第329章

In order to secure that none of the bishops or regular clergy should escape， the revenue officers in the different districts were instructed to make a return of the names and abodes of all priests on the 27th July 1697. According to the digest compiled from these returns there were then in Ireland eight hundred and ninety-two secular priests and four hundred and ninety-five regulars. The houses of the regular clergy were broken up； their property was disposed of or handed over in trust to some reliable neighbour， and the priests prepared to go into exile. During the year 1698 four hundred and forty-four of them were shipped from various Irish ports， several others were arrested and thrown into prison， and a few escaped by passing as secular priests. Many of the unfortunate exiles made their way to Paris， where they were dependent upon the charity of the French people and of the Pope. Similar vigorous action was taken to secure the banishment of the bishops and vicars， in the hope that if these could be driven from the country the whole machinery of the Catholic Church in Ireland would become so disorganised that its total disappearance in a short time might be expected. Several of the bishops had been declared traitors for having supported the cause of James I.， and had been obliged to flee to the Continent. Two others were shipped in accordance with the law of 1697； three were discovered by the revenue officials， of whom the Bishop of Clonfert was arrested， rescued， and died； the Bishop of Waterford made his escape after a few years of hiding， and the Bishop of Cork was arrested and transported (1703). So that there remained in Ireland only the Archbishop of Cashel and the Bishop of Dromore. News of what was taking place in Ireland was conveyed to the Emperor， who instructed his ambassador to lodge a strong protest， but the ambassador was put off with empty promises or with a bold denial of the truth of his information. Nor were these acts allowed to remain a dead letter. The revenue officials， the magistrates， sheriffs， judges， Protestant bishops， and Protestant ministers joined in the hunt for regulars， bishops， vicars， deans， etc.， and generous rewards were offered to all informers.[8]

The accession of Queen Anne (1702-14) led only to a still more violent persecution. Parliament met in September 1703， and proceeded almost immediately to attack both priests and lay Catholics. Most of the bishops were dead or had been driven from the country. The regulars， it was thought， could not survive. It was determined， therefore， to attack the remaining secular clergy in two ways， first by enforcing strictly the laws against Catholic education in Ireland， and by making more severe the laws against going to colleges abroad，[9] as well as by enacting that any priest who entered Ireland after 1st January 1704should be punished in accordance with the terms of the law laid down previously against bishops and regulars，[10] so that by these means the supply of clergy might be cut off； and second， by obliging all the priests in Ireland to register themselves so that the government could lay hold of them whenever it wished to do so. According to this latter measure all priests were commanded to give an account to the clerks of the peace of their district， of their place of abode， their parishes， together with the time and place of their ordination， and were to provide two securities of ā50 for their future good behaviour； those who neglected to make this return were to be imprisoned and transported； and it was provided later on that no parish priest could have an assistant or curate.[11] To crush the Catholic laymen it was enacted that in case the eldest son became a Protestant his father could not sell， mortgage， or otherwise dispose of the family property；that no Catholic could act as guardian to orphans or minors， but that these should be handed over to the custody of some Protestant who was required to bring them up in the Protestant religion； that no Catholic could purchase any lands， tenements， or hereditaments， or any profits or rents from such possessions， or acquire leases for a term exceeding thirty-one years or inherit as nearest of kin to any Protestant； the estates of a Catholic landowner dying without a Protestant heir were to be divided equally among his sons； no person could hold any office， civil or military， without subscribing to the Declaration against Transubstantiation， and the oath of abjuration， and receiving the sacrament； no Catholics， unless under very exceptional circumstances， could be allowed to live in Galway and Limerick， and no person could vote at any election without taking the oaths of allegiance and abjuration. Sir Theobald Butler appeared at the bar of the House of Commons to plead against these measures， and to point out that as no laws of the king were in force in the days of Charles II. the proposed bill was in direct opposition to the terms of the Treaty of Limerick，[12] but his protest produced no effect in England or in Ireland.