Treaty of Limerick was violated." And dare, demonstrated the obligation of it is remarkable that this historian en-keeping public faith. It seems that this deavours to sustain his position by the important question greatly occupied men's authority of the Abbe MacGeoghegan. minds at that time; for it was judged He says, "The Abbe MacGeoghegan com- necessary to settle and quiet public plains that the treaty was violated some opinion; and to this end, on the third years after it was made, but he does not Sunday, in the same church, Dean Synge pretend that it was violated by Statute 3rd, preached a conciliatory sort of discourse, William and Mary, c. 2." This is ex- neither absolutely insisting on observing tremely uncandid. The Abbe MacGeo- the treaty, nor distinctly advising that it ghegan did not profess to continue his should be broken. His text was, "Keep History of Ireland beyond the Treaty of peace with all men, if it be possible." After Limerick; before quitting his subject, this we hear no more of any discussions however, the venerable author does inci- of the grand controversy in the pulpit; dentally mention that this treaty was af- but in Parliament and in Council the terwards violated by many statutes, which differenee subsisted, until the English it was not his province to arrange in chro- Act of Resumption of Estates quieted the nological order; and after noticing some disputants, who then saw they lost nothing of the hardships thus inflicted upon the by the articles, as the Catholics gained Irish people, he adds; "By other acts, the nothing. Irish nobility were deprived of their arms and horses; they were debarred from purchasing land, from becoming members of the bar, or filling any public office; and, contrary to the ninth article of the treaty, they were made subject to infamous oaths."* While these debates were proceeding in Dublin, the Protestant magistrates and sheriffs had no doubt upon the point, whether faith was to be kept with Catholics or not; they universally decided in the negative; and in less than two months after the capitulation was confirmed by Notwithstanding the very slender con- the king, as we learn on the authority of cessions which were apparently granted William's own partial biographer, Harris, to the Catholic people by this memorable "the justices of peace, sheriffs, and other treaty, however, the Protestant English magistrates, presuming on their power in colony in Ireland was immediately agi- the country, did, in an illegal manner, tated by the bitterest indignation against dispossess several of their majesties' subboth the general and the lords-justices.jects, not only of their goods snd chattels, They thought the Irish entitled to no articles or conditions but what would ex pose them to the severest rigours of war; and the "Protestant Interest," and "Ascendency" thought themselves defrauded of a legitimate vengeance, to say nothing of their natural expectations of plunder; a most unfounded apprehension, as will presently appear. but of their lands and tenements, to the great disturbance of the peace of the kingdom, subversion of the law, and reproach of their majesties' government." It is a much heavier reproach to their majesties' government that no person appears to have been prosecuted, nor in any way brought to justice for these outrageous oppressions. It appears by a letter of the lords-justices of the 19th November, 1691 (six weeks after the surrender of Limerick), "that their lordships had received complaints from all parts of Ireland of the ill-treatment of the Irish who had submitted, had their majesties' protection, or were included in articles; and that they were so extremely terrified with apprehensions of the continuance of that usage, that some thousands of them who had quitted the Irish army, and had gone home with a resolution not to go for France, were then come back again [come back, it is presumed, to Cork, Limerick, and other sea After the conclusion of the treaty, the lords-justices returned to Dublin; and on the following Sunday attended service in Christ Church Cathedral. The preacher was Doctor Dopping, bishop of Meath; and he took for the subject of his sermon the late important events at Limerick. He argued that no terms of peace ought to be observed with so perfidious a people;† a fact which, if it were not notorious and well-attested, might seem incredible; seeing that one of the worst charges brought against the Catholics at that period was that they taught that faith was not to be kept with heretics. The doc-ports], and pressed earnestly to go thither, trine of the Bishop of Meath, however, was not approved by all the divines of his party, for on the next Sunday, in the same church, Doctor Moreton, bishop of Kil See page 613 of Sadlier's Edition. rather than stay in Ireland, where, contrary to the public faith (add these justices), as well as law and justice, they were robbed of their substance and abused in their persons." But, still no effectual means were used by the government for repressing such wrong; so