Vindiciæ Hibernicæ; or, Ireland vindicated: an attempt to develop and expose a few of the multifarious errors and falsehoods respecting Ireland, in the histories of May, Temple, Whitelock ... and others; particularly in the legendary tales of the conspiracy and pretended massacre of 1641

Front matter

.■ RECOMMENDATIONS. Extracts from the Analectic Magazine, vol. xiii. page 417. " The writer exhibits to the world, in this publication, a most interesting and " curious picture of the systematic rapine aud misrepresentation which the Irish have " endured at the hands of the government and writers of England; and, at the same " time, a conclusive refutation of the most serious and most injurious charge, which " has rested on the national character of Ireland. " The story of her manifold wrongs has been so often told, that all but "Irishmen are tired of the theme; and her sufferings have called forth so "much ofthe finest eloquence, both in verse and prose, that a repetition of "them now would command a very faint attention. " Mr. C. has wisely avoided such a detail, and limited himself to a disquisi " tion on a few prominent circumstances, relative to which, the friends of Ire "land have been generally silent.

Nor is his book a mere querimonious des " cant on the inhumanity ofthe British sway in that country: it is an indignant " and impassioned, but certainly a most convincing argument, to prove the falsity " of certain accusations against the Irish people, which have been so boldly pro " nounced and acquiesced in so generally, that, at first view, it seems idle now to " controvert them. "Clarendon, Voltaire, and Anquetil, besides all those authors of less note " mentioned in the title-page, join in the hue and cry against the Irish. Yet, " strange as it may seem, Mr. Carey satisfactorily establishes these remark " able positions — that, there is no reason to believe a conspiracy existed for a ge " neral insurrection in Ireland on the "2'od Oct. 1641, still less a general conspiracy " to ' cut the throats of all the English throughout tlie whole kingdom.' And that the " stories of massacres perpetrated by the Irish, are founded on the most palpable " falsehood and perjury.

" The writer further shows, conclusively, that the Rebellion, such as it was, "far from being unprovoked, was excited by a system of treatment in the "greatest degree cruel and unjust on the part of the government, arising " from a predetermined plan to despoil the unhappy Irish of their lawful pos " sessions. " When an author performs such service to the cause of truth, and success- " fully attempts a vindication of a whole people from calumnies, strengthened " by the acquiescence of nearly two centuries, it would be worse than hyper- " criticism to quarrel with tlie collocation of his words, or the cadence of h^s "sentences. Polished diction undoubtedly adds charms to truth; but import- " ant truths are not the less valuable because clothed in the plainest language. ■ We shall not therefore enter into a discussion of our author's style; and if "his frequent use of strong epithets may seem to evince a greater degree of " angry feeling than is consistent with the calmness of elegant composition, " the theme will surely be allowed lo supply a justification for even warmer " indignation."***** " Upon the contradictory ravings of this besotted wretch, [O'Conally,] un " corroborated by either fact or testimony, has been founded the imputation "upon the whole body of Irish Catholics, ofthe most infernal plot of which civilized " or savage man was ever guilty.

Preface

TO THE FIRST EDITION. TO most readers it will probably appear a work of supererogation, in a country and an age so remote from the scene and the era of the events which are discussed in this Vindication, to investigate the subjects it embraces. The reasons, however, are powerful, and fully justify the undertaking. The history of Ireland is almost one solid mass of falsehood and imposture, erected, particularly during the seventeenth century, on the basis of fraud and perjury ; — fraud and per jury so obvious, so stupid, and so flagitious, that, to the most superficial observer, it must be a subject of inexpressible astonishment how it ever gained currency. Nevertheless, from such foul and polluted sources alone, the knowledge of that history is derived by nine-tenths of those who have condescended to study it: and, however ex travagant it may appear, it is nevertheless a serious truth, that a large portion even of those who pride themselves on their literary acquirements, are almost as ignorant of the affairs of Ireland, from the twelfth to the eighteenth century, as of those of Arabia or Japan.

