We cannot be mistaken as advocates of his acts in the Irish affairs, by merely showing that those acts were in strict conformity with the injunctions of the Royal will; for so long as troops were required, no means were to be spared that were found absolutely requisite to gain the desired end. We rejoice that the warm-hearted Earl did _not_ succeed, that all his negotiations failed, and that the exorbitant demands made on him destroyed the measures they were intended to render unbounded and permanent; at the same time, as a Roman Catholic, the Earl of Glamorgan acted honestly, consistently, and by no means extravagantly. The folly and blame and entire shame of the whole affair weighs heavily on the King’s memory.
While the death of the Archbishop of Tuam in October, 1645, led to this exposure in Ireland, very different circumstances conveyed the intelligence to England.
Sir Thomas Fairfax, having some dragoons at Padstow in Cornwall, boarded a packet boat from Ireland, and seized Captain Allen, one of the passengers, who threw a parcel and some loose papers overboard; among those recovered were the Earl of Glamorgan’s articles of agreement with the Confederate Irish Roman Catholics, and letters from himself. These were published by order of Parliament, the 17th of March, 1645–6[43]: viz. “Articles of Agreement made and concluded between the Right Honourable Edward Earl of Glamorgan, in pursuance, and by virtue of his Majesty’s authority under his signet and royal signature, bearing date at Oxon, the 12th day of March, in the 20th year of his reign, signed, sealed and delivered by the Earl, 25th August, 1645, in the presence of John Somerset, Jeffrey Browne, and Robert Barry.”
To this document was appended his declaration as follows:--
“I, Edward Earl of Glamorgan, do protest and swear faithfully to acquaint the King’s most excellent Majesty with the proceedings of this kingdom, in order to his service and in the endearment of this nation, and punctual performance of what I have (as authorized by his Majesty) obliged myself to see performed, and in default not to permit the army intrusted to my charge to adventure itself, or any considerable part thereof, until conditions from his Majesty, and by his Majesty, be performed.