248 



IRELAND. 



History, land, James resolved to direct his march thither. Lon- 

 """V"* donderry was to be first reduced. In this city Lundy 

 , commanded, a man suspected of attachment to James, 

 n * but to whom William, in the midst of his embarras- 

 ments, had been obliged to commit this important place. 

 The suspicion that attached to him was too well found- 

 ed. He refused to defend the town ; and had it not 

 been for the skill and intrepidity of George Walker, a 

 clergyman, James would instantly have gained admit- 

 tance into it. The inhabitants, encouraged by him, re- 

 solved to defend the town, and elected Walker, and a 

 Major Baker, their governors. The garrison consisted 

 of 7361 men ; but there was not one well mounted can- 

 non, no engineer, no person who possessed any consi- 

 derable degree of military skill. The fortifications 

 too, originally not strong, were by no means in a good 

 state, the stores were few; and besides the garrison, there 

 were 30,000 people, who could be of'Jittle or no use, to 

 maintain. Under such circumstances, they determined 

 to defend their town against James' army, consisting of 

 20,000 men, well equipped in every respect, prepa- 

 red for the siege, and led by him in person. It is not to 

 be supposed that Walker and his brave associates were 

 qualified to defend the town according to the rules of 

 military art. They depended solely on zeal, perseve- 

 rance, and courage. Their sallies were frequent, 

 fierce, and destructive to the besiegers ; and so confi- 

 dent were they in themselves, that they always kept 

 the gates open, in order that they might sally forth 

 whenever an opportunity occurred ; and when James' 

 army battered the walls, they told them that was use- 

 less, as they might enter by the gates if they were so 

 disposed. 



The prospect of reducing this place, so defended, ap- 

 peared to James so distant, that after having continued 

 his assaults for eleven days, he returned to Dublin, 

 leaving his forces with orders to continue the siege. 

 From force, there seemed now no chance of gaining the 

 town. The besiegers, therefore, resolved to wait pa- 

 tiently till famine forced it to surrender. Of the ap- 

 proach of this, the inhabitants were not unapprehen- 

 sive ; but they trusted that supplies of forces and pro- 

 visions would speedily arrive from England ; and, in 

 the mean time, the clergy in the town, both of the esta- 

 blishment and belonging to the dissenters, by daily ad- 

 dressing the people in the cathedral, kept up and even 

 increased their determination never to yield. 



But the period seemed now near at hand, when hu- 

 man nature, however reluctantly, must give way to fa- 

 tigue, hunger, and disease united ; and the hopes of 

 the inhabitants had almost deserted them, when thirty 

 ships were descried in Loch Foyle, containing arms, 

 ammunition, provisions, and troops. Animation now 

 lighted up every eye, and filled every bosom ; but this 

 feeling was soon turned into despair, when the fleet, 

 instead of approaching the town, sailed away. The 

 commander, however, informed them, that he would 

 attempt by another route to send them the necessary 

 articles ; but from this intelligence, in their present 

 state of mind, they derived little confidence. 



The army of James was commanded by a German 

 ef the name of Rosen, a man whose experience in war 

 was great, but who was equally distinguished for his 

 ferocity. Enraged to madness at the defence of the 

 town, he ordered all the Protestants in the neighbour- 

 hood to be driven under its walls, where they must 

 have perished, had not James, with more humanity, or 

 perhaps only more policy, directed that they should be 

 released. 



The town had been first assailed on the 17th of April. Histmy.- 

 On the 30th of July, three ships were seen in Loch " ~v~ 

 Foyle, part of those which kad before appeared there. 

 On these vessels the eyes both of the besiegers. and be- 

 sieged were anxiously fixed. The attempt to approach 

 the town was extremely difficult and hazardous ; and 

 the besiegers now did every thing in their power to in- 

 crease the difficulty and danger. Where fhe lake nar- 

 rowed, its shores were lined with batteries, and a boom 

 formed as strong as it could be made, was stretched 

 across this narrow part. This boom consequently must 

 be broken, before the vessels could possibly approach. 

 One of them came near it. All eyes were fixed on the 

 event. Sailing with considerable velocity, she broke the 

 boom. The besieged were almost intoxicate*! with joy, 

 when the next moment their joy was changed to despair, 

 on observing the vessel on shore, in consequence of the 

 rebound given her in breaking the boom. The next mo- 

 ment, the recoil of her guns, which were fired on the 

 besiegers as they attempted to take possession of her, 

 again set her afloat. The garrison were now relieved naised. ^ 

 from famine ; and as on famine alone the besieged had 

 trusted for success, they immediately retired, having 

 lost 8000 men. Of the 7360 of which the garrison 

 consisted, 4300 survived ; but a large proportion of 

 these were incapable of service. 



As soon as the Protestants of Enniskillen learnt the 

 issue of the siege, they went in pursuit of the enemy, 

 and not only harassed them, but by their rapid excur- 

 sions, struck terror even to the capital. At length three 

 different armies were sent against them. Two of these 

 they defeated, and the third, under the Duke of Ber- 

 wick, they obliged to retreat. 



In the mean time, James in Dublin had assembled a 

 parliament, composed almost entirely of Catholics. The 

 acts of this parliament were by no means calculated to 

 repress the violence of James' adherents, from which 

 indeed his cause suffered as much as from the opposi- 

 tion of the adherents of King William. Among the 

 first acts of this parliament, were the repeal of the act 

 of settlement, and the passing an act of attainder. The 

 last was equally distinguished by its impolicy, injus- 

 tice, and cruelty. But, indeed, the whole of the pro- 

 ceedings of James were marked by such blind folly as 

 no man could have fallen into; whose intellect was not 

 completely obscured by bigotry, and who had not given 

 himself entirely up to the guidance of men of the most 

 desperate character. It is not possible that he ever 

 could have reflected on the possibility of such measures 

 restoring him to the throne ; or how if restored, he 

 could hope to reign, except these measures were con- 

 tinued, to keep down the hatred which they excited. 



The Protestants, exposed to every species of outrage, 

 had long looked for effectual succours from England. 

 At length they arrived under Schomberg and Solmes. 

 From Bangor, in the county of Down, .where Schom- 

 berg landed, he advanced to Dundalk, taking p6sses- 

 sion of Belfast, Antrim, Carrickfergus, &c. on his route. 

 His encampment at Dundalk was very injudiciously 

 chosen in a low and damp spot, by which sickness at- 

 tacked his troops. Against him, thus encamped, the ar- 

 my of James marched, commanded by him in person. 

 The situation of Schomberg, though unhealthy, was 

 strong ; so that James, after making a shew of imme- 

 diate and general attack, retired to Ardee. The peo- 

 ple'of England having indulged in great hopes from 

 the operations of Schomberg's army, were loud in their 

 expressions of disappointment and indignation, when 

 they learnt that his plan seemed rather defensive thair 



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