INCHIQUIN, ORMONDE AND GLAMORGAN, 1644-1645
[Sidenote: No truce with the Parliament.]
Protestants in Ireland complained with reason that they got little help
from England during the truce, while communication with the Continent
was quite free to the Confederates. There were parliamentary cruisers,
but not nearly enough to do the work, and a Spanish captain named
Antonio was engaged by Castlehaven to keep them at a distance. His
frigate of 400 tons and sixteen guns appears to have been cast away at
Dungarvan; but he commanded other ships and was active to the very end
of the war. Letters of marque were issued from Kilkenny, and it was
long before even the port of Waterford was closed. The numerous inlets
on the west coast it was impossible to blockade at all. There were
endless complaints on both sides as to breaches of the truce, but the
recriminations on this subject are scarcely worth discussing. After he
had once taken the Parliamentary side, Inchiquin gave himself a free
hand.[60]
[Sidenote: The no-quarter ordinance]
On October 24, 1644, both Houses at Westminster passed an ordinance
to the effect that no quarter should be given to any Irishman, nor to
any Papist born in Ireland, taken in hostility against the Parliament
in England and Wales or on the high seas. All officers by land and sea
were therefore ordered to leave all such Irishmen and Papists out of
every capitulation, agreement, or composition. If taken, they were to
be 'forthwith put to death.' When the French National Convention made
a similar order about British prisoners, French officers refused to
carry it out; and the majority in the Long Parliament evidently feared
such a refusal, for they declared that every officer neglecting to
observe their ordinance should be 'reputed a favourer of that bloody
rebellion in Ireland,' and liable to such condign punishment as both
Houses might inflict. Pym and Hampden were dead, and it is uncertain
under whose influence this savage decree was passed; but it seems that
Captain Swanley and others had anticipated it by throwing prisoners
into the sea, and that they had been blamed for so doing, as there
were many English prisoners in Ireland upon whom it would be easy to
retaliate.[61]
[Sidenote: Inchiquin at Cork and Kinsale.]
[Sidenote: Harsh treatment of the citizens.]
[Sidenote: Broghill at Youghal.]
[Sidenote: The Covenant.]
[Sidenote: The Queen on Irish Protestants.]
Cork had some time ago agreed to give 4000_l._ for the support of the
army, and a part of this sum still remained unpaid. Inchiquin's first
order during the last week in July was that the citizens should pay the
balance or make up its value in provisions and bedding. All the Roman
Catholic inhabitants were ordered to leave the town, except the mayor
and aldermen and their families, one hundred men selected by the rest,
the widows of aldermen, and the sick. They were to carry out nothing
with them, but if the supplies required were provided, they were to be
allowed to return from time to time and carry off all their property,
but not to remain in the town during the night. Robert Coppinger, the
mayor, made the best fight he could, but, according to his own account,
Inchiquin exacted more corn and money than was owing, and was very
harsh in other ways. He gave warrants, says Coppinger, to enter the
houses of the banished inhabitants, to carry off almost everything
that might be useful to the garrison, 'leaving all the doors of the
houses wide open, and exposed, with all the rest of the goods therein
remaining to the insolency of the common soldiers.' When the people
came back for their property, according to the proclamation, there was
very little left. From the nature of the case, and from what we know
of Inchiquin, it is not likely that the work was very gently done;
but it is nowhere alleged that any life was lost. Similar measures
were taken at Youghal and Kinsale. Broghill was governor of the former
town, and he forbade all officers, soldiers, and others 'to break open
the houses of any persons who have in obedience to my proclamation
left this town,' or to plunder any Irish Papists 'on pain of death.'
On August 24 eleven parliamentary ships entered Cork harbour, while
seven appeared at Youghal and six at Kinsale. Proclamation was at once
made that all civilians should leave Cork unless specially licensed
to remain, giving security to keep themselves in provisions for six
weeks. All Irish Roman Catholics were henceforth to leave the town at
six until Michaelmas, and at five after that day, so that the garrison
might be always ready to resist an attack. A market was established
outside the north gate. The Youghal people took the Covenant, and
Inchiquin told Ormonde that he should be compelled to do the same,
unless the Lord Lieutenant put himself at the head of the Protestant
movement. A stringent oath was at the same time administered to
Protestants, who declared themselves allied for defence and swore never
to make peace until the terms were approved by Parliament as well as
by the King. Colonel Brockett, governor of Kinsale, wrote to Ormonde
in commendation of Inchiquin's zeal, and announced that a ship laden
with provisions had come from Middleburgh to Cork for the relief of
the distressed Protestants. A little later in the year there was a
curious intrigue, the object on both sides being probably to see how
far Ormonde would go. Major Muschamp, the governor of Cork fort, let
Muskerry know that he had Royalist leanings and might be induced to
surrender his post to the Lord Lieutenant. Muskerry forged an order
from Ormonde to deliver the place to him. Muschamp said the order
must be placed in his hands; but this Muskerry refused for obvious
reasons. The plot came to nothing, and Muschamp told the whole story
to Inchiquin in presence of his staff. Ormonde was doing his best to
serve the King without betraying the Protestant cause, but he had
little thanks from anyone. That Henrietta Maria should call Inchiquin
a miserable knave was not to be wondered at. As to Ormonde, she is
reported to have said it was hard to trust him or 'any Irishman that is
a Protestant, for every Irishman that goes to church does it against
his conscience, and knows he betrays God.' The letter containing
this passage was intercepted, and a certified copy came to Ormonde's
hands.[62]
[Sidenote: First negotiations for peace, September 1644.]
