THE PARLIAMENT OF 1689
[Sidenote: King James's Irish supporters. Tyrconnel.]
Among James's advisers during his reign in Ireland Tyrconnel was by far
the most important. As a thorough French partisan Avaux supported him,
and Berwick, whose sympathies were also French, while noting that he
was rich, says he was not accused of getting money unfairly. Anthony
Hamilton, who knew him very well, says he did save some property for
sufferers by the Cromwellian settlement, and was well paid for his
services. His disregard for truth was shown in his dealings with the
younger Clarendon and with Mountjoy. The elder Clarendon tells us
that he was mixed up in a plot to assassinate Cromwell, and that he
had threatened Ormonde with a like fate, since there was no chance of
killing him in a duel. He was personally brave, but no soldier. He
cursed and swore with a force and frequency remarkable even in that
age. As a Gentleman of the Bedchamber he was in the secret of James's
many amours, and was one of the 'men of honour' who tried to blast the
character of Anne Hyde, notwithstanding which he remained her husband's
trusted servant. James doubted his judgment, even when following his
advice. Sheridan is a hostile witness, but his opinion of Tyrconnel
has much support from other sources. 'He was a tall, proper man,
publicly known as the most insolent in prosperity and most abject in
adversity, a cunning dissembling courtier of mean judgment and small
understanding, uncertain and unsteady in his resolutions, turning with
every wind to bring about his ambitious ends and purposes, on which he
was so intent that to compass them he would stick at nothing, and so
false that a most impudent notorious lie was called at Whitehall and
St. James' one of Dick Talbot's ordinary truths.'[204]
[Sidenote: Justin MacCarthy.]
Donough MacCarthy, the Muskerry of the Civil War, was created Earl of
Clancarty before the Restoration, and after it regained most of his
property. He had married Ormonde's sister, and his third son Justin,
who served long in the French army, returned to England with the rank
of colonel at a time when the no-popery feeling was at its height.
Justin promoted the marriage of his nephew Donough, the fourth Earl,
with Sunderland's daughter. The young lord, though he had been brought
up a Protestant by Fell, was not kept safely by him at Oxford, and
soon returned to the Church of Rome. His romantic story has been told
by Macaulay, and the tale was dramatised by Tom Taylor. His uncle
had married Strafford's daughter, and was thus by several alliances
connected with the most powerful people at the English Court. When
Charles first entertained the idea of remodelling the Irish army he
thought of employing MacCarthy as a fitting instrument. Halifax warned
him of the danger of meddling with an army 'raised by a Protestant
Parliament to secure the Protestant interest; and would the King give
occasion to any to say that where his hands were not bound up he
would show all the favour he could to the Papists?' Since the Oxford
dissolution Charles no longer feared Parliament, and replied that he
did not care what people said. He repeated the whole conversation to
MacCarthy, which was hardly the way to secure honest advice. Soon after
the accession of James, Justin was in command of a regiment at Cork,
and became very popular, even with the Protestants of that town. When
Clarendon arrived his relations with him were at first quite amicable,
but he was more or less in co-operation with Tyrconnel, and a coolness
soon arose. He seems to have made love to the Lord Lieutenant's married
sister, which did not mend matters. MacCarthy became major-general in
April 1686, when Tyrconnel was made lieutenant-general, and, like him,
was sworn of the Privy Council.[205]
[Sidenote: Sarsfield.]
Patrick Sarsfield resembled Tyrconnel in his great stature, but in
nothing else, except that he also was an Anglo-Irishman of the Pale. At
the Restoration the estate of Lucan was in the hands of Sir Theophilus
Jones, who was protected by the Act of Settlement. William Sarsfield,
Patrick's elder brother, who married Charles II.'s daughter by Lucy
Walters, was declared innocent by the Court of Claims, his father
having been innocent; and so the remainder was saved. Jones held on at
Lucan until he was fully compensated, but ultimately Patrick became his
brother's successor to about 2000_l._ a year. He served for several
years in France, and afterwards in Charles's guards with the rank of
captain. He was always ready to resent any insult to his country or
countrymen, and was wounded dangerously in a duel when he seconded
Lord Kinsale. Both the principals were lads of twenty. He commanded
a regiment after the accession of James, served with distinction at
Sedgemoor, helped Tyrconnel to remodel the Irish army, and fought
bravely at Wincanton. In Ireland afterwards he commanded the regiment
of horse which bore his name and was raised through his influence,
and his popularity was boundless. Berwick praises him, though without
allowing him much military talent. Avaux had a high opinion of him,
and Englishmen acknowledged that he always kept his word. James was
inclined to depreciate him at first as having no head, but afterwards
saw good reason to better his opinion. It took the joint efforts of
Avaux and Tyrconnel to get him made a brigadier.[206]
[Sidenote: The Hamiltons.]
