irish enemy: and by their insolence on the one hand, and the excesses of his servants on the other, his faithful subjects are reduced to the utmost distress. Other castles, they observe, had been lost by the cor- ruption of treasurers who withheld their just pay from the governours and warders; sometimes obliged them in their necessities to accept some small part of their arrears, and to give acquit- tances for the whole; sometimes substituted in their place mean and insufficient persons, con- tented with any wages they were pleased to al- low; sometimes appointed governours to castles never erected, charging their full pay, and dis- bursing but a trifling part: that the subject was oppressed by the exaction of victuals never paid for, and charged at their full value to the crown, as if duly purchased; that hostings were frequently summoned by the chief governour without concurrence of the nobles, and money accepted in lieu of personal service; treaties made with the Irish, which left them in possession of those lands they had unjustly seized ; the attempts voj,, I, 2 F 212 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY of ilie subjects to rri^aiii tliom^ pnnishcd "with fine and imprisonment; partial truces made with the enemy, wliich^ wliilc one country was secur- edj left them at liberty to infest the neighbouring districts; the absence and foreign residence of those who should defend their own lands and seigniories, and contribute to the public aid and service; illegal seizures of the persons and pro- perties of the English subjects. — All these, with various instances of corruption, oppression, and extortion in the king's servants, were urged plain- ly and forcibly, as the just grounds of discontent. '' But chiefly, and with particular warmth and earnestness, they represent to the king, that his English subjects of Ireland had been traduced and misrepresented to the throne, by those who had been sent from England to govern them; men, who came into the kingdom without know- ledge of its state, circumstances, or interests; whose sole object was to repair their shattered fortunes: too poor to support their state, much less to indulge their passsions, until they had filled their coffers by extortion, to the great de- triment and affliction of the people; that notwith- standing such misrepresentations, the English subjects of Ireland had ever adhered in loyalty and allegiance to the crown of England, had maintained the land for the king and his pro- genitors, served frequently both against the Irish and their foreign enemies, and mostly at their own charges. ^ As a reward of these services, say the peti- tionerSj your progenitors^ Sir^ and you^ have OF IRELAND. 213 granted by letters patent to diverse people of the realm^ lands^ tenements^ franchises^ wards^ mar- riageSj and pardons of debts^ which^ by virtue of such letters patent they have held in peaceable possession; till lately that your ministers by or- ders received from England^, as they pretend, have resumed and taken into your hands what your progenitors. Sir, and you have so granted, as w^ell what was granted for good and reason- able cause as otherwise; and this contrary to the tenour and intent of the aforesaid orders, to en- damage others for their own private emolument. TVhich things. Sir, seem to your liege subjects contrary to reason, as their ancestors and they have well deserved, and do deserve, by defending and maintaining, as much as in them lies, the dominion of the land to our use. For which. Sir, may it please you to ordain that they be not ousted of their freeholds without being called into judgment, according to the provision of the Great Charter/ "' To the several grievances alledged, the an- swers of the king were now gracious and conde- scending; and particularly to this last article, he replied, that the grants of his progenitors should be restored without diminution; that those made in his own reign should also be deli- vered up on sufficient surety that they should be again surrendered, if on a legal inquisition they were found resumeable, as granted without just cause; and that the pardons of debts should be deemed valid, until the causes of such pardons should be duly tried. 214 AN IxMPARTlAL HISTORV '' Such condcsccMisions were at this time the more necessary, as Edward prepared for his ex- pedition into France, and now sent his letters to the officers of state in Ireland, intimating that he had already applied for succours to the prin- cipal lords of this kingdom, directing them to treat \vith these lords, and to use their utmost diligence to prevail upon them to lead or send their respective vassals into Bretanj with all possible expedition/'* The dissensions between the new adventurers from England, and the old settlers, was a just retaliation for their barbarous contempt of their betters, the antient Irish. The soil must partake of the disdain felt or affected for its inhabitants; and Irish birth must vilify the hoggish blood of Englishmen, in the minds of the boorish gene- ration born in England. This is the principle of reacjtion, that predominates in the physical and moral world, the great lawof retributive justice, '' Whatever measure you measure unto others, the same measure shall be measured unto you/* In the course of this history it will be seen, that every fresh swarm of adventurers, under a variety of denomination, have given their precursors the exact measure which those gave to the antient inhabitants. Some may wonder why Edward, who fought with such success in France, did never attempt to realize his promise of attempting the conquest of Ireland. The advice of the earl of Essex to * Leland, Vol. I. Book II. civ. p. 297, etseq. OF IRELAND. 213 queen Elizabeth^ explains the guarded policy of England, with regard to the Milesians: '' You must hide from their view all purpose of esta- blishing English government, untiil the strength of the Irish be broken." This was the policy of Henry II. and of all the kings for centuries after him, with one unfortunate exception in the case of Richard II. Edward was eye-witness of the astonishing agility, strength, and skill at arms, displayed by his Irish auxiliaries at the battle of Cre^y, under the command of the earls of Kil- dare and Desmond. He thought it better to suf- fer them to waste each other gradually, by civil wars, than to unite them in a common cause, by avowing the design of conquering them. Leland allows, that '' a want of concert and union, among the Irish, prevented them from demolish- ing the whole fabric of English power, by one general and decisive assault."* But, if Edward carefully avoided the perilous undertaking of the conquest of Ireland, he did not neglect the means of preserving the English colony; which was more eflcctually secured by the civil broils of the antient Irisb^ than by the colonial regulations for its security and preser- vation. A parliament, convened at Kilkenny, by deputy Bermingham, granted a tax of two shillings on every carucate of land, ecclesiastical as well as secular, in support of the Irish war. The collection of this tax from church lands^ \Aas strenuously and successfuly opposed^ bjr * Leland, Vol. I. Book II. c. v. p. 315. 216 AN IMPATITIAL HISTORY the archbishop of Cashel.* Several ordinances were passed, tending to unite the settlers in one compact bodjj who should have but one peace and one war, and to reconcile them with ad- venturers of Eiig'lisli birth, lie sent his son, Lionel, duke of Clarence, son-in-law to the earl of Ulster, with 1500 men, to govern and defend the Pale. Lionel, and his army of Eng- lish birth, manifested an impolitic contempt for the English settlers of Irish birth, very unsuit- able to his station and views. He marched against 0*Brien of Thomond, by whom he was out-generaled and defeated. The king of Eng- land issued two proclamations, one to the settlers, and another to the English nobility possessing property in Ireland, to join his son speedily, with all the troops they could collect. The command was urged under pain of forfeiture. With these reinforcements the advantages his flatterers and Anglo-Irish writers boast his having obtained, appear from undeniable facts to have been fic- titious or exaggerated. The most effectual mode of securing the king's portion of Ireland, was found in the payment of tribute to some power^ ful chieftains, which the pride of Englishmen, and of their partizans, calls pensions. They maj call them what they chuse; but, if annual sums, extorted at the point of the sword, be not tributes, I know not what a tribute is. Second fact. The * This opposition of the archbishop is unjustly censured by Leland, because it was justified by the great charter granted to Ireland. — See Appendix. No. I. OF IRELAND. 217 extensive tracts recovered by the Irish of their ancient properties, is testified by the king's edict, stating the loss of scutage in these tracts. After obtaining from the settlers, both lay and clerical, two years value of their incomes^ Lionel departed for England. He was succeeded by the earl of Orniond, who shortly after surren- dered the administration to Sir Thomas Dale, The post of deputy was found so perilous at tliat time, that few cared to keep it long. The duke of Clarence^ tutored by experience, and his fa- ther's advice, came back as deputy, in 1367. For the purpose of reforming the settlers, he convened a parliament at Kilkenny, where the barbarous statute, which enacted what follows, was passed. ^' Marriage, gossipred^ nurture of infants — high treason ! Irish name, language^ apparel, any mode or custom of the Irish adopt- ed by a settler — forfeiture of lands and tene- ments; or if he have no lands — imprisonment! Irish law — pernicious! Submission to its deci- sion — high treason ! To permit their Irish neigh- bours to graze their lands; to present them to benefices; to receive them into monasteries or nunneries — highly penal V What excess of bar- barous selfishness and national antipathy, towards a nation always renowned for hospitality, affabi- lity, courtesy to strangers, generosity and honor! whose eminent piety merited for their country the exalted title of The island of saints; and whose learning made it the mart of literature for Europe, Did the Algerines, did the Turks, did the most barbarous savages in the world, ever produce 2IS A\ IMPARTIAL HISTORY anything, so insiiltini:^ to humanity, so ignorant^ so cruel and absurd as this ? To prohibit all man- ner of civility and intercourse, ail the good offices of neighbourhood and friendship^ between two people, inhabiting the same country, professing the same religion, and, from vicinage, frequently needing mutual assistance! What crime was in an Irish name, wliether Paddy orTeague? What crime in learning a language, copious and ele- gant, while their own was an uncouth, barren jargon, and the language of a people with whom they must frequently converse, in spite of penal statutes? This was empaling the Pale from so- cial life; forming an insulated Jewish cast, ab- horring all, and abhorred by all. It was coun- teracting the law of nature, recommending a cross of breeds. It was warring against religion and morality, which commands the love of our neigh- bours, even of our enemies. It far exceeded the rigour of the Jewish pale, and had no such rea- sons to warrant u The Jews were insulated from the neighbouring idolatrous nations, to guard them against idolatry. This English pale excluded the intercourse of a people better Chris- tians than they, better men, more civilized. What crime could be in the melody of the Irish harp, chaunting the sweet strains of Erin's bards ? Why should Irish learning and piety be excluded from benefices, founded by Irishmen, or from monas- teries founded by them .^ The Norman conque- rors passed no such statute in England, nor the heathen Danes in Ireland. Taken altogether, the popish penal code of the settlers exceeds the OF IRELAND. 319 protestant one^ and has no parallel in any age or country. If all other monuments had perished, this alone would prove the barbarity, the wick- edness, the perfidy, and absurdity of its con- trivers. Behold the pretended reformers of the sacred island! These statutes, lasting monuments of the misanthropy of the framers, were a suffi- cient provocation to a high-spirited, gallant peo- ple, especially when aggravated by the incessant endeavours of the settlers to encroach by force or fraud. Accordingly we find, that, shortly after the de- parture of Lionel, deputy Windsore was alarmed with the intelligence, that O/Brien and O'Con- nor took the field. The earl of Desmond, en- trusted with the command of the English forces, met the Irish near the monastery of Mayo, where he lost the battle and his life; most of his fol- lowers were either slain or taken prisoners. Such terror did the Milesian arms inspire at this time, that those who received illegal grants of lands durst not come to claim them; and Sir Richard Pembroke, warden of the Cinque-ports, appoint- ed deputy of Ireland, shuddered at the thoughts of so dangerous a situation, and declined it. Such were the natural fruits of overweening, selfish, misanthropic usurpation and tyranny. The se-^ verest blows, as yet experienced by the adventu- rers, were occasioned by the rejection of the Irish petition, to be treated as fellow men and chris- tians, in the humble condition of subjects, and by the proscription statutes of Kilkenny. Notwithstanding the misanthropic policy, ex- VOL. I, 2 G 220 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY hibited by the convention at Kilkenny, the set- tlers were more patriotic for the concerns of the narrow Pale^ than the soi-disant parliament of Ireland for the whole Irish nation; and for this obvious reason, there were, among the former, none of those boroughs called rotten, neither pensioners or placemen to represent them. The effect of this appeared in an application of king Edward to the parliament of the Pale, for a li- beral subsidy. Importuned by the parliament of England, which was weary of the burdensome support* of the English colony in Ireland, the necessary result of their own perverted policy, he sent Nicholas Dagworth as king's messenger to the Pale, demanding such supplies as the exigencies of the times required. Poverty was pleaded, and the supplies were refused. Irri- tated by this disappointment, he summoned the parliament of the Pale to London, to meet him and his council, for to deliberate on their com- mon interests. Though they did not absolutely refuse the summons, their answers prove how sensible they were of their rights, and how much alive to the interests of their little commonwealth. The answer of the archbishop of Armagh, and of the county of Dublin, to this requisition, was as follows. '' We are not bound, ag^reeably to the liberties, privileges, rights, laws and customs of the church and land of Ireland, to elect any of our clergy, and to send them to any part of * According to Davis, it amounted to ^11,000 yearly, A sura exceeding the total reyenue of the Pale, which thea amounted only to ^10,000. OF IRELAND. 221 England, for the purpose of holding parliaments or councils in England. Yet, on account of our reverence to our lord the king of England, and the now imminent necessity of the land aforesaid, saving to us and to the lords and commons of the said land, all rights, privileges, liberties, laws, and customs before mentioned, we have elected representatives to repair to the king in England, to treat and consult with him and his council. Except, however, that we do bj no means grant to our said representatives, any power of assent- ing to any burdens or subsidies, to be imposed on us or our clergy, to which we cannot yield, by reason of our poverty and daily expence in defending the land against the Irish enemy/' The whole Pale, though, out of complaisance to the king, they allowed their deputies to go to England, unanimously protested against their compliance to be taken as a surrender of their rights and privileges, or a precedent for alienat- ing their legislative power, cautiously reserving to themselves the power of granting or withhold- ing subsidies; so that their deputies, deprived of the power of taxation and legislation, might with more justice be called the king's Irish coun- cil, than a parliament. '' The nobles and com- mons, unanimously, and with one voice declare, that, according to the rights, privileges, liberties, laws and customs of the land of Ireland, enjoyed from the time of the conquest of said land, they are not bound to send any persons from the land of Ireland to the parliament or council of our lord the king in England, to treat, consult^ or 222 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY agree with our lord the king in England, as the writ requires. Notwithstanding, on account of their reverence, and the necessity and present distress of the said land^ they have elected repre- sentatives to repair to the king, and to treat and consult with him and his council; reserving to themselves the power of yielding or agreeing to any subsidies." At the same time protesting, " that their present compliance is not hereafter to be taken in prejudice to the rights, privileges, laws and customs, which the lords and commons, from the time of the conquest of the land of Ire- land, have enjoyed, in consideration of the various burdens which the said lords and commons have borne, and still do bear, and which for the future they cannot support — nisi dominus rex manura suam melius apponere voluerit.* '' What was the result of this notable contro- versy, between Edward and his subjects of Ire- land, or whether, or how far the king's necessi- ties were supplied, w^e are not distinctly informed. It only appears that the Irish representatives sat at Westminster, and that their wages were levied on the dioceses, counties, and boroughs, which had chosen them.^'f If the period of Irish history, since the inva- sion, hitherto has been mangled, defaced, and wilfully obscured, by partial writers; of the next reign, Richard II. they have left, instead of his- tory, a romance or novel, without cohesion or * Unless the king puts his hand io the work more effectually. + Leland, Vol. I. B. II. c. v. p. S285 329, OP IRELAND, 223 probability. One important fact^ however^ has been preserved, which proves that English policj in those dajs was more deep than it is now. Se- veral acts had been passed against Irish absen- tees, who spent their incomes in England, to compel residence in Ireland, for the defence of their fortunes. In the reign of Richard II. the absentee act was renewed, and the tax augmented to two-thirds of their Irish revenues, in case of non-compliance, to be applied for the defence of the king's Irish domain; except those on the king's service, students, and those licensed under the great seal, who were taxed but one-third of their revenues. Richard besides allowed his Irish subjects to work mines, coin money, and trade with Portugal. For these favours the king ex- pected some liberal return, to relieve the poverty of the English exchequer, drained by the long wars of his predecessor. With that intent he di- rected his Irish deputy, Roger Mortimer, earl of March, grandson of the duke of Clarence, to convene a parliament, and move for supplies. But the colony was so exhausted by its constant war with the aboriginal inhabitants, that nothing considerable was or could be given. The history of the Pale continues to be of little interest, as well as that of the Irish countries, engaged as usual in petty hostilities, untill the landing of Richard II. The historians of the Pale fill this chasm with a piece of English his-- tory, concerning Robert de Vere, earl of Oxford^, the favourite of Richard II. The rise of that favourite, through his master's bounty, created 224 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY marquis of Dublin, and duke of Ireland. His renewal of the treaty of peace with Arth Mac Murchad O'Cavena^li, and tlie payment of the stipulated tribute. Leland tells, that the earl of Orniond, who succeeded Sir Jolni Stanlj, ob- tained some advantages over O'Nial, whom he stiles the powerful chieftain of the North, and over O'Brien. But whoever considers the nar- row limits and real weakness of the Pale, at that time, tributary to Mac Murchad, with a revenue short of 3^10,000 a year, will be led to discredit such relations, unless they be explained by a civil war, or some such distraction as would enfeeble the potentates of the north and south. The reign of Richard II., and of Arth Mac Murchad O'Cavenagh in Leinster, form an epoch in Irish history. ^Ve have seen before, that the Leinster tribes, provoked by the scorn- ful rejection of their petition, put O'Brien at their head, and took vengeance on the colonists. The next leader, who led them to victory, was a youth of sixteen, Arth Mac Murchad O'Cave- nagh, descended from the antient kings of Lein- ster. So successfully did he carry on the war, that constant supplies of men and money were necessary for the existence of the colony; and so liard were they driven, by that incomparable warrior, O'Cavenagh, that the whole power of England appeared necessary to save them, Leland, rather than acknowledge the truth, that they w ere the victories of O'Cavenagh which summoned Richard and his great army into Ire- land, found or made fictitious motives. That ho OF IRELAND, S25 gave in his name to the dcctois of Germany^ a-? candidate for the imperial throne: that his ina- bility to recover the conquets of his ancestors in France^ or subdue the enemies of his government in Ireland, were represented by the electors as sufficient disqualifications; to wipe oft' which he ventured on the conquest of a prince, who ruled three counties, Wick low, Wexford, and Carlow! Great levies were raised, and great supplies grant- ed, for this enterprize; from which the parlia- ment and people of England had such mighty expectations, but which the issue disappointed. The English clergy gave a tenth of their pro- perty for the intended conquest of Ireland. In the month of October, 1394, Richard landed at Waterford, at the head of 30,000 foot and 4000 heavy armed cavalry, attended by the duke of Gloucester, the earls of Nottingham and Rutland, Thomas lord Piercy, and other distinguished per- sonages. All this mighty preparation and bustle ended in the renewal of the original treaties made between Henry II. and the Irish princes; and which, it appears, they were willing to observe, as the infractions always commenced with the opposing party. Mowbray earl of Nottingham, earl marshal of England, was empowered to treat with the Leinster chieftains, who met him at Carlow, and entered into treaties by their interpreters; while the king in person went as far as Drogheda, to meet the powerful chieftain of Ulster, O'Neil., where they accommodated their differences in an amicable manner^, and returned to Dublin; wlii- 626 AN i:\iPARTIAL HISTORY ther Richard invited the four provincial kings, and other princes, to a royal entertainment, as kings Henry and John did before^ in which he studied to display his magnificence, having re- moved the crown jewels from England for that purpose. No less than seventy-five princes at- tended Richard's court on this occasion, who exercised the rights of sovereignty in their own tribes and districts, ' all blindly attached to their own unrefined customs and manners!' says Leland, A stupid and bigotted observation. Manners and customs are not the growth of a day; nor can a nation lay them aside in a moment like a cloak, and adopt opposite habits, were they eveu decidedly preferable, a thing far from being evi- dent. The Irish constitution had indeed failed. It had its period, like every thing human; but it lasted a long time, much longer than any con- stitution has hitherto lasted in England, and un- der it Ireland attained prosperity, learning, and renown; a leading rank among the nations of Europe. She enjoyed more of internal tranquil- lity, and social happiness, than any cotemporary state in Europe; and, if we had no other proof of this, the flourishing state of her numerous learned seminaries, and the immense numbers that resorted to them, from every part of Europe, are in themselves ample evidences; as the muses fly the din of arms. The university of Prague lost its splendour through the Hussite war; and Ireland, become the theatre of war between the Danes and natives, lost her ancient pre-eminence OF IRELAND. 227 in the sciences and arts^ and thence forward was little resorted to by foreign students. Even after the constitution of Ireland expired^ through the nullity of the supreme executive power attached to the monarchy^ her manners and customs made the state of society tolerable^ during the indeter- minable contests of petty chiefs^ unrestrained by superior authority^ and more tolerable than the tyranny of an English baron.* We have already observed the rudeness and ill breeding of John*s courtiers, but then they were young. Well^ let us see the behaviour of Richard's courtiers, the prime nobility of England; men in the prime of life, or beyond it. The four principal kings, O'Neil, O'Connor, O'Brien, and Mac Murchad^ sat at king Richard's table, in their robes of state; Ormond, and Henry Castile, a gentleman of Richard's court, who understood Irish, inter- preted. *^^The staring courtiers importuned theni with such questions, as argued the meanest con- ceptions of their manners and understanding, and were answered with indignation and affected dignity." Why, Mr. Leland, 'affected dignity?' Dignity was a sentiment habitual to the mind of an Irish chieftain, needing no affectation. Frois- sard, an eye-witness, does not call that dignity affected; rudeness may be a part of English po- liteness; we cannot otherwise account for the supercilious and unmannerly conduct of the Eng- lish courtiers towards their master's guests, men every way their superiors. * See pages 170, 171, 172. VOt. I. 2 H 228 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY King Richard having thus settled his affairs in Ireland, and spent some months in festivity M'ith his feudatory allies^ departed for England. Douhtless, great expectations of the entire re- duction of Ireland was formed in England, from the presence of the kingvv^ith a royal army, aided by his ablest statesmen and generals; and they criticized the king's remissness with a severity proportioned to their disappointment. But the king and his counsellors, who were on the spot^ were better able to weigh the difficulties of such an enterprize. The Irish, though weakened and divided, were still formidable; a formal and se- rious attempt to reduce the whole island, would probably unite the seventy-live tribes in a com- mon cause, and drive them to forget their do- mestic quarrels, elect a monarch to conduct their operations, and raise an army in one week of 100,000 armed men; a very moderate estimate. Did they chuse to protract the war; carrying it on defensively, they would ruin Richard's army without fighting, and a nation of warriors would not be subdued by the loss of many battles. We may estimate the hazard of such an undertaking, from the formidable resistance made by one pro- vince, under O'Neil, against the power of Eng- land, aided by the rest of Ireland. During a vigorous contest of fifteen years, he was more than once on the point of extinguishing the Eng- lish power in Ireland. The superior fortune of his adversary obtained at last a dear bought victory. Richard himself experienced the difficulty of OF IRELAND. 229 conquering Ireland^ in his second expedition,, undertaken against the broken remnants of the Leinster tribes, which ended not much to his honour. The story is a short one. The king's governors of the Pale pretended^ or had a king's order, which English writers miscal a treaty, to compel all the native Irish to evacuate the pro- vince of Leinster, and seek their fortunes where- ever they could. It is, I say, highly absurd in Leland or Cox, to pretend that any people would voluntarily, and without compulsion, agree to quit their homes, and resign their inherited lands, without being compelled by the point of the sword. Very naturally they resisted the insolent mandate, and summoned from his studies, at the age of sixteen, that admirable hero, Arth Mac Murchad O'Cavenagh, to assume the crown of Leinster, to which he was the legitimate heir. The youthful warrior, born a general, accepted the post of danger and honor with delight. The boisterous temper, the rebellion of the natives, was echoed to the throne; and Richard prepared once more, resolved to come to Ireland with a great army, to assert his own authority, and to support the usurpations of his vassals. On the 13th of May, 1399, Richard, accom^ panied by a splendid train of English nobility, and a grand army, landed at Waterford ^ whence, after some delay to refresh his troops, and receive the submissions of some neighbouring chiefs, he marched in quest of Mac Murchad, the head of the Leinster Irish; who, to secure himself from the superior number of his enemies^ retired 230 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY to his woods, and at their approach appeared at the head of 3,000 men, so well armed and ap- pointed, and with such an appearance of deter- mined vah)ur, as was perfectly astonishing to the English, who had been taught to despise their rude and undisciplined violence. The royal army was drawn out in order of battle, expecting a vigorous attack; but the Irish forces suddenly disappeared, and Richard, elevated by this re- treat, ordered the adjacent houses and villages to be set on fire, and the royal standfipd to be ad- vanced, under which he created several knights^ and among these the young Henry of Lancas- ter, afterwards the illustrious king Henry V., w ho on this occasion gave the first proofs of his valour. To facilitate the pursuit of an enemy, who ap- peared to fly, a large body of peasants was em- ployed to cut a passage through the woods, which the Irish had by every means endeavoured to render impassible. As the king's army march- ed through all the diflicultics of an encumbered road, perpetually impeded, and sometimes plung- ed into deep and dangerous morasses, the enemy frequently assailed them with loud shouts. Mr. Leland calls them ' barbarous ululations.' But was it not the custom of the Greeks and Romans, and indeed of most nations, to commence battle with shouts and clashing of armour.^ The enemy then frequently assailed them, and cast their darts with such force as no armour could withstand, slaughtering their detached parties, retired and advanced with astonishing agility ;, so as conti- OF IRELAND. 