Page:Confiscation in Irish history.djvu/154

 the town was in danger of attack. But when Inchiquin and his English troops revolted from the parliament to the King in 1648 Thomas and all his fellow- townsmen had remained in the town, obedient as always, to the orders of their English masters. Inchiquin, as he had done before, levied a tax on the town to support his troops. If anyone refused to obey the order, issued in the King's name, his goods were seized. Thomas Toomey and all the rest of the townsmen paid up their quota, as they were legally bound to do, to the King's general. They did not wait for their goods to be forcibly seized. But by having paid only one such contribution, not taken by actual violence, to the royal war chest they were held to have been wanting in Constant Good Affection, and judgment was therefore given that Toomey must go to Connaught and there receive lands equal to two-thirds of his former property.

The court then carefully considered eighty-six more cases, those of men who like Toomey had been zealous in the English cause. But in every case the verdict was that the petitioners had failed to prove constant good affection, and so must lose one-third of their property and transplant to Connaught. The Protestants in these towns were of course most of them in a similar case; but as Protestants they were not required to prove constant good affection, and, at the most, seem only to have lost one-third of their property, without having to transplant. Besides many of them had been sharers in the revolt of the garrison back again from the King to Cromwell and so all former acts of loyalty on their part were forgiven.