They are, in fact, in a worse state. With respect to the details ofthe history ofthe latter nations, they are barely ignorant : but, with respect to Ireland, almost all they know is wholly untrue. They give full faith and confidence to some of the most extravagant and spurious stories that ever were ushered on the world, to delude and deceive mankind, under the prostituted name of histories. The terrific tales that are recorded of the events of the civil war of 1641, have sowed, and still continue to sow, a copious seed of the most vulgar and rancorous prejudices in the mind of man against his fellow man, which have sprouted forth with most pernicious luxuriance, and soured in the breasts of many the sweet milk of human kindness towards those with whom they are in daily habits of association.

These prejudices are too generally prevalent in the British dominions. In Ireland, they have produced the most baleful consequences, and still afford some sort of countenance to the con tinuance of the remnant of the laws "to prevent the growth of popery" — an odious code, by which rapine, cruelty, and demoralization have been legally systematized, and every principle of honour, honesty, good faith, justice, and sound policy, violated. Many of these prejudices have been transplanted from their X

PREFACE.

. native soil by emigrants, and have taken root in this country,. notwithstanding the general liberality of the age. It is true, however, that their range is confined, and their influence in considerable. Nevertheless, the erroneous impressions re specting Irish affairs are universal here, from the corrupt sources whence her heart-rending story is derived. Should it, therefore, be asked, why I have taken the trou ble to explore the musty volumes whence I have drawn the materials for this work? I reply, I have had three motives: the pleasure of detecting and exposing fraud and imposture ; the vindication of my native country ; and the fond hope, that there are in the United States thousands and tens of thousands of liberal and enlightened men, who only require to have the fair and holy form of Truth placed before their eyes, properly authenticated, to induce them to clasp her to their bosoms.

For such I write : and there is a large fund of con solation and encouragement to be derived from the consideration, that I address a public which has not any sordid motives of self-interest to impel it to uphold the cause of imposture. There is here no Protestant, nor Piesbyterian, nor Quaker, nor Catholic, nor Universalist ascendency, with a power built on the pestiferous basis of fraud, perjury, and misrepresen tation. This is an inestimable advantage, which writers on this subject, in the British dominions, cannot enjoy to the same extent. The power, influence, and ascendency of the " sacred caste," the Irish oligarchs who uphold the despotism of a dominant and domineering ecclesiastical establishment, which, to compensate them for their services, ensures them the un disturbed possession of so undue a proportion of the honours and emoluments of society, would fall prostrate at the touch of the talisman of truth, as the gorgeous fabric of Aladdin's palace fell at the touch of the wand of the genius : and there fore, how disgraceful soever it may be to human nature, it is not wonderful, considering the weakness, the wickedness, and the selfishness of mankind, that so much pains should have been and are taken to stifle the voice of injurious truth, and to perpetuate the reign of productive and lucrative impos ture.

Some gentlemen have exclaimed against this undertaking, as pernicious, and calculated to revive ancient prejudices, and excite hostility between different denominations of Christians, and between the natives of the two British islands. Charity induces me to hope, that those who raise these objections arc deceived, not deceivers, — that they believe what they profess. But that their impressions, if ingenuous, arise from a very contracted view of the subject, may be made as clear as any axiom in morals or politics. There might be some plausibility in these objections, had

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. XI the frauds and falsehoods I have undertaken to expose and refute, sunk into oblivion, and their influence wholly ceased to operate. But they have unfortunately survived the causes which gave them birth ; become engrafted in history ; taken complete possession of the public mind ; and are almost as thoroughly and as universally believed, as the best established facts in the annals of the world. Can the man, then, who honestly endeavours to demolish the fabric of deception, and by this demolition, eradicate the angry passions which it has engendered, be regarded otherwise than as engaged in a laudable warfare, — the warfare of holy truth against impious imposture ? Do not those who labour to prevent the success of such an undertaking, uphold the cause of fraud and de lusion? Having stated the motives to this undertaking, I submit to the consideration of the reader the several points which I have laboured, and I trust successfully, to establish.

