ment, but a man of honour, faithful to the king and heartily solicitous for the succour of Ireland and for his majesty's service there," Clarend. Vol. 111. p. 161, 201,) had some time before been made by the king lord lieutenant of Ireland: the parliament, upon the breaking out of this detestable rebellion was for hastening him over with all possible expedition, affairs in that kingdom requiring his presence but still his departure was deferred: the earl apprehending this delay might be imputed to him as a neglect of duty, writes a letter to the earl of Northumberland to excuse himself, and give the reasons of his delay. An abstract of which follows. "Lest I should incur the censure of the parliament for negligence in that service to which I have have been designed, I will truly relate to your lordship how I have behaved-I have been impatient of this delay, and diligently solicited my dispatch. When I came to York, I told the king I was come to receive his majesty's commands and instructions for the employment he had done me the honour to confer upon me: I humbly besought him, that I might not be staid at court, because the parliament desired my speedy repair to Ireland, and his service, I conceived, required it, at least that some governor, if I were not worthy of that charge, should presently be sent into that kingdom. The king told me he would think of it. But I confess I did not find his majesty so ready to dispatch me, as I hoped and expected. From that time I did not fail to beseech his majesty to send me away, every opportunity I had of speaking to him: divers times I made petition to the king that he would dispatch me, or declare his intention that he would not let me go at all: he said my instructions should be drawn. In expectation thereof I stayed three weeks longer, until the king came from York. He appointed me to follow him to Nottingham, promising that there I should have my expeditions. I obeyed, and came after his majesty to this town, where I have attended ever since, perpetually soliciting to be dispatched; and beseeching that I might either go to my employment, or have leave to retire to my own house. It is to no purpose to tell you every passage, but this I do protest to your lordship, that if it had been to save the lives of all my friends and of myself, I could not have done more to procure my dispatch. Nevertheless I have not been able to advance it one step, nor seen any thing to make me hope to have it quickly, till this morning a draught of my instructions was given me to pe Fuse."-Bennet's Def. Mem. p. 93. These strange delays in the king are far from helping to clear him of suspicions of secretly favouring the rebellion. Further. The truce and cessation of arms,* which his majesty, contrary to his solemn promise, entered into with these Irish cut-throats, was a subject not at all favourable to his character as to this matter. "The marquis of Ormond had given the rebels there a very signal defeat: but soon after he received a commission from the king to retreat with our subjects, who have taken arms against us, and to agree with them upon a CESSATION. He accordingly enters into an agreement with those execrable murderers, in the articles of which they are stiled his majesty's GOOD SUBJECTS. To make way for this infamous treaty Sir William Parsons, one of the lords justices, was turned out of his place; as were also Sir John *Note, This cessation with the Irish rebels was resolved on by the king, long before the parliament's negociation with Scotland; and long before the Scots resolution to levy an army. Vide Inquiry into Glamorgan's Transactions, p. 317. ment, but a man of honour, faithful to the king and heartily solicitous for the succour of Ireland and for his majesty's service there," Clarend. Vol. 111. p. 161, 201,) had some time before been made by the king lord lieutenant of Ireland: the parliament, upon the breaking out of this detestable rebellion was for hastening him over with all possible expedition, affairs in that kingdom requiring his presence but still his departure was deferred: the earl apprehending this delay might be imputed to him as a neglect of duty, writes a letter to the earl of Northumberland to excuse himself, and give the reasons of his delay. An abstract of which follows. "Lest I should incur the censure of the parliament for negligence in that service to which I have have been designed, I will truly relate to your lordship how I have behaved-I have been impatient of this delay, and diligently solicited my dispatch. When I came to York, I told the king I was come to receive his majesty's commands and instructions for the employment he had done me the honour to confer upon me: I humbly besought him, that I might not be staid at court, because the parliament desired my speedy repair to Ireland, and his service, I conceived, required it, at least that some governor, if I were not worthy of that charge, should presently be sent into that kingdom. The king told me he would think of it. But I confess I did not find his majesty so ready to dispatch me, as I hoped and expected. From that time I did not fail to beseech his majesty to send me away, every opportunity I had of speaking to him: divers times I made petition to the king that he would dispatch me, or declare his intention that he would not let me go at all: he said my instructions should be drawn. In expectation thereof I stayed three weeks longer, until the king came from York. He appointed me to follow him to Nottingham, promising that there I should have my expeditions. I obeyed, and came after his majesty to this town, where I have attended ever since, perpetually soliciting to be dispatched; and beseeching that I might either go to my employment, or have leave to retire to my own house. It is to no purpose to tell you every passage, but this I do protest to your lordship, that if it had been to save the lives of all my friends and of myself, I could not have done more to procure my dispatch. Nevertheless I have not been able to advance it one step, nor seen any thing to make me hope to have it quickly, till this morning a draught of my instructions was given me to pe ruse."-Bennet's Def. Mem. p. 93. These strange delays in the king are far from helping to clear him of suspicions of secretly favouring the rebellion. Further. The truce and cessation of arms, which his majesty, contrary to his solemn promise, entered into with these Irish cut-throats, was a subject not at all favourable to his character as to this matter. "The marquis of Ormond had given the rebels there a very signal defeat: but soon after he received a commission from the king to retreat with our subjects, who have taken arms against us, and to agree with them upon a CESSATION. He accordingly enters into an agreement with those execrable murderers, in the articles of which they are stiled his majesty's GOOD SUBJECTS. To make way for this infamous treaty Sir William Parsons, one of the lords justices, was turned out of his place; as were also Sir John Note, This cessation with the Irish rebels was resolved on by the king, long before the parliament's negociation with Scotland; and long before the Scots resolution to levy an army. Vide Inquiry into Glamorgan's Transactions, p. 317. Temple master of the rolls, Sir Adam Loftus under-treasurer of Ireland, and Sir Robert Meredith a privy-counsellor for dissuading this cessation as dangerous, scandalous, and illegal."-Hist. Stu. p. 241.-" The cessation was concluded, says Echard, upon condition that the rebels should pay to his majesty's use 30,000 pounds sterling within a short time: whereof one moiety in money; and the rest, half in money, and half in good beeves ;" Echard, p. 581.-" But after the cessation the Irish rebels committed many cruel murthers there.' Whitelock's Mem. p. 73.-" In one of the king's letters to the queen, taken at Naseby fight, his majesty declared his intention to make a peace with the Irish rebels, and to have 40,000 of them over into England to prosecute the war here."Coke Detec. p. 170." He would not allow them to be called rebels; insomuch that when Sir Edward Walker gave the king his manuscript memoirs, whenever the term rebels was used, he struck it out, and with his own hand wrote Irish, as A. Wood, the Oxford historian himself, informs us."-Whitelock's Mem. p. 147.-Hist. Stu. p. 240. Whilst the king was at Oxford two Irish papists, the Lord Dillon and the Lord Taaf, were in high favour with the court there, which gave great and just offence." Mr. Jephson told lord Falkland, then secretary of state, there were two lords about the king, who to his majesty's great dishonour and the great discouragement of his good subjects did make use of his majesty's name to encourage the rebels that he had seen two letters sent by the lord Dillon) and the lord Taaf to the lord Muskerry, the chief man in the rebellion at Munster, intimating, that though it did not stand with the conveniency of his majesty's affairs to give him public countenance; yet the king was well pleased with what he had done, and would in |