AN APOLOGY FOR THE PROTESTANTS of IRELAND. In a Brief NARRATIVE OF THE LATE REVOLUTIONS In that KINGDOM, AND An Account of the PRESENT STATE Thereof.  
—— Quaeque ipse miserrima vidi,  
Et quorum pars magna fui,——  
Licenced and Entered according to Order.  
LONDON, Printed for Ric. Chiswel, at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Churchyard. MDCLXXXIX.   

AN APOLOGY FOR THE PROTESTANTS OF IRELAND,  
In a brief Narrative of the Late Revolutions in that KINGDOM, and an Account of the Present STATE thereof.  
SIR,  
I am urged by the incentives of Love and Gratitude for the many obligations you have laid upon me, and by the Conscience of my own promise, to render you an Account of the late Revolutions in the Kingdom of Ireland; and to lay before you a true Scheme of the present condition of that miserable and forlorn Country. In the performance whereof if I be necessitated to utter some unwelcome Truths; I bespeak your Charity to believe, it does not proceed from any design of a malicious Reflection, but from that  Force that naturally attends a faithful Narration. And because the misery of Exile and Desertion is sensibly aggravated by their cruel and unequal censure, who neither understand the cause, nor pity the effects of so fatal a dereliction of our Estates and Habitations, but severely upbraid us with an unconstrained, timorous and unnecessary Flight; it will not be possible to obviate such ill grounded Cavils, or to describe the present face of Affairs, without a Retrospect on the countenance of things as they formerly appeared.  
While Charles the Second swayed the Sceptre; though the Papists were too much countenanced and indulged; and many hardships placed on the Protestants, especially in relation to the Act of Settlement, yet by the favour of Heaven upon the extraordinary Fertility of the Land, Ireland was under very auspicious circumstances: The Church Flourished, Trade Increased, the Cities and Towns were every Year enlarged with new Additions, the Country Enriched and Beautified with Houses and Plantations, the Farms were loaden with Stock, and ready and quick Markets there were to vent them: The Laws had a free and uninterrupted course, and a standing Army was so far from being a Terror, that they were the comfort and security of the people: In a Word, Peace, Wealth, and Plenty were become universal and epidemical, and all things conspired to a generous Emulation with our Mother and Neighbour, England.  
But no sooner did this bright Sun set, and a new One appeared in the Firmament, but Clouds and Vapours, Storms and Tempests arose in our Horizon, which have since broke out in trouble and confusion, not like to be settled and appeased but in a general desolation, and depopulation of the whole Kingdom. Indeed at first we were flattered with some hopes of a calm Season, by the arrival of the Right Honourable the Earl of Clarendon, and his establishment in the Supreme command; but his Commission was stinted, his Authority far short of what was allowed to his Predecessors in that Government, and Colonel Richard Talbot (newly advanced to the ominous Title of Tyrconnel) openly and impudently appeared his controller, and supervisor; most unjustly and presumptuously assuming a power to purge the Army, to divest the Officers of their Commissions, and to disband thousands of Stout, well trained Soldiers, despoiling them of the very Coats they before paid for, and turning them off Naked, and Bare, to beg, and seek their Livelihood, treating them with great Barbarity, and in a jeering and scornful manner, giving out, that he must have the whole Army of one Size, i.e. to be modellised and measured by the Standard of Rome, and no Man to receive pay from a popish King, but he that openly gave himself up to the avowed profession of Popery. Thus was an Army (not to be excelled, for their Number, by any Army in Europe) broken without a Rout, some hundreds of Galland Officers arbitrarily turned out, without the satisfaction of assigning any Cause; and in their Rooms notorious Rebels and Murderers or the Sons and Offa spring of such, placed; the Troops and Companies filled with Thiefs, Tories, Robbers, and Goal-birds By which Act, as the Insolency and Inhumanity of the Papists was palpably discovered; so the modesty, submission, and non-resistence of the Protestants was evident to the World, by their patiented undergoing this Martyrdom in their Fortunes. Soon after that Noble Earl was removed, whose Administration was much disrelished by the prevalent party, because so grateful to the Protestants (to accompany whose departure, and to avoid the Tyranny of him that was to follow, 1500 Families deserted Dublin) To him succeeded the inglorious Earl of Tyrconnel, in his Morals and Atheist, in his profession a Bigot, an egregious Dissembler, and if not a Coward, one over-careful of his own safety; a lover of himself without a Rival: From whose entrance we may dare the Calamities and Destruction of the Protestant Religion, and of the British Interest in Ireland. For having at first culled, and afterward quite changed the Army, metamorphosing Mantles into Red Coats, Brogues into Jack-Boots, and Cow-Boys into Captains; he dispersed his hellish Legions among all the Towns and Garrisons; where the Name of the Irish Granadeer became as formidable, as the French Dragoons. Next he proceeded to reform the Courts and civil List; displacing the Privy-Counsellors, the Judges superseding