Of the six Hamilton brothers, Ormonde's nephews, three survived to take
part in this war. They were grandsons of the first Earl of Abercorn,
but probably born in Tipperary. George was killed at Saverne, having
married Fanny Jennings, who, as Tyrconnel's second wife, played an
important part. Anthony, famous as a courtier, but above all as a
writer, was much liked by the Lord Lieutenant Clarendon, and did not
approve of the way in which good soldiers were turned out of his own
regiment only because they were Protestants. A younger brother, John,
was killed at Aughrim, but not otherwise distinguished. Richard was
perhaps the most important of James's Anglo-Irish officers. He fought
gallantly at the Boyne, but showed little ability as a general. Melfort
disliked the family, and no doubt the feeling was reciprocated. He said
Lady Tyrconnel had a black heart, and that both Anthony and Richard
deserved to be hanged, the one for running away at Crom, the other for
mismanaging the siege of Londonderry. All the brothers had served in
France.[207]
[Sidenote: Meeting of Parliament.]
[Sidenote: The Peers.]
[Sidenote: The Commons.]
On May 7 Parliament met according to the proclamation in the King's
Inns, the suppressed Dominican priory where the Four Courts now stand.
James wore a crown, and was generally present at sittings of the Upper
House, where he was always sure of a majority. The Protestants were
indeed two to one on paper, but scarcely half a dozen temporal peers
remained in Ireland, and but seven bishops. Primate Boyle, Gore of
Waterford, and Roan of Killaloe were excused for infirmity, but four
took their seats. Their leader was Anthony Dopping of Meath, who was
supported by Digby of Limerick, Otway of Ossory, and Wetenhall of Cork
and Ross. James did not venture to summon any prelates of his own
Church, for the lawyers knew that it would have a disastrous effect in
England. He did create some temporal peers, and could create more if
they were wanted. Lord Clancarty, who was under age, was allowed to
sit. In the Commons the Protestants were an insignificant minority,
for no returns were made from the districts commanded by Londonderry
and Enniskillen. In the counties the sheriffs had been appointed by
Tyrconnel, and most of the boroughs had been remodelled by him. He
sent letters to the returning officers, and nothing more was required.
Strafford had done much the same, and in Charles II.'s Parliament there
had been no Roman Catholics in the House of Commons. In 1689 Protestant
freeholders had for the most part left the country, and in the
reconstructed boroughs Protestant freemen were always in a minority. Of
the whole number of 230 not many more than 60 bore Celtic names, the
rest being of Norman or English origin. Tyrconnel was always accused
of favouring the Pale at the expense of the Irish natives, which
may in some measure account for the predominance of the Anglo-Irish
element. They were all new to parliamentary work, and the King himself
instructed them in procedure as far as he could. An assembly of men
impoverished by war and by the legislation of the victors, and long
excluded from public life, found themselves in power, and were above
all things anxious to regain the possessions of their ancestors.[208]
[Sidenote: The King's speech.]
James opened the proceedings with a speech in which he thanked the
Irish nation for their loyalty, and declared for liberty of conscience.
His former attempts to establish it had, he said, unfortunately failed,
but he was nevertheless determined that where he had power there should
be 'no other test or distinction but that of loyalty.' He was anxious
to relieve sufferers by the Act of Settlement 'as far forth as may be
consistent with reason, justice, and the public good of my people.'
Nagle, the great assailant of the Settlement, was at once chosen
Speaker of the Commons, Fitton the Chancellor and Chief Justice Nugent
being summoned to the House of Lords by writ as Barons of Gosworth and
Riverston.[209]
[Sidenote: Influence of Avaux.]
[Sidenote: The Land Settlement attacked.]
[Sidenote: Proposed confiscation.]
In his opening speech James handsomely acknowledged his debt to the
Most Christian King, without whose help he could never have reached
Ireland, and he gave Avaux a copy for transmission to France. He often
resented the Ambassador's arrogance, who, on his part, took no pains to
hide his contempt for His Britannic Majesty's incapacity. But everyone
knew that the Frenchman was in power, and that his counsels were all
but commands. Many members of the House of Commons wished to thank
Louis XIV. directly for the services mentioned in the royal speech, but
Nagle said this should be left to the King himself. The great work of
the session was the repeal of the Acts of Settlement and Explanation.
James saw that such a revolution would destroy his chances in
England; but he was in the hands of the Irish, who would not hear of
any compromise. Not only members of Parliament, but the soldiers in
the street, said that if he would not restore them to their own, they
would not fight to restore him to his. The Commons insisted on total
repeal, but there was opposition on one point. Since the Parliament
of 1661 much property had changed hands for value, and it was now
proposed to confiscate the land and all the improvements. Compensation
to Protestant purchasers was scarcely thought of, but there were many
Roman Catholics in the same position, and among them two or three
judges. The lawyers might have been willing to make allowances, but
the ignorant majority of the Commons would listen to nothing. Those
who bought forfeited lands, they said, bought stolen goods, and had
no rights at all. Within a few days of the opening of Parliament, and
while the Repeal Bill was as yet not quite ready, an address to the
King was presented by Lord Granard on behalf of the purchasers. It was
written by Chief Justice Keating, who showed that the credit of the
country and the royal revenues would be destroyed if property legally
acquired were to be confiscated without regard to two solemn Acts of
Parliament or to the promises of two Kings. The Protestants had already
been deprived of their movable goods by the Rapparees, 'that is, the
armed multitude,' and would be completely and finally ruined if they
lost their lands also. 'The thriving Catholics who were purchasers (as
most of the province of Connaught are) are likewise to be turned out
of their estates and possessions, and their own and the improvements
of those who hold under them utterly lost.... What is to become of the
frequent declarations made by the Earl of Clarendon, and the Earl (now
Duke) of Tyrconnel, of Your Majesty's fixed resolutions never to lay
aside the Acts of Settlement and Explanation? Why did the judges in
their several circuits declare in all places where they sat, unto the
countries there assembled, that Your Majesty was resolved to preserve
the Acts of Settlement and Explanation, and that they were appointed
by the then Chief Governor here to declare the same unto them;
from whence they took confidence to proceed in their purchases and
improvements, and (with submission be it spoken), if this Bill pass,
are deluded.'[210]
[Sidenote: Parliamentary independence.]