The result of Ormonde's application to Muskerry and his colleagues
in the Oxford business was a letter from the general assembly of
the Confederates appointing commissioners to treat for peace. The
Oxford agents, all lawyers except Muskerry, Antrim's brother, and
Colonel O'Brien, were nominated, with the addition of Mountgarret,
Antrim, Archbishop Fleming, Sir Richard Everard, Patrick Darcy, and
John Dillon. Of these commissioners, Martin, Dillon and Barron were
afterwards proposed by the Confederates as judges of the superior
courts, and nearly all the others as Privy Councillors. Ormonde
objected at once to 'your Archbishop of Dublin, who, though a man as
free from exception (as unto his person) as any we could expect to be
treated with, for we have heard exceeding much good of him, and we
do believe no less, so as if we were to admit any of his function he
should be the man.' He had already announced that he would not treat
with any clergyman, and the Confederates gave way. Some delay had been
caused, and the commissioners did not meet Ormonde until September 1,
when they practically repeated the Oxford propositions. The cessation
was at once prolonged to December 1, and questions of statute law and
of title to land being involved, a committee of lawyers was appointed
to assist the Lord Lieutenant. The chief demands were the repeal of the
penal laws, the suspension of Poynings' Act, and the power of their
'free Parliament' to try offences. They were all rejected.
[Sidenote: Ormonde's difficult position.]
The negotiations were then suspended for a time. Sir Henry Tichborne,
who thought the cessation very dishonourable, left Oxford on December
31. He and others were taken at sea by one of Swanley's captains, and
were sent to the Tower. Tichborne was soon released, and afterwards
sided definitely with the Parliament in Ireland. About the same time
Swanley intercepted some correspondence between the Confederates
and their foreign allies, and he sent copies to Ormonde, cautioning
him about the dangers hanging over his 'truly honoured family' and
his ambiguous position with regard to the Protestants. The Lord
Lieutenant's task was indeed a hard one. The question of a universal
act of oblivion was left undecided, the Confederates contending that
their oath of association precluded all exceptions, while Ormonde was
unwilling to pardon criminals merely because the country had been in a
state of war. In the end, Charles conceded the act of oblivion to 'all
treasons and offences, capital, criminal, and personal' on land, and to
piracy and its attendant crimes in the Irish seas.[63]
[Sidenote: Confederate diplomacy.]
[Sidenote: Bellings at Paris. Mazarin.]
[Sidenote: Bellings at Rome. Rinuccini.]
[Sidenote: Attitude of Innocent X.]
[Sidenote: Barren sympathies.]
The negotiations dragged along slowly and intermittently throughout
1644 and 1645, but peace, as between Ormonde and the Confederates, was
preserved by frequent renewals of the cessation. In the meantime the
Kilkenny government sought eagerly for foreign support. Bellings left
Galway on the last day of December 1644 with credentials addressed to
Louis XIV., Anne of Austria, Henrietta Maria, Mazarin, Innocent X.,
the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cardinals Grimaldi and Bentivoglio, and the
Governments of Venice, Genoa, and Belgium. He had not intended to visit
anyone at Paris except Henrietta Maria; but the Jesuit O'Hartegan, who
was resident agent for the Confederates, persuaded him to see Mazarin.
