Had the assembly
known the motives which really actuated these noblemen; that they had been
secretly instructed by Charles to continue the contest at every risk, as
the best means of enabling him to make head against Cromwell; that this,
probably the last opportunity of saving the lives
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1651. Jan. 10.]
and properties of the confederates, was to be sacrificed to the mere chance
of gaining a victory for the Scots, their bitter and implacable enemies,[1]
many of the calamities which Ireland was yet doomed to suffer would,
perhaps, have been averted. But the majority allowed themselves to be
persuaded; the motion to negotiate with the parliament was rejected, and
the penalties of treason were denounced by the assembly, the sentence of
excommunication by the bishops, against all who should conclude any private
treaty with the enemy. Limerick and Galway, the two bulwarks of the
confederacy, disapproved of this vote, and obstinately refused to admit
garrisons within their walls, that they might not be overawed by the
military, but remain arbiters of their own fate.
The lord deputy was no sooner relieved from this difficulty, than he found
himself entangled in a negotiation of unusual delicacy and perplexity.
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