[Sidenote: Violence of the Commons.]
A Bill for recognition of the King's title received the royal assent on
the fourth day of the session. No difficulty was made about declaring
the Irish Parliament independent, nor about annulling all patents
conferring office during life or good behaviour, but the Commons would
do nothing further until the Act of Settlement had been repealed; and
many of the old proprietors seized upon land without waiting for the
legal sanction. A Bill introduced into the Lords by Chief Justice
Nugent provided that half of the land disposed of by the Acts of
Settlement and Explanation should be restored to the old proprietors,
but the Commons would have none of it, and insisted on total repeal.
A Bill for the desired purpose brought in by Sir Ulick Bourke, member
for Galway county, was received with loud huzzas, and read a first and
second time on the same day. One member moved that anyone who opposed
the repeal was an enemy to King and country; another that the horrid
and barbarous law should be burned by the common hangman. But James saw
clearly enough that to annul the legislation of his father and brother
would be fatal to his chances in England. After consulting Avaux, who
saw how Ireland, which he hoped to make a dependency of France, would
be impoverished, the King conferred privately with some members of
both Houses, and found that he could struggle no longer, but it was
agreed that purchasers under the Settlement should have reprisals out
of forfeited land. Bishop Dopping made a gallant but vain effort to
stem the tide. The King, he said, would have no regular revenue, for
the Protestants were already stripped by the Rapparees of all but
the bare walls. It was now proposed to take them also, and improving
Catholics would be in no better case. 'The old proprietor comes poor
and hungry into his estate, and can pay nothing until his tenants
raise it; and the present possessor loses the benefit of his purchases
and improvements, and who then is able to supply the necessities of
His Majesty? Besides this, in many parts of the kingdom the land is
hardly able to pay the King's quit-rent by reason of the universal
depredations that reign everywhere; and can it be imagined but that
things will grow far worse when the ablest Catholic merchants, and the
most wealthy purchasers of that communion are ruined and undone?'[211]
[Sidenote: The Act of Settlement repealed.]
In the House of Lords many attempts were made to soften the measure of
repeal, but they were as constantly resisted by the Commons, and no
other business could be done until the royal assent was given about the
middle of June. The Bishop of Meath, with three of his brethren, and
four temporal peers, recorded their dissent, James telling them that
they must not use the word protest, which had grown up in rebellious
times. They were not allowed to set out their reasons. The Acts of
Settlement and Explanation, and every transaction growing out of them,
were 'absolutely repealed, annulled, and made void to all intents,
constructions, and purposes whatever, as if the same had never been
made or passed,' and the land restored to the representatives of those
who possessed it on October 22, 1641, the day before the rebellion
broke out. Real property belonging to anyone who had been in rebellion
since August 1, 1688, or in communication with those who had, was
forfeited without trial and vested in the King. The property of the
London companies in Ulster was confiscated. There were some provisos
for the relief of a few highly favoured persons, and the King was
empowered to grant reprisals in specially meritorious cases. Land
formerly belonging to any monastery, and used for public purposes, was
vested in His Majesty, to be disposed of to 'such pious and charitable
uses' as he should think fit. Reprisals to purchasers for valuable
consideration might be made out of the forfeitures. All outlawries of
the ancient proprietors were reversed. A few Protestants whose titles
were older than 1641 might have escaped the operation of the Act, and
it was resolved to draw the net still closer.[212]
[Sidenote: The Act of Attainder.]
