Borlace's house, WITHOUT THE TOWN,"58 whereas O'Conally was directed to come to him at his house "IN THE TOWN.” 66 97654 XXVI. "They sent for such of the council as they knew then to be IN THE TOWN," to lord Borlase's house, “WITHOUT THE TOWN.' XXVII. There they fell into deep consultation "what was fit to be done, attending the return of O'Conally."655 XXVIII. They then sent in search of him, and found that he had been taken by the watch, and rescued by the servants of sir William Parsons, "who had been sent, amongst others, to walk the streets, and attend his motion."656 XXIX. "Sensible that his discovery was not thoroughly believed, he professed that whatever he had acquainted the lord Parsons with, was true; and could he but repose himself, (the effects of drink be-· ing still upon him,) he should discover more. 99657 XXX." Whereupon, he had the conveniency of a bed."658 XXXI. "Having, (on his repose,) recovered himself," he gave in his deposition. XXXII. This is dated the 22d, and of course must have been made before twelve o'clock. XXXIII. This deposition gave a full detail of a most murderous plot, whereby "all the Protestants and English, throughout the whole kingdom, were to be cut off the next morning." XXXIV. Possessed of this deposition, which required the most decisive measures of precaution, it becomes a serious question, what did the lords justices do? On this point the whole merits of the question might be rested: and indeed the investigation of any other might be wholly omitted. The answer is, "They took present order to have a watch privately set upon the lodgings of Mac-Mahon, as also upon the lord Macguire!!!" XXXV. In a plain, simple case, in which a school-boy of ten years old could have at once pointed out the course to be pursued, they spend no less than five precious hours," in consultation," and in devising ways and means for the public safety, notwithstanding that the sword, not of Damocles, but of Mac-Mahon, and his bloody-minded associates, hung over them. "They sat up all that night in consultation," "having far stronger presumptions, upon the latter examination taken, than any ways at first they could entertain."659 * XXXVI. The result of their long and painful consultation, from twelve o'clock at night till five in the morning, was, that at that late hour, they at length adopted the resolution of apprehending MacMahon!!!!!! XXXVII. The lords justices had received the names of some of the principal conspirators from O'Conally, and, among the rest, of * O'Conally swore positively that there was a conspiracy "to murder all the Protestants that would not join" with the conspirators. Yet the justices from this unequivocal testimony only derived "presumptions" of their danger! 653 Temple, 19. 658 Ibid. 654 Ibid. 656 Ibid. 667 Borlace, 20. lord Macguire; had "privately set a watch, on Friday night," at his lodgings; they must of course have known that he was equally impli cated with Mac-Mahon, and equally demanded the exercise of their vigilance and yet they did not think of arresting him, until after the seizure of the latter, and "a conference with him and others, and calling to mind a letter received the week before from sir William Cole," they "gathered" that he "was to be an actor in surprising the castle of Dublin !"660 XXXVIII. Owen O'Conally swears, that "in all parts of the kingdom, all the English inhabiting there," are to be "destroyed to-morrow morning;" but, in the very next sentence, he swears, "that all the Protestants, in all the seaports, and other towns in the kingdom, should be killed this night." It is not easy to conceive, how, after they were "all killed" on Friday night, they could be "all destroyed" on Saturday morning. XXXIX. O'Conally's depositition states, that the massacre is to begin at "ten o'clock on the 23d;" to be general "in all parts of the kingdom;" that all the English inhabitants are to be cut off; and that "all the posts that could be, could not prevent it." As this is the cardinal point in the affair, on which the whole turns, if it can be proved to be so unequivocally false and groundless, as to be utterly destitute of even the shadow of truth, then is the entire story a fabrication, and O'Conally a perjurer. XL. That this explosion did not take place; and that, of course, there could not possibly have been a general conspiracy, there is su perabundant testimony, as will appear in the subsequent paragraphs. XLI. I will first premise, that, as the arrest of Mac-Mahon and Macguire, in consequence of the pretended discovery of the sham plot, took place on the 23d of October, at five o'clock in the morning, just five hours before the time fixed for commencing the massacre, that circumstance could not have prevented an explosion in any other part of the kingdom, except in a very small portion of the circumjacent country. XLII. Yet on Monday, the 25th of October, the lords justices wrote an elaborate and detailed account of the proceedings of the insurgents in the north of Ireland, with a prolix statement of various outrages, not only without the least hint or surmise, but even with an utter exclusion of every idea, of murder or shedding of blood.