which, for the purpose of adding one more to the various proofs we have already adduced, of the

36. "And also excepted all forfeytures and other penalties and profits now due, accrued and growen, or which shall or may be due, accrued or growing to the king's majestie, by reason of any offence, misdeameanour, contempt, or act or deed, suffered, had, committed, or done, contrary to any act, statute or statutes, or contrary to the common laws of this realm, and whereof or for the which any action, bill, plaint or information, at any time within eight years next before the last day of this present session of Parliament, hath been or shall be exhibited, commenced or sued in the courts of Castle Chamber or in any the king's majestie's courts at Dublin, and now is, or the said last day of this session of Parliament, shall be there depending, and remaining to be prosecuted, or whereof the king's majestie, by his bill assigned, hath heretofore made any gift or assignment to any person or persons.

37. "And also excepted out of this general and free pardon all offences, contempts, disorders, covins, frauds, deceipts and misdemeanours whatsoever, heretofore committed or done by any person or persons, and whereof or for the which any suit, by bill, plaint or information, at any time within four years next before the last day of this present session of Parliament, is or shall be commenced or exhibited in the court of Castle Chamber, and shall be there the same last day of this session of Parliament depending, or whereupon any sentence or decree is given or entered.

38. “And also excepted out of this pardon all offences of perjuries and subornations of witnesses, and offences of forging and counterfeiting of any false deeds, escriptes or writings; and all procuring and counselling of any such counterfeiting or forging to be had or made.

39. "And also excepted out of this pardon all offences of incest, adultery, fornication and simony, and all such usury for which any interest hath been received or taken since the first day of this present session of Parliament; and all misdemeanours and disturbances committed or made in any church or chappel, in the time of common prayer, preaching or divine

fidelity of Irish historians, are enumerated in the annexed note.

service there used, to the disturbance thereof; and all outlawries and prosecutions upon the same.

40." And also excepted all offences whereby any person may be charged with the penalty and danger of premunire, and of the which offence or offences any person standeth already indicted, or otherwise lawfully condemned or convicted.

41. "And also excepted all dilapidations for which any suit is, or before the end of this session of Parliament shall be, depending.

42. “And also excepted all offences in taking away, imbeyselling or purloyning any the king's majestie's goods, money, chattels, jewels, armour, munition, ordinance, or other habiliments of warre.

43. "And also excepted out of this pardon all manner of extortions whatsoever.

44. "And also excepted all covins, frauds, deceipts and other disorders and misdemeanours whatsoever, heretofore committed or done by any steward of his majestie's mannours or courts, under sheriffe, or by any officer or minister in any of his highness' courts, in or by reason or colour of any of their offices or places, or any their deputys or clerkes; and all offences of ayding, comforting, assisting or procuring of any under sheriffe or any such officer, minister, or clerke, in continuing, doing or executing any such extortion, exaction, covin, fraud, deceipt, disorder or misdemeanour.

45. "And also excepted out of this pardon all issues, fines and amercements being totted, levied or received by any sheriffe, under sheriffe, bayliffe, minister or other officer, to or for the king's majestie's use or behoofe, before the last day of this present session of Parliament; and all issues, fines and amerciaments affered, taxed, estreated or entered severally or particularly, touching or concerning any one person or more persons joyntly or severally, above the sum of six pounds.

46. “And also excepted all issues, fines and amerciaments affered, taxed, set or entered severally or particularly in any court of record at Dublin, at any time sithence the feast of

The extracts from this act are longer, perhaps, than are consistent with the nature of this work :