The preamble to the Act of Attainder, passed before the end of June,
sets out that 'a most horrid invasion' had been made by the King's
unnatural enemy, the Prince of Orange, supported by many of his
traitorous subjects. To quell this rebellion, Tyrconnel had raised an
army, promises of pardon having been given by proclamation to all, with
very few exceptions, but this clemency had been without effect. The Act
affected some 2400 persons, of whom more than half, from the Primate
and the Duke of Ormonde down to yeomen and shopkeepers, whether 'dead
or alive, or killed in open rebellion, or now in arms against Your
Majesty or otherwise,' were attainted of high treason, and subjected
to all its penalties, unless they voluntarily surrendered by the 10th
of August. Others who had been absent from Ireland, presumably for 'a
wicked and traitorous purpose,' since November 5, 1688, were given
till September 1, while those already living in Great Britain or the
Isle of Man had till October 1. Among the latter was Henry Dodwell,
the most learned of the non-jurors. A few whose residence had always
been in England might surrender there up to November 1, in case the
King had then been in that kingdom for a month. A certain number of
persons, among whom was Robert Boyle, 'by reason of sickness, nonage,
infirmities, or other disabilities,' could not come to Ireland, but it
was not desirable that their Irish incomes should be paid beyond the
channel, and therefore their lands were vested in His Majesty, for the
defence of the realm. If they were innocent, they might come over and
prove it to the satisfaction of Fitton or Rice, or of the commissioners
appointed to execute the Act. A special clause repealed the private Act
by which Monck, the chief instrument of the Restoration, had sought to
secure his share of the forfeited estates. A royal pardon was to have
no effect unless it was enrolled in Chancery before November 1. James
afterwards complained that he had been induced to assent to this clause
without fully understanding it, and it was indeed as great an act of
political suicide as his father had committed when he gave up the power
of dissolving the Long Parliament without its own consent.[213]
[Sidenote: Extreme harshness of the new law.]
Most of the absentees mentioned in the Act stood attainted unless they
surrendered in Ireland within a few weeks; none were given longer
time than four or five months, and there was no official publication.
The earliest list, printed in London, and without authority from
the Irish Government, was not circulated till four months after the
latest date at which the King could pardon. A few well-known names had
been published earlier, but no one could be expected to face Rice or
Nugent without accurate knowledge of the position. Commissioners were
appointed to carry out this Act and the Act of Repeal, but many of the
old proprietors took possession before they were passed. All titles
deriving from the Act of Settlement had been annulled, and the refugees
could have had nothing even if they returned. Whether the text of the
Act of Attainder had been purposely kept secret or not really makes
very little difference. It remained in manuscript, though the general
drift of it was, of course, quickly known in London. Those concerned
were scattered all over Great Britain, and many of them in extreme
poverty, having nothing but the little they had been able to carry
away. Men who had owned thousands of cattle were living on charity, and
in no condition to employ lawyers. And those who had fled for their
lives were not likely to trust themselves empty-handed in Dublin.
Communication with Ireland was exceedingly difficult, and letters from
such Protestants as stood their ground could only increase the distrust
of those who had gone. It was evident to all thinking men that the
difference between the two Kings and the two Parliaments could only be
decided by arms.[214]
[Sidenote: Hasty legislation.]
[Sidenote: Case of Trinity College.]
The Act of Attainder was drafted and passed in a great hurry. Many of
the persons included are insufficiently described, and the Christian
name, so necessary for identification, was often omitted and sometimes
wrongly given. This occurs even in the case of several peers. Less
known names were given in by the members of the House of Commons, whose
accuracy there was neither means nor time to test. Joseph Coghlan, who
sat for the University, was called on to give a list of the members of
Trinity College, Provost Huntingdon and all but four of the fellows
having gone to England, but he said he could not do this without the
buttery book, and he took care that the butler should not be found
until after the Bill had passed into law. Perhaps the King had had
enough of colleges. The power of appeal from the Irish to the English
courts of law was taken away by a separate Act, which also declared
the independence of the Irish Parliament. Another Act vested in the
King the personal property, including arrears of rent and unreaped
corn, of persons who had left Ireland, 'thereby endeavouring to weaken
Your Majesty's interest, and showing an apparent diffidence of Your
Majesty's protection.' It must be admitted that their fears were well
founded, for James was not his own master.[215]
[Sidenote: King James is powerless.]
[Sidenote: Protestant refugees in London.]
'What, gentlemen, are you for another '41?' said James to those who
would have gone still greater lengths against the Protestants; and we
are told that the Irish never forgave him for this speech. More than
forty-seven years had passed since the fatal October 23, and it had
become the fashion to say that the Puritans or Protestants had been
rebels from the first and their opponents the loyal subjects. The
parliamentary majority cared little for the Crown unless its wearer
would be their very humble servant, while he only thought of how
to regain England and Scotland. Avaux, who cared for none of these
things, but thought only of thwarting the Prince of Orange by gaining
a dependency for France, encouraged the separatist tendency. An Act
had been passed in 1662 reciting the events of 1641, and appointing
October 23 as an anniversary holy day for ever. That Act was now
repealed, but the dreadful memories of the rebellion could not be so
effaced either in England or Ireland. James's old assailant, Thomas
Pilkington, who had been cast in 100,000_l._ damages and spent nearly
four years in prison, was now a knight and Lord Mayor of London. With
the sheriffs and several aldermen he attended the anniversary service
in Bow Church, where the Irish Protestants in London met to hear a
sermon from Archbishop Vesey of Tuam, who had been plundered, but did
not leave Connaught until he thought his life in danger. The preacher
reflected upon those half-hearted Protestants who would fain have
submitted quietly, forgetting the past and prophesying smooth things
for the future. 'They were,' he said, 'almost made to believe the
Paris massacre was a fable by those that affirmed there was no dragoon
reformation in France, that the gunpowder conspiracy was a Protestant
plot, that the murders in Ireland were committed by the Protestants
upon themselves. They were almost persuaded of their great moderation
in the use of power, till by the gnashing of their teeth, they saw
their grinders.' While this sermon was being preached in London,
Schomberg's army was still rotting at Dundalk.[216]
[Sidenote: Treatment of the clergy.]
