us to peeces, terming us Pewritan rogges, and all the base names that might bee," the castle held out in despite of the oaths, the hugh sows, and the leathern piece of cannon. The description and fate of the last weapon of offence deserves insertion :

"The said piece was aboutt 5 foote in length, not bult upon caredge, but fastened in a stocke of timber. This goon thaye planted in the great trench, neere the Castell, to be redy when thaye found accation to discharge har, the diametre being aboutt 5 inches; the lethar thaye made har withall was leetell better than halfe tand.-The next morning thaye made triell of there lethern gun at us, but shee only gave a great report, having 3 of powthar in har, butt let fly backwarde, the bullett remaining within."-Pp. 18-19.

Except as a record of the barbarous manners of the Irish of that day, and the low state of their science of war, this narrative fails in elucidating any important point in the history of the time; unless the following quotation may be taken in evidence either of the reality or the uncertainty of the intentions of the king's friends in Ireland :

"Vowing that shortly Sir Phelim O'Neale, and at least 40,000 souldars, would come in to Thomond and not leve a Protestant living, praing hartely for them, pretending that they then fought for hem; but within a short time after thaye pretended that thaye were wholy the Queenes armey, and that shee and har mother was in the north aiding them, but noe Protestant admitted to luck uppon har. This nott sudenly altard, and then thaye were all for the king, vowing deeply that thaye were his Majesty's Catholic foreces."-P. 16.

The second narrative is as well more interesting as important than its predecessor. Under the title of "Macaria Excidium," or the destruction of Cyprus, written originally in Greek by Philotas Philoxypres, translated into Latin by Gratianus Ragallus, and Englished by C. O'K., we have Colonel Kelly's account of the last struggle, between James and William, from the fatal defeat at the Boyne, to the final conquest of Ireland by the troops of William of Orange. Bred in his infancy at St. Omers, an accomplished scholar, a brave soldier, distinguished for his success on behalf of the king in Ireland, for his fidelity to the ill-fated Charles and his banished son, his persecutions during his residence abroad, he returned with. his royal master, highly esteemed for his learning, his loyalty, and his great services at home and abroad. In the reign of James he was member for the shire of Roscommon, and a privy counsellor of Ireland; and naturally devoted to that family for whose title to the throne he had fought and suffered, and educated in the Roman Catholic faith, he transferred his devotion to the last of the Stuart kings, and endeavoured to support with his abilities, his piety, and his knowledge, the falling cause. The narrative of one so closely united with the cause of James as Colonel Kelly, even had he allowed his feelings for the unfortunate Stuarts to have biased his account, must have commanded respect from those who might disagree with the views of the author. The extracts which we shall make from this narrative will, we believe, convince our readers that

we are not over-estimating the knowledge and honesty of the writer, when we regard this his short account as most important and trustworthy. The effect of the colonel's testimony is to exonerate the Irish followers of James from the common charge of cowardice and infidelity, and to ascribe the successes of William to the abandonment of the Irish troops by James, their neglect by their French allies, and their betrayal by the treachery of Tyrconnell.

When James returned to Ireland from the court of France, the city of Derry, and a few other places of little importance or strength in the province of Ulster, adhered to the cause of the Prince of Orange. Instead of proceeding with vigour in the prosecution of the siege of Derry, and taking advantage of the fiery spirit of his Irish troops, James began to temporize and vacillate. By his refusal to summon the Roman Catholic bishops to the assembly of the states, or to mitigate the laws of Elizabeth against the Romanists, he threw a cloud over the enthusiasm of his Roman Catholic subjects, whilst his abolition of the act of Charles, by which the Cromwell grants were confirmed, alienated the minds of his Protestant supporters. At the moment that Schomberg was landing in Ireland, and not till then, James sent forth his commissions to raise more troops to resist the invasion. The entire summer, however, was wasted. Schomberg, acting on the defensive, never appeared out of his trenches; whilst James, by neglecting to force the English camp when but slightly manned, lost a fair opportunity of checking if not putting an end to the war, instead of affording to Schomberg the glory of a successful resistance, and cowing the minds of his own soldiers by idleness and delay. The young commanders, however, longed for the winter gaieties of Dublin, and persuaded James to disband his new levies and return to the capital without any advantage, there to spend "the time for serious consultations and necessary preparations, in revels, gaming, and other debauches unfit for a Roman Catholic court."

