the present century might have found some difficulty in discovering the grounds of that civil inequality, which, till recently, has existed. We are aware of all that might be replied to this assertion, but we write after much and long deliberation.

We have now very fully stated to our readers the reasons for which we shall continue to lay before them the acts of the main parties, and the leading events during this period, with the least possible reference to the detail of local and personal inflictions and sufferings.

The news of William's landing in England, brought with it a sudden change of spirit on either side. The leaders of the king's party were terrified the protestants were raised from their dejection. Under the government of Tyrconnel they had been nearly prostrated by the most severe and merciless persecution; and the last hand had been put to their ruin, by their having been disarmed, and in their defenceless state exposed to the licensed assaults and robberies of the low and savage banditti, to whom the lord-lieutenant handed over the country. Tyrconnel now, like his master, thought proper to court the party which he had roused to the fiercest and most uncompromising hostility. He flattered them with audacious lies, and endeavoured to draw a testimony to his character and government which he hoped might have shielded his person and government from the justice which seemed to be visibly impending. In this expectation he was quickly undeceived. The protestants assumed a silent attitude of menace; the seizure of the castle was proposed: but it was hoped that the course of events would now give them the desired relief, and that Tyrconnel would fly the country. Tyrconnel had recourse to measures of desperation; he let loose the armed rabble under his command upon the country, and fearful crimes were committed. The public agitation was suddenly awakened to tenfold terror, by a report industriously spread, of a conspiracy to massacre the protestants of Ireland. The alarm was terrific: the timid multitude, of every age, and sex, and condition, left their homes, and crowded to the shores and quays, in the vain hope to find vessels to convey them from the scene of apprehended carnage. Tyrconnel sent to assure them of their safety, but they refused to be convinced. Every effort was at the same time made to keep up the courage of the Irish party. Tyrconnel's zeal and resolution appear to have suffered no abatement from the desperation of his cause; but his ability was unequal to a crisis in which nobler courage and more adequate judgment could have been of little avail. His activity only served to precipitate the downfall of the interests he had so perseveringly laboured to sustain. He recalled to Dublin the troops, which served for the moment to repress the spirit of the north; and Eniskillen and Londonderry gave a powerful example to the protestant body through Ireland, and a memorable and glorious record of heroic courage and constancy to history. We thus passingly advert to these memorable events, because we must at this period take up the thread of history in the succeeding memoir, to which we are now endeavouring to hasten. The life of Tyrconnel derives its chief importance from the succession of events of which he was a principal agent, and having so far availed ourselves of his life, we shall now dismiss him as briefly as we can. For a moment king William was persuaded that Tyrconnel might

be gained to his side; but Tyrconnel knew well enough that, deserted by the adventitious recommendations of his position as the leader of the Irish party, and the favoured agent of a cause which demanded his principles, he must have quickly fallen into contempt. He was, perhaps, in some respects sincere; but whether he was or not, the price of perfidy would have been low, compared with the rewards of success, and of success it is evident that Tyrconnel did not despair. The king, encouraged by the representations of Richard Hamilton, sent him over to gain Tyrconnel, but Hamilton took the opposite part, and laboured to give firmness to Tyrconnel's resolution of resistance.

It was, however, under the circumstances, necessary to dissemble with the protestants, and dissimulation was carried so far as to send a deputation with a pretended commission, to remonstrate with James in Paris, against any farther resistance towards the prince of Orange. This mission is remarkable for the craft and treachery of its contrivance and conduct. Lord Mountjoy was sent, charged with such a direct and open message as suited the overt professions of Tyrconnel. Rice, chief baron of the exchequer, was associated with him, and conveyed the real purposes of his false and double-dealing employer. On their arrival in Paris, Mountjoy was seized and incarcerated in the Bastile. Rice gave representations adapted to encourage the hopes of James, and to induce the French king to be liberal in his aid.

Tyrconnel was himself encouraged by the success of his messenger, and casting aside all fear, pressed on in the course he had adopted for the depression of the opposite party. To complete the disarming of the protestant body, before the occurrence of any trial of strength in the field, was his policy, and it was pursued with the savage and remorseless barbarity which the reader of the foregoing pages might be led to anticipate. He was universally charged with treachery, but he bluntly denied the instructions which he had given to lord Mountjoya denial which deceived no one on either side.