Two archbishops, seven bishops, and more than eighty other clergymen
were included in the Act of Attainder, and the number of those who
left Ireland was probably much greater. Those who stood their ground,
or who went no farther than Dublin, were reduced to poverty, and
three Acts were passed which made their position desperate. By one of
these, tithes due by Roman Catholics were made payable to the Roman
Catholic incumbents, 'and to no other person, or persons of whatsoever
religion or persuasion soever.' Impropriate tithes were at first
excepted, but by a second Act all such tithes as formerly belonged
to bishops and other dignitaries were to be paid by Roman Catholics
to the corresponding persons of their own church. The decision as to
who was entitled to each bishopric and deanery was left to the King,
archdeaconries and other patronage being vested in the bishop or
archbishop so acknowledged. Advowsons belonging to Roman Catholics were
preserved for the presentation of their co-religionists. A third Act
abolished the impost popularly called Ministers' Money, payable to the
incumbent out of household property in corporate towns. In no case was
any compensation given. As the Rapparees had stripped them bare, most
of the Protestants could do little by voluntary contributions; but they
made an effort to support such clergymen as remained at home. 'Many
dissenters of all sorts,' says King, '(except Quakers) contributed
liberally to this good end, which ought to be remembered to their
honour.' Apologists for James draw attention to the fact that the word
Protestant does not occur in his Act of Attainder, but it was not
wanted. He established liberty of conscience by law, but sought help
from Rome to destroy heresy with a Catholic army, and in the meantime
he had sheriffs, judges, and officials to begin the work.[217]
[Sidenote: Commercial legislation.]
[Sidenote: English coal prohibited.]
In considering the dealings of England with Ireland, nothing has
been more justly blamed than the commercial restraints imposed by
the stronger country upon the weaker. Trade from Ireland to the
plantations was forbidden except through England. The Irish Parliament
now abolished this restriction, but it was not forgotten that James
was still nominally King of England, and therefore colonial goods
might be transported in Irish bottoms to Great Britain as well as to
Ireland, thus dispensing with English legislation to the contrary. It
was recognised that Ireland possessed but few merchant vessels, and
the building of more was encouraged by large premiums. Shipwrights
and artificers were offered great privileges if they would settle in
Ireland, and schools of navigation were to be established at Dublin,
Belfast, Waterford, Cork, Limerick, and Galway. But while thus moving
in the direction of free trade the Irish Parliament passed another Act
prohibiting the importation of English, Scotch, or Welsh coal, on the
ground that it prevented the employment of poor people in supplying
turf and fire-wood. If, nevertheless, fuel ran short, the Lord
Lieutenant might grant licences to bring in a strictly limited quantity
on the requisition of the Lord Mayor and Corporation of Dublin; thus
securing a monopoly to the licensees. It was, however, feared that
the proprietors of Irish coal mines, at Kilkenny and elsewhere, might
raise their prices; and a maximum was accordingly established in
their case. When winter came the shivering soldiers broke into empty
houses for the sake of the woodwork, and it became necessary to offer
special encouragement to people who would bring coal from Kilkenny to
Dublin.[218]
[Sidenote: Imperfect records of this Parliament.]
[Sidenote: Daly's case.]
[Sidenote: Scramble for property.]
[Sidenote: Small revenue from confiscations.]
It is not likely that any reports of debates in this Parliament ever
existed. The documents concerning it are scanty, for the Parliament
of England lost no time in declaring all its proceedings void, and
the Parliament of Ireland in 1695 further ordered all records to be
destroyed, imposing heavy penalties upon officials for not surrendering
those in their keeping. But we have some evidence that the proceedings
were disorderly, as was to be expected in an assembly of inexperienced
men violently excited by the prospect of regaining the power and
property they had lost. Mr. Justice Daly was a Roman Catholic, and
strongly Nationalist, but Clarendon had no objection to him except
that he thought no native Irishman should be a judge. He was a man of
high character, who had made a fortune at the bar and had invested it
in land of which the title was derived from the Act of Settlement.
His interest was therefore opposed to the repeal of that measure, and
he fought hard on the same side as Bishop Dopping. Disgusted by the
turbulence of the majority, he declared in private conversation that
this was no Parliament, but a Masaniello's assembly, and that men whose
property was taken by the King could not be expected to fight for
him. The members were squabbling for estates instead of preparing to
resist the Prince of Orange, dividing the bear's skin before they had
killed the bear--'All the honour we do to His Majesty is by reflecting
on his father and brother as wicked and unjust princes, charging them
with enacting those laws that were contrary to the laws of God and
man.' This incautious speech was reported to the House of Commons,
and articles of impeachment were quickly agreed to. Daly refused to
withdraw his words, saying he would rather emigrate to Jamaica. But his
friends persuaded him to promise some sort of apology. Edmund Nugent of
Carlanstown, who represented Mullingar, was sent to tell the judge that
he would be pardoned on submission. Perhaps he thought the proposed
apology insufficient; at any rate he announced that there would be a
full one, and also that Londonderry was taken. The members cheered
loudly and threw up their hats, with shouts of 'No submission--we
pardon him'; but the truth was soon known, and Nugent was threatened
with being brought to the bar for playing this trick. The scramble
for the property of absentees had begun even before the meeting of
Parliament, and it was clearly necessary to make some attempt at
order. In March, military officers, acting, or professing to act, by
Tyrconnel's authority, seized the goods of absentees all over the
country, but not in Dublin, where the quays were crowded like a fair.