231 luiallj to annoy and harrass the English forces, though they could not be brought to a general engagement. This masterly plan of >varfarG, rigidly adhered to^, brought Richard and his army to intolerable distress. Numbers of his men perished by famine; their horses^ from want and hardship^ grew incapable of service ; a gene- ral gloom spread through the camp^ and his bravest knights murmured at their fate^ who were to perish in a service attended with so little honour^ and such severe distress. A few ships, laden with provisions from Dublin^, having ap- proached the neighbouring coast^ the famished soldiers plunged into the sea^ seized and rifled them^ shedding each other's blood in a furious contest for relief. This was the situation of Richard's army^ according to the description of the earl of Totness. In this situation^ Richard made large offers ( Leland says, was weak enough to ofler terri- tories and castles, in Leinster) to Arth Mac Murchad. I believe Dr. Leland, in the king's situation, would be guilty of similar weakness. These overtures and offers the Doctor makes the Irish hero reject, and in the same breath repre- sents him as suing for an accommodation of his own accord, which resolution he imputes to sound policy. Surely this would not be the con- duct of an able general and politician, such as Murchad is described. The truth is, they garble the whole account, to bring off the honour of the English army, and to palliate their defeat. The treaty, which enabled Richard to save the 232 AN IMPAIITI\L HISTORY remains of liis army, it seems was so disgraceful that he was ashamed to own it. His violent and extravagant proceeding afterward^ offering a re- ward for the head of a brave and injured prince, whom he was unable to subdue^ proved his con- scious shame. To cover this perfidy, and the disgrace of the British arms before so inferior a force, romantic tales must be invented. Mur- chad's uncle, and other lords, against the supe- rior judgment of their general, must go to Ri- chard's camp, and submit, with halters round their necks, when Richard himself was in extre- mity, in the power of the enemy; and, to be sure, the uncle and the other lords knew nothing of the matter, were totally unacquainted with the merits and success of Arthur's plan. This story must serve to usher in the king's promises, as unconnected with the negociation; and Arthur must be transformed into the swag- gering hero of a tragedy, that he may appear to have rejected advantageous offers; and then, im- mediately after, with the same levity, court ne- gotiation, without any stipulation; and then he is made to break off the trer.ty, that the English forces may have the honour to retreat without his permission. In the situation described by the earl of Tot- ness, famine and dismay in his camp, men and horses perishing for hunger and fatigue, his most valiant knights, giving all for lost, lamenting their fate, Richard could not delay a moment to extricate his army from destruction, by treating with the enemy ; for^ if he hesitated^ the army OF IRELAND. 233 would doubtless mutiny ;, and compel him to it. He could not expect a morsel of provisions^, ex- cept what might come by sea, and that was pre- carious. By advice of the council^ who^ cer- tainly, would not advise it, unless necessary for the safety of the army, (and be it remembered, that Richard made the first overtures, '*^ offering- castles and lands in Leinstcr,") Gloucester was commissioned to meet him at a place appointed, and for this purpose marched out with a guard of 200 lances and 1000 archers. An eye-witness ( Froissard ) of their interview describes the Irish chieftain tall of stature, formed for agility and strength, of an aspect fierce and severe, ( it should be haughty and severe, ) mounted on a swift and stately horse, darting rapidly from a mountain, between two woods, adjacent to the sea, attended by his train. At his command they halted at a due distance, while their leader, casting the spear from him, which he grasped in his right hand, rushed forward to meet the English lord. The parley was continued for a considerable time, and a treaty of peace concluded, the very existence of which Leland endeavours to find pretences to deny, yet which, nevertheless, saved Richard's army. For we find, in effect, that Mac Murchad withdrew his forces, and that the English army was suffered to pursue its retreat to the capital unmolested. After refreshing his enfeebled army in Dublin, and receiving reinforcements brought from England, he had the meanness to deny his treaty, offering a reward of 300 gold marks for the head of the heroic Arth, sending out his 234 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY troops to liarrass his couiilrj, for lie no longer chose to 2:0 in person in quest of the formidable Arthur. Here he lay, uttering his vexation against the Leinsler ])rinre, for the deep disgraee of his 10} al arnis^ until news came from England of more serious importance, that the throne was filled in his absence. In the succeeding reign of Henry IV. the duke of Lancaster was sent over with an English force^ to retrieve the honour of the English arms, who, assembling a parliament at Trim, and collecting the forces of the English settlements^ aided by the zealous concurrence of Ormond and Kildare, formed a respectable army, crouded with Irish natives as well as settlers, and marched to subdue Mac Murchad. This chieftain, though weakened by the defection of many of his associates, dis- dained to employ those arts of generalship on this occasion, which had proved so successful against the greatest English army ever landed in Ireland. Anno 1407, he gave the enemy battle, a desperate, a well disputed battle they called it, in which they claimed the victory, while they ac- knowledge that Murchad was not thereby re- duced. The year following, anno 1408, Lancaster made extraordinary preparations, stipulating for supplies of men and money from England, and that one or two families should be transported into Ireland, at the king's charges, from every parish in England; yet notwithstanding these extraordinary efforts, he was totally defeated. The battle was fought at the western extremity OF IRELAND. 235 of Dublin^ -where the Phenix Park now stands, and the English hotlj pursued in their flight with great slaughter^ choaked up the ford with the dead bodies^ and djed it red with their blood, whence it got the name of Ath cro, i. e. bloody ford, which epithet, after the building of a bridge over the ford, was communicated to it also. The duke of Lancaster, who commanded the English, was wounded near the walls of Dublin, and soon after expired. The details of all the victories of this hero, I have not as yet seen, but the result and confir- mation of them arc to be found, in the trepidation of the colony; the incessant demand of succours from England ; the frequent change of governors and councils; the murmurings of the English parliament and nation, for the burden of sup- porting the English settlers against his victorious arms ; the great armies sent from England against him, the greatest that ever landed in Ireland, and their discomfiture. England was petrified, that the chief of a few Irish clans, occupying the territory now named the counties of Wicklow, Wexford, and Carlow, should humble the victors of Cre9y and Agin- court. She endeavoured to practise the resource of base cowardly minds, and take off the hero by assassination, whom she durst no longer encoun- ter in the field. The English writers have recorded the reward of 300 gold marks, offered for the capture or death of the king of Leinster ; they have omitted the perfidy of the English settlers endeavouring VOL. 1. 2 I 236 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY to earn the blood-moncy. The Irish annalist?^ unacquainted probably with the proffered re- wardj recorded the treacherous attempt of the chief settlers to destro} their formidable conque- ror. The lords of English descent invited him to a banquet. Conscious of the prowess of the hero, they made every preparation for his ruin. The guests were numerous^ bred to arms, and all wore swords. With the sentiments of a Milesian cavalier, fraught with the loftiest flights of chi- valry, accustomed to the hospitality of his coun- try, which made every house a sanctuary, even for the worst enemy, he suspected no guile in the invitation of men calling themselves noble. He came attended only by his bard and a ser- vant: luckily for him his bard was not blind. Placed at a window, the minstrel delighted the company with the native airs, superior, by the confession of the worst enemies, to the music of all other nations at that day. He suddenly changed his notes to a Rosg catha, i. e. incite- ment to battle. Reprimanded, and ordered to play festive airs, he complied, but presently re- turned again to the Rosg catha. Whether Arth understood him, or was moved with indignation at the disobedience of his harper, he arose from the table, and saw the house surrounded with horse and foot. The scene that ensued would be a subject for the pencil of a Raphael, Angelo^ or Phidias. How can I describe the consterna- tion and terror of the traitors, when they saw their treason prematurely detected, before the bottle had settled the preliminaries ! Armed as OF IRELAND. 237 they were, and numerous, who dare stir, while Hercules stood before them, sober, on his guard, brandishing a sword, that cost almost as much as his horse, with an arm that dealt death among their ranks on the field of battle, and often cut a man cased in armour in two with a single blow. It is not in my power to paint the frown of in- dignity and contempt he darted on the base assas- sms, who greeted him with the kiss of Judas, and invited him to a murderous feast. They were already subdued, by shame, guilt, and ter- ror; for the man who dare stir was sure of his death-warrant. I cannot attempt to detail the rapidity and energy with which he fought his way through horse and foot, assembled about the house for his destruction. The Irish annal- ists narrate this wonderous exploit in a few ex- pressive words: -with the valour of his arm and his heroism he cut his way through them.'' He mounted his steed, the swiftest that Frois- sard ever yaw, and on arriving home, declared war against the perfidious assassins, who con» verted hospitality into a man^trap for murder. This just and necessary war he pursued, untill he humbled the pride of England, and its Irish colony; compelled them to acknowledge him king of Leinster, and to pay tribute to him, and to his posterity, for tolerating the English colony in Ireland. He might have his reasons for not expelling the vile ruffians, who attempted his life for the blood- money, by the infamous treason of a murderous fe^st. He might have been weary of a war, that 238 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY lasted upwards of forty years, with a few inter- vening truces, though generally victorious. He might have foreseen, that the Pale, pushed to extremity, England would subsidize O'Neil or O'Brien to wage war against him. At all events, he might have considered the Pale as an useful appendage to his kingdom of Leinster, paying him tribute. That this was not a pension, as the flatterers of English pride would insinuate, is proved by the authority of Henry VIII. and his parliament of the Pale, who, in the twenty-eighth year of his reign, passed the following act against the payment thereof. '' Prayen the lords spiri- tual and temporal, and the commons in this pre- sent parliament assembled, that whereas the king's Irish enemies have been heretofore of great force and strength, within this land of Ireland, by reason whereof they have charged divers the king's towns and faithful subjects with tributes and exactions, for consideration that the said Irishmen, which do take the said tributes should defend the king's said subjects, which they have not done, ne do not, and yet the king's said sub- jects at the charge to pay them the said unlaw- full impositions to their utter impoverishing. Wherefore and forasmuch as our sovereign lord the king, having respect to the poverties of his said poor subjects of this his land of Ireland, hath sent his armie royal hither for the exonera- ting of his grace's said subjects, whereby his grace's said subjects are highly animated and fortified, and the said Irish enemies greatly en- feeblished, so as nothing lieth in them to do for OF IRELAND. 239 liaving any such tribute. Be it therefore bj authority of this present parliament enacted, esta- blished and ordained, that no manner Irishman^ within this land of Ireland, shall have any tri- bute, exaction, or any other unlawfull impositions, of, or upon any the king's towns or faithfull sub- jects within the same land, but that all and every the king's said towns and subjects shall be clear- ly from henceforth for evermore acquitted, dis- charged and exonerated from all and every such tributes, any letters or commandments sent to them or any of them, or hereafter to be sent con- trary to this present act, in any wise notwith- standing." As the defeat of the greatest English army that ever visited Ireland, combined with the forces of the English settlers, by a chief of a ter- ritory now known by the names of the counties of Wick low, Wexford and Carlo w, at the head of only 3000 men, may appear marvellous, and perhaps incredible, to the self-love of English- men, notwithstanding unquestionable English and French authorities, parallel examples, and an elucidation of O'Cavenagh's stratagems, may remove their scruples. The Numantians of Spain, descended from the same stock as the Milesians, furnish a parallel example of a small force defeating a much great- er, not in one battle, but in many. If the Ro- mans, to their shame, at length overwhelmed and annihilated that heroic people, their writers, very unlike the English, instead of endeavouring to defame them, left an honorable testimony of their 240 AN IMPARTIAL IIISTORir valour and generosity. The Lusitani furnish another example. '' Though Numantiawas inferior to Carthage, Capua,, and Corinth^ in wealth; yet, in honor and reputation of valour, it was equal to them all, in respect of its men, ( Celtiherians, ) the flower of all Spain. For, standing upon a small ascent, by the river Durius, and having neither walls nor towTrs, it defended itself, with no more than 4000 Celtiherians, against an army of 40000 men, for fourteen years together; and not onlj kept them off, but gave them severe blows, and made them accept dishonourable terms. At last, when we found them too hard for us this way, we sent the conqueror of Carthage to deal with them. It must be confessed, if we speak the truth, that never was any war so ill grounded. The Numantians had received into their bosoms, the Segidcnses, their allies and kindred, who had escaped out of the hands of the Romans. No in- tercession for pardon would be accepted. They were commanded to lay down their arms. This was resented, as if they were ordered to cut off their ow^n hands. Therefore, at the instigation of their valiant leader Megara, they flew to arms, and fell upon Pompey; but, when it was in their power to have beaten him, they chose rather to accommodate matters. The next general they encountered was Hostilius Mancinus, of whose forces they made such havock, that not a man of them durst look a Numantian in the face. Yet here too they forbore to destroy their enemy, which they might have done; and struck ^ OF IRELAND. 241 league, upon no other advantage but the spoils thej had taken with their swords, &c. Lastly, overpowered by a consular army, twenty times their number, led on by Scipio Africanus, who employed against them all the stratagems of su- perior tactics, they fell, to the eternal disgrace of the Roman name, martyrs to the cause of honor and freedom. Death they preferred to bondage; and thus practised what other nations only talk of, to live free or die/'* Roman armies, in the most flourishing state of their discipline, after the second Punic war, we cannot conceive to have been beaten, without the combination of extraordinary bravery guided by military skill equally great. The few sketches remaining of Arth's manner of warfare with Richard II., give some insight into the plan of that great hero's campaign. He had timely notice of the extraordinary supplies granted by parliament; and the great prepara- tions made for invading his principality. A pitched battle, with more than twelve times the number he could muster, he knew to be impru- dent, and probably ruinous. He therefore had recourse to the stratagems of war. It is probable, that he buried provisions for himself and his army^ in pits known but to a few trusty men, and re- moved or destroyed the remainder. That, as the rojal army was advancing, the cattle were driven out of their reach; the roads broke up; pits dug, bottomed with pointed stakes, and covered with * Florus. Rom. Hist, 242 AN IMPARTIAL lIISTOIir slender wiittlcs and green sods. The liills^ in- tended for temporary encampments^ provided Avith rolling stones; barrels, filled ^vith earth or stones; car wheels, with transverse spikes tra- versing their axle, with a few stones lashed to it^ to encrease the weight; darts prepared of massy oak, well pointed with steel, something like the Roman pilum; with many others, that a fertile invention would suggest. Add to this, that he drew the English army into defiles and morasses, ^vhe^e the superior agility and strength of the Irish, and perfect knowledge of the country, of the turnings, windings, and passes, gave him great advantages. In these places the Irish were swifter than the English cavalry. They threw their darts with such force as no armour could withstand. They cut to pieces all detached par- ties, whether for observation or forage. '' They retired and advanced with astonishing agility, so as continually to annoy and harrass the Eng- lish forces, though they could not be brought to a general engagement.''* Perishing by famine, cut off in detail, 'tis obvious, that the Irish prince might have annihilated the royal army, if his humanity, equal to his abilities and valour, did not plead for them. In vain Leland strives to cover their disgrace with the transparent gauze of fiction. '' Arth sued for peace, and offered to go to Richard's camp." — '' The Irishman, who well knew the difficulties to which the king's army was reduced, and the impossibility of their * Leland, from Froissard, an eye-witness. OF IRELAND. MS subsisting" for anytime in their present situation; horses and men perishing by famine and fatigue; the bravest knights murmuring at their fate, who were to perish in a service attended with so little honor/' 'Tis thus the prevaricating historian overturns in one line what he asserted in another. Little honor to be sure they got, except what they deserved, a sound drubbing, for going on a lawless unjust war, for their ingratitude to the family that founded their colony. 'Tis not 'im- probable, that the common proverb in Ireland, Byrne, Toole, and Cavanagh, Triur a rusgadh Sassanach, may be dated from the reign of this victorious king of Leinster. That he could not impede Richard's return to Dublin, is the groundless assertion of Leland. A famishing army, perishing by hunger, cut oft' in detail, fifty miles from Dublin, that must fight its way with famine and the sword, through the moun- tains and defiles of the county of Wicklow, where all provision would be removed from its reach, must inevitably have been exterminated before it reached the capital. Arth little imagined, that gratitude for his clemency would be a breach of treaty, and a price set on his head! Repeated acts of perfidy had not taught the Irish to consider it as a na- tional malady, not confined to individuals. But Arth miraculously escaped the snare of the mur- derous banquet, while Richard paid the forfeit of his treaty-breaking, and assassination rewards, by the loss of his crown and life. The first parliament convened by Henry IV., YOL, I, 2 k 244 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY of the house of Lancaster, wlio succeeded Ri- chard II., of the house of York, demonstrated the victories of O'Cavenagh, and their dread of his power, by their solicitude and efforts for the preservation of the Pale. A subsidy for three years was granted by the English parliament for its defence. The act against Irish absentees was renewed, imposing a tax of two-thirds of their income on such as would not reside on their es- t:ites in Ireland; and Henry's second son_, Tho- mas, duke of Lancaster^ was sent with some troops to Ireland as deputy. Henceforward the history of Ireland offers lit- tle interesting, untill the reign of Henry VII. The existence of the Pale was secured by the subsidy to Mac Murchad; and the chief settlers, as well as the antient Irish, carried on their local wars, in defiance of its feeble government. Eng- land too, during this period, was distracted by civil wars between the rival houses of York and Lancaster; and could but pay but little attention to Irish affairs. Not a year elapsed without a war in one or other of the provinces; and not un frequently in all at once. Leinster, in parti- cular, was infested with incessant hostilities, be- tween the English and the bordering septs: for, though they purchased peace from the formidable Aith, they honored not O'Moore of Leix, or O'Connor Faly, with the same respectable atten- tion; but were involved in incessant hostilities with them, to enlarge their frontier. If the scene was not afflicting, that exhibits a brave magnanimous people, renowned of yore for OF IRELAND. 245 the most exalted virtues, tearing each other in pieces with their own hands, for the gratification and benefit of cruel, perfidious enemies, watching the moment to pounce on their destined prey, it would be amusing to peruse the narrative of their petty hostilities. These are transmitted to us, by our annalists, with a scrupulous veracity. There is too much monotony in them, to afford either entertainment or instruction. Two bordering clans fell out, met and fought, made peace, and the war was over for some time. In one of these tremendous battles, which Irish writers registered as matter for history, nine men were killed, and one horse taken ! What a pity they did not ac- quaint us with the number of the wounded and prisoners, if there were any. The pernicious efiects of the statutes of Kil- kenny were forcibly felt by the settlers. Statutes, which, if at all admissible, could only be enacted by national authority against some party or cul- pable individuals, but were utterly impracticable in the then circumstances of Ireland. The set- tlers were not allowed to make peace or war with the Irish, without permission of government; but it might frequently happen, that waste aiid havoc was made on them, before they received permission to stand on their defence. They were prohibited to trade, or hold any intercourse, with the Irish enemy. And who else could they deal with? a handful of men compared to the nation, among whom they dwelt as a corroding canker; to use the expression of Leland, better applied. Cities and individuals sued for patents^ autho» 246 AN IMPARTIAT. IITSTOUY rizins^ tlinn to trans2:rcss these statutes, as im- politic as iiiliinnan; and the majority daily trans- gressed theni, without the authority of a patent; because their observance was impracticable in most cases. The absurd tyranny of these men is further proved by an act of the colonial parliament, pro- hibiting the Irish enemy to emigrate, without special licence under the great seal of Ireland ! They would not be received as subjects, pro- tected by law. They were designated as fair game for any settler, who could kill them, and take their properties; yet they would not be al- lowed to migrate in quest of safety ! This can appear in no other light than as a game-act; not unlike the act forbidding the transportation of hawks, under a penalty heavier than the eric al- lowed for the murder of twenty-four mere Irish- men residing within English jurisdiction. One cannot help admiring the puny arts, by which English vanity labours to discolor facts, and prevaricate against truth. Mac Murchad, though acknowloged king of Leinster, by both king ai.d parliament, who agreed to pay him and his posterity annual tribute^ for his forbearance or protection, must be called an insurgent ! Cer- tainly, whoever rises against another is an insur- gent, in the literal meaning; but, by usage, it has been warped, to signify the rising of an infe- rior against a superior. Now, surely the Pale can no wise be considered as superior to the man, whom it acknowleged as king, and to whom it paid tribute. Certain chroniclers, determined to OF IRELAND. 247 defeat Mac Murchad at any rate^ tell us, that deputy Scroop, with the zealous concurrence of Ormond, Desmond, Kildare, and other English lords, and the subjects of Mcath, in a desperate and well disputed battle, defeated, but did not subdue the Leinster chief. We wish for better authorities. Why did not they follow up their blow, at least untill he renounced the tribute called Black Rent? Because, according to their story, they were obliged to march against other insurgents. But the conquest of him would be of more important consequences than that of any other Leinster chieftain. 'Tis probable they had sound reasons for altering their position; and the defeat of Arth was^ like some modern victories — • on paper. There is a law of action and reaction, pervad- ing every department of nature. There is a law of retributive justice^ in the moral system of in- telligent beings, which the setlers experienced in different measure from their first settlement. All appointed to station and office of English birth^ every fresh swarm of adventurers treated the set- lers of Irish birth with the most mortifying con- tempt and injustice; as if the local difference of birth could found any real cause of disparity. Thus, within the narrow limits of the Pale, dis- tinct English and Irish interests were formed, by prejudice of birth; contested by two violent factions, subsisting until dilFcrence of religion ab- sorbed that less serious party badge. The contempt for the settlers of English descent, was manifested \>y the nobility and gentry of England; as if the 248 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY soil or climate of Ireland communicated a taint to English blood in those born there. In the PalCj there was no college or seminary for law, physic or divinity. The inhabitants were deterred, by national antipathy as well as power, from sending their children to the seminaries of the Irish enemy ; their only resource was to send them to England. In the beginning of the reign of Henry V., the English parliament decreed the expulsion of all Irish adventurers from England, as vagabonds. Their students, ignominiously turned out of the inns of courts, and every other place of education, were thus deprived of any knowlege of the laws by which they were to be governed. Could the Irish enemy have been treated worse.? What a striking display this, of the very opposite character of the two nations? England refused residence or education to the youth of their own colony, of the same race and religion, and expelled them as vagabonds. The Milesian Irish gave habitation, maintenance, clothing, books, and education, gratis, to thou- sands of English youth, by the testimony of their own writers. The prejudice of England, against every thing Irish, reached the brute creation; and an English parliament voted Irish cattle a nuisance, whether dead or alive. The inhuman policy of expelling the English settlers from intercourse and education in Eng- land, a retaliation on them for similar decrees against the mere Irish in the statutes of Kilkenny, had reasons at bottom unnoticed by those who recorded them. It was the wish of England^. OF IRELAND. 249 that the learned professions^ within the extent of her jurisdiction in Ireland, should he altogether in the hands of born Englishmen; that all law- yers, judges, physicians, and beneficed clergy- men, should be of the same English birth. Con- sequently, the youth of the Pale should not be admitted to qualifications, that might raise up competition. The declaration of war against Irish cattle had also its motives. The English, then no manufacturers, exported hides, tallow, wool, &c., and imported cloth, leather, linen, and other manufactures. The grazing interest, therefore, obtained that violent decree against the horned creation of Ireland. The modern English, for other reasons, whether of sympathy or interest, are reconciled to them. Great has been the change in the policy of England. The popish kings and parliaments of England discouraged colonial emigration, i. e. absence from the colony and residence in Eng- land, by the enormous tax of two-thirds of the property of the absentee. Even such as went to England on the king's business, if they staid beyond the time necessary for accomplishing the object of their mission, were taxed one-third of their property. These severe penalties on absen- tees continued in force till the Reformation. There was a solid reason for these severities. It was necessary that every man, possessing property in the Pale, or other parts connected with Eng- land, should be on the spot, to conciliate the at- tachment of his tenants and servants, by giving them an interest to fight for; to furnish them 250 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY with arms, and train them to the use of them, to be ready to sally out at his conunand, and join in the common defence of the colony. Modern England encourages Irisli emigration; making it, by the act of Union, not alone fashionable, but necessary. Thus the landed proprietors of Ireland, residing in England, are not acquainted ^vith their tenants; who, left to the mercy of agents, middle-men, and tithe-proctors, know nothing of superiors, but through the rack-rent, toil, and demi-starvatioii. Would the great man, who lives in pomp on their hard labour and wretchedness, come, an utter stranger to them, to invite them to fight his battles, unarmed and untrained as they are, their answer most likely would be similar to that of the ass in Esop. *^ xVn ass grazing near his master, was asked by him to use all speed, for the enemy was coming. Would he double my present load.^ No. Then ^tis indifferent to me who has me, since my con- dition cannot be worse.'' Which policy be wisest I leave to time. The division between the new and old settlers extended even to the clergy; and bishops were seen to inveigh against each other, publishing scandalous reports and recriminations. The native Irish were too much divided, and occupied in fighting each other, to take any ad- vantage of the disunited colony. Were the re- presentations of the English writers, and the language of parliament and state acts true, inti- mating a rancorous hatred in all the Irish against the foreign invaders^ and a settled design to ex- OF IRELAND. 