But Charles, in addition to his own
scruples, feared to irritate the prejudices of his Protestant subjects. He
knew that many of his own adherents would deem such a concession an act of
apostasy; and he conjured the Irish deputies not to solicit that which must
prove prejudicial to him, and therefore to themselves: let them previously
enable him to master their common enemies; let them place him in a
condition "to make them happy," and he assured them on the word of a king,
that he would not "disappoint their just expectations."[1] They were not,
however, to be satisfied
[Footnote 1: Clarendon, Irish Rebellion, 25.]
with vague promises, which might afterwards be interpreted as it suited
the royal convenience; and Charles, to throw the odium of the measure from
himself on his Irish counsellors, transferred the negotiation to Dublin,
to be continued by the new lord lieutenant, the marquess of Ormond. That
nobleman was at first left to his own discretion. He was then authorized
to promise the non-execution of the penal laws for the present, and their
repeal on the restoration of tranquillity; and, lastly, to stipulate for
their immediate repeal, if he could not otherwise subdue the obstinacy, or
remove the jealousy of the insurgents.
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