Nearly everything of value was sent to England. In May, when Parliament
was sitting, the Commissioners of Revenue continued the work of the
soldiers by royal warrant. By that time much of the goods already
taken had been sold, and the officers concerned, being at the siege of
Derry, could not be brought to account. On the last day of the session
an Act was passed at the instance of the Commissioners, vesting in the
King all the personalty, including arrears of rent, left by absentees
mentioned in the Act of Attainder, or who aided and abetted the Prince
of Orange. In August, when Parliament had risen, the Commissioners
extended their operations to Dublin, but they were instructed not to
strip houses or injure trade. The business was so mismanaged, and there
was so much dishonesty, that His Majesty had little profit from the
widespread ruin. Six months after the passing of the Act Avaux reported
that the King had not received, and he believed never would receive,
more than one thousand crowns out of confiscated property worth two
millions.[219]
[Sidenote: French efforts to capture trade.]
[Sidenote: French wines.]
[Sidenote: Irish wool.]
Avaux did not believe James had much chance of gaining England and
Scotland, though the sanguine English Jacobites kept him constantly
informed as to the general discontent and as to William's personal
unpopularity. But in any case the ambassador was sure that the complete
reduction of Ireland was a necessary preliminary. In the meantime
he sought to advance French interests. One plan was to naturalise
all Louis's subjects in Ireland, and a Bill for this purpose passed
the House of Commons, but James insisted that the privilege, such
as it was, should be extended to all foreign visitors. He was asked
sarcastically by members of the Lower House whether Kirke and Schomberg
were included, but he had his way. Avaux also sought special terms
for French wines, instead of which an Act was passed giving the King
general power to regulate the duties on foreign commodities, and he
ordered the Revenue Commissioners to remit tonnage and other dues
in the case of French importers. By far the most important of Irish
commodities was wool, the exportation of which to foreign parts from
England or Ireland was felony by an English Act of Charles II. Avaux
now proposed to make the export of wool to France free, and at the same
time entirely to prohibit its being sent to England. By this means
English manufacturers would be deprived of their raw material for the
benefit of their French competitors. A Bill for the double purpose
found favour with the House of Commons, but the King again interposed,
and the ambassador had to be contented with a promise that all French
ships should be allowed to take cargoes of wool. The Irish Parliament
had declared itself independent, but the English Act remained in force,
and the sailors of a St. Malo vessel refused to load the forbidden
goods, with the chance of being taken at sea and hanged in England.
The Englishman in James was always asserting himself, while he knew
that his only effective supporter was the French King. Avaux saw that
great profits might be made if these difficulties could be got over,
and he offered to share them with Louvois, who administered a dignified
rebuke. He would have nothing to say to such traffic, and 'the King,
our master,' would take it very ill.[220]
[Sidenote: End of the Parliament.]
The Irish Parliament was prorogued on July 18, and it did not meet
again. Londonderry was relieved twelve days later, and Schomberg landed
in less than a month. Many of the members had already dispersed to
look after the forfeited lands, the repeal of the Act of Settlement
and the measures against absentees having exhausted their interest in
parliamentary matters. One of the last Acts passed secured 15,000_l._
a year to Tyrconnel. At least one chief reason for assembling a
Parliament was to get money for the war, and 20,000_l._ a month was
voted, but it was hard to collect, and proved quite inadequate.
Supporters of James who were not mainly interested in the land
question thought the Parliament had done much more harm than good,
many officers and the best of the country people being engaged at home
and leaving the war to take care of itself. It was evident to every
clear-sighted person that arms must decide, not only whether James or
William should rule Ireland, but whether the King of England should
be King in Ireland also. The pretension of the smaller country to act
independently of the greater had been defined by the late legislation,
and was evidently incompatible with the facts, nor did James venture
to separate the two islands by repealing the law of Poynings. The
penal laws that followed are accounted for, though not excused, by
the conduct of the native Irish Parliament during its short tenure of
power. The treatment of the French Protestants by James's patron had
also done much to embitter the feelings of the victors.[221]
Clever men saw at the time, and everyone can see now, that James's
Irish adventure was hopeless. He thought of Ireland only as a
stepping-stone to England, and his French supporters thought only
of diverting William's attention from the Continent, and thus
strengthening the position of their own King. The Irish very naturally
thought first of regaining their lands, and hoped, with the aid of
French power, to hold the country in spite of England. The English
colony would have been destroyed if James had been victorious, and the
Protestant landowners, who received no mercy from an Irish Parliament,
were not likely to show much when their turn came.
