1690 appointed to administer the government under Mary; and on the 4th of June, William set out for Ireland. 23. The Battle of the Boyne.-Preparations for a regular campaign in Ireland, had been making, from the day that the report of James's landing at Kinsale had reached London. Owing to the corruption which pervaded every department of the administration, these preparations had proved utterly defective, and Marshal Schomberg, who had landed at Carrickfergus on the 13th of August, 1689, with 16,000 men, had been unable to do more than entrench himself at Dundalk, where his forces, reduced by sickness and famine, were now posted. and Irish For these reasons, William took care to superintend in person the preparations for his own expedition, and on the 14th June, 1690, he landed at Belfast with a small, but well appointed and well disciplined army, half of which was composed of Englishmen, and the remainder of Scotch, Dutch, Danes and French. Every soldier was of the Protestant faith and devoted to the King's cause. In the meantime, the Irish army had been rein- The English forced with more than 7,000 infantry and was now under armies. the command of the Count de Lauzun. James's original intention was, to try the chances of a pitched battle, between Leinster and Ulster, at the pass near Moyra Castle, now known as Ravensdale. But Lauzun overruled his purpose, and the Irish receded from their camp near Dundalk, to Donore on the right bank of the Boyne. The next day (30th June) William came up with his forces, and found the enemy encamped along the river in two strong lines, defended by intrenchments and batteries. Notwithstanding the strength of this position, he resolved to force the passage on the morrow, and rode along the bank to reconnoitre. While thus engaged, accompanied by his staff, the enemy brought two field pieces to bear upon the party, False report and the King was struck. A cry was instantly raised death. that he was killed, the report of which spread through Europe, used intense excitement. of William's At dawn the next day, the English right, under the son of Marshal Schomberg, accompanied by the Earl of Portland, was detached to the bridge of Slane, for the purpose of turning the Irish left. To defeat this movement, Lauzun with his infantry, and the Irish horse under Sarsfield, also left the main army; so that the Irish, under Tyrconnel and Hamilton, were left First move. alone, to defend the fords near Oldbridge. About ten battle. ments in the the river. CHAP. 1. o'clock, the English left wing, under William, composed wholly of cavalry, prepared to pass the river above Drogheda, which was held by the enemy, and at the same time, the infantry in the centre, under Schomberg, also advanced to the fords. Count Solmes's Blue Dutch Guards were the first to plunge into the water; the men of Londonderry and Enniskillen followed; to the left of these were the French; next to them were the English; and beyond these again, further down the river were the Danes. Every man wore a green bough in his hat, in obedience to an order issued the night before. When the advancing lines reached the middle of the stream, they were saluted with a terrible shout from the Irish, who lined the breastworks on the opposite bank; but the The fight in Protestant ranks pressed resolutely on, and in another moment the whole Irish foot gave way, without striking a blow or firing a shot. The cavalry, under Hamilton, gallantly attempted to retrieve this disgraceful rout. They maintained a desperate fight in the bed of the river, with the Dutch Blues; and they drove the Danes and French back into the water. Old Marshal Schomberg saw the danger, and instantly rallied the Huguenots, who had lost their commander, exclaiming "Allons, messieurs ! Voilà vos persécuteurs." But Schomberg fell in this brave attack, and at the same moment, Walker, who had accompanied the men of Londonderry, was shot dead. Just at this critical juncture, William came up with his left wing, and decided the fate of the day. The Irish horse retreated towards Donore, and made their last stand at Plottin Castle, about a mile and a half south of Oldbridge, where Hamilton was wounded and taken prisoner. When King James, from his tent on the hill near the church of Donore, saw that the battle was going against him, he was seized with terror, and galloped all that night to Dublin, accompanied by Sarsfield's cavalry. He then made all speed across the Wicklow mountains, reached Waterford on the 3rd of July, and proceeded thence by sea to Kinsale, where he embarked for France. Death of King James flies to France. The French auxiliaries, who had been employed in keeping William's right wing in check, covered the retreat of the beaten army. The sacrifice of life in this momentous battle, was comparatively small. The Irish lost about 1,500 men, chiefly cavalry; the loss of the conquerors did not exceed 500. The next day Drogheda surrendered; and on the 3rd of July the Duke of Ormond secured Dublin, which William entered on the 8th.* * Macaulay, V., 247-276. 1690 descent on These triumphs were somewhat overclouded by the ill success which attended William's arms, in England and on the Continent. The allied forces were defeated at Fleurus by the Duke of Luxembourg (1st July); the English fleet, as has already been shown, incurred a shameful defeat off Beachy Head; and the French under Tourville landed on the coast of Devonshire, and French burnt the little town of Teignmouth. But this descent Devonshire. seriously injured the cause which it was meant to support. All parties forgot their animosities in the dread of foreign subjection; and those who had been loudest in their clamours against William, now identified his cause with that of the national independence. When the Parliament re-assembled, after the King's return from Ireland, supplies were voted for the war to the amount of four millions. Secret meeting of invite James to return. 