The Cardinal was very inquisitive, and might stop Bellings in France if
thwarted. He did not like the application of the Confederates to Rome,
because Innocent X. was much under Spanish influence; but Bellings
answered that though his employers were bound to neutrality as among
Catholic princes, yet their natural leaning was to France, where their
exiled Queen had found shelter. Bellings himself had certainly French
sympathies, and told Mazarin that it was from France that Ireland
really expected help. 'And in truth,' he adds, 'the promises given now
and often before, had they been performed, might well have satisfied
our expectation.' On reaching Rome, Bellings found that Rinuccini was
already appointed nuncio. The two men disliked each other from the
first. When Bellings found that Innocent was sending a moderate sum of
money, he importuned for more, but was told that the late war in Italy
and preparations against the Turks had exhausted the papal treasury. He
then loudly proclaimed that he was quite satisfied with the Pope, lest
his backwardness should be an excuse for others. Innocent was at least
liberal with his briefs, but they had no effect either at Florence or
Genoa. Bellings did not even visit Venice, the Cretan war being excuse
enough for the republic. On his return to Paris he found that there
was little or no hope from France without assuming a hostile attitude
to Spain. As the final result of his long expedition Bellings reported
that 'all men wished well to the cause, but no man was in condition to
assist it.' He accompanied Rinuccini to Ireland.[64]
[Sidenote: French and Spanish crimps.]
[Sidenote: Foisset and Monnerie.]
Bellings understood that the help of France and Spain 'rather seemed a
traffic for men and a gratification for the levies made in Ireland for
the service of both crowns, than marks of a royal bounty and a real
will to assist them.' Early in 1643 the Confederates allowed Spain
to recruit in Ireland, the number of men, after some haggling, being
fixed at 2000. Philip IV. then made them a present of 20,000 crowns,
which was laid out in arms and ammunition. With the Parliamentarians in
command of the sea, it took a long time to get the men away, and they
could not be spared till after the cessation. Then it became necessary
to promise the same number of soldiers to France. At last, in February
1643-4, the Spanish agent or envoy was received by the Supreme Council,
and told that he should have his men by June 25. He was a Burgundian
named Foisset, and came, not from Spain, but from Don Francisco de
Melo in the Netherlands. Next day the French representative, De la
Monnerie, was received and had exactly the same answer. Monnerie was
a gentleman of the bedchamber, and his sole business was to get as
much food for powder as possible in Ireland. It would seem that both
agents were privately told that the great object of the Council was to
favour their respective sovereigns. Meanwhile their lawful King was
calling for Irish troops in vain. Monnerie did manage to get off 1300
men from Galway early in 1645, not being able to get shipping for more
in Ireland, and Mazarin failing to send the vessels which he promised;
but the recruiting still continued. Monnerie seems to have done better
than his rival, and reported that 'the Spaniard who is here' began to
lose heart and to declare loudly that the Supreme Council was quite
French. It was Mazarin against Don Luis de Haro. A Colonel Plunket was
promised forty crowns by Ottavio Piccolomini for every man he could
land in Flanders, but the Kilkenny authorities would not let him do the
work.[65]
[Sidenote: Confederate envoys. Talbot and O'Sullivan.]
[Sidenote: Hugh Bourke.]
[Sidenote: The story told abroad.]
[Sidenote: Heresy to be extirpated.]
Immediately after the outbreak in 1641 the Irish of Western Munster
had sent Francis O'Sullivan, a Franciscan, to solicit the help of
Spain. A little later, James Talbot, an Augustinian, was sent on the
same errand, and returned with 3000_l._ in silver, 4000 muskets,
four pieces of cannon and other stores, purchased with the 20,000
crowns obtained from Philip IV., but not without much bickering as to
whether the Celtic O'Sullivan or the Anglo-Norman Talbot deserved the
credit. In acknowledgment, it was proposed to send 1000 men to Spain;
but there was a difficulty about transport, and they never started.
Talbot was sent again in June 1643 with an offer of two thousand and
directions as to how he should spend any further sum he might receive.
The landing of the money and arms at Dungarvan during the negotiations
for a cessation made Ormonde's task harder; but the Spanish Government
had transferred the matter to the Governor of the Netherlands. Talbot
went there instead of to Spain, and returned with Foisset. He perhaps
thought it the best thing to do, but the Supreme Council never fully
trusted him afterwards. It was found that unauthorised persons had been
begging in Spain for the Irish cause, and had kept the money received,
and it was thought expedient to cancel all former credentials and to
send a new envoy to Spain. The person selected was Hugh Bourke, a
Franciscan, who had been doing good service in the Netherlands, whence
he was transferred directly. He went by Paris, where he met Rinuccini
on his way to Ireland, and impressed him by his cleverness and energy.
The instructions to Bourke, dated December 12, 1644, throw great light
upon the position of the Confederates. The war was represented as being
purely a struggle 'for the Catholic Church in its splendour.' Nothing
at all is said about the Ulster barbarities, but the Protestant party
are simply described as 'taking advantage, before we were provided of
arms and ammunition, to destroy many thousands of people unarmed, and
exercise barbarous cruelties against man, woman, and child, sparing
none that did come within their power, and intending to extirpate the
whole nation.' Nevertheless, the Confederates, having received some
arms from abroad, had re-established the Catholic religion in full
splendour and been victorious everywhere except 'in some particular
places and parts of the kingdom.' Among those particular places,
unfortunately, were Dublin, Cork, Youghal, and Kinsale, Londonderry
and Coleraine, Carrickfergus and the rising settlement of Belfast.
