Arrival of Scarampi,
who opposes any truce.
Bellings opposes Scarampi.
During the spring and summer Charles continued to press for a cessation of arms, full discretion as to terms being given to Ormonde. The commission to him sets forth that the two Houses of Parliament ‘to whose care at their instance we left it’ to manage the Irish war, had long failed to support the army and to defend loyal subjects. The general assembly of the Confederates met at Kilkenny on May 20, and appointed commissioners with powers to treat, but nothing was actually done for more than a month, when they delivered their first proposition at Castlemartin in Kildare. Ormonde gave his answer within a week, and the commissioners then asked for an adjournment till July 13. Time was in their favour, for the treaty would confirm each party in possession of what they held, and they were gaining ground. On the appointed day the commissioners returned a dilatory answer, and Ormonde resolved if possible to try conclusions with Preston in the field. He collected 5000 men and succeeded in retaking Edenderry and some other strong places, but his opponent evaded a general action, and scarcity of provisions soon forced him to return to Dublin. On August 1 orders arrived from the King to arrest four Privy Councillors who sided with the Parliament as much as they could, and against whom charges had been brought. Sir John Temple, Sir Adam Loftus, and Sir R. Meredith were accordingly shut up in the Castle, Parsons being excused on making affidavit that confinement would injure his health. The opposition was thus silenced, and Ormonde found himself complete master. In the meantime Pier-Francesco Scarampi, an Oratorian, arrived at Kilkenny with a commission from the Pope, and immediately threw his weight into the scale against peace. The Confederates, he urged, appeared to be winning, and if they continued to fight vigorously they would probably get control of the country. Nothing was to be expected from the justice of any English party, but if they made themselves formidable they might extort respect from the victors, whether King or Parliament. Instead of giving money to Charles ‘to be converted by his ministers, our enemies, to their own use,’ it would be much better to employ their resources in driving the Scots out of Ulster. The Scots would not be bound by the cessation, which would be a sham as long as it was necessary to fight them. Foreign princes would be offended if arms supplied by them were laid down without their consent. The real object of Scarampi’s mission was to ‘reinstate the Catholic religion and worship throughout the whole country, and to restore to the entire island the splendour of its ancient sanctity,’ and not to beg an uncertain truce for a year. Bellings, on the contrary, who expressed the official view taken by the Supreme Council, argued that it was above all necessary to show that they were no rebels, to join with the English to drive out the Scots, and ‘that the Catholic Church may, in safety and freedom, by a tacit licence from the King, exercise her rights and jurisdiction among us.’ There was a great difference between what ultramontane priests were determined to get, and what laymen, and especially lay landowners, were willing to accept. There can be no doubt that Scarampi, and Rinuccini after him, had plenty of justification for refusing to trust the King, who could do nothing unless he were victorious in England, and who would then be able to defy everyone.[42]
Ormonde unable to continue the war.
The cessation concluded, Sept. 15.
A truce not a peace.
The Confederates make a grant to the King.
Ormonde offered to continue the war, in spite of the King’s wishes, if the Privy Council could find any means of feeding the army. This he knew they could not do, and the Confederates knew it too. All the chief officers declared that a truce was necessary. Both sides were fighting in the King’s name, and it did not suit either of them to disobey his direct orders, so that the conference was renewed at Sigginstown, near Naas, and there the terms of cessation were agreed to on September 15. The King’s commission being to Ormonde personally, he signed the articles alone on the one part. Ten persons signed on the part of the Confederates, of whom Lord Muskerry, Sir Robert Talbot, and Geoffrey Brown were perhaps the most notable. A meeting of the Privy Council was held immediately afterwards, and the articles were solemnly approved. Clanricarde and Inchiquin were present. In the articles of cessation none of the grievances so often brought forward by the Confederates were touched upon at all. On the other hand they refused to make any stipulation as to sending an army to England. This they were willing to do, but declined to bind themselves until after the conclusion of a truce. There was a cessation of hostilities for one year and nothing more, based upon the actual condition of affairs. All places in possession of the King’s Protestant or Roman Catholic subjects respectively were to remain so during the year, and trade was to be free. Prisoners were to be mutually restored. The practical meaning of this was that Ormonde retained the coastline from below Bray up to and including Belfast, and a strip of territory, including Naas, Navan, and Lisburn, with detached garrisons at Athboy, Maryborough, and Carlow in Leinster. In Ulster Londonderry, Coleraine, and Enniskillen were also held by the Protestants, and in Munster they had the ports of Cork, Youghal, Kinsale, and Courtmacsherry, and the valley of the Blackwater from above Mallow to the sea. In Connaught Clanricarde, though not a Protestant, yet adhering to Ormonde, retained Loughrea and Portumna, while the Lord President kept the castle of Athlone, Roscommon, and Castle Coote. Monro and his Scots held Carrickfergus and Lough Larne, and all the rest of the island was in the hands of the Confederates. Within a week the cessation was proclaimed at several places in the Pale, and at the three Connaught fortresses, and directions for doing the like were sent to all principal officers. On September 16, the day after the signing of the articles, the Confederate commissioners granted the King 30,000l., half in cash and half in bullocks, payable by instalments extending over six months. A further sum of 800l. was to be paid within two months to maintain the garrison at Naas.[43]
Ormonde made Lord-Lieutenant, Nov. 1643.