the Justices of Peace, turning out the Sheriffs, and changing the Officers employed in the public Revenue: Constituting in their Rooms the most inconsiderable varlets, Men of no Honesty, Understanding, or Estate, of no skill in the Laws, or Interest in their Country. It was too soon for him to Attack the Church, to invade the Bishopwricks, or eject the Ministers; but in every City and great Town, he erected Mass-houses, re-edifyed the Friaries, made Popish coadjutors to the Chaplains of every Regiment, and let lose a swarm of Jesuits and Regulars to infest the land: And Peter Manby Dean of Derry, having apostatised from the Religion he was bred in, degraded himself from his Function, and degenerated into a Layman, yet obtained a Patent to enjoy the Revenues of the Deanery; and all vacant Bishopwricks and other Church Dignities were sequestered and applied to the maintenace of the Popish Clergy. To complete the Catastrophes, a Quo Warranto, or a Scire facias was issued to every City, and Corporation through the Kingdom, whereof some tamely submitted to a surrender, others were condemned upon a Nihil dicit; while such as pleaded, and defended their Right, had no other return for their Toil and Expenses, but a scornful publication of a partial and illegal Sentence agreed on and determined in the Cabal, before the hearing in the Court. A new Charter was sent to London-Derry, and none made Aldermen or Burgesses there, but the Sons and Descendants of notorious rank Rebels. But least the Heretics should grow sturdy, and be in a Capacity to defend themselves against the next Massacre, a Proclamation was Issued, Requiring all the Officers of the Militia, both Horse and Foot, forthwith to deliver in to the next Magazine all their Arms; and by this knack, all those of the Church of England (for no other were of the Militia) were left naked and disarmed: Soon after the Justices of the Peace in the several Counties, were required to take up all Arms from such as did not come to Church, and to render them into the next Stores; (and by this Trick all the Dissenters were left utterly defenseless.)  
And now Popery began to be triumphant, the Lord Deputy and his Privy-Council, (excepting a very few) the Lord Chancellor, and all the Judges, (except three) the Attorney General and the King's Sergeants, the Justices of the Peace, and Sheriffs in each County (except in such Places where no Papists were to be had,) all violent, and eager Promoters of the Romish Religion: The Mass publicly Celebrated in every Town; the Friars marching in their Habits undisturbed; the Army reformed to their own Cue, no Man Countenanced, or made a Candidate for any Preferment, but he that truckled to the See of room; the Charters of all Cities, Towns, and Corporations taken away, or condemned, and ignorant, indigent, scandalous and mean Persons obtruded upon them. Titles to Estates began to be questioned, and some unrighteous Judgements given; and what else could be expected, when Judges, Jurors, and Sheriffs, were all of one Stamp? The Protestants were daily abused, and persecuted upon Shame Plots, which never had an Existence or Foundation, but in the Heads of their malicious Accusers; and several Gentlemen were Imprisoned, Indicted, and Tried for their Lives. And Tyrconnel was heard to say to his Countrymen, (and as is reported, by direction from his Lord and Master) You have now the Sword in your Hands, the King has given you your own Country to be the Refuge of Catholics, keep it now you have it, and never suffer the damned Heretics to possess it again.  
In this Posture of Affairs, was it not high time for the Protestants to look about them? to consult their safety, and by a timely Removal, to avoid those imminent Dangers that threatened them. They began indeed to be under dreadful Apprehensions, and such as wisely foresaw the approaching Miseries, and were in a Capacity to do it, withdrew themselves, their Families and Effects into England and Scotland; by which means so great an Obstruction was made to the Circulation of Money, that there followed a general decay of Trade through the Kingdom; the Tenants were rendered unable to pay their Rents, and the Landlords to subsist. Nevertheless, in all the Towns and Counties there were Multitudes, who courageously resolved to abide the Brunt, and with a patiented Resignation to expect a Day of Redemption from the Slavery whereunto they were subjected, resolving to follow the Fate of England, or hoping for seasonable Relief from them. In the mean time the Prince of Orange having a tender regard to the gasping Condition of the Protestant Religion, and condescending to assist the Nobility and Gentry of England in the their Rescue from Popery, Slavery and Arbitrary Power; the Lord Tyrconnel publicly gave out threatening Speeches, that if the Prince did send any Forces thither, he would raise and arm all the Irish from 16. to 60. and leave all the Protestants to their Mercy. This proved a new and amazing Terror to the Protestants; they plainly saw, that if any Forces came from England, to call the Papists to Account, or to support them, their Lives would be made a Sacrifice to the Fury and Revenge of the Enemy; and that if none came to their Assistance, they remained hourly exposed to Rapine, Massacre, and Murder: this terrible Two-edged Consideration took such Impression on them, that abundance of Men Women and Children withdrew themselves, and abandoned the Kingdom.  
