1. SIR Walter Dongan Baronet, Grandfather of the now Earl of Limerick, being seiz'd of se­veral Mannors, Lands, &c. in Ireland, by descent from his Ancestors, and of other Mannors, Lands, &c. there devis'd to him in 1622. by his Brother William Dongan Recorder of Dublin, died so seis'd in 1627. and the Premisses descended to his eldest Son Sir John Dongan, Father of the now Earl.

2. In July 1642. Sir John Dongan having eight Sons, viz. Walter, William, Edward, Robert, Michael, Jerome, Thomas and James, made his Will, and entail'd both Estates upon all his Sons successively, except a small part in the Queen's County, which he entail'd upon the second Son of his Family for the time being, and died in 1650.

3. 1652. Sir John Dongan and his two elder Sons, having serv'd in the King's Army during the Civil War in England, their Estate was sequestred, and kept from the Family till the Resto­ration of K. Charles the Second.

4. 1655. Sir Walter Dongan, eldest Son of Sir John Dongan, dy'd without Issue.

5. 1663. Sir William Dongan the second Son, afterward created Viscount Dongan of Clane, together with his Father and elder Brother, were decreed Innocent by the Court of Claims in Ire­land, and the Viscount was restor'd to both the Estates.

6. All the other Sons of Sir John Dongan, except William and Thomas, dying without Issue, Thomas as second Son of the Family, enjoy'd the Estate in the Queen's County according to his Fa­ther's Will, about five and twenty years before the last War in Ireland.

7. In July 1676. William Viscount Dongan designing to go to Spain, made a Settlement of his Estate to the use of himself for Life, the Remainder to his eldest Son, and every other of his Sons in Tail Male, the Remainder to his Brother Thomas (the now Earl) in Tail Male, with di­vers Remainders over: But this Settlement being made in the Country, was, for want of good Advice, ill drawn, and worse writ, yet sufficient in Law to answer the Ends intended by it.

8. 1685. William Viscount Dongan was created Earl of Limerick, and the same Title was limited in Remainder to Thomas (then call'd Colonel Thomas Dongan) and his Heirs Male.

9. 1686. William Earl of Limerick having levy'd some Fines of his Estate, in order to make a Joynture to his Wife, and borrow Money, borrow'd 7500 l. of his Wife's Mother Donna Ma­riana Chambers, the Widow of Sir Richard Chambers, and granted a Rent-charge of 450 l. per An­num to the Lords Kingsland and Trimblestown and their Heirs, in trust for her; but redeem­able upon payment of 7500 l. and all Arroare of the Rent at any time after.

This is a way of Mortgaging frequently practis'd in Ireland, to avoid entring upon the mort­gaged Estate, and being accountable for the Profits, because the Courts of Equity there never foreclose a Mortgager of the Equity of Redemption.

10. 1688. At the time of the Revolution William Earl of Limerick liv'd near Dublin in Ireland, and had a Regiment of Dragoons; but being an old paralytical Man, was uncapable of Action. His Quality oblig'd him to attend the Person of the late K. James when he arriv'd there, and to be of his Council, his present Majesty not having then any Forces in that Kingdom to resort to for protection: But it is notoriously known that William Earl of Limerick oppos'd in Council all violent proceedings against the Protestants.

11. William Earl of Limerick laid down his Commission of Colonel of Dragoons before the 10th day of April 1689. in obedience to their Majesties Proclamation, which promis'd Indemnity and injoyment of their Estates to all such who laid down their Arms before that time. After this he never took any Commission, except one for the Government of Munster, which he accepted at the earnest Request of the Protestants, whose Persons, Estates, and Churches he preserv'd from all manner of Violence, as many eminent Protestants have certified under their Hands.

12. After the Battle at the Boyn (wherein he was not engaged) William Earl of Limerick left Ireland; and having no opportunity to go elsewhere, went to Bretagne in France.