On the 12th March, 1689, James landed at Kinsale, high in that confidence which seems to have been the result of an entire want of all calculation of the consequences of events and circumstances. was met by Tyrconnel, to whom he gave the title of Duke.

He

We may now dismiss the subject of this memoir, as the succeeding occurrences which have their place in the remaining short interval of his life, will come more appropriately under other names. The events of the struggle which have now to be related, were so entirely military, that Tyrconnel held but a very subordinate position in the course of affairs. Shortly after the battle of Aughrim, he reached Limerick, together with Sarsefield, who conducted thither the shattered remains of the army under his command. There, a difference of opinion arose between himself and Sarsefield, as to the further course they should Sarsefield was for a continuance of military operations, but Tyrconnel saw that the chances of resistance were for the time at an end. He died a few days after his arrival, on the 14th, 1691, and his death was generally attributed to vexation and a broken spirit.

David Cairnes.

BORN A.D. 1645-died 1722.

THE great struggle, to which the events in the previous memoir may be considered as preliminary, was destined to be terminated by a personal conflict between the heads of the adverse interests, upon the banks of the Boyne, and for a season the agency of those contending heroes and statesmen, of which the troubles of this country had till then been comparatively fertile, almost, if not entirely, disappears from the scene. To carry on the narration of most important and interesting events, we are compelled to avail ourselves of such names as our history affords. Instead of the princes of Tyrone, Tyrconnel, and Connaught, or the princely nobles of Desmond, Kildare, and Ormonde, we have the less dignified names of actors who were but subordinate in their powers, and local or incidental in their range of action; and to avoid a broken and perplexed order of narration, we are compelled to reverse the rule which we have hitherto been enabled to observe, of arranging our historical materials in subordination to the place and order of the great actors in the eventful scene. We must now, in the dearth of great and leading names, endeavour to preserve the order of events, under such names as may not inappropriately be presented in connexion with a few very prominent events. Omitting, therefore, for the present, many names distinguished by deeds of heroic exploits during this interval, we shall endeavour in our memoirs of Cairnes and Walker, to give a summary account of the events from the landing of James to the battle of the Boyne, after which we shall press into our service the earl of Athlone, de Ginkle, who, although not an Irishman, has earned for his name an illustrious niche among our most memorable patriots, and whose descendants yet rank among our peerage.

On the 12th of March, 1689, the ex-king James landed at Kinsale, and was received by Tyrconnel, who conducted him to Cork. There he heard mass in the Franciscan monastery, to which he walked, supported through the streets by two friars of this order, and followed by a train of the brethren of St Francis, in their full monastic attire.* From Cork he repaired to Dublin, which he entered in state on the 24th of March. He was there received by the entire ecclesiastical body of the church of Rome in the metropolis, in full and solemn order, arranged in all their pomp, and bearing the host. They were charmed and edified by the deep humility with which the royal victim of their cause worshipped the consecrated wafer, amidst the acclamations of the crowded street. The next day he called a parliament, of the proceedings of which we shall in the next memoir offer a full and accurate account.†

In the same interval, events were taking place in the north which were to have a material effect upon his fortunes in Ireland. The protestants of Ireland had everywhere else been deprived of their arms; and a violent alarm, excited by a fearful rumour of an intended mas

*Smith, Mant.

+ Mant, p. 703.

sacre, already mentioned in the close of our previous memoir, while it spread wild and uncontrollable dismay among the defenceless crowd in Leinster and other protestant districts, it roused the north to a firm resolution of self-defence.

In his first alarm, Tyrconnel determined to recall the troops under his command to the defence of Dublin. His order had not long been issued for the march of the soldiers stationed in the fortified city of Londonderry, when he received accounts of the formidable spirit and martial condition of Ulster, and hastily endeavoured to repair the error. He placed garrisons in the frontier towns, Newry, Drogheda, and Dundalk; he directed that a regiment newly raised by the earl of Antrim, and entirely composed of papists, should take their quarters in Londonderry, and it was not long before that city was filled with terror and consternation by the rumour of their approach. Londonderry was at the time filled with protestant fugitives, and the imaginary massacre from which they had fled, now fearfully presented itself to their apprehensions. While consternation reigned through the streets, and anxious suspense possessed the stoutest hearts, the report was received that the dreaded regiment had reached Newtownlimavaddy, twelve miles from the town, and the resolution to resist their entrance began to be diffused among the citizens; and before night, a heroic project had already been concerted between Horatio Kennedy, one of the sheriffs, and a few youths, ever since commemorated by the honourable appellation of the "Prentice Boys of Derry."