If the Spaniard inquired why such a victorious party had agreed to
a truce with Ormonde, Bourke was to reply that it was thought wise
to be on terms with one hostile party so as to be free to crush the
other. Nor had the calculation been unsuccessful, for Ormonde had sent
12,000 men to England, most of whom had been killed. As to the Oxford
propositions, the Confederates had thought it expedient to ask for
freedom of religion only, and 'you may inculcate the reason (which God
knows to be true), it was to win time, and our construction shall be
freedom in splendour if holpen with possibility of subsistence.' The
ultimate goal was to be an Ireland whose victorious soldiers 'would
not rest satisfied, but try their valours elsewhere for religion, as
long as any heretics did remain in the neighbouring provinces.' The
duplicity of Charles I. was rightly complained of by the Confederates;
but it was not greater than their own.[66]
[Sidenote: Siege of Duncannon, Jan.-March 1644-5.]
[Sidenote: Parties in the garrison.]
[Sidenote: The cessation ignored.]
[Sidenote: Lord Esmond's difficulties.]
[Sidenote: A rival governor]
[Sidenote: The Covenant.]
[Sidenote: Charles I. characterised.]
Duncannon Fort in Wexford guards the approach both by the Suir to
Waterford and by the Barrow to New Ross. Every large ship must
necessarily pass under the guns, but the place is very weak on the
land side, being commanded by higher ground. The defences had been
strengthened in 1611 by Sir Josias Bodley, a younger brother of Sir
Thomas, who founded the Oxford library. Bodley was a skilful engineer,
and was fully aware of Duncannon's weak point, though he probably
considered his works strong enough to resist a purely Irish attack.
When the rebellion broke out the governor of the fort was Laurence Lord
Esmond, a strong Protestant Royalist, and he held it for the King; but
the majority of his men were much more inclined to the Parliament.
Summoned by the Confederates to join them as the loyal party, Esmond
refused to do so without orders from the Lords Justices, and those
orders were of course never given. He made great efforts to maintain
discipline, but as he could neither pay nor feed his men they were
forced to drive cattle and otherwise spoil the country. With the
help of some English ships they burned Dunmore in Waterford, which
was too near a neighbour, but in an attempt to seize the Hook Tower,
their over-enterprising leader, Captain Aston, and some sixty of the
garrison, were taken or slaughtered, having been surrounded in a fog
by a large number of the natives. This was as early as July 1642, and
it settled the question as to whether the fort was really friendly to
the Confederates or not. The garrison continued to plunder in 1643
and 1644 without regard to the cessation, and it was soon resolved at
Kilkenny that the fort must, if possible, be reduced. Among Esmond's
officers two should be mentioned, Major Ralph Capron, who said he
was 'too old to forego his loyalty,' and Lawrence Larcan, lieutenant
of Esmond's own company of foot, who made no secret of his adhesion
to the English Parliament. Esmond made great efforts to obtain relief
from Ormonde, but nothing effectual could be done for him, and early in
August Inchiquin sent Captain Smithwick to induce him to declare for
the Parliament. This he steadfastly refused to do, but told Ormonde
that his life was not safe 'among so desperate and mutinous a pack,'
as the garrison had become. 'Poverty is the cause of this, and to tell
truth, my lord, they are indeed naked.' A month later Captain Bright
arrived in the Parliamentary vessel _Jeremie_, and anchored off the
fort. He brought with him the Covenant and a commission from Inchiquin
appointing Larcan to the command. The Covenant was eagerly subscribed
by all but Esmond himself, Capron, Richard Underwood the principal
chaplain, and perhaps one or two other officers. Captain Bright
promised supplies, and the soldiers refused to obey Capron, whom Esmond
accordingly sent with despatches to Dublin. Larcan, who is described as
active and witty and a leader of men, said 'the King was a tyrant, an
extortioner, an oppressor of the subject, and a Papist,' and he hoped
that the Parliament would soon 'scour' him. In the meantime Larcan
did what he could to scour the country, while Parliamentary captains
were busy at sea. The fort became such a scourge that the Confederates
resolved to besiege it.[67]
[Sidenote: Preston at Duncannon. A French engineer.]
[Sidenote: Failure to relieve from the sea.]
[Sidenote: An unsuccessful assault.]
[Sidenote: Vice-Admiral Smyth's advice.]
[Sidenote: The fort capitulates.]
