IRELAND. 



have but one parliamert, which might have been eafily of- 

 fefted at that time. This would have rendered fuch extra- 

 ordinary proceedings entirely unnecefTary, and would in all 

 probability have prevoiited much of the mifchief wliich af- 

 terwards occurred ; but the fettlers were conliJered as a 

 colony, dependent on the mother country, to whofe intercft 

 they were to be fubfervient, without pi-efuming to interfere 

 in any but the petty regulations of their own ifland, and all 

 but the colony were regarded as fccret enemies, who could 

 not be too carefully watched, or too llriftlv kept in fubjec- 

 tion. In confequence, the diftinftions which had fubfitlcd 

 amongft them were in a great mcafure done away, and they 

 united in defence of a religion to which they were equally 

 attached, and of rights which they conceived -to be equally 

 invaded. Sucii was the prevailing fentimcnt, when, after an 

 interval of tw?rily-fiv:n years, a parliament, fummoned by 

 Cliichefter, the deputy, met in i6r^. The recufants, (as 

 tliey were called, from their refufal to acknowledge the 

 king's fupremacy, and to attend the cflabhihed v^-ordiip,) 

 were prepared to difpate every ttep, and were numerous in 

 both hoiifes. Such indeed was their refillnnce, that, al- 

 ■ though the bifliops in the upper, and the new borough 

 ' rncmbcrs in the' lower houfe, gave government a majority, it 

 was found necelTary to prorogue them until the following 

 year, when acts for acknowledging the king's title, for 

 fettling upon him a revenue, and for confirming the northern 

 attainders, were palFed. During the remainder of this reign, 

 and for the early part of the fucceeding one, the two con- 

 tending parties often (liewed their rancour without proceed- 

 ing to extremities, whihl the period of pence was employed 

 by fome in aftive exertions for the eftablifhment of manu- 

 factures, and the estenfion of cultivation. In 1633, lord 

 Wentworth, better known by his later title of earl of Straf- 

 ford, commenced his adminiftration. He treated Ireland 

 •with feverity, as a conquered country, the fubjecls of which 

 had forfeited the rights of men and citizens, and depended 

 folely on the royal grace. The recufants and the Puritans 

 were equally offended by his meafures ; yet, by artfully ply- 

 ing one party againlt the other, he contrived to manage'a 

 parliament which he fummoned, and to perform many afts 

 of feverity with a vigour beyond the law. 



At length the time arrived when Ireland was to be once 

 more involved in war and bloodfheJ. The impeachment of 

 lord Strafford before the Englifh parliament was one of the 

 firtf fteps to the overthrow of the royal authority. The fe- 

 vere reftriftions impofed on the Cathohc party, which, as 

 before obfervcd, included almoll all the inhabitants, except 

 the new fettlers, led them to watch for an opportunity of 

 revenge ; and the dillraded ftate of affairs in England' af- 

 fording a favourable opportunity, a general infurrctlion was 

 planned, and carried into exccu'.ion on the 23d of Otlober 

 1647, an event productive of the moll baneful conftquences 

 to the peace, union, and profperity of Ireland. This civil 

 ■war, or rebellion, as it is juftly called, even admitting the 

 palliations that have been urged, was begun by the native 

 Iri(h, and they were afterwards joined by moll of the Ca- 

 tlmhcs. Happy would it be for the country if tlie afts of 

 violence then committed could be for ever buried in oblivion. 

