"That is not the way in which we look at it in Ireland," Mr. Davenant
said. "The wars here are waged under various pretences. Someone is goaded
into rebellion, false charges are preferred wholesale, or there is a
religious pretext; but we all know what is at the bottom of them all,
simply the greed of English adventurers for Irish land; and, not content
with having dispossessed the ancient owners of three-fourths of the
cultivated land of the country, they want the remainder, and under the
pretence that we, the descendants of the early settlers, are in sympathy
with our Irish neighbours, they have marked us out for destruction, and
already a great portion of our estates is in the hands of Cromwell's men.
So gross have been the abuses, that the commission, which the king
appointed to inquire into the seizure of our estates, only ventured to
sit one day, for the proofs brought forward were so overwhelmingly strong
that it was seen at once that, did the inquiry continue, it would be made
manifest to all the world that justice could be satisfied by nothing less
than a clear sweep of all those men who have seized our estates.

"If Ireland rises in favour of King James, it will not be for any love
for the Stuarts; but it will be to recover the land which has been
illegally wrested from us, and which, if Dutch William and his Whig
adherents gain the upper hand, will be taken from us forever. The
religious element will, of course, count for much. Already we have
suffered persecution for our religion; and, if the Whigs could have their
way, they would stamp it out utterly, with fire and sword. Things have
looked better, during the last five or six years, than they have done
since Cromwell first put foot in Ireland. We have begun to hope for
justice. Tyrconnell has stood up for us, and, with the goodwill of James,
has gained many concessions. We have now what we never had before, an
Irish army. The land thieves have been fairly alarmed, for they have seen