13. After the Reduction of Ireland, William Earl of Limerick was Outlaw'd upon 13 several In­dictments for High-Treason against K. William and Q. Mary (generally, without expressing any particular Act of Treason) alleg'd to be committed on the 13th day of February 1688. which was the very day their Majesties were declared King and Queen; when it was morally impossible for him, who was then in Ireland, to have notice of their accession to the Crown, and consequently to be guilty of any Treason against them.

14. 1693. Godart Earl of Athlone obtain'd a Warrant for a Grant of the Earl of Limerick's Estate; and the now Earl of Limerick having notice of it, petition'd the Queen for time to make out his Title before the Grant pass'd. In which interval, by the permission of the Secretary of State, he sent to his Brother in France for an account of the Settlements of the Estate: which by reason of his long absence from England, and the little expectation he had of coming to the E­state, had slipt out of his memory.

15. His Brother sent him over the Deed of Settlement made in 1676, and mention'd above in Number (7) conceiving it sufficient to preserve his Right. The now Earl shewed it to the Se­cretary of State, and several Council at Law, who all found fault with the unskilful drawing and bad writing, but thought it valid in Law: and one of the Council took a Copy of it, lest it should have been lost at Sea in the passage to Ireland.

16. This Deed was, by the Queen's Order, sent into Ireland to be produc'd before the Lords Justices. They directed it to be deliver'd to the Sollicitor General, who was of Council with the Earl of Athlone.

17. The Sollicitor General, about three days before the time appointed for producing this Deed to the Lords Justices, pronounc'd it a forg'd Deed, and prefer'd an Information against the now Earl of Limcrick, his Council, Attorny and Agents, for publishing this Deed, which deterr'd all Persons from appearing on the now Earl's part, and the Lords Justices were therefore induc'd to believe it a forg'd Deed.

18. One of the Defendants to the Information swore in his Answer, that he brought this Deed out of France in the same condition it was when deliver'd to the Soll. General; and if the late or present Earl of Limerick could have been guilty of so dishonourable a practice, they could not want assistance to have had a Deed well drawn, well writ, and well attested. This Deed is at­tested by six Witnesses, some of whom are now living in Ireland, and Persons of Estate and Repu­tation.

19. By this management the Deed was damn'd without any Trial, and order'd to be hung up in the Exchequer in Ireland, where it continues; and the Grant of the Estate to the Earl of Ath­lone, pass'd without opposition, wherein the Lands in the Queen's County are compris'd, tho the Lords Justices upon proof of their being so long enjoy'd by the now Earl as second Son, had order'd the Commissioners of the Revenues to restore 'em to him.

20. 1694. The Earl of Athlone's Agents being apprehensive of the Defects in the Outlawrys, procur'd an Act of Parliament in Ireland for confirming the late Earl of Limerick's Attainder, and the Grant of his Estate to the Earl of Athlone, notwithstanding any Reversal of the Attain­der, or any Charter of Pardon or Restitution.

21. 1693. Before this Act pass'd, the Lady Chambers who had the Mortgage for 7500 l. upon this Estate, came into England to look after it; and the now Earl of Limerick looking upon himself next intituled to the Estate after the Death of his Brother, bought in this Debt and Rent-charge by which it was secur'd, for a Sum of ready Money, and an Annuity for the Life of the Lady Chambers.

22. The E. of Athlone's Agents at first endeavour'd to impeach this Mortgage of Forgery; but it being attested by many Persons of Honour and Quality still living, they drop'd that Design, and fell upon the following Stratagem.

23. They caus'd an Inquisition to be taken at Dublin, which found the Lady Chambers to be an Alien, and then seis'd the Rent-charge granted for the Security of her 7500 l. into the King's Hands, as a Real Estate purchased in trust for an Alien, which the King was intituled to by his Prerogative, and the Earl of Athlone obtain'd a Grant of it from the King in 1695.

24. This Grant of the Rent-charge to the Lords Kingsland and Trimblestown, was never in­tended to be a Purchase, but only a Mortgage, as appears by the Deed it self; and Money lent upon a Mortgage in Fee is but Personal Estate, which an Alien may acquire; and if the late Earl of Limerick had repaid the Money before the Inquisition taken, the King could have got nothing by an Inquisition taken afterwards.