251 terminate or expel them^ that handful of foreigners could not stand a general assault from a nation of warriors a moment. Unfortunately for them- selves, pride and revenge perpetuated their family quarrels, and blinded them to the consequences of sufiering a powerful and neighbouring king- dom to keep a garrison in the heart of their country, and hold possession of its cities and strong holds. Their contempt for the Pale was not wise. They might have seen, from their sta- tutes, and the usual course of their policy, that the extermination of the antient inhabitants was their principal wish, and ultimate object. They did not foresee, what actually happened afti r- wards, that they would employ their own aims to effect that purpose. The old settlers prepared a petition to Henry V. on his arrival in England from the battle of Agincourt, setting forth the grievances and vex- ations they suflfered, from the prejudices of new adventurers, in all the departments of govern- ment,^ church and law; but the chancellor Mer- bury, of English descent, refused to put the great seal to it, without which its transmission would be informal: it was dropped for the present. What feigned submissions might have been obtained by deputy Furnival, from Irish chief- tains, with whom he never fought a battle that has been recorded, may be guessed by the senti- ments of the people at his departure. He was accompanied with the execration of clergy and laity, whose lands he had ravaged, whose castles he had seized^ whose fortunes had been impaired VOL. I 2 L !5^52 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY by his extortions and exactions, or who shared in the distress arising from the debts he left un- discharged, lie might have prevailed on Mac Murchad^ to let his son accompany him to the castle, by a liberal share of the plunder of the colony, and persuade the bigottcd settlers that he was an hostage. Arth might indulge the pa- rade, assured that no perfidy would be attempted, which he was sure of speedily punishing with exemplary vengeance. But perhaps the exaggerations of colonial writers, concerning imaginary victories gained, and the implacable hatred of the Milesian race to the foreign invaders, will be more satisfacto- rily explained from one of themselves; who, tho' sometimes swayed by truth, never missed any occasion to conceal or disguise it. Who, in a court of justice, would reject the testimony of his opponents, when favorable to his cause? No- thins: can better illustrate the real weakness of the Pale, and the causes of its preservation, than their own records. '' The common enemy, [the Milesians,] who had left them [the settlers] leisure for frivolous dissentions, were too much disunited to take ad- vantage of them. They were contented, in the distant quarters of the island, to rule their petty septs, to maintain their state and consequence against their neighbours, to enjoy the honour and advantage of trifling victories, to execute their revenge, or to pursue their local interests. Their aversion to the English w^as by this time scarcely more national than their aversion to the OF IRELAND. 253 rival septs of their own race. They united in the most cordial affection with those of the old Ens*- lish families who had revolted to them ; and their insurrections against the English^ far from being uniformly actuated by a desire of exterminating the foreign invaders^ appear to have been com- monly occasioned by local claims and disputes. Sometimes they rose to avenge the defeat or death of some chieftaio;, sometimes to recover some dis- puted lands^ or to exact some duties which they claimed. Had the whole Irish race arisen as one man^ against the subjects of the crown of Eng- land, they must have instantly destroyed them. But the truth is, this little handful of men, for such they were, when compared to the body of original natives, had the same ground of security with any of the particular Irish septs. They had enemies on all sides, but these were enemies to each other; nor were any concerned to espouse the quarrels of their neighbours, or mortified by their losses or defeats. Sometimes indeed, when a particular sept was in danger of total ruin from the victory of some English forces, their neigh- bours were persuaded to come to their rescue; '' for the sake of the Irish language,'' (as the manuscript annals* express it,) but without en-* gaging further, and without conceiving them- selves bound by one general permanent interest. These particulars seem necessary to be pointed out, not only to account for the subsistence of the English, but to guard against the prejudices * Ann. Ferbis. MS. 254 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY of llieir annalists. Tlicj frequently intimate, that the reigning passion among the whole body of Irish for many ages, was an inveterate and im- placable vengeance against the English settled in their country, merely as foreigners and usur- pers; and even in the representations of some Irish parliaments, and the acts of state, we find, in the aggravated language of law and politics^ assertions of a settled design and general confe- deracy among the Irish to extirpate the whole race of English subjects. Their perfidious vio- lation of treaties, and their cruelties, are fre- quently displayed witli great severity. But such charges are made on both sides: the sudden in- surrections and local quarrels of the Irish, which the writers of England represent as the excesses of an horrid irreclaimable race of barbarians, are ascribed, by the Irish annalists, to the insin- cerity, injustice, and oppression of their neigh- bours, to the warmth of just resentment, or the effjrts of self-defence. It would be unreasonable partiality to suppose that such representations were always groundless."* During the minority of Henry VI., the colo- nial parliament, sitting at Trim, convened by the 'archbishop of Dublin, voted an augmentation of twelve men at arms, and sixty archers, to be paid for forty days ! Is it not evident from this, that the tributes, paid to Irish chieftains, impove- rished the colony; and that, along with the un- ceasing hostilities of the natives, and their foolish * Lelaiid, Vol. II. B. III. c.i. p. 16,17. OF IRELAND. 255 contempt of the Pale, a real English garrison protected its existence among a nation who were at any time able to exterminate it; and a nation, whose extermination was planned from the be- ginning, and afterwards executed, not by the power of the invaders, but by the arms of the Milesians themselves, which shall appear in its proper place? While tributes to Irish chieftains, and the wars of the latter against each other, left the colony peaceabie possession, they abused their repose by factious quarrels, between adventurers of English birth and the old settlers. These re- sisted the appointment of a bishop of Meath to the deputyship, on account of his English birth. They alledged, that his commission was not con- firmed by the great seal; and he was accused of stealing a chalice from one of the churches in his diocese. He was at length accepted, condi- tionally, on account of the exigencies of the times. During his administration the tribute to the royal family of Leinster was voted justly due, and paid to Gerald Cavenagh, successor to the great Arth. This great man, and his chief judge, O'Doran, died the same day, in his camp, not without a strong suspicion of their being poisoned by Eng- lish influence; a suspicion not improbably found- ed, when we consider the terror he inspired, and the base arts employed by his enemies to rid themselves of a dreaded adversary. A valuable Irish manuscript, written on vellum, contains the unbought eulogy of the departed hero, which 256 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY shall be given here. On hearing of his death, the writer paused from his labour, and foisted into the volume a slip of parchment, containing an account of departed greatness. '' This year died Artli boy Mac Murchad O'Cavenagh, one of the greatest heroes the world ever saw. Had I the tongues of men and angels, I would never be able to relate his merits. The mighty defender of his injured kindred — the redoubted avenger of tyranny and oppression — the sure refuge of the weak and distressed — the patron of literature and science — the glory of chivalry, is gone! Aids ! poor Erin, weep, when shall his equal return !'* During the successive administrations of the earl of March, Ormond, and lord Furnival, little occurs interesting in the history of Ireland. The Irish chieftains continued their domestic quarrels, with a blind obstinacy, inspired by fa- mily pride and implacable hereditary animosity; thus, with their own weapons, paving the way for their own extermination, and preparing an intolerable yoke for the remnant that would be permitted to exist, as hewers of wood and draw- ers of water. The English colonists, torn by the opposite factions of Butlers, Geraldines, Burkes, and that of the new and old adventurers, left a fair opportunity for their Irish enemy to recover his property, which their infatuated pride would not allow them to make use of. O'Brien was too proud, since the days of Brien Boroive, to acknowledge a monarch of the house of Heremon. O^Niall was too powerful, and inflated by the OF IRELAND. 257 long list of illustrious monarchs^ his ancestors, and scorned to admit a monarth of the bouse of Heber. O'Connor did not forget, tbat the last monarch of Ireland was his forefatber. Mac Murcbad, since the time of the victorious Artli, thought himself as well entitled to tbe throne as either of the three. As the provincial kings re- nounced the monarchy and constitution, toparchs, in the different provinces, were willing to shake off all submission to them. O'Donnel was too great to obejO'Neil; exemplified in the laconic message of tbe latter, and the equally laconic reply of the former. O'Neil to O'Donnel — '' Pay me my tribute — or if.'* O'Donnel to O'Neil — '' I owe you no tribute — and if?'' O' Kelly, Mac Dermot, O'Madain, &c. set up similar pretensions to independence, against the prero- gatives of O'Connor. Tbe first mentioned sent a challenge to the king of Connaught, to decide their disputes in a pitched battle, without armour on either side. O'Connor accepted tbe defiance, but brought his forces in armour to the field, and defeated O'Kelly, who bad adhered to his engagement. Tbe south was not less divided. tMac Carty, sensible of his descent from the el- dest branch of the eldest son of Heber, excused himself from any subordination to O'Brien. O'SuUivan would not acknowledge Mac Carty his superior. Fitz-Patrick, O'Moore, O'Connor Faly, were not more complaisant to Mac Mur- chad. Antient claims, of jurisdiction, privileges, tributes, duties, territory, precedence, &c. which could be adjusted by the national convention of 2.j8 an impartial history Tara, while tlic constiiutioii lasted, were now referred to the sword. Add to all these causes of disscntion, the contested elections to the chief- tainry ofeach clan and province, lieroditary feuds, &c. and itNvill be easilj perceived, that the sword was never suffered to rust in the scabbard. The anarcliv, that prevailed among this unhappy peo- ple upwards of four hundred years, untill they were extinguished from the catalogue of nations, may be compared to the confusion that would ensue, if all the courts of law and government were abolished, and the people allowed to appeal to blows instead of law, to terminate their dif- ferences. To illustrate the fatal anarchy, and horrid animosities, that raged among the antient Irish, untill their dominion was taken awav, and their name, nation, laws, learning, language and character were trampled under foot, and that too by their own hands, one example may suffice for the present. The castle of Roscommon, as before mentioned, had been surrendered to the victorious arms of tlie Thomonians by De Clare, as part of the eric for the base assassination of Brien Roe O'Brien, their chieftain, at a banquet, to which he was invited for that very purpose. But, as the earl of Essex remarked to queen Elizabeth, the Irish neither could take a castle, nor keep one, if they had possession. The reason of this, though not mentioned by the favourite, is obvious enough. The Irish had no mercenary troops; and, consequently, they could not keep their clans long together, either to carry on a siege, or gar- rison a fortress; yet dire necessity compelled one OF IRELAND. ^59 clan to submit to the restraint of presidial disciv pline, considered bj them an imprisonment. The castle fell again into the hands of the English, and the garrison sorely distressed and harassed the O'Kellys of Imany. Possessed of a secure retreat, they could sally out by night or by day, as opportunity offered, and kill, plunder, take men, women, cattle, corn, &c. into their fortress. The chieftain took counsel with his people, how they might check the devastations of such des- perate banditti. The best safeguard appeared to be, to build and garrison a castle, in oppositioa and contiguous to it. O'Kelly accordingly called forth his kindred and his allies; and with them rested under arms fifteen days, untill he erected and garrisoned a castle, in spite of the English and their Milesian allies. What infernal vin- dictiveness must have rankled in those Milesians, and depraved their feelings, when they would assist this gang of robbers to infest their neigh- bours with all kind of carnage, plunder and sa- vage atrocity, and hinder O'Kelly to protect the lives and properties of his people, by his little castle, as it was spitefully called, so speedily constructed. The annalists, though accurate as to facts, yet generally too brief, have not record- ed the names of those Irish enemies to O'Kelly, who inhumanly endeavoured to make him and his people a prey to the ruffians, who had been wasting his territory nearly with impunity; whe- ther they were the O'Rourkes, Mac Dermots, Burkes, O'Madains, O'Connors, or a confede- ration of two, three^ or more of them. They VOL. I, 3 m 260 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY simply state, that a host of Gathclians marched to the assistance of the marauders; and, in con- junction with them, endeavoured to take and demolish O'Kellj's little castle. The castle was well defended, and the combined forces beat off'. Thej forgot to record, whether the chieftain of Imany had an entrenched camp near his little castle, to second the valour of its little garrison, though the fact can hardly be doubted; since it cannot be conceived, that the castle-builder would abandon a work, that cost such exertion, and was so necessary to his people. From this sample, and some more that shall follow, it is self-evident, that a people, thirsting so greedily for each other's destruction, could not long sub- sist as a nation, in the devouring jaws of anarchy and vindictive hostilities. Indeed there was at that time no such thing as an Irish nation united by interest and the national feelings of patriotism. Each clan was a distinct nation ; considering only its own local concerns, and hostile or indilFerent to the rest. Sometimes, indeed, they formed al- liances among a few clans, for some object of- fensive or defensive; but these were temporary and precarious, while the Irish alliances with their enemies, for the ruin of their country, were more numerous and steady. The mercenary race of their bards, with few exceptions, abused the influence of music and numbers, on minds of vehement sensibility, meanly flattering and in- flaming their passions ; and were easily bribed, by the invaders, to rekindle old animosities and wars amongst them. Thus, in the reign of queen OF IRELAND. 261 Elizabeth^ the bards of the north and south were played off against each othcr^ to revive the rivalry of the houses of Heber and Heremon; and im- pede, by their mutual vaunting, defiance, re- proaches and recriminations, any concert for their common protection. Leland, with his fellow writers of the same stamp, talk of the successes of the earl of Ormond, during his deputyship, over O'Nial, and some other chieftains, which but ill accord with what he states in the same page.* '' We find the limits of the English Pale, as it stood in the ninth year of Henry VI. defined in such a manner, as gives a MORTIFYING idca of the cxtcut of English power in those days;" little more than the county of Dublin being exempt from tribute to Irish chief- tains. *' In this interval we find a remarkable instance of the poverty or the economy of those times. It was agreed in council, that as the hall of the castle of Dublin, and the windows there- of, were ruinous, and that there was in the trea- sury a certain antient silver seal cancelled, which was of no use to the king, the said seal should be broken pnd sold, and the money laid out on the said hall and windows.'' Here are two con- vincing proofs of their inability to put down any of the great chieftains, or compelling them to relinquish their claim to the tribute, called, by those who paid it. Black Rent. The narrow li- mits of the colony, and the tributes therefrom to the powerful families of Mac Murchad, O'Niul * Vol. II. Book III. c. I p. ^2. 262 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY and O'Brien, sufficiently explain the poverty of the exchequer. Even in this state of real tiehility, and preca- rious tolerated existence, the Palo could not di- vest itself of its absurd antipathies, su])servicnt to the policy of England. In the administration subsequent to that of Ormond, all the statutes against marrying, fostering, or trafficking with the Irish, were renewed. Nevertheless, the par- liament of this little tract, called the Pale, paid a laudable attention to their own interests, with regard to English interference. In their petitions . to the king, they notice the misrepresentations made to him of his Irish subjects; the incapacity and ignorance of persons sent from England to every office of trust; and their impudent affec- tation of superiority over the old settlers: their own right to be treated as Englishmen, agreeably to the stipulations of their ancestors, they insisted on. The discontents, arising from those grie- vances unredressed, kept increasing, untill they were buried in oblivion by contests of greater moment. The chief settlers, generally descended from indigent and profligate adventurers, on the tes- timony of their own cotemporary countrymen, had, by various arts of violence, perfidy, and fraud, profiting of the anarchy and feuds of the old natives, attained princely opulence and con- sequence. The Geraldines, Burkes, and Butlers, could rank with chieftains of the second class, in power and resources. Of all these, the earl of Desmond was the most potent. He usurped a OF IRELAND 263 large tract of the county of Cork, under pre- tence of a grant from Cogan; as if that early adventurer had a right to grant other men's estates. He Mas by patent appointed governor of Limerick, Waterford, Cork and Kerry, dis- pensed from attendance on parliament for life, on sending a proxy. As an independent sove- reign, he exercised all the prerogatives of royalty, and continued his encroachments. Ormond, at this time deputy, began to look with a jealous eye on the aggrandizement of the rival of his house; and interposed his authority, to restrain the rapacity of Desmond. The latter bad him defiance; they collected forces; to war they went, in which the unfortunate natives were, as usual, the principal victims and sufferers. Foiled in his endeavour to defeat Desmond, the deputy was obliged to make a twelve month's truce with him ; during which the thane had time to strengthen his party, and encourage the enemies of Ormond to impeach him of sundry acts of mal-admini- stration. The artifices of Desmond succeeded: an order was issued for the removal of Ormond, which, on receiving a favourable testimony of his Irish deputy's conduct, Henry suspended; yet, soon after, whether moved by the accusa- tions sent over, or to remove a cause of jealousy from among the leading colonists, he sent an Englishman, Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury, to go- vern his Irish domain. He came attended by 700 men; a necessary reinforcement, in times of turbulence and factious broils among natives and settlers. The Fitz- Patricks and the Butlers 264 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY had some quarrels^ in which the Irish chieftain of Ossory, as usual^ was assassinated. O'Connor Faly and tlie Berminghams invaded Meath. O'Brien and Clanrickard made war on the colo- nists of Thonioiid. The colonial writers here statc^ '' that the Irish chieftains were reduced, the degenerate English intimidated, and some of the most obnoxious among them, particularly of the Berminghams, seized, condemned and exe- cuted." The reduction of the Irish chieftains! How reasonable the tales of baron Munkhausen, ^vhcn compared with such extravagant rant? Long after this period the Milesian power was formidable. It was not with 700 men, and the forces of the petty, impoverished Pale, that such an undertaking could be dreamed of. If, by the mediation of a deputy, peace was restored, or atonement made to an injured or offended chief- tain, it was set down reduction, homage. The native Irish seldom took up arms but to revenge some wrong or insult. The settlers, true to the iirst principles of their mission, never let slip, but always strove to create opportunities of en- croachment. If a provoked chieftain was ap- peased by submission and satisfaction, 'tis strange language to call the transaction homage, submis- sion, and no way reconcileable with the continu- ance of the tribute. At a parliament held in Trim, anno 1447, the bigotted ordinances of the Pale against native Irish were renewed. The beard-act, prohibiting the use of whiskers, now generally worn by sol- diers on the continent ; an act against the use of OF IRELAND. 265 gold or silver trappings or harness^ except by noblemen or prelates; an act against O'Reilv's coin; and an act against the conveyance of gold or silver into England, so remarkable as not to be unworthy of insertion. '' Whereas this land of Ireland is greatly impoverished from day to day, by the great deduction and carriage out of the said land into England of the silver plate, broken silver bullion, and wedges of silver made of the great tonsure of the money of our sovereign lord the king, by his Irish enemies, and English rebels within his said land, whereby his said covri is diminished and greatly impaired, and Irish money called Relycs do encrease from dav to day, unto the great hurt and impoverishment of his said people of this his said land, and dimi- nution of his coin: the premises therefore consi- dered, it is ordained, established, and provided by authority of the said parliament, that of every ounce of broken silver, bullion, and wedges of silver, taken by any person or persons out of the said land, the said person or persons shall pay, satisfie and content to the king, twelve pence for custom of every ounce, to be received by the hands of his customers for the time being, except lords and messengers going into England about the business of the land, that they may take plate with them according to their beings and estates." Talbot, on returning to England, his brother, the archbishop of Dublin, being appointed lord lieutenant in his absence, brought several charges of high treason against his predecessor Ormond. The archbishop wrote a treatise in confirmation ^j^66 A^ IMIMRTIAL HISTORY of those charges. The king, whether from lenity or policy, quashed all proceedings on the charges, as he did the trial hy conihat, to which Butler was challenged hy the prior of Kihnaiidiam, in support of the allegations against him. These repeated favours conlirmed Onuond in his at- tachment to the house of Lancaster. As the affairs of Ireland soon hecame connect- ed with English alfairs; and the revolutions in the one always shook the other, more or less, since that period, it will he proper to sketch briefly the causes that first linked the domestic policy of both countries so closely. Notwith- standing two successive reigns in the line of Lancaster, one of whom made a splendid figure on the continent, the house of York had parti- sans, numerous and powerful, who considered Richard, duke of York, as the legitimate heir; being descended from Lionel, duke of Clarence, the elder brother of him from whom the house of Lancaster claimed their right to the crown. Margaret of Anjou, wife to Henry VL exercised that dominion over him, which strong minds na- turally possess over the weak. In all his transac- tions with France, her national partiality led him to treaties and concessions odious and unpopul r in England. Espousing the animosities of those attached to the Lancastrian line, or who procured her marriage, she imprudently led him to destroy the duke of G loucester, the darling of the people. The partizans of the house of York failed not to take advantage of every mistake of Henry, in favour of their own cause. They represented him OF IRELAND. 267 as a weak^ pusillanimous man^ governed abso- lutely by an imperious woman^ wedded to foreign and party interests; and the superior rights of York were urged without reserve. A pretence was wanting to the politic Margaret^ of sending liim out of sight. Petitions were procured from the Irish colony^ representing it on the brink of destruction; while the Milesians, occupied by their domestic feuds,, and the three most power- ful chieftans satisfied with their tributes, left it in full security. Richard, duke of York, was pitched on by the court, as the fittest person to meet the pretended storm; as a relative of De Burgo, and the inheritor of a vast estate in Ire- land, could not want followers. Neither did they give him any army; for an administration of eclat was the very thing they did not wish for, in sending this dreaded pretender to Ireland. The policy of Richard appears clearly, from the stipulations he made on accepting the office of lord lieutenant of the Pale. His chearful accep- tance of the lieutenancy, and the stipulations he made, clearly bespeak the abilities of a states- man. Conscious that he was removed to Ireland from his English connexions, as too formidable, by his pretensions to the throne, founded on his descent from an elder branch of Lionel, duke of Clarence, supported by numerous and powerful partizans, and his popularity contrasted with the odium of an English king held under the govern- ment of a French woman, he thought it best to temporize. To disown ambition, natural to most men, especially to those of high rank and autho- VOL. I. 2 N 268 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY rity, would only render liini more suspicious to the penetrating Margaret. But, claiming higher honors^ support, and revenue, than any of his predecessors, and a continuance of his delegated authority for ten years, was a virtual surrender of his pretensions to the throne, to cover his real designs. This is the true clue to his administra- tion in Ireland; the most just, moderate, and conciliating, ever experienced in Ireland from an English delegate. What his character would have been, had he reached the summit of his am- bition, his failure and death have left uncertain; but his management of Irish affairs proved, how far equity and conciliation could operate to tran- quillize a distracted state, perpetually irritated^ and goaded to acts of vengeance by encroach- ments and insults. Equally courteous and at- tentive to all parties, of English or Irish descent, Ormond, the noted partizan of a rival house, or a chief of the Irish enemy, was r-eceived with equal affability, as the partizans of his own fa- mily, and with every appearance of kindness and attention to their affairs. Ormond and Desmond were chosen as gossips to an infant born to him in the castle; studying thus to unite these rival lords, or at least, by his honoring a partizan of Lancaster, to remove the suspicion of a lurking pretendership from York. He soon found, that the representations made in England, of Irish disturbances, were the fabrications of designing men. The only opportunity he found of display- ing his arms, was presented by a quarrel between Mac Gcoghegan and the English of Meath. But OF IRELAND. 269 the presence and equity of York soon settled their differences, to their mutual satisfaction. Studious to recommend himself both to natives and settlers, by his equity to the one, and care of the other, he gained many friends to his cause. In a par- liament, which he held in Dublin, anno 1450, some acts were passed, of a popular nature. The law of retaliation was enacted, that an accuser should give security to pay costs and damages, on being convicted of false accusation. It was de- clared lawful to kill robbers and thieves caught in the fact, and a reward to be levied on the dis- trict for the service. But the most remarkable act was that, which restrained the tyranny and oppression of the lords of the Pale, abolishing coyne and livery, &c. and is as follows. '' That where the marchours [those who dwelt on the borders] of the county of Dyvelyn, [Dub- lin,] and other marchours of sundry counties, and other men within the land of Ireland, do keep horsemen and footmen, as well Irish as English, more than they can maintain upon their own costs, or upon their own tenants, and from day to other do coynee them upon the poor hus- bands and tenants of the said land of Ireland, and oppress and destroy them, and namely in time of harvest upon their cornes and meadows with their horses both day and night, and do pay nothing therefore, but many times do rob, spoyl, and kill the said tenants and husbands, as well by night as by day, and the captains of the same marchours, their wives and their pages, certain times of the year do gather and bring 270 AS IMPARTIAL HISTORY with them the king's Iiisli enemies both men and women, and English rebels, with their horse- men and footmen, as well in time of war as of peace, to night suppers called cuddies, upon the said tenants and husbands, and they that are the cliicf captains of the said marchours, do leade and lodge them upon one husband one hundred men horsemen and footmen some night, and upon one other tenant or husband, so many one other night, and so every captain and their wives, pages, and their sons, as well as themselves, and every of them do lead and bring with them so many of the said Irish enemies and English re- bels, with their horsemen and footmen upon the said husbands and tenants, and so they espy the secrecie of the said land: and after that every of the said marchours and their wives, pages and sons, have overgone the said husbands, and te- nants of the said marches in the form aforesaid, then they go to the captain aforesaid, and there the thieves of the said marchours do knit and confcder together. And that the said marchours thieves do steal in the English country,'' distin- guished from Irish country, ^'' they do put out to them in the march, and in time of war the men of the same marchours, as well horsemen and footmen, do guide the said Irish enemies and their thieves into the English country, and what tenant or husband will not be at their truce, they do bum, they do rob, spoil and kill, and for the more part, the said land is wasted and destroyed. And if such rule be holden, not punished, it is like to be the utter destruction OF IRELAND. 