Life of Lord Chancellor Sir Richard Cox.

Chapter XXXII.

Life of Lord Chancellor Sir Richard Cox, Bart., from his birth to his appointment as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.

Michael Cox, grandfather of the subject of my memoir, was the youngest son of Richard Cox, of Bishop Cannings, in Wiltshire. He came to Ireland during the reign of James I., when many English and Scotch adventurers settled in that kingdom. He selected a pleasant location on the banks of the river Funcheon, near Kilworth, in the county of Cork. Here he amassed a considerable fortune, 5,000*l. or 6,000l.; *but, during the civil war of 1641, he was despoiled of the most part of his substance, and little remained to his family.

In those days, when men’s hands constantly grasped the sword, the military profession was sure to be selected by members of every family. Richard, third son of Michael Cox, of Kilworth, became a captain in Major-General Jephson’s regiment of horse. He was well qualified for his calling, being strong and valiant, and steadily climbed the ladder of promotion. It was not as easy to obtain pay as rank, for the arrears of Captain Cox’s pay amounted to 1,676*l. *

Captain Cox was captivated by the pretty face and black eyes of a widow, Mrs. Batten, daughter of Walter Bird, Esq., thrice Sovereign, and for a long time Recorder of Clonakilty, a large town in the West Riding of the county of Cork. Mr. Bird was a gentleman of highly cultivated tastes, having been a student at Oxford, and an excellent musician, playing well on the bass-viol.

Although Captain Cox possessed some property in the neighbourhood of Kilworth, and was entitled to the tolls of the fairs and markets of the place, which must have been of some value, he resided at Bandon, or Bandonbridge, as it was formerly called. This town owed its existence to Richard Boyle, first Earl of Cork, who expended a large sum in making it the rival of Derry, in the north, and in one point may be said to have succeeded. It was exclusively Protestant. In a letter written by him to Mr. Secretary Cook, dated April 13, 1632, the Earl says, ‘No popish recusant., or unconforming novelist being admitted to him in all the town.’ This probably gave rise to the tradition that an inscription on one of the gates announced -

Jew, Turk, or atheist

May enter here, but not a papist.

Which caused the celebrated Father O’Leary to add -

Who wrote these lines, he wrote them well,

For *the same are writ on the gates of hell. *

There is no doubt that Catholies were excluded from Bandon, and by way of explanation, we find ‘that it was a necessary support for the infant colony, the members of which foresaw that as they were strangers and Protestants, if a Papist took up his quarters amongst them, he only would be encouraged by his neighbours of his own religion (and they were generally of it.), and would gradually introduce tradesmen of all sorts of the same, which would overset the scheme of this foundation.’

In this town was born Richard Cox, who, ere his eyes were closed in the sleep of death, was to win such high honours as seldom fall to the lot of one man. Knighthood and Baronetage, Judge of the Common Pleas, Military Governor of the County of Cork, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and the King’s Bench, Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, and several times Lord Justice. He was born on March 25, 1650, but not destined to know either a father’s care or a mother’s love. The valiant officer and strong soldier fell mortally wounded in July 1652, not by the foeman’s sword or on the battle-field, where danger was to be confronted and honour won, but stabbed by the pen-knife of a brother officer, as they were walking together, apparently on friendly terms. The assassin was a Captain Norton, but the cause for the deed remains unknown.

Mrs. Cox had been most unfortunate in her matrimonial adventures. She was a widow when married to Captain Cox. Her first husband, Captain Thomas Batten, was shot dead at the siege of Dungarvan in 1642, a ball having pierced his forehead, and this second bereavement plunged her into consumption, which made such rapid havoc as to cause her death the following winter. The infant son was left to the care of his grandfather and ‘good unkle John Bird’ [Autobiography, p. 3.]. who placed him at school with a kind preceptor named Barry.

Here his diligence and industry indicated literary taste, and when of age to select a profession for the support of his future life, he chose the law, most probably because his uncle was the seneschal of the Manor Court of Bandon. These Manor Courts possessed a very extensive and varied jurisdiction, and the seneschal had highly important functions to discharge. Young Cox served his time to an attorney, and must have been admitted to practice very quickly, for we read of his engaging in the profession in his his eighteenth year. [Will’s Lives of Distinguished Irishmen, vol. iv. p. 2.] He soon gained a very general knowledge of his business, and extended his practice throughout the west of the county of Cork, until desirous of a larger sphere for his abilities, and feeling be was of the stuff of which good lawyers are made, he determined to get called to the Bar. He accordingly disposed of the property he inherited from his grandfather, near Kilworth, for 150*l., and deriving an income from some house-property assigned to his father in Galway, for arrears of pay, which yielded 26l. per annum, and having 50l. *saved from his practice, he accompanied the Earl of Burlington [This nobleman distinguished himself early in life. He was knighted at the age of 12, and, on the restoration of Charles II., was created Earl of Burlington; he succeeded his father as Earl of Cork.] to London to keep his law terms.

