That they would not leave an English man or woman alive in the kingdom; no, not so much as an English beast, or any of the breed of them;* That in the beginning of the insurrection, the English had such confidence in the Irish, that they delivered their goods to them for safe keeping, and even dug up such of their best things as they had hidden under ground, to deposit in their custody ;† That many thousands died in two days, in the town of Colerain; a place not containing, probably, five hundred people;+ That children were compelled to be the executioners of their parents; wives to help to hang their husbands; and mothers to cast their children into the water;? *"Richard Claybrook deposeth, That he heard Luke Toole say, that they would not leave an Englishman or English woman in the kingdom; that they would not leave an English beast alive, or any of the breed of them."479 "So confident were the English of their good dealing at first, as many delivered their goods by retail unto them; gave them particular inventories of all they had; nay, digged up such of their best things as they had hidden under ground, to deposit in their custody."480 "James Redfern deposeth, That in the town of Colerain, since the rebellion began, there died of robbed and stripped people, that fled thither for succour, many hundreds, besides those of the town that anciently dwelt there: and that the mortality there was such and so great, as many thousands died there in two days."481 "Children were enforced to carry their aged parents to the places designed for their slaughter; nay, some children 481 Idem, 81. 479 Temple, 96. 480 Idem, 80. That the destruction of the Christians, in any of the heathen persecutions, in any one kingdom, was not greater, in many years, than the destruction of the English by the Irish, in the space of two months!!* That the Irish used to twist withes about the heads of the English, till the blood sprang out of the crowns of their heads!† That a murderer's wife found much fault with her husband's soldiers, for not bringing home the grease of a woman whom they had slain, for the purpose of making candles ;‡ compelled most unnaturally to be the executioners of their own parents; wives to help to hang their husbands; and mothers to cast their own children into the water."482 *"If we shall take a survey of the primitive times, and look into the sufferings of the first Christians that suffered under the tyranny and cruel persecution of those heathenish emperors, we shall not certainly find any one kingdom, though of a far larger continent, where there were more Christians suffered, or more unparalleled cruelties were acted in many years upon them, than were in Ireland, within the space of two months, after the breaking out of this rebellion."483 "Some they would take and writh wyths about their heads, till the blood sprang out of the crown of their heads."484 "Elizabeth Baskervile deposeth, That she heard the wife of Florence Fitz-Patrick, find much fault with her husband's soldiers, because they did not bring along with them the grease of Mrs. Nicholson, whom they had slain, for her to make candles withal. Jurat. April 26, 1643."485 482 Temple, 91. 484 Idem, 106. 483 Idem, 100. 485 Idem, 92. That the English were such dupes, that they lent their weapons to the Irish.* The following extract from Temple's history, with the depositions on which it is grounded, may serve to amuse the reader, and will throw additional light on the mode in which that romance was compiled : "How grievous and insupportable must it needs be to a true Christian soul, to hear a base villain boast, that his hands were so weary with killing and knocking down Protestants into a bog, that he could not lift his arms up to his head?† or others to say, that they had killed so many Englishmen, that the grease or fat which remained on their swords or skeins might have made an Irish candle?‡ or to consider that two young cow-boys should have it in their power to murder thirty-six Protestants ?"486 The instances of mental obliquity exhibited by the Anglo-Hibernian writers, which we have * "In several places, the Irish came, under divers pretences, and borrowed such weapons as the English had in their houses; and no sooner got them into their hands, but they turned them out of their own doors: as they did at Glaslough, in the county of Monaghan. The high sheriff there being an Irishman and a Papist, pretending that he took their arms to secure them against the violence of such of the Irish as he understood to be in arms in the next county."487 "Eleanor Fullerton, the relict of William Fullerton, late parson, of Lougall, deposeth, That in lent, 1641, a young roguing cow-boy gave out and affirmed, in this deponent's hearing, that his hands were so weary in killing and knocking down Protestants into a bog-pit, that he could hardly lift his arms to his head. Jurat. Sept. 16, 1642."488 "Elizabeth Champion, late wife of Arthur Champion, in the county of Fermanagh, esquire, saith, That she heard the rebels say, that they had killed so many Englishmen, that the 488 Idem, 96. 456 Temple, 96. 487 Idem, 37. heretofore noticed, are numerous and extraordinary. A new one here presents itself. The spirit of lying and imposture which pervades those depositions, would naturally induce a sane mind to reject them wholly, as undeserving of any attention. But, by a most perverted process of reasoning, Leland ascribes these awful stories to the terrors excited by the horrible cruelties perpetrated by the Irish, which, he supposes, preyed on the imaginations of the English, and terrified them with the idea of lakes and rivers of blood, &c. &c. "They who escaped the utmost fury of the rebels, languished in miseries horrible to be described. Their imaginations were overpowered and disordered by the recollections of torture and butchery. In their distraction," [let us say, rather, in the depraved and loathsome state of the public mind] "every tale of horror was eagerly received, and every suggestion of frenzy and melancholy believed implicitly. Miraculous escapes from death, miraculous judgments on murderers, lakes and rivers of blood, marks of slaughter indelible by every human effort, visions of spirits chaunting hymns, ghosts rising from the rivers and shrieking out revenge; these and such like fancies were received and propagated as incontestible."489 It is difficult to conceive of a stronger proof of the blindest prejudice than is here exhibited by Leland. Whoever has travelled through the wretched legends which disgrace and dishonour grease or fat which remained on their swords and skeins, might well serve to make an Irish candle. Jurat. April 14, 1642."490 489 Leland, III. 147. 490 Temple, 97. the preceding pages, will at once perceive that the object with the perjurers who wrote them, was to render their tales as terrific and horrible as they could, for the purpose of aggravating the abhorrence, and ensuring the ruin, of the oppressed and despoiled Irish. They were quite certain, that in the prevailing spirit of the times, no improbability or impossibility would be a bar to their currency. This is so plain and palpable, that it requires only to skim the surface, to perceive it. Instead, therefore, of believing, with Leland, that a man who coolly comes forward, and swears to "lakes and rivers of blood," and "visions of spirits chaunting hymns," acts under the influence of a disordered imagination, in consequence of the horrors he has witnessed, we are warranted, nay constrained to believe, that the whole is the creation not of a disordered, but a corrupted and lying imagination. Indeed, we are perfectly satisfied, that there is not one of our readers, who will allow his understanding free operation, but will find it impossible to believe that those terror-inspiring stories could have ever proceeded from any other source than the prince of darkness, the father of lies. We feel that confidence which truth and a good cause inspire, that we have convinced every candid reader, that the ground we have taken is perfectly sound and unassailable; and therefore we might here dismiss this branch of our subject: but we cannot resist the temptation to add one |