271 and undoing of the said land. Wherefore the premises considered, it is ordained and agreed by the authority of the said council, that no mar- chours nor other man of the said counties, shall keep more men, horsemen or footmen, bui that they shall answer for them, and shall maintain them upon their own costs, or their own tenants. And what men that they do keep, horsemen or footmen, the marchours of the county of Dy velyn shall present their names to the sheriff, or to the justices of peace of the said county, and they to present them to the mayor andbayliffs of the city of Dyvelyn, and in like case, all marchours and other men of every county within Ireland, to the sheriffs or justices of peace of the counties, and they to present them to the mayor and bayliffs of the said cities within the said counties. Sove- raigns or provosts of the best burrough-towns within the said counties. And that the said marchours, nor no other man, shall any more use any such coynees, suppers, cuddies, nor shall take no pledges for them, nor none of their thieves or men shall guide none of the king's Irish ene- mies in the form aforesaid. And what marchours or other men do contrary to the ordinances afore- said, that they shall be judged as felons. And that the mayors, bailiffs, sovereigns and provosts of the counties aforesaid for the time being, or any other of the king's liege-men, shall have the king's letters patents under his great seal out of his chancery of Ireland made to them in due form, without fine or fee paying for the said let- ters patents, or great seal, that where they may 272 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY find any such tliieveS;, bumingj robbing, stealing, killing, coyning, or taking pledges, as it is afore- said, to take them and their goods, to be forfeited as goods of felons, and the half of the said goods logo to the king, and the other half to them that do take them. And that no escape shall be levyed of the commons of the said counties if any of the said felons be killed for the causes aforesaid, nor they nor any of them shall be vexed nor grieved by our sovereign lord the king, nor his justices, officers, nor ministers, notwithstanding any sta- tutes or ordinances thereof made to the contrary before this time/' In a parliament, held under the same prince-royal at Drogheda, in the same year, some useful ordinances were made, to regu- late the course of law. While his equitable administration in Ireland daily increased the number of his adherents, his partizans in England improved every incident to his advantage. Notwithstanding the cautious line of policy hitherto pursued by Richard Planta- genet, an incident awoke suspicions of his designs at court. An impostor, by name Cade, assuming the popular name of Mortimer, caused distur- bances, and laid open the popular attachment to the house of York. Richard, resolved to appear in London for his justification, committed the lieutenancy to the earl of Ormond, a known par- tizan of the reigning family. This appointment appeared extraordinary to Leland, but was per- fectly suitable to his situation and subtlety. Had he appointed a Yorkist, he would have confirmed ilie suspicions of the Lancastrians. OF IRELAND. 213 After the departure of the duke of York^ no- thing very memorable happened, to be recorded in history, except one trait of parental affection and filial piety, which, for the sake of humanity^ should not be buried in oblivion. During the administration of Fitz-Eustace, deputy to the duke of York, now apparently reconciled to the king, and residing in Wales, O^Connor Faly made an irruption into the district of Kildare. Surprized by Fitz-Eustace, his small troop fled; and, as he was endeavouring to effect his escape, he fell from his horse. " A generous contest was now commenced between the father and son, which of them should be resigned to the mercy of the enemy. The youth urgently pressed his father to take his horse, to leave him to his fate, and to seize the present moment of providing for his own safety. The father obstinately refused; commanded his son to fly, and was quickly made prisoner; but as it appeared that he had taken arms merely for the sake of prey, not with any deliberate purpose of opposition to English go- vernment, he was released without any injury.'' The colonial writers make a long story of a petty transaction that occurred at this time. A few barks were fitted out in the north, who cap- tured some ships sailing from Dublin, on board one of which was the archbishop of Dublin. '' A force w as quickly raised by the deputy, to chastise these pirates.'' says Leland. Would he call the English government pirates, for similar conduct? At a parliament assembled in Drogheda, by 274 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY Fitz-Eustaco, as deputy fo the duke of York, ^vhereall statutes made in England against suing provisions at Rome, were made of force in Ire- land, another act was passed, preventing coron- ers from harrassing and detaining jurors^ who^ on inquisition for murder, return that they know not the perpetrator. In all the acts of the parlia- ment of the Pale, sedulous attention to the rights of the crown, and to the rights, privileges, ease and convenience of the subject, is observable. That little senate was a fair representation of the proprietors and property of the colony; rotten boroughs were first introduced by the rotten house of . Nations are seldom wise politicians; and their vanity is often at war with their interest. No- thing would be more acceptable to John BulPs pride, than the conquest of France, and the crowning of his king at Paris; yet nothing more adverse to his interest. The king of Franco lihould reside there, attending the interests of that great kingdom, and watching the move- ments of his potent neighbours, the emperor and the king of Spain. There he should hold his court, and parliament, and govern England by a viceroy. TIius were they unwitlingly wishing the conquest of England, to make it a province to France. In the reign of Henry VI. the total loss of his French dominions, though a real and great benefit to his English subjects, exonerating them from the burdens of an almost perpetual war, and the drain caused by the frequent resi- dence of their king and nobility there^ yet mor- OF IRELAND. 275 tified national vanity. It furnished a theme of declamation to the Yorkists^ to encrease popular discontents. The birth of an heir to king Henry accelerated the contest between the followers of the white and red rose. Duke Richard arrived in London, where he was, during the king's indisposition, appointed protector of the kingdom. The Lancastrians striving to wrest this power out of his hand, the parties came to blows, and the victory of St. Al- bans gave the duke possession of the king's per- son and authority; then he threw off the mask, under which he courted Ormond, the partizan of his royal prisoner, and appointed his rival, a determined Yorkist, the earl of Kildare, his de- puty in Ireland. Margaret of Anjou renewed the contest, and obtained the victory at B lore- heath, in Staffordshire, as some alledge, through treachery. Richard fled to Ireland; where he was received, not as a fugitive, but as the right- ful heir to the throne. During his former admi- nistration he had gained powerful friends, and the affection of all the subjects, who now declared unanimously for him. The English parliament, at Coventry, having declared his adherents re- bels, many of them followed their leader into Ireland for shelter. Here he protected them against the writs issued from England for their attachment ; and the colonial parliament appealed to Irish hospitality, in support of the protection they gave. They enacted a decree, purporting, that it had been ever customary in their land to receive and entertain strangers with due support VOL. I. 2 o 276 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY and hospitality; that the custom was good and laudable; and that it should be deemed high- treason for any person^ under pretence of writs, privy-seals^ or any authority, to attach or disturb the persons so supported and entertained. '' But the temper of the Irish subjects, and the policy of the duke of York, will appear more fully by an abstract of some laws^ passed in the Irish parliament after his return. '' The assembly in the first place assumed the power of confirming the patent made to the duke, constituting him lieutenant of Ireland for ten years. They enacted, that if any person should imagine, compass, or excite his destruction or death, and for this purpose confederate with the Irish, or any other persons, they should be at- tainted of high-treason. By an act, calculated to guard the duke and his adherents from all the attempts of his enemies in England, they declared in the fullest manner, that Ireland is, and always has been, incorporated within itself, by ancient laws and customs, and is only to be governed by such laws, as by the lords and commons of the land, in parliament assembled, have been advised, accepted, affirmed, and proclaimed; that by cus- tom, privilege, and franchise, there has ever been a royal seal, peculiar to Ireland, to which alone the subjects are to pay obedience : that this realm hath also its constable and marshal, before whom all appeals are finally determinable; yet, as or- ders have been of late issued under another seal, and the subjects summoned into England to pro- secute their suits before a foreign jurisdiction^ to OF IRELAND. 277 the great grievance of the people^ and in viola- tion of the rights and franchises of the land, thej enacts that for the future no persons shall be obliged by any commandment^ under any other seal but that of Ireland, to answ^er any ap- peal, or any other matter out of the said land, and that no officer, to which such commandment may come, shall put the same into execution, under the penalty of forfeiture of goods and chat- tels, and one thousand marks; half to be paid to the king, and the other to the prosecutor; and further, that all appeals of treason in Ireland be determinable before the constable and marshal of Ireland, and in no other place."* The declaration of rights, issued by the repre- sentatives of the English district, on this occa- sion, shames the memory of the suicide-union parliament. This parliament gave incontestable evidences of English degeneracy, for hospitality was never an English virtue. Their writers disown it, and transfer it to the unrefined stage of society. To come to issue, once for all, with lying historians and ill-mannered libellers, on the foul epithets they lavish on the antient and modern Ifish, without sparing those of English descent any more than the Milesians, I shall not stoop to re- tort their own Billingsgate, but come to a defi- nition of what civilization means, and the vices opposed thereto; and an appeal to facts shall de- termine which was most civilized, and which the ^ Lelaudj Vol. U> B. ill. c. ii, p. 425 43« 278 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY contrary. Civility, from the Latin civilis, civile and civis^ citizen, comprehends those qualities that constitute a good meniher of society. These qualities may he classed into four kinds: the necessary, the useful, the ornamental, and the agreeable. 'Tis necessary, first, that every mem- ber of society should procure his maintenance by some profession, some branch of industry, and besides contribute his proportion to the public exigencies of the community, in support of those who must devote their whole time to the public service, whether as governors or judges, for the preservation of internal peace, the execution of the laws, or external defence. The long dura- tion of the Irish monarchy testifies of this qua- litv. A love of justice, and obedience to the laws, are primary ingredients in civilization. Two English authorities attribute this to the antient Irish in an eminent degree. Sir John Davis, long residing as attorney-general among them, affirms, that '^ no nation in the world loved impartial justice more than the Irish, though it should make against themselves." Antient authors affirmed the same of the Scy- thians, calling them, '' the most just of man- kind. The words Scoti and Scythians are syno- iiimous; the latter being formed from Scuith^ the plural of Scot. Hence the modern Persians call Scythia Chothan; and the Fingallians call the north Gothan, which originally was Scothan, Lord Howth says, '' the Irish obey the laws^ framed for them on their hills, better than the English do theirs^ framed by parliament in wallc4 OF IRELAND. 279 towns/' The virtue of hospitality, though not so essential to the existence of society, is yet highly graceful, and consolatory to the feehngs. It is one for which Ireland was always famous, ac- cording to the testimony of all nations, not ex- cepting the English. It was practised hy the patriarchs, and by the most renowned nations of antiquity. It constituted one of the most en- dearing pledges of friendship among the Greeks, Romans, and Gathelians. 'Tis enforced by a tremendous threat in the gospel, '' Whatever house you enter, greet them with shalam, i. e. peace, and if they receive you not, shake your shoe-dust in testimony against them. Verily, I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorra, on the last day, than for them." Coimric, i. e. sanctuary, was an Irish custom, much reprobated by the English; yet it was established among the chosen people, by divine authority, in order to prevent the summary exe- cution of vengeance, untill the first ebullitions of anger abated, and mediation or judgment could determine the case. The exercise of this institution, confirmed by divine authority, to- wards their kinsmen, the Segidenses, brought the Roman arms on the Numantines, and the arms of England on the O^Moores, for their protection of their enemy, Fitz-Gerald. Another proof of civilized society is, its com- petence to provide all necessaries for itself. Now the Irish nation not only supplied themselves with all sorts of manufactures of necessity, but ^ven of elegance, aud exported besides. A flou» 2S0 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY risliing agriculture, cloth and linen manufactures, iron and timber works, curious workmanship in gold and silver yearly dug up and sent to the mint, a circumstance belonging to no other coun- try in Europe. They had breweries and distille- ries. They cultivated medicine in all its branches; of which respectable monuments still remain on vellum, and in the traditions of their posterity, with which cures are wrought that battle modern skill. All the great monasteries, that were col- leges, had botanic gardens; as Mr. White, of the botanic garden, Glasnevin, has proved, from the number of exotic plants still growing wild about their ruins. The knowledge of the Irish in astronomy was evidently greater before Christianity than since; to which department, some fragments of their books on astronomy, still preserved, attest their attention. They spoke a language copious and elegant beyond any cotemporary, which the re- mains of their compositions in poetry and prose abundantly evince. Their music was acknow- ledged, by their bitterest enemies, incomparably superior to that of the neighbouring nations ; and the remains thereof, preserved in Ireland, Scot- land, and England, though plagiarized, leave no doubt on that head. If music be sentiment guided by harmony, they possessed, in the per- fection of sublime simplicity, the most soul-mo- ving melody, never descending to the caterwaul- ing semidemiquavers of some farraginous, incon- gruous, unmeaning overtures. Spencer, from imperfect translations^ was enabled to perceive OF IRELAND. 281 the beauty of the original compositions of the Irish bards, and the samples published by Miss -Brookes, shew that nothing equal to them in harmony and sentiment was at that time produced in Europe. In fact, literature was so deeply in- terwoven in the constitution, laws and customs of the Gathelians; every man's consequence and rights depended so much on records; a passion for literature, especially history, poetry, and music, was so firmly engrafted in the Milesians, that it could not be extirpated without the extir- pation of the nation. Every clan had hereditary lawyers, hereditary historians, hereditary physi- cians, hereditary bards, combining poetry and music. Thus family interest was interested in the improvement and preservation of every art and profession; every generation was sedulous to hand down the records, containing the rules and improvement of each profession, to their pos- terity. Though hereditary possessions may pos- sibly not be the best suited for the rapid progress of arts and sciences, they afford the greatest se- curity for their conservation. Hence the Danish wars of two hundred years, and the English and Irish wars of four hundred years continuance, were unable to pluck up the strong and deep roots of Irish learning, untill the nation and it fell together. Even still there is no such general passion for learning to be found in the bulk of the people in any other country, working against a current of obstacles and oppression. The fate of English literature was quite dif- ferent; because it had not such deep roots in the 282 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY constitution. The wars, tyranny and policy of the Danes, succeeded vhojn were to be commanded by his son Gerald. In addition to this terrible army, he formed an armed association, to be headed by the chief settlers. In the county of Kildare by the earl himself, lord Portlester, and sir Rowland Eus- tace. For the county of Dublin, lord Howth, the mayor of Dublin, and sir Robert Dowdal. In the county of Meath, lord Gormanston, Plunket and Barnwall. In Oriel, ( county of Louth ) the mayor of Drogheda, sir Lawrence Taaffe, and Richard Bellew. If the reader could be amused with a detail of the petty transactions of the English colony, or the family quarrels of the Butlers and Fitz- king shall have the one moietie of the said forfeiture, and the said persons or person shall have the other without any impeachment, and that all manner vessels of other lands coming in the said land of Ireland a fishing, being of the burthen of twelve tunns or less, having one drover or boate, every of them to paye for the maintenance of the king's wars there thirteen shillings four pence by the yeare. And all other small vessels, as scarfcs or boats, not having dro. ver nor lighter being within the said burthen of twelve tunns, every of them shall pay two shillings going a fishing in like manner. Provided always, that no vessel fishing in the north part of Wield O5 be charged by reason of this act, and that VOL. I. % E 300 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY Geralds, he will to satiety find the pages of English writers stuffed with these uninteresting narratives. One circumstance, however, may he constantly observed, in the conduct of their puny senate, a great attention to their own interest, and a stern opposition to English en- croachments. A native of England was ap- pointed deputy by Edward IV. without con- sulting the colonists. He was opposed and dis- owned. Kildare kept the lieutenancy ; Keating, prior of Kilmainham, governor of the castle, refused him entrance. After a few ineffectual attempts to appoint an Englishman born, Gerald Fitz-Gerald held the reins of government over the English district, to which he first gave con- sequence, by his policy, and his alliance with Conbacach O'Nial. The settlers throve won- derfully on the fertile soil of Erin. The family of de Burgo ( Burk ) had alliance with the kings of Scotland and England ; but the alliance with O'Nial was far more important to the ag- grandizement of Fitz-Gerald, and of more fatal the lieutenant, hisdeputie or justice of the land for the time being, shall have the foresaid summes and duties of money 50 paied, to be imployed in the king's wars for the defence of the said land, and that the customers and collectors of the same summes, shall accompt before the said justice, lieu- tenant or deputie for the time being, or such auditors that shall be for the same appointed by the king or them, and not before the barons of the exchequer in the said land, and that none of the said vessels so comming from other parts in the said land, shall not depart ont of the said land, till every of them pay their said duties, upon pain of forfeiture of the vessells and goods to the king. OF IRELAND. 301 consequence to the Hibernian interest. We need no longer be surprized, that he was continued in the government during the changes of England; even when out of administration, he was of more real weight and power, through his Irish con- nexions, than the deput} governor of the colony. These alliances, fatal to the antient Irish, and prohibited by the barbarous bigotry of the English popish parliament of the Pale, were the wisest plans that could be devised, not only for the aggrandizement of a leading family, but for the preservation of the Anglo-Irish interest. O'Byrne and O^Toole were still powerful in the vicinity of Dublin ; so that a popish Pale par- liament, at the instigation of Kildare, allowed the archbishop of Dublin to present Irish clerks to benefices within their districts, for two years. Admirable condescension ! to grant two years respite of the exclusion of Irish catholics from benefices founded by their own kindred. In the connexion of the two islands n-othing material occurs, during the short reigns of Ed- ward V. and Richard III. The accession of Henry VII. of the house of Lancaster, made some impression, where the majority were decided Yorkists. Notwithstanding that Kildare, and all his creatures in office, were known to be of that party, yet his alliance with 0*Nial made him too formidable to be displaced or provoked. The Yorkists of England, provoked by some imprudent steps of Henry VII. inflaming their party prejudice, courted their Irish partizans„ The scene that ensued thereon, shews with what 302 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY caution historical narratives of civil commotions must be received. The question is, whether a Robert Simnel, or the earl of Warwick might have escaped out of prison, and fled to f he colony, where both power and numbers were for him, than that a youth of mean parentage could per- sonate him, and impose on the leading men, who forwarded the house of York ? It is less impro- bable, that a victorious party would succeed in discrediting the name and memory of a defeated and slain pretender, than that an ignorant young boy would act a part beyond the abilities of the greatest actor who ever trod the stage. '' He was not to personate an infant taken from his cradle, and known to few, but a lord entertained at the court of Edward to the age of ten years ; one with whom the nobility of the realm had frequently conversed, and were perfectly ac- quainted. He was to be accurately instructed in many circumstances, and to speak with ease and correctness of various persons and incidents, in which the least failure or mistake must prove fatal to his design,'' Leland's guesses are futile on this subject. He was not sent to Ireland to be distant from severe scrutiny. He was sent to the only place where, with the greatest ease and security, he could raise a force. He came recom- mended by some of the first nobility in England^ who must have well known the young earl of Warwick at court. Kildare himself had personal knowledge of him ; and, therefore, could hardly be deceived. Now he and his privy council, after maturely examining and weighing the evidences OF IRELAND. 303 of his birth and titles, were satisfied of his per- sonal identity. Could Margaret of York, second sister of Edward IV. be deceived by a new-born stripling, personating her cousin ? yet she lent every aid in her power to the young pretender. Could her sister Elizabeth, and her husband, the earl of Lincoln^ be likewise imposed on ? However opinions may vary, the Yorkists made some exertions in his behalf. Two thousand men arrived in Ireland from Flanders, under the com- mand of general Swaart; and his solemn corona- tion took place in Dublin. '' He was conducted in due state to the cathedral, called Christ- Church, attended by the lord deputy and officers of state, the English nobles, and all his other adherents. The bishop of Meath explained and enforced his right to the crown from the pulpit ; it was for- mally recognized by all who attended on the ce^ remonial ; a crown, said to have been taken from a statue of the Virgin, was placed on his head, amidst the acclamations of the people ; and from the church he was conveyed in pomp to the castle of Dublin, elevated on the shoulders of Darcy, chief of a considerable English family of Meath ; a ceremony which seems to have been adopted from the native Irish," Invested with regal authority, in complete possession of the Pale, Simnel proceeded to sup- port his claims to the crown of England, with an Irish army, aided by Swaart and his Belgians„ They landed at Foudrey, in Lancashire, marched towards York, where they w^ere disappointed of their expectations of a rising in their favour; 304 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY tlience to Newark, near which Henry VII. met them with a great army, when one of the most obstinate and bloody battles commenced, that ever took place between forces so dispropor- tionate; and which, in its issue, was most dis- astrous to Simnel and his adherents. Defeated and taken prisoner, Simnel was placed in the kitchen by Henry; but Swaart, most of the lead- ers, and almost all the soldiers, too brave to re- treat, remained on the field of battle. English writers say, that only the vanguard of the royal army was engaged. No doubt the whole of that great army could not have engaged at once with the paucity of their antagonists; but they might, and probably did, successively, relieving each other. The valour of Swaart and his Belgians, erroneously called Germans in most printed books on this subject, is praised by colonial writers. Very likely commendation was due to them; but the impression made on the public mind, by the strength, agility and desperate valour, displayed by the Irish at the battle of Stoke, extorted the admiration of their enemies. This stimulated the politicians of that day to speculate on the immense advantages that would accrue to Eng- land from a more complete connexion with Ire- land ; an incontrovertible monument of the high notion the Irish taught them to entertain of Irish valour. '' The late transactions in Ireland, the bold attempt in favour of Simnel, and the desperate valour displayed by the troops led into England by the Geraldines^ had made this country the OF IRELAND. S05 subject of general discourse and speculation ; and the rising spirit of project and enquiry had engaged individuals to search deeply into the revolutions experienced in Ireland^ ever since the reign of Henry the Second ; the declension of the English interest^ the dispositions^ temper, and power of the old natives^ the designs and competitions of great lords,, the conduct of the king's officers, and the means of rendering an appendage to the crown of England, in itself so valuable, of real weight and consequence to the general weal. There is a discourse still extant in some repositories of curious papers, said to have been presented to the king and council, not later than the present period, in which the affairs of Ireland are copiously examined. The author la- bours to engage the king in the complete reduc- tion and settlement of this country. His hopes of success he founds on a supposed prophecy, that about the present time, this great and important undertaking was to be completed, and that, in consequence, an united army of England and Ireland was to seat the king upon the throne of France, to restore the Greeks, to recover Con- stantinople, and to make him emperor of Rome. Yet notwithstanding this ridiculous fanaticism of the projector, his researches were accurate, and his policy judicious. He recounts no less than sixty regions of different dimensions, all governed by Irish chieftains, after their antient laws and manners, together with a long catalogue of de- generate English, who had renounced all obe- dience to goveranient^ in the several provinces. 306 An IMPARTIAX HISTORY The pale of English law and civil obedience, he confines within the narrow bounds of half the counties of Uriels Meath^ Kildare, Dublin, and Wexford, and the common people of these dis- tricts he represents as entirely conforming to the Irish habit and language, although they pro- fessed obedience to the laws ; so general had been the intercourse of fostering, marriage and alli- ance, with the enemy, of which the deputy him- self had set the example, and which of conse- quence he could not restrain; The grievances of these counties, from oppressive exactions, unna- tural feuds, expeditions undertaken by deputies from personal animosity, or private interest, to the utter ruin of the subject, and without the least advantage to the state; laws forgotten, neglected, and defied ; an encreasing degeneracy, a general ignorance, and scandalous inattention to instruct and reform the people, are all detailed fully. The remedies proposed are, a competent force sent out of England to support the authority of a chief governor of integrity and equity ; a strict attention to training the people to the English art of war ; garrisons stationed so as to awe the Irish enemies and rebels, to put an end to local quarrels, and gradually to reduce the whole body of inhabitants to obedience ; equitable and mo- derate taxation, substituted in the place of arbi- trary impositions, with other particular regu- lations, many of which were afterwards adopted. Such remains of antiquity are not unworthy of notice, as the sentiments and opinions of cotem- poraries serve to illustrate and confirm the repre- OF IRELAND. 307 sentations collected from history or records/'* Piindarus sive Salus Populi. MS. Trin. Col. Dub. Nothing occurs very interesting in the reign of Henry VII. until the desperatebattle of Knoctow, in 1504. The historians of the Pale are prolix on a succession of deputies^ who did nothing worth mentioning^ except thelawsof Poynings, and the dissentions raging between powerful families of English descent, which scarcely interest any but their particular posterity. Henry VII. jealous of lords of Irish birth as his deputies, sent over Edward Poynings, with some English forces, to whom having added those of the Pale, he endea- voured to figure as a warrior. He first marched against O'Hanlon, where he was disappointed of his expected glory. His next essay was in the county of Carlow, where he fared no better. The method of warfare, practised by his antagonists, was judicious; in case of a smaller force keeping on the defensive against a greater. '' Instead of marching to the field in all the pomp and pride of chivalry, and engaging in an open and regular battle, they fthe Irish] darted upon their prey from inaccessible woods and morasses; to these they retired at the approach of the royal army; from these they again issued upon any prospect of advantage, but before the deputy could draw out his forces, were already vanished, so as to keep him in perpetual terrour and perplexity, without permitting him to strike any decisive blow.