24. Preston and Ashton's Plot. This explosion of patriotic feeling, cowed the Jacobites for the time; but they soon began to revive, and at a secret meeting which they held in December, 1690, a paper was drawn up, strongly Jacobites, to urging James to return, accompanied by a French force. It was resolved that Preston should carry this paper to St. Germain's, and John Ashton, who had been Clerk of the Closet, to Mary of Modena, with one Elliot, undertook to procure the means of conveyance. The master of the smack, who had arranged to convey them to France, suspected their purpose, and on his information, they were arrested below Gravesend, while sailing down the river. Papers of great importance were found upon Preston. Among these were-a list of the English Fleet, furnished by Dartmouth; a minute of the resolutions drawn up at the recent meeting; the heads of a Declaration which James was advised to publish on his landing; and letters from Clarendon, Turner, Bishop of Ely, and other persons of note. Pres- Chief ton and Ashton, as the two leading conspirators, were implicated convicted and sentenced to death; Elliot was released, in the Plot. Ashton was speedily executed, but Preston's fate was held in suspense, in the hope that fear would impel him to make disclosures. He confessed that Clarendon, Dartmouth, Turner, and William Penn were implicated with him, and also imputed guilty knowledge of his designs, to Ormond, Devonshire, Dorset, and others. After six months' confinement in the Tower, Clarendon was ordered to retire to the country; Dartmouth died in the Tower * Macaulay V., 286-289 persons CHAP. I. at the end of a few weeks; Turner escaped to France; and Penn, after hiding in London, was allowed to follow him. Preston was ultimately pardoned, and he spent the remainder of his days at a lonely Manor House, in the North Riding of Yorkshire.* The accusation against Devonshire and the others was regarded by the King as false, and the confidence with which he treated them, made them all the more faithful to his interests. 25. Deprivation of the Non-juring Bishops.-The detection of this conspiracy, led to the deprivation of the non-juring bishops (February, 1691), because in the letters of Turner, which had been taken, he had assured James in the name of the rest, that all these prelates were ready to join in any movement for his restoration. Tillotson, Dean of St. Paul's, succeeded Sancroft as Archbishop of Canterbury; Patrick, Stillingfleet, Moore, Kidder, and Fowler filled the other vacancies; all of them men of moderate principles and calm tempers. Sherlock, who had given up his non-juring opinions, succeeded Tillotson in the Deanery of St. Paul's, to the intense disgust of the Jacobites. The bishops who were thus deprived, with the exception of Ker, who retired to a tranquil asylum at Longleat, attempted to to set up a separate ecclesiastical system. They attempt set up a new communion under the sanction of Sancroft. They regarded themselves still as lawful bishops, and applied to James for powers to appoint their successors. The schismatical hierarchy which they sought to establish, had a brief duration. They differed in their views, some leaning towards Rome, and others scrupulously observing the Prayer-book Ritual. Their flocks gradually fell off, and at length in 1805, the last bishop of this curious sect died unnoticed and in obscurity.† 26. The Pacification of Limerick.-The captures of Cork and Kinsale by the Earl of Marlborough (Sept. 1690), were the only achievements which followed the Battle of the Boyne. The year 1691 was, however, a year of great events. Large supplies of arms, ammunition, and provisions, were despatched from France, a French fleet rode in the Shannon, and two French generals assumed the command of the troops. General Ginkell, an experienced Dutch officer, was now in command of the English forces. On the 7th of June, Ballymore was assaulted and taken; the capture of Athlone followed on the 30th after some sharp fighting; and on the 12th of July the decisive battle of Aghrim was fought, in which seven thousand *Macaulay, V., 357-365, VII., 16-34. + Ibid., VI. 33-53. Capture of 1691 of the enemy were slain. Ginkell followed up his victory by obtaining the capitulation of Galway, and the remnant of the Irish army then retired to Limerick, the only asylum now left for the vanquished race. On the day when the English army came within sight of this city, Tyrconnel died (11th of August), and in five weeks afterwards, the garrison capitulated on the conditions which constituted the so-called Pacification of Limerick, 3rd October, 1691. 1. This treaty was composed of two parts, one civil, the other military. By the first article of the civil treaty it was conceded, that "The Roman Catholics of this kingdom (Ireland) should enjoy such privileges in the exercise of their religion, as were consistent with the laws of Ireland, or as they were enjoyed in the reign of Charles II.; and that their Majesties, as soon as their affairs would permit them to summon a Parliament in this kingdom, would endeavour to procure the said Roman Catholics such further security in that particular, as would preserve them from any disturbance on the account of their said religion." 2. The second article secured to the inhabitants of Limerick and other garrisons then in possession of the Irish, and to all officers and soldiers then in arms, who should return to their Majesties' obedience, all their estates, and such rights, privileges and immunities, as were held by them in the reign of Charles II., free from all forfeitures or outlawries incurred by them. 3. The military treaty provided that all persons whatsoever could remove out of Ireland, to any other country except England or Scotland; that those soldiers who chose to leave the country, should be conveyed to the coast at the expense of England, and that those who remained were to surrender their arms. In virtue of this stipulation, about fourteen thousand soldiers embarked under Sarsfield for France, where they entered the service of Louis, and under the name of the Irish Brigade, redeemed on many a well-fought field, the reputation they had lost at Aghrim and the Boyne. of Limerick The treaty was regarded by the Irish Roman Catholics as the great Charter of their civil and religious liberties. But, unfortunately, the Parliament of Ireland became wholly The Treaty Protestant, and laws were passed which not only denied not observed. to them the exercise of their religion, but also deprived them of the most sacred civil rights, and which, remarks Hallam, "have scarce a parallel in European history, unless it be that of the Protestants in France, after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes." The Irish, therefore, had abundant reason for giving to Limerick the name of "The City of the Violated Treaty." 27. Establishment of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.-The aspect of affairs in Scotland, had much improved during the progress of these events in Ireland. The Club had sunk under general contempt, and its leaders, finding their Decline of "The Club." • Constitutional History, II., 561; Froude's English in Ireland, I., 202-206. |