25. The Lady Chambers was an Alien Friend, viz. a Spanish Woman, and the Widow of an English man, Sir Richard Chambers, and ought not to have been treated as an Alien Enemy.

26. Beside the particular hardship to the now Earl of Limerick, this Precedent may be of ill con­sequence to the English in Spain, where they frequently lend Money upon Mortgage of Houses and Lands, and yet the English not naturaliz'd can no more purchase Estates in Spain, than Spaniards can purchase in England.

27. But if in strictness of Law this Rent-charge mortgag'd in trust for an Alien may be call'd a Purchase, the King could not be intituled to it, nor any Profits of it, till an Inquisition taken, and his Title was found of Record, and the Lady Chambers and her Grantee are intituled to all the Arrears incurr'd before; yet upon a Bill exhibited by the Earl of Athlone in the Court of Chan­cery of Ireland, an Injunction was granted to stay all Proceedings upon a distress for the Arrears, and is continued to this day.

28. This usage put the now Earl of Limerick upon recollecting the antient Settlements of the Estate, and brought to his remembrance the Entail made by his Father's Will, which he com­municated to the Earl of Athlone, and by his Consent petition'd the King that his Title might be examin'd by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, or the Attorney General here; the Earl of Ath­lone telling the now Earl of Limerick, that his Majesty had promis'd to make the Earl of Athlone amends, if the now Earl of Limerick appear'd to have a Title to the Estate.

29. The King referr'd it to the Lords Justices of Ireland; but this Reference was stifled till the Earl of Athlone went into Ireland, sold part of the Estate, and left that Kingdom; but the Purchasers had notice of the Petitioner's Claim from the Earl of Athlone, and otherwise.

30. Then, and not sooner, the Reference was produc'd, and the Lords Justices referr'd the Case over to the Attorney and Sollicitor General of Ireland, who were both of Council with the Earl of Athlone, and made their Report to the effect following.

First, That Sir Walter Dongan, Grandfather of the now Earl of Limerick, in 1615. settled the antient Estate of the Family on Sir John Dongan, and the Heirs Male of his Body, with divers Remainders over; which disabled Sir John Dongan to make any Settlement by his Will in 1642. and that Earl William levied several Fines of the Estate, and made himself Tenant in Fee.

Secondly, That Sir John Dongan's Will is questionable, and to be suspected, because not prov'd till above twenty Years after the Date of it, viz. in 1663. and was then prov'd only in com­mon Form by the Executor upon his Oath de Credulitate, and by one Patrick Fitz-Gerald, and not by any one of the four subscribing Witnesses to the Will; and Earl William took no notice of this Will in his Petition to the Court of Claims.

Thirdly, That the now Earl of Limerick can have no right to any Estate of his Ancestors, because he was never decreed Innocent by the Court of Claims, tho his Father and two elder Brothers were decreed so, and that the Acts of Settlement make all persons Nocent who were not decreed Innocent.

To the first of these the now Earl of Limerick answers:

No such Deed of Settlement made in 1615. has been produc'd, nor any Footstep thereof ap­pears, otherwise than by an Office found in 1627. and some mention made of it by William Earl of Limerick in his Petition to the Court of Claims, which are no binding Evidence; nor was that Deed produced to the Court of Claims, as appears by their Decree; nor was there any occa­sion to prove any thing more than the Seisin of his Father, and that he was Innocent. But if such Settlement were made in 1615. and were now in being, there might appear Limitations in it to the 1st, 2d, 3d, &c. Sons of Sir John Dongan, which would be of the same effect as the Will of Sir John Dongan: or there might appear a power of Revocation reserv'd to Sir John Dongan; and so it ought reasonably to be presum'd, and that he executed that Power, since he took upon him to make a Will of the Estate; but in what manner soever that Settlement was made, it cannot comprehend the Estate of William Dongan Recorder of Dublin, which was not devised to Sir Wal­ter Dongan the Grandfather till 1622. and seven years after the pretended Settlement bears date: and therefore Sir John Dongan had power to make a Will of that Estate. The Fines levied by Earl William could bind his own Issue only, and not those who claim in Remainder; and all was resettled by E. William in 1676. by that Deed which was condemned without Trial.