^'t * Leland, Vol. II. B. III. c. iv. p. 97, GS. + Ibid. Vol. II. B. III. c. V. p. 101. VOL. I. 2 s oOS AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY Lcland's prejudice liere, or liis ignorance, is truly pitiable. Did he not know, that military stratagems, preparing victory, reflect the higliest honour on a conmiander? Neither did the Irish always adhere to this desultory and perplexing mode of warfare. Sometimes they fought obsti- nate battles in the open field ; and instances are not wanting, of their giving and accepting chal- lenges to fight on a given day, on chivalrous principles of gallantry. Poynings, having failed in his martial career, endeavoured to retrieve his honour by a display of legislative capacity. He summoned a parlia- ment at Droglieda, which passed such acts as were qualified to regulate the English district, and confirm the influence of England; of which the following, called Poyning's law, obtained some celebrity, during the struggles of the Irish volunteers for a free trade and a free parliament. '' Item, at the request of the commons of the land of Ireland, be it ordained, enacted, and established, that at the next parliament that there shall be holden by the king's com- mandment and licence, wherein amongst other the king's grace intendeth to have a general resumption of his whole revenues, sith the last day of the reign of king Edward the second, no parliament be holden hereafter in the said land, but at such season as the king's lieutenant and council there first do certify the king under the great seal of that land, the Causes and con- siderations and all such acts as to them seemeth should pass in the same parliament^ and such OF IRELAND. 309 causes^ considerations^ and acts, affirmed by the king and his council, to be good and expedient for that land, and his licence thereupon, as well in affirmation of the said causes and acts, as to summon the said parliament under his great seal of England had and obtained: that done, a par- liament 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 provision aforesaid, it be deemed void and of none effect in law/* Among other acts passed in tliis parliament, one made it high treason to incite the Irish to make war upon the English ; another prohibited any person born in Ireland, from being constable of Dublin, Trim, Leixlip, Athlone, Wicklow, Greencastle, Carlingford, and Gragfergousc; the infamous statutes of Kilkenny were also revived. Hitherto the English Pale was so inconsider- able, as to be an object of contempt, rather than respect, to the neighbouring chieftains. In this reign, the earl of Kildare raised it to importance. For the long-wished reduction, of those called degenerate English, to obedience, the quarrel of one of them with an Irish chieftain furnished a good pretence. The alliance of the lord of Ire> land's deputy, the earl of Kildare, with O'Nial, the most powerful of the Irish princes, furnished the means. Three castles belonging to O'Kelly having been demolished by Mac William de Burgo, O'Kelly sought the assistance of the lord-justice. Gerald Fitz-Thomas, earl of Kildare, then lord 310 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORV justice, niusvitliin the Pak% aware of the consequences of their ahusiiig if, ere wliich he seemed once before his death to have seriously wished, was impeded by the terror he inspired; lor none of the bishops, called toge- ther for that purpose, durst disclose his thoughts freely, lest the proposals were meant to ensnare. He died unregretted ; nor was his memory honored with a sepulchre by any of his three children, uho reigned successively after him. His will was broke; for he strictly enjoined his son Edward to be reared a catholic, and he was reared a pro- (esfant; and the catholic tutors and commis- sioners, appointed to superintend his education, and assist in the administration of the kingdom, were turned out. His three children died without issue, and the seed of the wicked perished, but not before they bathed this unfortunate island in the blood of its best inhabitants. During the reign of Edward VI., the admi- nistration, conducted by his uncle, the duke of Somerset, under the name of Protector, was chiefly busied in making those alterations in reli- gion, called Reformation. Their endeavours suc- ceeded to their satisfaction in England, but in Ireland thej still met unabating opposition. This thej experienced in every shape. The saveci branch of Kildare had not as yet attained man's estate; but St. Leger, the deputy, was strenu- ously opposed by Ormond, in a scheme of taxa- tion, which was protested against as illegal and oppressive. In the violence of contest, they came to mutual impeachments, which ended with the death of Ormond, who was poisoned at a feast in Ely-house, with sixteen of his retinue. OF IRELAND. 347 Nobody did it, to be sure; but the undegenerate Englishman was exUcmdy glad of the sudden departure of his powerful opponent. The change meditated in religion^ determined the Enolish oovcrnmcnt to send over a rein- forcemcnt of 600 horse and 400 foot, under the command of general Bellingham. Joining his forces with those of the Pale, he marched against O' Moore, and O'Connor, over whose undisciplined force, fire arms, as jet terrific even by their noise to the Irish, gave him a de- cided superiority. He routed them in the fields drove out the old inhabitants from Lcix and O'Faly, and planted castles thereon in defence of his conquest. Reduced to the situation of desperate fugitives, the two chieftains, forsook by most of their followers. Mere prevailed on to come to an accommodation, and rely on the generosity and good faith of Englishmen. Ac- cepting the proffer, they accompanied St. Leger, into England, where the only favor they re- ceived was, not to be brought to immediate exe- cution. They were imprisoned, their lands were declared forfeit, and given to those by whose counsel they had surrendered. 0'?»loore soon after died in captivity. An ineffectual attempt of O'Connor to escape, only served to make his confinement more rigorous, and their lands were divided among English adventurers. Their kins- men and followers, most likely to revive their claims, were persuaded to enlist in the king's English army, to relieve their immediate neces- sities. Thus Avere two strong feathers plucked VOL. I. 3 z 348 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY out of the Milesian piiiious, with()i|t the inter- ference of their neiii^h hours, >vho could never adopt the wise polic} of the Pale, " one peace, and one war, with the common enemy." In honor of this first and considerahle addition to the Pale during centuries, Bellinghani received the honor of knighthood^ and was appointed governor of the enlarged district. Some at- tempt at insurrection, occasioned, perhaps, by the dread of changes in religion, were suppressed in their birth by his vigilance. The efforts of the English council, to force a new religion on the Irish, kept this unhappy country in constant agitation. At a conference held for this purpose in the hall of Mary's- abbey, Dowdal defended the Roman liturgy, and Staples of Meath, the new-fangled English translation ; as usual in such cases, each party claimed the victory. A proclamation not having the force of law in either countries, government avenged the opposition of Dowdal, by deciding the long contest for precedence between the sees of Dublin and Armagh in favor of the former, whose intruded bishop, Browne, was an apostle of the new doctrines. The primate, probably taking this first aggression as a prognostic of more serious severities, and not being animated with the spirit of martyrdom, retired to the con- tinent. Had he stood his ground, the tide of po- pularity ran so violently hi his favor, both within and without the Pale, his opposition would in all probability have compelled the protector to abaiidoa his scheme of reforming Ireland. The OF IRELAND. 349 cause was abandoned, at a critical moment, by a man, whose station, abilities, and first essay, com- manded the enthusiastic devotion of the nation, and the innovators in power were left leisure and opportunity to improve by the absence of the lead- er of a catholic nation against schism and heresy. Immediately a successor was appointed to him, contrary to canon law; and John Bale, ''the violent and acrimonious impugner of popery,'' ( Lei. ) was appointed to the see of Ossory. All the clergy, not excepting Goodacre, the intruded bishop of Armagh, wished, in complaisance to popular prepossessions, to have Bale consecrated according to the Roman ritual. The furious innovator rejected, with fanatical scorn, these venerable formalities. The evidence of a protes- tant divine, on the intemperate conduct of this fanatic, though not detailed or explicit, hints a good deal. '' Bale insulted the prejudices of his flock without reserve or caution. They were pro- voked ; and not so restrained, or awed by the civil power, as to dissemble their resentments. During the short period of his residence in Ire- land, he lived in a continual state of fear and per- secution. On his first preaching of the reformed doctrines, his clergy forsook him, or opposed him; and to such violence were the populace spi- rited against him, that five of his domestics were slain before his face; and his own life saved only by the interposition of the civil magistrate. These outrages are pathetically related; but we are not informed what imprudences provoked them, or what was the intemperate conduct which his ad- 350 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORy versarles retorted with siuh slioeking barbarity/'* The ministry of the coloiiv, sensible of the un- popularity of religious innovations in Ireland, saw the necessity of holding out some boon to coneiliate the nation. They frequently and strongly urged the expediency and necessity of extending the English law and constitution^ to the old natives^ as an inducement to coalesce into one people^, attached to one monarch and one political system^ but without effect. It is not clear^ that the antient Irish would exchange their own laws and usages^ under which their country obtained renown^ for those of the Saxons. True^ indeed Milesians petitioned for English laws; but they were those of Leinster^ whose properties were intersected by, or contiguous to the Pale. No instance can be found of the powerful chieftains petitioning for such a favor. The clashing of English and Irish law, pro- duced much confusion and bloodshed among the Milesians and settlers. On the death of the earl of Clanrickard, his followers elected a chieftain, according to Irish usage; and the young lord as- serted his claim, grounded on English law, with the sword. On the demise of the earl of Thomond, the baron of Ibraken, heir, according to English law, was compelled by his tribe to declare a Tai- nist according to the Irish constitution, who, though compelled for the present to relinquish that station by the interposition of the English government, waited but a favourable opportunity * Leiand, Vol. II. B. III. c. viii. p. 201. OF IRELAND. 351 to recover it, by a sanguinary and successful war. But the principal canrimotions, occasioned by this unnatural collision of opposite constitutions and conflicting la^YS, were in the family of O'Nial. By the persuasion of Henry VIIL the chieftain of Ulster was induced to accept the title of earl for himself, and to accept so much of English law, as regarded hereditary succession to the principality by the eldest branch. Partiality for Matthew, an illegitimate son, procured for him the title of baron of Dangannon, and destined him for the inheritance. John, in Irish Shane O'Neil, assisted by his brother Hugh, laboured to wane their father from his unjust partiality, and his shameful dereliction of the independence and prerogatives of his illustrious house. The baron,, aware of the impressions made on his father, and that the majority of the nation would favour the rights of the legitimate off-pring, alarmed the deputy by the news of these beginnings of war, the intrigues of his brothers, and the connivance of his father. Thereupon the earl and his countess were suddenly seized and imprisoned in Dublin. John collected his followers, and declared war against Matthew, to whose practices he imputed the indignity oflered to his parents. The deputy hastened to the relief of this creature of English government. John attacked and defeated them, with considerable slaughter; *^^and, encouraged by this success plundered his father's mansion, ravaged his whole territory, and spread desolation through a district, the fairest and most flourisl^i- ing in the whole island, more than d\i\ miles ia 352 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY length and forty broad.* This most flourishing flistri( t was inh}il)!t(Hl and cnllivated by the an- tient natives. All the attempts of Sir James Crofts, to reduce him, ended in dis2;race and disappoint- nierit; nc^r was the war, Ihouiib it subsided at intervals, totally extinirnished for many vears. The abortive attempt of the duke of North- umberland, in favour of Lady Jane^ gave but a feeble and brief interruption to the legal rights of queen Mary. At her aceession^ notwithstand- ing a pron.ise of general pardon, the few abet- tors of innovation in Ireland took the alarm. Bale, the hitter declaimer against pupery, and Casey of Limeric k, fled. Others^ confiding in the pro- mised anmesty, remained. George Dow da] was restored to the piimaey, and compensated with the priory of Atherdee for the spoil of his diocese by the English intruder. No violent changes were attempted in the establishment, '^ a licence only was pu!>lished, as in England, for the cele- bration of mass, without penalty or compulsion; and among the royal titles, that of supreme head, on earth, of the church of Ireland, still continued to be inserted in the acts of state. "f The restoration of the house of Kildare de- serves mention, among the acts of beneficence that graced the begimiing of this reign. Young lord Gerald, by his marriage with the daughter * Inland, V^l. II. B. III. c. viii. p. 205. This testimony of a writer, no way partial to Ireland, would prove that the English had import( d no improvements into Ireland at that period. t Leland, Vol. II. B. III. c. viii. p. 206. OF IRELAND. 353 of Sir Anthony Browne, foimcd a connexion, that procured his restoration to the lionors and estates of his family. Charles Kavenagh was created baron Baljan, and in the patent is stjled captain of his sept. O'Connor Falv, so long imprisoned, obtained his libertj, by means of his daughter, who had formed connexions at the court of England. The grantees of his territory, alarmed at his return, prevaihd on the deputy to make him renew his suhmission, and give his son hostage for keeping the peace. Leland judged rightly, that the desire of re- establishing the antient religion, rather than friendship to Ireland, influenced the queen m granting these graces. '' Mary was the readier to grant such conciliating marks of favour, as she judged of the dispositions of her Iri^h sub- jects by what she observed in England; and ap- prehended the same difficullies in her design of restoring the antient religion, in a country that had scarcely known any other, which she expe- rienced among a people, of whom numbers were averse from it, even to a high degree of fana- ticism.''* All who renounced the catholic faith were secured from severities, by the general pardon, except these who adopted a state incompatible with canon law. Dowdal was appointed com- missioner to enquire concerning such people, and ejected tlie five bishops, who betrayed their reli- gion^ not for that offence, but for taking wives, * Leland. Vol. II. Book III. c. viii. p. 207. 33i AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY and refusing to part with tliem^ conlrarj to the discipline of the catholic church; viz. Staples of Meatli^ Ilrowiie of Duhlin, Lancaster of KildarCj and Traverse of Lcighlin. llo\vever, a crime^ liorrihle to relate^ which makes humanit} shudder^ effaces all the merits of this reiirn, and is not exceeded bv the foulest act ill the records of human depravity. The antient inhabitants of Leix and O'Faly^ ever since the English settlement herc^ had to guard against English encroachments. Their w^ars with the English^ in defence of tlieir patrimony^ were frequent^ only suspended occasionally by a peace in name, but a truce in fact. Sometimes eject- ed, they as often retook possession, at the point of the sword. The Englishj who beheld with greedy eyes,, their fair well cultivated plains, (Morison) wearied with the invincible courage aiid perseverance with which they defended their inheritance, had recourse to the vilest treason, against the law of nature and nations; against God, appealed to as guarantee of treaties; against man, whose welfare is interested in fide- lity to engagements. The chief men of the two septs are invited by the earl of Sussex, as to an amicable conference, to the Rathmore of Mullah- niaisteen, to adjust all differences. Thither they unadvisedly came; all the most eminent in war, law, physic and divinity, all the leading men of talents and authority, the stay and prop of the tribes, to the number of four hundred. They rode into the fatal rath, confiding in Uie olive branch of peace, held out to alkue, in the cha- OF IRELAND. 355 racter of ambassadors, sacred among all nations, -even barbarians and heathens. They perceived too late, that they had been perfidiously dealt with, when they found themselves on the sudden surrounded by a triple line of horse and foot, who, on a given signal, fell on those unarmed, defenceless gentlemen, and murdered them all on the spot! Ah bloody queen Mary ! Yes. Blood- thirsty Philip, and his blood-thirsty spouse, occa- sioned the death of a few heretics, perhaps five or six, during her reign . In one day she butchered 400 Irish catholics, all cavaliers, and men of chival- rous honor, the heroic descendants of one of the greatest heroes in the western world, Conal Kearnach, chief of the knights of Ulster. And the sequel ! full of horrid deeds. The army, thus glutted with the noble blood of the magna- nimous, the pious, the hospitable, the brave, were let loose, like blood-hounds, on the multitude, dispersed in their villages, now without council, union or leader. A miserable massacre was made of these unhappy people, over the whole extent of what is now called King and Queen's county, without regarding age or sex. The detail of the diabolical outrages, committed on these large and populous districts, would make hell blush, to be out done by devils in human shape. I leave the reader to surmise the scenes of horror that ensued, when the whole popula- tion of an extensive territory was consigned to military execution. A few brave men here and there selling their lives as dearly as they could. What conflagration of villages and unfortunate VOL. I. 3 a 355 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY victims^ riishini^ from the flarncs on the sprars of their nuirdcrcrs. AVhat shrieks and lamenta- tions of Momen and children. \ hrutal soldiery, drunk with blood, and the contents of cellars, raging with fire and sword tlirough the coun- try, cutting down men, women and children, with indiscriminate slaughter; children massa- cred before their affrighted parents, reserved for their greater torture to die a double death, the first in witnessing the massjacre of their innocents, and then be cut down last. Leland passes over most of these infernal deeds ; Plowden omits them altogether. Though the historian of the Pale omits the enormous per- fidy by which these gallant clans were circum- vented, he does not entirely conceal the inhuman barbarity with which their utter extirpation was pursued. '' Numbers of them were cut off in the field, or executed by martial law, and the whole race would have been utterly extirpated, had not the earls of Kildare and Ormond inter- ceded with the queen, and become sureties for the peaceable behaviour of some survivors."* The copy of the annals of Donegal, that I have perused, and Leland appears to have copied from, misdate this deplorable catastrophe of the O'Moores and O'Connors, confounding it with a similar perfidy, practised on the Butlers, near Kilkenny^ in the reign of Elizabeth. Had not the warlike tribes of O'Moore and O'Connor been circumvented by treachery, their lands * Leland^ Vol. II. B. III. c. viii. p. 208. An. of Doneg. MS. OF IRELAND. 357 could not have been bestowed to adventurers, and converted into shire ground, without a war as sanguinary as that of O'Neil or O'Kavenagh ; nor would there be any necessity for the inter- cession of Ormond and Kildare^, in the reign of Philip and Mary, to save a. remnant of them noble families from utter destruction. Curry follows in the same track; and also quotes Lee's Memoir, that queen Elizabeth's officers invited the Irish to treat near her garrison towns, whence they sallied out, to butcher them. That is true of the massacre of the Butlers near Kilkenny, and of the O'Neils near Dcrry; but Mullagh- Maisteen is not near any garrison town. Why are not the battles of the O'Moores and O'Connors^ if fair war was, recorded, before their patrimony was given to strangers, and a remnant of them spared by intercession.^ The number of the chief men, who assembled for the conference, proves that the sept of the O'Moores was yet in its in- tegrity. Allowing one hundred common men for every chief, 40,000 men inhabited that terri- tory. This was not after the' reign of Mary, when a remnant only remained. The place of conference too, on the confines of the Pale and Leix, as between two neighbouring powers, proves, that the O'Moores were then in full possession of their inheritance, which was not the case after the reign of Mary. The names of King and Queen's county, Philipsborough and Maryborough, are irrefragable evidences of the reign, during which Leix and O'Faly were changed into shire ground. As are two S58 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY acts of (he provincial parliament, confiscating the same from the orij^inal proprietors, and vest- ing it in Philip and Mary, passed in the session of 1556, unquestionable evidence of the date. '' Where the counties of Leixe, Slew marge, Offaily, Irry and Gljnmalry which belong of right to the king and queen's most excellent ma- jesties, were of late wholly possessed by the Moores, the Connors, the Dempsies and other rebells, and now by the industrious travaile of the earl of Sussex now lord deputy of Ireland, be brought again to be in the possession of their majesties, and so remain to be disposed as to their highnesses shall be thought good; forasmuch as the well disposing of the aforesaid countreys and planting of good men there, shall not only be a great strength to those quarters, but also a won- derfull assurance of quiet to all the rest of the English countreys, and a great; terror to all Irish countreys bordering on the same/'* '' Prayen the commons in this present parlia- ment assembled, that forasmuch as the O' Moores, O' Dempsies, O'Connors, and others of the Irishry lately inhabiting the countreys of Leixe, Slew- marge, Irry, Glynmalryand OfFaily, and by their sundry manifest treasons after many pardons granted to them, and sundry benelits shewed to them, yet often rebelled, committing great hurts to the king and queen's majesties most loving subjects, by the which they provoked the most worthy prince king Edward VI. brother to our * Preamble of an Act for the disposition of Leixe and Omiilie. OF IRELAND. 359 sovereign ladj the queen's majesty, to use his power against them, who at length to liis great charge did subdue and repress the said Irish ene- mies, or rebels, bringing into his possession the countrejs aforesaid, sithence whieh time the said O'Moores, O'Dempsies, O'Connors, and others of the said Irishrj have traiterously, contrary to their bounden duties, by force entred the said countreys, and them so did hold against the king and queen's majesties, unto such time as their majesties by the diligent and painful travel and labour of the right honourable the earl of Sussex, their majesties lord deputy in Ireland, by the sword, edicted and reduced the said countreys out of, and from the wrongful and usurped pos- sessions of the said Irish enemies or rebels to their majesties former possession."* There is no necessity for loading protestant England with the sins of their popish predeces- sors, since they have enough of their own to answer for. Ilowbeit, upon a fair review of the subject, I think the malice of English papists, towards the antient Irish, left no species of per- secution for protestant ingenuity to invent or improve on; since whatever is most base in hy- pocrisy, whatever is most savage in harbarity, whatever is most atrocious and infernal in cru- elty, was abundantly, incessantly, even to su- * Preamble of an Act whereby the King and Queens Ma- jesties, and the heirs and successors of the Queen be enti- tuled to the counties of Lcixe, Slewmarge, Irry, Glyn- malry, and Ofluilic; and forinaking the same countreys shir^ grounds. 360 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY pcrcrof^ation, practised by thcni, against the anticiit proprietors of this coiintrv. After the re-establishinent of catholicity during this rci climate, St. Patrick's blessing and promise, the exemplary conduct, piety and diligence of the clergy, or to all united, I shall not determine. The fact itself is obvious. Every effect must par- take something of the nature of its productive and instrumental causes; '' no bad tree bringeth *The Pale parliament, in the 18th of Henry VIII. enacted^ that the marriage of king Henry with queen Catherine was unlawful and void; the issue of said marriage (Mary) to be illegitimate; and the crown should descend to the children of his " most dear and entirely beloved wife queen Anne" (Elizabeth;) shortly after, on the condemnation and death of Anne Boleyn, and the marriage of Henry with Jane Seymour, it passed sentence of attainder on Anne, declared Henry's former marriages null and void, and placed the suc- cession in his heirs by queen Jane. But no sooner had in- telligence arrived, of the accession of Mary, than they an- nulled their former acts, declared Mary legitimate, and the crown to be vested in her and her heirs. With the same servility, they declare Elizabeth, in the second year of her reign, to be rightly, lineally and lawfully descended, make all former acts derogatory thereto void, (and if 'twas in their power) consign them to oblivion. OF IRELAND. 393 forth good fruit/' Now it is evident, that the reformation forced its way upon reluctant Irish- men, hy these alarming means, a packed parli- ament, the terror of a vengeful queen, and the opinion of corrupt judges; and that the degene- rate popish parliament of the English province defended the principles of the constitution, and the magna charia obtained by their ancestors, with the same zeal and courage with which they adhered to their religion, while the protcstant parliament of England, of the same race, ser- viley bowed to the haughty commands of a tyrant. Notwithstanding the staunch attachment of the colony to its own interests, it abated not of its rancorous antipathy to the ancient inha- bitants ; as appears from the attainder of Shane O'Neil, passed nem. con. and their impudent donation of almost all Ulster to the queen; as if he, a sovereign prince, could be denominated or treated as a rebel; as if all the territory were his private property. The fables and absurdities^ contained in this act of attainder, deserve to be mentioned, as evidences of the national antipathy rancoring in the minds and hearts of the settlers. In the preamble to this remarkable act, after stating, that they would be noted to the world for ingrate and unnatural people, did they not uphold and maintain the kingly estate with the rampier of their carcases and consumption of their goods (lives and fortunes men;) that the magnificence of a prince resteth in populous, lich and well-governed regions, which were pos- 394' AN IMPARTIAL HISTORV sessed by her majesty by the '' death and final destruction of that caitiffe and miserable reble Shane O'Nellie/' who refused the name of a subject^ and took upon him tlie office of a prince^ for whose manifold offences their intent waSj to intitle her majesty^ &c. to the dominion and territories of Ulster, as a foundation laid (perhaps the great object) for your highness to PLANT and DISPOSE the same for encreasing OF YOUR revenue, STRENGTHENING OF US, &C. it then proceeds to state that Henry VIII. had created his father earl of Tyrone, and his son Matthew, baron of Dungannon ; that Shane after the decease of his father, usurped and took upon him the name of O'Neyle, with the supe- riority, &c. of all the lords and captains of Ul- ster, according to the Irish custome,* in scorne of the English creation: that he made war upon her majesty, took hostages from O'Reily; made O'Doncile of Tirconnel and his family prisoners; built a fort in an island in Tyrone, which he called Foohnegall, i. e. the hate of Englishmen; that he hanged two English spies; and cruelly tortured an English galloglass: then it allows^ that he and the queen had made peace; mentions the proposed conference with the lord deputy at * The Pale legislature knew, that he followed the custom of his house, which always claimed the sovereignty of Ulster. If O'Nial was really and bona fide a subject ap- pearing in arms against his sovereign, there was no neces- sity to search for other parts of his life for his condemnation, or to patch up the queen's title, to his private estate, on the fable of king Gurmunde and Bfclin^ the existing laws were sufficient. OF IRELAND. 