In 1671, Mr. Cox was a student of Gray’s Inn, when his unwearied application, acquaintance with legal procedure, acquired by his practice in the Irish local courts, and his superior intelligence, obtained him considerable notice. At the same time he seems not to have been earning any money, for he mentions, ‘I was not of full two years’ standing, when by great providence, and at the most critical juncture (my money being almost spent), friends were raised up to me, who found means to make me one of the surveyors at Sir Robert Shaftoe’s [Sir Robert Shaftoe, of Whitworth, County Durham, Serjeant-at-Law and Recorder of Newcastle; he died 1705.] reading.’ The reader fell ill two days before he was to perform his part in the Hall, and Mr. Cox was selected by Sir Robert himself to supply the place. He did it so admirably that he was called to the bar of Gray’s Inn on August 9, 1673. The Monday before, he argued the ‘Reader’s case,’ on short warning, so much to the satisfaction of a numerous and distinguished legal audience, that Sir Francis Ratcliffe [Created Baron of Tyndal, County Northumberland, and Earl of Derwentwater, &c., March 7, 1688; he died 1696.] offered him a hundred a-year and other great advantages if he would settle near him in the north of England. This tempting offer was declined, and Mr. Cox, as he says, ‘sequimur quo fata trahunt,’ returned to Ireland, landed at Dungarvan, and arrived at Bandon on January 11. He then took an important step, ‘by my unkle Bird’s advice I married my now wife, Mary Bourne, [Daughter of John Bourne, Esq., who had a grant of lands in the barony of Carbery, County Cork, in 1667, containing 612 acres. She died June 1, 1715.] on Thursday, February 26, 1674. She being but fifteen, I not full twenty-four years old; this was the rock I had like to split on, for though she provided a very good wife, yet being disappointed in her portion, which was ill paid by her mother, and by driblets, and from whom I also received some other unkindnesses, I retired into the country and lived at Cloghnakilty for seven years, but very plentifully and pleasantly.’ [Autobiography. Edited by Rjchard Caulfield, Esq., B.A., p. 11.] At Clonakilty he took a farm, and sank gradually into that kind of indolence to which persons of intellectual temper are most liable when deprived of their congenial and proper excitement in the atmosphere of ambition or studious conversation. [Wills’s Lives of Distinguished Irishmen, Cox, vol. iv. p. 7.] But there were little wrestlers for daily bread whose claims were too clamorous to be silenced, and as he says, ‘considering my charge of children, I roused myself from that lethargy and resolved to struggle for a better fortune;’ accordingly he removed to Cork, the capital of the province of Munster, where a great deal of local business rewards the competent barrister. Here his legal acquirements procured him the Recordership of Kinsale, and we may Judge how fully his talents as a lawyer were employed when he made 500*l. *the first year.

His zeal for the Protestant religion occasionally outran his discretion. In April 1679 he was chosen chairman of the Quarter Sessions for the County of Cork, held in Bandon when ‘With the zeal and sincerity of a good Protestant,’ says Harris, [Harris’s Life of Cox, p. 208.] ‘he took occasion to expose in his charge the villanies, the cruelties, and the impositions of Popery, with such good spirit and sense that he mightily animated the Protestants, and as highly provoked the Papists. So sensible were the former of the great service done them by this seasonable charge, that in a body they publicly thanks for it that day, and one of them said, “That he must expect that the revenge of the Papists, if it ever fell into their power, would be proportioned to his merit with the Protestants; ” Mr. Cox replied, “That he was not in any danger, for he had studied them thoroughly and therefore would never trust them, nor live under their jurisdiction.’” While such rancorous feeling was entertained by an educated and intelligent judge, who, as Recorder, had power over the persons and properties of his Majesty’s Catholic subjects, we cannot feel surprised at the disunion and disaffection which prevailed throughout the kingdom. The fearful atrocities practised upon the Irish by the soldiers of Elizabeth and the undertakers of James I. led to the attempted retaliation of 1641, and the fate of the old families during the sway of Cromwell was fresh in the memory of their children when Charles II. was restored to the throne. Instead of doing justice to these Catholic noblemen and gentry who had devoted their lives and fortunes to the cause of his father, he allowed the Irish government to remain in thge hands of those who hated the religion and the people of Ireland; and who can feel surprise if they were hated in return? That kindness begets hatred is equally so; no wonder then if the Protestants trembled when their misued power was wrested from their hands.