That they are of vital importance, and that, if proved, they invali date a large portion of the history of Ireland, as narrated by Temple, Borlace, Carte, Warner, Leland, Macauley, Hume, and others, will appear obvious on a slight perusal. This con sideration entitles them to a sober, serious examination. It is not, by any means, pretended that they are discussed sys tematically, in the order in which they are here arranged. The proofs are dispersed throughout the work ; but, notwithstanding their want of arrangement, cannot, I hope, fail to satisfy every candid mind, — I. That the statements of Temple, Clarendon, Warner, Leland, and all the other writers on the affairs of Ireland, that the Irish, for forty years previous to the insurrection of 1641, enjoyed a high degree of peace, security, happiness, and tole ration, is as base and shameful a falsehood as ever disgraced the pages of history, and is no more like the real state of the case, than the history of St. George and the dragon is like the true history of England.

For II. That, during this period, there was scarcely a Catholic in the kingdom secure in the possession of his property, or in the exercise of his religion. And III. That, during the same period, the Irish were plun dered by the government of nearly a million of acres of their lands, in the most wicked, unjust and perfidious manner ; and by rapacious individuals, to an extent beyond calculation. IV. That O'Conally's pretended discovery of a conspiracy, is one unvaried strain of perjury. V. That there was no conspiracy for a general insurrection in Ireland, on the 23d October, 1641. VI. That the basis on which rests the story ofthe pretended bloody massacre by the Irish, is a tissue of the most gross and palpable falsehood and perjury. On the contrary,

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. VII. That the massacres perpetrated on the Irish, by St. Leger, Monroe, Tichbourne, Hamilton, Grenville, Ireton, and Cromwell, were as savage, as ferocious, as brutal, and as bloody, as the horrible feats of Cortes or Pizarro, Attila or Genghis Khan ; and particularly, that history presents no thing more shocking or detestable than the massacre perpetrated by Ireton in the cathedral of Cashel, and by Cromwell in Drogheda and Wexford. VIII. That the Irish government issued a sanguinary or der to slaughter " all men able to bear arms, in places where the insurgents were harboured," without any discrimination between the innocent and guilty ; that the Long Parliament enacted an ordinance, " forbidding quarter to be given to any Irishman taken prisoner in England ;" and that those blood thirsty edicts were carried into operation.

IX. That the scheme of a general extirpation of the Irish, as general a confiscation of their estates, and an entirely new plantation of the country, was most seriously entertained, and for some time acted upon, by the Irish rulers and their officers. X. That the idea ofa cessation of hostilities, whereby the Irish might escape from this projected plan of extirpation, excited as universal an alarm in England and Ireland, as if the established religion and government wera about to be wholly overturned. XI. That the Irish government left nothing barbarous, cruel, or wicked, undone, to goad the Irish to resistance, and to ex tend the insurrection throughout the kingdom, for the purpose of enriching themselves and their friends by confisca tions. XII. That if the Irish insurgents of 1641 deserved to be stigmatized as traitors and rebels, then were the English re volutionists of 1688, the American of 1776, and the French of 1789, traitors and rebels of the very worst possible kind ; as their grievances bore no more proportion to those of the Irish, than the gentle Schuylkill to the impetuous Mississippi, the hill of Howth to the peak of Teneriffe, or lake Erie to the Atlantic ocean.

XIII. That there is a striking contradiction between the facts and inductions of Carte, Warner, Leland, and nearly all the other writers of Irish history. XIV. That, in the Anglo-Hibernian histories of Ireland, there is so much error and falsehood, established beyond the' possibility of doubt or denial, as to destroy their credibility. _ XV. That the seventeenth century, in the British dominions, was characterized by a succession of forged plots rest ing on the basis of flagrant perjuries, and calculated to sacri fice the lives and property of the innocent, and enrich malefactors of the worst kind. XVI. That the Irish code of laws, whose pretended object

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. XIII was "to prevent the growth of Popery," was intended to gra tify all the basest passions of human nature, in violation of public faith, honour, justice, and humanity; and that it or ganized as tyrannical an invasion of liberty, and as piratical a depredation on property, and was covered by as base a cloak of hypocrisy as the annals of the world can produce. I fondly flatter myself, I repeat, that the proofs I have ad duced fully establish the whole of these points. But should I be too sanguine in this expectation, I still trust that I shall secure the assent of liberal and ingenuous minds to all the essential ones. Against the fortresses of fraud and imposture, I have brought a battery of eight-and-forty pounders, which can hardly fail to demolish them. The arsenals of enemies, some of them most envenomed, have furnished all the artillery.