Saint Bartholomew last past; and yet nevertheless all other fines, as well finis pro licentio concordandi, as other set, taxed, estreated or entered afore the said feast of Saint Bartholomew; and also all issues and amerciaments as well real as others, within any liberties or without, being set, taxed, estreated or entered afore the said feast of Saint Bartholomew, and which severally or particularly extend to or under the summ of six pounds, and not above, whether they be estreated or not estreated, or whether they be turned into debt or not turned into debt, and not being totted, levied or recovered by any sheriffe, under sheriffe, minister or other officer, to or for the king's majestie's use or behoof, before the last day of this present session of Parliament, shall be freely, clearly and plainly pardoned and discharged against the king's majestie, his heyres and successours for ever, by force of this present act of free pardon; and yet nevertheless, all estreats of such fines, issues and amerciaments as be now pardoned by this act, and be already estreated forth of the court of exchequer, and be remaining in the hand of the sheriffe, under sheriffe and bayliffe for collecting of the same fines, issues and amerciaments, shall, upon the return of the same estreats, be orderly charged and delivered by scrowls into the office of the pipe in the court of exchequer, as heretofore hath been accustomed, to the intent that thereupon order may be taken that his majesty may be truly answered in all fines, issues and amerciaments not by this act pardoned, and which any sheriffe, under sheriffe, bayliffe or other officer or minister hath received or ought to answer for by force or colour of any such estreat, processe or precept to him or them made for the levying thereof: and yet notwithstanding all and every sheriffe and sheriffes and other accomptants, upon his or their petition or petitions, to be made for the allowance of any such fines, issues and amerciaments as, by this act pardoned, shall have all and every such his and their petition allowed in his or their accompt and accompts, without paying any fee or reward to any officer, clerk or other

but we trust they will be excused; as no abridgment could do justice to the subject, or to the grand object we have in view, which is to open the eyes of every reader, who is not wilfully blind, to the undeviating fraud, falsehood, and

minister, for the making, entering or allowing of any such petition, any usage or custome to the contrary notwithstanding. 47. "And also excepted out of this pardon all goods, chattels, debts, actions and suites already forfeited, or whereof any right or title is accrued and growen to the king's majestie by reason of any outlawry, and whereof the king's majestie, by his highness's letters patent, hath, before the last day of this present session of Parliament, made any grant, covenant or proviso to any person or persons.

48. "And also excepted out of this pardon all such persons as be and remain still attainted or condemned, and not already pardoned, of or for any rebellion or levying of warre, or of or for any conspiracy of any rebellion or levying of warre, within this realm, or in any other the king's dominions.

of

49. "And also excepted all false forging and counterfeiting any untrue certificates.

50. "And also excepted all false forging and counterfeiting of any commission or commissions to inquire of any lands, tenements or hereditaments: or return of any commission or commissions obtained or gotten of any court or courts to inquire of any lands, tenements or other things whatsoever; and all and all manner of falsifying of any particular, or of any bill or bills signed by his majestie after the ingrossing thereof, and before the passing of the same unto the great seal.

51. “Provided also, and be it enacted by the authority of this present Parliament, that this act of general pardon shall not in any wise extend to any person outlawed upon any writ of capias ad satisfaciendum, until such time as the person so outlawed shall satisfie, or otherwise agree with the party at whose suit the same person was so outlawed or condemned."294

294 Statutes, 327.

imposture, that run through the whole body of the Anglo-Hibernian histories of Ireland, as penned by those writers who have pandered to the passions, the prejudices, and the grinding tyranny of "the Protestant ascendency," and contaminated and corrupted the history of Ireland to an extent unequalled in that of any other portion of the terraqueous globe. This object we feel proudly confident we have accomplished, with such of our readers as have brought to the perusal of this work, a mind disposed to hail the appearance of holy Truth, in whatsoever form she may appear.

We hope the reader will bear in remembrance the deceptious statement of this act, as he peruses some of the subsequent chapters, in which, from the nature of the subjects, the detection of imposture is rendered difficult, and, in fact, would be impossible, if the stupidity of the projectors were not on a par with their wickedness. Had their ingenuity amounted to a twentieth part of their fraud, they might have contrived tales so plausible as to bid defiance to detection but fortunately their fabrications are compacted together with so much grossness and incoherence, that it requires but moderate abilities to expose them, in all their naked deformity, to the contempt and loathing of every liberal mind. Had those tales, however, been devised with talents equal to the wickedness of the contrivers, and furnished no internal evidence to