that we may well adopt the language of Dr. Curry, that these representations made by the lords-justices were only a "pretence." Indeed, Harris affirms, and every statement of this nature made by Harris is an unwilling admission, that Capel, one of these very lords-justices, did, shortly after, proceed as far as it was in his power, to infringe the Articles of Limerick. The prospect which now opened before the Catholics of Ireland was gloomy indeed. Already they were made to feel in a thousand forms all the bitterness of subjugation, and to perceive that in this reign of King William, so vaunted for its liberality, the blessings and liberties of the British Constitution, if any such there were, existed not for them; that they had no security for even such remnants of property as had been left them, no redress by the laws of the land, and no refuge from their enemies even in the pledged faith of a solemn treaty. Yet we have only arrived at the beginning of the system of grinding oppression which was soon to be put in operation against them. This preliminary chapter is devoted to an account of the immediate breaches of the Articles of Limerick which were perpetrated within the three months after their signature. We are next to trace the development of that great code of Penal Laws, which Dr. Samuel Johnson described as more grievous than all the Ten Pagan persecutions of the Christians. Before finishing this chapter, it is proper to allude to one other instance of the determined mendacity of Baron Macaulay. Respecting the embarkation of Sarsfield and the Irish troops from Cork, that historian compiles from several sources the following narrative: formed an erroneous estimate of the number of those who would demand a passage, and that he found himself, when it was too late to alter his arrangements, unable to keep his word. After the soldiers had embarked, room was found for the families of many. But still there remained on the water-side a great multitude, clamoring piteously to be taken on board. As the last boats put off there was a rush into the surf. Some women caught hold of the ropes, were dragged out of their depth, clung till their fingers were cut through, and perished in the waves. The ships began to move. A wild and terrible wail arose from the shore, and excited unwonted compassion in hearts steeled by hatred of the Irish race and of the Romish faith. Even the stern Cromwellian, now at length, after a desperate struggle of three years, left the undisputed lord of the blood-stained and devastated island, could not hear unmoved that bitter cry, in which was poured forth all the rage and all the sorrow of a conquered nation." The sad scene here related did really take place; and in after-times, when those Irish soldiers were in the armies of France, and saw before them the red ranks of King William's soldiery, that long, terrible shriek rung in their ears, and made their hearts like fire and their nerves like steel. We know that when their officers sought to rouse their ardour for a charge, no recital of the wrongs their country had endured could kindle so fierce a flame of vengeful passion as the mention of "the women's parting cry." But the dishonesty of Lord Macaulay's account is in ascribing that cruel parting to the noble Sarsfield, and in distinctly charging him with breaking his word to the soldiers, though he did not mean to break it when he gave it. "Sarsfield perceived that one chief cause of the desertion which was thinning Now, by referring back to the "Milihis army was the natural unwillingness of tary Articles" of the Treaty, we see that the men to leave their families in a state it was not Sarsfield, but General Ginkell, of destitution. Cork and its neighbour-on the part of King William, who was to hood were filled with the kindred of those who were going abroad. Great numbers of women, many of them leading, carrying, suckling their infants, covered all the roads which led to the place of embarkation. The Irish general, apprehensive of the effect which the entreaties and lamentations of these poor creatures could not fail to produce, put forth a proclamation, in which he assured his soldiers that they should be permitted to carry their wives and families to France. It would be injurious to the memory of so brave and loyal a gentleman to suppose that when he made this promise he meant to break it. It is much more probable that he had B As to furnish shipping for the emigrants and their families-"all other persons belonging to them;"-that it was not Sarsfield, but Ginkell, who was to "form an estimate" of the amount of shipping required; and that it was not Sarsfield, therefore, but Ginkell, who could "alter the arrangements" at the last moment. General Sarsfield's proclamation to the men, "that they should be permitted to carry their wives and families to France," he made that statement on the faith of the First and several succeeding articles of the treaty, not being yet aware of any design to violate it. But this is not all: the historian who could not