395 Dundalk, but conceals the cause, ihe massacre of his men at Derry; states his destroying the church of Armagh; his irruptions into*^ Ferma- nagh, and into the Pale; his defeat; the disper- sionof his followers; his intended submission: then follows his assassination, by the Scots, ia which, to be sure, the deputy was not concerned. O'Neil, his secretary, and fifty horsemen, having joined the Scots, encamped at Clancboy, entered the tent of the commander, Alexander Oge, '"where after a few dissembled gratulatorie words used betwixt them they fell to quaffing and drinking of wine. This Agnes Ileys sonne, all inflamed with malice and desire of revenge for the death of his father and uncle, began to minister quareiling taike to O'Neyle, who took same verie hot, and after some reproachfull words past betwixt them, the said Gillaspike demaunded ofthesecretorie whether he had bruted abroad that the ladie his aunt, wife unto James Mac Conill, did offer to come out of Scotland into Ireland, to marrie with O'Neyle, the secretorie affirmed himselfe to be the author of that report, and said withali that if his aunt were queen of Scotland shee might be well contented to match herselfe with O^Neyle; the other with that gave him the lye, and said that the lady his aunt was a woman of that honestie and reputation, as would not take him that was the betrayer and murderer of her worthy husband. O'Nevle giv- ing earc to the talke, began to maintayne his Becretorie's quarell, and thereupon Gillaspike withdrew himselfe out of the tent and came VOL, I. 3 p 396 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY abroade amongst his men,, who forthwith raised a fray and fell to killing of O'Nc} le's men^ and the Scotes as people thiristic of O'Nejle's bloud, for requiting the slaughter of their master and kinsfolke^* assembled together in a throng and thrust into the tent where the said O'Nejle was^ and there with their slaughter swords hewed him to pieces^ slew his secretorie and all those that v/ere with him^ except a verie few which escaped bj their horses. Alexander Oge^, after his bouchcrj handling of this cruell tjrant, caused his mangled carcasse to be caried to an old ruinous church iieer unto the camp^ where for lack of a better shroud he was wrapt in a kerns old shirty and there miserably interred^, a fit end for such a begining% and a funeral 1 pompe convenient for so great a defacer of God's tem^ ples^ and withstander of his prince's lawes and regall authoritie. And after being foure dayes in earthy was taken up by William Pierce^ and his head sundred from his bodie was brought unto the said lord deputie to Drogheda^ the one-and- twentieth day of June^ in the year of our Lord God a thousand five hundred threescore and scven^ and from thence carried unto the citie of Dublin^, where it was bodied with a stake^ and standeth on the top of your majestie's castfe of Dublin/' Having thus dispatched O'Nial they proceed to state her many titles to Ulster^ farr BEYOND (they say) the lynage of the O'Nial's. * This he did in the service of queen Elizabeth, and w© see the envoy, captain PierSj stirred up the Scotch tu re- venge it ou him. OF IRELAND. 397 And first tlie fable '' that at tlic beglning, afore , the comming of Irishmen into the said land, thej were dwelling in a province of Spaine, the which is called Biscan, whereof Bjon was a member, and the chief citie. And that at the said Irishmen's comming into Ireland, one king- Gurmond, sonne to the noble king Bel in, kin<^ of Great Britaine, which now is called England, was lord of Bajon, as many of his successours were to the time of king Henry the second, first conquerour of this realm, and therefore Hiq Irishmen should be the king of England his people, and Ireland his land. Another title is, that at the same time that Irishmen came out of Biscay as exhiled persons in sixty ships, iliey met with the same king Gurmond upon the sea, at the ylcs of Orcades, then comming from Den- mark with great victory, their captaines called Heberus and Hermon, went to this king, and him told the cause of their comming out of Bis- cay, and him prayed with great instance that he would graunt unto them that they might inhabit some land in the west. The king at the last by advise of his councel granted them Ireland to inhabite, and assigned unto them guides for the sea to bring them thither: and therefore they should and ought to be the king of England's men." The act continues to assert many titles, after the invasion of Henry, not worthy to be here inserted ; ( but what becomes of prescription ? The O'Nials were inpossessionof Ulster upwards of twenty-five centuries;) after which it attaints O'Neil; confiscates not only his^ but the lands 398 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY of his adherents;* endeavours to extinguish the name, and exemptsf the chiefs of Ulster from their rule. '' Thus was the name of O'Neal, with the power and dignity of the race, for ever anni- hilated: and a prince, acknowledged and obeyed as such during his life time, who constantly boasted that he never made peace with Elizabeth, but at her own request, after his death treated with all the indignity due to a rebel. But a princess, who could put to death a queen, who only came to seek an asylum in her country, from the rage of her own factious subjects, -may well be excused for a slip of this kind. "J The English settlers now began to feel a fore- taste of the great law of reaction, retaliating on them the persecutions they heaped on the more ancient inhabitants. While in that scandalous act of attainder of O'Neil, full of falsehoods and contradictions, they vented their spleen against the posterity of Milesius, the government struck them on two tender points, their liberty and religiou. Several acts were extorted from them, in spite of all opposition, by a mock re- presentation ; the act of supremacy, together with the penalties against recusants; the act, vesting * This confiscation remained a dead letter till the reign of James I. who confiscated Ulster again and planted it. + This is an acknowledgement, that the right of sove- reignty belonged to the name of O'Nial ; why else make it treason to assume it ? Why abolish the ceremonies of his creation, his authority, jurisdiction, &c? as it would be treason in a subject to take the title of king.. X Halloran, introd. to the study of the history and antU quity of Ireland^ p. 2GQ, OF IRELAND. S99 in the deputy the power of nominating to sees, under English influence, for ten years, conse- quently, that of appointing apostles of the new faith ; an act for erecting free schools, as serai- naries for the same purpose. An act, entitled *' an act restoring to the crown the auncient jurisdiction over the state, ecclesiasticall and spiritual, and abolishing all foreign power re- pugnant to the same,'* enacted, that all persons in office, civil or ecclesiastical, under pain of for- feiture thereof, should take the oath of supre- macy ; confiscation of property, for defeating the unity of the church, the first punishment; the second, a whole year's imprisonment^ without bail or mainprize; the third, high-treason, i.e. one convicted of having undergone the first two punishments for the catholic faith, and of having still continued to defend it by word or writing, to suffer the pains, penalties, and death of a traitor, not as a martyr. The act of uniformity enacted, that any clergyman, refusing to use the Book of Common Prayer, for the first offence, loss of one year's income, and six month's im- prisonment; for second offence, deprivation of benefice, and one year's imprisonment; for third offence, imprisonment for life. To despise the Book of Common Prayer, or any thing therein contained; to procure or maintain any person, vicar or minister, in any place, to pray or minis- ter sacraments different therefrom; for first offence, a fine of one hundred marks, if not paid, six months imprisonment; for the second offenci^ t fine of four hundred marks^ if not paid, im^ 400 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORT prisonment for life; for third offence, not onVy confiscation of property, but imprisonment for life. These are the penalties for sajing mass, and for maintaining and succouring a priest. All persons not going to church, and hearing pro- testant service, lined twelve pence, and subject to ecclesiastical censure; censures however not much dreaded. The protestant clergy and jus- tices of the peace, were empowered to enforce this act; an act, which concludes by empower- ing the queen to appoint and prescribe other forms and ceremonies, as it may please her high- ness. Behold a profane woman, clothed with more than pontifical authority, and persecuting catholics with rancorous rage. These violent acts of usurpation and persecu- tion, were passed in the second year of her reign, under deputy Sussex; and must have been ihe act of such another packed parliament as that convened in the eleventh. The penalties, in- flicted for speaking in favor of the catholic reli- gion, or against her petticoat supremacy in spi- rituals, against the common-prayer book, were most alarnjing, as a single false witness might circumvent any man, however guiltless. Besides, might not an enemy, or a professional informer, artfully draw an honest man into conversation on the subject, on which, if he spoke at all, he could scarcely avoid telling his mind J In the 11th of Elizabeth, and 4th session, the provincial parliament proceed to dispose of Ire- land, as if already conquered ; yet much remained to be done^ to bring it to that state. Divide ith horrour at the carnage, in- stead of exulting in the defeat of an enemy."* Killed four hundred without the loss of one man ! ! This was one of the massacres alluded to in Lee*s memorial; '^ that many of this country * Leiaiid, Vol. II. B. IV. c. ii. p. 250. VOL, I. 3 G 401 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY people were invited to a conference near her ma > jestj's garrison^ where they were inhumanly butchered." This might have been confounded with the massacre of Mullahmaistin^ or there might have been two massacres at that boundary of the Pale and Leix. In addition to our former^ may be added the following reasons, that such a massacre did take place, in the reign of Philip and Mary, viz. the spot of the conference, the boundary of the two territories, which supposes that Leix and Ophaly werenot as yet subdued. 2dly, The easy and rapid reduction of the two territories; which would not have been the case, if the leaders in war and counsel had not been cut off. 3dly, The actual colonization of the two districts, and the change of their names into that of King and Queen's county ; and of their chief towns into Philipstown and Maryborough. 4thly, The no necessity of brincrina' a conference to the boundaries of the antient Pale, when the boundaries of the en- larged Pale were more suitable to the negocia- tors. othly. The improbability, tliat four hun- dred unarmed gentlemen would venture through their antient patrimony, now in possession of the enemy, so far as the alleged place of conference. 6thly, Four hundred gentlemen, of lead and rank, would form the sum of such an extent of landed proprietors, before their subjugation. 7tlily, Queen Elizabeth bore no such love to her sister and brother-in-law, as to dedicate the conquest and colonization of their territories to their names. 8thly, As in the case of the norths OF IRELAND. 403 %vhen the confiscation thereof, under Elizabeth^ could not be enforced^ there was a fresh act of confiscation issued by James; so if the conquest and colonization had not been completed under Philip and Mary, the act of confiscation would be renewed by Elizabeth^, on the final subjuga- tion of the proprietors. As no such act passed, Elizabeth appears to have no claim to the mas- sacre or conquest. She killed a Hessian for her- self; had massacres enough of her own. Before the conquest of O'Moore and O'Connor^ such a perfidious transaction might appear expedient or necessary^ to the unrestrained policy of the invaders; after the conquest^ it was superfluous. In perusing the records of this blood-stained period^ the unreflecting are liable to be misled, by the false colourings, forgeries, and misrepre- sentations of partial historians; nor do Cam.bden, Hooker, or Cox, throw fair light on the subject. We are told of the rebellions of Desmond, Butler and Lixnaw, but they do not inform us of the oppressions that provoked them. Whoever pe- ruses the penalties* decreed on the exercise of the catholic religion, and on nonconformity to Eliza- beth's new creed and ritual; the inflexible ty- ranny with which she and her officers inflicted them; the attack on the privileges of peers and commons; the rewards, held out from confiscated lands, for officers; the contempt and hatred of these new comers towards the old settlers^ as papists and Irish^ retaliating onthem^ what they * See Appendix. 406 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORr had (lone to the ahoriginal inhabitants^ will see abundant cause of insurrection. Infinitely sliort of these, were the provocations or apprehensions, that made English protcstants rise against a popish king. James Fitz- IMaurice invested Kilkenny ; which unableto take, he ravaged the country. Hetreated with some of the Irish chieftains; dispatched messengers to Rome and Spain^ solliciting aid against the heretical, tyrannical pcrsecutress of the faith. Fitz-Maurice soon fcuuid himself de- serted by all those chieftains, who professed to espouse the cause. O'Brien fled at the first commencement of hostilities into France, where, by the mediation of Norris, the English ambas- sador, he obtained terms. Mac Carthy submitted. Tirlough Lynough, a feeble prince, partly a crea- ture of English government, made some move- ments, took into his pay one thousand Scotch, and seemed to threaten the borders of the Pale. Aii accidental wound spread confusion through his camp; where all was bustle, canvassing for a successor to the chieftairiry. The Scotch, re- ceiving neither pay or plunder, dispersed ; and tiie old chieftain was obliged to submit. Fitz- Maurice was obliged to fly before the queen's forces, to secret haunts, while the deputy pro- ceeded through south and west Munster, terri- fying the disaffected, receiving submission and auxiliaries from many of the most considerable in rank and fortune. Sir John Perrot was appointed president of Monster, to carrv on the war against Desmond. OF IRELAND. 407 He pursued the rebels vigorously^ storming their castles^ and chasing them from their haunts, without respite, until Fitz-Maurice, with some of his adherents, worn out with fatigue, toil and terror, were compelled to throw themselves at his feet. The inferior leaders in the insurrection were instantly executed, while Desmond was re- served for the queen's disposal. Thence he pro- ceeded to subjugate the rest of Munster, by all the means of terror. The success of the queen's arms allowed Sydney to return to England, leaving the government in the hands of his brother Sir William Fitz-William. Speculations now began to be formed in En^*- land, for obtaining estates in Ireland ; and plant- ing them w ith Englishmen. Sir Thomas Smyth, secretary to the queen, conceived the design of providing for his natural son, by a grant of Irish lands. A peninsula^ called Ardes, in the east part of Ulster, from its situation easily de- fended, was assigned for the colony, which was accordingly conveyed thither; but the leader, Smyth, being slain by one of the proprietors, an O'Nial, the project was abandoned. The earl of Essex formed the plan of a more powerful and extensive colony. On the report of some commotions in Clanhuboy, he offered his ser- vices for reducing that district, and planting it with English settlers. It was settled, that he should possess a moiety of the plantation; that one thousand two hundred forces should be maintained, and fortifications raised, at the joint expcnce of the queen and earl, four hundred 408 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY acres of land for every horseman^ and two hundred for every footman, at two pence per acre, invited volunteers for the expedition ; and the plantation was to be continued until two thousand English fiimilies were settled in it. Essex mortgaged his estate to the queen for ten thousand pounds; the lords Dacre and Rich,, Sir Henry Knowles, and his four brothers, three sons of lord Norris, and other Englishmen of distinction, accompanied him. The favorite, Leicester, ( for virgin Elizabeth, like virgin Ca- therine II. of Russia, had a succession of favo- rites, ) secretly thwarted the newly-created earl, in conjunction with deputy Fitz- William. The expedition was too long delayed; the queen's soldiers ill-chosen and ineffective; their provi- sions tardily supplied and unsound. When the earl landed with his troops, the northern Irish were apprized and prepared for him. Brian Mac Phelim O'Nial, Hugh, son to the earl of Dun- gannon, and Tirlough Lynough, united against him, and harassed his forces by perpetual skir- mishes. His noble associates quickly repented of their engagements, in an enterprize so unpro- mising; and under one pretence or another, with- drew one by one to their native country. Essex pathetically represented his situation to the queen, when his enemies found new pretences of detaining him in Ireland. Representations were sent over from Ireland, stating the country to be every where in commo- tion. The remnant of the O'Moores were tur- balent. Brian Mac Murchad took arms, and OF IRELAND. 409 defeated the Wexfordians. The sons of Clan- rickard were in arms. The earl of Desmond^ and his brother found means to escape to their territory^ where they were received with exulta- tion by their followers^ breathing vengeance for the severities they had endured. To encrease the alarm^ letters from Rome had been intercepted, exhorting the Irish to hold out against the queen's government; 'with an assurance of a supply of money and troops, and absolution to themselves and posterity to the third generation. These causes of alarm, whether real;, feigned or aggravated, persuaded the queen to command the stay of Essex in Ireland, for assisting the deputy against her enemies. 'Tis likely also, Brian Mac Murchad was easily persuaded to lay down his arms, by a simple act of justice. The sons of Clanrickard were reduced and par- doned; their insurrection having been compelled by the tyranny of president Fitton; who was, on their complaints being found true, dismissed from the presidency of Connaught. Desmond, vigorously pursued by Essex and Kildare, was obliged to renew his submission and allegiance. Essex now returned to the prosecution of his schemes in Ulster; where he attempted to exe- cute his project of plantation a I'Anglois, un- tinctured by the least infusion of Irish degene- racy. '' On the conclusion of a peace he invited Bryan O'Neilof Clanhuboy, with a great number of his relations, to an entertainment, where they lived together in great harmony, making good cheer for three days and nights; when, on a 410 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY sudden^ O'Neal ^YCls surprised with an arrest, together with his brother and wife^ by the earl's order. His friends were put to the sword before liis face; nor were llie women and cliildren spared;, he was himself, with his brother and wife^, sent to Dublin^, where they were cut in quarters.'' The annalist observes, that '' this increased the disaffection, and produced the de- testation of all the Irish: for this chieftain of Clanhuboj, was the senior of his family, and as he had been universally esteemed, he was no\y as universally regretted/'* It seems, however, the perfidious butchery of his guests availed him nought; for the turbulence and perfidiousness of the Irish, '^ and the insidious practices of Leicester and his partizans, involved him in a scries of perplexities. When he had been wearied into a resignation of his authority, he was com-^ manded to resume it: when he had resumed it, and for a while proceeded with success, he was again ordered to resign it. When he had at length obtained permission to return to England, he was again remanded into Ireland, with ths insignificant title of earl marshal of this country. Here vexation and disappointment soon put an end to his life, which involved Leicester in the suspicion of having caused this unhappy noble- man to be poisoned; a suspicion which he him- self encreased by hastily marrying the countess of Essex."! Strange language! to call the defence of liberty, religion and property, against barba- * Annals of Dunagall, M. S. + Leland, Vol. II. Book VI. c. ii. p. 258. OF IRELAND. 41 1 roMs, perfidious, inhuman invaders of all these most valuable blessings of life, perfidy and tur- bulence ! But we must make some allowance for the splenetic humours of an English or Anglo- Irish writer, treating of mere native Irish, and their affairs. Sir William Fitz-William, weary of the pub- lic hatred he had incurred, and of the compli- cated difficulties he involved himself in, desired Ijis recal. He was replaced by Sir flenry Sydney, whose reluctance to accept the office was over- come by the communication of extensive powers; and the promise of an annual remittance of twenty thousand pounds, in aid of the ordinary revenues of Ireland. On his landing in 1570, a plague, raging in the Pale, prevented his approach to the capital ; and the turbulence of the Scotch settlers in the north, who had made hostile attempts on the garrison of Carrigfergus, determined him to march to Ulster. He marched through Ulster and Connaught, at the head of six hundred men, without the least molestation; composing petty broils, and receiving assurances of amity towards the English government. The earl of Clan- rickard's sons alone, presumed to break out into fresh extravagances after his departure. On his returning quickly, they fled to the woods; their castles were taken, and their father, suspected of favouring their rebellion, was committed to close custody. For the good government of the south, he prevailed on the queen to appoint Sir Edward Brury, president of Monster, in the room of Perrot, returned to England. Like his pre- VOL. I, 3 u 412 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY dccessor, lie held his courts regularly, adminis- tered justice impartially, enforced a stict obser- vance of English manners, and a dutiful submis- sion to English law. So Leland. The county of Kerry, made palatine for the Desmond family by Edward III., was now the only refuge for fugitives in Munster. Thither Drury resolved to extend his jurisdiction, re- gardless of anlient patents. Desmond, finding the president obstinate in his purpose, reserved himself for an appeal to the deputy, receiving Drury in the mean time with all honor and sub- mission, inviting him to his house in Tralce. **^ The invitation was accepted; when on the ar- rival of Drury with a train of a hundred and twenty men in arms, a body of seven hundred followers of Desmond, tall, active, and vigo- rous, appeared at some distance, and advanced upon him. The president, unacquainted with the customs of this district, and filled with the suspicions and jealous prejudices of an English stranger, at once concluded that he had been betrayed, and was to be surrounded and cut to pieces. He encouraged his followers, to prevent this formidable enemy, and to charge them with- ;Out waiting to be attacked. The first onset at once dispersed the Desmonians; who, without attempting the least hostility, fled with the utmost astonishment and precipitation: and the countess of Desmond was left to explain this extraordinary incident. She assured the presi- dent that these men neither intended nor expected hostilities; that their flight was not the effect of OF IRELAND. 413 cowardice^ but amazement and confusion at being treated as enemies, when they had as- sembled peaceably to do him honour; that they had been collected by her lord merely to enter- tain him with huntings in which the men of Kerry were remarkably expert and vigorous. Drury affected to be satisfied with this explana- tion; and proceeded to execute the laws within the liberties of the earl of Desmond;, without controul or opposition/'* The English interest being now established in Munster and Connaught, the deputy bethought himself of a scheme to recommend himself to the favor of his English masters. The heavy charge of maintaining the English power in Ireland, instead of deriving any emolument therefrom , was a subject of constant complaint in EngLiiid; nor could any service be performed more accep- table to them, than the alleviation of the burden. For the maintenance of the royal garrison, and the governor's household, certain assessments were laid on the English districts, settled by the consent of the principal inhabitants of each. Sydney designed to change the occasional sub- sidy into permanent revenue, by substituting a composition instead of the assessment, and exact- ing it from all the subjects. His court encou- raged him to pursue his plan. He first began, by proclamation, to dissolve those liberties which had ever claimed an exemption from the antient charge of purveyance; or to curtail the privi- * Ldand. Vol. II. Book VI. c. ii. p. 262. 414 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORT leges of those whose legality could not be im- peached ; and (hen proceeded to a general impo- sition of the new tax, by mere authority of coun- cil, and by virtue of the queen's prerogative. A general and violent discontent was the immediate consequence. Those, whose liberties were in- vaded ; those who cliearfuily contributed to the assessment in its former mode; the secretly dis- affected, and the loyal, were provoked at a tax, so unconstitutional and oppressive, and united in a spirited remonstrance to the deputy and council. Sydney, after a deliberation of some days, re- plied^ that, as to the liberties dissolved, they appeared to be invalid or expired; as to the burden of the tax, her majesty was contented, that it should not exceed five months for every plough land; as to its authority, it was imposed by the queen's prerogative. So novel, and so re- pugnant to every principle of law and justice, did this doctrine of raising money by preroga- tive appear, to the subjects of Ireland; so con- fident were the remonstrants in the validity of their plea, that they humbly besought the de- puty's permission to repair to the court of Eng- land, and there lay their cause before the queen. Sydney coldly replied, that he would neither sanction, nor yet restrain their appeal. '' Opposition, in a cause so popular, gained daily accessions of strength, and was animated hy the public ap[)lause: the principal lords through all parts of the realm refused obedience to the edict of council, and enjoined their tenants and dependents by no means to pay the assess- OF IRELAND. 415 ment. The inhabitants of the Pale assembled, deliberated;, and at length resolved to entrust their cause to three agents, eminent for their knowledge of the laws^ and zealous opposers of the present tax. Thej v/ere sent into England with letters to the queen and to the English council, signed bj the lords Baltinglass, Dclvin, Hoath, Trimbleston, Bellew, Nangle, some of the families of Piunket and Nugei-t, with other distinguished inhabitants of the counties of Meath and Dublin, in the names of all the sub- jects of the English Pale. Thiy complained of the grievance they sustained by the tax, and that they had been denied redress by the lord deputy; they urged the illegality and oppressive burden of the tax, and the various abuses committed in the exaction of it/'* But this genuine daughter of Henry resolved on maintaining prerogative. The Irish agents were committed to the Fleet, as contumacious opposers of the royal authority. The queen's letters to Sir Sydney and the Irish council, reprimanded them for not having in- stantly committed and punished these refractory subjects, who durst deny the legality of the composition; commanding, that all, who super- scribed the present application to the throne, should be summoned before them ; and if they should persist in their opposition, should be committed to close imprisonment; that all her servants and counsellors, learned in the law, who had neglected to maintain her prerogative, * Leland, Vol. II, Book IV. c. ii. p. 2S3. 416 AN IMPARTIAL IIISTORT should be removed from their offices. All these severities proved insufficient to operate on the lords and genllemeu of the Pale. '' Thej ap- peared before the council^ and there, perempto- rily adhering to their former declarations, and denying the legality of any tax not regularly es- tablished in parliament, ^vere committed to close durance in the castle of Dublin. Their agents in Ei;gland on a second examination appeared equally dettrmieed; and therefore were removed from the Fleet to the Tower; which implied that their offence was considered as of a treason- able nature. The whole body of Irish subjects were alarmed and confounded at this rigour, which they imputed to the practices of Sydney, and whom of consequence they loaded with the most virulent invectives. Their clamours were so violent, as even to startle the arbitrary queen and her obsequious counsellors. They dreaded the consequence of a general discontent in a country which harboured so many secret enemies to government, and therefore closed their imperious denunciations of vengeance by accepting an equivocal submission from the Irish agents, who acknowledged that the manner of their application had been undutiful, but disavowed all intention of impeaching the queen's just prerogative. They gave security to render themselves before the lord deputy, and were re- mitted to Ireland. Here they repeated their submission, and were dismissed : some of the confined lords and gentlemen regained their li- berty by a like submission. Nor were the more OF IRELAND. 417 spirited and obstinate broken by any further se- verity. Sydney was instructed to bring this vio- lent and dangerous dispute to some speedy ac- commodation:* a composition for purveyance was by the deputy and council^, with the con- currence of the lords and gentlemen of the Pale, settled for seven years; and the malccontents were discharged. All the rage of indignation and resentment fell on the lord deputy. He was accused of wantonly alienating the affections of the Irish subjects; of ruling without temper, policy, or discretion; of lavishing the revejnue; of discouraging and despising the well-affected; of carelessly or corruptly pardoning the most notorious rebels and offenders. Nor was Sydney insensible to the sting of popular odium. He grew weary of a government, in which cvcrj act of administration was strictly scrutinized, and severely interpreted ; and made pressing in- stances to the queen, that she would be pleased to recal him.^'f History is the best refutation of those ignorant bigots, who assert, without authority or reason, that papists are unfit for freedom. The spirited defence of their constitutional rights, and oppo- sition to arbitrary government, made at sundry times, as well as the present, has been at no time equalled by theprotestant Pale that succeeded it The conclusion of this dispute is only to be * This appears from a letter written by the English council to the lords justices of Ireland, dated April 30, 1584. , i Leland, Vol. II. Book IV. c. ii. p. 265. 