[Sidenote: High mass]
Preston sat down before Duncannon on January 20, 1644-5, with about
1500 foot. He had both cannon and mortars, and the wonder is that the
place held out at all. There was a garrison of about 150 men with
twenty-two guns, but no proper supply of water inside the fort, and no
doctor or surgeon. A French engineer named Lalue directed the siege
operations, which dragged out to a great length. Three weeks after
the first investment Inchiquin wrote to say that he could give no
relief unless help first arrived from England, and he pointed out that
the Confederates might have easily mastered all the Munster towns if
they had not exhausted their strength in the Ulster expedition under
Castlehaven. Admiral Swanley wrote about the same time from Milford to
say that he was sending a collier under convoy to give the garrison
fuel, and also shipping to convey reinforcements for Inchiquin, but
that 'as for the soldiers from this country (England), they are not
to be drawn from this service without an inevitable prejudice.'
Inchiquin could hardly hold his own, nor could he trust unpaid men.
Communications between the fort and the sea were never interrupted,
and small supplies were sent in from time to time, and thirty-eight
seamen took their part in the defence on shore. At the beginning of
the siege an attempt was made by the Parliamentary ships to drive the
assailants from their works, but very few shot went even near the mark.
Fire from a floating platform is seldom satisfactory against an enemy
on a hill. As Lalue drew his lines closer and advanced his guns, still
less could be done from the sea. On February 19, five ships anchored
under Credan Head in full view of the fort, but their commanders dared
not come within reach of the plunging fire, by which one Parliamentary
vessel had already been sunk. Frequent sallies of the garrison annoyed
the enemy, who suffered from bad weather and from the labour of making
approaches in the rocky ground. Lalue contrived an infernal machine
which appears in advance of his time. A trunk filled with explosives
and calculated to go off when opened was left near the gate of the
fort. Esmond suspected a snare, and advised that the trunk should be
soaked in the sea for some hours, but the soldiers were too impatient,
and the explosion took place. The besiegers heard the noise and
expected great results, but only one person was killed, a woman who had
drawn near out of curiosity. There were some men in the fort who sided
secretly with the besiegers, and when the trenches approached the ditch
communicated with them by letters tied to bullets and flung by hand. At
last an assault was made, but, says Bellings, the musketeers who were
to cover the storming party had their pieces rendered unserviceable
by a whirlwind which blew away the priming and filled the pans with
gravel. The assailants were beaten off with great loss, but Larcan, who
had been the soul of the defence, was hit by a stone which a round shot
had displaced. A surgeon might have saved him, but there was none, and
he died. The sap went on until a mine was brought up to the rampart,
and the second assault was likely to be successful. Vice-Admiral
Smyth with the _Swallow_ and other vessels lay in the offing, and to
him Esmond made a last appeal. 'Your lordship,' the sailor quaintly
answered, 'hath but two things to consider of: first, the potency of
the enemy; next, your abilities to subsist. For, before any relief can
overtake you, it will be ten or eight days at soonest. Now, if you find
in your strength a disability, then our Saviour Jesus Christ gives you
the best counsel, who sayeth: agree with thy adversary quickly while
thou art in the way.' If they waited for the assault, he argued, they
would all be put to the sword, but if they capitulated so many gallant
men would be available for future service, and might perhaps even have
a hand in recapturing the fort. As for the guns, they must go with the
place, for if they were 'all of beaten gold' there was no means of
embarking them. The poor old governor could only lament that he had
been encouraged to hope for help which had never come, and replied that
he would try one stratagem more by asking for a Protestant garrison
named by Ormonde. Two days later he still defied Preston, and declared
that he would not surrender without the direct orders of the King or
the Lord Lieutenant. Larcan being gone, the other officers prepared to
take Smyth's advice, and Esmond was at last forced to ask for a parley.
Preston was not bloodthirsty, and on March 19, being the fifty-ninth
day of the siege, the garrison marched out with the honours of war, and
were allowed to go to Dublin, Bristol, or Youghal, as they themselves
preferred. A few men took service with Preston. Esmond waited till
a carriage could be got, but died at Adamstown on the road to
Enniscorthy. The fort was not without provisions or ammunition at the
time of surrender, but the want of fresh water was very pressing. There
had been torrents of rain, but either from want of time or from want
of vessels it had not been sufficiently utilised. Only about thirty
men had been killed, though the besiegers had burned 19,000 pounds of
powder. Duncannon was taken on March 19, and on Lady Day Scarampi came
in and said high mass. The Confederates boasted much of their success,
in announcing to their friends at Paris the capture of what they call
the 'impregnable fort of Duncannon.'[68]
[Sidenote: The Glamorgan mission]
[Sidenote: An extraordinary patent, April 1644.]
