Settlement and passed the Act of Attainder.78 The discontent,
fomented by the arts of intriguers, among whom the cunning and
unprincipled Henry Luttrell seems to have been the most active,
soon broke forth into open rebellion. A great meeting was held.
Many officers of the army, some peers, some lawyers of high note
and some prelates of the Roman Catholic Church were present. It
was resolved that the government set up by the Lord Lieutenant
was unknown to the constitution. Ireland, it was said, could be
legally governed, in the absence of the King, only by a Lord
Lieutenant, by a Lord Deputy or by Lords Justices. The King was
absent. The Lord Lieutenant was absent. There was no Lord Deputy.
There were no Lords Justices. The Act by which Tyrconnel had
delegated his authority to a junto composed of his creatures was
a mere nullity. The nation was therefore left without any
legitimate chief, and might, without violating the allegiance due
to the Crown, make temporary provision for its own safety. A
deputation was sent to inform Berwick that he had assumed a power
to which he had no right, but that nevertheless the army and
people of Ireland would willingly acknowledge him as their head
if he would consent to govern by the advice of a council truly
Irish. Berwick indignantly expressed his wonder that military men
should presume to meet and deliberate without the permission of
their general. They answered that there was no general, and that,
if His Grace did not choose to undertake the administration on
the terms proposed, another leader would easily be found. Berwick
very reluctantly yielded, and continued to be a puppet in a new
set of hands.79

Those who had effected this revolution thought it prudent to send
a deputation to France for the purpose of vindicating their