having created Tirconnell a duke, he came to the determination to proceed to Ulster; for he was told that he had only to present himself at Derry, and the gates would be thrown open to him. Some short time previously, General Hamilton had been sent northwards by Tirconnell to reduce Ulster to obedience : and as he advanced, the Protestant people retreated from point to point, breaking down the bridges, burning the ferryboats, and wasting and destroying everything as they went along, till they arrived at Derry, where they found refuge.

The king now set out for the North; and after a miserable journey through a desolated country, he joined his army under Hamilton a few miles south of Derry. Lundy, who was only half-hearted in the new cause, was all for surrendering the town: for he did not believe that it could be successfully defended. Moreover, although its governor, he remained quite passive; and any preparations for defence that were made, were made by others.

On the 14th April, while James and his army were approaching, some ships sent from England A.D. 1689 arrived in Lough Foyle, bringing two regiments under the command of Colonel Cunningham, to reinforce the garrison; but Lundy and some others persuaded them to withdraw, representing that the town could not possibly hold out. And most of the leading men of the city, and nearly all the officers of the garrison went on board the ships and sailed for England with Cunningham. When the report of these transactions got abroad, the citizens began to suspect that Lundy was dealing treacherously with them, and they became so enraged that they threatened to shoot or hang him.

Meantime the army appeared in view at the south of the town; and the inhabitants met to consider what was to be done. There was great hesitation and difference of opinion, with much uproar and confusion; and we are told that "while some were framing terms of surrender, others were placing guns on the wall for defence." Most of the authorities, with the governor at their head, were inclined to yield, while the populace, who had possession of the walls and gates, were all for fighting. The king approached the south gate with his staff, expecting to see it fly open; but instead of a greeting he heard a fierce shout of "No surrender," and a volley was fired from one of the bastions which killed an officer by his side; on which he immediately retired out of range. But negotiations still went on, and Lundy and a section of the magistrates endeavoured to bring about a surrender. They probably would have succeeded but for the timely arrival of Adam Murray, well known as a brave and energetic man, with a small party of horse. The people at once chose him as their leader, and the project for surrender was instantly stopped. The popular rage against Lundy now became ungovernable, and he was obliged to hide himself till night came on, when he passed through the streets disguised as a porter, with a load on his back, and made his escape over the wall. Whereupon Major Baker and the Rev. George Walker were chosen as governors by the townsmen.

The die was now cast, and it was resolved to defend the city to the last. It was badly prepared to stand a siege; for Lundy had done all he could in a quiet sort of way to obstruct the preparations for defence. The walls were not very strong; the bastions had in many places fallen into ruin; and there was only a poor

supply of artillery. Those who undertook the defence were merely the common working people; for with the connivance of Lundy and Cunningham the town had been deserted by most of the leading men. They were unaccustomed to discipline, and quite unused to fighting; and besides, they were not well supplied with arms. They had no military officers, no engineers to direct operations; for Murray, though able and daring, was unskilled in the art of siege defence. And what increased the difficulties tenfold was that there were crowded into the town thousands of refugees from the surrounding country, who had to be fed, while the stock of provisions was alarmingly small, and it was hard to obtain supplies.

But with all these discouragements, the determination of the Derry people remained unshaken. Under Murray's directions they formed themselves into companies and regiments, appointed officers to command them, took their turns at guarding and fighting, obeyed the orders of their newly appointed commanders, and faced dangers and hardships with the utmost docility and cheerfulness. When all arrangements had been completed it was found that there were about 7000 fighting men, led by 340 officers-eight regiments in all, each under a colonel. The men worked incessantly strengthening the defences. Two guns were planted on the flat roof of the cathedral, which greatly annoyed the surrounding Jacobite detachments during the whole siege : and at every gate was placed a gun which commanded the approach.

As to King James: when he found all his proposals rejected he returned to Dublin, leaving the direction of the siege to the French General Maumont, with Hamilton second in command. He summoned a parlia

ment in Dublin, at which a number of measures were hastily passed. It was ordained that there should be full freedom of worship for all religious denominations; a measure, which though in a great degree dictated by mere prudence, was creditable in that period of religious intolerance. The Act of Settlement (p. 311) was repealed, which meant that the new settlers would have to restore the lands to the old owners, but with compensation when necessary. More than 2000 persons were attainted, and their lands declared confiscated, for having joined the prince of Orange: an Act that has earned much blame for this parliament. But all this active legislation came to nothing; for before there was time to enforce it, King James and his government were superseded. To meet current expenses a tax was levied on estates. But as this was not enough, the king issued base coins to the amount of nearly £1,000,000, the real value of which was not more than about £60,000: the actual value of the £5 piece was only four pence. The issue of this "brass money,' as it was called, greatly disarranged trade, and reduced many to poverty: and after about two years, Tirconnell, finding the measure a failure, recalled the coins.

Sculpture on Chancel Arch, Monastery Church, Glendalough,
From Petrie's "Round Towers," 1845.

CHAPTER XLIX.

THE SIEGE OF

DERRY.-PART II.

A.D. 1689.-William and Mary.

ET us now return to Derry. On the 18th April, 1689, the siege began in good earnest, and from that day forward was carried on with great energy. In the last chapter the disadvantages under which the besieged laboured have been set forth. But in one important respect the besiegers were much worse off: namely,

in the supply of war materials. By some unaccountable negligence, a large part of the arms supplied to them were damaged and useless; the majority of the men had no swords or belts; and whole regiments had been sent from Dublin without ammunition. This fully explains the fact that in almost all the encounters during the siege, the Irish, though fighting with unfailing bravery, lost greater numbers than their opponents; and the wonder is that they had the spirit to fight at all under the circumstances. There were no sufficient means of moving the artillery from place to place; and the Jacobite army was scattered over so large a space as to weaken it greatly. Moreover, the greater part of the army consisted of men who