418 AN IMPAIMIAL HISTORY rxplaliird by nic^apprjlinision of foniij;!! OiicinieJ. The :issi>taiH'(\ i;iv('ii by Kli/ab(tb io the re- Vi>!vbo could sue^'cst any s( lienie ol' aniu)viiii>* tbe persecuhess of tbe. calhi)lie lailh, was lavDurably received. Of this sort was an lMis;*]ish a(lventurer/riu)nuis Stukelv, Mhose euferprisini>'i:;enius liad raised him lo scnne notice in Ireland^ and even H'd him the ai- tenlion of depulv Sydney. He arriveci at Ivome, the center o( conspiraev ai^ainst l^^lizabelii, was W( 11 received by iiic liish ecclesiastics, and in- troduced to th(^ popt% as a distinguished friend to tiie catliolic cause. W itii pope Pius V. his project did not succeed, but his successor, (Jro- *i;ory \ lil. llslened more atteutivi Iv (o his plans art fully hin^ina; the facility with \>hich lii,>« nephew, J:u omo l>oiu-ompairno, m!i::ht be esta- Mislied kiuij^ of Ireland. The ambitious old man received the overture with delii;-ht, j)rac- tised with Sjiain, amused Philip with the hope of burning* the Knp:lish ilcvi, by the address and valor of SUikely, and of expellinj;' Isli/abeth from all her dominions^ by iirst bei>innini>' \>itli the invasion of Ireland. Eii»;ht liundred Italians were raised lor this expedition, conunanded by Stukelv, in the pay of Philij). Another Irish exile meditated a descent on his country. Fitz- IMauriee, after his liberation from prison, sub- srquent to his reduction by Perrot, ritirrd io the continent, thirstinj>' for revcni;'e. 1 1 is so I lie i- tations at the court of France^ after two year.K OF lUELAND. 419 fxpcctaiions and disappointment, proving fruit- less, he next applied to Spain, \vhere he was re- ceived with more attention. ^' Philip sent him to the pope; Gresforj was readily prevailed on by Saunders the famous ecclesiastic, and Allen, an Irish priest, to favour his design of an inva- sion. A bull was drawn up addressed to the prelates, princes, nobles, and people of Ireland, exhorting them to assist Fitz-]VIaurice for the recovery of their liberty, and the defence of the holy church; and promising to ali his adherents the same spiritual indulgences granted to those M'ho fought against the Turks: a banner was solemnly consecrated and delivered to this cham- pion of the faith: and as Saunders and Allen both consented to attend Fitz-Maurice into Ire- land, the former was invested with the dignity of legate. The conspirators thus strengthened by the authority and benediction of the holy father, and furnished with some money, were sent to king Philip, who was to supply the forces necessary for their enterprize.*** Elizabeth, informed of these designs, prepared forces for the Irish service, by sea and by land. Her ships were stationed to guard the Irish coast, and Sydney had orders to quell by lenity and conciliation every remains of commotion in Ireland. Stukely embarked at Civita Vecchia, and arrived at the mouth of the Tagus, when Don Sebastian was invited to Africa by Maho- met, son of Abdalla, king of Fez. On explaia- * Leland, Vol. II. B. IV. c. ii. p. 268. VOL. I. 3 I 420 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY ing his desio^n, the king pressed him first to join in his African expedition; promising, on his return to attend him into Ireland. The king of Spain^ having discovered the pontifi's inten- tions in favour of his nephew, readily consented, Stukely, >vit!i his Italians, followed the standard of Portugal, and fell with Sebastian. The death of king Sebastian diverted the Spaniard from his design against Elizabeth to the invasion of Por- tugal. Tliougji Philip renounced the design of con- quering the British islands, he was still inclined to atmoy Elizabeth by insurrections. Fitz-Maurice therefore, on his return to Spain, though he could not obtain an efncient force, was not en- tirely unnoticed. He obtained a troop of about fourscore Spaniards; io whom, uniting some fugitive English and Irish, he embarked his little force in three ships, and landed in Kerry^ at a bay called Smerwick. Saunders and Allen hallowed the place, and assured the invaders of success in the glorious cause of the church. Their transports, cut off by a ship of war, that lay in the harbour of Kinsalc, left them destitute of relief or retreat. On their first summons. Sir John and Sir James, brothers to the earl of Desmond, joined them with their followers. The earl himself, acting for the present on the reserve, made a shew of loyalty, by mustering his forces, and summoning the earl of Clancarthy to his assistance; who, impatient of his tergir versation, retired in disgust. Fitz-Maurice could not suppress his vexation at so great a disappoint- OF IRELAND. 421 ment; rightly judging that the temporizing half measures of the earl would ruin the onterprize, and the family of Desmond in its consequences. He even hinted a suspicion, that Sir John Des- mond was capable of betraying his associates, to purchase his own safety. John, stung with this reproach, resolved to efface all suspicion, by a decided act of hostility against the govern- ment. Henry Davels, an officer in the English ser- vice, intimate with the Gcraldincs of s 'uth Munster, was sent to reconnoitre the position and strength of the invaders, and to sound the earl of Desmond, and his kindred associates, as to the part they meant to espouse. On his return to the deputy with all the necessary information as to the dispositions and force of tiie enemy, and the probable disaffection of the Geraldines, Sir John, judging it for the benefit of the cause to deprive government of this mass of iiitelii- gence, pursued hirn with a chosen band, aiul overtook him at Tralee. There they massacred him and his companions, as one escaping might reveal their situation. Leiand works up this massacre into a tragic scene, with such pathetic circumstances as he borrowed from his own ima- gination; yet such has been the fate of spies in all countries, as soon as they were discovered in their proper character. The foreigners, mean- while, were impatient to see the vast concourse of discontented Irish, of whose junction they were assured. Fitz-Maurice, no less chagrined, persuaded them to maintain their station^ with 422 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORV promise of powerful support, while he pro- fessed a pilgriuiage to the liolj cross in Tippe- rary, in consequence of a vow he had made in Spain; under cover of which, he concealed his design of enticing the discontented in Connaught and Ulster to unite with him. His first essay was in the country of the De Burghos, where he seized some carriage horses necessary for his train. Sir William de Burgho, head of the neighbouring sept, reclaimed them. In a scuffle that ensued, Fitz- Maurice, and one of the sons of Mac William, fell by each other's swords. Of such consequence the death of Fitz-Maurice appeared to the queen, that she wrote a letler of ackFiowledgement to de Burgho, and soon after- wards created him a peer. Sir William Drury marched with the forces of government to meet the insurgents, and from Kilmallock summoned the lords and gentlemen of Munster to join him with their followers. They readily obeyed; Even Desmond, with a well appointed com- pany of horse and foot, attended his standard. Yet such were the suspicions entertained of him, or so greedy were the recent adventurers for his immense property, and so desirous, at all hazards, to involve him in rebellion, that he was com- mitted to custody. After he was liberated, on promise of loyalty and fidelity, this severity so wrought on his fears, that he retired from the camp; and though he still professed his attach- ment to the crown, and his son was an hostage for his good conduct, he declined attending the deputy. Hithcito Desmond had given no proof* OF IRELAND. 423 of a rebellious disposition. His declining the task of making war on his brothers^ such of his kindred^ and her followers^ as took up aims in defence of their country and religion, niiglit rest on other motives. The cause was popular, and he might be deserted by his vassals; an instance of which we shall see in the young branch of this family, tutored in Bess's religion, and sent to Ireland; who, on discovery oftlie same, was treated with the utmost scorn and abhorrence. The grievances of which he complained, might be of such a nature as to cool his loyalty and attachment to a persecuting queen. If the earl of Desmond meditated war^ and was really im- plicated in this insursection, he was one of the weakest of men. He had made no provisions or preparations for the hazardous conflict. lie had not armed or trained his followers; nor put his castles in a state of siege. He had not procured ammunition or ordinance for the service; nor se- cured any firm alliance or partizans. Had he really embarked early in the enterprize, his fo- reign and domestic correspondence could hardly have eluded the vigilance of Bess's emissaries, and his consciousness of this would have induced him to espouse the cause immediately, with all his resources. As for papers, found on a dead man, by people thirsting for the dividends of immense property, they must appear to every considerate person very suspicious evidence. As for the cause of this local insurrection; if the revolution of 1689 was justifiable, the Irish in- surrections against Elizabeth were much more 424 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY SO. The one was suspected of a design fo res- tore the catholic relii::ion^ without persecutin*^ the protcstant: the other openly and furiously persecuted the catholic, the national and esta- blished rclis^ion of Ireland, which she endea- voured to hide under the mask of punishment for state crimes. She at once invaded their civil and religious liberties; and if ever resistance be lawful, which none but the slavish abettors of passive obedience will deny, it was against such atrocious tyranny. After the death of Fitz-Manrice, the fo- reigners had no other resource;, but to submit to the guidance of Sir John Desmond. They aban- doned their station at Smerwick ; and in order to evade this rencounter of superior forces, were distributed in different quarters in Kerry. The insurgents now held on the defensive; and nine weeks were spent to no purpose, endeavouring to come u\) with Sir John; who hovered about the royal army, and kept them in continual alarm, without suffering them to attack him. A party of two hundred^, who attempted to sur- prize one of his detachments, was cut to pieces oil their return. Such petty advantages revived the hopes of the insurgents, and encreased their numbers. Drury, on the other hand, had his losses seasonably repaired, by a reinforcement of six hundred men from England, while Perrot v^^as stationed on the coast, with ships of war, to cut off all assistance from the rebels. The de- puty, sick of fatigue, retired to Wexford in a languishing state, committing the array to Sit OF IRELAND. 425 Nicholas Malby. Hearing that Sir John Des- mond laj encamped within a few miles of Lime- rick, Malbj marched to attack him. In a plain, adjoining to an old abbey, called Monaster Neva, he found the forces of Sir John in array, prepared to give battle; and their attack was «o vigorous, and so obstinately maintained, that the fortune of the day seemed a long time doubt- ful. The good fortune of the English at length prevailed. Desmond's forces were routed, and pursued with great slaughter. After this victory, the earl of Desmond sent a gratulatory epistle to the English general^ which was received as a dissimulation of his re- bellious disposition, and he was ordered to sur- render and renew his promise of fealty. But, mindful of the insulting severities with which he was treated, when he joined the English army in the beginning of the campaign, he refused to put himself in the power of any of the queen's officers. Hereupon Malby removed to Rathkeale, a town belonging to the earl, either to terrify him into absolute submission, or what is more probable, to goad him to resistance, in the ex- pectation of sharing a dividend of his vast estate. Desmond was provoked, by this unwarrantable attack on his territory, to make a night attack on the English camp. Malby thereupon was pre- paring to reduce his castles, when the intelli- gence of Drury's death put an end to his au- thority; so, distributing his forces into garri- sons, he retired to his government of Con- naught. 426 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY While the Desrnoiiians exulted in this suspen- sion of hostilities, and were annoying the Eng* lish garrisons, the council chose Sir William Pelham provisional deputy, who proceeded with- out delay to renew the war in Munster. There lie was powerfully reinforced, and sent the earl of Ormond to the earl of Desmond, commanding him to surrender, and acquainting him with the terms on which his submission would be ac- cepted. He must surrender Dr. Saunders, and the otlier strangers harboured in the country; one of his castles, either Askeaton or Carrick- a-Foyle, must be delivered to the queen, as a pledge of his future conduct; and submit to the judgincnt of her majesty and council of Eng- land, or to that of Ihe deputy and Irish council; and meanwhile give assistance in the present war, against his brethren, and all other traitors. His answer was, a complaint of injuries. He was thereupon proclaimed a traitor, if within twenty days he did not submit. TheearPs territory was purposely made the seat of war, and exposed to the ravages of a necessitous, licentious, and blood-thirsty si)ldiery. In revenge, Desmond and his brother appeared before the town of Youghal, which they took, and cut off a detachment sent by Ormond for its succour. Elated by this success,^ the Geraldines declare themselves the champions of the catholic faith, in alliance with the holy see, and the king of Spain, inviting the faithful to join in defence of their hearlhs and altars; in defence of their lives, liberties and properties; ia defence of what OF IRELAND. 427 should be dearer than all earthly considerations, their holy religion, their hope of a happy im- mortality, to resist a persecution more cruel and perfidious than any recorded in the annals of heathen persecution. This invitation had little eiTect, on a nation incurably rent by family quarrels, local claims, and national antipathies. They felt the force of the appeal; and, though they shrunk at present from the call of nature's rights, they all successively, and ihcrcforc un- successfully, had recourse to arms, in defence of their rights. Saunders's letters to de Burgho were delivered to Sir Nicholas Maiby, and served to discover the views and hopes of the insur- gents. In the Pale their applications were more favourably received. Several of the Eng- lish, as well as the old Irish race, were goad- ed by persecutions to declare openly for the national faith. During this time, Desmond, who had bc^en wholly unprepared for war, saw his vast patri- mony wasted with fire and sword; the unarmed defenceless population mowed down with indis- criminate slaughter; such as escaped the sword, a prey to the still more horrible doom of famine^ himself hunted, like an abject outlaw, from one retreat to another, unable to meet the enemy in the field, and confined to nightly excursions. Several of his vassals, hearing that admiral Winter was on the coast, and had commission to execute martial law, iled to him for protec- tions, which they extorted from the tar, by the piteous representation of their calamities, VOL. I. 3 k ^28 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY '' Which the soldiers/' saidi Hooker with a shocking iiidiflTercnce^ '' did very much mislike, '^ the sanie^ to be somewhat prejudicial to her ^^ majesty's service, because they persuaded '' themsel veSj that if they had folh)wed the course "" which they begaUj they should either have taken '' or slain them all." Such was the temper of this man, who could express regret at a little mercy shewn to wretches who scarcely knew any duty but that of implicit obedience to their lords ! when at the time that their lives were spared, they were frequently bereft of all means of sup- port; and when their cattle had been seized, he assures us, that they were seen following the army with their wives and children, and begging that all might be rescued from their miseries by the sword^ rather than thus condemned to waste by famine/'* From these circumstances it is evident, either that Desmond was an idiot, or was forced into hostilities unprepared, and in spite of himself. That his brethren, aided by many of his fol- lowers, revolted, makes no positive proof of liis consent to an undertaking so popular. We have seen, that lord Thomas Fitzgerald re- volted, in spite of the remonstrances of his uncles; and that the earl of Ormond's brothers drew his followers into a revolt, which he quelled, more by his personal influence over his brethren, and the weight of his arguments, than by his authority, as head of the Butlers. * Leland, Vol. II. B. IV. c. ii. p. 278. OP IRELAND. 429 The preparations for defence, lieing confined to the parts of the county of Kerry where his bro.thcr's influence chiefly prevailed, and the de- fenceless state of his own immediate domain, render his participation in the plot of insurrec- tion very improhable. His greatest crime con- sisted in his attachment to the catholic faith, his support of catholic seminaries and catholic clergymen, and his princely domain, which would reward adventuring converts to the new gospel. Nothing like war occurs in this butchery of a defenceless people, except the sieges of a few forts, defended by small garrisons. The castle of Carrick-a-Foyle was defended by fifty Irish and nineteen Spaniards, commanded by an Italian officer, named Julio. After a brave re- sistance it was taken, the garrison was put to the sword, except a few, among whom was the commanding officer, reserved to be hanged, in 1580. Most probably they were hung in sight of one of Desmond's forts; for the little garri- sons of the other castles, terrified by these bar- barities, and seeing that the laws of civilized warfare were not to be observed toward them ; that treaty nor capitulation afforded security, abandoned their posts. In this abject situation^ Desmond, his countess, with a few faithful fol- lowers, lived in constant terror and distress. Sir James, one of his brothers, was surprised and executed. As usual with the unfortunate, he and his brother John, came to mutual reproaches. The countess in vain fell upon her knees, and petitioned with tears, that her husband should 430 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY be received to mercy. His force, as a rebels was now too iuconsiderablo, and his possessions to be forfeited were of too princely an extent, for the queen's ministers to admit of pardon or submis- sion. Even his offer of surrender to admiral Winter, on condition of being conveyed prisoner to England, there to supplicate the royal mercy, at the foot of the tbrone, was rejected. In their now desponding- situation, a gleam of hope seemed to draw on the southern insurgents. The justice was suddenly recalled from the south, by the arrival of Arthur, lord Grey, his successor; leaving the Munster army, of about three thousand, to the command of Bourchier, earl of Bath. Grey, who was instructed, among other parti- culars, to shorten the Irish wars by a vigorous prosecution, hearing of an encampment of insur- gents at Gleandalough, formed by O' Byrne and lord Ballinglass, giew impatient to signalize his zeal. Fraught with contempt of the Irish, like the rest of his countrymen, ine^iperienced in their mode of warfare, he peremptorily commanded all the ofHcers to collect their companies, and drive these rebels fiom their retreats. '' They were to enter a steep and marshy valley, perplexed with rocks, and winding irregularly through hills thickly wooded. As they advanced, they found themselves more and more encumbered; and eitiier sunk into the yielding soil, so as to be ut- terly incapable of action, or were obliged to clamber over rocks which disordered their march. In the midst of confusion and distress, a sudden OF IRELAND. 431 volley from the A^oods was poured in upon them, without any appearance of an enemy; and re- peated with terrible execution. Soldiers and offi- cers fellj without any fair opportunity of signa- lizing their valour. Audlcy, Moore, Cosby, and Sir Peter Carcw, all distinguished officers, were slain in this rash adventure. George Carevv, the younger brother, was restrained from following his companions by his uncle Wingfield, master of the Ordnance, and thus reserved for nobler service. Lord Grey, who had waited the event upon a neighbouring eminence, returned^ with the remains of his forces, to the seat of govern- ment, covered with confusion and dishonour/'* Sir Robert Walpole, in our own memory, paid dearly for a similar precipitation and contempt of an Irish enemy. This check was succeed- ed by an alarm from the south. Seven hun- dred Spaniards and Italians had made good their landing at Smerwick. They brought arms and ammunition for five thousand men, and a large sum of money, which they were ordered to deliver to Desmond, his brother John, and Dr. Saunders. The earl of Ormond, now commanding in Munsler, on the first alarm of the descent, marched to oppose the invaders; who at his ap- proach, sought shelter in a neighbouring wood; but, on learning that his force was not as great as they first imagined, their commander, with about 300 of his men, returned to their origi- * Leland, Vol. II. B. IV. c. ii. p. 280. 432 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY iKil stations, whence a successful sortie forced Ormond to retreat to Rathkeale, and await the arrival of the deputy Grey, who led 800 men from Dublin, which united to the 300 left by Pel ham, in Munster, formed a force very supe- rior to the invaders, and what was of no less moment, admiral W inter resumed his station off the coast, to co-operate with the deputy. The fort was thus invested by sea and land, and the garrison summoned to surrender, to declare who they were, for what purpose sent, and why pre- sume to fortify themselves in the queen's domi- nions. They answered that they were sent by the pope and the king of Spain, to extirpate heresy, and to reduce the land to the obedience of king Philip, who was vested by the holy father with the sovereignty of Ireland. This arswer was seconded by a vigorous sortie, in M'hich they were repulsed. The very next night. Winter landed the artillery from his ships, and cutting through a bank, which lay between the shore and the coast, drew up his cannon, and com- pleted his battery by the dawn of day, while Grey made the like preparations on the landside. The fort was now again summoned, but the foreigners, unacquainted with their danger, or the nature of their enemy, boldly replied, that they would maintain their posts, and endeavour to extend their acquisitions. In fine, the garrison, say the Pale writers, fatally surrendered at discretion; and after surrendering their arms, a company of Ei^glish was sent into the forts, who killed them all in cold blood, except some reserved to be OF IRELAND. 433 hanged from the battlements, in terror to their Irish allies^ now coming within sight. Fatal indeed such a cowardly surrender was, if proved true. By the opposite party it was represented as a perfidious and an inhuman violation of a solemn treaty, whereby Grey had engaged by oath to permit the foreigners to depart unmo- lested, with all tlie honors of war. This is the more probable account, for we read of no prac- ticable breach as yet for an assault, no lodgment, nor attempt to take it by storm. The besieged expected, and the besiegers dreaded, the speedy arrival of an Irish force, perhaps succours from Spain, to raise the siege. The law of honor obliged the garrison to hold out as long as pos- sible; policy dictated to the besiegers, to obtain a speedy surrender of the fort on any terms; aa advantage, wiiich promises, treaties and oaths would not be spared to acquire. Tlie murderers furnish some proofs against themselves. First, an Italian, the commander, determined to capi- tulate, contrary to the opinion of his officers. Now if the olficers opposed capitulation, consi- dering the fort as yet tenable, how much more would they oppose a cowardly surrender at dis- cretion, not justified by any cogent necessity. Secondly, If the number was too formidable to be made prisoners, and the Irish were approach- ing in a body of one thousand five hundred men, how much more formidable must they not appear armed, and in possession of the fort, when their Irish allies came in view; especially as the haughty 434 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY Eiic:Hshman had been taiiglit, in his signal defeat Lj O 'Byrne, at Glondalogh, no longer Vol. V. c. xlii* OF IRELAND. 457 soon discover^ that the civil power, when in opposition to their interpretation of scripture^ was one of the horns of the beast; and find au- thority in the bible, '' with the high praises of God in their mouths, and a two-edged sword in their hands, to execute judgment on the heathen, and judgments upon the people, to bind their kings with chains and their rulers with fetters of iron ?''* as Hugh Peters sung his lo Pean, in the king's chapel at St. James's, when Charles I. was a prisoner in the hands of the rebels. Hitherto we have seen, that England had no notable improvements, in arts or manufactures, to impart to the Irish: that, if they had, by the confession of their own statesmen and writers, they would rather withhold than communicate any thing useful to a nation, whose poverty and distractions they considered as the best guarantees for its obedience; and that Ireland, in the most useful, and some of the most civilizing arts, was entitled to the precedence. The shocking immo- rality and profligacy of the lower orders; the no less revolting perfidy and cruelty of the higher, in the intercourse of hospitality and pacification, which civilized and most barbarous nations guard with scrupulous honor. The reli- gious confusions, distractions, and delirious fa- naticism, that convulsed that country, shedding torrents of blood ; first in the tyrannic overthrow of the antient religion, afterwards in the sangui- nary conflict of the triumphant innovators for * Psalm clix. 458 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY power and riches, were not boons to be wished for; but, to use the word of chancellor Fitz- gibbon, '' pestilent banes," to be deprecated. Let us now sec what blessings thej had in store, for this unhappy country, from the sanctuary of the constitution, the guardian of civil and religious liberty. If a servile parliament, met solely to impose taxes, and register the decrees of an arbi- trary monarch, was a desirable constitution, the English could have shared this blessing with us. *' One of the most antient and most established instruments of power was the court of Star- chamber, which possessed an unlimited discre- tionary authority of fining, imprisoning, and in- flicting corporal punishment, and whose juris- diction extended to all sorts of offences, con- tempts, and disorders, that lay not within reach of the common law. The members of this court consisted of the privy council and the judges; men, who all of them enjoyed their offices during pleasure: and when the prince himself was pre- sent, he was the sole judge, and all the others could only interpose with their advice. There needed but this one court, in any government, to put an end to all regular, legal, and exact plans of liberty. For who durst set himself in oppo- sition to the crown and ministry, or aspire to the character of being a patron of freedom, while exposed to so arbitrary a jurisdiction ? I much question, whether any of the absolute monarchies in Europe contain, at present, so illegal and despotic a tribunal. " The court of High Commission was another OF IRELAND. 459 jurisdiction still more terrible; both because the crime of heresy, of which it took cognizance, was more undefinable than any civil offence, and be- cause its methods of inquisition, and of admini- stering oaths, were more contrary to all the most simple ideas of justice and equity. The fines and imprisonments imposed by this court were fre- quent: the deprivations and suspensions of the clergy for non- conformity w^re also numerous, and comprehended at one time the third of all the ecclesiastics of England.* The queen, in a letter to the archbishop of Canterbury, said expressly, that she was resolved, "^ That no man should be suffered to decline, either on the left or on the right hand, from the drawn line limited by au- thority, and by her laws and injunctions."! But Martial Law went beyond even these two courts, in a prompt and arbitrary and violent method of decision. Whenever there was any insurrection or public disorder, the crown era- ployed martial law; and it was, during that time, exercised not only over the soldiers, but over the whole people: any one might be pu- nished as a rebel, or an aider and abettor of rebellion, whom the provost-martial, or lieutenant of a county, or their deputies, pleased to suspect. Lord Bacon says, that the trial at common law, granted to the earl of Essex and his fellow con- spirators, was a favour: for that the case v/ould have borne and required the severity of martial law. We have seen instances of its being em- * Neal, Vol. I. p. 479. + Murden, p. 183. VOL. I. Z O 460 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY ployed by queen Mary in defence of orthodoxy. There remains a letter of queen Elizabeth's to the earl of Sussex, after the suppression of the northern rebellion^ in ^vhich she reproves him sharply, because she had not heard of his having executed any criminals by martial law;* though it is probable, that near eight hundred persons suffered, one way or other, on account of that slight insurrection. But the kings of England did not always limit the exercise of this law to the times of civil w^ar and disorder. In 1552, when there was no rebellion nor insur- rection, king Edward granted a commission of martial law; and empowered the commis- sioners to execute it, as should be thought by their discretion most necessary. f Queen Eliza- beth too was not sparing in the use of this law. In 1573, one Peter Burchet, a puritan, being persuaded that it was meritorious to kill such as opposed the truth of the gospel, ran into the streets, and wounded Hawkins, the famous sea- captain, whom he took for Hatton, the queen's favourite. The queen was so incensed, that she ordered him to be punished instantly by martial law ; but upon the remonstrance of some prudent counsellors, who told her, that this law was usually confined to turbulent times, she recalled her order, and delivered over Burchet to the common law. J But she continued not always * MS. of lord Royston's from the paper office. + Strype's Eccles. Memoirs, Vol. II. p. 373. 