* XLIII. And further, I invoke the most earnest attention of the reader to this all-important fact-Notwithstanding the pretended generality of the plot, the lords justices, by public proclamation, on the 29th of October, declared that the insurrection was confined to "the mere old Irish of the province of Ulster, and others who adhered to them." 99661 XLIV. These two strong facts prove that such parts of O'Conally's deposition as relate to the general extent of the conspiracy, and the plot to "cut off all the Protestants throughout the kingdom," are * See supra pp. 58 and 59, where the express words of the proclamations here referred to are quoted. 660 Temple, 28. 661 Temple, 34, wholly false, and that he of course was an abandoned perjurer; and would decide the question on these vital points, beyond appeal or controversy. But much stronger evidence remains behind, derived from Temple, Borlace, Carte, Leland, and Warner, to which I now invite the attention of the reader. XLV. Munster continued tranquil for six weeks, although, according to the testimony of Warner, it contained but one troop of horse:* and of course, when defended by such an insignificant force, had there been any reality in the plot, the Irish could and would have totally overwhelmed their oppressors.† XLVI. Connaught was in the same state for six weeks, principally owing to the influence of lord Clanrickarde, a Roman Catholic.t "In the province of Munster, of which sir William St. Leger was lord president, the English were very numerous, and ready to assemble in a body to preserve the peace and safety of the country. But they were utterly destitute of arms; and all the solicitations made by sir William, which were strong and numerous, could not persuade the lords justices and council to spare him any. He was a brave old soldier, of great experience and activity; and did every thing that it was possible for a man to do with one troop of horse, which was all his guard for the whole province; a guard scarcely sufficient to repress the insolence of robbers, in a time of profound peace, much less in a time of such general spoil and disturbance. But, with the assistance of the noblemen and gentry of the province, it continued quiet for above six weeks!!! Indeed, no man of quality, or gentleman of English blood, either Papist or Protestant, had as yet joined the rebels."662 + There is a discrepancy between Temple and Borlace as to the time when the insurrection commenced in Munster; the former stating it "the beginning," and the latter "the midst," of December. This does not, however, affect the disproof of O'Conally's deposition, which, in either case, is notoriously false. "The flame having marched through Ulster and Leinster, it discovers its fury, about the beginning of December, 1641, in Munster, which province till that time, (by the moderation of the state,) had stifled its rage, then expressing its consent with the other provin ces."663 "The whole province of Munster, about the midst of this month of December, BEGAN to declare themselves in open rebellion."88+ "In Munster, sir William St. Leger, the lord president, a soldier of activity and experience, and possessed even with an inveteracy against the Irish, could not obtain arms or soldiers sufficient for a time of peace, much less for a juncture of distraction and disorder. Yet the strength of the English Protestants, and the loyalty of the Irish gentry, as yet preserved this province from any material disorder."685 "The lord Ranelagh was president of Connaught: and all that province, except a few pillagers in the county of Sligo, had, owing in 662 Warner, 130. 663 Borlace, 49. 664 Temple, 155. 665 Leland, III. 158. XLVII. Leinster was likewise tranquil, except some outrages of small importance, until the beginning of December; as the summons to the lords of the Pale to come to Dublin, to consult on the affairs of state, was dated the 3d of that month, at which time there was no appearance of serious disturbance; and the butchery at Santry, by the sanguinary and merciless ruffian, sir Charles Coote, which was obviously intended to provoke, and actually led to, the insurrection in that province, took place on the 7th. XLVIII. And further, we have the testimony of Warner and Carte,t that the insurrection was for about six weeks confined almost wholly to the province of Ulster." XLIX. That the original views of the insurgents did not comprehend a general massacre, or even single murders, we have further testimony, clear and decisive, derived even from Temple, as well as War a great measure to the forward zeal and activity of lord Clanrickarde, though a Roman Catholic, till this time, continued quiet."666 "The infection of the pale having spread in the remoter parts, about the middle of December, the whole province of Connaught in a manner revolted, the county of Galway, of which lord Clanrickarde was governor, excepted." 