communitye, have declared themselves willing, and forward to give all incouragement and furtherance to soe good a worke, there fore, our will and pleasure is, and the said soveraigne, free bur gesses and communitye, of the said burrough of Catherlagh, doe for theniselves and their successors accordingly grant and agree to and with us our heirs and successors, in manner and forme following, that is to say: that it shall and may bee lawfull to and for every pson and psons, as well strangers and aliens, as our subiects of Protestant religion who are or shall bee traders, artizans, or otherwise skilled and exercised in any misterye, craft, or trade, or in the workeing or makeing any manufacture, who shall at any time hereafter att or before the end of the next session of parliament to bee held in our said kingdome of Ireland, come into the said burrough of Catherlagh with intent and purpose there to inhabitt and dwell upon his or their reasonable suite or request made in that behalf, and upon payment or tender of twenty shillings, by way of fine unto the soveraigne of the said towne, to be admit ted a freeman of the said burrough of Catherlagh, and during his or their residence there to have, exercise and enjoy all privileges and imunityes of tradeing, buying, workeing, and selling, in as large and ample manner as any freeman of the said burrough, may have, exercise or enjoy the same, by vertue of his or their freedom, any thing in these our Ires patents contained to the contrary thereof, notwithstanding. Our royal will and pleasure is, and wee doe hereby grant, and declare that every such pson and psons, who shall bee admitted to bee free of the said burrough, in manner as aforesaid, shall from thenceforth bee deemed, esteemed, and taken, and bee denizen and denizens, within this kingdome, and shall and may have, hould and enioy all other freedoms; benefits and advantages granted, or intended by the said acts; any former law, statute, charter, usage or custome of our said kingdome of Ireland, or of the said burrough of Catherlagh, or otherwise to the contrary thereof, in anywise notwithstanding; provided nevertheless, and our expresse will and pleasure is, that all such strangers, artificers and others who shall bee admitted freemen, in manner as aforesaid, before hee or they bee admitted freemen, doe take the oath of allegiance, and such other oaths as are directed and appointed in such cases to be taken, in and by the said act, and shall pay beare and sustaine all such and like charges as othere freemen, our subiects of like trade, craft or mistery, shall or doe usually beare, and pay within the said burrough. And further of our ample grace, certain knowledge, and meere mocon, by and with the advice, and consent aforesaid, wee doe, by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, grant unto the said soveraigne, free burgesses and communitye of the said burrough, and their successors for ever, that these our Ires patents or the inrollment thereof, and every clause, and article therein contained, shall be construed, interpreted and adiudged to the greatest advantage, benefitt, and favour of the said soveraigne, free burgesses or communitye of the said burrough, and their successors, against us our heirs and successors, as well

in all our courts and else where as in our said kingdom of Ireland, as elsewhere wheresoever, without any other conformacon, lycence or tolleracon hereafter to bee pcured or obtained, notwithstanding that our writt of ad quod damnum, had not issued to enquire of the pmisses before the making of those our Ires patents, and notwithstanding any other defect or any other cause, matter or thing whatsoever, to the contrary thereof, although noe expresse mencon bee made of the true yearely vallue or certainty of the pmisses, or of any guift or grant heretofore made by us or any of our pgenitors, to these the said soveraigne, free burgesses and communitye, of the said burrough of Catherlagh, or either of them, of the said pmisses, in these psents any statute act, ordinance, provision or restriccon, or any other cause, matter or thing whatsoever to the contrary thereof, in any wise notwithstanding. And wee further will and by these psents for us our heires and successors, doe grant that these our res patent, shall be passed under the great seale of our said kingdome of Ireland, unto them the said soveraigne, free burgesses and communitye of the burrough of Catherlagh, and their successors for ever, without any fine, greate or small, to bee rendered or paid unto us our heires and successors in our hanaper of said kingdome of Ireland; provided always that these our Ires patents bee inrolled in the rolls of our high court of chancery in our said kingdome of Ireland, within the space of six months next ensuing the date of these psents, any statute, act, ordinance, pvision, or restriccon, or any other cause, matter or thing whatsoever to the contrary hereof in any wise notwithstanding. IN WITNESS whereof, we have caused these our lres to bee made patents. Witnesse our aforesaid lieutenant generall and generall governor of our said kingdom of Ireland, att Dublin, the four and twentyeth day of December, in the six and twentyeth year of our raigne.