The laborious and unwearied research for them, and their mere disposition and arrangement, are all the merit I claim. . ,. It would be a most fastidious and hypercritical delicacy, that should preclude a writer from fairly stating the merits of, and obviating objections to, his materials, or the authorities on which he relies to support his narrative, if he write history; or his discussions, if he investigate historical facts. I neither feel myself, nor fear in my readers any such delicacy. I therefore treat on the materials of this publication, as I should on those of any other whatsoever. There is probably no historical work extant, that rests on stronger grounds. I am not aware of a single fact of impor tance, throughout the whole, that is not supported, not only by reference to, but, what is far more important, by quotations from, indisputable authorities,— authorities almost univer sals hostile to the cause I espouse.

Dr. Curry, in his invaluable work, the " Historical and Cri tical Review of the Civil Wars in Ireland," has set a laudable example in this department of literature. He has, in most cases, established his facts by copious quotations. I have gone beyond his example ; been more general in my quotations; and but slenderly availed myself of the Irish wri terswhereas a large portion of his authorities are of this de scription ; and, although they are in themselves perfectly sound and unexceptionable, yet they are liable to cavil, tor which I was determined to afford no pretext whatever. On such a question, Catholic authorities would not have sufficient weight with minds devoured by prejudice ; and would come before the world in a questionable form, subject to sus picions of partiality. I have therefore almost wholly rejected them throughout ; so that, in about eleven hundred quotations, there are not twenty from writers of that class ; and, in one ofthe most important chapters ofthe book, that on the sub-

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. XIV ject ofthe massacres and murders perpetrated on the Irish, i have not availed myself of a single one of their advocates. In this respect, therefore, the work rests on the most impregnable foundation. No similar instance has probably ever occurred. My heart swells with a glow of satisfaction and pride, that I can come before the critical world, with a defence of Ire land, resting on the names of Spencer, Davies, Coke, Temple, Borlace, Clarendon, Nalson, Carte, Warner, Leland, Baker, Orrery, Rushworth, &c. nearly all of whom were open or concealed enemies of that country and its unfortunate inha bitants. It may seem extraordinary, that there is on the list the name of the wretched Temple, who was so far ashamed of his own spurious work, that he endeavoured, but in vain, to suppress it : but it is the peculiar felicity of this under taking, that it may be fairly said to this father of all the im posture, " By thy words thou shalt be condemned," for, were all the other authorities, cited in this work, totally annihilated, there is enough in Temple's miserable legend to demolish the fabric of fraud and deception, in the erection of which, so much time, and such varied talents, have been prostituted, for a hundred and seventy years past.

Having stated the motives to this undertaking; the points I have endeavoured to prove ; and the materials I have em ployed, it remains to render some account of the execution of the plan : and here, I confess, I feel myself open to censure, from which I shall not attempt to shrink. The work is in a very imperfect state indeed ; and has not had a due share of attention bestowed on it. Whether, by any degree of time and labour, I could have rendered it complete and perfect, I am very doubtful. But this is certain, that I might have made it far less imperfect, had I devoted more time to it. The great body of it has been written at night, when the pressure of usual avocations had subsided; and next day hastily committed to the press, under all the consequent disadvantages. This statement, it is hoped, will operate as some apology for the manifest imperfections of the work.