99667 "The peace and security of Connaught were equally neglected by the chief governors, although the English power was inconsiderable in this province, and the Irish natives kept in continual alarm for twentyfive years, by the prospect of a general plantation, which, though suspended, had not been formally relinquished. Yet here, too, the good affections of the principal inhabitants stemmed the torrent of rebellion."7668 * "The town being left at his [Sir Charles Coote's] mercy, to which he appears to be a stranger, he put to death several persons, without distinction of age or sex!!! in revenge of the several spoils committed on the English in those parts.669 "In revenge of their depredations, he [Sir Charles Coote] committed such unprovoked, such ruthless, and indiscriminate carnage in the town, as rivalled the utmost extravagancies of the Northerns."670 "Had the lords justices and council acquitted themselves like men of probity and understanding, there was time enough given them to suppress an insurrection which for six weeks was confined almost to the province of Ulster, without any chief that was so considerable as sir Phelim O'Neal." 99671 "No one nobleman of the kingdom, nor any estated gentleman of English race, engaged in the rebellion, or joined with the rebels in action, till the month of December; for as to those gentlemen of the county of Louth, who submitted to them before, being unable to defend themselves or to make resistance, they had not yet appeared in action. The rebellion till then had been carried on by the mere Irish, and CONFINED TO ULSTER, to some few counties in Leinster, and that of Leitrim, in Connaught."673 666 Warner, 157. 667 Idem, 158. 669 Leland, III. 158. 669 Warner, 135. 672 Carte, I. 243. 671 Warner, 130. ner, and Leland, which, independent of all other proof, would be sufficient to settle this question for ever, and utterly overwhelm O'Conally's perjured legend.* L. Moreover, if there had been a plot for a general insurrection, and such a massacre as O'Conally swore to, there would have been evidence produced from some of the conspirators: but notwithstanding the lords justices had recourse to the execrable aid of the rack, and put Mac-Mahon and others to the torture, there is not, in the examinations of the former, a single word to corroborate the sanguinary part of O'Conally's deposition. The examinations of the rest were never published. LI. There is not to be found in Temple, Borlace, Carte, Warner, Leland, Clarendon, nor, as far as I have seen, in Rushworth, the examination of a single person engaged in a conspiracy which was said to have extended throughout the whole kingdom, except those of Mac-Mahon and lord Macguire!!!! That of the latter was not taken till March, 1642. Perhaps the preceding analysis of this miserable legend might supersede the necessity of adding any thing further on the subject. But its great importance, and a deep solicitude to dispel the thick mists with which prejudice and fraud have overspread it, induce me to place it in a new form, and bring it more home to the mind of the reader. The reasons for adopting this measure, which might otherwise appear a work of supererogation, will probably so far satisfy the reader, as to preclude the necessity of an apology. Queries. Is there a man in the world who can seriously believe: I. That a Catholic COLONEL, engaged in a plot to murder the Protestants, would send forty-five miles for a Protestant, SERVANT to a Protestant gentleman, an inveterate enemy to the Roman Catholics, as an accomplice? II. That a journey of a hundred and ten miles could be performed in three days and a half, the sun rising about seven, and setting about five, at a season of the year when the rains, then usually prevalent, must have rendered the roads almost impassable; and by a man who knew nothing of the business which led to the summons he had received, and who, of course, had no temptation to make any extraordinary exertion ? III. That a stranger, arriving in the suburbs of a city an hour af ter sun-set, and fatigued with a long journey, should, without any aid from the moon, immediately commence a search for and actually find out the lodgings of another stranger, who had arrived a few hours before? "It was resolved" by the insurgents "not to kill any, but where of necessity they should be forced thereunto by opposition."78 See further evidence of this all-important fact page 56. 673 Temple, 65. |