On the 1st of January, 1642, Charles issued a proclamation against the Irish rebels, and wished to take the command against them in person; but his Parliament was his master, and the members were glad enough of the excuse afforded by the troubles in Ireland to increase the army, and to obtain a more direct personal control over its movements. They voted away Irish estates, and uttered loud threats of exterminating Popery; but they had a more important and interesting game in hand at home, which occupied their attention, and made them comparatively indifferent to Irish affairs.
Sir Phelim O'Neill was not succeeding in the north. He had been obliged to raise the siege of Drogheda, and the English had obtained possession of Dundalk. £1,000 was offered for his head, and £600 for the heads of some of his associates. Ormonde and Tichburne were in command of the Government forces, but Ormonde was considered to be too lenient; and two priests, Father Higgins and Father White, were executed by Coote, the one without trial, and the other without even the forms of justice, although they were under the Earl's protection. Carte says that Father Higgins' case excited special interest, for he had saved many Protestants from the fury of the Irish, and afforded them relief and protection afterwards. Indeed, at this period, the Catholic clergy were unwearied in their efforts to protect the Protestants. They must have been actuated by the purest motives of religion, which were none the less sacred to them because they could neither be understood nor appreciated by those whose whole conduct had been so different. Father Saul, a Jesuit, sheltered Dr. Pullen, the Protestant Dean of Clonfert, and his family; Father Everard and Father English, Franciscan friars, concealed many Protestants in their chapels, and even under their altars. Many similar instances are on record in the depositions concerning the murders and massacres of the times, at present in Trinity College, Dublin; though those depositions were taken with the avowed object of making out a case against the Catholics of having intended a general massacre. In Galway the Jesuits were especially active in charity to their enemies, and went through the town exhorting the people, for Christ's sake, our Lady's and St. Patrick's, to shed no blood. But although the Catholic hierarchy were most anxious to prevent outrages against humanity, they were by no means insensible to the outrages against justice, from which the Irish nation had so long suffered. They were far from preaching passive submission to tyranny, or passive acceptance of heresy. The Church had long since not only sanctioned, but even warmly encouraged, a crusade against the infidels, and the deliverance, by force of arms, of the holy places from desecration; it had also granted[[477]] similar encouragements and similar indulgences to all who should fight for "liberties and rights" in Ireland, and had "exhorted, urged, and solicited" the people to do so with "all possible affection." The Irish clergy could have no doubt that the Holy See would sanction a national effort for national liberty. The Archbishop of Armagh, therefore, convened a provincial synod, which was held at Kells, on the 22nd of March, 1641, which pronounced the war undertaken by the Catholics of Ireland lawful and pious, but denounced murders and usurpations, and took steps for assembling a national synod at Kilkenny during the following year.
The Catholic cause, meanwhile, was not advancing through the country. The Irish were defeated in nearly every engagement with the English troops. The want of a competent leader and of unanimity of purpose was felt again, as it had so often been felt before; but the Church attempted to supply the deficiency, and, if it did not altogether succeed, it was at least a national credit to have done something in the cause of freedom.
The synod met at Kilkenny, on the 10th of May, 1642. It was attended by the Archbishops of Armagh, Cashel, and Tuam, and the Bishops of Ossory, Elphin, Waterford and Lismore, Kildare Clonfert, and Down and Connor. Proctors attended for the Archbishop of Dublin, and for the Bishops of Limerick, Emly, and Killaloe. There were present, also, sixteen other dignitaries and heads of religious orders. They issued a manifesto explaining their conduct and, forming a Provisional Government, concluded their labours, after three days spent in careful deliberation.
Owen Roe O'Neill and Colonel Preston arrived in Ireland in July, 1642, accompanied by a hundred officers, and well supplied with arms and ammunition. Sir Phelim O'Neill went at once to meet O'Neill, and resigned the command of the army; and all promised fairly for the national cause. The Scots, who had kept up a war of their own for some time, against both the King and the Catholics, were wasting Down and Antrim; and O'Neill was likely to need all his military skill and all his political wisdom in the position in which he was placed.
Preston had landed in Wexford, and brought a still larger force; while all the brave expatriated Irishmen in foreign service, hastened home the moment there appeared a hope that they could strike a blow with some effect for the freedom of their native land.
The General Assembly projected by the national synod in Kilkenny, held its first meeting on October 14, 1642,—eleven spiritual and fourteen temporal peers, with 226 commoners, representing the Catholic population of Ireland. It was, in truth, a proud and glorious day for the nation. For once, at least, she could speak through channels chosen by her own free will; and for once there dawned a hope of legislative freedom of action for the long-enslaved people. The old house is still shown where that Assembly deliberated—a Parliament all but in name. The table then used, and the chair occupied by the Speaker, are still preserved, as sad mementos of freedom's blighted cause.[[478]] The house used was in the market-place, The peers and commoners sat together; but a private room was allotted for the lords to consult in. Dr. Patrick Darcy, an eminent lawyer, represented the Chancellor and the judges. Mr. Nicholas Plunket was chosen as Speaker; the Rev. Thomas O'Quirk, a learned Dominican friar, was appointed Chaplain to both houses.
The Assembly at once declared that they met as a provisional government, and not as a parliament. The preliminary arrangements occupied them until the 1st of November. From the 1st until the 4th, the committee was engaged in drawing up a form for the Confederate Government; on the 4th it was sanctioned by the two houses. Magna Charta, and the common and statute law of England, in all points not contrary to the Catholic religion, or inconsistent with the liberty of Ireland, were made the basis of the new Government. The administrative authority was vested in a Supreme Council, which was then chosen, and of which Lord Mountgarret was elected President.
