ENG 
gravated, and their perfecutors reviled. Every perfon 
who had been punifhed for fedition during the foregoing 
adminiltration, now recovered their liberty, and had da¬ 
mages given againft thofe who had decreed their punifh- 
ment. 
The torrent of licentious liberty rjfing to fo dreadful 
a height, defpair feized all thofe who, from intereft or 
habit, were attached to monarchy; while the king him- 
felf law, with amazement, the whole fabric of the go¬ 
vernment haftily overturned. “You have taken (faid 
he to the parliament) the whole machine of government 
to pieces ; a practice frequent with Ikilful artifls, when 
they defire to clear the wheels from any ruft which may 
have grown upon them. The engine may be reftored 
to its proper ufe and mo'ions, provided it be fitted up 
entire, fo as not a pin be wanting.” But the commons, 
in.their implacable temper, were refolved to Ihew that 
their plan was better adapted to deftroy, than to fit up. 
They therefore immediately annihilated the high-com- 
rniffion court, and'the court of ftar-chamber, by a bill 
which unanimoufly palled both houfes of parliament. 
In the mid ft of thefe domeliic ferments, the catholics of 
Ireland thought it a convenient opportunity of throwing 
off the Englilh yoke. There was a gentleman named Ro¬ 
ger More, defcended from an ancient Irifli family, and 
much celebrated for his valour and capacity. He it was 
who formed the projeft of expelling the Englilh, and af- 
ferting the independence of his native country. Struck 
with thefe motives, fir Phelim O’Neale entered into the 
confpiracy ; lord Macguire feconded hisdefigns, and loon 
after all the chiefs of the native Irifli promifed their con¬ 
currence. Their plan was, that fir Phelim O’Neale, and 
the other confpirators, fliould begin an infurreftion on one 
and the fame day throughout all the provinces, to malla- 
cre the Englilh ; while lord Macguire and Roger More 
Ihould furprife the calfle of Dublin. They had fixed on 
the approach of winter for this revolt; and the earl of 
Leicefter, who had been appointed lord lieutenant, was 
then in London. But the day before the intended feizure 
of the cuftle of Dublin, the plot was difcovered by one 
O’Conolly, to the juftices, who fled to the callle, and 
alarmed all the proteftant inhabitants of the city to pro¬ 
vide for their fafety. Macguire was taken, but More 
elcaped ; and new informations being every hour added 
to thofe already received, the project of a general infur¬ 
reftion was defeated. But though the protellants in Dub¬ 
lin had juft time enough to fave themlelves from danger, 
thofe difperfed over different parts of the country, were 
expofed to the moll Ihocking cruelties. O’Neale, and 
his confederates, had already taken arms in Ulfter. The 
Irilh catholics, every where intermingled with the Eng¬ 
lilh protellants, needed but a hint from their leaders to 
niaftacre a people whom they hated for their religion, and 
envied for their profperity. Neither age, fex, nor con¬ 
dition, received any pity : numberlefs were the inftances 
of friends murdering their intimates, relations their kinf- 
men, and fervants their mafters. Not only death, but 
ftudied cruelties, were inflifted on the unhappy fuft'erers; 
the very avarice of the revolters could not reftrain their 
thirft for blood, and they burned the inhabitants in their 
own houfes, to increafe their punifhmenr. By legendary 
computations, the Englilh who periihed by thefe cruel¬ 
ties, are made to amount to an hundred and fifty or two 
hundred thoufand fouls ; but, by the moll moderate com¬ 
putation, they could not have been lefs than forty thou¬ 
fand. King Charles was in Scotland, when he received 
the firft accounts of this dreadful rebellion ; and though 
he exerted his utmoft perfuafions to induce his Scottiih 
fubjefts to lend afliftance to the proteftant caufe, yet he 
found them totally averfe to fending any fuccours into 
Ireland. Their aim was to aft with the parliament of 
England, and not to obey the injunftions of their fove- 
jreign. They went further, and had the effrontery to im¬ 
pute thefe dreadful maflacres to the king’s own contri¬ 
vance. In faftj the rebels of Ireland had contrived to 
LAND. 671 
Ihow a royal patent, authorifing their refort to arms; and 
it is faid that fir Phelim O’Neale, having found a royal 
patent in lord Caulfield’s houfe, w hom he had murdered, 
lie tore off the feal, and affixed it to a commiffion which 
he had forged for himfelf. 