To the second the Earl of Limerick answers:

Sir John Dongan liv'd 8 years after the date of the Will, viz. till 1650. and then there was no Court for probate of Wills settled in Ireland; and the whole Estate being under Sequestration for Delinquency in 1652. it could be no advantage to prove this Will, but might have been pre­judicial to produce it; but as soon as Sir John Dongan and his two elder Sons were decreed Inno­cent by the Court of Claims, it was prov'd in 1663. and has remain'd register'd in Dublin ever since.

It was prov'd in Common Form only, because no body disputed the truth of it, nor was dis­inherited by it, and in such cases Wills are seldom prov'd otherwise than in Common Form; neither is there a necessity of proving a Will concerning Lands in any Court, unless it be contro­verted. The four subscribing witnesses might have per [...]rd in the war, o [...] died natural Deat [...]s, or have left that Kingdom in 21 years time; but Patrick Fitz-Gerald, who was sworn to the truth of it, was Clerk to Sir John Dongan, and well acquainted with his and the Witnesses Hands writing, and might see it executed, tho he did not sign as a Witness.

The late Earl of Limerick did not mention this Will in his Petition to the Court of Claims, be­cause it would have appear'd by that Will that Sir John Dongan was seised in Fee; and if Sir John Dongan, or his eldest Son Walter, had not been decreed Innocent, the Estate would have been forfeited, tho E. William had been decreed Innocent. But after the Decree of Innocency, E. Wil­liam own'd the Will, and permitted his Mother to enjoy the Joynture settled by it upon her, which he before refus'd to allow her, and also suffer'd the second Son of the Family for the time being, to enjoy the Lands in the Queen's County, to which they had no other pretence than by that Will.

There are several living Witnesses who were acquainted with the Hand-writing of Sir John Dongan, and have sworn this Will to be sign'd by him, as they verily believe.

Many more Arguments can be urg'd to prove the truth of this Will; but its being registred in Dublin 36 years ago, sufficiently justifies it from all suspicion of Forgery upon any account whatso­ever.

To the third the Earl of Limerick answers:

That he was not a year old when the Irish Rebellion broke out in 1641. and therefore could not be guilty of it. If the Acts of Settlement in Ireland make or suppose all persons Nocent who were not decreed Innocent, those Acts must have a reasonable Interpretation, and be understood to ex­tend only to such persons as were capable of being guilty, and not to impotent Children, who could not speak, much less act Treason.

The now Earl of Limerick's Title is by a Will subsequent to the Rebellion in 1641. and made by a Person who was decreed Innocent, whose Estate was therefore never vested in the Crown, or at least wholly devested out of the Crown by that Decree; and he being under no Incapacity to take by that Will, there was no need of a Decree for his Innocency: and so it has been adjudg'd in the Kings Bench in Ireland, upon a special Verdict found in the like case of Sir Stephen Rice.

31. Since this Report William Earl of Limerick is dead, and the Honour and Right to the Estate are vested in Thomas now Earl of Limerick.

32. The now Earl does not pretend to justify any Actions of his late Brother against His Ma­jesty K. William, but hopes the constant Loyalty of his Family (and even of E. William himself [...]efore the last War) to the Crown of England, in the Service whereof many of 'em have been [Page 4]kill'd, may atone for one Offence, which E. William under the unhappy Circumstances he was in­volv'd in at the beginning of the late Revolution, could scarce possibly avoid; or at least that the present Earl, who was in no wise accessary to it, and has always been faithful, and in some measure serviceable to this Nation, shall not bear the Punishment of his Brother's Crimes, but that the Merits of the Earl of Athlone may be rewarded otherwise than at the price of the now Earl of Limerick's Birthright.

33. The now Earl does as little delight to recount his own Services, and believes all he has done, or can do, to be his Duty; but hopes it will not be esteem'd any Vanity or Ostentation in him to mention upon this occasion what he has acted and suffer'd for the Crown and Nation of England.