Early the next morning, the soldiers of the formidable regiment began to appear upon the opposite bank of Lough Foyle, and two officers who were ferried over made their application to the governor, who was secretly in the interests of James, and gave his consent to their admission. The soldiers had not waited for their return, but were already over the river, and on their approach to the ferry gate, when the youths already mentioned, who stood watching for the moment, leaped from the terrified crowd, and with drawn swords rushed to the mainguard, seized the keys, and, after a short struggle, raised the drawbridge and locked the gate. The decision of this bold step alarmed the crowd, but soon drew forward many noble spirits.

Among these, few may claim a higher tribute from the historian of that memorable hour than David Cairnes. His family had held a prominent place for more than two centuries in Ulster, having come from Scotland with Murray, earl of Annandale. Thomas Cairnes, the individual who accompanied the earl, married his niece, who was also connected with the noble house of Buccleuch; and his descendant, John Cairnes of Donaghmore, in Ireland, became allied to royalty, having married Jane, daughter of Elizabeth Stuart, sister of Darnley, and aunt of James I. The fruit of this marriage was Sir Alexander Cairnes, who distinguished himself at the battle of Blenheim, and was created a baronet by queen Anne, on his return to England; it does not appear that he took any active part in the troubles of the revolution, but retired from the struggle in the commencement of the year 1688, having received deeply religious impressions, and according to his own words, resolving "to put away his idols," he continued in seclusion for the remainder of his life. He left but one daughter, who

was educated in the family of his friend and patron the duke of Marlborough, and afterwards married to lord Blaney. The title descended to his two brothers, with whom the baronetcy became extinct. David Cairnes, the subject of the present memoir, was a collateral branch of the same family. He was the first person of any influence, who, arriv ing in Derry on the day that lord Antrim led his troops to the gate of the city, strenuously supported and encouraged its defenders. Gradually, by the weight of his character and representations, he turned the scale of public opinion, implored the inhabitants to join hand and heart in the work of resistance, and extolled the courage and of the young energy men who had so gallantly commenced the defence of Derry against the enemies of civil and religious liberty. He assured them of his counsel and assistance, and went round the walls with them, to satisfy himself that the other three gates had been secured as effectually as that of Ferryquay street; and in the evening, succeeded in persuading almost all of the leading men of the city to co-operate with him, and those who had so providentially stood forward on this memorable occasion. He also wrote to several gentlemen of the surrounding counties, to inform them of what had been done in Derry, representing to them the danger they were in, and the necessity of their concurrence in the defence of the only place in Ulster, except Enniskillen, in which a stand might be made, after the disasters of Dromore, Portglenone, and Coleraine, from which the associated protestants had been driven by Tyrconnel's army.*

In replying to these representations, some approved of the design, some promised their assistance, but others discouraged, what they thought to be too hazardous an enterprise. He received a letter at this time from Mr John Kelso, a presbyterian minister in Enniskillen, informing him and the men of Derry, with whom he had identified himself, of Enniskillen having been deserted by its magistrates, and of the intention of the inhabitants to repulse a body of fresh troops advancing towards their town. The letter concluded with an earnest entreaty that the men of Derry would co-operate with the Enniskilleners, in the defence which they had resolved to make. Among those who were occupied during the evening of the 7th of December in opening this correspondence, and who had been induced to do so with some reluctance by David Cairnes, was Alderman Norman; he, in the course of the day, terrified at the rashness of the apprentice boys, and wishing to secure a friend at court, had written a letter to lord Mountjoy, of which the following is a copy, and which was signed and sent off secretly on Sunday the 9th of December.

"On Friday last, the 7th instant, the rabble shut the gates of this city against some of lord Antrim's regiment, for which we then blamed them. Among the causes of their alarm, was, that the popish dean of Derry, O'Cahan, had been known to buy four chain-bridles, and the priests and friars had, for some time before, been preaching alarming sermons in the neighbourhood of the city. Several outrages had been committed by lord Antrim's soldiers, who had been overheard uttering terrible threats against the inhabitants. One of these

* Memoirs of the Cairnes Family, by the Rev. J. Graham.