FOOTNOTES:
[204] _Sheridan MS._ The character in _Macariæ Excidium_, p. 83, is
much to the same effect; O'Kelly and Sheridan both accusing Tyrconnel
of favouring the Anglo-Irish and depressing the native Celts. In his
memoir, printed at the end of Avaux's _Negotiations_, Hugh Balldearg
O'Donnell says Tyrconnel was particularly hostile to the Ulster
Irish. _Light to the Blind_, attributed to a Plunket, always praises
him. 'Infiniment vain et fort rusé,' says Berwick. 'Talbot s'était
dès long-tems porté pour patron des Irlandais opprimés. Ce zèle
pour sa nation était fort louable; mais il n'était pas tout-à-fait
désinteressé. De tous ceux que son crédit avait fait rétablir dans une
partie de leurs biens il avait écorné quelque petite chose; mais comme
chacun y trouvait son compte, personne n'y trouvait à redire,' _Mem. de
Grammont_, chap. ix. Clarendon's _Life_, Cont., pp. 929 _sqq._ Burnet,
i. 176, 227, and the Supplement, 255.
Next Talbot must by his great master stand,
Laden with folly, flesh, and ill-got land;
He's of a size indeed to fill a porch,
But ne'er can make a pillar of the Church.
Marvell's _Advice to a Painter_, p. 67.
[205] Burnet, i. 602, information from Halifax himself. _Clarendon and
Rochester Corr._ 'Colonel MacCarthy's carriage has been so differing
from the others that he has by his great civility recommended himself
highly to the affections of the people of Cork, though they are
notoriously fanatic.' Longford to Ormonde, September 7, 1685, in
_Ormonde Papers_, vii. 358. When Boisseleau was governor there he
treated the 'fanatics' very harshly.
[206] 'Sarsfield n'est pas un homme de la naissance de Milord Galmoy,
ny de Makarty, mais c'est un gentilhomme distingué par son mérite, qui
a plus de crédit dans ce royaume qu'aucun homme que je connoisse,'
Avaux to Louvois, October 21, 1689. Berwick married Sarsfield's widow.
[207] Melfort's letters, cited in note, p. 142, to O'Callaghan's
_Macariæ Excidium_. _Sheridan MS._ Madame de Sévigné, July 1, 1676. For
an estimate of Anthony Hamilton, see Sainte-Beuve's article, _Causeries
du Lundi_, vol. i. For the early adventures of the brothers, see the
_Mem. de Grammont_. Melfort told Avaux that the Tyrconnels had hunted
him out of Ireland, 'pour sauver Antoine et Richard Hamilton, qu'on
avait peur qu'il n'accusast.' Avaux to Louis XIV., August 20/30, 1689.
Madame de Lafayette says Anthony was driven from the French Court for
making love to the Princesse de Conti, who liked talking to him better
than to anyone else. 'Richard alla mourir chez sa nièce, quoique pauvre
elle-même, mais moins pauvre que lui, pour ne pas mourir de faim,' St.
Simon's addition to Dangeau, December 20, 1717.
[208] A catalogue of the Acts of this Parliament, numbered from 1 to
35, was published in London with an 'Exact List of the Lords, &c.,'
licensed November 13, 1689. The text of many of them is in a _List of
Such of the Names_, &c., licensed March 26, 1690. The Act of Attainder
is in an '_Account of the Transactions_ of the late King James in
Ireland', licensed July 7, 1690.
[209] James's speech to both Houses, published by his order, May 10,
and the Parliament's address in reply are in the appendix to Leslie's
Answer to King. The latter document has no allusion to the King's
pronouncement about the Act of Settlement. A French version of the
speech was sent by Avaux to Louis XIV. on May 8/18.
[210] Keating's address (early in May 1689) is in King's appendix no.
22 and in other places. Avaux to Louis XIV., May 26/June 5, 1689.
King James to Clarendon, April 6, 1686, in _Clarendon and Rochester
Corres._, vol. i. Clarendon to Rochester and to the King, April 17:
'Your Majesty's often gracious professions that the Acts of Settlement
shall not be touched, does extremely quiet the minds of men,' _ib._
Sunderland to Clarendon, June 14, _ib._ Writing to Rochester on October
12, Clarendon says: 'In almost every letter I have had the honour to
receive from the King he has declared the Acts of Settlement must not
be touched, and that he will support the English interest,' _ib._
vol. ii. After this date he began to see more clearly, and on January
4 received a copy of the Coventry letter, which left no doubt as to
Tyrconnel's plans, _ib._ ii. 142.
[211] Avaux to Louis XIV., May 26/June 5, 1689. _Journal of the
Proceedings_ of the Parliament in Ireland from May 7 to June 11, and
a letter appended carrying the narrative nearly to the end of July,
London, licensed July 6, 1689. The journal and letter are reprinted
in _Somers Tracts_ as if they had been published separately. There is
also a journal by another hand ending May 20, _Somers Tracts_, xi. 426.
Bishop Dopping's speech, June 4, is in King, appx. no. 23. _A True
Account of the Present State of Ireland_, by a person that with great
difficulty left Dublin, June 8, 1689.
[212] The Act of Repeal is in a _List of Names_, &c., licensed March
26, 1690. _Journal of Proceedings_, _ut sup._ Avaux to Louis XIV., May
16/26.
