1605.

nace, as they successively flowed in upon him. As a Stuart, he was ever forward in sacrificing his friend to the fear of his enemy. At this time the puritan party had acquired, both in the church and state of Ireland a predominant ascendancy; and from that moment they were preparing to get up that eventful

* Lord deputy Chichester, afterwards created Baron Belfast, had been the pupil of the famous Cartwright, who was so violent an opposer of the church establishment, that in writing to archbishop Whitgift he used these strong expressions: "Certain of the things we (the dissenters) stand upon are such, that if every hair of our heads were a life, we ought to afford them for the defence of them." And Sir George Paul, in the life of this archbishop (p. 47), gives us, by way of sample, a part of the constant public prayer of this Cartwright before his sermons: Because they, (meaning the bishops) which ought to be pillars of the church, do band them. selves against Christ and his truth, therefore, O Lord, give us grace and power as one man to set ourselves against them." At this time the general body of the reformed clergy in Ireland was puritan; the most eminent of whom for learning was Usher, then provost of Trinity College, Dublin, and afterwards archbishop of Armagh, who by his management and contrivance procured the whole doctrine of Calvin to be received as the public belief of the church of Ireland, and ratified by Chichester in the King's name. Not only the famous Lambeth articles concerning predestination, grace, and justifying faith, sent down as a standard of doctrine to Cambridge, but immediately suppressed by Queen Elizabeth, and afterwards disapproved and rejected by King James, when proposed to him by Dr. Reynolds in the conference of Hampton Court, but also several particular fancies and notions of his own were incorporated, says Carte (Orm. 1 vol. p. 73), into the Articles of the Church of Ireland, and by his credit approved of in convocation, and afterwards confirmed by the Lord Deputy Chichester.

The immediate effect of

tragedy, which closed in the catastrophe of the throne, 1605. altars, and constitution. Their first act was to express indignation at the relaxations, favour, and countenance shewn to the catholics. which was a formal promulgation of the act of conformity (2 Eliz.) exemplified under the great seal; which, as before observed, had for forty years been a dead letter. The King's proclamation for the strict observance of it was annexed to the exemplification, and solemnly published throughout the nation*. This measure was aggravated by the insulting humiliation of certain commissions issued in consequence of the proclamation, by which the catholics of condition were appointed inquisitors to watch and inform against those of their own communion, who did not frequent the protestant churches; by neglect of which, they were subjected to fine and imprisonmentt. Leland ob

serves, that this measure instead of terrifying the delinquents enraged them. Eighteen of the most eminent of the city were summoned to the court of Castle Chamber, censured, fined, and committed pri

• This proclamation, of the 4th of July, 1605, strongly proves the grounds, which the catholics had for rejoicing at the accession of James I. It imported, that his Majesty had been informed, that his subjects of Ireland had been deceived by a false report, that he was disposed to allow them liberty of conscience, and a free choice of their religion: wherefore he declared, that he would not admit any such liberty of conscience, as they were made to expect; and he strictly enjoined all his subjects to frequent their respective churches, and to comply minutely with the requisitions of the Act of Uniformity, &c.

+ Anal. Sacr. p. 25.

Harris's History of Dublin; p. 323.

1605.

Sham rebellion of

Tyrconnel.

soners to the castle during pleasure. The old families of the Pale remonstrated against the illegality of these proceedings: for by the statute of Elizabeth, the crime of recusancy had its punishment ascertained, and any extension of the penalty beyond the letter of the statute was illegal and unconstitutional. Their remonstrance was presented to the council by an unu sual concourse of those, who were interested in the event. The chief of the petitioners were instantly committed to gaol; and Sir Pauick Barnwall, their great agent, was, by the King's command, soon after sent over to England in custody, and there committed to the Tower of London.

