IRELAND. 
r.ot to detain any tenant of his immediate demefnes in 
Ireland, contrary to his royal pleafure and command. 
This treaty was folemnly ratified in a gntnd council of 
prelates and temporal barons, among whom we find the 
archbifhop of Dublin one of the fubfcr'ibing witnelTes. 
As metropolitan of Leinfter, he was now become an En- 
,glifh fubjeft, and was probably fummoned on this occa- 
fion as one obliged to attend, and who had a right to af- 
ffift in the king’s great council. It is alfo obfervable, 
that Henry now treated with Roderic not merely as a pro¬ 
vincial prince, but as monarch of Ireland. This is evi¬ 
dently implied and fuppoled in the articles; although his 
monarchical powers and privileges were little more than 
nominal, frequently difregarded and oppofed by the Irifli 
toparchs. Even by their fubmiflions to Henry, many of 
them in effeft difavowed and renounced the fovereignty 
of Roderic; but now his fupremacy feemed-to be indul- 
trioufly ‘acknowledged, that the prefent fubmifiion might 
appear virtually the fubmifiion of all the fubordinate 
princes, and thus the king of England be inverted with 
the fovereignty of the whole ifland. The marks of lo- 
vereignty, however, were no more than homage and 
tribute; in every other particular, the regal rights of 
Roderic were left inviolate. The Englilh laws were 
only to be enforced in the Englifli pale; and, even 
there, the Irifii tenant might live in peace, as the fubject 
of the Irifli monarch ; bound only to pay his quota of 
tribute, and not to take arms againft the king of England. 
But, though by this treaty, concluded in 1175, the whole 
ifland thus became fubjeft to the king of England, it was 
far from being fettled in tranquillity, or indeed from 
having the fituation of its inhabitants amended almort in 
any degree. One great occalion of difturbance was, that 
the Englffh laws were confined to thole parts which 
had been fubdued by force of arms; while the chieftains 
that had only fubmitted to pay tribute, were allowed to 
retain the ancient Irifli laws within the limits of their 
own jurildiftions. By thefe old Irifli laws, many crimes 
accounted capital with us, fuch as robbery and murder, 
might be cotnpenfated by a fhm of money. Hence it hap¬ 
pened, that very unequal punilhinents were inflicted for 
the fame offence. It one Etfglifhman killed another, he 
was punilhed with death; but, if lie killed an Iriflinian, 
he was punilhed only by a fine. If an Irifiiman, on the 
other hand, killed an Englilhman, he was certainly pu¬ 
nilhed with death; and as, in times of violence and out¬ 
rage, the crime of murder was very frequent, the circuvn- 
ftance juft mentioned tended to produce an implacable 
hatred between the original inhabitants and the Englifli. 
As the Irifii laws were thus more favourable to the bar¬ 
barity natural to the tempers of fome individuals, many 
of the Englilh were alfo tempted to lay aside the manners 
and cuftoms of their countrymen altogether, and to aflo- 
eiate themfelves with the Irifii, that, by becoming fyb- 
je< 5 t to their laws, they might thus have an opportunity 
of gratifying their brutal inclinations with lels controul 
than formerly ; and in procefs of time, thefe degenerate 
Englijh, as they were called, proved more bitter enemies 
to their countrymen than even the Iriih themfelves. 
Another caule of the diftrefl'es of Irelasid was, the great 
power of the Englifli barons, among whom Henry had 
divided the greatelt part of his Irifli dominions. The ex¬ 
tent of their influence only inflamed them with a defire 
for more; and, inlfead of contributing their endeavours to 
increafe the authority of their fovereign, or to civilize the 
barbarous people over whom they were placed, they did 
every thing in their power to counteract and deltroy each 
other. Henry himfelf, indeed, leems to have been infect¬ 
ed with a very fatal jealoufy in this refpect; for, though 
the abilities and fidelity of Raymond had abundantly nia- 
nifelted themfelves, the king never could allow himfelf to 
continue him in the government of the ifland; and the 
confequence of degrading him never failed to be a fcene 
ol uproar and coniufion. To thefe two reafons we mult 
likewife add another; namely, that, in thofe parts of the 
VOL.XI. No. 7 5 *. 
