Chap. X. The H I STO R Y of the PURITANS. 737 to ftrip and kill the children of the englifh, and dafh out their brains K. Charles I. again(' the (tones. Forty or fifty thoufand were maffacred after this man- ner Its 4 in a few days, without difin Lion of age, fex, or quality, before they fufpeEIed their danger, or had time to provide for their defence. In a few weeks the infurre Lion was fo general, that they took poffefiion of whole counties, murdering the inhabitants, plundering their houles, and killingor driving away their cattle. Multitudes of poor diftreffed crea- tures and families fled naked and half ftarved firft to Dublin, and from thence to England, with death and defpair in their countenances. At length the irifh army having ravaged all the northern counties, blocked up the city of Dublin itlelf, with all the poor diftreffed proteftants who had taken fanEtuary in it ; but not being matters of the fea, the city was re- lieved, and part of the country fecured, till the parliament was at leifure o pour out all their vengeance upon the heads of the murderers, by the hands of the vi lorious and terrible OLIVE R CROMWELL. The frequent expreffes which preffed one after another to England, gpeatj ter with the multitudes of diftreffed creatures that got paffage into feverai ru- over parts of the hingdom, filled the hearts of all true proteftants with infinite England, çonjeEtures, and prodigious imaginations of treafonable defigns again(' this as well as the neighbouring kingdom : They were afraid, and not with- out reafon, that a fecondpart of this tragedy might be aEted on themfelves ; the parliament therefore ordered themfelves a guard of train-bands, and entered immediately into meafures to fecure the nation from the impend- ing form. But before we difmifs the irifh infurreftion and maffacre, it will not be ifuthors of improper to trace-it from it's original, and enquire into the authors, and is the feveraí parties concerned it. The'earl of lintrim and Sir PhelimO Prynne''. Neal, who were-at the head of the irifhcatholics, having.acquainted the puao, re pope's nuncio, and fume ofthe priefs about the queen, how eafily they asa. could aflame the government of Ireland, and affift the king again(' the Burnet'sbifl. englifh puritans, letters were wrote in the queen's name, and perhaps in /iteaup the king's, authorizing them to take up arms and feize the government. Rufhw. The irifh received the orders with pleafure; and concluded further Vol. IV. among themfelves, that it was neceffary at the fame time to extirpate P' 398' Ire the proteftants out of that kingdom before they could with fafety tranf- port their army into England. That this was their defign, appears from their remonfrance publifhed upon the very day of the infurredtion, in which they fay, " That having fome liberty of religion granted them by the king, they perceived the parliament was wrefing his majefy's pre- '° rogative from him, in order to extinguifh their religion; therefore ".tofupport his majefty's prerogative, and to confirm his royal and ever VOL. I. 5 B " happy
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