let the hero go into his sorrowful exile without seek-liberty, he granted toleration to dissenters ing to plunge this venomous sting into of all descriptions, regardless of their his reputation, had before him the Life of speculative opinions. In the early part King William, by Harris, and also Curry's of his reign, the Irish Catholics enjoyed Historical Review of the Civil Wars, the full and free exercise of their religion. wherein he must have seen that the lords- They were protected in their persons and justices and General Ginkell are charged properties; their industry was encouraged; with endeavouring to defeat the execu- and under his mild and fostering administion of that First Article. For, says tration, the desolation of the late war beHarris, "as great numbers of the officers gan to disappear, and prosperity, peace, and soldiers had resolved to enter into the and confidence to smile once more on the service of France, and to carry their fami- | country." lies with them, Ginkell would not suffer their wives and children to be shipped off with the men; not doubting that by detaining the former he would have prevented many of the latter from going into that service. This, I say, was confessedly an infringement of the Articles." To those who are disposed to be thankful for very small favours, the beginning of William's reign in Ireland was certainly acceptable. There was a practical toleration of Catholic worship, though it was against the law; priests were not hunted, though by law they were felons; and for To this we may add, that no Irish offi- a short while it seemed as if "the Ascencer or soldier in France afterwards at-dency" would content itself with the fortributed the cruel parting at Cork to any fault of Sarsfield, but always and only to a breach of the Treaty of Limerick. And if he had deluded them in the manner represented by the English historian, they would not have followed him so enthusiastically on the fields of Steinkirk and Landen. CHAPTER II. 1692-1693. William the Third not bigoted.-Practical toleration for four years.-First Parliament in this reign. Catholics excluded by a resolution.-Extension of civil existence for Catholics.-Irish Protestant Nationality. Massacre of Glencoe.-Battle of Steinkirk.-Court of St. Germains.-" Declaration."-Battle of Landen, and death of Sarsfield. KING WILLIAM THE THIRD was not personally fanatical or illiberal; and never desired to punish or mulct his subjects, whether in Ireland, in England, or in Holland, for mere differences of religion, about which this king cared little or nothing. But he was king by the support of the Protestant party; was the recognized head of that party in Europe; was obliged to sustain that party, and avenge it upon its enemies, or it would soon have deserted his interests and his cause. For the first four years of his reign in Ireland, we have even the too favourable testimony of some Irish writers to the leniency and beneficence of his administration, which the reader will find hard to conciliate with the actual facts. Mr. Matthew O'Conor, a worthy member of the "Catholic Board," gives this very remarkable testimony: "In matters of religion, King William was liberal, enlightened, and philosophic. Equally a friend to religious as to civil feitures of rich estates, and the exclusion of Catholic gentlemen from Parliament, from the Bar, and the practice of medicine, and Catholic traders from the guilds of their trade, and from the corporate bodies of the towns they dwelt in. This was actually the amount of the toleration granted to the Irish Catholic nation during those early years of this reign. In 1692, the Lord Lieutenant, Lord Sydney, convened the first Irish Parliament of William's reign. It was the first Parliament in Ireland (except that convened by James) for twenty-six years. As there was then no Irish Act disqualifying Catholics from sitting in Parliament, certain peers and a few commoners of that faith attended, and took their seats; but the English Parliament of the year before having provided against this, they were at once met by the oath of supremacy, declaring the king of England head of the Church, and affirming the sacrifice of the Mass to be damnable. The oath was put to each member of both houses, and the few Catholics present at once retired, so that the Parliament, when it proceeded to business, was purely Protestant. Here then ended the last vestige of constitutional right for the Catholics: from this date, and for generations to come, they could no longer consider themselves a part of the existing body politic of their native land; and the division into two nations became definite. There was the dominant nation, consisting of the British colony; and the subject nation, consisting of five-sixths of the population, who had thereafter no more influence upon public affairs than have the red Indians in the United States. Before quitting the subject of this total abolition of civil existence for the Catho And the effect of the exclusion from corporations was a thousand times