Falkiner — ^'Remembrances of the State of Ireland, 1612.''^ 129 



ho' counsayll her in England shall rather receyve letters of excuse 

 then trwe informatyons of any mysdemeanances of the Irysh towards 

 hys Mai' Thys combynatyon is the mayn poynt that Ireland wyll 

 styll remayne as it hath done, not only repugnant to hys !Mal^^ lawes, 

 but also a charge to his Mal*^ purse 



Of pnoxs & protectyons , now hurtfull 



TO THE SEEVTCE OF THE PEYNCE. 



For thes 40 yeares togyther that I have knowne Irelande, thys 

 onely portseale of pdons is it that hath set so many rebellyons on 

 foote, & it not yet all owt two yeares agoe synce I sawe 1020 sevall 

 mens names conteyned in one pdon. I knowe not how benefyciall it 

 is to hys MaV thys lyberall grantinge of pdons, but I am sure it is 

 made a matter of great profyt to thos that be hys officers, for he that 

 hath mony to gyve can neiS want a pdon, thys maketh the Iryshe so 

 hardy to enter into ungracyous actyons. And then ther be a nmbre 

 of poore needy knyghtes & many other favouretes that doth nothynge 

 else but hunte after sutes, that are styll redy to begge pdons, to begge 

 felons goodes, traytors goodes, forfytures of recognyscanees, warde- 

 shypes, intrusyons, & all manl of • casualtyes. And thes matters are 

 styll gyven away to thos unworthy psons of small or no deserte, that 

 other wyse myght be converted to hys Ma*'^ great benefit. 



but it is no great wondre though a theef a murtherer or a 

 traytor shuld helpe themselves by compassynge of a pdon, but 

 that a Lorde Chanceler, a Justyce, an Atiflny, a solycyter, a kynges 

 surveyor geul all, or any such other offycer that is in especyall trust 

 for hys Ma^i^ servyce, & that any of thes should seeke to purchace 

 pdons for fraud, for deceypt, for brybery, for forgery & for such 

 other misdemaunces towards the prynce as some of them have done 

 (& whereof I have some copyes to showe) it seemeth strange. 

 Amongst the rest Parsons that is his Ma^l^ surveyor genl all hath had 

 two se9all pdons, and that very lately, but yf thys prohybytyon 

 wer imposed that whosoeul of hys Mal'^ offycers that shuld but offer 

 to make sute for any such pdon myght psently uppon the facte make 

 forfeyture of hys o%ce his ma*^ would be much better served in 

 Irelande than now he is.^ 



- In a later report to Sh Julius Caesar, written in 1G12, under the title of 

 'The Anothomy of Ireland,' Rich has the following further observations on 

 pardons: — " And it is truth that as these pardons have been the only encourage- 

 ments to give daring to traitors to attempt against their prince, so they have been 

 ^'igain the very cause of dismay, whereby to terrify a subject from the serving of 