"The rumour that spread of Theodore's (William's) coming in person to invade Cyprus (Ireland) that summer, encouraged his party there to endure the last extremity, in hopes of seeing now a speedy end to the war. But it did not so much alarm Amasis (James), who seemed resolved, in case Theodore (William) had not come over that season, to make no great effort to expel the Cilicians (English) out of Cyprus (Ireland). This resolution was believed to proceed from a wrong maxim of state, which his evil counsellors prompted him to embrace, that the only way to recover Cilicia (England) was to loose Cyprus (Ireland); for they persuaded him, that Cyprus (Ireland) being once reduced, the Cilicians (English) would immediately recall him, as they formerly brought in his brother Pythagoras (Charles). But this was a favour he could not hope for, whilst he headed a Cyprian (Irish) or a Syrian (French) army. And so, like the dog in the fable, he must let go the substance to snatch at the shadow.- -However, this grand design, communicated to only a few favourites, must be carried on so cleverly as not to be perceived by Antiochus (Lewis XIV.) or the old Cyprians (Irish); whereupon Amasis (James) made it his business to get Demetrius (Count d'Avaux), the Syrian (French) ambassador, and Rosines (M. de Rosin), a

brave captain, recommended him by Antiochus (Lewis XIV.), both removed out of Cyprus (Ireland), because as the first was a man of profound judgment, and the other could not be endured by Coridon (Tyrconnell), in regard that he was more knowing in the art of war than the captain-general, they could not well hope to compass their design, if these two great men continued in the kingdom.-Arvino (Count de St. Ausan), sent over in command of new French troops, was soon gained to their opinion, though we may reasonably suppose that the bottom of the design was not discovered to him, because it was so much against the interest of the king his master."Macar. Excid. pp. 34-37.

The arrival of William interrupted their consultations, and forced James to hasten with his new levies to meet the Prince of Orange. The previous disbanding of the troops by the advice of Tyrconnell, and the inconsiderate retreat of James before the army of William, by which the spirit of his raw troops was broken, seem to have been part of the plot for permitting William to conquer Ireland, and render it more than probable that James's ready flight from the banks of the Boyne," was not altogether occasioned by an act of pusillanimity, but rather proceeded from a wrong maxim of state." The eagerness with which James assured the French court that his cause in Ireland was ruined seems to agree with this view; whilst the conduct of Tyrconnell in preventing any true account of the retreat of the French troops from the Boyne to Dublin along with the Irish cavalry, from reaching Lewis, renders it more than probable that the entire conduct of the leaders at the battle was in accordance to the previous plot; the ulterior views of the captain-general were developed afterwards. The rapidity with which the Jacobite troops rallied at Dublin within a week after the defeat at the Boyne, at once surprised and annoyed Tyrconnell and St. Ausan. The latter seeing in this sudden rally a bar to his return to his native land, at least without the charge of cowardice; the other fearing for his credit, when he so lately assured James and Lewis that the cause of the former, and the troops of the latter, were utterly destroyed. Tyrconnell, however, was not to be out-manoeuvred as yet; he sent his wife and his wealth into France, instructed to lament the destruction of the royal cause; encouraged the longings of the French captains after their homes; and whilst he prevented Lewis from receiving true accounts from Ireland, he persuaded the Irish that it was useless to expect any assistance from the French monarch. To the remonstrance of the council of Limerick, and their wish to send some of their own body to represent to Lewis the real state of the royal cause, and the determination of the Irish to hold out, Tyrconnell returned a stern denial; and whilst he endeavoured to discourage the garrison of Limerick, by the false report of St. Ausan that the fortifications were defenceless, he laboured to corrupt the Irish leaders, and to convert them by fears and promises to the party of the Prince of Orange.

"William," says Colonel O'Kelly, " made no great haste to Limerick, to give Tyrconnell the more time for compassing his design to bring the

Cyprians to a general condescension for a treaty. But when he found matters well disposed, most of the prime commanders being already gained, he advanced near the town. Whereupon Sarsfield being sent for and arriving at Limerick, was much surprised to find such a change in the general officers, who however durst not act any thing contrary to the sentiment of the tribunes who headed the legions, who were for the most part of Sarsfield's resolution to continue the war. So that upon his arrival the defence of Limerick was resolved upon, and all the infantry ordered to man the place, excepting three legions appointed to guard some fords on the Shannon, the men at arms and light horse encamping near the city on the Connaught side.”*—Mac. Excid. pp. 45, 46.

