were elaborated by the ingenuity of more modern chiefs of the Protestant Ascendency. The first distinct breach of the Articles Limerick was perpetrated by King William and his parliament in England, just two months after those Articles were signed.

diverted from a political question about which they were in the wrong, to a historical question about which they were in the right. They had no difficulty in proving that the first article, as understood by all the contracting parties, meant only that the Roman Catholic worship should be tolerated as in time past. That article was drawn up by Ginkell; and just before he drew it up, he had declared that he would rather try the chance of arms than consent that Irish Papists should be capable of

cising liberal professions, and of becoming members of municipal corporations. How is it possible to believe that he would of his own accord, have promised that the House of Lords and the House of Commons should be open to men to whom he would not open a guild of skinners or a guild of cordwainers? How, again, is it possible to believe that the English peers would, while professing the most punctilious respect for public faith, while lecturing the Commons on the duty of observing public faith, while taking counsel with the most learned and upright jurist of the age as to the best mode of maintaining public faith, have committed a flagrant violation of public faith, and that not a single lord should have been so honest or so factious as to protest against an act of monstrous perfidy aggravated by hypocrisy ?"

King William was in the Netherlands when he heard of the surrender of Limerick, and at once hastened to London. Three days later he summoned a parliament. Very early in the session the English House of Commons, exercising its custom-holding civil and military offices, of exerary power of binding Ireland by acts passed in London, sent up to the House of Lords a bill providing that no person should sit in the Irish parliament, nor should hold any Irish office, civil, military, or ecclesiastical, nor should practise law or medicine in Ireland, till he had taken the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and subscribed the declaration against transubstantiation. The law was passed, only reserving the right of such lawyers and physicians as had been within the walls of Galway and Limerick when those towns capitulated. And so it received the royal assent. This law has given rise to keen debates; especially during the Catholic Relief Agitation; the Catholics insisting that disabilities imposed by law on account of religion, are an invasion of those priviliges in the exercise of their religion, which purported to be secured by treaty; the Ascendency Party arguing that the first Whereupon it may be remarked that article of the treaty meant only that Ca- mere toleration of Catholic worship was tholic worship should be tolerated. The not understood by all the contracting parCatholics pointed out that by Article ties, as being all which was meant by the Nine, only the oath of allegiance was to treaty, inasmuch as many Catholic peers be imposed on them, while this new law and commons did attend in their places in required those who should practise law or the Irish parliament the very next year sit in the House of Parliament, to take a after this law was passed in London; and certain other oath, which they could not the slavish Irish parliament then, for the do without perjuring themselves. The first time, excluded them by resolutions in Ascendency Party replied that on taking obedience to the law enacted in the Engthe oath of allegiance alone, Catholics were lish Houses. As for the argument which tolerated in their worship and that this was seems intended to be conveyed in the all they had stipulated for; that it still string of questions contained in the above belonged to the Legislature to prescribe extract, we answer that "it is possible to suitable formalities to be observed by those believe" almost anything of the men and who aspired to exercise a public trust or a the times we are now discussing; and responsible profession. It is apparent that this narrative will tell of many other that on this principle of interpretation, things which will seem impossible to beparliament might require the oath of sup-lieve, and which any good man would remacy from a baker or a wine merchant as well as from a lawyer and doctor, and then it would be lawful for a Catholic to go and hear Mass, but it would be lawful for him to do nothing else. As might be expected, the Baron Macaulay takes the Ascendency view of the question, as will appear from this specimen of his reasoning.

"The champions of Protestant Ascendency were well pleased to see the debate

wish it were impossible to believe.

Macaulay, indeed, before quitting this question, does admit, as it were incidently, and in the obscurity of a note, that although the Treaty of Limerick was not broken at that particular moment, nor by that particular statute of the 3rd William and Mary, c. 2, yet, "The Irish Roman Catholics complained, and with but too much reason, that at a later period the

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 While these debates were proceeding in and horses; they were debarred from pur-Dublin, the Protestant magistrates and chasing land, from becoming members of sheriffs had no doubt upon the point, the bar, or filling any public office; and, whether faith was to be kept with Cathocontrary to the ninth article of the treaty, lics or not; they universally decided in they were made subject to infamous the negative; and in less than two months oaths."* 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 but of their lands and tenements, to the articles or conditions but what would exgreat disturbance of the peace of the kingpose them to the severest rigours of war; dom, subversion of the law, and reproach 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.

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 After the conclusion of the treaty, the of the 19th November, 1691 (six weeks lords-justices returned to Dublin; and on after the surrender of Limerick), “that the following Sunday attended service in their lordships had received complaints Christ Church Cathedral. The preacher from all parts of Ireland of the ill-treatwas Doctor Dopping, bishop of Meath; ment of the Irish who had submitted, had and he took for the subject of his sermon their majesties' protection, or were inthe late important events at Limerick. cluded in articles; and that they were so He argued that no terms of peace ought extremely terrified with apprehensions of to be observed with so perfidious a people;† the continuance of that usage, that some a fact which, if it were not notorious and thousands of them who had quitted the well-attested, might seem incredible; Irish army, and had gone home with a seeing that one of the worst charges resolution not to go for France, were then brought against the Catholics at that come back again [come back, it is preperiod was that they taught that faith was sumed, to Cork, Limerick, and other seanot 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.
Harris's Life of King William.

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.

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 prospect which now opened before the surf. Some women caught hold of the the Catholics of Ireland was gloomy in- ropes, were dragged out of their depth, deed. Already they were made to feel in clung till their fingers were cut through, a thousand forms all the bitterness of sub- and perished in the waves. The ships jugation, and to perceive that in this reign began to move. A wild and terrible wail of King William, so vaunted for its liber- arose from the shore, and excited unwonted ality, the blessings and liberties of the compassion in hearts steeled by hatred of British Constitution, if any such there the Irish race and of the Romish faith. were, existed not for them; that they had Even the stern Cromwellian, now no security for even such remnants of length, after a desperate struggle of three property as had been left them, no redress years, left the undisputed lord of the by the laws of the land, and no refuge blood-stained and devastated island, could from their enemies even in the pledged not hear unmoved that bitter cry, in faith of a solemn treaty. Yet we have which was poured forth all the rage and only arrived at the beginning of the sys-all the sorrow of a conquered nation.” tem 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:

at

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 entreatics 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

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. As to 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

B

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 this we may add, that no Irish officer or soldier in France afterwards attributed 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

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 a short while it seemed as if "the Ascendency" would content itself with the forfeitures of rich estates, and the exclusion of Catholic gentlemen from Parliament, from the Bar, and the practice of medicine, and Catholic traders from the guildsof 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 disqualicivil existence for Catholics.-Irish Protestant fying Catholics from sitting in ParliaNationality.-Massacre of Glencoe.-Battle of ment, certain peers and a few commoners Steinkirk.-Court of St. Germains." Declara- of that faith attended, and took their tion."-Battle of Landen, and death of Sarsfield. seats; but the English Parliament of the KING WILLIAM THE THIRD was not per-year before having provided against this, sonally 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

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:

lies, 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 who were often morally and physically far his inferiors. Of the exclusion from Parliament, 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.

annoyances that a petty sectarian oligarchy may think proper to inflict. The professional man risks continual inflictions 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