When the failing health of Charles II. warned the Irish ascendency party their reign too was drawing to a close, Cox made up his mind to shun danger. He recollected the fate of the poet Spenser, who having roused the enmity of the Irish, had his castle of Kilcolman burned, and narrowly escaped with his life, while one of his sons was killed during the conflagration.

In 1685 the accession of James II. to the throne of Great Britain and Ireland took place. This event was regarded by Irish Protestants with the greatest consternation, and many fled in affright from the land. Among these panic-stricken refugees was Cox. He relinquished his practice, which was considerable, and removed with his family to Bristol. He preceded them by some months; the date of his departure for England being April 7, 1687, while his wife and children remained in Cork until the following June. They settled in Bristol, where he found kind friends, and probably many, who like himself left Ireland, selected it as their residence. He was too active in mind, and too straitened in purse, to remain idle. Luckily his profession enabled him to practise in England, and his reputation had preceded him; so he soon earned an income as a barrister sufficient for the support of his family. He had a wife and five children dependent upon him, and when he felt those tender fingers plucking at his gown, he was not the man to deny their claims to his best exertions, Nor was his pen idle. It was at this period he compiled the Hibernia Anglicana.

[This work, published in London in 1689, is a history of Ireland from the conquest thereof by the English to the period of its publication, It is dedicated to King William and Queen Mary, and, written by a zealous supporter of the Prince of Orange, nearly all the authorities referred to are one-sided, therefore its statements must be received with extreme caution. Those who maintain the early civilisation and learning of the Irish before the invasion will be amused at the following: ‘What I aim at is to show that the Irish did continue in their barbarity, poverty, and ignorance until the English conquest; and that all the improvements themselves or their country received, and their great difference between their manners and conditions now and then, is to be ascribed to the English Government, under which they have lived far happier than ever they did under the tyranny of their own lords.’ - Cox’s Hibernia Anglicana, Preface.]

While sojourning at Bristol Mr. Cox made a most valuable acquaintance, whose friendship mainly caused his advancement in after life - that of Sir Richard Southwell, who at this time resided at King’s Weston, near Bristol. This gentleman left an honoured name. Harris speaking of him says, ‘than whom the world could not show a man of more religion, virtue, and wisdom.’ Cox calls him ‘one of the worthyest persons in the world, who has proved the best friend I ever had.’ [Autobiography, p. 12.]

Cox was a far-seeing politician. Judging that the English nation had resolved upon dethroning James II, and the chances of the Prince of Orange mounting the throne were very great, he hastened to London and cast the weight of his talents and the influence they commanded into the scale of the Stadtholder. He published a pamphlet urging the necessity of giving the crown to William, and sending relief to the Irish Protestants. It was very successful, and recommended the writer to the future King.

The zeal and ability displayed by Mr. Cox in the cause of the Prince was not left unrewarded. He was offered the post of secretary to the Duke of Schomberg, when that veteran warrior was appointed to the command of the forces against King James in Ireland, but being unacquainted with French, he did not feel at liberty to accept this office. When William determined to conduct the war against his father-in-law in person, and Sir Robert Southweli was appointed Secretary of State to accompany him, Sir Robert had the opportunity of proving his friendship for Mr, Cox. He selected his son, his kinsman, Captain Waller, and Mr. Richard Cox his secretaries, and treated them with equal kindness. They acted as secretaries, but were used as companions, rode in the same coach, lay in the same tent, and had their meals at the same table. [Autobiography, p. 12.]

