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disquieting the possessions of the adventurers, and soldiers, to the great and manifest disturbance of the English plantation; and they desired that a proclamation might be issued to repress these attempts."

The king, accordingly, on the 3d of June, 1660, issued a proclamation, wherein, taking notice, by the information of the lords and commons, that many of the natives of Ireland had broken out into the above-mentioned acts of violence, and bloodshed, "did, by the advice of said lords and commons, hold it his duty to God, and the whole protestant interest, to command, publish and declare, that all Irish rebels, other than such as by articles had liberty to reside in his dominions, and had not forfeited the benefit thereof, that should resort to England, or Ireland, should be forthwith apprehended, and proceeded against as rebels and traitors; and that the adventurers, soldiers and others, who were on the 1st of January last past, in possession of any of the manors, castles, houses, or lands of any of the said Irish rebels, should not be disturbed in their possessions, till either legally evicted by due course of law, or till his majesty, by the advice of parliament, had taken further order therein."

This proclamation was not more injurious to many of the loyal Irish, whom it caused to be imprisoned, or driven out of both kingdoms, than it was fortunate to all those, whom the late usurpers had left masters of their estates. For, by being thus preserved in the enjoyment of the freeholds, they were enabled to chuse representatives to their mind, in the ensuing parliament, who, they knew, would confirm and perpe, tuate their unjust possessions.

CHAP. IX.

The Irish parliament.

LORD chancellor Eustace, lord Broghill, now earl of Orrery, and sir Charles Coote,* now also earl of Montrath,

2 Id. ib.

"These two (new) earls," says Clarendon, " had been eminently against the king; but upon this turn, when all other powers were down,

were appointed lords justices of Ireland. They had procured instructions to be sent them from, England," to tender the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, to all his majesty's subjects; to proceed according to law against those that should refuse them; and to prepare such bills, as by them and the privy council (which was then likewise appointed) should be thought to be for the good of the people, in order to a parliament.

That parliament met on the 8th of May, 1661. The house of commons consisted of two hundred and sixty members, of which, all but sixty-four were burgesses. And: Cromwell

1 Cart. Orm. vol. ii. fol. 212.

2 Id. Ib.

were eminently for him. But the king had not then power to chuse any against whom some as material objections might not be made. With them there were too many others, upon whom honors were conferred; upon some, that they might do no harm, who were thereby enabled to do the more."-Clar. Life, vol. ii. p. 219.

Yet some writers weakly contend, that Orrery was all along, even while he served Cromwell, eminently, though secretly for him. Among the rest his biographer, Morrice, draws a ridiculous inference of such loyal intention in his lordship, from some of the worst and most obnoxious circumstances of his conduct, when most intimately connected with that usurper. "When lord Orrery," says he, "had given his word to be faithful to Cromwell, it would have been dishonorable in him not to keep it. He served the protector while he lived, honestly, disinterestedly, and zealously, and still with a view of bringing back the king; of which the sign of marrying his majesty to Cromwell's daughter, was a strong instance, and from the same motive did his lordship endeavor to persuade Cromwell to accept the title of king."-Mem. of E. Orrery, prefixed to his Lett. p. 98.

The editor of Orrery's letters (the late earl of Orrery) pretends, that his predecessor "proposed this match between the king and the protector's daughter, with a remote hope that such an alliance might at length bring about a restoration." But how remote, or rather impossible must such hope have been, when the same Orrery endeavored to persuade the protector himself to accept the title of king? Or perhaps his lordship meant it to be remote in this sense, that after king Oliver's decease, king Charles was to succeed the throne, in virtue of this marriage.

• “That house of commons consisted chiefly of adventurers and soldiers."-Cart. Orm. vol. ii. fol. 263.

For this reason it seems to be, that from the year 1661 to 1666, the house of lords on all occasions of privilege and conferences, treated these commons with great slight, and even contempt; frequently, after having appointed meetings with them on disputes of their respective privileges, having kept the committees of the commons waiting an hour at their

having filled all the corporations throughout the kingdom with a set of people of his own stamp, it is easy to account for the strength and prevalency of that party in the house, which labored to make good all the estates of the adventurers and soldiers, how guilty soever, and refused to hearken to any reasonable proposal, in favor of the old proprietors, however innocent."

But even this favorable composition of the house of commons did not content these state harpies.* In order to have lordships' door, and afterwards adjourning themselves without meeting them. See Com. Jour. v. ii.-One passage of this kind deserves some notice : a conference was demanded by the lords on the usual wrangle about privilege; on which they sent to the black rod to appoint his servants to piace forms in the chamber behind the lords' chairs; who returned answer, that he could not cause that to be done: then they commanded the messengers belonging to the commons to set chairs for them instead of the said formis. Some time after the lords came down to the free conference, and they being sat, the committee of the commons took their seats behind their lordships, and as they were opening the free conference, their lordships whispered to each other, and immediately thereupon told them they could not admit of that posture, and wondered they insisted on that point. After which they rose, saying they would communicate what passed to the house of lords: being asked by the commons if they should stay for their lordships' return, one of the lords (earl of Drogheda) looking back towards them, said, "they had a mind all to be lords." Whereupon one of the commons (capt. Molyneux) answered, why may not another rebellion make some of us lords, as former rebellions did make some of your lordships predecessors so." At length the black rod came and acquainted them from the lords, that they intended not to return to the said free conference. Id. vol. ii. fol. 518-19.-The lords on this occasion made a resolution not to meet the commons in any conference, till the commons made reparation for the affront, in sitting before them; and they kept their resolution during that parliament.—Id. ib. vol. ii.

