men who had served under him abroad. It does not appear that he ever took any steps to compensate these unfortunates.
Then the Secretary of State, Bennet, afterwards Lord Arlington, was given—apparently by the consent of the agents of both parties anxious to secure his favour[1]— the lands of Lord Clanmahere, the two baronies of Upper Phillipstown and Portnahinch amounting to over 60,000 English acres. The Earl of Leicester, nominal Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1641 was allowed arrears to the amount of £50,000 to be satisfied out of the corporate towns, although he had never set foot in Ireland.
Thus in practice only the Innocents, and those whose lands were not in actual possession of adventurers or soldiers had any real prospect of restoration, except by special favour.
The Act also provided that no innocent Papist, no matter how eminent his loyalty, was to be restored to any property within the walls of any corporate town, so that these might forever remain strongholds of the English interest. This hit with special severity the inhabitants of the five towns Dublin, Drogheda, Cork, Youghal and Kinsale, who had never swerved from their allegiance.[2]
- ↑ We find Colonel Talbot, one of the Irish agents, Colonel Vernon representing the Cromwellian interest, and Winston Churchill, one of the seven Commissioners, all active in Bennet' s interest.
- ↑ We learn from Sir Heneage Finch that the inhabitants of Dublin and Drogheda were, under Clause CLXXXII., to be restored even to their property inside the walls. Those of Kinsale and Youghal got a general letter from the King ordering their restoration. {Cal. St. Paps., 1663, p. 188). But the Irish government objected, and suspended the execution of the King's commands in many cases; perhaps with regard to these two towns also. {Ibid, p. 188).