It was at this time Mr. Cox’s knowledge of Irish affairs and capacity for business were displayed. The secret despatches and greater part of the intelligence were submitted to him, and his readiness and accuracy greatly pleased the Prince, who loved to find those in his service, whether civil or military, competent to the discharge of their duties. The clearness of Mr. Cox’s views and his statements, always based upon reliable information, was of such a nature that Sir Robert Southwell trusted him implicitly, and on a momentous occasion, when the fate of the kingdom was at stake, we find he was to be relied on. When the two armies were at length face to face, on the eve of the decisive Battle of the Boyne, the number and strength of the army of King James II. was reported to the Prince of Orange to be far more numerous than Sir Robert Southwell, acting on Mr, Cox’s information, stated them to be. An officer lately deserted from the Irish camp, detailed their number and position in so plausible a manner that the Prince was greatly disconcerted, and told Sir Robert ‘he was certainly misinformed, for the Irish forces were far more than he imagined.’ Sir Robert, in great surprise and some trepidation, imparted the King’s fears and the cause to his secretary. Mr. Cox bade him not be the least alarmed, that he had not reported upon any conjecture, but on undoubted authority. ‘Let us, sir,’ he said, ‘test the accuracy of this fellow,’ ‘How may that be done, Mr. Cox?’ asked Sir Robert. ‘Let him pass through our camp,’ replied Mr. Cox; ‘survey it at his leisure, and then, when he has completed his survey, report to his Majesty what he computes the number of our forces to be.’

This excellent suggestion pleased the King, and was at once acted on. When the Irish deserter made his report, he confidently affirmed the English army to be more than *double *the number William knew they were. He dismissed the deserter with reproof as a ‘conceited ill-guesser,’ and highly commended the sagacity of Mr. Cox in so cleverly discovering the falsehood. of the statement. [Harris’s Life of Cox, p. 210.]

When the victorious monarch led his troops in triumph to Dublin, the ‘King’s Declaration’ was written at Finglas by Mr. Cox, and met the thoughts of William so exactly, that he would not alter a word of the draft, declaring, in very complimentary terms, that ‘Mr. Cox had exactly hit his own mind.’

Further preferment awaited the secretary. On the surrender of Waterford, Mr, Cox was appointed Recorder, but the office appearing to the King inferior to what his services merited, his Majesty, with a consideration which does him credit, desired Sir Robert Southwell to enquire of Mr, Cox ‘what employment he desired?’ The Bench is naturally the object of every lawyer’s ambition, and a seat in the Common Pleas being then vacant, Mr. Cox named this, which was immediately acceded to, and he was sworn in, April 15, 1690. He now hoped for some repose from affairs of State, and, conscious of many imperfections in his Hibernia Anglicana, was meditating a new and corrected edition when he was selected, together with Robert Rochfort, Esq., and Sir Richard Pyne, to execute various governmental Commissions. The Commissioners had full power for ordering out and equipping the militia, to examine and report upon the conduct of officers and soldiers in garrison towns, and restore the country, torn and disorganised during the late wars, into order and obedience to law, They set to work with great diligence at Ardee, Drogheda, Wexford, Waterford, and Cork, and Mr. Justice Cox received a letter from the Viceroy, Lord Sidney, dated at Whitehall, ‘acknowledging the great zeal and affection which upon all occasions he had showed for his Majesty’s service, and assuring him it would be remembered to his advantage.’

He was the means of preventing Lord Clancarty, a prisoner in the hands of the Government, being exchanged for a Dutch officer, taken by the French. Judge Cox advised the grand jury of the county of Cork to represent his lordship’s hostility to the English and Protestant interest, and the little probability of ever seeing an English plantation in the county of Cork if he was returned to his estate. This presentment was laid before the Lords Justices, and by them transmitted to the King, with such support from Lords Sidney and Burlington as induced the King to refuse the exchange, and for this Judge Cox received the thanks of the Protestants of the county. He issued protections to all adherents of the late King James II. who submitted to King William III.

The state of Ireland in 1691 obliged men to fill a variety of offices, though apparently requiring quite opposite qualities. Thus, within half a year from Cox being seated on the Bench of the Common Pleas, we find him appointed Military Governor of Cork. His administration showed great talents for the field of war as well as the courts of justice. He quickly raised and equipped eight regiments of cavalry and three of infantry, which did great execution among the adherents of the House of Stuart, and took about ten thousand pounds worth of their property. Cox states:- ‘I tooke no share of it myself, though I might have had the tenth, but in everything I acted the part of a true Englishman, whose heart was in the cause, and in requital, had a very hearty address of thanks from both countryes, and received from the Government 150l. by concordatum, and from their Majestyes an abatement of half my quit-rent for ever. [Autobiography, p. 13.] He managed the troops under his command so skilfully as to be able to send 1,000 to the camp of William before Limerick, and to keep a frontier eighty miles long, from Tallow to Slierkin, and did not lose ten men.

While he was Governor of Cork the following letter was addressed by him to Sir James Cotter, of Ballinspurrigg, an old acquaintance and a faithful adherent of James II. He was a brigadier-general in the army of King James:-

‘Cork, July 6, 1691.