But about the beginning of December last a Letter was found, without a Subscription, directed to the Earl of Mont-Alexander, giving him a friendly warning to take heed to himself, and positively averring a determinate Design to Massacre all the Protestants through the Kingdom, Man, Woman, and Child, and this to be perpetrated precisely on the Ninth of December: Copies of this Letter were immediately transmitted to Dublin, and dispersed in all the adjacent Counties; and it is as incredible to comprehend, as it is impossible to express, what Operation this had on the Minds of all People, who being either Eye-witnesses of the horrid Cruelties committed by the Irish in the last Rebellion, without the least relenting Compassion to Age, or Sex; or having received an indlible Impression of their Barbarous Actions, from such as were Sufferers, or Spectators of them; they could by no Consideration or Arguments be rallied into any Assurance, or be persuaded to adventure their safety under an armed Power, or continue among those, whose Principles dispose them to the utter Extirpation of such as they account Heretics. Hereupon a vast number of People in great Precipitation removed into England with their Families, (especially from about Dublin) leaving their Goods and Householdstuff behind them. With some it had a contrary Effect, and generally through the Province of Ulster, the Inhabitants whereof began upon this Alarm to stand upon their Guard, and to keep strong Wards and Watches, resolving neither to fly, nor be surprised; though many things (not known in other Parts) contributed to their Conviction of the Reality of the intended Massacre; as the voluntary Confessions of certain Priests in the County of Donegal, who warned their Friends secretly to departed, because there was a general Massacre designed; that the Priests were against it, but had been over-voted by the Friars. The Evidence given to a Justice of the Peace in the County of London-Derry, that one of their Titular Deans was buying up Horses and Arms, and he declared, that within two or three Years past he had laid out 500 l. in buying Arms, and that he had bespoke as many Iron Chains to be Reins for Bridles, as would serve Sixty Horse. (one of which Chains five yards long was delivered to the said Justice by the Smith that made it) The Words spoken by Father Daly, Guardian of the Friary at Armagh, who (when he heard that the Prince of Orange was to land in England) said publicly, that they might thank their Devil of a King for this, for is he had destroyed all the Protestants when it was in his Power, they had not now called in the Dutch. But above all, the Attempt of the Papists to possess London-Derry, at that very nick of time, turned the Suspicion into a confident Persuasion of the Truth of what was reported. London-Derry was then (by the Mercy of God, and the Improvidence of the Deputy) without any Garrison at all in it, the Soldiers being a little before transported upon the Expedition into England; and it falling so out, that upon the very day when a Copy of the abovementioned Letter was sent to that City, (namely the 7th. of December) the Earl of Antrim, with a numerous Party of Highlanders and Irish, was on his March to Possess and Command that Place; the Inhabitants looked upon the Advance of so many Papists on the 7th. day, to be the Prologue to the Tragedy, intended to be acted on the 9th. day, and judging, that if they were once admitted, all the Ulster and Conaght Irish might draw thither, and from thence diffuse themselves through the Province, and with great Facility exterminate all the Protestants, they (by the Advice of a Gentleman in the Neighbourhood) shut their Gates, and kept them out, and by his Conduct defended the Place, till a Protestant Garrison was settled in it.  
And now the Deputy began to exert his Art, as before he had manifested his Tyrannical and Usurped Authority; for, considering that London-Derry was out of the Papists hands, and that the Protestants in Ulster were very numerous, he began to cajole and flatter them, for he secretly gave out Commissions for raising of Thirty Regiments; and having Circumvented the Lord Mountjoy with specious Pretences of Moderation and Peace, and prevailed with him to go on a Mock Embassy to King James, then in France, he condescended to certain Articles, which carried a show of Mildness and Equity, but really were only a Mask to cover his Designs, and to amuse the People; and they were to this Effect. 1st. That no more Forces should be raised, nor more Arms delivered out of the Stores. 2dly. That the new Levies should be dismissed 3dly. That no Forces should be sent into Ulster. 4thly. That no Nobleman, or Gentleman's House should be made a Garrison, against his Will: Which Stipulations the Deputy hearty swore to, and assured by many direful Imprecations. No sooner was the Lord Mountjoy gone (who was made the messenger of his own Fate, and carried Bellerophon's Letters with him) but the Deputy proceeded to form a new Army, and gave out Commissions for many Regiments of Horse, Dragoons, and Foot, to he number of 40000. Men, without any other Warrant, than a bare Letter from his King; emptied all the Stores and Magazines, and furnished the Soldiers with competent Arms, encouraging the Women and Boys, and the whole Rabble of People to provide Skins and Half-Pikes, and to live upon the Plunder of the Protestants; and having no Pay to give among the new Levies, each Captain undertook to give Subsistence to his Men in Beef and Meal for three Months; and this they borrowed from the Protestants, daily robbing them at Noon day, and carrying away their Sheep and Cattle in Flocks and Droves. And when he had raised a formidable Army, and very well knew how naked and defenseless the Protestants were, (having twice before Disarmed them) he began palpably to discover how exact and punctual Observer he intended to be of his Oaths and Promises, and by the following Letters from Dublin you may see how he began to handle those that were in his Clutches.  