These proceedings naturally produced general ranTyrone and cour and distrust, which Chichester fomented by his intemperate severity, in order to prepare the foundation of the sham plot, of which such advantage was afterwards taken. An anonymous letter was dropped in the privy council chamber, intimating a traitorous scheme of rebellion, formed by the Earls of Tyrone, and other lords and gentlemen of the north, in defence of the Catholic religion. Certain it is, that Tyrone

* At this distant period the contradictory accounts of this insurrection by cotemporary authors, together with a total failure of proof of any overt act, leave little room to doubt its nonexistence. Jones, bishop of Meath, who had formerly been scoutmaster general to Cromwell's army, has given this account of the anonymous letter, which Carleton, bishop of Chichester, wholly omits, and he says he had his account from a report of the bishop of Derry. The pretended letter is to be seen in the Appendix, No. XIII. to my Historical Review.

and Tyrconnel fled the country, and were with 1608. some other fugitives of inferior note, attainted of

high treason. The consequence was the forfeiture of all their vast estates to the crown*. These and

* Some historians attribute the flight of these noblemen to a consciousness of guilt, others to their persuasion, that St. Laurence would follow them up to conviction by the same treachery and perjury, with which he had brought on their accusation. Dr. Anderson in his Royal Genealogies, p. 786, dedicated to the Prince of Wales in 1736, says, "Artful Cecil employed one St. Laurence to entrap the earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel, the lord Delvin, and other Irish chiefs into a sham plot, which had no evidence but his. But those chiefs being basely informed, that witnesses were to be hired against them, foolishly fled from Dublin, and so taking guilt upon them, they were declared rebels, and six entire counties in Ulster were at once forfeited to the crown, which was what their enemies wanted." That this St. Laurence was a fit instrument for such a design is clear, from what Camden relates of him (Eliz. 741) viz. that he offered to murder Lord Grey de Wilton and Sir Thomas Gerald, to prevent their conveying reports of Essex to the Queen; which bloody service Essex rejected with indignation. No history whatever mentions any symptoms of rising in the North at this time. The King, from an ill-judged redundance of caution, published a proclamation (which follows in my Appendix, No. XIV.), by which he pledged himself thereafter to make it appear to the world as clear as the sun by evident proof, that the only ground of these earls' departure was their own knowledge and terror of guilt. These proofs have never yet been produced. And the act of parliament (11, 12, and 13 Jac. c. iv.) by which the attainders were confirmed, makes no reference to them; but barely recites, that they with several others were attainted, as by sundrie inquisitions remaining of record may appear. This affected brevity was little congenial with the turgid spirit and style of the pedantic James: and widely dissimilar from Elizabeth's act of attainder of O'Nial, which displays the tale of Gurmonde,

some other estates, forfeited by Sir Cahir O'Dogherty and his adherents, who afterwards actually were for about five months in rebellion, comprised almost the whole six northern counties of Cavan, Fermanagh, Armagh, Derry, Tyrone, and Tyrconnel (now called Donegal).

From that period King James entered upon his favorite scheme of forming a plantation for the avowed purpose of excluding the old inhabitants, and introducing the new religion *. The lands were accordingly parcelled out amongst the adventurers, who flocked thither from England and Scotland. The latter were the more numerous, and carried with them the principles and discipline of Presbyterianism! This new settlement or colony was put under particular regulations, all calculated to support and strengthen the Protestant religion. The most opulent adventurers in this speculation were the citizens of London † :

* Although the rebellion of Sir Cahir O'Dogherty was confined to the district of Innishowen, yet did James ever affect to consider the whole Irish nation as rebels, as he said in his speech to Parliament, in 1609; "As for Ireland, ye all well know how uncertain my charges are ever there, that people being so easily stirred, partly through the barbarity and want of civilitie, and partly through their corruption in religion, to break forthe in rebellions."

+ Upon a loose survey, these forfeited lands were computed to comprise 511,456 Irish acres, in the whole; of which, according to Cox, the Londoners received 209,800 acres. That author says, that in the book which was printed for the better direction of the settlers, it was specially mentioned, that they should not suffer any labourer, that would not take the oath of supremacy, to dwell upon their land.