At the end of 1653, the parliament made a division of the spoil among the conquerors and the adventurers; and, on September 26, an act was passed for the new planting of Ireland by English.  The Government reserved for itself the towns, the church lands, and the tithes, the established church, hierarchy and all, having been utterly abolished.  The four counties of Dublin, Kildare, Carlow, and Cork were also reserved.  The amount due to the adventurers was 360,000 l.  This they divided into three lots, of which 110,000 l. was to be satisfied in Munster, 205,000 l. in Leinster, and 45,000 l. in Ulster, and the moiety of ten counties was charged with their payment—­Waterford, Limerick, and Tipperary, in Munster; Meath, Westmeath, King’s and Queen’s Counties, in Leinster; and Antrim, Down, and Armagh, in Ulster.  But, as all was required by the Adventurers Act to be done by lot, a lottery was appointed to be held in Grocers’ Hall, London, for July 20, 1653, to begin at 8 o’clock in the morning, when lots should be first drawn in which province each adventurer was to be satisfied, not exceeding the specified amounts in any province; lots were to be drawn, secondly, to ascertain in which of the ten counties each adventurer was to receive his land—­the lots not to exceed in Westmeath 70,000 l., in Tipperary 60,000 l., in Meath 55,000 l., in King’s and Queen’s Counties 40,000 l. each, in Limerick 30,000 l., in Waterford 20,000 l., in Antrim, Down, and Armagh 15,000 l. each.  And, as it was thought it would be a great encouragement to the adventurers (who were for the most part merchants and tradesmen), about to plant in so wild and dangerous a country, not yet subdued, to have soldier planters near them, these ten counties, when surveyed (which was directed to be done immediately, and returned to the committee for the lottery at Grocers’ Hall), were to be divided, each county by baronies, into two moieties, as equally as might be, without dividing any barony.  A lot was then to be drawn by the adventurers, and by some officer appointed by the Lord General Cromwell on behalf of the soldiery, to ascertain which baronies in the ten counties should be for the adventurers, and which for the soldiers.

The rest of Ireland, except Connaught, was to be set out amongst the officers and soldiers for their arrears, amounting to 1,550,000 l., and to satisfy debts of money or provisions due for supplies advanced to the army of the commonwealth amounting to 1,750,000 l.  Connaught being by the parliament reserved and appointed for the habitation of the Irish nation, all English and Protestants having lands there, who should desire to remove out of Connaught into the provinces inhabited by the English, were to receive estates in the English parts, of equal value, in exchange.

The next thing was to clear out the remnant of the inhabitants, and the overture to this performance was the following merciful proclamation:—­