William had no sooner arrived with his army, than Tyrconnell marched off the guards of the fords of the Shannon, and left the passage to the Connaught side of the river open, and immediately that the English horse appeared across the river, although they retired the same day, the captain-general and his inseparable St. Ausan drew off the horse that very night, without a shadow of resistance. Limerick, however, held out in despite of William's attacks and the treachery of Tyrconnell; and when the captaingeneral learnt that the excesses of the French troops, which he permitted in hopes of disgusting the Irish with their allies, had instead knit them together in a firm bond of resistance to his authority and of loyalty to James,

"he now convoked all the general officers at Galway, and produced to them (but it was under the seal of secrecy) a letter from James, containing his orders to such of the army as were willing to repair to him, to take this opportunity of the French fleet that then rid in that harbour, dispensing the rest from their oath of fidelity, and giving them free liberty to submit to William and make the best conditions they could for themselves."-Mac. Excid. p. 49.

The offer was met by Sarsfield, and the rest of the loyal generals, with a loud outcry, that false accounts had been given to the king, and that had he known how matters really were, he would rather have had them endure on to the last, and follow up their successes, than retire from the island; some few among the officers were willing to depart in the fleet, but against so bold a protest, accompanied with a threat of sending over those who should give a true account to the king, Tyrconnell withdrew his letter; and as soon as Limerick was freed from the pressure of the besieging army, and an opportunity opened for a bold attack on the disheartened English, he determined to embarrass matters by leaving the country, and committing the rule to the Duke of Berwick, and certain men, whose interest it was to ensure the success of the English, as they had purchased from the grantees of Cromwell the lands of the Irish, which the late act of James had restored to their original possessors. Without endeavouring further to unravel the viceroy's reason for leaving Ireland at the moment of returning success, we must extract his

*We have dropped the Greek names and titles, and shall do so in all future

extracts.

conduct to his confederate and sworn friend, St. Ausan, on his arrival in France.

Upon the arrival of the inseparable friends Tyrconnell and St. Ausan in the kingdom of France, the former received letters from his correspondents at court, whereby he understood that it was to no purpose to hope he might lay the blame of past miscarriages on the nation of Ireland, who by their gallant defence of Limerick acquired such reputation in the French court, that he must not think of justifying himself withal, and that no other was now left but to impute all the fault to St. Ausan, and his French troops. Tyrconnell having received this advice on the road, feigns himself indisposed, and altogether unable to continue his journey; but he earnestly pressed St. Ausan to hasten before him to court, and tell the story which was formerly concerted between them; that when he came up he would confirm it, and so after many reciprocal endearments and protestation of inviolable friendship, they parted. Deluded St. Ausan, making all speed to give both kings an account of the present condition of Ireland (as it was formerly agreed upon by the two friends), told that it was a lost country not to be retrieved; that the nation for the most part readily submitted to the Prince of Orange, to which they readily inclined; that those few who held out and defended Limerick were influenced by Tyrconnell, who was the life of the cause, he alone having hitherto preserved the cause of James in Ireland; so that St. Ausan omitted nothing that could be said in commendation of his friend's conduct and courage, not doubting when Tyrconnell came to tell his story, but he would give the like character of him. But here the Irish outwitted, or rather betrayed the French courtier; for Tyrconnell no sooner arrived than he told both kings that, though the affairs of Ireland were desperate, yet something more might be done for the interest of their majesties, if the French troops could be persuaded to stay at Limerick, or indeed to act any thing for the service of James or the interest of Lewis. Poor St. Ausan was thunderstruck at this unkind return from his dear friend, but it was not now in his power to gainsay the first account he solemnly gave of Tyrconnell's bravery; and Lewis was so much dissatisfied with his conduct in Ireland, that had not the earnest interposition of James and the entreaties of Queen Mary prevented it, his apartment would be certainly prepared in that dungeon, where he had it formerly, for his presumption to pretend to a great lady of the royal blood."-Mac. Excid. p. 54, 55.

No form of government could have been devised more completely suited to the plans of Tyrconnell than that to which he entrusted the command on his departure from Ireland. The council of officers quarrelled with Sarsfield, and Sarsfield with the officers; the new interest men, as the holders of the Cromwell forfeitures were called, fell out with the original owners of the lands, and that large party, who considered a council of government illegal; whilst the Duke of Berwick, by blowing hot and cold, and siding alternately with both parties, contrived to make a great show of business and moderation, and effectually to do nothing, except hinder the projects of the party, who really desired to regain the crown for James. The refusal of Lewis to grant any further efficient succour to the Irish, renders it probable that, notwithstanding the precautions of James and his advisers, he was aware of the plan of giving up Ireland, though at the same time he had sufficient trust in the patriot party in the island to send