SIR,  
Dublin is surrounded for Thirty Miles about, with Popish Forces newly raised, and some of the standing Army; all the Avenues to it are stopped and Guarded: So that it is not possible to more, or travel Five Miles, without being stopped and examined, and for the most part disarmed, dismounted, an dpillaged. The City is filled with Soldiers, Troopers, and Dragoons, to the number of 30000. These are Quartered upon private Houses, as well as public, and more expected daily. Most Protestants within Forty Miles of Dublin are pillaged, rob, and disarmed; the Trees and Plantations cut down, and themselves exposed to the Mercy of Tories, Robbers, and Servants, who are now inlisted in the Army. We believe they are so every where else, but cannot have an account, because all Letters are opened, examined, and stopped, that brings any intelligence (by the Government) that does not please the Papists; only by chance we hear from some places, and find they are used like those nearer.  
There is no Trade, Business, or Money stirring in Dublin, but every body exposed to the Mercy and Insolence of Soldiers; and when Complaint is made to the Government, there is no redress or help; all the Forces raised, have no Money, nor a possibility of being paid, and therefore must be left to do as they do all at present, to plunder and pillage whom they please; when they have done in the Country, and destroyed all, as they have very near done already, they will then fall a plundering the City, which we daily fear and expect. By Order of the Lord Deputy, the County of Meath, and West-Meath, are disarmed, and their Horses taken from them: they are doing the same in the County of Dublin.  
They have marked all the Stables in Dublin, and can take all their Horses in an hour; and it's hourly expected that they should disarm every Protestant, which they will certainly do when they are a little stronger.  
They are daily Baking Biscuit in the Castle for the March of an Army; they have proveded, as it is said, Field pieces: As soon as they have disarmed Dublin, it it like they will March into the North, to subdue the Protestants there. They in probability intent to surprise them, and in order thereunto take up all Horses, without regard to whom they belong; nay, they threaten, not to leave so much as a Hackney; by which means they may be able to set 10000 Men on Horseback, and March as far as Ardmaugh or Newry in two or three days. They stop all intercourses with the North, both by Sea and Land; and hope to come on them unawares. It is therefore necessary for the Protestants in the North, to be ready at a days warning to receive them; to Guard well all the Passes of the Mountains, and Fortify them as well as they can; to make ready Provision of Meal and Ammunition for the Field; and if no Ammunition be come to them, to send Ships immediately, and Money to bring it, otherwise they may be upon them.  
The Popish Army will have the whole Country, from Ardmaugh to Dublin to supply them; and they can have Ammunition and Provision come to them whent hay please, and will not stay for them, only so much as may be for present use.  
They are bringing Gentlemen into Plots, and Trying them upon Popish Oaths, by Popish Judges and Juries; so they have served Captain Philip's of Mullingar, and Mr. Bowen the Collector, who are to be Tried next Week at Mullingar, and will probably be found Guilty and Executed. This will only be a Leading Example to Try and Condemn other Gentlemen.  
Every body able to remove, is going from hence; there is no body to Head the Protestants if there should be occasion. There are Warrants against most of the considerable Men. People are so intermixed, and so near the Government, that they dare not so much as meet, much less discourse any thing appertaining to the Common safety. If therefore the Protestants have no help from abroad, their Ruin is unavoidable.  
Feb. 22. 1688.  
SIR,  
ALL the Streets in Dublin are beset with 16000 Men, all their Houses are searched by Dragoons, and all their Horses taken; the Lord Mayor and Aldermen went this day through the City, Commanding all Protestants, by four of the Clock, to bring in their Arms to their Parish Church; and if they left so much as a Bionet not brought in, if upon search any were found, That House should be exposed to the mercy of the Soldiers.  
Dated Feb. the 25th. 1688.  
