B O Y L £. 
33 s 
and the reducing that-kingdom was now become his pro¬ 
vince, he had obtained leave of the committee to offer his 
lordlhip a principal command, if lie would ferve in that 
war: that he fhould have no oaths or-engagements im- 
pofetiupon him, nor be obliged to draw his fword againft 
any but the Irifh rebels. Lord Broghill was furprifed'at 
fo generous and unexpected an offer: he favv himfelf at 
liberty, by all the rules of honour, to ferve againft the 
Irifti, whofe rebellion and barbarities were equally detail¬ 
ed by the royal party and the parliament: he defired, how¬ 
ever, to have foine time to conlider of what had been pro- 
pofed'to hint. Cromwell anfwered, that he muff come to 
fome refolution that very inftant; that he himfelf was re¬ 
turning to the committee, who were (till fitting j and, if 
his lordlhip rejected their offer, they had determined to 
fend him to the Tower. Broghill, finding his life and li¬ 
berty were at (take, and pleafed with the franknefs and 
generality of Cromwell, gave him his word and honour, 
that lie would faithfully ferve him againft the Irifh rebels: 
upon which, Cromwell once more allured him, that the 
conditions he had propofed fhould be punctually obferved; 
and then ordered him to repair to Briftol, to which place 
forces fhould be fent, with a fufficient number of fhips to 
tranfport him into Ireland. He foon raifed in that king¬ 
dom a troop and a regiment of 1500 men, with which he 
joined Cromwell on his arrival ; and, a ft in g in t he courfe 
of the war conjointly with Cromwell and Ireton, contri¬ 
buted greatly to the reduftion of the Irifh. 
Among other confiderable exploits performed by lord 
Broghill, the following deferves to be particularly record¬ 
ed. Whilft Cromwell laid fiege to Clonwell, Broghill being 
detached to difperfe a body of 5000 men who had affem- 
bled to relieve the place, he, with 2000 light-horfe and 
dragoons, canfe up With the enemy at Maecrooms on the 
joth of May, 1650; and, without waiting for the arrival 
of his foot, immediately attacked and routed them, making 
their general prifoner. Then, proceeding to the caftle of 
Carrigdroghid, he fent a fummons to the garrifon to fur- 
render before the arrival of his battering cannon, other- 
wife they were to expeft no quarter. His own army was 
furprifed at this fummons, knowing he had not one piece 
of heavy cannon: but Broghill had ordered the trunks of 
feveral large trees to be drawn at a diftance by his baggage 
horfes ; which the befieged perceiving, and judging from 
the flownefs of the motion that the guns muff be of a vaft 
bore, immediately capitulated. He afterwards relieved 
.Cromwell at Clonwell, where that-commander happened 
to be fo dangeroufly fituated, that he confelfed, nothing 
but the feafonable relief afforded him by lord Broghill 
could have laved him from deftruclion. When Ireton fat 
down before Limeric, he gave Broghill 65 o foot and 400 
horfe, with orders to prevent lord Mulkerry’s joining the 
pope’s nuncio, who had got together a body of 8000 men, 
and was determined to attempt the relief of Limeric. Muf- 
kerry was at the head of rooo horfe, and about 2000 foot; 
notwithftanding which, lord Broghill fell refolutely upon 
him. The lrilh, having the advantage of the ground and 
numbers, would have conquered, but for a ftratagem of 
lord Broghill. In the heat- of the a£tion he defired thofe 
about him to repeat what lie fai'd ; and then cried out as 
loud as lie could, “ They run! they run!” The firft line 
of the Irifii looked round to fee if their rear broke ; and 
the rear feeing the faces of their friends, and hearing the 
fhouts of the enemy, imagined that the firft line was rout¬ 
ed, and fled. The taking of Limeric, which put an end 
to the war in Ireland, was the confequence of this defeat. 
Cromwell was fo /truck with his conduct and courage, 
that, after he was declared proteffor, he fent for lord 
Broghill, made him one of his privy council, and allowed 
.him a great fhare of his confidence. 
