the important information. We state it merely to show the ridiculous grounds on which these fabrications rested. A plot was fabricated, of which the pretended object was to kill Charles II. Lord Castlemain he found the said Sir Henry walking with one Poole, (whom this examinant supposeth was a priest) and saith, that as soon as he came into the said garden, the said Sir Henry asked him whether he knew how the state of Ireland then stood? To which the examinant said, that he thought that all things were quiet and at peace there. Why (quoth Sir Henry) doth the army then do nothing? To which the examinant replied, That they carried themselves quietly, and that any man might walk in Ireland with a thousand pounds, and a wand only in his hand. He saith also, that the said Sir Henry told him, That he was about to take a house in Kilkenny, of one of the Butlers, for that there was no safety in England for any of his religion; and asked of the examinant, whether there were any good hawking thereabouts? To which the examinant said that there was. Then the said Sir Henry said, That now his mind was altered, and that he meant to stay in England; and added, That he did believe, that before Christmas day next, there should be seen such combustions in England and Ireland, as the like were never seen before; and thereupon cursed the Scots as the authors of these troubles. Jurat. Coram nobis. ROBERT MEREDITH. WILLIAM Shales. "Whereupon it was ordered, That Sir Henry Beddingfield should be sent for in safe custody by the gentleman usher of the House; and none permitted to speak with him, but in the presence of the messenger; and that his study should be sealed up by the two next justices of the peace, till the further pleasure of the House be known."304 304 Nalson, II. 661. was among the parties accused. 305 The details were of the most absurd and incredible character. On the trial, the principal evidence was one Dangerfield, a most profligate and worthless villain.* There were sixteen records of convictions produced in court, to prove that he was not a competent witness.306 He had been convicted of felony, had broken prison, been outlawed, branded in the hand,t been four times convicted of forging the coin, once as a common cheat, been each time put in the pillory, and been guilty of almost every species of crime: but such was the abandoned character of the court, so completely *“The nation had gotten so much into the vein of credulity, and every necessitous villain was so much incited by the success of Oates and Bedlow, that even during the prorogation the people were not allowed to remain in tranquillity. There was one Dangerfield, a fellow who had been burned in the hand for crimes, transported, whipped, pilloried four times, fined for cheats, outlawed for felony, convicted of coining, exposed to all the public infamy which the laws could inflict on the basest and most shameful enormities. The credulity of the people, and the humour of the times, enabled even this man to become a person of consequence. 99307 † On this trial, a ludicrous opinion was given by the judges of the Common Pleas, who were consulted by lord Raymond, whether a pardon, which had been granted to Dangerfield, rendered his evidence admissible. "They say," states lord Raymond, "that if he had been convicted of felony, and not burnt in the hand, the pardon would not have set him upright: but being convicted and burnt in the hand, they suppose he is a witness."308 305 State Trials, VII. 1067 307 Hume, IV. 349. 306 Idem, 1084, 1102-3. 308 State Trials, VII. 1090. poisoned were the streams of justice, and so violent was the rage against the accused, that these solid objections were all over-ruled, and his evidence received as if he had been the most immaculate character in the nation. In a virulent and fabulous book, published under the title of "Memoirs of Ireland, from the Restoration to the present time," which contains almost as many lies as sentences, there is a curious account of one of those wonderful plots. It is quite an original; and deserves to be brought to light once more, out of compliment to the talents of the fabricator who could devise, and to the sagacity of the stupid public which could digest, such a tale. It states, that a massacre of the Protestants in Ireland was intended, anno 1670: preparatory to which, "the priests ordered their congregations at mass," to fix "over their doors a cross made of straw." This cross was to be a mark to the assassins not to molest the inhabitants, "when the bloody massacre was to be perpetrated." All "the men, women, and children" in the houses devoid of the straw cross, "God save the mark!" were "to be butchered, and the houses burned." This is very amusing, truly; and a mere matter of course. But the enigmatical part of the plot remains. The crosses "were so little," that "the Protestants took no notice of them" by daylight, although the cut-throats, to whom they were to afford directions, were to be governed by them at night, as that time alone was fit for such deeds of blood. And, although the directions had been given from the altar, throughout the kingdom, "the matter was carried with so much secrecy," that "the priests themselves" were ignorant of what was meant, and "believed that it was designed to bless the people's houses." And this miserable fabrication was credited; excited a vast deal of alarm among "the Protestant ascendency ;" and afforded a pretext for the further oppression and persecution of the Roman Catholics : "The priests, by directions from their superiors, ordered their several congregations, at mass, that, at such a time, every Roman Catholic should fix over their doors A CROSS MADE OF STRAW. The people were curious to understand the`reason of this order; but the matter was carried with so much secrecy, that the priests themselves, it is believed, knew no more than that it was designed to bless the people's houses. This was generally performed: and, at the same time, vast multitudes of priests came from beyond sea; who, as appears by the sequel, were better acquainted with the bottom of this black and damnable intrigue, than generally the poor ignorant priests of Ireland were, to whom the hellish conclave at Rome did not think fit to communicate a matter of this private and great importance. The plot was formed after the ensuing manner. This signal of the cross was to distinguish the Papists from the Protestants, when THE BLOODY MASSACRE WAS TO BE PERPETRATED. Where no cross was found on the door, all within the house, men, women, and children, were to be butchered, on a certain day, and their houses burnt. Intimation of this design being given to the magistracy, search was made; and crosses accordingly found at most of the Papists' doors in the province of Munster. They were so little, that the Protestants took no notice of them. The priest, who discovered the plot first, ran away, and was no more heard of."309 The pretences of plots and conspiracies were constantly employed, throughout the century.* The public mind was kept in unceasing fermentation;t which was excited to the highest degree, when any object of Irish oppression or degradation was to be accomplished, and the excitement was always proportioned to the magnitude of that *"It was thought politic to have recourse to one [a sham plot] in the present exigence. For this purpose a committee was appointed to inquire into informations against the Irish, and the danger of the kingdom from them. Informations of one sort or other will never be wanting, when it is the interest of men in power to encourage them: and they are sure to be received with favour, and swallowed without examination, however trifling, ridiculous, and improbable."'310 Y "They revived the rumours of new plots and conspiracies; received informations of many dark designs and suspicious proceedings of the Irish; alarmed the government with the danger of public commotions; and, though all their industry could produce no material discoveries, yet it served their purpose of loading an obnoxious party with additional odium, at a time when they were to contend with them for estates and settlements.' 99311 "Reports [were] spread by these agents and their creatures, as if the Irish Roman Catholics were ready to raise a new rebellion in that country. This was a thing impossible to be conceived by any body that knew the real state and miserable condition of those people at this time in Ireland."312 309 Memoirs of Ireland, 15. 311 Leland, IV. 125. 310 Carte, II. 223. 312 |
