see cause; only I conceive it my duty to make a returne to ye same Place from whence I recd his Maties commands.

There are but two things in my Orders wch seem of difficultie to be executed; one is, so to disarme all Papists, according to former Presidts, as they may not be dangerous to ye Governmt. Herein I observe ye addition of ye words = According to former Presidents = wch being joyn'd to those limitations mention'd in ye Adress, viz., soe to disarme, etc., you leave me in such difficulties as, let me doe what I will, I may be lyable to blame one way or other, for should I performe this too remisly, ye House of Comons may take check at it & ye fault would rest upon me, as if I had not done my duty. Agen, should I be strict in y execution of this, I might be condemned for not proceeding according to former Presidts. I doe wish yr Lop would only wth yr selfe recollect who ye person was that proposed ye addition of these words, not that I care or desire to know it, but only that y1 Lõp may satisfy y' self whether t'was done wth friendly intentions towards me.

Presidts of disarming Papists are not so ready to be found, yet here-to-fore, as I am informed, there have bin searches made for Arms, but this, tho' done by surprise, has seldom had any effect. How then can I promise my self success by such a method when so long warning has bin given of this intention to disarme them? Besides, ye Army is so small as tis impossible for them to doe ye worke, And for ye Justices of Peace, I conceive they are not Ministers proper for such an affaire; But above all, that wch makes me shun this course of searching Houses is my knowledge of ye animosities that are among men of this Kingdome, & how forward many of them would be to lay hold on an opportunitie to show their litle spights & Malices upon their Neighbors; and I am sure, should this way be taken, I should soon hear hundreds of complaints of injuries & insolencies, nay, perhaps, sometimes of robberys done under colour & countenance of these searches. I have, therefore, chosen ye method mention'd in this enclosed Lře of issueing out a Proclamation to summon all Papists, by a certain day, to deliver up

their Fire Arms to some persons appointed by me in each County to receive them, & I shall be very carefull in my choice of these Gentlemen entrusted in this business that they may doe their worke discreetly & yet effectually. I doe not find any President of ye Papists having their defensive Arms taken from them, save only in ye Time of ye usurpation, when none either of them, or Protestants who had served ye King, were suffer'd to weare Swords, wch I looke upon as no Presid1. Upon this ground I have, according to my Orders, limited ye disarming to offensive Arms. The Peers of ye Kgame (tho' Papists) have ever bin allow'd some small proportion of Fire Arms, as also other Gentlemen whom ye Lieut should think fitt to licence. Herein likewise I shall observe former Presidts, & grant particular Licences, wth such limitations as to ye numbers of Arms, as I shall see cause, respecting each man's qualitie & condition.

The other point wherein there seems some difficultie in yo execution of ye Adress, is that wch concerns ye Papists not inhabiting in Corporacions, & in this I must observe to yr Lop, that ye House of Comons it selfe were doubtless in some mistake in their Adress, for they seem to suppose that ye Law here prohibites all Papists from inhabiting in Corporacions, wch I doe not finde provided agt in any of these Acts. The Clause wch they would referr to in their Adress is that in ye 31 Page of ye Act of Exptin, wch provides = That no Papist or Popish Recusant shall be permitted to purchase or take Leases from any of ye 49 Interests of any Houses in Corporacions wthout ye Licence & leave of ye La Lieut & Councell = so as there is no generall Prohibition of their inhabiting in Corporacions, but only that they shall not buy or rent any Houses in Corporacions wch belong to ye 49 men. The direction I have given in order to this affaire will, I hope, enable me both to fulfill ye ends of ye Act, & likewise to doe it in that manner as will be most agreeable to his Maties intentions; For when I am informed who ye Persons are that are admitted to live in Corporacions, by what Licences enabled so to doe, & what stock they employ in Trading, I shall then be

prepared to judge wch of them are fitt to enjoy this Priviledge of being continued Inhabitants therein.

This only I must acquaint y1 Lõp as a reall Truth, that there is no nation under Heaven where ye Comon People of ye Romish Religion are so absolutely led by their Priests as in this Kingdome, for 'tis most certain that in those Corporacions wch are placed in Countrys inhabited for ye generallitie by Papists, if there be any one of that religion who sells any commoditie, no Protestant of ye same Trade can subsist or live in ye Towne wth him, for ye Priests doe enjoyn ye people not to buy any thing but of those of their owne religion. This may seem at first a little strange, but I doe assure yr Lop of ye veritie of it, & I doe tell it you ye rather that y1 Lõp may see some care & circumspection is requisite in a matter of this nature, for as I would be loath ye King & Kgame should loose ye benefitt of any considerable Trader, be he Papist, or of any other religion whatsoever, so I would be carefull in all cases, if it should be in my powr, wch I am confident it doeth not on this occasion, so to mix ye Traders that they may all live one by another.