The Protestants in Ulster taking notice of these Proceed, and truly judging, that their destruction was approaching, and that they could only expect Ulysses fate, to be last be devoured, they began to rouse themselves into some preparations to oppose a sudden surprise, and with stour Hearts (but weak Hands) to assemble, and stand upon their Guard, and in the Eastern Counties of Down and Antrim to form an Association to raise Troops and Companies to secure the Frontiers, and to prevent the Incursions of the Enemy. But as their Preparations were hasty, and now ay competent to their necessity; so their Retreat was as precipitate, and dissonant from their Resolutions. The Deputy having got together a vast Army, the Protestants in Dublin and the adjacent Counties, being disarmed and dismounted; those in Munster and Conaght plundered and pillaged of all their Goods, Horses, Sheep, and Cattle: he sent down a Body of 15000 Men into Ulster, under the Command of rich. Hamilton, whom he constituted Lieutenant General of the Army; and (out of a design, partly to terrify, and partly to delude the desponding Protestants, who hitherto had kept up their Spirits in a daily expectation of Relief from England) he made use of a Presbyterian Minister, who had a great influence upon those of his Persuasion (whose number in the North was very considerable) and obliged him to write this following Letter to the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Massereen, a strenuous Asserter of the Protestant Interest, and by it the greatest Sufferer in that Province; Copies whereof were immediately dispersed thro' the several Counties.  
Loghbricklan, March 9 1688. My Lord,  
ON the 6th instant I was introduced by my Lord Granard into my Lord Deputy's Presence in the Castle of Dublin: I have his Pass to come and go through and back from Ulster; and though I have not his Excellencies direct Commission, yet I will assure you I am at least permitted by the Lord Deputy to acquaint the Chief, and others of those of the Ulster Association with his Discourse to me, which was to the effect following, to wit,  
First, That his Excellency doth not delight in the Blood and Devastation of the said Province: but however highly resents their taking and continuing in Arms, the affronts done by them to His Majesty's Government thereby, and by some indignities done to the late Proclamation of Clemency issued and dated—  
Secondly, Notwithstanding whereof, is willing to receive the said Province into Protection, provided they immediately deliver up to his Army, for His Majesty's use, their Arms and serviceable Horses, and provided they deliver up to his Excellency these three Persons, viz.  
if they remain in the Kingdom, and may be had.  
Thirdly, And for further manifestation of his Design to prevent Blood, is willing to grant safe Conduct even to the said three Persons, or any other of their Party, to and from his Excellency, and to and from Lieutenant-General Hamilton, Commander of part of his Army, hereafter mentioned, if they intent any peaceable and reasonable Treaty: But withal will not, upon the said Account, or any other, stop the March of the said part of his Army, no not for one hour; and if it shall appear in such Treaty, that they took up Arms merely for Self-preservation, than he will pardon even the said three Persons also; but is hopeless that any such thing can be made appear, seeing that many of them have already accepted and received Commissions from the Prince of Orange, and display his Colours in the Field, as his Excellency is credibly informed.  
Fourthly, If these terms be not immediately agreed to, he will with a part of his Army fight them; which part he intends shall be at Newry on Monday the 11th of this instant; which will from thence march to Belfast, and from thence to Colerane and Londonderry, as his Excellency intends: And that the Country Irish, not of the Army, Men, Women, and Boys, now all Armed with Half-Pikes and Bionets, in the Counties of Cavan, Monagham, Tyrone, Londonderry, etc. will, upon the approach of the said part of the Army, and Resistance thereto made, immediately enter upon a Massacre of the British in the said Counties; which Force and Violence of the Rabble his Excellency saith he cannot restrain, and fears it may be greater than in 1641. These are the Heads of what I can offer to you from his Excellency's own mouth: but I intent to be at Hills-borough to night, and there to stay for this night; where, if you think fit, I shall fully discourse with you of all the particulars; whereof, I hope, you will give immediate notice to all chief concerned in your County and Neighbourhood, for gaining of time. I have sent this Express, that your Lordship may give Advertisement by Express to all such as your Lordship thinks convenient. I shall add no further, till I have the Honour to see your Lordship.  
Your Lordship's Obedient Servant, Alex. Osborne. Received the same Night at Antrim.  
This Letter was received at Antrim the same Night; and immediately the following Answer was returned, by the Earl of Mount-Alexander, Lord Massareen, etc.  
We declare the utter abhorrence of the effusion of Blood, and that we will use all proper Means to avoid it, but cannot consent to lay down our Arms, which we were forced to take up for our own Defence; nor to part with our Goods by any other than legal Means; and that we are ready to appoint Persons to treat on each Heads, as are consistent with the safety of our Religion, Lives, and Liberty.  
Now to convince all Mankind, that this specious Message sent by Mr. Osbourn, dated March 9 1688 (who came with all speed from Dublin) was only a Shame and Delusion plotted by the Deputy to amuse the poor Protestants, and cast a Mist before their Eyes, that they might not see their approaching Destruction. Behold the Proclamation dated at Dublin, March 7. 1688. wherein he had decreed the Ruin of Ulster, and the exemption of so many Persons from Mercy.  
By the Lord Deputy and Council, March 22. 1688/ 9  
TYRCONNELL.  
