"people. Thousands of these miserable victims "perished of cold and hunger; many flung them"selves headlong from precipices, into lakes and "rivers, death being their last refuge from such "direful calamities *."

So little were their rights, or even their existence, taken into the account, that Harrington thought the best thing the commonwealth could do with Ireland, was to farm it to the jews for ever, for the pay of an army to protect them during the first seven years, and two millions a year from that time forward. Moryson, a protestant historian, and an eye witness, observes, that "neither the "Israelites were more persecuted by Pharaoh, nor "the innocent infants by Herod, nor the christians by Nero, or any other pagan tyrants, than were "the roman-catholics of Ireland at this fatal junc❝tion, by the commissioners."

LXXX. 10.

The Confiscations made by Cromwell;-and the Settlement of the Confiscated Property, at the Restoration.

"THE first act of Cromwell," says lord Clare, in the speech which has been so often quoted,66 was to collect all the native Irish, who had sur"vived the general desolation, and remained in

"The History of the Irish Catholics, from the settlement "in 1691; with a short view of the state of Ireland from the "invasion of Henry the second to the Revolution. By "Matthew O'Conor, esquire, 1813."

+ Cited in the Quarterly Review, for Oct. 1821, p. 341.

"the country, and to transplant them into the pro"vince of Connaught, which had been completely "depopulated and laid waste in the progress of "the rebellion. They were ordered to retire thither, by a certain day, and forbidden to repass the "river Shannon, on pain of death; and this sen"tence of deportation was rigidly enforced until "the Restoration. Their ancient possessions were "seized and given up to the conquerors; as were "the possessions of every man, who had taken a part in the rebellion, or followed the fortunes of "the king, after the murder of Charles the first. "This whole fund was distributed among the offi

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cers and soldiers of Cromwell's army, in satis"faction of the arrears of their pay; and among "the adventurers, who had advanced money to defray the expenses of the war. And thus, a "new colony of new settlers, composed of all the "various sects, which then infested England, "independents, anabaptists, seceders, brownists, "socinians, millenarians, and dissenters of every "description, many of them infected with the "leaven of democracy,-poured into Ireland, and "were put into possession of the ancient inheritance of its inhabitants.

"It seems evident, from the whole tenour of "the declaration, made by Charles the second at his restoration, that a private stipulation* had

This assertion appears to be utterly inconsistent with his majesty's own declarations. In a letter from Breda, (Dr. Curry's Historical Review, b. ix. c. 15), he desired the marquis of Ormond to assure the catholics, that "he would perform all

"been made by Monk, in favour of Cromwell's "soldiers and adventurers, who had been put into "possession of the confiscated lands in Ireland; "and it would have been an act of gross injustice,

on the part of the king, to have overlooked their "interests. The civil war of 1641, was a rebellion "against the crown of England; and the complete "reduction of the Irish rebels by Cromwell, re"dounded essentially to the advantage of the

46 grants and concessions which he had either made or promised "them by the peace; and which, as he had new instances of "their loyalty and affection to him, he should study rather to "enlarge, than diminish in the least degree."

In his speech to both houses of parliament, July 1660, when a general act of oblivion was intended to be passed, his majesty, knowing that means had been used to exclude the Irish from the benefit of that act, told them, that "he hoped the Irish "alone would not be left without the benefit of his mercy; that they had shown much affection to him abroad; and that he expected the parliament would have a care of his honour, and "of what he had promised them." And, in his declaration of the 30th of November following, which was intended to be the ground-work of the act of settlement, he again acknowledged the obligation, and said, " he must always remember the great "affection a considerable part of the Irish nation expressed to "him, during the time of his being beyond the seas: when, "with all cheerfulness and obedience, they received and sub"mitted to his orders, though attended with inconvenience "enough to themselves; which demeanor of theirs," he added, "cannot but be thought very worthy of our protection, justice, " and favour."

It is observable that the Irish were excluded from the benefit of the act of oblivion; and that, in their exclusion, the duke of Ormond actively co-operated.

"British empire. But, admitting the principle "of this declaration in its fullest extent, it is impossible to defend the acts of settlement and explanation, by which it was carried into effect; " and I could wish that modern assertors of Irish dignity and independence would take the trouble "to read and understand them.

"The Act of Settlement professes to have for "its object the execution of his majesty's gracious "declaration for the settlement of his kingdom of "Ireland, and the satisfaction of the several inte"rests of adventurers, soldiers, and other his sub

jects there; and, after reciting the rebellion, the "enormities committed in the progress of it, and "the final reduction of the rebels by the king's

English and protestant subjects, by a general "sweeping clause, vests in the king, his heirs and "successors, all estates real and personal, of every "kind whatsoever in the kingdom of Ireland, “which at any time from the 21st of October 1641, "were seized or sequestered into the hands, or to "the use of Charles the first, or the then king, or "otherwise disposed of, set out or set apart, by reason or on account of the rebellion; or which were allotted, assigned, or distributed to any person or persons for adventures, arrears, repri* This is artfully expressed :—but, if the fact be true,-and it appears unquestionable,-that, at the time of the murder of Charles the first, the Irish catholic army was the only body of men, throughout the dominions of his majesty, that adhered to him, Cromwell's victories over them were not a reduction of rebellion, but a triumph over the last remains of loyalty.

sals, or otherwise; or whereof any soldier, ad"venturer, or other person was in possession, for "or on account of the rebellion. And having "thus, in the first instance, vested three fourths of "the lands and personal property of the inhabit"ants of this island, in the king, commissioners

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are appointed with full and exclusive authority, "to hear and determine all claims upon the ge"neral fund, whether of officers and soldiers for "arrears of pay, of adventurers who had advanced money for carrying on the war, or of innocent papists, as they are called; in other words, of the “old inhabitants of the island, who had been dispossessed by Cromwell, not for having taken a part "in the rebellion against the English crown, but for "their attachment to the fortunes of Charels the "second. But, with respect to this class of suf"ferers, who might naturally have expected a

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preference of claim, a clause is introduced, by "which they are postponed after a decree of innocence by the commissioners, until previous reprisal shall be made to Cromwell's soldiers "and adventurers, who had obtained possession "of their inheritance. I will not detain the house "with a minute detail of the provisions of this act, "thus passed for the settlement of Ireland; but I "wish gentlemen, who call themselves the digni"fied and independent Irish nation, to know, that σε seven millions eight hundred thousand acres of "land were set out, under the authority of this act, "to a motley crew of English adventurers, civil "and military, nearly to the total exclusion of the "old inhabitants of the island. Many of the latter