[213] The Act of Attainder is printed from a copy certified by a clerk
in the Rolls Office in King's appendix, published anonymously late in
1691. A _List of the Names_ had already appeared in a pamphlet licensed
March 26, 1690. The discrepancies are just such as Paley would have
considered proofs of genuineness. For instance, King's Lieutenant
John Newton of Drogheda is St. John Newton in the earlier list, while
Katherine, Viscountess Ranelagh, and Anne, Viscountess Dungannon, first
appeared as Katherine Vir, Countess of Ranelagh, and Anne Vir, Countess
of Donegal. No doubt King's list is the more trustworthy of the two.
In the _Transactions of the late King James_, licensed July 7, 1690,
p. 33, it is noted that some names in the list already published,
pp. 30-31, were wrongly added, and this is confirmed by comparing
the two pamphlets with King. He believed, and gives good reasons for
believing, that the Act was kept hidden away, so that no one could take
any advantage under it. See also _An Apology for the Protestants of
Ireland_, dated May 27, 1689, and a _Character of the Protestants of
Ireland_, licensed November 13, 1689.
[214] Chief Justice Keating, who tried hard to keep terms with James,
and who even excused Tyrconnel, said he was 'confident and assured
that the Government of England will and must at length take place here
against all opposition whatsoever,' letter to Sir John Temple, December
29, 1688, in King's appendix no. 14. _London Gazette_. Luttrell's
_Diary_, June 2: Keating committed suicide in 1691, Cal. of State
Papers, _Domestic_, October 20, 1691, p. 548; James Reilly's letter
from Poitiers, January 3, 1692, in _Spicilegium Ossoriense_, ii. 309.
In troubled times a man who tries to be impartial is likely to find
himself without friends. He had been indicted for high treason and his
place given to another, see the article on him in _Dict. of National
Biography_ and Luttrell, ii. 139. The treason consisted in taking a
commission from King James after February 17, 1688-9.
[215] King says (iii. 13) that Coghlan consulted Vice-Provost Acton,
and he may have been guided by Dopping, who was still Vice-Chancellor.
[216] Lestie's Answer to King, p. 124. Irish Statutes, 14 & 15 Car.
II. cap. 23. _A Sermon preached to the Protestants of Ireland_, &c.,
London, 1689, dedicated to Pilkington and published at his request.
'He spoiled his business in Ireland by his over great indulgence
towards them. He was infatuated with this rotten principle--provoke
not your Protestant subjects,' _Light to the Blind_. _A Short View of
the Methods_, &c., by a clergyman lately escaped from thence, licensed
October 17, 1689. The writer fled from Vesey's province of Tuam, and
the tract is dedicated to Burnet.
[217] King knew that great reforms were desirable in the Established
Church, and he did what he could. But he saw clearly that the great
exodus to England would cause fatal jealousies between those who stuck
to their duty and those who ran away, Bonnell to Strype, August 5, 1690.
[218] Act 29 for the advancement of trade. Act 21 for excluding English
coal. Proclamations of November 24, 1689, against wrecking empty
houses, and of November 29 for encouraging the conveyance of coal from
Kilkenny. On November 14/24 Avaux writes to Louis XIV., 'Ce qu'on avait
de bois et de charbon pour un écu en coûte quatre, et il faut envoyer
bien loin à la campagne pour en pouvoir trouver.'
[219] _Journal and a Letter_ from Dublin, licensed July 6, 1689. _True
Account of the State of Ireland_, 1689. Act 24. _List of the Names_,
&c., licensed March 26, 1689, p. 41. Copies of the orders, &c., in
King's appendix no. 24. Avaux to Louis XIV., February 1/11, 1690. In
a report to James dated June 4/14, 1689, Avaux had written: 'Votre
Majesté sait que les sheriffs et les particuliers qu'on employe à la
recherche de ces biens sont les premiers à souffrir qu'on les detourne
moyennant quelques presens qu'on les fait.'
[220] Acts 19 and 27. Avaux to Louvois, April 6/16, 1689, and the
answer, June 13. Writing to Louis on June 30/July 10, Avaux says James
'a un coeur trop anglais pour se determiner à rien qui puisse chagriner
les Anglais, c'est-ce qui arreste l'affaire des laines.'
[221] _Light to the Blind_, p. 70. 'By the sitting of this Parliament,'
says John Stevens, p. 70, 'the army was much damaged and weakened, the
King lost the assistance of many of his friends, and gained a vast
number of irreconcilable enemies.' King James, says Colonel O'Kelly,
'convoked the states of the kingdom, and as if in time of peace and
leisure spent in unnecessary consultations the whole summer season,
which might be better employed to go on more rigorously with the
siege of Londonderry,' _Macariæ Excidium_, p. 33. King says it was
'manifestly against his interest to call a Parliament,' chap. iii. sec.
12, 5. Besides anything given to Tyrconnel by his private Act, there
appear to have been other grants. According to the _Sheridan MS._,
James regretted at St. Germains that he had been tricked into giving
him 50,000_l._ a year while only intending 12,000_l._ The extreme Irish
party, of which Bishop O'Molony was the soul, condemned this Parliament
for not repealing Poynings' Act, Macpherson, i. 339.