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A.D. 1681. The country in general, and our county not less than any other part of it, seems at this period to have reached some degree of order; property was secure, the laws were respected and the professors of the reformed religion were now so eligibly circumstanced, that, (as may be collected from the following passage in a letter from a chaplain of the duke of Ormonde), Ireland was considered a desirable place of refuge for the persecuted Protestants of France. "Joignez à tout cela," says the writer, "la douceur des loix, et l'excellence du gouvernement sous lequel on vit ici sous les meilleur des rois, qui ne se propose de gouverner que par des loix si douces, et qui est d'autant plus parfaitement un de ces dieux et de ces enfans du souverain, dont parle l'ecriture; qu'étant vrayment monarque, il ne peut étre tyran. Ajoûtez encore la véritable liberté, et la propriété de biens dont jouit ici le sujet ; sans étre exposé à se voir accablé de taxes et d'impôts, ou mangé de gens de guerre." "This flattering picture was, however, soon

* De l'etat present d'Irlande et des avantages qu'y peuvent trouver les Protestans Françoises: en un lettre d'un des chapelains de monseigneur leduc d'Ormond, viceroi d'Irlande; á un de ses amis en Angleterre. Dublin, 1681.

to be reversed; the time speedily arrived, when instead of peace and prosperity, Ireland presented a scene of tumult and disorder; and happy would it have been for the infatuated James II., had he followed the example of his more moderate brother.

Narcissus Marsh was appointed to the bishopric of Leighlin and Ferns, in 1682. He was born at Harrington, near Highworth, in Wiltshire, on the 20th of December, 1638. By his father's side he was descended from a Saxon family, anciently settled in Kent; from which county his great grand-father removed to the place of his birth. His mother's name was Colburn, of a Dorsetshire family. Having acquired the rudiments of learning at Highworth, and being fully prepared to enter the university, he was admitted a student of Magdalen Hall, Oxford, in July, 1654; and on the 30th June, 1658, was elected probationer fellow of Exeter Hall. He took his degree of master of arts, July, 1660; on the 11th December, 1667, that of bachelor of divinity; and on the 23rd June, 1671, the degree of doctor of divinity; which degree was again conferred on him, by the university of Dublin, on the 27th February, 1678. Having thus mentioned the dates of his earlier promotions, we shall now notice some passages in a MS. autobiography, yet extant. We have great pleasure in availing ourselves of this document, as it admirably pourtrays the character and conduct of this excellent man, distinguished scholar, and exemplary prelate.

During his residence at the university, he says, "I betook myself seriously to the study of the old philosophy, mathematics, and oriental languages; and before Lent, 1658, (when I took my degree of A.B.) I had made a good progress in them all. I was then nineteen years old and about a quarter. All this while I constantly kept an entire fast every week, from Thursday, six o'clock at night, until Saturday, eleven at noon. For which God may be praised." At this period he unbent his mind by occasional performance on the bass viol, and by a weekly concert in his rooms. "This I did (he says) as an exercise, using no other; but labouring hard at my studies all the rest of the week. Yet, O Lord, I beseech thee to forgive me this loss of time and wain con versation."

He looks on his promotion to the rank of fellow of Exeter Hall, as the event which led to his subsequent successful career. “In March, 1662, (being then a little past twenty-three years of age), I was invited up to London to take the living of Swindon in Wilts, that was then void, and in the king's gift. In order whereunto 1 was put into full orders at one and the same time by Dr. Skinner, bishop of Oxford, in K. Hen. VII. chapel, Westminster, though then under age for priesthood. The Lord forgive us both; but I knew no better but that it might legally be done."

Shortly afterwards, he was appointed chaplain to doctor Seth Ward, bishop of Exeter: "but preferring my study to all worldly. advantage, I still stuck close to the university." Indeed an attachment to literary retirement seems to have formed a prominent

trait in his character, as we may thus learn:"finding that the marrying a gentlewoman would be expected from me by those on whose favour I had already and must much depend, and being averse to entangling myself in the cares of the world, I quitted the living after I had enjoyed it a year, and adhered to my fellowship, keeping in the college all along." Having stated this affair, he prays as follows: "O my God, I bless thy holy name for delivering me out of the snare that they had laid for me; and if I have done amiss in that affair, I beg thy forgiveness: and O Lord, pardon them I beseech thee, for what they designed and acted (not against me I do think) but against the intent and purpose of my heart to render thee and thy holy church such service, as in the married state I could not be able to do, which is my only reason why I have hitherto kept myself a single man. The Lord, my God, enable me henceforth to be so, that in this respect also I may redeem my time.' No one can feel surprised, that such a man arrived at eminence.

