Page:A Compendium of Irish Biography.djvu/583

 all wisdom advises to keep this kingdom as much subordinate and dependent upon England as is possible, and holding them from the manufacture of wool (which, unless otherwise directed, I shall by all means discourage), and then enforcing them to fetch their clothing from thence [England] and to take their salt from the King (being that which preserves and gives value to all their native staple commodities). How can they depart from us without nakedness and beggary ] Which in itself is so weighty a consideration, as a small profit should not bear it down." Soon after his arrival in Dublin, Wentworth proposed to call a parliament. To this the King at first objected; but the Deputy overcame his scruples by promising to use diligence to secure the return of men who would prove pliant instruments in his hands. Parliament was opened in Dublin, with unusual pomp, in July 1634, and Wentworth made a speech in which he informed the assembly that it was determined to hold two sessions—one for the voting of subsidies, and a second for the redress of grievances. Six subsidies of £50,000 each were immediately voted; but when the time came for the consideration of "the graces," as the desired concessions from the King to the people of Ireland were called, Wentworth, by skilful manœuvring, and playing off the Protestants against the Catholics, managed to avoid granting them. Among the concessions sought were, that Catholics should be excused from taking the oath of supremacy, that an undisturbed possession of land for sixty years should give a good title as against the Crown, and that the inhabitants of Connaught should be permitted to make a new enrolment of their estates. Parliament was dissolved in April 1635, without "the graces" being conceded, and the Deputy gleefully boasted: "The King is as absolute here as any prince in the whole world can be, and may be still, if it be not spoiled on that side"—namely in England. A commission was then issued with the distinct object of confiscating the whole of Connaught by fictitious forms of law. By threatening and coercing juries, and granting to the judges a commission of four shillings in the pound on the first year's rent of all forfeitures, the confiscation of the greater part of the counties of Mayo, Leitrim, Sligo, and Roscommon was accomplished. In Galway, owing partly to the influence of the Earl of Clanricard, the juries at first refused to find verdicts for the Crown. Heavy fines were inflicted, however, and the Earl had to compound for his estate by the payment of a large sum. Flaws were found in patents granted as lately as the previous reign, and many of the large landowners throughout the country were compelled to sue out new grants of their estates at a heavy expense. Even the London companies which held large estates in Ulster had to pay £70,000 to make good their titles. The Catholics were alternately favoured and persecuted. At times the severity of the laws against them was relaxed, and at others they were carried out to the letter: Catholic schools were suppressed, rites of burial denied, and fines inflicted for non-attendance at Protestant service. At the same time, in all matters not supposed to affect the King's revenue or prerogative, the cause of religion, or the interests of England, the government of Ireland was conducted with vigour and judgment. Algerine piracy was suppressed, the annual revenue from customs was increased from £12,000 to £40,000, and mining and the general development of the resources of the country were encouraged. In particular, the establishment of the flax manufacture as a flourishing industry, dates from this time. In 1636 Wentworth visited England and received the King's approval of his acts. In the latter part of 1639 he was again sent for by Charles, and in January 1639-'40 was created Earl of Stratford, and Baron of Raby. At the same time he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, an office which had remained vacant since it was held by the Earl of Essex in Queen Elizabeth's reign. In March he paid a visit of two weeks to Dublin, to meet Parliament. He "had four subsidies given then, and gave orders to levy 8,000 foot in Ireland, which, together with 2,000 foot and 1,000 horse, which was the standing army in Ireland, and 500 horse to be joined with them," were to be sent into Scotland under his lordship's command. On the 3rd of April he embarked for England. He was delayed for some time by illness on the road, and in London. On his recovery he was made Lieutenant-General of the English forces; but the army was defeated at Newborne before his arrival. When the Long Parliament met in London in November 1640, one of its first acts was the impeachment of Stratford before the House of Lords. The indictment for high treason embraced twenty-eight counts, twenty of them being for acts more or less connected with his Irish administration. He was accused of various acts of an illegal and oppressive nature; of having ruled Ireland as a conquered country; of counselling the King to arbitrary acts; of showing undue favour to Roman Catholics; of trying to 559