Charles had handed over the reduction of the Irish rebels to Parliament
early in the day, and had told the Protestant agents at Oxford that
he would rather have war than peace at their expense. As long as
negotiations were entirely in Ormonde's hands this was no empty
promise, but when the King decided to employ a private envoy as well,
the situation was a good deal modified. The person selected was
Lord Herbert, eldest son of the Marquis of Worcester, who had made
immense sacrifices for the royal cause. Both father and son were Roman
Catholics, and ardent champions of their faith. In history the latter
is best known as Earl of Glamorgan, and so Charles styled him, though
the creation was never formally made. On April 1, 1644, when the Irish
agents were at Oxford, the King had granted him under the Great Seal
a patent of so extraordinary a character that its main provisions
must be repeated, though perhaps no episode in English history has
been more thoroughly discussed. By this document he was constituted
generalissimo with extraordinary powers of three armies, English,
Irish, and foreign, and admiral of a fleet at sea; with authority to
raise money by pledging wardships, customs, woods, and other hereditary
property of the Crown. 'Persons of generosity' were to be encouraged
to subscribe in return for titles of honour, 'for whom,' the King
wrote, 'we have intrusted you with several patents under our Great
Seal of England, from a marquis to a baronet, which we give you full
power and authority to date and dispose of without knowing our further
pleasure.' Charles solemnly bound himself to ratify all the patentee's
acts, and and to give his daughter Elizabeth to Glamorgan's son
Plantagenet 'with 300,000_l._ in dower or portion, most part whereof we
acknowledge spent and disbursed by your father and you in our service.'
Finally he was promised the dukedom of Somerset with power to 'put on
the George and blue ribbon' at his pleasure, and to bear the garter
in his coat of arms. The affixing of the seal to this patent may have
been an amateur performance, the joint work of Endymion Porter and of
Glamorgan himself, 'with rollers and no screw press,' but the document
was genuine, and the king knew all about it.[69]
[Sidenote: Introduction of Glamorgan to Ormonde.]
[Sidenote: Three commissions Jan.-March, 1644-5]
[Sidenote: Glamorgan's instructions.]
His sanguine hopes of Irish and foreign forces having been dashed, and
Marston Moor having been fought, Charles turned to Glamorgan again. The
latter had married Lady Margaret O'Brien, the late Earl of Thomond's
daughter, and his many Irish connections might give him influence.
Ormonde was informed that 'Lord Herbert'--the title of Glamorgan was
dropped here--had business of his own in Ireland, and that he might be
found incidentally useful in bringing about a peace. 'His honesty or
affection to my service,' says the King in a cypher postscript, 'will
not deceive you; but I will not answer for his judgment.' Yet to this
man of more than doubtful discretion were given three commissions,
the first of which authorised him to levy an unlimited number of men
in Ireland and other parts beyond sea. By the second Charles promised
'in the word of a King and a Christian' to confirm all Glamorgan
might do, whatever irregularities might appear when his powers came
to be criticised. The third was a royal warrant to treat with the
Confederate Roman Catholics of Ireland, proceeding with all possible
secrecy. Ormonde was warned by friends in England to be on his guard
against Glamorgan, who left Oxford soon after receiving the last
commission, but circumstances changed a good deal before the latter
reached Ireland. He sailed from the Welsh coast, but was chased by a
Parliamentary ship and driven to Lancashire, whence he made his way to
Skipton Castle, and there stayed for three months, during which Naseby
was fought. In his instructions to Glamorgan which preceded the first
of the three commissions above mentioned, the King promised solemnly to
ratify whatever should be 'consented unto by our Lieutenant the Marquis
of Ormonde,' but authorised him to supply if possible anything 'upon
necessity to be condescended unto and yet the Lord Marquis not willing
to be seen therein, or not fit for us at the present publicly to own.'
Glamorgan seems to have given a verbal promise to consult Ormonde in
everything, but there is no evidence that the Lord Lieutenant knew
this, and it is only known to historians because Glamorgan, after his
failure, was reproached by the King for not having done so.[70]
[Sidenote: Charles lays down conditions of peace,]
[Sidenote: but soon changes his mind.]
[Sidenote: Still sanguine after Naseby.]
