LXXX. 2.

State of the Irish between the reign of Henry the second, and the reign of Henry the eighth.

THE period, which next calls for attention, is that, which fills the space between the reign of Henry the second, and that of Henry the eighth. Here, the division of Ireland into the territory within the pale, and the territory beyond it, claims particular notice.

From the reign of Henry the second, until the reign of James the first, the real power and authority of the English monarch were confined to the counties of Dublin, Kildare, Meath, Lowth, Monaghan, and Armagh, and the cities of Waterford, Cork, and Limerick these made the whole of the territory called the pale. Over the remaining part of Ireland, Henry the second, and his successors, until James the first, had little more than a nominal sovereignty. "England," says sir John Davies, "never sent over, either numbers of men, or quan"tities of treasure, sufficient to defend the small

territory of the pale; much less, to reduce that, "which was lost, or to finish the conquest of "the whole island."-In the reign of Henry the eighth, Alan, the master of the rolls, in the representation, which, by the desire of the servants of the crown in Ireland, he made to Henry of the state of Ireland, reported, that "the English man"ners, language, and habits did not extend, and "that his laws were not obeyed twenty miles

"beyond the capital*." The common observation of the country was, that they, who dwelt, by west of the river Barrow, dwelt, by west of the law. The English government always refused to communicate the constitution and laws of England to the inhabitants of this territory; treated them, both as aliens and foes, and wished them so to remain. "It was," says lord Clare, in his printed speech on the 10th of February 1800, "the early policy of the English government to discourage all connexion "of the colony with the native Irish; the statute "of Kilkenny, enacted in the reign of Edward the "third, having prohibited marriage or gossipred † "with the Irishry, or persons claiming the benefit "of the Brehon law, by any person of English blood, "under the penalties of treason. This statute was "a declaration of perpetual war, not only against "the native Irish, but against every person of Eng"lish blood, who had settled beyond the limits of "the pale, and from motives of personal interest

or convenience, had formed connexions with the "natives, or adopted their laws or customs."

Hume observes*, that "most of the English institutions, by which Ireland was governed, "were to the last degree absurd, and such as no "state before had ever thought of, for preserving "dominion over conquered provinces.-The small army, which they retained in Ireland, they never "supplied regularly with pay; and, as no money "could be levied on the island,

* Plow. Hist. vol. i. p. 51.
+ Chap. 44.

which possessed

ti. e. Godfathership.

none, they gave their soldiers the privilege of "free quarter on the natives. Rapine and inso"lence inflamed the hatred which prevailed be"tween the conquerors and the conquered; want "of security among the Irish, introducing despair, "nourished still more the sloth natural to that un"cultivated people. But the English carried "farther their ill-judged tyranny. Instead of inviting the Irish to adopt the more civilized "customs of their conquerors, they even refused, "though earnestly solicited, to communicate to "them the privilege of their laws, and every where "marked them out as aliens and as enemies. "Thrown out of the protection of justice, the natives "could find no security but in force; and flying "the neighbourhood of cities, which they could "not approach with safety, they sheltered them"selves in their marshes and forests, from the in"solence of their inhuman masters. Being treated "like wild beasts, they became such; and joining "the ardour of revenge to their yet untamed barbarity, they grew every day more untractable and "more dangerous.

"As the English princes deemed the conquest "of the dispersed Irish to be more the object of "time and patience, than the source of military glory, they willingly delegated that office to private adventurers, who, enlisting soldiers at "their own charge, reduced provinces of that "island, which they converted to their own profit.

* Who perform the greatest portion by far of the hardest and least remunerated labour of this country!

r

Separate jurisdictions and principalities were "established by these lordly conquerors: the

:

power of peace and war was assumed military "law was exercised over the Irish, whom they sub"dued, and, by degrees, over the English, by whose "assistance they conquered: and after their autho

rity had once taken root, deeming the English "institutions less favourable to barbarous dominion, "they degenerated into mere Irish, and abandoned "the garb, language, manners, and laws of their "mother country*.'

LXXX. 3.

State of the Irish Catholics in the reigns of Henry the eighth, Edward the sixth, and queen Mary.

No innovation was ever introduced into any country, which was more contrary to its constitution and laws, more repugnant to its principles or manners, or more distressing to the feelings of its inhabitants, than the parliamentary proceedings in

This assumption by the conquering leaders, of the territorial independence of the conquered chieftains, and the adoption, by the general body of the conquerors, of the language, the manners, the habits, and the feelings of the conquered, are very remarkable: the latter took place nearly in an equal degree, after the confiscations of James and Cromwell; but the difference of religion then strongly marked and continued to distinguish the ancient inhabitants from the new settlers.

The Tartars adopted, on their conquest of China, the laws, customs, and manners of the natives: but there, the conquerors were barbarians, the conquered in a high state of civilization,

Ireland, for the establishment of the spiritual supremacy of HENRY THE EIGHTH.

By the statutes*, which effected this measure, the king was declared supreme head on earth of the church of Ireland, in nearly the same words, and with nearly the same ulterior provisions, as those by which the English laws had conferred upon him the spiritual supremacy of the church of England.

Similar acts were also passed for the dissolution of religious houses in Ireland ; but these acts were confined to the religious houses in Tyrone, Tyrconnell, and Fermanagh; and the feelings of the nation prevented their being carried into execution so that, until the reign of James the first, few of the religious houses were reduced into charge or surveyed, and the rest were continually possessed by the members of their respective orders +.

It may be truly said, that, with the single exception of the officers of the crown, and their immediate retainers, all these measures were in direct opposition to the universal sense of the kingdom.

An extraordinary measure was resorted to for securing in parliament the majority, by which these laws were carried. According to the established constitution of the Irish parliament, it was attended by two clergymen of each diocese. By

* 28 Hen. VIII. c. 5, 6, 8, 26.

† 33 Hen. VIII.

Leland, Hist. of Ireland, lib. iii. ch. 7. Hib. Dom. ch. xvii. s. 1.