and not only such advantages as advanced their mo ney upon the credit of the aforesaid statutes, but even those of all doubling ordinance, who, upon the bare votes or orders of the rump-parliament, zealously advanced very considerable sums, on purpose to carry on that horrible rebellion against the King in England, are put upon an equal foot with the former, and both secured of large estates, for one or two years purchase.

+ Secondly, Cromwell's soldiers, to whom indeed that tyrant was much obliged, because they, with the rest of their tribe in England, raised him from a mean condition to be absolute master of three kingdoms, for which service he gave twelve entire counties of Ireland, to be divided among them; yet this he intended only by way of mort gage, until their arrears were paid; for he never would give them any sort of letter patent for those ostates, or any other grant than during pleasure; which the. soldiers knew so well, that as fast as they could find purchasers, they sold their interest. for a song, and others became rich by the bargain; because now by the declaration, they and their assigns are secured in their possessions, which are settled upon them, not for any limited time, but to them and their heirs for ever. A very noble Jeward indeed from a king for fighting against his crown, when those that fought for it to the last, were stript and sent a begging. A reward which these rebels could never expect from Cromwell himself, who designed after a while to dispose of these

Irish Stat, page 559. The Debenturer's title

these twelve counties, for other ends of his own, and certainly he could not but disposé of them to better purpose than the declaration has done.

* Thirdly, the officers who had served the King in Ireland at any time before the fifth of June 1649, whose arrears were summed up by themselves to eighteen hundred thousand pounds sterl. And this most extravagant bill of accompts, whereof the tenth part could not be possibly due, was very readily allowed of by the adventurers and soldiers, whose maxim was, claw me, and I will claw you. For they wisely considered, that several of these forty-nine officers had some colour of merit, while themselves had none at all to pretend; and for that reason, they thought it necessary to bring them into play, in order to give the better gloss to their proceedings, and to strengthen their interest. In consideration thereof, and of the said pretended arrears, (while the brave and truly loyal cavaliers of England received besides the noisy grant of a ridiculous lottery, but seventy thousand pounds for all their faithful services during the war, and their great sufferings under the usurpation) our forty nine officers were most liberally allowed all the forfeited lands of four counties, and within a mile of the Shannon or of the Sea, in the province of Connaught, and county of Clare, and all the forfeited houses and tenements, in the several walled Towns and Corporations in the kingdom, not already set out to adventurers or soldiers, together with the right of redemption of mortgages, statutes staple, judgments

* The 49 officers title.

judgments, &c. belonging to Catholics, and over and above all this, a hundred thousand pounds sterling, in ready money upon a very frivolous account Although it was well known, that most of these officers, thus bountifully rewarded, either were in actual rebellion, in Summer, 1649, and for many years before, as the Earl of Orrery, Earl of Mountrath, Lord Kingston, Lord Coloony, Sir Theophilus Jones, Sir Oliver St. George, Sir John Cole, and several others, or did soon after desert the King's army and join with the usurper; for which good service they were gratefully recompenced by Cromwel, with large debenture lands, or other equivalent gratuities. Yet this signified nothing against them upon his Majesty's restoration, for not only such of the said forty-nine of ficers as deserted the King's standard, but even those who were treacherously instrumental in the betraying of several considerable towns and garrisons into the Usurper's hands, were by the act of settlements allowed their forty nine arrears, if within two years after the act, they could make appear to the chief government of Ireland, and any six of the council, that they made some repair for their former faults, by their timely and seasonable appearance for the King's restoration. And we may be sure, very slight repairs were thought sufficient to atone for those venial slips of our reformed saints, for, even as in John Calvin's new system of divinity, Let the Elect commit never so great Enormities they are still blameless, still Babes

* Irish statutes, page, 581

of

of grace, because no sin can be imputed to them. So it seems, let our godly reformers be engaged every moon in the blackest treason imaginable, they must pass, nevertheless, for his Majesty's most loyal and dutiful subjects, and never be treated like rebels, but rather highly rewarded, as if they had done their prince good service. But the reprobate Papists are still to be damned as to this world, let them be never so innocent, and signalize their loyalty never so much. And therefore, although the declaration made no distinction of forty nine officers, whether Protestant or Papist, but ordered that all should be satisfied equally for their arrears: yet) by the instructions, and subsequent acts of parliament, the Papist (except the Marquis of Clanrikard and Sir George Hamilton, who through favour, got particular provisoes § were utterly excluded, notwithstanding that none of them exer deserted the King's standard, but held out to the last against the usurper.

The late King being thus far wrought and strangely imposed upon, to reward his inveterate enemies, who now became great by being thorough paced rebels, it is needless to wonder that he has made no better provision for his known friends. Yet certain it is, that his Majesty was so far from intending to deprive the Catholics of Ireland of their birth-right, that he was fully resolved at first to do them all the justice imaginable; and would have certainly done it, but that he was perfidiously cifcumvented

D

Irish statutes, page, 509. Ibid, page, 588,

Ibid. page, 8 Ibid. page 879. 888.

circumvented by those he confided in; who, notwithstanding all their pretended loyalty, did always prefer their own ends before their prince's interest, and therefore took all possible care to obstruct his Majesty's good intentions towards his Irish subjects.

And, in the first place, because the Innocents were the only Catholics restorable without previous reprisals, they framed ten or eleven qualifications to render in a manner impossible for any Irish Catholics to be adjudged innocent, and got the same inserted in his Majesty's instruction for the execution of the said declaration, as the ground work of all their proceedings. In the very first of these qualifications it is established; "That none should

be restored as an innocent papist, who being of "full age and sound memory, enjoyed his estate "real or personal in the rebels quarters," by which clause only we may easily judge of the rest; and discover what little justice the Irish were to expect. For, upon this account not only those that lived peaceable in the country, and never took up arms either on the one side or other, but also such of them as were actually in the King's service in Eng. land, if they received but the least benefit out of their estates in Ireland at any time during the war, were to be deemed nocent and their estates conferred upon those, who at the same time zealously fought against the King.

Of the court of claims and qualifications of innocent claimants. Ibid page, 525.