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inhabitants of the circumjacent country would naturally seek refuge; and where, it is not extravagant to suppose, that "the others," who thus "got safe," might have amounted to some thousands : let us then deduct the aggregate from 20,000, the total number of English, and we shall find a slender remainder. But the plain fact is, that the writers on this subject are so haunted by the idea of a massacre, that although it rests on the sandy foundation of forgery and perjury, as shall be fully proved in the sequel, and although many of their own statements, in the most unequivocal manner, give it the lie direct, their minds cannot be divested of the terrific object. These passages from Carte furnish a strong case in point. The most ardent friend of Ireland could not desire a much more complete proof of the fallacy of the accounts of the pretended massacre, than is here given by this author himself, who, nevertheless, wonderful to tell! appears to resist the evidence of his own facts, and to be blind to the obvious inference to which they inevitably lead.

We have already borne strong testimony to the general correctness of the intentions of Ferdinando Warner, a clergyman of the church of England, as displayed throughout his "History of the Rebellion and Civil War of Ireland," with the remarkable exception of the state of that country, previous to 1641, in which he has fallen into the most egregious errors. He appears to have been the only writer who has

gone into any

elaborate investigation of the legendary tales of the pretended massacre; and his views of the subject well deserve the most serious attention of the reader. After stating the uncertainty of the accounts, and the consequent difficulty of making an exact estimate, he pronounces a strong and unequivocal sentence of condemnation on the Munchausen tales we are combating; and avers,

that

"It is easy enough to demonstrate the falsehood of the relation of every Protestant historian of this rebellion."413

He proceeds to render a satisfactory account of the grounds on which this statement rests:

"To any one who considers how thinly Ireland was at that time peopled by Protestants, and the province of Ulster particularly, where was the chief scene of the massacre, THOSE

RELATIONS UPON THE FACE OF THEM APPEAR INCREDIBLE."414

He then enters into an elaborate detail, in confirmation of this opinion, which the reader will find in Chapter I. page 20, and which reduces the number "murdered" to 4,028; and, let it not be forgotten, nearly one-half of even this number rests wholly on "report!!"

He adds, it is true, nearly double that number, who fell victims to ill-usage: thus making an aggregate of about 12,000. But even in this number he himself does not believe: for he closes with a strong and decisive condemnation of the state

413 Warner, 296.

414 Ibid.

ment, in the following remarkable view of the subject:

"If we should allow that the cruelties of the Irish, out of war, extended to these numbers, which, CONSIDERING THE NATURE OF SEVERAL OF THE DEPOSITIONS, I think in my conscience we cannot, yet, to be impartial, we must allow that there is no pretence for laying a greater number to their charge."415

Thus we close this subject with stating, that these hundreds of thousands are reduced by Carte to 20,000, less "several thousands," and "6,000 women and children," and "others;" and by Warner to about 12,000, a large portion of which, "in his conscience," he cannot allow! Would it not be an insult to the reader, to offer another word, to prove the utter falsehood of all the terrific statements given of the subject, whereby the world has been so long and so grossly deceived?

415 Warner, 296.

CHAPTER XVIII.

View of the spirit of the hostile parties in Ireland. Murderous and never-enough-to-be-execrated orders of the lords justices, and of the Long Parliament. Illustrious contrast on the part of the Irish.

BEFORE we enter on the investigation of the horrible and unparalleled cruelties alleged to have been perpetrated by the Irish in this civil war, we regard it as a duty to present a view of the spirit manifested in the orders given to the commanding generals on both sides, which will shed important light on this interesting subject; and add still further corroboration to the various proofs we have already adduced, of the unprecedented deceptions practised upon, and the erroneous impressions entertained by, the world at large, respecting Irish affairs.

He must be a mere sciolist in history, who requires to be informed, that the most rigorous military discipline has too frequently, in every age, been utterly inadequate fully to restrain the ferocious and sanguinary spirit of mercenary armies, which, accustomed to scenes of blood and desolation, are too prone to be steeled

against the calls of humanity. It is well known, moreover, that civil wars are almost always signalized by incomparably more ruthless barbarity than wars between hostile nations. But, if the wisest regulations, to restrain military violence, be always found difficult, and too often impossible, to be carried into effect, even in well-regulated armies, how frightful must be the result, when murder and desolation are not merely tolerated, but absolutely commanded; when the rulers Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war ;"

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when military outrage is excited, by orders to slaughter the unoffending; and when the incapacity to resist the violence of one party, is made a pretext for murder by the other!

It will astonish the reader to learn, that the tenants of the regions below do not differ more from the purest cherub or seraph that the mind of man can conceive, than the fiend-like spirit of the orders promulgated by the lords justices, from those issued by the leaders of the Irish. None of those destroyers of mankind, who

"Wade thro' seas of blood,

And walk o'er mountains of slaughtered bodies ;"416 who riot in human misery; could exceed the lords justices, in the desolating inhumanity of their orders, which breathed nothing but an infuriate spirit of havoc and devastation.

416 Lee.

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