more galling still; because that disability presses upon individuals everywhere, in their own homes, and in every daily action of their lives. The same accurate author, writing more than a century after King William's death, thus describes the condition of Catholic tradesmen and artificers throughout the towns of Ireland-it will show how thoroughly these penal laws did their work for generations: lics, we may anticipate a little to observe father, a guardian angel to his political that, by another act of the Irish Parlia- adherents. On the other hand, how stands ment, in 1697,* it was enacted, that "a the Catholic gentleman or trader? For Protestant marrying a Catholic was dis- his own person, no office, no power, no abled from sitting or voting in either emolument; for his children, brothers, house of Parliament." But as Catholics kindred, or friends, no promotion, eccould still vote at elections (though they clesiastical or civil, military or naval. could now vote for none but mortal ene- Except from his private fortune, he mies), even this poor privilege was taken has no means of advancing a child, away from them a few years later. In of making a single friend, or of show1727, it was enacted that "no Catholic ing any one good quality. He has shall be entitled or admitted to vote at nothing to offer but harsh refusal, pitiful the election of any member to serve in excuse, or despondent representation." Parliament as a knight, citizen, or burgess; or at the election of any magistrate for any city, or other town corporate; any law, statute, or usage to the contrary notwithstanding." By the operation of these statutes alone, without taking account for the present of the more directly penal code, the great mass of the population of this country was debased to a point which it now requires an effort fully to comprehend. No man had to court their votes, nor consult their interests or their feelings. They had no longer any one to "They are debased by the galling asstand up for them in the halls of legisla- cendency of privileged neighbours. They tion, to oppose new oppressions (and the are depressed by partial imposts; by unoppressions were always new and heavier due preferences and accommodation befrom day to day), nor to expose and re-stowed upon their competitors; by a local fute calumnies, and these were in plenty. inquisition; by an uncertain and unequal They were not only shut out from the measure of justice; by fraud and favourgreat councils of the nation, but every itism daily and openly practised to their one of them, in every town and parish in prejudice. The Catholic gentleman, whose Ireland, felt himself the inferior and vassal misfortune it may be to reside in or near of his Protestant neighbours, and the to any of these cities or towns in Ireland, victim of a minute, spiteful, and con- is hourly exposed to all the slights and temptuous tyranny, at the hands of those annoyances that a petty sectarian oliwho were often morally and physically far garchy may think proper to inflict. The his inferiors. Of the exclusion from Par-professional man risks continual inflictions liament, the able author of the Statement of the Penal Laws has truly observed: "The advantages flowing from a seat in the Legislature, it is well known, are not confined to the individual representative. They extend to all his family, friends, and connections; or, in other words, to every Protestant in Ireland. Within his reach are all the honours, offices, emoluments: every sort of gratification to avarice or vanity: the means of spreading a great personal interest by innumerable petty services to individuals. He can do an infinite number of acts of kindness and generosity, and even of public spirit. He can procure advantages in trade, indemnity from public burdens, preferences in local competitions, pardons for offences. He can obtain a thousand favours, and avert a thousand evils. He may, while he betrays every valuable public interest, be, at the same time, a benefactor, a patron, a *9th Wm. III., chap. 3. 1 Geo. II., chap. 9. of personal humiliation. The farmer brings the produce of his lands to market under heavier tolls. Every species of Catholic industry and mechanical skill is checked, taxed, and rendered precarious. "On the other hand, every species of Protestant indolence is cherished and maintained; every claim is allowed; every want supplied; every extortion sanctioned: nay, the very name of 'Protestant' secures a competence, and commands patrician pre-eminence in Ireland." But though the inhabitants of Ireland were now, counting from the year 1692, definitively divided into two castes, there arose immediately, strange to say, a strong sentiment of Irish nationality; not, indeed, amongst the depressed Catholicsthey were done with national sentiment and aspiration for a time; but the Protestants of Ireland had lately grown numerous, wealthy, and strong. Their numbers had been largely increased, partly by English settlers coming to enjoy the plun them by the influence of Sydney, his lordlieutenant; in