1 R £ L A N D. 



lewdnefs and idlenefs. And to thefe may be added another 

 fort of like loofe fellows, which do pafs up and down 

 amonjjll gentlemen by the name of jolters, but are indeed 

 notable rogues, and partakers not only of many Healths, 

 by fetting forth other men's goods to be ftolcn, but alfo 

 privy to many traiterous practices, and common carriers of 

 news, with delire whereof you would wonder hov/ much 

 the Irilh are fed." 



Almoll the whole of the two firfl claiTes, and the greater 

 part of the Englifh of blood, were zealouily and blindly 

 attached lo the doftrincs and difcip'iine of the cliurch of 

 Rome, in which they had been educated, and were there- 

 tore eafily iniiigated to fupport Philip of Spain, a Catholic 

 prince, to whom they had once been fubject againlt their 

 Protellant miftrefs. In 1560, the firll parliament in this 

 rjign was afTembled for the purpofe cf rc-eilablilhing 

 the queen's fupremacy and the reformed worfhip. The 

 houfe of commons confiiled of only 76 members, from 

 thofe parts where the Englilh intereil was ilronged, yet 

 the change was not eflcclcd without much clamour and op- 

 pohtion. Laws, however, were pafled, relloring ecclefialli- 

 cal jurifdi&ion to the crown, enforcing the ufc of the com- 

 mon prayer, and obliging all fiibjecls to attend the public 

 fervice of the church. But though the deputy fucci-eded 

 ■with parliament, the meafures were very unpalatable. " The 

 numerous partizans of Rome inveighed againlt the hereticiJ 

 queen, and her impious minillers. The clergy wlio re- 

 fufed to conform abandoned their cures; no reformed mi- 

 nillers could be found to fupply their places ; the churches 

 fell to ruin ; the people were left without any religious 

 ■worlkip or inftrudion. Even in places of mod civility, the 

 ftatutes lately made were evaded or neglected with impunity. 

 The ignorant were taught to abominate a government, 

 which they heard configned to all the terrors of the divine 

 vengeance ; were exhorted to itanj prepared for a glorious 

 opportunity of aflerting the caufe of rehgion ; and afTured 

 of effeiStual fupport, both from tlie pope, whofe authority 

 had been profaned, and from the king of Spain, now par- 

 ticularlv offended at E!iz>beth.'' 