After Cromwell’s death, Broghill did his utmoft fo ferve 
his' Lon, to whom his lordlhip, in conjunction with lord 
Howard and fome others, made an older, that if he would 
not be wanting to himfelf, and give them a fufficient au¬ 
thority -to aft under him, they would either force-his ene¬ 
mies to obey him, or cut them off. Richard, partied at 
this propofal, anfwered in a conflernation, that he thanked 
them for their friendffiip, but that he neither had done, 
nor would do, any pe-rfon any harm ; and that, rather than 
a drop of blood (IronId be fpilt on his account, he would 
lay down that greatnefs which was-a burden to hi nr. He 
was fo fixed in his refolution, that ’ whatever the lords 
could fay was not capable of making him alter it; and 
tiiey found it to no purpofe to keep a man in power who. 
would do nothing for himfelf. Lord Broghill, therefore, 
finding the family of Cromwell thus laid alide, and not 
being obliged by any ties to ferve thofe who affmned the 
government, whole fchemes top he judged wild and ill- 
concerted, he refolved to join with thofe who were zeal¬ 
ous to reftore the king. In this-great event he was not a 
1 it tie infti umental; and, in confideratioii of his eminent fer- 
vices, Charles II. created him earl of Orrery, by letters 
patent bearing date Sept. 5, 1660. He was foon after made 
one of the lords juftices of Ireland ] and his conduct, while 
at the head of affairs in thaPkingdom, was fuch as greatly 
added to the general efteem in which his character had 
been held before. 
His lord (flip’s aCtive and toil fome courfe of life at length 
brought upon him fome difeafes and infirmities which gave 
him much pain and uneafinels; and a fever which' fell in¬ 
to his feet, joined to the gout, with which he was often 
afflicted, abated much of that vigour which he had fhewn 
in the early part of his time: but his induftry and applica¬ 
tion were (fill the fame, and bent to the fame purpofes ; 
as appears from his letters, which fhe-w at once a capacity, 
and an attention to bufinefs, which do honour to that age, 
and may ferve as an example to this. Notwithftanding 
his infirmities, on the king’s defiring to fee his lordlhip in 
England, he came over in 1665. He found the court in 
fome diforder ; the king was on the point of removing the 
great earl of Clarendon, lord high chancellor; and there 
was alfo a mifunderftanding betw'een the two royal-bro¬ 
thers. Lord Orrery therefore undertook to reconcile the 
king with the duke of York ; which he effected by pre¬ 
vailing on the latter to afk his majefty’s pardon for fome 
fteps he had taken in fupport of the lord-chancellor. On 
his return to Ireland, he found himfelf called to a new 
feene of adtion. The Dutch war was then at its height; 
and the French, in confederacy with the Hollanders, were 
endeavouring to (fir up the feeds of rebellion in Ireland. 
1 he duke de Beaufort, admiral of France, had formed a 
fcheme fora defeent upon Ireland ; but this was rendered 
abortive by tne extraordinary diligence, military (kill, and 
prudent meafures, of lord Orrery. 
But in the midlt of thefe fervices, <>difpute arofe, found¬ 
ed on a mutual jealoLify of each other’s greatnefs', 'betwixt 
him and the duke of Ormond, then lord-lieutenant ; the 
bad effects of which'wSre foon felt by both difputanfs, 
who retorted to England to defend their refpeffive inte- 
l-elts and pretenftohs, both having been attacked by fecret 
enemies, who fuggeffed many things to their prejudice. 
This quarrel, tnotfgh of a private beginning, became at 
laft of a public nature ; and, producing firft an attempt to 
frame an impeachment againft the duke of Ormond, occa- 
fioned in the end, by way of revenge, an affual impeach¬ 
ment againft the earl of Orrery, lie defended himfelf, 
however, fo effectually againft (Jus charge of high crimes 
and of treafon, that the profecution came to nothing. He 
neverthelefs loft his public employments, but not the 
king’s favour; he kill came frequently to court, and fome- 
times to council. After this revolution in his affairs, being 
attacked more feverdy than ever by the gout, he made 
his laft voyage to England for advice in the medical way. 
But his diforder was beyond the power of medicine ; he 
faw his approaching'diffolution, which he fupported with 
fortitude and refignitiori,- and expired on the 26th of Octo¬ 
ber, 1679, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. His lordlhip 
wrote, 1. A work intitled The Art of War. 2. Partheniffa, 
a romance, folio. 3. Several Poems. 4. Dramatic Pieces, 
two.volumes. 5. StateTrafts, folio, Mr.Walpole, fpeak- 
3 ifig 