WHereas several Persons in the Province of Ulster, and the Town of Sligo, in this His Majesty's Kingdom, have entered into several Associations, containing no less Offence than High-Treason; and thereupon formed themselves into several Parties, Dividing & Marshalling themselves into several Regiments, Troops, and Companies, Marching well armed up and down the Country, to the great Terror of the King's Liege People, in manifest breach of the Law, and of the Peace of this Realm: And having resolved within ourselves to prevent the Effusion of Blood, as long as it was possible, by using all peaceable Means to reduce the said Malefactors to their Obedience, have of late issued a Proclamation, setting forth the said Disorders, requiring all the said Parties to disperse, and repair to their several Habitations and Callings, assuring every of them of His Majesty's Pardon and Protection. And whereas we find the said Offenders, instead of complying with our said Proclamation, still to persist in their Wickedness, by continuing in actual Rebellion, breaking of Prisons, and discharging of Prisoners, secured by due course of Law, for Robberies, Felonies, and other heinous Crunes; by seizing upon his Majesty's Arms and Ammunition, imprisoning several of his Majesty's Army, disarming and dismounting them, killing and murdering several of his Majesty's Subjects, pillaging and plundering the Country, and daily committing several other Acts of Hostility; and finding no other way left to suppress the said Revellion, We the Lord Deputy have caused a Party of his Majesty's Army, under the Command of Lt. General Richard Hamilton, to march into the Province of Ulster, to reduce the Rebels there by force of Arms; the Consequence whereof cannot but be very fatal to that Country, and the Inhabitants thereof, and will inevitably occasion the total ruin and destruction of that part of His Majesty's Kingdom: The Consideration whereof hath given us great disquiet and trouble of Mind; that a Country well planted and inhabited, should now, by the insolency and traitorous wickedness of its own Inhabitants, be brought to ruin or desolation, which we are still willing to prevent, if any spark of Grace be yet remaining in the Hearts of those Conspirators, hereby declaring, notwithstanding the many Affronts by them put upon his Majesty's Government, notwithstanding the several Acts of Hostility by them hitherto committed, that if they will now submit and become dutiful Subjects, His Majesty's Mercy shall be extended to them, excepting the Persons hereafter excepted; and in order thereunto, We the Lord-Deputy and Council, do strictly charge and command all such Persons in Arms in Ulster, or the Town of Sligo, forthwith to lay down Arms, and that the principal Persons amongst them now in the North, do forthwith repair to Lt. General Richard Hamilton, and deliver up to him their Arms, and serviceable Horses, and to give him Hostages as an assurance of their future Loyalty and Obedience to His Majesty, and that all their Adherents do deliver up their Arms and serviceable Horses to such Person or Persons as he the said Lt. General Richard Hamilton shall appoint to receive them. And we do also further charge and command all the principal Persons of other Commotions and Insurrections in Sligo, to repair forthwith either to us the Lord Deputy, or to Colonel Mc Daniel at the Boil, and deliver up their Arms and serviceable Horses, and to give Hostages, as Security, for their future peaceable Deportment, and their Adherents to lay down their Arms to be delivered up, together with their serviceable Horses, to the said Col. Mc Daniel. We the Lord-Deputy hereby giving safe Conduct to such of them as will submit according to this our Proclamation. And we do hereby further declare, That such of the said Persons as shall give Obedience to these our Commands, except the Persons hereafter excepted, shall have his Majesty's Protection and Pardon, for all past Offences relating to the said Commotions and Insurrections: but in case they shall be to unhappy as to persist in their wicked Designs and treasonable Practices, We the Lord-Deputy do hereby command all his Majesty's Forces to fall upon them wherever they meet them, and to treat them as Rebels and Traitors to his Majesty. Yet to the end the Innocent may not suffer for the Crimes of the Nocent, and that the Committals of Human Acts may be prevented, we do hereby strictly charge and command His Majesty's Army, now upon their march to the North, and all other his Majesty's Forces, that they, or either of them do not presume to use any violence to Women, Children, aged or decriped Men, Labourers, Ploughmen, tilers of the Ground, or to any other who in these Commotions demean themselves inoffensively, without joining with the Rebels, or aiding or assisting them in their traitorous Actings and Behaviours. But in regard Hugh Earl of Mount-Alexander, John Lord Viscount Mazareen, Robert Lord Baron of Kingston, Clotworthy Sherington Esq; Son to the Lord Viscount Mazareene, Sir Robert Colvil, Sir Arthur Rowden, Sir John Magill, John Hawkins, Robert Sanderson, and Francis Hamilton Son to Sir Charles Hamilton, have been the principal Actors in the said Rebellion, and the Persons who advised and fomented the same, and inveagled others to be involved therein: We think fit to except them out of this our Proclamation, as Persons not deserving his Majesty's Mercy or Favour.  
Given at the Council-Chamber of Dublin, March 7, 1688. A. Fytton, C. Granard; Limerick, Bellew, Will. Talbot, Tho. Newcomen, Rich. Hamilton, Fran. Plowden.  
