The History of Ireland From the Reformation to the Union

e king could have made. Both men were creatures of the Puritans, and under their administration the House of Commons, which in Strafford's time had been wholly on the king's side, was soon won over to the opposition, and the authority of the royal name became undermined. Moreover, one of the lords-justices, Sir William Parsons, had formerly been one of the most formidable of the " Discoverers," and had taken a leading part in the notorious action against Byrne1 (p. 46). When, therefore, a man of this character, who during the time in which he had filled a subordinate post, had made it his business to rob the Irish of their possessions, was called to occupy the foremost position in the land, it is not surprising that among the Irish population, and especially among the inhabitants of Connaught, the most lively apprehensions should have been aroused lest there was about to be initiated a fresh series of confiscations and a redistribution of the land. That these fears were not groundless may be deduced from the fact that when Charles signified his intention to make a formalratification of the " graces,"L by granting a commission to the lords-justices, these functionaries contrived to prevent the bill being placed upon the statute book by an adjournment of Parliament. 1 For a general estimate of Parsons' character, see Warner's " History of the Rebellion and Civil War in Ireland" (Lond., 1767), p. 49 ; for the part he took in connection with the trial of Byrne, com...