by the king. The line of the Shannon was fallen back upon, and Limerick and Athlone became the chief objects of attack and defence. The former successfully resisted a first siege directed by William himself, in August of this year. By a brilliant countermarch, Sarsfield surprised his siege train at Cullin, and destroyed This obliged the raising of the siege, which was abandoned till the next year. At Athlone, General Douglas was also compelled to abandon the first siege.

the guns.

William returned to England, and despatched Churchill, Earl of Marlborough, with additional forces and artillery, into Munster. Cork and Kinsale were taken; but in the winter operations in Kerry and Clare, De Ginkle was defeated, with heavy loss.

The third campaign opened very differently from the first. The whole north and east of Ireland was now in William's hands, and all the resources of Holland and England at his back. From Lough Foyle to Kinsale, the eastern coast was in his keeping; and his powerful army wanted no supply necessary to soldiers. Tyrconnel and De Lausan, on James's side, had visited France for instructions, as had the agents of the Irish officers, dissatisfied with the plan of the previous campaigns. To remove all difficulties, General St. Ruth was sent by Louis and James as commander-in-chief of the army in Ireland.

The Protestant army commenced operations in June, under De Ginkle, and took by storm Ballymore and Athlone, both of which were bravely defended. On the 12th of July, both armies met at Aughrim, and again William triumphed. St. Ruth, who had refused to communicate the plan of the battle to a council of war, fell; every Irish regiment left more than half of its numbers among the dead. Galway and Sligo, alarmed at this intelligence, surrendered at discretion. Limerick was again besieged on the 5th of August; and on the 13th, the famous capitulation called "the treaty of Limerick" was agreed to by the commissioners of both

armies.

Twenty-nine of the articles of this treaty related to

the military. They were to have permission to emigrate to France, or to enlist with William. Almost to a man, they preferred exile to treason. With Sarsfield, four thousand five hundred sailed from Cork; with D'Usson, four thousand seven hundred and thirty-six from Limerick; with Wauchop, about three thousand from the same place. Other regiments, under their own commanders, as Burke's, Dillon's, and O'Brien's, also emigrated. In all, nineteen thousand and fifty-six fighting men arrived that year in France. They were formed into twelve French regiments, and retained their own officers, where their after career can be traced in a blaze of victory. In process of time, their exploits, as we shall see, exercised a decided influence on the fortunes of those they left behind.

Thus was dispersed the last Catholic army of Ireland, and with it the military defence of the church of St. Patrick. A century and a half of warfare closes with the fall of Limerick; the direct succession of the Catholic soldiers ends with Sarsfield. The lawyers who debated and the delegates who signed "the treaty of Limerick are the pale forerunners of a new day and a new order. The pen, and voice, and human learning are to be the only visible defences of the church in Ireland, through many an age of trial, reserved for its faithful children.

CHAPTER III.

REIGN OF WILLIAM III.— VIOLATION OF THE TREATY OF LIMERICK. PROSCRIPTION OF THE BISHOPS AND CLERGY. — FURTHER CONFISCATIONS OF CATHOLIC PROPERTY.

THE civil articles of the treaty of Limerick were in relation to the rights of Catholics. Art. i. guarantied them "such privileges in the exercise of their religion as are consistent with the law of Ireland, or as they enjoyed in the reign of King Charles II.;" also, this article

undertook that "their majesties, as soon as their affairs will permit them to summon a Parliament in this kingdom, will endeavor to procure the said Roman Catholics such further security in that particular as may preserve them from any disturbance on account of their said religion." Art. ii. guarantied pardon and protection to all who had served King James, on taking the oath of allegiance prescribed in art. ix., as follows:

"I, A. B., do solemnly promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to their majesties, King William and Queen Mary; so help me God."

Arts. iii., iv., v., and vi. extended the provisions of arts. i. and ii. to merchants and other classes of men. Art. vii. permits "every nobleman and gentleman compromised in the said articles" to carry side arms, and keep "a gun in their houses." Art. viii. gives the right of removing goods and chattels without search. Art. ix. is as follows:

"The oath to be administered to such Roman Catholics as submit to their majesties' government shall be the oath aforesaid, and no other."

Art. x. guaranties that "no person or persons who shall, at any time hereafter, break these articles, or any of them, shall thereby make or cause any other person or persons to forfeit or lose the benefit of them." Arts. xi. and xii. relate to the ratification of the articles "within eight months or sooner." Art. xiii. refers to the debts of "Colonel John Brown to several Protestants," and arranges for their satisfaction.

On King William's part, the treaty is signed by Lord Scravenmore, Generals Mackay, Talmash, and De Ginkle, and the Lords Justices Porter and Coningsby.