 The writers on both fides are charged with partiality by 

 their opponents ; yet what they admit refpeciing their own 

 . parties is enough to (hew that there was on both fides much 

 to blame, and much to lament. For eleven years Ireland 

 was a fcene of confufion, there being no lefs than five dif- 

 ferent parties, xjf whom it has been'faid, that each, in the 

 tourfe of the %var, at one time or other, fought againll the 

 fa6Hoa with which it had formerly fi led. At length, in 

 165;:, Cromi^-ell affumed the com nand of the parhamcntary 



army, to which he brought a cbpfiderable reinforcement, 

 and foon completely reduced the whole ifland. The latid^ 

 which had belonged to thofe who had been killed, or who 

 were deprived of their pofiefuons by force of arms, wrre uow 

 given to new coloniils,. many of whom had been officers in 

 the victorious army. Limits were affigned to the Irifh, be- 

 yond which they were not to come, and thefe continued ta 

 be ftric^ly enforced till the reftoration. TheProtettant and 



" EngUdi interell was now m.ore completely ellabhihed than at 

 any former lime ; but though the Catholics had loll the 

 power to injure, they retained their aniraofity. At this \k- 

 riod, indeed, the interell and power of the old native Iriih, 

 aii a diftinft clafs of inhabitants, was entirely broken, tiieir 

 numbers being from that time much exceeded by thofe of 



■ the old and new inhabitants of the Britiih race. 



On the relloration it was hoped that the king would have 

 overturned all the me;ifures of Cromwell ; but he confirmed 

 all the grants, and the ntiiatiou of the Catholics was little, 

 if at all, amev.dcd. The duke of Ormond, who had great 

 influence in Irilh affairs, was a fteady Proteftant ; and what- 

 ever might be the king's private wiflies, no fleps were taken 

 in favour of the oppofite party till near the conchilion of 

 his reign, when his brother the duke of- York appears to 

 have had great influence over him. On tlse acceliion of 

 James II. the Romifh party in Ireland were infpired witii 

 the moll extravagant expeftations ; they fancied themfelvcs 

 already rellored to the ellates of their ancellors, and pof- 

 fefled of every advantage to be derived from a king of their 

 own rehgion. " At length," fays Mr. Newenham, " the 

 infatuatedjames, yielding to the impolitic counftls of men 

 who, perhaps, might have governed a religious fraternity 

 well, but who were utterly ignorant of the government of 

 an empire ; and taught to regard the Irifli Roman Catholics 

 as fit inllruments for the acco:nph(lmient of his vifionary and 

 defpotic projetts, gradually raifed, invigorated, ;uid encou- 

 raged them. By the obfequiou: forbearance, or conllraiued 

 acquiefcence of Clarendon, and the indefatigable exertions 

 of the zealous and plenij;otent Tyrconnel, they were once 

 more prepared to renew the terrible conflict ; and animated 

 by no ordinary combination of forcible motives, recurred to 

 arms ; after incautioufly co-operating with their bigoted fo- 

 vereign, in p?rfecuting their Proteftant countrymen without 

 meafure and without remorfe ; and th'.:s, in fome degree, 



jullifyiiig that fevere retahation which they themfelves were 

 foon after to experience. 



Eheu, 



Quam temere in nofmet legem fancimus iniquam. 



But England was not then, as on the preceding occafionr 

 paralyzed by internal comm.otions. The prince who had 

 afcended the abdicated throne was an experienced general, 

 and a found politician. The vifionary .lames was grer.ily 

 overmatched. The Irifli Roman Catholics were, in confe- 

 quence, completely vanquifhcd ; dripped of political pov<er; 

 hurled from every poll of truit and emolument, and almoit 

 entirely difpoflefled of their remaining lands. The work of 

 vengeance, however, was not yet finilhed, nor could it per- 

 haps have terminated thus, confiilently with the weaknefs 

 and wickednefs infeparable from human nature. The Jrifli 

 Protellants, Hill horrified by the remembrance of the fero- 

 cious maffacre of 1641 ; recollecling the havoc and mifery 

 of the long war which fucceeded that event ; dreading a re- 

 petition of the tyrannical meafures, the rclentlefs, and, fi>r 

 the moll part, unprovoked perfecution from which they had 

 been recently refcued ; and a renewal of thofe bloody fcenes 

 which they had jufl furvived ; yielding, in Ihort,' to the 

 united impidfe of revenge and fear, and thereby hurried be- 

 ti yond 



