"for mankind, that instances of similar directions "do not occur, frequently, in history." Through the remainder of the reign of James, this transference of property was systematically continued. On the pretence of its being necessary for the improvement of the country, or the security of government, he seized large territories in the province of Leinster, which lay on the sea coast between Dublin and Waterford, and some, which lay between the river Arklow and the river Slane, in Wexford. On the same pretence, he directed sir Arthur Chichester, the lord deputy, to survey the counties of Leitrim and Longford, and large portions of land in the King and Queen's counties and Westmeath; all possessed, at that time, by the ancient Irish;-and to inquire, by what titles they were held. It was discovered, that they had been seized by different English adventurers, in the reign of Henry the second; had been regained by the families of the ancient owners, in the wars between the houses of York and Lancaster; and had, from that time, been quietly and uninterruptedly enjoyed by them and their descendants. On this statement, the juries found that all the titles. to them were defective, and that the whole property belonged to the king. A general inquiry into all defective titles was then instituted. It is a received maxim of all nations governed by law, that possession constitutes right against all, who cannot establish a worthier claim. To this rule, the commissioners of the crown paid fo attention. Wherever the grant could not be produced, or, when it was proved, if no descent or conveyance recognizing it could be proved, the land was immediately adjudged to the crown.— As all grants between the first of Edward the second, and the tenth of Henry the seventh, had been resumed, every title under them, notwithstanding the subsequent uninterrupted possession, was declared defective. Industry and ingenuity were exerted, to the utmost, to discover defects in the title of the possessor. Every person," says Mr. Carte*, "was at work "on finding out flaws in people's titles to their "estates:" "Nor were there wanting," says Leland †, "proofs of the most iniquitous practices of "hardened cruelty, of vile perjury, and scandalous subornation, to despoil the fair and unoffending "proprietor of the inheritance."-In the case of the Byrnes, mentioned by Mr. Carte ‡," a brother, "unwilling to give evidence against his two bro"thers, was miserably tortured, put naked on a burning gridiron; then on a brandiron, and "burnt with gunpowder under his buttocks and "flanks, and at last suffered the strappado till he 66 was forced to accuse them." At length, James threatened the whole province of Connaught. That province with the whole county of Clare, had surrendered to queen Elizabeth, and been newly granted out by her. The grantees having neglected to enrol the grants in the * Life of Ormond, vol. i. p. 27. manner prescribed, James accepted surrenders of them and issued new grants; the grantees immediately lodged them in the court of chancery for enrolment, and paid the fees. The officers received the money, but did not enrol the grants; the titles of the grantees were again found to be defective, and the king was proceeding to avail himself of the defect, when he was prevented by death. What intelligent reader, who peruses the accounts of these extensive and cruel confiscations, is not astonished at the inaccurate view of them, which Hume has inserted in his History, and at the reflection with which he concludes it":"Such 66 were the arts, by which James introduced hu"manity and justice among the Irish, who had "ever been buried in the most profound barbarism. "Noble cares! much superior to the vain and cri"minal glory of conquest; but requiring ages of perseverance and attention to perfect what had "been so happily begun." Subsequent pages of these Memoirs will show, that, fatally for Ireland, the English government did persevere during centuries, in the system thus eulogized by Hume. LXXX. 6. State of the Irish Catholics in the reign of Charles Ir must be observed, that the extensive spoliations of property, which have been mentioned, were not the only grievance of which the Irish com* Chapter xlvi. plained. The statutes of supremacy and uniformity had deprived almost all the ecclesiastics in the kingdom of their benefices, and thus reduced them to poverty: the statute of uniformity subjected every Irishman to a fine of twelve pence for every Sunday on which he absented himself from the protestant church. For refusing the oath of supremacy, numbers were fined and imprisoned; and the penalty imposed for absence from church, which even in these days of national wealth and prosperity, would be severely felt by the lower class of English, was often exacted with rigour. From the beginning of the reign of Charles the first, till 1626, the sufferings of the Irish catholics seem to have been on the increase: then, the urgency of his majesty's affairs, on account of his double war with France and Spain, and the refusal of the commons to grant him the necessary supplies for carrying them on, made him look to Ireland. The catholics gave him the most unequivocal assurances of their loyalty and instant readiness to devote their lives and fortunes to his service. All they claimed in return was a toleration of their religion, an exemption from some unwarrantable exactions of the temporal and ecclesiastical courts, and to have their titles to their possessions quieted. These the monarch was willing to concede, but the protestant prelates of Ireland denounced the vengeance of God against the concession. The primate Usher, and eleven of the bishops, signed what they termed "the judgment of divers of the "archbishops and bishops of Ireland, on the toler "ation of religion:" they declared by it, that "the religion of the papists was superstitious and idolatrous; their faith and doctrine erroneous " and heretical; their church, in respect to both, "apostatical; that, to give them therefore a toler"ation, or to consent that they might freely exercise "their religion, was a grievous sin."-With these sentiments, the primate, at the head of a body of musketeers, entered the catholic chapel in Corkstreet, Dublin, during the celebration of divine service, seized the prsest in his vestments, and hewed down the crucifix *. After much discussion, a free gift or contribution of 120,000l. payable in three years, proposed by the government of Charles to the Irish, was assented to.-At this time, the proportion of catholics to protestants in Ireland, was, by the account of sir William Petty, as eleven to two; the greatest part of the sum was therefore paid by the catholics. In consideration of it, the king gave the Irish his solemn promise, that, in the next session of parliament, the grievances complained of should be redressed; and particularly, that the inquiry into defective titles should be extinguished. An explicit instruction, to this effect, was sent by him to lord deputy Falkland, to be communicated by him to the Irish. The boon, thus promised by his majesty, was styled, "The Graces." The money was paid; but the Graces never came. Lord deputy Wentworth, afterwards earl of Strafford, advised his majesty not to grant them, and undertook to charge * Plow. Hist. Rev. vol. i. c. 4. |