On the Irish side, the signers are Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan, Viscount Galmoy, Sir Toby Butler, and Colonels Purcel, Cusack, Dillon, and Brown.

The date is October 3, 1691.*

*"And whereas the said city of Limerick hath been since, in pursuance of the said articles, surrendered unto us: Now, know ye, that we, having considered of the said articles, are graciously pleased hereby

A few days after the signing of the treaty, and before the English or outer town was delivered, a French fleet entered the Shannon, "with thirty thousand arms, one thousand men, two hundred officers, ammunition and vision;" but Irish honor was proof against the trial thus put upon it. In Dublin, the terms of the treaty were displeasing to the Puritans; but William received them with evident pleasure. De Ginkle had three earldoms given him, and a medal was struck, commemorating the event, with the motto, "Limerica capta, Hibernia subacta, Octobris, 1691."

to declare, that we do for us, our heirs, and successors, as far as in us lies, ratify and confirm the same, and every clause, matter, and thing therein contained. And as to such parts thereof, for which an act of Parliament shall be found to be necessary, we shall recommend the same to be made good by Parliament, and shall give our royal assent to any bill or bills that shall be passed by our two houses of Parliament to that purpose. And whereas it appears unto us, that it was agreed between the parties to the said articles, that after the words Limerick, Clare, Kerry, Cork, Mayo, or any of them, in the second of the said articles; which words having been casually omitted by the writer, the articles, the words following, viz. And all such as are under their protection in the said counties,' should be inserted, and be part of the said omission, was not discovered till after the said articles were signed, but was taken notice of before the second town was surrendered, and that our said justices and general, or one of them, did promise that the said clause should be made good, it being within the intention of the capitulation, and inserted in the foul draft thereof: Our further will and pleasure is, and we do hereby ratify and confirm the said omitted words, viz., And all such as are under their protection in the said counties,' hereby for us, our heirs and successors, ordaining and declaring that all and every person and persons therein concerned shall and may have, receive, and enjoy the benefit thereof, in such and the same manner as if the said words had been inserted in their proper place in the said second article, any omission, defect, or mistake in the said second article in any wise notwithstanding. Provided always, and our will and pleasure is, that these our letters patents shall be enrolled in our court of chancery, in our said kingdom of Ireland, within the space of one year next ensuing. In witness, &c., witness ourself at Westminster, the twenty-fourth day of February, anno regni regis et reginæ Gulielmi & Mariæ quarto per breve de privato sigillo. Nos autem tenorem premissor. predict. Ad requisitionem attornat. general. domini regis et dominæ reginæ pro regno Hiberniæ. Duximus exemplificand. per presentes. In cujus rei testimonium has literas nostras fieri fecimus patentes. Testibus nobis ipsis apud Westmon quinto die Aprilis, annoq. regni eorum quarto.

BRIDGES.

The Catholic army once well away from the Irish shore, the sovereigns and the Parliament began to tamper with the treaty. The following year, an oath of allegiance, altogether different from that prescribed by art. ix., was enacted by Parliament, and approved by William. In this oath, the Catholic was called on to swear he did not believe "that in the sacrament of the Lord's supper there is any transubstantiation of the elements;" "that the invocation or adoration of the Virgin Mary, or any other saint, and the sacrifice of the mass, as they are now used in the church of Rome, are damnable and idolatrous." An "oath of abjuration" was framed in the following session, binding Catholics "to abhor, detest, and abjure, as impious and heretical, that damnable doctrine and position, that princes excommunicated or deposed by the pope, or any authority of the see of Rome, may be deposed and murdered by their subjects;" furthermore, obliging them to swear that no foreign prince, person, or prelate "hath any jurisdiction, power, superiority, preeminence, or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within this realm." Here were two flagrant violations of the second and ninth articles, and, indeed, of the whole treaty.

But bad faith did not stop even here. The Dublin Parliament, made up chiefly of bigots and mere adventurers, settled after the late war, passed an act, in 1694, "for the confirmation of articles made at the surrender of Limerick," which actually abolished those articles altogether. This act did not recite the articles, in whole or part, but, in the words of the lords' protest, "altered both their sense and meaning," and left "those in whose favor they were granted in a worse position than before." This protest was signed by the Lords Londonderry, Tyrone, and Duncannon, by the Protestant Bishops of Elphin, Derry, Clonfert, Killala, and the Barons of Ossory, Limerick, Killaloe, Kerry, Howth, Kingston, and Strabane. Still the act passed, and received the seal and signature of William and Mary.

That ancient instrument of oppression, a commission to inquire into defective titles, shortly issued, and decreed