A few days after giving Glamorgan his instructions, Charles wrote to
Ormonde defining clearly the extreme point of his possible concessions
to the Roman Catholics. He promised that 'the penal statutes should not
be put into execution, the peace being made and they remaining in their
due obedience. And further that when the Irish give me that assistance
which they have promised, for the suppressing of this rebellion, and I
shall be restored to my rights, then I will consent to the repeal of
them by a law. But all those against appeals to Rome and _Præmunire_
must stand.' A month later the orders were that Ormonde should hasten
the peace upon the terms already granted, but that if he could not do
so he was to avoid a rupture and to continue the cessation. Only three
days later came a 'command to conclude a peace with the Irish, whatever
it cost, so that my Protestant subjects there may be secured and my
regal authority preserved.' Charles said he would not think it a hard
bargain if the Irish could be heartily engaged on his side in England
or Scotland, upon condition of repealing the penal laws at once, and of
suspending Poynings' Act for that and kindred purposes. But he did not
tell Ormonde whether he still considered the statutes against foreign
ecclesiastical jurisdiction part of his 'regal authority,' and he
directed him to 'make the best bargain he could, and not to discover
his enlargement of power till he needs must.' The King's position
remained substantially unaltered during the spring and early summer,
but four days after Naseby he told Ormonde that Irish help was more
necessary than ever. 'If,' he wrote, 'within two months you could send
me a considerable assistance, I am confident that both my last loss
would be soon forgotten, and likewise it may (by the grace of God) put
such a turn to my affairs, as to make me in a far better condition
before winter than I have been at any time since the rebellion began.'
The Lord Lieutenant was to conclude the peace as quickly as possible,
and then to come over himself at the head of an army. The course of
events was destined to be very different.[71]
[Sidenote: Glamorgan in Ireland. August 1645.]
[Sidenote: The Glamorgan Treaty, August 25.]
[Sidenote: An army offered in payment.]
[Sidenote: Ormonde is kept in the dark.]
When Glamorgan reached Dublin about the beginning of August, he
found no peace signed and no army ready to embark. As Charles's
necessities grew, so did the demands of the Irish bishops, and the
King's orders to conceal his powers prevented Ormonde from saying at
once what was the furthest point to which he could go. Glamorgan was
present at some of the meetings between the Lord Lieutenant and the
Confederate commissioners, and he then went to Kilkenny. Ormonde told
his brother-in-law Muskerry, who went there also, that the news of
Naseby had made the conclusion of peace more needful than ever. He
urged him to help Glamorgan, but at the same time acknowledged his
independence, and to some extent deprecated the idea that he was
acting in concert with him. 'I know,' he wrote, 'no subject in England
upon whose favour and authority with his Majesty, and real and innate
nobility you can better rely than upon his lordship's.' Muskerry, who
was anxious to come to terms with the King, no doubt made full use of
this testimonial, and so Glamorgan, relying entirely on his commission
of March 12, proceeded to 'engage his Majesty's royal and public
faith' for the due performance of the articles known as 'the first
Glamorgan treaty.' Ormonde was no party to them in fact or in name.
'Free and public use and exercise of the Roman Catholic religion' was
granted to all without exception. All churches possessed by the Roman
Catholics at any time since October 23, 1641, were granted to them,
'and all other churches in Ireland other than such as are now actually
enjoyed by his Majesty's Protestant subjects.' All jurisdiction of the
Protestant clergy over Roman Catholics was taken away, and an Act of
Parliament was promised to abrogate the penalties for breaches of the
Acts of supremacy and uniformity. Glamorgan also promised 'on behalf
of his Majesty,' confirmation to the Roman Catholic clergy of all
temporalities possessed by them at any time since the fatal October 23,
two-thirds of the profits for three years or during the continuance
of the war being applicable to the royal service and one-third to
the support of the clergy. Glamorgan afterwards explained that he
intended the immediate wants of the Protestant clergy to be provided
for out of the two-thirds reserved to the King. That any English
Protestants at that time were willing to grant unlimited toleration
may well be doubted, but it is certain that there were none ready to
confirm everything that had been done against their own clergy since
the rebellion began. The consideration offered by the Confederates was
10,000 men, armed one half with muskets and one half with pikes, to be
shipped by Glamorgan to any port he might choose. These troops were
to be kept together in one entire body under the Earl's leadership,
all other officers being appointed by the General Assembly or Supreme
Council. Ten days later Glamorgan solemnly swore to tell the King
everything, and 'not to permit the army entrusted to his charge to
adventure itself, or any considerable part thereof, until conditions
from his Majesty and by his Majesty be performed.' In the meantime the
treaty was kept secret, and the negotiations between Ormonde and the
commissioners of the Confederates went on pretty much as before.[72]
[Sidenote: Copies of the treaty are secretly circulated,]
[Sidenote: and thus becomes public.]
[Sidenote: Charles writes to the Pope.]