It was now A. D. 1641, that the republican fpirit be¬ 
gan to predominate in the parliament; and by attacking 
the foibles of the king, laid the plan of fubverting the 
monarchy. The projectors of this fcheme began their 
operations by attacking epifcopacy, which w'asone of the 
ftrongeft bulwarks of the royal caufe; but they previoufly 
framed a remonftrance, in w'hich they fummcd up all their 
grievances. Thefe they afcribed to a regular fyftem of 
tyranny in the king, which had virtually deftroyed the 
funftions of the conftitution. The commons, having thus 
endeavoured to prove the king’s adminiltration illegal, be¬ 
gan upon the hierarchy. Their firft meafure was, to fuf- 
pend all the laws which had been made for the obferv- 
ance of public worfhip. They accufed thirteen bilhops 
of high treafon, for enafting canons without the confent 
of parliament; and endeavoured to prevail upon the houfe 
of peers to exclude all the prelates from their feats and 
votes in that houfe. But, notwithftanding all their 
efforts, the lords refufed their concurrence to a meafure, 
which was obvioully pregnant with injuftice. The ma¬ 
jority of the peers adhered to the king; and began to 
forefee that the depreffion of the crown was only a prelude 
to the extinction of the nobility. The commons mur¬ 
mured, and at once jultified their conclufion, by infinuat- 
ing that the bufinefs of the ftate could be carried on with¬ 
out them. 
In order to intimidate the lords, the populace was let 
loofe to infult and threaten them. Multitudes of people 
flocked dai.ly to Weftminfter, and infulted the prelates and 
peers who adhered to the crown. The rabble, by way 
of reproach, were called Roundheads, from the manner of 
wearing their hair: and the gentlemen, Cavaliers. Thefe 
names afterwards ferved to diftinguilh the partifans of 
either fide, and ferved ftill more to divide the nation. The 
bilhops now, forefeeing the ftorm was gathering over 
them, refolved to attend their duty in parliament no 
longer; but drew up a proteft, which was figncd by twelve 
of them, in which they declared, that, being hindered by 
the populace from attending at the houfe of lords, they 
refolved to go there no more till all commotions were ap. 
peafed ; protefting, in the mean time, againft all fuch laws 
as Ihould be enafted in their abfence. This ceffiation of 
the bifliops from parliament was what the commons mod: 
ardently defired ; and they took advantage of it with 
avidity. An impeachment of high-treafon was imme¬ 
diately fet up againft them, for fubverting the fundamen¬ 
tal laws, and invalidating the legiflative authority. In 
confequence of this charge, they were excluded from par¬ 
liament, and committed to cuftody ; no man in either 
houfe daring to fpeak a word in their vindication. 
This was a fatal blow to the royal intereft ; and na¬ 
turally called forth every feeling of an infulted king. 
Charles had long fupprefled his refentment, and had ftrove 
to fatisfy the unreafonable demands of the commons, by 
the greatnefs of his conceffions ; but finding that his fub- 
miffive compliance had only increafed the evil, he now 
determined to interpofe his prerogative. He gave orders 
to Herbert, his attorney-general, to enter an accufation of 
high-treafon againft lord Kimbolton, one of the 1110ft po¬ 
pular of hts party, together with five commoners, fir Ar¬ 
thur Hazelrig, Hollis, Hampden, Pym, and Strode. The 
articles were, that they had traiteroufiy endeavoured to 
fubvert the fundamental laws and government of the ftate, 
to deprive the king of his regal power, and to impofe on 
his fubjefts an arbitrary and tyrannical government; that 
they had invited a foreign army to invade the kingdom 5 
had aimed at fubverting the rights of parliament, and had 
raifed and countenanced tumults againft the king. The 
commons had fcarcely time to contemplate this impeach¬ 
ment, when they were aftoniflied by another meafure, 
ftill 