The Deputy (who till now had never kept Faith, Truce, or Promise) was strict and punctual to his Word; for he sent down his Army at the Time, and to the Place appointed, meeting with no Resistance (the Protestants being unprovided of Arms and Ammunition, and not able so suddenly to imbody themselves, or stem the Torrent that was ready to overwhelm them) but what was made by Sir Arthur Rowdon, who at the head of 200 Horse, gallantly opposed them; till finding it impossible to dispute the Passage of so great an Army by so inconsiderable a Force, he made a hasty, but honourable Retreat, with the loss of a very few Men: and being met by some Companies of Foot, who were marching on, (but too late, and too slowly) to second him, they also retreated, but in some Disorder; which being observed by the Inhabitants of Lisburn, they began immediately to fly toward Antrim, the People of which place being struck with Amazement at so unexpected an Adventure, betook themselves to Flight also, and so rolling on from one Town to another, the Country was universally seized with a panic Fear and Consternation, hurrying their Wives and Children toward the Sea-Coast, leaving their Goods in their Houses, their Stock in the Fields, and taking no Care, but to preserve their Lives. In this Confusion and Fright the poor Souls fled to London-Derry, and would have gone further, if the Sea had not stopped them. To take upon me to Describe the Horror of this Revolution, the most Deplorable State of the People, the Misery, Poverty, and Distress of many thousand good Families, and the utter Desolation of a most fruitful and well-peopled Country, would engage me in a Task, which no Pen can sufficiently express, nor no Art render credible, or intelligible. Let it suffice, that I tell you in a word, there is not this Day a Protestant in the Kingdom of Ireland, that has a Gun to defend him, a Horse to carry him, a House to shelter him, or Stock to sustain him; except such as have been deluded, or (missing of a timely Escape) necessitated to accept of Protections (which will avail the unfortunate Compliers no longer, than till the Irish become Masters of the whole) or else such as are confined within the Walls of London-Derry, who by extraordinary Courage, whetted by Despair, have resisted a powerful Army (grown insolent by an uninterrupted Success) to the Astonishment of the Besiegers, and the shame of those that deserted them. And lest any Protestant should continue Master of his own House, or evade an open Compliance with the Papists, they found a Device to reduce them to the misfortune of this Dilemma, either to surrender all they had to the merciless Invaders, or be Prosecuted as Rebels for making Resistance (which un-Christian course they had before practised through the Province of Munster) to which purpose they sent Summonitory Letters to the Proprietors, in one Line threatening, and in another wheedling, and so puzzling them with a fatal irresolution, till either by open Assault, or by the close Mine of a Protection, they became Masters of their Wishes: I will give you only one for an Instance, sent by Colonel Gordon O Neil, Son of that Arch-Rebel Sir Phelim O Neil.  
BY virtue of an Order granted to me by Richard Hamilton, Esq; Lieutenant General of His Majesty's Forces in the Province of Ulster, to grant Protedions to all such as will submit themselves, and lay down their Arms, and peaceably live in their own Dwellings.  
These are therefore, in His Majesty's Name, to Require all Persons, so inclined, to come in to me, and they shall be Proteved in Body and Goods.  
I do hereby summon the Garrison of Dauson's-Bridge and Maghrefelt to lay down their Arms, or then to be proceeded against as Rebels to His Majesty, and to be Prosecuted accordingly.  
Given under my hand, at Duneen, this Twenty first of March, 1688. Gordon O Neil.  
I had almost forgot to take notice to you how craftily and treacherously the Lord Tyrconnel proceeded during these Transactions. For pretending to stand in dread of an Invasion from England, (though by the Sequel it is more than probable he had better Intelligence from thence) he overawed and constrained some considerable Persons to abuse the Ministers of State with a false Representation; others he plainly threatened, That if they did not write to their Friends in England, to dissuade them from sending over any Forces, he would expose the Protestants, without Mercy, or Distinction, to the Fury of the Soldiers, and the Mercy of the Rabble. And as for the ingenious Conceit of the Protections, it has proved a mere Cheat, and a Trap to ensnare credulous People; I will give you one for a Precedent.  
I Richard Hamilton, Lieutenant General of His Majesty's Forces in Ulster, do only receive into His Majesty's Protection, the Body and Goods of James Hunter, of baly menage, in the County of Antrim, Yeoman; and promise and oblige myself, That none of the Army shall molest, or hurt him, or take any thing from him.  
Given under my hand, at the Camp, March Twenty seventh, 1689. Richard Hamilton.  
The poor protected Man being thus noosed, returns to his House, and follows his Labour; but anon down comes the Rabble, like an Inundation of Goths and Vandals, sweep all before them, and leave nothing behind them, but a naked starved Family: The wretched Man makes his Address to his Protector, and receives only this cold comfort, I did promise to protect you from the Army, that none of them should offer you any Violence; but I have no power to restrain the Rabble.  