Having successively obtained the appointments of chaplain to the bishop of Exeter, and to lord chancellor Hyde, earl of Clarendon, he was on the 12th of May, 1673, promoted to the office of principal of Alban Hall, Oxford, by the duke of Ormonde, chancellor of the university. As an individual of great learning and merit, he was unanimously chosen to preach the anniversary sermon on the 5th November, 1667, and the act sermon in 1678. He had been previously selected as one of the additional proctors for preserving order in the university during the abode of Charles II. there, in 1665. These are the several offices which he filled previous to his removal to Ireland. Through the exertions of Doctor John Fell, and the favour of the duke of Ormonde, then lord lieutenant of Ireland, he was nominated by King Charles II. successor to Doctor Michael Ward in the provostship of the university of Dublin, in December 1678; and was sworn into office on the 24th January following. During his occupancy of the office of provost, he devoted much time to study; which, however, did not prevent the strictest and most correct performance of his public duties. By the death of Doctor Boyle, a vacancy occurred in the bishopric of Leighlin and Ferns, which was filled by the promotion of Doctor Marsh, by letters patent, dated the 27th February, 1682. He was consecrated in Christ-church, Dublin, on the 6th of May, following, by his metropolitan, Francis, archbishop of Dublin, assisted by the archbishop of Armagh, and the bishops of Meath, Kildare, Cork and Ross, and Kilmore. With these sees, he held the rectory of Killeban, in the diocese of Leighlin, in commendam.*

By an inquisition taken at Carlow, on the 2nd June, 1664, it was found, that Edmund Wall, 23rd October, 1641, was proprietor and possessor of the town and land of Ballylean and Killesame, in the parish of Ueghlin, and barony of Catherlogh, con

• Harris's Ware, vol. i. p. 449. MS. Life.

taining one hundred and twenty acres of land; part of the town and lands of Ballynekilly and Browneene, in the parish of Killerick, in said barony, containing sixty acres of land; part of the town and lands of Ueghlin, containing two hundred acres, part of the town and lands of Pollardstown, twenty acres.

Charles II. died on the 6th of February, 1685.

et

CHAP. XXV.

Reign of James II. A.D. 1685, to A,D. 1688.

JAMES, duke of York, succeeded his brother, the late king. Being a bigoted Roman Catholic, he, with a total disregard to his professions on accession to the throne, commenced and continued a series of tyrannical acts for the furtherance of his sect and the depression of his Protestant subjects. In Ireland, the earl of Clarendon, as being too moderate, was recalled from the government, and colonel Richard Talbot, created earl of Tyrconnel, a furious papist, appointed in his place. One of his first steps was to disarm the Protestant militia, which, as has already been noticed, was established in each county. And notwithstanding, that the members of these corps had purchased their own arms, they were required, with an utter disregard of justice, to deposit them in the king's store.

Among other unjust and illegal devices for the complete prostration of the Protestant interest, it was resolved to dissolve the corporations; but being well aware that the members of these bodies would never relinquish their charters unless compelled by law, Tyrconnel at first endeavoured to persuade them to admit Roman Catholics, in order thus to effect their subversion. The resolution, however, of Sir John Knox, then lord mayor of Dublin, and of the board of aldermen, completely frustrated that project, and he was obliged to bring Quo warranto inquiries against the corporations in order to effect their destruction.

To prevent the transfer of writs of error to England, all these vexatious inquisitions or quo warrante, were brought in the court of Exchequer; where in two terms judgments were obtained against most of the charters of Ireland. The chief baron, a creature of the government, hurried over the causes with the most indecent haste, and did not even allow sufficient time for reply from the defendants. While in no case was just ground of disfranchisement alleged, nor was forfeiture adjudged after a legal trial. On pitiful pretences and paltry grounds were one hundred corporations deprived of the title to their rights and privileges.

• King's State of the Protestants.