Charles II
22 14 & 15 Charles II., c. 2.
23 Carte, II., 311. The Commissioners, he says elsewhere (II., 220) were "most of them engaged by their interest in the party of the adventurers and soldiers."
24 Clarendon, Continuation, § 258.
25 Leland says 4,000. But Sir Heneage Finch in an elaborate defence of the Act of Explanation, drawn up in 1670 (Carte, Appendix, 91) said that the Irish estimated the claimants at 8,000: and, while maintaining that this number was exaggerated, admitted that there were 5,000 whose claims had not been heard.
26 Continuation, § 223.
27 Petty, Political Anatomy, ch. 1.
28 Carte, II., 261-270. Remarks on the Life and Death of the famed Mr. Blood (Somers Tracts).
29 "So much of this Act did so manifestly incline to favour the Irish as justly created complaints by the English, which seemingly to redress, a new Act was prepared, entitled the Act of Explanation." Secret Consults.
30 17 & 18 Charles II., c. 2.
31 Goldwin Smith, Irish History and Character, pp. 116, 117.
32 "The Roman Catholics of Ireland were the lawful proprietors, and had been lately the possessors, of nineteen parts in twenty of the lands of that kingdom." Walsh, Reply to a Person of Quality, p. 145.
"The Irish were far the greater number of proprietors of land possessing ten acres for one: whereas now, of the 10,868,949 acres returned by the last survey of Ireland, the Irish Papists are possessed but of 2,041,108 acres, which is but a small matter above [? below] the fifth part of the whole." Lawrence, Interest of Ireland, pp. 47, 48.
Petty, Political Anatomy, ch. 1, says that of 7,500,000 acres of "good land" the Papists had 5,200,000, the Church 300,000, and the planters 2,000,000 in 1641. After the Restoration the Protestants had 5,140,000 acres: the Irish 2,280,000, or nearly one-third; but elsewhere he says (ch. 5): "The British Protestants and Church have three-fourths of all the lands."
In a tract called The State of the Papist and Protestant Properties in the Kingdom of Ireland in 1641, 1653, and 1662, the profitable lands are estimated at 7,400,000 acres, of which the Catholics are said to have possessed 5,000,000 in 1641. Of these 5,000,000, 4,000,000 were confiscated under the Protectorate, and 2,000,000 restored after the Restoration. This is almost the same as Petty's estimate.
Archbishop King says: "These two Acts of Parliament made up the title which two-thirds of the Protestants in Ireland had to their estates." III., 12, *1.
According to Lord Clare (Speech on the Union) 7,800,000 acres which had belonged to Catholics in 1641, were transferred by the Acts of Settlement and Explanation to the Protestants.
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