"Although his majesty in his letter to these lords justices of the 11th of March preceding, ordered them to see sir William Domville (an honest and loyal gentleman) settled speaker of this house of commons." Orrery's State Lett. p. 34.-Yet sir William not being thought a favorer of their designs, they found means to fix sir Audley Mervin, a Cromwellian and covenanter, in the chair." Ib.-Orrery, in a letter to Ormond at this time, betrays their thoughts of this parliament's insufficiency for their predatory purpose. "I writ my poor sense to your grace, says he, how fit it might be, that after this parliament had done what it was requisite for them to do, an unquestionable one might be called to confirm all; which I rejoice to find, was also my lord chancellor of Ireland's sense, and is so well liked by his majesty, your grace, and my lord chancellor of England."—State Lett. p. 68.

the dividing the spoil of the nation entirely among themselves, and for ever to preclude the catholics from having any share, even in their debates about it, one of their first illegal resolu tions was,3 "that no members should be qualified to sit in that house, but such as had taken the oaths of allegiance and supremacy." With the same view of banishing the catholic peers from the house of lords, primate Bramhall, their speaker, procured an order to be passed there," that all the members thereof should receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper from his grace's own hands." To such vile and predatory purposes, was one of the most awful institutions of religion prostituted at that juncture! But in no other parliament but one so constituted, and perverted, could acts, alienating the just properties of almost all the catholics in the kingdom, be expected Lo pass.

3 Orrery's State Letters, vol. i. p. 35.

4 Borl. Reduct. of Irel. p. 34.

"May 15th, 1661, ordered, upon question, that the undernamed persons be, and are hereby appointed a committee to attend the right honorable the lords justices, and hereby to pray their lordships from this house, to issue out a warrant to the right honorable the lord chancellor to grant a commission under his majesty's great seal of this kingdom, unto such persons as their lordships shall think fit, whereby they, or any two or more of them, may be empowered to administer the oath of supremacy, which is established by act of parliament in this kingdom, 2 Elizabeth, and the oath of allegiance established 30 Jacobi in England, unto all and every of the members of this house, that now are, or hereafter shall be, in such manner, form, or order, at large, as in the acts they are severally expressed." Com. Journ. vol. i. fol. 602.—The same was done in the house of commons. "June 17th, 1661, ordered, that the under-named persons do repair unto his grace the lord primate of all Ireland, and, in the name of this house, do return thanks unto his grace, for his great pains taken yesterday, in preaching and administering the holy sacrament of the Lord's supper unto the members of this house.”—Id. ib. fol. 640.

"Which (adds Borlase) I the rather observe, it being, for what I ever heard, the first order of that nature. The composition of the lords house consisting most of papists."-IV.,

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CHAP. X.

False reports of a conspiracy among the Irish considered. The effects of these reports.

BUT the commons, not satisfied even with these advan tages, in order to have some colorable pretext for the injustice intended, resolved to render the party to be injured as odious as possible. For this purpose they left no means unat tempted, however wicked or absurd, to countenance and dif fuse the calumny, lately raised by their emissaries, as if the Irish had actually entered into a real conspiracy. They had with great industry, called before them several witnesses to prove that the papists were sometimes seen attending divine service in their own way, and that considerable numbers of people were gathered together on such occasions ;t that a cutler's apprentice had new furbished an old sword for one of them; and that another was detected buying a horse for his necessary occasions. Such proofs of a conspiracy, says Mr. Carte, might have appeared good and sufficient to the two new earls, but did not satisfy sir Maurice Eustace, and a few others. Recourse was, therefore, had to an old expedient for realizing imaginary plots, which had been formerly found suc cessful. A letter supposed to have been written by one Irish priest to another, upon somewhat that was deemed treasonable, because dark and unintelligible, was somewhere found and laid before the parliament, by one Jephson, a member;

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who,

"The enemies and competitors of the Irish," says Dr. Leland on this occasion, "were indefatigable in endeavoring to load their whole party with the guilt of new conspiracies; and even manifest forgeries were received as solid proofs."-Hist. of Irel. vol. iii, p. 246.

"All the foundation (says Mr. Carte) for this insinuation was, that there had been of late, meetings of the poor Irish at masses, in order to partake of a jubilee, which the pope had sent them; but the whole kingdom knew that they were in no condition to rebel."—Orm. vol. ii. f. 231.

He represented the borough of Trim, in the county of Meath. Com. Jour. vol. ii. f. 337. The following members, "Robert Shapcote, John Chambers, Thomas Boyd, Alexander Staples, Abel Warren, John Ruxton, and Thomas Scot, esqrs. were voted, nem. contradic." for having been engage in this plot, " to be expelled the house, and made incapable of

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