nd, to conclude a
peace upon certain conditions mentioned, much inferior to those granted
by Glamorgan; and to come over himself with all the Irish he could
engage in his service. Carte, vol. iii. No. 400. This would have been a
great absurdity, if he had already fixed a different canal, by which, on
very different conditions, he purposed to establish a peace On the
22d of October, as his distresses multiply, he somewhat enlarges
the conditions, though they still fall short of Glamorgan's; a new
absurdity! See Carte, vol. iii. p. 411. 5. But What is equivalent to
a demonstration that Glamorgan was conscious that he had no powers
to conclude a treaty on these terms, or without consulting the lord
lieutenant, and did not even expect that the king would ratify the
articles, is the defeasance which he gave to the Irish council at the
time of signing the treaty. "The earl of Glamorgan does no way intend
hereby to oblige his majesty other than he himself shall please, after
he has received these ten thousand men as a pledge and testimony of
the said Roman Catholics' loyalty and fidelity to his majesty; yet
he promises faithfully, upon his word and honor, not to acquaint his
majesty with this defeasance, till he had endeavored, as far as in him
lay, to induce his majesty to the granting of the particulars in the
said articles; but that done, the said commissioners discharge the
said earl of Glamorgan, both in honor and conscience, of any further
engagement to them therein; though his majesty should not be pleased
to grant the said particulars in the articles mentioned; the said earl
having given them assurance, upon his word, honor, and voluntary oath,
that he would never, to any person whatsoever, discover this defeasance
in the interim without their consents." Dr. Birch, p. 96. All
Glamorgan's view was to get troops for the king's service without
hurting his own honor or his master's. The wonder only is, why the Irish
accepted of a treaty which bound nobody, and which the very person who
concludes it, seems to confess he does not expect to be ratified. They
probably hoped that the king would, from their services, be more easily
induced to ratify a treaty which was concluded, than to consent to its
conclusion. 6. I might add, that the lord lieutenant's concurrence in
the treaty was the more requisite, because without it the treaty could
not be carried into execution by Glamorgan, nor the Irish troops be
transported into Englan