203 
kingdom where the Iriih chieftains enjoyed the fove- 
l'eignty, they were at full liberty to make war upon each 
other as formerly, without the leart reft rain t. This like¬ 
wife induced many of the Englifli to degenerate, that 
they might have an opportunity of Iharing the plunder 
acquired by thefe petty wars ; fo that, on the whole, the 
ifland was a perpetual fcene of horror, almoft unequalled 
in the hiftory of any country. 
After the death of earl Richard, Raymond was imme¬ 
diately elefted to fucceed him ; but was fuperfeded by the 
king, who appointed William Fitz-Andelm, a nobleman 
allied to Raymond, to lucceed in his place. The new 
governor had neither inclination nor abilities to perform 
the talk afligned to .him: he was of a rapacious temper, 
fenfual and corrupt in his manners ; and therefore only 
ltudied to enrich himfelf. The native Irifli, provoked by 
fome depredations of the Englifli, commenced holtilities ; 
but Fitz-Andelm, inftead of reprefling thefe with vigour 
in the beginning, treated the chieftains with affeCled 
cotirtefy and flattery. This they had fufficient difeern- 
ment to fee, and to defpife; while the original adventurers 
had the burden of the whole defence of the Englijh pale , 
as the Englifli territories were called, thrown upon them, 
at the fame time that the bad conduct. of the governor 
was the caufe of perpetual diforders. The conlequence 
of this was, that the lords avowed their hatred of Fitz- 
Andelm; the foldiers were mutinous, ill-appointed, ar.d 
unpaid; and the Irifli came in crowds to the governor 
with perpetual complaints againft the old adventurers, 
which were always decided againft the latter; and this 
decifion increaled their confidence, without leffening their 
difaffeclion. 
In this unfavourable ftate of affairs, John de Courcey, 
a bold adventurer, who had as yet reaped none of the be¬ 
nefits he expefted, refolved to undertake an expedition 
againft the natives, in order to enrich himfelf with their 
Ipoils. With a band of 500 men he arrived at the city 
of Down, which he feized and fortified. The Irifli at 
that time were giving no offence; and therefore pleaded 
the treaty lately concluded with king Henry; but trea¬ 
ties were of little avail, when put in competition with the 
neceifities of an indigent and rapacious adventurer. The 
confequence was, that the flame of war was kindled 
through the whole ifland. The chieftains took advan¬ 
tage of the war with the Englifli, to commence hoftilities 
againft each other. Delfnond and Thomond, in the 
fouthern province, were diftraCted by the jealoufies of 
contending chiefs, and the whole land was wafted by un¬ 
natural and bloody quarrels. Treachery and murder were 
revenged by praftices.of the fame kind, in inch a manner 
as to perpetuate a fuccellion of outrages the mod horrid, 
and the molt disgraceful to humanity. The northern pro¬ 
vince was a fcene of the like enormities; though the new 
Englilh fettlers, who were confidered as a common enemy, 
ought to have united the natives among themfelves. Ail 
were equally ftrangers to the virtues of humanity; nor 
was religion, in the form it then aifumed, capable of re- 
ftraining thefe violences in the leaft. 
Ireland was thus in a ftiort time reduced to fuch a ftate, 
tnat Henry perceived the neceflity of recalling Fitz-An- 
delm, and appointing another governor. Hugh de Lacy 
was accordingly nominated to fucceed him. Fitz-Andelm 
left his government without being regretted, and is faid 
by the hiftorians of thofe times to have done only one 
good adrtion during the whole courfe of his adminiftra- 
tion : this was nothing more important than the re¬ 
moving of a relic, called the faff of Jefus, from the cathe¬ 
dral of Armagh to that of Dublin ; probably that it might 
be in greater fafety, as the war raged violently in Ulfter. 
De Lacy, however, was a man of a quite different dil'po- 
fition, and every way qualified for the difficult govern¬ 
ment with which he was inverted ; but at the fame time, 
the king, by inverting his fon John with the lorcljjiip of 
Ireland , gave occalion to greater difturbauces than even 
thofe which had already happened. The nature'of this 
4 F lordfhip 