34. He was bred a Souldier, and arriv'd to be Colonel of the Irish Regiment in France, worth to him above 5000 l. per Ann.

35. 1677/8. In pursuance of a Vote of Parliament for recalling the English Subjects then in the French King's Service, he quitted that Honourable and Advantagious Post, and rejected the Temp­tation of greater Preferments then offer'd him, if he would continue there. For which reason the French King commanded him to leave France in 48 hours, and refus'd to pay him a Debt of 65000 Livres then due to him for Recruits and Arrears upon an Account stated with the Intendant of Nancy. This is well known to the Earl of Mountague then Ambassador in France.

36. At his return into England K. Charles II. nominated him to be a General Officer of the Eng­lish Army then design'd for Flanders, and settled upon him a Pension of 500 l. per Ann. for his Life, in consideration of his Losses in France, which has been stopt ever since the Revolution.

37. 1678. He was appointed Lieutenant Governour of Tangier, and remov'd from thence in 1680. and in 1682 was sent Governour of New York in America.

Soon after his Arrival there he brought five Nations of warlike Indians, who had been seduc'd by the French of Canada, and us'd to burn and destroy the Plantations of Virginia and Maryland, to make peace with, and become Subjects of the Crown of England, by which means those Co­lonies are deliver'd from a vast charge they were before at for their Defence, and the adjacent Colonies protected from other Indians.

38. 1686/7. The French of Canada being exasperated at those five Nations of Indians for en­tring into the English Interest, made war upon 'em with 3000 French, and many other Indians. The Earl of Limerick took those five Nations under his Protection, and notwithstanding many haughty Messages from the French Governour of Canada, rais'd an Army of Christians and Indians, who by his directions kill'd many, took 500 Prisoners, and so totally destroy'd all their Corn and Provisions, that they had nothing left to subsist on but what came from France, and must have quitted the Country, if the Earl of Limerick had been permitted to continue the War one year longer; but upon the French King's complaint against him, a Peace was concluded, and the Earl of Limerick dismiss'd from that Government.

39. This War the Earl of Limerick maintain'd above a year and a half at his own charge, by disbursing his own Money, mortgaging his Lands, selling his Plate and Furniture, and giving his Bonds for Provisions and Ammunition to the value of many thousand Pounds, whereof he never receiv'd more than 2500 l. in Tallies, which his present Majesty order'd him, to discharge some Debts that were most pressing upon him. For the truth of this he refers to the Honourable Mr. Blathwait then Secretary and Auditor General of the Plantations, and to Mr. Povey.

40. 1687/8. Before the late happy Revolution he receiv'd Letters (ready to be produc'd) from the late King James, and the E. of S. then Secretary of State, inviting him home with Assurance of good Imployment here; and from the E. of Tyrconnel, offering him the Command of Major General of the Army, and of a Regiment of Dragoons in Ireland, all which he refus'd; and after his dismission from his Government, he continu'd at New-York and New-England, till the year 1691. when he came for this Kingdom, where he has liv'd ever since retir'd, and conformable to the Government.

The Earl of Limerick casts himself upon the Parliament of England for relief, and humbly hopes they will give him such as to their Justice and Wisdom shall seem meet.

WE undernamed Protestant Inhabitants of the City or County of Limerick, being highly sensible of the repeated Favours we and many other Protestants in the last War receiv'd at the hands of the Right Honourable the late Earl of Limerick during his then Government of the Province of Munster, do as well in gratitude for those Favours, as at the request of the Right Honourable the present Earl of Limerick, certify that the said late Earl in the time of his Government, was not only very ready to hear, but to redress the Complaints of the Protestants, who continued many of 'em in their Houses and Possessions, when the Irish Proprietors under the Colour of Law, and the pretended Act of Repeal, made Attempts by force to turn them out; and likewise that during the continuance of that his Government, by his Countenance we and other Protestants had the free exercise of our Religion, the Churches being preserv'd by his Power for that exercise, when the Popish Clergy, as we have heard, and do verily believe, often much importun'd him to ap­propriate the same to the Popish Service.