236 



IRELAND. 



lish colo- 

 nists. 



Conduct of 

 Edwaidlll 

 towards 

 Ireland. 



History, name, character, and privileges of English subjects; 

 "Y~~"' the English troops, unpaid and undisciplined, were per- 

 milled, and even ordered lo levy exactions, lo supply 

 the place of their pay ; and this they did wilh so much 

 rapacily and cruelly, lhal ihe setllemenls in the south, 

 over which, as at the greatest distance from ihe seat of 

 government, they tyrannized in the most dreadful man- 

 Degeneracy ner, were deserted by the English, and occupied by a 

 of the Kng- horde of lawless and savage banditti, over whom even 

 some of the English lords placed themselves, with the 

 title of Irish princes. These princes were constantly 

 at war either with one another, or with the English ; 

 but the circumstances of these petty warfares are too 

 uninteresting for detail. 



Ireland, thus'reduced to a state of barbarism, and its 

 constant attendants misery and poverty, was doomed 

 to suffer still more from the unjust, as .well as impolitic 

 measures of Edward III. This prithee, impoverished by 

 his wars with France, resolved to draw money from 

 Ireland, by the only mode in which it was capable of 

 supplying it. With this view, he resumed all grants of 

 estates made by himself or his father ; and declared, 

 that none except Englishmen, who possessed property 

 in England, should hold offices in Ireland. This vio- 

 lent measure naturally excited deep and gsneral alarm, 

 while, at the same time, it as naturally gave rise to 

 two parlies or faclions, viz ihose that were English by 

 birth, and those who -were English only by blood. 

 Edward probably was soon sensible of his error, for he 

 returned a gracious and favourable answer to the re- 

 monstrances of the parliament on the subject of his or- 

 dinances, and at the same time promised a redress of 

 the grievances which they enumerated. 



As a repetition of the disturbances and petty re- 

 bellions by which .the history of Ireland is at this pe- 

 riod, and for some time after wards, principally distin- 

 guished, would be tiresome and iminstruclive, we shall 

 pass them over, and select only such circumstances 

 and transactions as tended to improve the condition of 

 this country ; these, unfortunately, have always been 

 few, and " far between ;" and, till within a very re- 

 cent period indeed, rather deviations from, than in strict 

 conformity with, the principles on which the English 

 have ruled over Ireland. 



Wise admi- In 1356', Ireland was favoured with a wise, hu- 

 nistration of mane, and just governor, Sir Thomas Rokeby ; his fa- 

 Rokeby. vourite saying was, " let my dishes be wooden, rather 

 than my creditors unpaid.'' Convinced thai no good 

 could be done to Ireland, which did not proceed from 

 the highest source, and that the mass of the people 

 must remain barbarous and unrestrained by law, so 

 long as the higher orders were so, his first steps were 

 to improve the latter. He brought the Irish parliament 

 as nearly as possible to the model of the English, and 

 when, by this means, he could depend upon their 

 judgment and impartiality, he assigned to it the deci- 

 sion of all appeals from inferior courts : these had been 

 carried heretofore into England. He thus lessened the 

 expence and trouble of law-suits, while at the same time 

 he habituated the Irish to a knowledge of law, and by 

 putting confidence in them, rendered them worthy of 

 confidence. Unfortunately, however, the wise mea- 

 sures of the chief governor were counteracted by the 

 unjust and impolitic proceedings of ihe king : he for- 

 bade any more Irishmen from being admitted into any 

 office or place of trust, in any city, borough, or castle, 

 or into any ecclesiastical benefice; thus proclaiming 

 his suspicions of the Irish, without doing any thing to 

 remove their dislike of the English. Finding this 



1336. 



measure not productive of all the benefit he expected, History. 1 

 he next adopted a most bold measure. His second son, V ^"Y~*' 

 Lionel, in right of his wife, claimed the lands' and the 

 title of Earl of Ulster : and to enable him to carry these 

 claims into effect, he was appointed by his father chief 

 governor, and sent over with an army of 1500 men ; 

 but his attempts were ineffectual ; and he left Ireland 

 with no other proof of his having been there, except 

 an increased hatred between the two factions, occa- 

 sioned by his preference of those of English birth, and 

 his persecution of those of English blood. It is pro- 

 bable that experience taught him the folly of his pro- 

 ceedings, for during both his subsequent governor- 

 ships, his conduct was extremely politic and judicious. 



The parliament, which enacted the statute of Kil- Statute of 

 kenny in 1367, was summoned by him. The leading Kll j' enn 5'' 

 object of this statute was to keep the English distinct ** 

 from the Irish in character, manners, feelings, and in- 

 terests. For this purpose, all connection with the Irish, 

 by marriage, or fosterage, was forbidden under the pe- 

 nalty affixed to high treason : if an Irish name or the 

 Irish language, dress, or customs, -were adopted, the 

 forfeiture of lands, or imprisonment, was ihe punish* 

 menl. War was not to be levied against the Irish 

 without special license from government ; no Irishman 

 was to be received into a monastery, or presented to a 

 benefice, nor was any Irish bard or newsmonger to be 

 entertained. The quartering of soldiers on English 

 subjects, wilhout their consent, was forbidden, under 

 the punishment attached to felony. It is evident that 

 if it had been praclicable to have carried this statute 

 into full and regular operation, it would have entirely 

 cut off all connection between the Irish and ihe Eng- 

 lish ; but its execution was impracticable from various 

 causes, and it probably became rather ihe instrument of 

 tyranny and oppression, even to those it was meant to 

 benefit, than of any real good. 



Richard II. twice visited Ireland during his reign, jjjchard If 

 The object of his first visit was to reduce the Irish visits ire- " 

 chieftains, and, as they were disuniled, nearlv all of land 

 them were obliged, or deemed it prudent, lo submil. A. D. 1399. 

 But no sooner had he quitted Ireland, than they revolt- 

 ed, attacked ihe English, defealed ihem, and slew 

 Morlimer, Richard's cousin, who had been appoinled 

 chief governor. These dissensions induced Richard lo 

 come over lo Ireland again in 1399; but, though he 

 was at the head of an army of 30,000 men, he was una- 

 ble to reduce one Irish chieftain, who, with only 3000 

 troops, eluded him among the bogs and woods, and 

 when he retreated, harrassed him incessantly, and with 

 dreadful effect. At length Richard was obliged to re- 

 turn to England, in consequence of the attempls made 

 upon his ihrone by Henry Duke of Lancaster. 



Henry IV. was so busily occupied in laying the its state ia 

 foundation of his newly acquired government, thai he the reigns 

 paid little attention to the affairs of Ireland ; and the ot Henry 

 conquest of France drew off the mind of his son from 1V< m & v " 

 the same object. The English settlemenls, which 

 were always in a fei'ble state, even when nurtured by 

 attention and supplies from England, sunk into still 

 greater weakness during the reigns of ihese monarchs : 

 the Irish chieftains harrassed them incessantly, and the 

 English lords, constantly jealous of one anolher, and 

 engaged in quarrels, were neilher able nor disposed to 

 repel the attacks of Ihe Irish. Under these circum- 

 stances, the English settlements must have been utter- 

 ly destroyed, if the Irish lords had acted in concert, 

 or been faithful to one another ; but each followed their 

 individual and separate interests, and on receiving 



