governor O'Regan, to acquaint him with the ill-treatment the priest had suffered.

O'Regan was at dinner with Duke Schomberg when the messenger arrived; but he attended to him instantly. Teague heard the story with the utmost patience; and then dryly observed "that he was very glad the priest had got it. "What had he to do," said O'Regan "to dispute religion with a dragoon ?" The messenger was dismissed, and reported the observation of the governor; and the whole garrison, who had felt for the honour of their nation and religion upon this occasion, laughed and thought it unanswerable. Their good humour was further promoted by a present from Duke Schomberg of a loaf of bread for every man, woman and child of the garrison; a very acceptable present; as they had been for some days feeding on their knapsacks, and the flesh and hides of dead horses.

O'Regan knew his countrymen well when he concluded that good sense and a joke would disarm their strongest prejudices. No people are more open to reason than the Irish, or more alive to humour; and we might remark, that even at this period, when they were supposed to be in so great subjection to the church, they bore the chastisement of their priest with great patience, when they were assured that he deserved it.

On the 6th of June, the grand park of artillery for the British army arrived in Carrickfergus Bay, accompanied by a quantity of other arms and stores, and two hundred carpenters for the military service. On the 14th, the king himself landed from England in the same place.

CHAP. V.

ARRIVAL OF KING WILLIAM.

THE king was accompanied by Prince George of Denmark, the Duke of Ormond, Lord Oxford, Lord Scarborough, Lord Manchester, the Honourable Mr. Boyle, and other persons of distinction.

His Majesty attended divine service at the established church the day after his landing, and a sermon was preached before him by Dr. Royse, who took his text, very appropriately, from Heb. xi. 33. "Through faith they subdued kingdoms." But the doctor did not advert that the faith of James was even more large and unquestioning than that of William, and that as between these contending kings, the father-inlaw had certainly the advantage of the son-inlaw, as to this spiritual weapon.

The episcopal clergy waited immediately upon William, as they had done upon James, with an address, in which they bestow due commendation upon his zeal for the church, and the protestant cause; and the excellent means he

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was employing for promoting the peace of the kingdom. They wish him all imaginable success and victory, and that "his enemies may flee before him ;" and that God, after a long and peaceful reign, may change his laurels into a crown of glory." It has been justly objected to the Protestant church, that it is too much, and too forward in asserting itself to be "a part of the state." Even in its sublime and admirable service there is too strong and solicitous recollection of the powers and authorities of this world, amounting almost to a worship even less pure than what the Catholic offers to his saint. The established church could not fairly complain of James. He had kept good faith with them; he had not touched the church lands; he restored the churches which the Catholics had deprived them of wherever they could make it appear that they had any congregations, or were otherwise justly entitled; and he resisted all the efforts and persuasions of the Catholic clergy to make him depart from the rule he had laid down in this respect.

The Catholic clergy had also a short time before waited upon James in full body, and presented him with a memorial and address. The address was presented by the Archbishop of Dublin. In their memorial they make due commendation of the king's zeal for the truth and promotion of the Catholic religion, and then proceed to point

out to His Majesty the most effectual means of accomplishing the great end he had in view.

These means they reduce almost to a single point, the restoration of church property to the ancient establishment. They state the arguments that could be urged for the measure, and dwell upon their weight and cogency; and they refute the reasonings that were advanced on the other side against so proper and reasonable a proceeding. "All His Majesty's former condescensions to the reformed religion," they insist, "were in vain to win that rebellious community to his royal interest, and always would be so;" and they show that the Catholic religion cannot effectually keep its ground with the people, except it be restored to its temporalities. "For we find by experience," say the bishops, "that the people now-a-days, generally speaking, will not much heed or regard the exhortations or threatenings of their ghostly directors, when they see them reduced to so low an ebb of indigence, as to depend of themselves for their spiritual power and authority."

There is no novelty in this argument. The Catholics used it formerly to obtain restitution of church property; the Protestants use it at this day to retain it. Experience seems to prove that both are wrong: the Protestant church kept the tithes and church lands, but lost the people; the Catholic clergy were deprived of