I am not, how ever, unaware, that, in strict justice, this avowal may be con sidered as rendering those imperfections more unpardonable ; as it may with truth be said, that no man has a right to present his productions to the world, without due preparation; that it is disrespectful, and deserves severe censure ; in a word, that the haste with which this Vindication has been composed and hurried through the press, so far from being an extenuation, is an aggravation of the offence. The correctness of these objections cannot be denied. But let it sink deep into the mind of the reader, that, whatever I may suffer from the justice, or even the utmost rigour, of

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. XV criticism, is unimportant, compared with what I feel from the convictions of my own mind. I stand self-condemned. That I have not done justice to myself, in presenting the work to the public in such an imperfect state, is of little importance. This might lower the sails of my vanity : but it could affect me alone. But, having undertaken the delightful task of vin dicating the country of Swift, Parnell, Goldsmith, Sterne, Farquhar, Burke, Flood, Curran, Grattan, Montgomery, and a long and bright galaxy of such illustrious characters ; a country whose natives, notwithstanding the countless bless ings bestowed on them by Nature, in local situation, fertility of soil, and salubrity of climate, have been for ages doomed to pine in the most abject poverty, wretchedness, and idle ness at home; but abroad, in every region and every clime of the known world, have displayed the brightest energies of the human character, in all the varied walks of life ; a country which has furnished almost every nation in Christendom with statesmen and warriors, driven from their native soil by lordly despotism, rampant injustice, and religious intolerance ;* a country the most calumniated, and among the most oppressed, in the world ; having as fair a field to explore as ever courted the exertions of any writer, in any age or country, I most deeply regret, and sincerely apologize for, the want of judgment which led me to appear precipitately before the public, without that degree of elaboration which the im portance ofthe subject demanded.

Having candidly avowed thus much with respect to the ex ecution of the work, I trust I shall not be censured for ex pressing a hope, that there is, in the object I have had in view — the glorious cause I have undertaken — and the impregnable basis on which this Vindication rests, a redeeming virtue, that would atone for defects and imperfections even greater than are to be found in these pages. He must be a most fas tidious epicure, who, when hungry, would turn in scorn from excellent viands, merely because the traiteur had been inju dicious or inexpert in the cookery: and a reader would be equally injudicious, who should reject a work which shed the * Extract from an unanimous Address, agreed to by the Federal members of the legislature of Maryland, publi sited in consequence ofthe Baltimore riots.

" A dependency of Great Britain, Ireland has long languished under oppressions reprobrated by humanity, and discountenanced by just policy. It would argue penury of human feeling, and ignorance of human rights, to submit patiently lo those oppressions. Centuries have witnessed the struggles of Ireland, but with only partial success. Rebellions and insurrections have continued, with but short intervals of tranquillity. Many of the Irish, like the French, are the hereditary foes of Great Britain. Airierica has opened her arms to the oppressed of all nations. No people have availed themselves of the asylum with more alacrity, or in greater numbers, than the Irish. High is the meed of praise, rich the reward, which Irishmen have merited from the gratitude of America. AS HE ROES AND STATESMEN THEY HONOUR THEIR ADOPTED COUN TRY."

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. XVI broad glare of truth on an important and much-misrepresented period of history, merely because the writer had failed in the due arrangement of his materials. Some readers may complain, that the quotations are too numerous ; that they disfigure the appearance of the work ; and unnecessarily enhance its volume: and some may be unjust enough to believe that the latter is one of the objects of the writer. Whoever entertains this idea must be grossly ignorant of the nature of writing, and have never tried the experiment. The search for some of those passages, not exceeding three or four lines, has cost more time and labour than have been employed in writing five or six pages. In fact the time wasted in examining the dry and dreary details of a soporific volume ofThurloe's State Papers, of eight or nine hundred pages, where hardly a single fact was to be gleaned, would have sufficed for writing a chapter of original matter.

In some cases, however, I may have given more quotations than were necessary : but this error is venial. Those who are satisfied with one or two authorities, out of six or eight, might pass over the remainder: whereas the contrary and common error, of affording inadequate support to what we are ourselves, and suppose others, convinced of, is a vital one. A single instance of the latter is productive of more in jurious consequences than twenty of the former. For the exuberance of quotations, an adequate reason can be given. It requires no ordinary weight of proof, in the gross adulteration of Irish history, to make an impression on the public mind, on points wherein error is so gross, truth so little known, means of correct information so limited, and prejudice so inveterate. What would it have availed had I written a narrative of the events discussed in this work, even with a long series of references to my authorities ?