Let us now reflect upon what has been said, and briefly recapitulate the pressing Exigencies, the imminent Extremities, and unavoidable Dangers, to which the poor Protestants were subjected: and then I will appeal to any Man of Sense, that is not a bigoted Papist, Whether they had not just and undeniable reasons to seek their Escape from the impending Persecutions, and to take Sanctuary in England, Scotland, and the Isle of Man.  
When the Sword was taken from the Earl of Clarendon, because he favoured the Protestants; and put into the Hands of Tyrconnel, because he was a furious Patron of the Papists, was it not high time for considerate Men to foresee the dismal consequences: and to avoid them by a leisurely Recess? when the Officers of the Army were turned out, and the Soldiers disbanded, merely because they were Protestants: when the Majority of the Privy-Council, the Judges, Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs, and all other civil Officers, were avowed, and professed Papists: when subtle Jesuits, mercenary Priests, and beging Friars swarmed through the Land, and crept into all Houses and Families, and the Idolatrous Mass allowed to be set up in every Town: when the Corporations were superseded, and none admitted to Magistracy, or Freedom, but the scum of the Vulgar, and the Spawn of Rebels: when the Act of settlement began to be canvassed, and men's Titles to Estates and Properties were prostituted to the prejudicated Verdict of such Jurors, packed by such Sheriffs, and the partial sentence of such Judges, who all concur in accounting it a meritorious Service to weaken and destroy the Heretics; was it not a rash Madness, for any who had opportunity and Ability to remove themselves, to continue under the licentious and Arbitrary humours of such a Government? But when Men began to see how they were reduced to a Necessity of suffering, whether any succours arrived to them from England, or whether they were delayed; they had no Election to make, but to contrive an escape from their cruelty, or their Revenge. When Men were every where alarmed with a Design of a general Insurrection, and universal Massacre, he that was so hardy as to overlook this without a concernment, must have an unusual Portion of wit, to conduct his Courage; for my Part, I am so far from wondering that so many affrighted Persons should prefer an incommodious and insecure Passage by Sea, to so hazardous and terrible an abiding upon Land, that I do admire the insensible stupidity of those who stayed behind. And now the Deputy having added 40000 new-raised Men to the standing Army, 50000 of the Rabble being furnished with Skins and half-Pikes, animated and secretly sworn by the Priests to extirpate all Protestants, making it a national, as well as a religious Quarrel (as appears by the Motto in their Standard set up in the Castle of Dublin, Now or never, Now, and for ever) the Protestants in Munster, and Conaght, turned out of their Houses, despoiled of their Goods, and plundered of their Cattle, all Arms and Horses taken from those in Dublin and Lemstor: a powerful and enraged Army falling into the Bowels of Ulster, ravaging without Check, or Control, the naked, stripped, and un-armed people flying before them, to seek a shelter in London-Derry, which could not contain the hundredth part of those that retreated to it; there was nothing to be done (to escape a sudden Destruction by the Sword, or a lingering Death by Famine) but to fly over Sea, and preserve Life, which was all that was left them. As for the more unfortunate Remnant of the Poor Protestants, who being either gulled and entrapped by Protections, and reserved for slaughter; or else denied a Licence to transport themselves, that they may endure the misery, and at last receive the wages of Slaves and condemned Persons (which assuredly will happen, whensoever the Conquest of the Kingdom shall be complete, and the Government devolved on the French; or perhaps so soon as an Army from England shall land there for its rescue) they are surrounded with such poignant Circumstances of sadness and sorrow, that my Heart bleeds for them; and though I dare not trust to the compassion or Prayers of those hardhearted Men who find fault with us for coming away; Yet I leave it to their Judgement to determine, whether their condition be not more desperate and deplorable, who have stayed behind.  
May the good people of England see, and be convinced (by the dismal examples of Ireland) what would have been their portion, if Popery had prevailed, and a Popish King continued to Reign over us. May they never be deceived by that impracticable Paradox, That the English Nation and the Protestant Religion can subsist, or be in safety, under the administration of Frenchmen, and the Dominion of a Papist.  
I have now wearied your Patience, and eased my own Thoughts. It shall be your Fault, if I be not always,  
May 27. 1689. SIR, Your most humble Servant.   
FINIS.  

Books Printed for Richard Chiswell.  
The Case of the Oaths stated, Quarto.  
The Answer of a Protestant Gentleman in Ireland, to a late Letter from N. N. upon a Discourse betwixt them concerning the present Posture of That Country, and the Part fit for Those concerned There to Act in it, Quarto.  
A Dialogue between Two Friends, Occasioned by the late Revolution of Affairs, and the Oath of Allegiance, by W. K. M. A. Quarto.  
An Examination of the Scruples of Those who refuse the Oath of Allegiance, 4ᵒ.  
Considerations touching Succession and Allegiance, Quarto.