short, that he was so wholly dependent on his Parliaments, both of England and of Ireland, that he could not venture to thwart their one great policy, purpose, and passion-to crush Papists; der of the forfeited estates, and very much by conversions, or pretended conversions of Catholics who had recanted their faith to save their property or their position in society, and who generally altered or disguised their family names when these had too Celtic a sound. The Irish Protes-and that such opposition on his part would tants also prided themselves on having saved the kingdom for William and "the Ascendency;" and having now totally put down the ancient nation under their feet, they aspired to take its place, to rise from a colony to a nation, and to assert the dignity of an independent kingdom. have cost him his crown. That was unfortunate for him; inasmuch as the actual conduct which these headstrong supporters of his obliged him to adopt, has cost him more than a crown, his reputation for good faith. It was in February of this year, 1692, Even in this Parliament of 1692 the that the massacre of Glencoe befell in a spirit of independence ventured to show remote valley of the Highlands of Scotland. itself. Two money-bills, which had not King William, we are assured, did not originated in Ireland, were sent over from wish to perpetrate this iniquity, any more England to be passed, or rather to be ac- than to break the Treaty of Limerick cepted and registered. One of these bills but certain wicked advisers in Scotland was for raising additional duty on beer, forced him to do the one deed, just as his ale, and other liquors; and this they furious Protestants of Ireland obliged him passed to an amount not exceeding to commit the other. In Scotland it was £70,000; but grounding their action upon the wicked Master of Stair, together with the alleged urgency of the case, and de- the vindictive Marquis of Breadalbane, claring that it should not be drawn into who planned the slaughter; and Stair, a precedent. This was on the 21st of Oc- the Secretary for Scotland, presented to tober, 1692. Much constitutional dis- the king, in his closet, and then and there cussion took place upon this occasion; induced his majesty to sign a paper in and honourable members stimulated one these words: "As for MacIan of Glencoe, another's patriotism by recalling the rights and that tribe, if they can be well distinand prerogatives of the ancient kingdom guished from the other Highlanders, it of Ireland. So, a few days after, on the will be proper for the vindication of public 28th of October, the House of Commons justice, to extirpate that set of thieves." rejected altogether the second English And this order was directed to the Combill; which was to grant to their majesties mander of the Forces in Scotland. What the produce of certain duties for one year. was intended, therefore, was military exeOn the 3rd of November Sydney prorogued cution, without judge or jury, to be inParliament with a very angry speech; and flicted upon unarmed and unsuspecting at the same time required the clerk to country-people, with their wives and chilenter his formal protest against the dan-dren. The crime, or alleged crime, was gerous doctrine asserted in the Commons resolutions, and haughtily affirming the right and power of the English Parliament to bind Ireland by acts passed in London. After two prorogations, this Parliament was dissolved on the 5th of September, 1793. having been late in coming in and giving their submission. The king did not read the order above cited, says Archbishop Burnet, but he signed it; and says his eloquent eulogist, Macaulay, "Whoever has seen anything of public business knows that princes and ministers daily Not only did King William give his sign, and indeed must sign documents royal assent to the laws of exclusion made which they have not read; and of all doby this Parliament, but he did not make cuments, a document relating to a small any proposal or any effort to gain for the tribe of mountaineers, living in a wilderIrish Catholics those "further securities," ness, not set down on any map, was least as engaged by the Treaty of Limerick, likely to interest a sovereign whose mind which were to protect them from "all dis- was full of schemes on which the fate of turbance" in the exercise of their religion. Europe might depend." Yet the order Yet this was but a trifling matter com- was not a long one; about three seconds. pared with what the same king did in the if his majesty could have spared so long a course of the next following Parliament, time from meditating on the fate of that convened in 1695. It is often alleged, Europe, would have shown what fate he was on his behalf, that he was provoked and decreeing to the MacDonalds of Glencoe. distressed by the furious bigotry and vio-It seems he could not give so much of his lence of his Irish Protestant subjects; leisure, so the order was sent; and accorand that he even endeavoured to moderate dingly, the king's troops, have first quar |