The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1871-07-21
coNrISurp tnoN rIRsr rAor.
many of the women belonged to fami-
lies Of the better class whom the war
had left destitute. In March, 1866, the

eu. In 1000, however, Jamaica having
been conquered, and colonisls and u
garrison being wanted for It, Cromwell
engaged | 800 men of the English troops
In Ireland to go there to settle, and or
dered 900 Irish wenches to be sent
with them. Henry Cromwell, then
commanding the forces in Ireland, an
swered that he would have to take the
wenches" by force, and suggested
that from 1900 to 1000 boys. from
twelve to fourteen years of age, should
be sent out also. One thousand of each
were accordingly sent, with the pious
hope that they would bo made "Chris.
tiaus of in Jamaica.
In the meantime, the process of divid.
ing the lands was going on actively.
There was due to the "Society of Ad-
venturers," or persons who had lent
money to the government for the ex-
penses Of the war in Ireland, a sum of
e360,0OO. This was paid off by liberal
grants of land, drawn by lot at public
lottery held at the Grocers' Hall in
London, in July, 1868, in ten counties.
The whole ofthe rest Of Ireland-except
tho province of Connaught--was set
apart for the payment of f1, $50, 000, due
as arrears to the officers and soldiers,
and of El,750,O0O of floating debt, in
cured by the government for supplies
furnished during the war. On the 26th
Of September, 1858, all ancient estates
and farms Of the people of Ireland
were declared to belong to the Adven-
turers and Army of England, and all
Irish were ordered to transplant " to
Connaught-a bowling wilderness OF
bog and rock-with their families, be-
fore the first of May following, on pain
of death, If found east of the Shannon
after that date, the trial to be by mill.
tary commission.
The exceptions to this rule were the
Irish wives of English Protestants en-
bracing their husbands faith boys and
girls, under fourteen in the service of
Protestants, and Irish Catholics who
could offer satisfactory proof of having
shown "Constant Good Affection" to
the Parliament as against the king dur
ing the previous ten years. The decree
was an awful one, and 1t struck the un-
happy people just as they were gather
ing in their harvest, and this the first
tolerable harvest they had had since the
war began. "Constant Good Affection"
was almost impossible to prove, for
mere passiveness would not support the
plea. Moreover, the order covered not
only the Irish enemy" but the de-
scendants of the English settlers of the
Elizabethan period-men English in
blood and speech and man ners, the Co.
mynses, Stackpoles, Morrises, Hamil-
tons, Fitzgeralds, Buffers, Plunkets,
Cheevers, Barnewalls, Talbots, Archers
and Atkinsons, just as much as the
Tooles, Donohoes, Mores, Kavanaghs
and Keoghs. 1t was just as hard for
the one as the other to prove "Constant
Good Affection" and their land was
just as valuable.
The work before them was so horri-
ble-the prayers and entreaties of the
aged and tenderly bred women, many
of them wearers of ancient titles, of
war.worn men, young children, Of the
sick and infirm, that they might not be
cast out of their homes in mid-winter to
perish miserably in the waste, were so
piercing-that the Commissioners wrote
q circular letter to the commanding of.
ficers, calling for general fast and
general "lifting up Of prayers, with
strong crying to Him to whom nothing
is too hard, that his servants, whom he
had called forth in this day to act in
these great transactions, might be made
faithful, and carried on by his own out.
stretched arm against all opposition and
difficulty to do what was pleasing in
his sight" So the Lord strengthened
them. and they pushed ON the work.
Mr.. Prendergast cities a great many of
the certificates given to the poor VIC
Tins on their departure. They all con-
tain personal descriptions of the hold
ers and the members of their families,
and one can hardly read them, even
through the mists of two centuries,
without feeling some of the pangs of
those dreadful days.
After years trial, 1t was found inn
possible to make all the Irish 60, so in
1864 dispensation was issued in favor
of"the sick, aged, lame, and impotedt,"
those who had aided and sheltered
English soldiers, and who shoild man.
ifest desire to turn Protestant. But
the work went on very slowly still; the
Commissioners were lon to hang the
recusants--althougb they did it in some
cases-and an immense force would
have been required to carry it out by
means of arres. and transportation SO
they tarried and granted indulgence (;
the tro5ps all the while clammoring for
then lands and reproaching the Com
missioners with their slOthfulness in
the execution of the Lords will. At
last, however, the work was accom-
plished satisfactorily. The bulk of the
Irish fr9Ep all districts, the land of
which w'p' needed, were Gagged up in
ConnaugEt. The old homes of the
landed pFoprietors were taken posses
sion OF by, the English officers; the pri.
Yates settled down under them as ten
ants, somewhat discontentedly, for Ire
land contairA Jed neither beer nor cheese
horses nU lows, nor Englishwomen
This last want was the worst of all, fol
love-makipg to Irish women, whom
the troops found very attractive, wa
strictly prohibited by "the third arti
Gle of warre," and offenders, rs the rec
Ords Of courts-martial still extant show
were severely flogged for it. Othe
heavy penalties were inflicted on sol
diers marrying Irishwomen. Ireton
by a general order, forbade any office
or soldier marrying an Irishwoman
whether calling herself Papist or not
"until 1t had been ascertained by M
examination lby fit persons, such a,
shall be appointed Cor that end) Wheth
er the change of religion flowed from !,
reall worke of God upon their hearts ,
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