Some doubt may be raised whether any Persons at all can now be denied this Priviledge in Corporacions, in regard to ye Powr reserved to ye Lieut & Councell for licensing of them, wch powr being executed & extended to all by virtue of his Maties Lře of ye 26 Feb., 1671, cannot agen be revoked, but observing that his Matie being desired in ye Adress to recall ye aforesd Lre, & ye direction of ye Councell being express, that no Papist be admitted to inhabite in any Corporacion, but only such & in such manner as ye Laws in force doe allow, I doe presume it is his Maties Pleasure that this Lie be, as much as in him lyes, superseded.

Yet, should I humbly offer my owne opinion, I cannot thinke that if ye Act of State made here upon that Lre were at first legall, it can now be reversed, for that Act of State constituting Rights in severall Private men, wch they had not before, those Rights when granted can no otherwise be recalled than ye Act of Parliam1 it selfe by wch they are confirmed; & as ye Lieut & Councell cannot, after granting

Licence to any single person to purchase or take Leases of these Houses in Corporacions, by any Order repeale this agen, but that single person will for ever after enjoy this Priviledge, so I conceive ye like will hold for all in generall, if ye Act of Parliamt does justify ye admission of them all together. But there will be time enough to debate this after I have ye returns from ye severall Corporacions, before I proceed to ye .Exclusion of any one man.

Having just now recd yr Lops of ye 21 instant, I shall deferr ye answering ye particulars in it till ye next opportunitie.

LXXXIX. THE EARL OF ESSEX TO THE DUKE OF ORMOND.

MY LORD,

Dublin Castle, Novem' 14, '73.

The execution of ye late Adress will, I conceive, putt an end to all relating to these Titular Bps, who now must quitt ye country; & I hear they are all preparing to be gone in obedience to it. One thing of difficulty I have had lying upon my hands in this Article of ye Adress, wch I do not make known to any of my friends in England, but yr Grace only; It is this: Soon after my coming hither, Moloony, Titular Bp. of Killaloe, whom I look upon as ye most dangerous (because ye wisest) man of their Clergy, made a composure of all ye differences among ye men of their religion, particularly of ye disputes wch were between their Titular Primate & Peter Talbot, as also of ye dissensions wch were between Coll: Talbot & Coll: Fitzpatrick, and had upon ye matter well neer made an union among them all. I soon found that if this proceeded I should have no Intelligence of their practices & Actings, & believing it to be one of ye most important things I could doe, both for his Maties service and securitie of his Protestant subjects here, either to keep these men divided, or, if they were united, to break

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them agen, I made use of some Fryers, who all ways have their litle wrangles with ye secular Clergy, to sett up Factions agt some of their Bishops, &, by encouraging these litle animosities among them, brought them at last to that pass, that they openly accused one another of exercising Ecclesiasticall jurisdiction, contrary to ye Laws of ye Land; severall examinations were taken, and ye Bishops brought in to swear one against another, all wch has renewed their divisions to that heigth, as I believe they are now irreconcilable. By ye Adress of ye House of Comons, all ye Regulars are to be Banished; & should I putt this exactly in execution, I must send all these poor Fryers abroad who have done us this service, & expose them to great severities there; Indeed, I believe some of them have acted soe far, as they will certainly loose their lives should they be sent beyond sea. There are but very few-I am sure not above six or eight-who have bin principally instrumentall in this affaire; & for these, tho' I will not give them any publick protection, yet my intention is to connive at them, & to give some Gentlemen in ye country charge to take care of them, that they be not troubled; for doubtless, in all these cases, 'tis impossible but something must be understood to be left to ye discretion of a Governor.

SB,

XC.-THE EARL OF ESSEX TO SIR OLIVER ST. GEORGE.

Dublin Castle, Novem' 15: '73. There is one Martine French,a a Fryer, who has bin soe usefull to me, both by privately giving me Intelligence of all ye proceedings of their Clergy, & by appearing sometims & giving assistance to prosecute some of ye Romish Bishops, that should I send him

a In a later letter Essex asks that a reward may be paid this man, and protection given him.