‘Sir, - Upon the score of our former acquaintance, and the civility which you have used to our friends whilst you were Governor here, and since I think myself obliged to let you know that I have both station and inclination to serve you. If it should happen that you throw yourself upon me, without capitulation (for your party is certainly ruined, and will every minute decay), you shall undoubtedly be used as a man of honour; but if you are of this opinion, bring off as many as you can and their arms, because your terms will be so much the better, This will seem odd if you don’t apprehend the case desperate; but because I am sure ‘tis so, therefore you have this friendly advertisement from,

‘Sir, your very affectionate

‘Friend and servant,

‘Richard Cox.’

This letter reached Sir James, who, not despairing of the situation, made the following friendly reply:-

‘Sir, - Notwithstanding our former acquaintance, it seems you do not know me. Whatever I might have done with sitting still, when laid aside, in civilities - which for justice’s sake I distributed without distinction - I am now convinced, and will, I doubt not, be in a condition to return your kindness, for really your case is so desperate that you will soon have an occasion for it, and be confident in anything that is just, you find me, Sir,

‘Your very affectionate friend and servant,

‘James Cotter.

‘Give, I pray you, my services to all old acquaintances.’

Sir Richard Cox was better acquainted with the true state of affairs than his old friend. Sir James sued for his protection, which was readily granted. [Gibson’s History of Cork, vol. ii. p. 169.]

He continued to act as Governor of Munster until the close of the year 1692, when he received the well-earned honour of knighthood. The ceremony was performed with the Sword of State in the Castle of Dublin, by his Excellency Lord Sidney, who was a steadfast friend, not only during his Viceroyalty, but when the changes of fortune had doomed both to taste the bitterness of ill-requited services.

The versatility of Sir Richard Cox’s talents was displayed on April 26, 1693, at a meeting of the Dublin Philosophical Society, held in the Provost’s Rooms in Trinity College, when he read a paper entitled ‘A Geographical Description of the City and County of Derry, and of the County of Antrim,’ before a critical and gratified audience. He bestowed very considerable attention on this important subject, and designed a geographical description of the entire kingdom, of which, however, the above paper is all I can find. It was to have included a natural history of Ireland. Upon reading this valuable essay, he was admitted a Fellow of the Philosophical Society, together with the Most Rev. Dr. Vesey, Archbishop of Tuam, and the Hon. Francis Roberts, younger son of the Earl of Radnor, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland [Harris’s Life of Cox. P. 214.] Shortly after this Sir Richard visited London, and was most cordially received. Lord Godolpbin, then Premier, told him ‘that his services were so considerable that they were bound to do for him what they could.’ This polite speech, unlike many ministers’ speeches, meant real benefit, and he obtained an abatement of half his quit rent, and the office of Commissioner of Forfeitures, with a salary of 400l. per annum.

But Cox little thought this recognition of his services would cause him much obloquy and annoyance. It has, however, served to place his character in the light of an honourable and upright man, a rare character for a politician in those days. He was quite aware that, at the time of the capitulation of Limerick, the Lords Justices, instructed by King William III., were quite prepared to assure the Irish of much more favourable and extensive conditions than they afterwards obtained by the Articles of Limerick. His Majesty’s instructions were reduced into a Proclamation, which was afterwards styled, *the Secret Proclamation, * because, though it was printed, it never was published. For the Lords Justices, finding the garrison capitulating on terms better for the English interest, withheld the Proclamation. [Harris’s Life of Cox, p. 214.] There was, however, a vast number who considered the measure dealt out by the Treaty of Limerick far too good for the Irish Papists; and the Sunday after the Lords Justices returned to Dublin, the Bishop of Meath, preaching before the Governors at Christ Church, argued, ‘that peace ought not to be observed with a people so perfidious; that they kept neither articles nor oaths longer than was for their interest; and that, therefore, these articles, which were intended for a security, would form a snare, and would only enable the rebels to play their pranks again on the first opportunity.’

This monstrous attack was replied to on the following Sunday, by the Bishop of Kildare, who contended ‘the public faith should be kept inviolate,’ and spoke so kindly of Roman Catholics, that he pleased the King, who re-moved the name of the Bishop of Meath from the list of Privy Councillors, and put in his place that of the Bishop of Kildare. Yet the public were so divided by those two right reverend opponents, that a third divine attempted to settle the matter in dispute, and Dean Synge discoursed on these words, ‘Keep peace with all men, *if it be poesible.’ *In 1701, Sir Richard Cox became Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.

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