such Innocents, and upon such Titles, and upon Provisos of mere Grace. Lastly, others grumbled, That the Irish should so vehemently crave a further Hearing of all their Claims; and such Sherifs and Juries should be chosen, as shall allow the Deeds which the Irish have suppressed For[1] 20 Years. There be many other Grumblings against Great Men; but the World will never be quiet, nor cease to be Envious, not considering that if Things have been amiss in this Settlement, they may be as bad in another.
A. You were saying that there was Grumbling against Great Men, upon the Account of the present Settlement. I remember that the Narrative of the Sale and Settlement of Ireland[2] grumbles hard against the Duke of Ormond, as for having as much Land, as would have satisfied all the Adventurers, in or about the Year 1667, when that Pamphlet was written. Can you make me understand this Matter, for it seems very Enormous, and by that I might make a Judgement of the whole Book.
B. That Author does often speak at random, and what he does not know; omitting very many Things which ought to be known. But to this[3] Present Point I say,1. That the Acres, which the Adventurers first had, were 390000[4]; and I do not find that the Duke of Ormond had ever above
- ↑ MS., 'these,' altered by Petty.
- ↑ A Narrative of the Earl of Clarendon's Sale and Settlement of Ireland was published at Lovain in 1668. The author appears to have been Nicholas French, titular Bishop of Ferns, though Carte attributes it to Peter Talbot. Life of Ormond, ii. 384. The pamphlet, which I have not seen, is said to attack Ormond and Clarendon with great bitterness, to asperse the entire English interest in Ireland, to praise the Irish extravagantly, and to suggest the repeal of the Act of Settlement. It appears from Petty that the pamphlet was reprinted in 1686, but Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice, who attributes it to one Edward Fitzgerald, writes as if it were first published in that year. Life of Petty, 272. Petty was urged to reply to the Narrative, as being one especially acquainted with the settlement of Irish land-titles. He at first demurred, but finally wrote his Speculum Hiberniæ, dated 1686, and Another more true and exact Narrative of the Settlement and Sale of Ireland, dated 1687. The Dialogue, too, appears to be directed in part against the Narrative, and chiefly against its assertion that the Catholics in Ireland had lost and the English protestants had gained by the events between 1641 and 1665.
- ↑ MS., 'the,' altered by Petty.
- ↑ MS., '300000,' altered by Petty.