Befides the diforder occafioned by thefe efforts to force 

 upon the people a religion they deteiled, much uneafmefs 

 was occafioned to the government by the relllefs turbu- 

 lence of Shane or John O'Nial, the molt powerful chief- 

 tain in Ireland. Sir Henry Sidney, to whom Elizabeth 

 entrukled the government for many years, and who de- 

 ferved her confidence, fucceL-ded in attaching to him fe- 

 veral inferior chieftains v.hom O'Nial had injured, and with 

 their aid completely fubdued him. But fcarcely was the 

 northern dilturbance allayed, than another broke out in 

 the fouth, headed by the earl of Defmond, which was of 

 longer continuance. Sir John Perrott, prefident of Muniter, 

 an office lately mltituted, not only fuppreffed the rebellion, 

 but enforced fuch a itrict execution of Englifli law, as to 

 give an unufual appearance of peace, indultry, and civility, 

 to the whole province. Peace, however, was of (liort con- 

 tinuance, and an attempt of Sidney to raife a tax by order 

 of council, without authority of parliament, excited a nioft 

 determined oppofition on the part of the nobility and gentry 

 of the pale. Tiiefe difcontents were encouraged by the 

 cmili'arics of Philip II.; a body of Spaniards landed in 

 Kerry, who acted in concert with Defmond ; and a pro- 

 tracteil warfare was maintained, which, as ufual, terminated 

 in favour of the Englifli. The enormous demefnes of Def- 

 mond were forfeited, and divided amongit a number of Eng- 

 lifh Undertaken, as they were called, who eutered into a 

 Ilipulation to plant a certain number of Enghfli families on 

 their cflatesj in proportion to tiie number of acres, a llipu- 



lation frequently ncgleAcd to tlie great injury pf the fcttlff- 

 mcnt. Amongll others wlio received portions, were fir 

 'Walter Raleigh, who had ferved witii reputation for bravery, 

 though not without the Ham of cruelly, and Edmund 

 Spenfer, the poet, who has introduced feveral allufions 

 to Ireland into his Fairy Queen. In 1 584, fir John Per- 

 rott was fent over as chief governor, and as war and in- 

 furredtion feemed to be then extinguiftied, he applied him- 

 felf to the general extenfion of Enghfh law witli confiJer- 

 able fuccefs. He nominated flierilfs for the coimties of Con- 

 naught, and alfo for feven new counties inftitutcd in Ulller, 

 with other nccefTary officers ; but his plans for more cx- 

 tenfive improvement were thwarted m England from ill- 

 timed cco.nomy, and notwithllanding all his exertions, a par- 

 liament, fummoned by him in the following year, rejected 

 almoft every meafure propofed to them. Tlic ojiprefTion of 

 the natives by the Enghfli fcttlers, which Pcrrot in vain en- 

 deavoured to reprefs, fupplied new caufes of difconteni ; 

 and this active governor v/as at length obliged to leave 

 Ireland. A inore general fpirit of inlurrcdlion than at any 

 former period was now excited, and Elizabeth found it 

 neceffary to make uncommon efiorts, left England flioald 

 be placed between the forces of Spain collected in the 

 Netherlands, and their naval flrength and armaments fla- 

 tioned in the harbours of Ireland. The mifconduft of fuc- 

 ceffive gevernors, efpeciaily of Elizabetii's favourite, the 

 earl of EfTex, who had an army of 20,000 men, incrcafed 

 the danger, and before the rebels were fubdued, a Spanifii 

 army took poffeflion of Kinfale, and a nuncio arrived from 

 the pope to iiiiligate the friends of Rome to make every 

 exertion. The abilities and exertions of Biount,.lord Mount- 

 joy, lord deputy, and of fir George Carcw, prefident cf 

 Munfter, afhited by confiderable reinforcements from Eng- 

 land, at length effected the fnrrender of the Spaniards, and 

 t'le complete reduction of all the lords and chiefs, who, 

 until then, had ruled in tlie idand, after a war which lafted^ 

 about feven years. Ehzabeth did not live to fee this event, 

 the final capitulation not having been figned until a few 

 days after her death, though before the news of i: had 

 reached Ireland. 



The reign of James I. was one of at leafi; comparetivp 

 tranquillity. All violent oppofition to tlie authority of tiie 

 Englifh government and crown was put an end to. " Tlie 

 fpirit of "irifh refiftance," to ufe tlie exprefTions of fir John 

 Davics, " was brayed, as it were, in a mortar, with ^ths 

 fword, famine, and peltilence altogether." Both the degene- 

 rated Enghfh and the native Irifii were alike overcome. At 

 the fame time the power of the judges and of the Engli/h go- 

 vernment was extenlively fixed, the Irifh laws and culloms 

 were aboliflied, and the Enghfh laws eftablilhed in all cafes, 

 without exception, through the whoL- ifland. Numerous co- 

 lonies were alfo fent from England and Scotland, efpeciaily 

 from the latter, to occupy the forfeited ellates, and feven 

 entire northern counties were allotted to undertakers, which 

 was called the " Plantation of Ulller," a meafure which 

 was certainly attended by the introduction of indallry and 

 order into that province. With a view to flrengthen the 

 Protellant party, great care was taken that thefe fettlers 

 fliould be Protcltants, and they were chiefly Scotch Prefby- 

 terians, or Englilh Puritans, the latter of whom found their 

 fituation at home uneafy, from James's zealous attachment to 

 their adverfaries. For tiie fame purpofe, many new borouglis 

 were ereCled, fo as to give a majority in parliament to the 

 fame party, which they could not otherwije have acconi- 

 pUlhed, as the county members v\ ere likely to be almoll all 

 Papills. It wauld have been at this time a wife and liberal 

 policy to have completely united tlie two countries, fo as to 

 ; G 2 have 



