THEY PASS AN ACT OF ATTAINDER.

Yet in order to complete their destruction, an act of attainder was passed against all protestants, whether male or female, whether of high or low degree, who were absent from the kingdom, as well as against all those who retired into any part of the three kingdoms, which did not own the authority of king James, or corresponded with rebels, or were any ways aiding, abetting, or assisting them, from the first day of August in the preceding year. The number of protestants attainted by name in this act amounted to about three thousand, including two archbishops, one duke, seventeen earls, seven countesses, as many bishops, eighteen barons, three-and-thirty baronets, one-and-fifty knights, eighty-three clergymen, who were declared traitors, and adjudged to suffer the pains of death and forfeiture. The individuals subjected to this dreadful proscription, were even cut off from all hope of pardon and all benefit of appeal; for by a clause in the act, the king’s pardon was deemed null unless enrolled before the first day of December. A subsequent law was enacted, declaring Ireland independent of the English parliament. This assembly passed another act, granting twenty thousand pounds per annum out of the forfeited estates to Tyrconnel, in acknowledgment of his signal services: they imposed a tax of twenty thousand pounds per month for the service of the king: the royal assent was given to an act for liberty of conscience; they enacted that the tithes payable by papists should be delivered to priests of that communion: the maintenance of the protestant clergy in cities and corporations was taken away; and all dissenters were exempted from ecclesiastical jurisdictions. So that the established church was deprived of all power and prerogative, notwithstanding the express promise of James, who had declared, immediately after his landing, that he would maintain the clergy in their rights and privileges.