Glamorgan soon returned to Dublin, leaving the original of his treaty
in the hands of the Confederates, but Archbishop Walsh ordered copies
to be given to several ecclesiastics, and the secret was not very long
kept. Meanwhile the negotiations with Ormonde dragged their slow length
along, and the arrival of Lord Digby, who in those days was an Anglican
champion, did not make concessions on ecclesiastical matters more
probable. The appearance of a papal nuncio at this stage was the one
thing needful to make the situation hopeless. After Rinuccini landed in
Kerry, but before he reached Kilkenny, Archbishop Queely was killed in
a skirmish before Sligo, and a certified copy of the Glamorgan treaty
was found upon his person. As early as the previous April Charles had
written two letters, one to the nuncio and one to the Pope, and had
entrusted them to Glamorgan for delivery. He promised Rinuccini to
perform all that he should agree upon with Glamorgan, whom he praises
in exaggerated language. 'This,' he concludes, 'is the first letter
that we have ever written directly to any minister of the Pope, hoping
that it will not be the last, but that after you and the said Earl have
done your business, we shall openly show ourselves, as we have assured
him, your friend.' When the King wrote this dangerous letter, Rinuccini
was already at Genoa on his way to Ireland.[73]
FOOTNOTES:
[60] Castlehaven to Ormonde, November 7, 1643, in _Confederation and
War_, iii. 40; La Boulaye Le Gouz, _Tour in Ireland_ (1644), p. 35.
[61] Husband's _Collection_, p. 576; Gardiner's _Great Civil War_, i.
396; La Boulaye Le Gouz, _Tour_, pp. 2, 135.
[62] For the expulsion of the Cork citizens see _Confederation and
War_, iii. 221-230 and 235-247; for Broghill's proceedings Caulfield's
_Youghal Council Book_, p. 545; Calendar of _Clarendon S.P._, July
31-November 27, 1644. For the Protestant oath and for Henrietta Maria's
opinions, as reported by the Jesuit O'Hartegan, see _Confederation and
War_, iv. 49, 84; Muskerry to Ormonde, February 2, 1644-5, in appendix
to Carte's _Ormonde_.
[63] Ormonde to Digby, October 1644, in _Confederation and War_, iii.
29, with the documents referred to at foot; and see _ib._ v. 296;
Brabazon, Tichborne, and Ware to Ormonde, January 5, 1644-5, _ib._
iv. 116, and Swanley's letter, 121; Tichborne's letter to his wife,
appended to _Temple_, pp. 327, 330.
[64] _Bellings_, iv. 1-6, and Monnerie to Mazarin, February 20, 1644-5,
in the same volume.
[65] Receptions of Foisset and Monnerie, February 1643-4, in
_Confederation and War_, iii. 102, 106; Monnerie to Mazarin, February
20, 1644-5, _ib._ iv. 147.
[66] _Aphorismical Discovery_, i. 32, 49; _Bellings_, iii. 8, and the
receipt to Talbot for the Spanish money in the same vol., p. 273. For
Bourke's mission, _ib._ 126 and iv. 90; Rinuccini's _Embassy_, 106, 307.
[67] Bodley to Salisbury, October 15, 1611, in State Papers, _Ireland_,
and to Carew, in _Carew Cal._ 123; preface to _Confederation and War_,
iv. xxvii-xl, and in the same vol. 381-2; Captain Thomas Aston's _Brief
Relation of passages at Duncannon since June 8_, July 22, 1642, written
very shortly before the writer was killed.
[68] Preface to _Confederation and War_, iv. xl-xlvii, and in the same
vol., which contains three plans of Duncannon, a diary of the siege,
written by Bonaventure Barron, the famous Latinist, in his favourite
tongue, 189; Depositions of officers and soldiers, 210-237; Letters of
Supreme Council, 203-209; Letters of Smyth, Swanley, &c., and articles
of capitulation, 177-183. The author of the _Aphorismical Discovery_,
i. 102, says 'the defendants behaved themselves exceedingly well.'
[69] Dated Oxford, April 1, 1644: 'and for your greater honour and in
testimony of our reality we have with our own hand affixed our Great
Seal of England unto these our commission and letters, making them
patents.' Printed in Birch's _Inquiry_, p. 22, and elsewhere; S. R.
Gardiner in _English Historical Review_, ii. 687.
[70] The instructions to Glamorgan are dated January 2, 1644-5, the
three commissions referred to in the text being of January 6 and 12
and March 12 respectively. The King to Ormonde, December 27, 1644, in
Carte's _Ormonde_, appendix to vol. ii., No. 13.
[71] The King to Ormonde, January 18, 1644-5; February 16, February 27,
May 21, 1645; June 18 and 26--all in Carte's _Ormonde_, appendix to
vol. ii.
[72] Carte Papers, vol. xv., from which the letters, &c., are printed
in _Confederation and War_, v. 62-79; and the treaty dated August 25,
1645, printed from Husband's _Collection_, p. 821. When examined before
the Lord Lieutenant and Council, Glamorgan said he 'did not consult or
advise with any person whatsoever concerning any the matters contained'
in the treaty, _ib._ 220.
[73] Charles I. to Rinuccini, April 30, 1645 (in French), printed by
Birch from the Holkham MS. Archbishop Queely was killed on October 17.