458, 9. i Camden, p. 446. Strype, Vol. II. p. 288. OF IRELAND. , 461 SO reserved in exerting this authority. There remains a proclamation of hers^, in which she orders martial law to be used against all such as import bulls^ or even forbidden books and pamphlets from abroad;* and prohibits the questioning of the lieutenants or their deputies, for their arbitrary punishment of such offenders, any law or statute to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding. We have another act of her's still more extraordinary. The streets of London were much infested with idle vagabonds and riotous persons : the lord mayor had endeavoured to repress this disorder: the star-chamber had exerted its authority, and inflicted punishment on these rioters: but the queen, finding those remedies ineffectual, revived martial law, and gave Sir Thomas Wilford a commission of pro- vost-marshal : '^ granting him authority, and commanding him, upon signification given by the justices of the peace in London, or the neigh- bouring counties, of such offenders, worthy to be speedily executed by martial law, to attach and take the same persons, and in the presence of the said justices, accordingto justice of martial law, to execute them upon the gallows or gibbet openly, or near to such place where the said re- bellious and incorrigible offenders shall be found to have committed the said great offences. ''f I suppose it will be difficult to produce an instance of such an act of authority in any place nearer than Muscovy. * Strype, Vol. III. p. 570. + R)-mer, Tom. XVI. p. 279. 463 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY '' The star-chamber, and high commission^ and court-martialj tliongli arbifrary jurisdictions^ yet had still some pretence of a trial, at least of a sentence ; but there was a grievous punishment very familiarly inflicted in that age, without any other authority than the ^Yarrant of a secretary of state, or of the privy council;* and that was. Imprisonment, in any jail, and during any time that the ministers should think proper. In sus- picious times, all the jails were full of prisoners of state; and these unhappy victims of public jealousy were sometimes thrown into dungeons, and loaded with irons, and treated in the most cruel manner, without their being able to obtain any remedy from law. '^ This practice was an indirect way of em- ploying torture: but the rack itself, though not admitted in the ordinary execution of justice,f was frequently used, upon any suspicion, without other authority than a warrant from the secretary or the privy council. Even the council in the marches of Wales was empowered, by their very commission, to make use of torture, whenever they thought proper. + There cannot be a stronger proof how lightly the rack was employed, than the following story, told by lord Bacon. We shall give it in his own words. ^'^ The queen was mightily incensed against Haywarde, on account of a book he dedicated to lord Essex, being a * In 1588, the lord mayor committed several citizens to prison, because they refused to pay the loan demanded of them. Murden, p. 632. + Harrison, Book II. c. 11. % Waynes^ p. 196. See farther la Boderie, toI. i. p. 21U OF IRELAND. 463 story of the first year of Henry IV. thinking it a seditious prelude to put into the people's heads boldness and faction :§ She said, she had an opi- nion that there was treason in it, and asked me, if I could not find any places in it, that might be drawn within the case of treason: whereto I answered, for treason, sure I found none ; but for felony, very many: and when her majesty very hastily asked me, wherein ? I told her, the author had committed very apparent theft : for he had taken most of the sentences of Cornelius Tacitus, and translated them into English, and put them into his text. And another time, when the queen could not be persuaded, that it was his writing whose name was to it, but it had some more mis- chievous author, and said with great indignatioa that she would have him racked to produce his author; I replied, nay, madam, he is a doctor, never rack his person, but rack his style: let him have pen, ink, and paper, and help of books, and be enjoined to continue the story where it break- eth off, and I will undertake, by collating the styles to judge whether he were the author or no.'"* Thus, had it not been for Bacon's huma- nity, or rather his wit, this author, a man of letters, had been put to the rack, for a most in- nocent performance. His real offence was, his dedicating a book to that munificent patron of § To our apprehension, Hay warde's book seems rather to have a contrary tendency. For he has there preserved the famous speech of the bishop of Carlisle, which contains, in the most express terms, the doctrine of passive obedience. But queen Elizabeth was very difficult to please on this head. * Cabbala, p. 81. 464: AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY the learned, the earl of Essex, at a time when thia nobleman lay under disgrace with her majesty. "' The queen's menace, of trying and punish- ing Haywarde for treason, could easily have been executed, let his book have been ever so innocent. While so many terrors hung over the people, no jury durst have acquitted a man whom the court was resolved to have condemned. The practice also, of not confronting witnesses with the prisoner, gave the crown lawyers all imaginable advantage against him. And, indeed, there scarcely occurs an instance, during all these reigns, that the sovereign, or the ministers, were ever disappointed in the issue of a prosecution. Timid juries, and judges who held their offices during pleasure, never failed to second all the views of the court. '' The government of England during that age, however different in other particulars, bore, in this respect, some resemblance to that of Turkey at present: the sovereign possessed every power, except that of imposing taxes: and in both coun- tries this limitation, unsupported by other pri- vileges, appears rather prejudicial to the people. In Turkey, it obliges the sultan to permit the extortion of the bashas and governors of pro- vinces, from whom he afterwards squeezes pre- sents or takes forfeitures: in England, it engaged the queen to erect the monopolies, and grant patents for exclusive trade: an invention so per- nicious, that, had she gone on, during a tract of years, at her own rate, England, the seat of riches, and arts, and commerce, would have con- OF IRELAND. 465 tained at present as little industry as Morocco, on the coast of Barbarj. '"^ Purveyance was a method of taxation, unequal^ arbitrary, and oppressive. The whole king'dom felt sensibly the burthen of this impo- sition: and it was regarded as a great privilege conferred on Oxford and Cambridge, to prohibit the purveyors from taking any commodities within five miles of these universities. The queen vic- tualled her navy by means of this prerogative, during the first years of her government.* '' Embargoes on merchandize was another engine of royal power, by which the English princes were able to extort money from the peo- ple. Elizabeth, before her coronation, issued an order to the custom-house, prohibiting the sale of all crimson silks, which should be imported, till the court was first provided. f She expected, no doubt, a good penny-worth from the mer- chants, while Ihey lay under this restraint. '' The parliament pretended to the right of enacting laws, as well as of granting subsidies; but this privilege was, during that age, still more insignificant than the other. Queen Elizabeth expressly prohibited them from meddling with state matters or ecclesiastical causes; and she openly sent the members to prison, who dared to transgress her imperial edict in these particulars. There passed few sessions of parliament, during her reign, where there occur not instances of this arbitrary conduct. * Camden, p. 388. + Strype, Vol. I. p. 27. 466 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY '' The queen's prohibition of the Prophcs} I'ngs shews still the unlimited extent of her prerogative. Two or three people could not meet together, in orcler to read the scriptures, and confer about religion, though in ever so orthodox a manner, without her permission/'* At this juncture three provinces of Ireland ma} fairly he considered under Elizabeth's yoke. The south, much depopulated, and the vast tracts of land, confiscated from Desmond and his fol- lowers, left room for the favourite scheme of co- lonizing and civilizing Ireland from the abun- dance of English felons, for whose transporta- tion neither America nor Botanj-bay were as yet projected. A commission of survey was to be appointed, a parliament to be assembled for pas- sing acts of attainder, schemes to be devised for lessening the annual expence of Ireland, pro- voking burden ! and encreasing the revenue. The government was, on these accounts, committed to Sir John Perrot, a man reverenced in Ireland for his justice; one who had studied its interests, and whose policy was liberal. He found the kingdom generally tranquil; the last insurgent of note, lord Baltinglas, fled to Spain; and he published a general amnesty, to all who should submit and swear allegiance. He sent the son of the earl of Desmond to the queen, to be edu- cated agreeably to her principles, with a view of qualifying him for the propagation of the new- invented faith. * Hame, Hist, of England, Appendix HI. OF IRELAND, 467 To induce the original Irish, and the so called degenerate English, to renounce all ideas of in- dependence, reject Irish institutions, and quietly submit their necks to the yoke, were the grand objects at present, an. 1584. For this purpose Perrot visited, at the head of his army, the dif- ferent provinces, beginning with Connaught. That province was divided into six counties, Clare, Galway, Sligo, IMayo, Roscommon, and Leitrim. Sheriffs were appointed for each of them, and Sir Richard Bingham made president of the whole. Hence he proceeded to the south ; but, on his arrival at Limerick, he received intel- ligence, that one thousand Scots had landed in Ulster, and, in conjunction with their country- men already settled there, threatened some distur- bances. He quickly marched to the north, where his appearance had a sudden and powerful effect. The new arrived Scots fled to their ships, and left their brethren of Ulster to make their peace. The Irish chieftains waited on Perrot, w ith pro- fessions of esteem and loyalty to their engage- ments. After presenting some fruitless projects to the English ministry, for strengthening the power of the English government in Ireland, even by con- sent of the remaining chieftains, by the grant of any reasonable terms, Perrot convened an Irish parliament, the most independent and respectable that ever met in Ireland since the convention of Temora. The representatives, deputed from the Milesians, were: the chiefs of Tirconall and Tirone, particularly Torlogh^ Luinagh, O'Neillj YOL. I, 3 P 468 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY and Hugh the son of Firdarach O'Neill, last baron of Dungannon^ ^vho attended under the title of earl of Tirone; O'Donall (Hugh the son of Magnus) Maguire, chief of Fermanagh, ( Cuchonnact the son of Cuchonnact ) O'Dogh- artj, chief of Inisocn^ ( Shane og the son of Shane ) O'BojIe, ( Torlogh son of Neill ) O'Gallagher, John the son of Tuathal. The chieftains of Orgial, (Ros the son of Arthur Mac Mahon, O'Cahane ( Rorj the son of Magnus), chieftain of Oreacht, Conn O'Neille (the son of Null og) chief of Clanna-boj, Magennis, chief of Iveagh (Hugh the son of Donall og), O'Rorke, chief of the western BrefFnj ( Brian na Murtha, the son of Brian Ballach), O'Reilj, chief of the eastern BrefFny ( Shane Roc, the son of Hugh Conallach), together with his uncle Edmond, in contention with each other about the right of governing their country. The O'Farralls of Annallj, viz. O'Farral Can (William son of Donal), and O'Farrall boy ( Fachtna son of Brian). The Clan^Mury chiefs of Connaught, viz. Hugh O'Conor (the son of Dermond O'Co- nordon), Teig og O'Conor Roe, Donall O'Co- nor Sligoe. Brian Mac Dermott, representative for May-lurg (the plains of Bayle), the chief- tain of that district being disabled by great age from personally appearing; O'Berne, chief of Tirbrun on Shannon ( Carbrey the son of Teige), O'Kelly of Hy-Manly ( Teige son of William), O'MaddenofSiol Anmead( Donall son of Shane). The earl of Clanrickard (the son of Richard), the two sons of O'Shagnussy (John and Der- OP IRELAND. 46^ mond.) Murcha-na-dua O' Flaherty, for th6 country of Ler-Conaght. From Thoraondj Do- nogh (the son of Conor )j earl of Thomond^ and Sir Turlogh O'Brien, elected knight of parlia- ment for the county of Clare; also Turlogh the son of Teige O'Brien and Macnamara (Shane), representative of the western district of Clan cu- lim, and Boethius Mac Egan returned one of the knights of parliament for the county of Tippe- rary. Ros the son of O'Lochlin^ of Burren; the son alsoof O'Brien of Ara (Murtagh, the bishop of Killaloe), O'Carrol of Ely (Calvagh), Mac Caghlin ( Shane), the son of Arthur, O'Ducie of Coille na managh (Philip son of Othus), Mac Brian O'Guanach (Murtogh), the chieftain of Carigogonnel (Brian Duff O'Brian), O'Mul- rian (Conor na meinge), chieftain of Uathney O'Mulrian. Also a number of chiefs from South Mury, Mac CarthyMor ( Donall), Mac Carthy Cairbreach ( Owen son of Donall ), with his ne- phews by two brothers, Donall and Fingin. Two of the Mac Carthy chiefs also, who were in con- tention about the estate of Alia. O'Sullivan of Bera (Owen son of Dermod), O'Sullivan Mor (Owen son of Donall), O'Mahonyof Fun iara- rach (Conor), O'Driscol Mor (Fingin), Mac GillaPatric of Ossory ( Fingin ), Macgeochagan, chief of Kenel Fiacha ( Conla), O'Mulloy ( Co- nail), chief of Fera-kall. Fiach Mac Hugh O'Burn, representative for the Glyn of Malura, ( county of Wick low, ) which he possessed. Few of the Cavenaghs, O'Burns, O'Tools, O'Duns, or the O'Dempseys, attended this parliament. 470 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY After mentioning only a few of their names, Leland adds^ '' such slight circumstances serve to mark the progress of reformation !" Already the reader may have seen a glimpse of English manners^ a conformity to which is called refor- mation ! I wonder how any man of common un- derstanding would commit himself to the public with such a silly sentence. What becomes of the eulogy bestowed on Perrot^ his knowledge of the interests of this country, acquired by long study, his liberal and benevolent policy? Rethought the assembling the antient proprietors and the settlers, in one parliament, to be the first step towards forming them into one people, not a slight but a weighty and glorious circumstance; in whi< h opinion every man of untainted judgment must agree. During his administration, by pursuing a libe- ral policy, and proposing equitable terms to the residue of Irish chieftains, he left evident demon- strations, that such a national incorporation could be efiected, uniting the two races into one people, obeying one government, agreeably to one con- stitution and system of laws, without fighting a blow. But it would not suit the inhuman policy of those, who wished to keep the Irish divided and poor, to ensure their obedience; nor of those blood-thirsty vultures, who sought the confisca- tion of a kingdom, by exterminating a nation^ always renowned for hospitality, generosity, long for^sanctity and learning, the eminent benefactress of England and of Europe; nor the queen, whose unquenchable fury against the catholic faith OF IRELAND. 471 required the extirpation thereof out of the land. What if the Milesians were exterminated by war, inflicted famine, base coin, murderous banquets and negotiations, sham plots, she could colorize their lands, and ease her kingdom of the num- berless ungovernable felons with which it was infested. The independent spirit, displayed bj this as- sembly, exhibits a striking contrast to the fawn- ing servility of English parliaments during this and the preceding reigns. The bill for suspend- ing Poyning's law was thrown out; that for re- newing the ordinary tax of thirteen shillings and four pence on every plow land, met the same fate4 They refused to vest the queen with the lands of attainted persons, or to declare those guilty of treason who detained any of her castles; so that two acts only were passed, during a short ses- sion, in which every measure of government ex- perienced strong opposition, the attainder of lord Baltinglas and his adherents, and the restoration of a person, whose ancestor had been attainted in the reign of Harry the Eighth. Perrot's administration was successful and liberal. He treated the antient natives as fellow creatures of the same flesh and blood, virtues and vices, as other human beings; not with the rancorous antipathy, perfidy, and flagrant injus- tice^ with which they were harassed and perse- cuted, by most of his predecessors. His atten- tion to prevent oppression and abuses in the lower departments of office, raised him an host of ene- jiiies. All of English birth^ the proselytes to the 472 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY new religion, and man}' of the degenerate Irish, swordsmen of desperate fortunes^ whose name and alliances could draw followers after them; all, eager for a participation of church plunder^, and of confiscated estates^ were hostile to the man and measures^ that promised a tranquil settlement of the kingdom. Complaints against him were sent to the queen^ from various quarters; and^ from a letter she sent him by secretary Fenton^ perceiving the queen's prepossessions against him, he ear-» nestly entreated to be recalled. Perrot*s candid method of dealing with the old Irish, procured every good effect he hoped for. The chieftains of the north agreed to main- tain eleven hundred men for the queen, at their own charge,, provided they were allowed the free exercise of their religion^ and be liberated from the oppressions and ravages of sheriffs' garrisons. In Connaught a free composition was settled, in lieu of assessments^ and the English law received. The confiscation of the vast landed property, held by Desmond and his adherents, allowed the queen to indulge her favourite scheme of colonizing Ireland. '' Letters were written to every county ill England, to encourage younger brothers to become undertakers in Ireland. Estates were offered in fee at a small acreable rent of three pence, and in some places two pence, to com- mence at the end of three years, and for three years more, half only of the stipulated rent was to be paid. Seven years were allowed to com- plete their plantation. The undertaker for twelve thousand acres was bound to plant eighty-six OF IRELA.ND. 473 families on his estate; those who engaged for lesser seigniories^ were to provide ii proportionable number. None of the native Irish were TO BE ADMITTED AMONG THEIR TENANTRY; and., among other advantages^ they were assured, that sufficient garrisons should be stationed on their frontiers ; and commissioners appointed to decide their controversies. Sir Christopher Hat- ton, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Thomas Norris, Sir Warham Saintleger, Sir George Bourchier, and a number of other gentlemen of power and dis- tinction, received grants of different portions. But the greater their rank and consequence, the more were thej emboldened to neglect the terms of their grant. Instead of completing their sti- pulated numbers of tenantry, the same persons were admitted tenants to different undertakers, and in the same seigniory sometimes served at once as freeholder, as leaseholder, as copyholder, to fill up the necessary number of each denomi- nation. Leases and conveyances were made to many of the Irishry. In some places the lands were abandoned to the old possessors, in others the undertakers unjustly encroached on the estates of the innocent and loyal inhabitants : not residing themselves, they entrusted the settlement and sup- port of their respective colonies, to agents igno- rant, negligent and corrupt. No effectual provi- sions were made for defence cither by themselves or by the queen. Such instances of misconduct were severely felt^ and contributed to the subse- quent disorders of the kingdom.''* * Leland; Vol. II. Book IV. c. iii. p. 301. 474' AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY However wise Parrot's sjstem of settling ths affairs of Ireland might have been, his intentions •were frustrated, and any benefits that might be expected from English law and equitable regu- lations were entirely defeated^ by the iniquity of those who were to superintend the execution of the one, and administer the other. Bingham, president of Connaught,, ruled people little ac- customed to severe rule, with a rod of iron and a harpie claw. '^ The sheriffs and other officers of justice followed the example of the lord pre- sident, and acted not only with rigour, but im- periousness. They entered the several counties, attended with large bodies of armed men, pil- laging the inhabitants, whom they affected to despise, terrifying them with their military traii>, and rendering the execution of law odious and oppressive; so as to confirm their aversion from a system accepted with reluctance. One of the De Burghos, called Thomas Roah, was suni- moned to the session of judges, held in the countjr of Mayo, and refused to attend. Bingham or- dered him to be seized; he resisted, and was killed ; two of his adherents were taken and exe- cuted."* A petty insurrection was the unavoid- able consequence of these enormous cruelties, which only served to aggravate the miseries of the oppressed. One of the»leaders, Richard, brother to Sir Thomas Roah, soon surrendered, but was ordered by Bingham to instant execu- tion. In the suppression of this insurrection, the president was powerfully assisted by some Irish * Lelaud, Vol. XL Book IV. c. iii. p. 302. OF IRELAND. 475 clans, and those called degenerate English. Of the extent of military execution, plunder and confiscation, I have seen no correct detail; but it need not be doubted, that such a tyrant as Bingham would not let slip so fine an opportu- nity of sating his thirst for Irish blood, and his cofl^ers with their spoil. Many escaped death, by inli sting in the army destined for the Low Coun- tries, in support of the revolted faithful of the new gospel; some escaped to Spain. Now three of the provinces being comfortably reclaimed, reformed and civilized, by the queen's ministers and forces, in conjunction with their Irish auxiliaries, the benefits of which to the province of Munster Spencer thus sketched. '' Notwithstanding that the same was a most rich, and plentiful country, full of corn and cattle. — Yet, ere one year and a half, they were brought to such wretchedness, as that any stony heart would rue the same. Out of every corner of the woods and glynns, they came creeping forth upon their hands, for their legs could not bear them: they looked like anatomies of death; they spake like ghosts crying out of their graves^ they did eat the dead carrions, happy were they could find them, yea, and one another soon after : insomuch, as the very carcasses they spared not to scrape out of their graves, and, if they found a plot of watercresses or shamrocks, there they flocked as to a feast for tlie time, yet not able to continue there withal; that, in short space, there was none almost left, and a most populous and plentiful country suddenly left void of man and VOL. I. 3 Q 476 AN IMPARTIAL IlISTOltY beast/** The other provinces had no SpenCcr to record the favours conferred on them bj their reclaimers. It was now high time to turn their attention to the north, the only part of Ireland continuingunreclaimed^ exulting in the untouched population^ agriculture, manufactures and reli- gion of that province. Monasteries and semi- naries of learning were still protected there. The catholic religion maintained its ground, conse- quently, dainty morsels of church plunder might be looked for, and plenty of confiscations, al- ready decreed by the provincial parliament, in the second year of Elizabeth. Had it not been predetermined to extend to the north the same discipline exercised in the south, this act would not have passed, or stood unrepealed. How could it be expected, that the extermination of the an- tient race, and the colonization of the land by English adventurers, projected, and in part exe- cuted by popish England, should be relinquished by their protestant successors? That the domi- nion of the crown of England would be submitted to by the northern lords, and preserved hy equi- table and moderate administration, is acknow- ledged by Leland, and by Lee.f It was prac- tically proved by deputy Perrot. But then the odious stipulations, of not being compelled to renounce religion, and submit to the plunder and outrages of sheriffs, carrying along with them a posse of robbers and prostitutes, offending the pious, and corrupting the youth, by their scan- * Spencer's State of Ireland, p. 15a. + See Memoir, in Appendix. •F IRELAND. 477 dalous profaneness and open immoralities, " A great part of the unquietness of O'Donnel's country (Tirconnel) came by Sir Wra. Fitz- William placing one Willis there to be sheriff, who had with him three hundred of the very ras- cals and scum of that kingdom, which did rob and spoil that people, ravish their wives and daughters, and made havoc of all; which bred such a discontent, as that the whole country was up in arms against them, so as if the earl of Tirone had not rescued and delivered him and them out of the country, they had been all put to the sword."* Lest Fermanagh should be jea- lous of the graces bestowed on 0'D(mnei's coun- try, it was favoured with a similar visitation. The chieftain of Fermanagh, Maguire, ailedged, '' that he had given three hundred cows, to free his country from a sheriff, during the lord depu- ty's government; and that, notwithstanding, one captain Willis was made sheriff of Fermanagh, having, for his guard, one hundred men; and leadingabout some hundreds of women and boys, all living upon the spoil of the country: upon which, taking his advantage, Maguire set upon them, and drove them into a church, where he would have put them all to the sword, if the earl of Tyrone had not interposed bis authority, and made composition for their lives, upon condition that they should all leave the country. Upon this occasion, the lord deputy Fitzwilliams sent the queen's forces, commanded by the earl of Tyrone and the English marshall of Newry, into * Lee's Memorial to queen Elizabeth. 478 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY Fermanagh, won Maguiie's castle of Enniskillen, and proclaimed him a traitor. The Irish avow, that his lordship lot fall some speeches against the earl of Tyrone himself, calling him a traitor also^ ( notwithstanding his late services, ) which speeches coming to that earl's hearing, he eTcr after said, were the first causes that moved him to misdoubt his safety, and to stand upon his defence; now first combining himself with O'Donnel, and the other lords of the north, to defend their honours, estates and liberties/** '' In the northern province, which had but just now professed to accept the English polity, the execution of the laws was rendered detestable and intolerable, by the queen's officers. Sheriffs pur- chased their places; acted, as in Connaiight, with insolence and oppression ; spoiled the old inha- bitants, and obliged them to recur to their native chieftains for protection. As the state had no forces in Ulster, nothing but the mutual suspi- cion and disunion of the Irish prevented a sud- den and violent insurrection.''! What else was looked for, but such an event, as might lead to church plunder and confiscations? Wherefore send profligate miscreants, with the queen's com- mission, to pillage, rob, ravish, to destroy morals and religion, but the hope, that resistance to a tyranny, at once so shameful and detestable, so intolerable and base, would furnish a pretence for extermination and plunder? Will any man be surprised, that the De Burghos of Connaught * Curry's Hist. Rev. c. v. and Morrison's Hist, of Ireland, + Leland, Vol. II. Book IV. c. iii. p. 305, OF IRELAND. 479 refused to admit such nefarious pests of society, for which noncompliance thej were prosecuted with fire and sword? or that O'Donnel refused them entrance into Tjrconnel^ whose noncom- pliance the state, unable by force, revenged by fraud. '' A merchant of Dublin was instructed to lade a ship with Spanish wines, and to sail up bj Donnegall, into the country of O'Donnel, to expose his wines to sale, to shew an extraordinary courtesy and bounty to the natives, to invite and feast them in his ship : and if the old chieftain or his son should be prevailed on to come on board, to entertain them liberally ; and when intoxicated, to secure them under hatches, and to convey them to Dublin. The pretended Spanish mer- chant executed his commission accurately and successfully. The rude inhabitants crowded to purchase his wines, and to partake of his libera- lity. The eldest son of O'Donnel, and two com- panions, accepted his invitation to carouse on board of his ship: and when they awaked from their debauch, they found themselves prisoners. They were deposited in the castle of Dublin."* Their treatment therein is thus described by Lee, '^' His manner of usage was most dishonorable and discommendable, and neither allowable be- fore God or man. For he (O'Donnel) being young, and being taken by this stratagem, having never offended, was imprisoned with great seve» rity, many irons laid upon him, as if he had been a notable traitor and malefactor."! * Leland, Vol. II. Book IV. c. Hi. p. 310. f Lee's MemoriaL 480 AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY This act of swindling closed the administra- tion of Perrot, who^ in spite of his utmost efforts to serve the crown of England^ and strengthen the English interest in Ireland, was mortified by the queen, denied the necesiary support for his government, traduced by the incessant malice of Ills enemies, and insulted by his inferiors at the council-board. He earnestly petitioned Eliza- beth to recal him from the burden of govern- ment, rendered intolerable by the perverseness of her English subjects in Ireland, whose enmity he had provoked beyond all possibility of reconci- liation, by restraining their oppressions of the antient natives. The extermination of antient race, and of an- tient religion, was not to be eifected by equity, moderation, or impartial government. These seem to have been principal objects with the queen, her council, and adventurers, both ar- rived, and speculating on a venture to Ireland. *Tis notorious, that the overthrow of the catholic religion was the darling object of Elizabeth, chief object of her ambition; for the attainment of which, she spared no pains or expence; in the pursuit of which, she disregarded eftusion of blood as puddle water, and trampled every feel- ing of humanity, every principle of morality, every law, human and divine, that could thwart her headlong career. Sensible of her unappease- able fury against the mother church, Lee, in his Memoir, endeavours to apologize for O^Neil's catholicity. '^ It will be represented to your majesty, that he and his lady are papists, an