Who, to verify the facts, would take the pains to explore Temple, and Borlace, and Rushworth, and Baker, and Clarendon, and Carte, and Leland, and Warner, and so many other writers whom I have quoted ? Not one in a hundred. The facts would be regarded as resting on my mere ipse dixit, and wholly fail to produce the effect intended. But lives there a man who will dare to refuse his assent, when I quote Ludlow, for the butchery at Cashel ; the marquis of Ormonde, and Cromwell himself, for that at Drogheda ; Borlace, for the starvation of" 7000 ofthe vulgar sort," by one regiment; Rushworth, for the bloodthirsty decree of the Long Parliament, " to give no quarter to Irish prisoners;" and the lords justices themselves, for the murderous order to " kill every man able to bear arms, in those places where rebels were harboured ?" On this subject I desire to be distinctlv understood. Though

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. XVII literary reputation, to every man who employs his pen for the public, must be a desirable object; yet I should be more highly gratified, were this Vindication a mere collection of " shreds and patches," without a single page of my own com position, a collection in which my sole merit would arise from the research for, and arrangement of, facts, forcing conviction on the reader's mind, than if it united the manly boldness of Tacitus with the elaborate elegance of Gibbon, but were as deceptious and fraudulent as Clarendon's account of the state oflreland previous to 1641, or Hume's, of the insurrection of that year. Wretched, indeed, and meriting pity and con tempt, must be the man who could hesitate for a moment be tween the two results of his labours. In following the track of such an indefatigable writer as Curry, who has almost exhausted the sickening subject, it would be hardly possible to avoid using the same materials, and frequently making analogous dispositions of, and deduc tions from, them.

This is the fate of every writer who tra vels over ground already beaten. A man who writes history, or discusses historical subjects, of remote periods, is no further worthy of credit, than as he narrates facts already recorded. Invention and fraud are synonymous terms. All that remain for modern writers, who treat of remote events, are, laborious research; judicious selection of materials; fidelity of reference or quotation; and correct induction. How far I have succeeded with the second and fourth, the world will decide: but to the first and third I fearlessly lay claim. I have spared neither pains nor expense in procuring the ne cessary materials, nor time nor labour in their examination. Almost every book in the Philadelphia library, bearing on this subject, (and the number is immense,) I have examined; and moreover procured many, which it does not contain, from New York, Baltimore, and Burlington.* On the subject of fidelity of quotation, I wish to state, that I have been as careful as human frailty would admit, to avoid errors : but in the very unusual number of authorities, some * It is not pretended, that I have read all the books I have quoted.

Half a life would scarcely be adequate to this purpose. No man of business could read Thurloe and Rushworth, amounting to fifteen ponderous folios, in less than two or three years. But four-fifths ofthe books to which I have refer red, and many others which were too barren to afford a single passage, I have examined page by page. Others have been more slightly searched ; and of some, only certain volumes, on cotemporaneous events. Those accustomed to investigations of this kind, know that a single glance frequently suffices to ascertain whether a page be likely to furnish suitable matter. This has been remarkably the case with Thurloe, Rushworth, and Clarendon. Temple, Carte, Warner, Leland, and some others, who have furnished the principal part of my materials, required, and have accordingly received, a closer examina tion.

But ofthe matter suitable for my purpose, even in these works, a large portion must have wholly escaped me, from the rapidity of my researches. Moreover, of my selections, I have not been able to avail myself of more than one-fourth part, in consequence ofthe limits prescribed to this work.

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. XVIII may have escaped me. If this be the case, I am satisfied they are few and unimportant. Should any be discovered, 1 shall regard the communication of them as a signal favour. I have been led to notice slightly, and merely as connected with the subject, some of the proceedings of the Long Par liament and of Charles I. In this, as in all other cases of civil war, there were egregious and multifarious faults on both sides," some of which truth has called upon me to state. Zealous friends of free government, who have been nurtured in idolatry ofthe Long Parliament, which they regard as im maculate, will scarcely pardon a writer who exposes them to execration, for their " no quarter" ordinance ; for their rancorous opposition to a cessation of arms ; and for their de vouring rage for the extermination of the Irish, and the con fiscation of their estates : and the idolaters of the " royal mar tyr" will equally denounce me, for daring to expose his base perfidy to the Irish.