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648 History of the Irish Presbyterians .
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the kingdom , " the Viceroy charged them with ingratitude , because each of the ministers was in the receipt of £ 100 a-year from the government . But this salary they did not consider as a gift , which laid them under any obligations to acknowledge the government , but as matter-of . right ; for the usurpers had deprived them of the tithes , and had given them in stead d £ ? 100 each per annum , which was a very inadequate compensation for the loss which they had sustained . But though they held their livings by this precarious tenure , they persisted in
their loyal declarations and resolutions , and publicly prayed for the restoration of the King , even while exposed to great danger from the army of the Protector ., At the Restoration , although they liad been so well affected towards the King , they were
not reinstated in the possession of their benefices , which were intercepted by the episcopal clergy . < - [ Charles II ., for whom they suffered so much , treated them with the same ingratitude he did the Presbyterians in England and Scotland . Their
livings were intercepted by the episcopal clergy ; they were ejected from their churches by the Act of Uniformity in 1662 , and treated with much unmerited . and severe persecution , by
the reigning powers . When the Act of Uniformity was passed , out of 64 ministers then in Ulster , only four appear to have conformed ; ? the remainder preferring the approbation of their conscience to the favour of the
Court . ] In 1662 , several Presbyterian ministers in Ireland were brought into trouble by the conspiracy of Major Blood , a desperate adventurer from England , who laid a plan to surprise the castle of Dublin , and seize on the
person of the Duke of Ormond , the Lord Lieutenant . Blood , and his brother-in-law , Lecky , whp was partner with him In the conspiracy , being DisseflWs . the enemies of the Presbv-Disseiitersthe enemies of the
Presby-, terians improved this circumstance against them ; and , iu particular , caused suspicion to fyjl on three minieters , Mr , Adair , $ fjr . Stuart , and
Mjr . Semple , who happened to be in Dublin shortly before the plot \ ym I'" " ' »¦ ¦ ' f ¦» ¦ ¦ "" ' ——— ¦ ' 'i » i •»—• [ See WpfHli'owVHiatory , AppeijcBx , No . 5 . 1
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discovered , having been sefrt tftitfier to wait on the Lord Lieiitdnaift / \ yith an address from their * brethren fti the North . These ministers were brought up to Dublin ; but after a very severe and critical examination , no ground
of Accusation could be found against them . Some other persons were also examined ; but every new circumstance which came to light , served only the more strongly to establish their innocence . The matter issued in a manner
entirely creditable to the loyalty and honour of both the clergy and laity of the Presbyteriaa body . The Duke , however , at the instigation of their adversaries , had caused many of the ministers " to be imprisoned , merely on
suspicion . Seven of them , namely , Mr . Greg , Mri Dr ^ sdaill , Mr . Stuart , Mr . Alexander Hufeheson , Mr ; Richardson , Mr . . Ramsay , and . JVIr . Gordon , were imprisoned in Carlingfonf ; w |* ere they received very harsh treatment ! He at the same time disarmed all the
Scots resident in the country . * Sir Arthur Forbes , ( afterwards Earl of Granard , ^ having been in London in 1672 , had some conversation with the King concerning the Presbyterian ministers and people of the North of
Ireland . The King inquired of Sir Arthur concerning the ministers' conduct and manner of life , stating that he had always been informed that they were loyal subjects , and that though they had suffered on that account ,
they were men of peaceable behaviour . Sir Arthur having confirmed this account , and added that they and their people were by no means in affluent circumstances , the King , " of his own mere motion . " " granted them £ < 60 ( 1 mere motion granted them ^ : 600
, per annum out of the revenue of Ireland , ( a sum which he had designed for a charitable use , ) to be paid to Sir Arthur quarterly , for secret service , f Sir Arthur , on coming to Ireland , wrote for four ministers to come to
him to Dublin , that he might settle with them concerning the distribution of the money . The four ministers * Loy . Presb . pp , 378 , &c . -f- The King had intended to appropriate i ? 1200 to the use of the ministers ;
supposing that so much remained undisposed of in the settlement of the revenue of Ireland ; but upon inquiry it was found , that there was only the half of that sum .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1824, page 648, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2530/page/8/
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