THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. CHAPTER I. The Cromwellian Invasion, 1640. THE presence of the Marquis of Ormond, and the departure of Rinunccini, seemed to promise union to the distracted councils of the confederate Catholics. They had now a leader to whom the several factions had at different times tendered submission, and whom they had previously solicited to place himself at their head with almost absolute authority; and they were freed from the intrigues of the prelate, who had at length, by his excessive arrogance, disgusted all his supporters. But the curse of divided councils still continued, or rather the evil became aggravated. The confederates hated and feared O'Neill, the person who alone could have met the able generals of the parliament, and opposed all the efforts of Ormond to effect a reconciliation. With much better reason, they viewed with suspicion that royalist party, of which Inchiquin was the head, knowing that its members were fully as averse to popery as the puritans, and were driven into their ranks merely by their indignation at the judicial murder of the king. That Ormond was at this time disposed to act an honest part, is undeniable; but his previous conduct furnished but too good an excuse for the jealous watchfulness of the commissioners of trust, though not for their perverse folly in opposing plans whose wis dom they could not controvert, almost for the sake of showing the lord-lieutenant that they possessed the power of opposition. The principal cause of this ruinous jealousy was the scandalous duplicity of the late king, and the reckless profligacy of his heir. The Irish had been taught, by the mission of Glamorgan, that Charles was willing to grant them terms far more favourable than those offered by Ormond; they consequently viewed the marquis as the secret enemy of their cause, and suspected that he would labour to prevent them from enjoying the royal graces. Prince Rupert, who commanded the royal fleet on the coast, encouraged these opinions; and from jealousy, or some worse motive, exerted himself strenuously to thwart the Marquis of Ormond. Had the king, as had been often proposed, proceeded to Ireland, and placed himself at the head of the confederates, these evils would have been alleviated, perhaps removed; but Charles II. possessed not the spirit for such an enterprise. He preferred the safer mode of perjury and insincerity; and therefore, having wasted his time until Ireland was lost irrecoverably, proceeded to Scotland, where he took the covenant. The prospects of the royalists at this time were very encouraging. The parliamentarians retained possession only of Derry and Dublin, with some adjacent posts. Sir Charles Coote, the governor of Derry, was ready to engage with that party which had the fairest prospect of success; and a great number of the officers and soldiers in Dublin were well disposed to join Ormond, their ancient leader. One brief but vigorous effort would have saved Ireland; but those who wielded the destinies of the country were destitute of vigour or exertion. The capture of Dublin would have ensured the royalists the quiet possession of the kingdom; and this was accordingly the first enterprise they resolved to undertake. But such was the neglect and insin cerity of all parties, that May had arrived before any active preparations were made to take the field. The subsidies promised by the council of the confederates at Kilkenny were not raised; and the commissioners of trust showed no anxiety to provide for the wants of the army. Ormond remonstrated in vain against this neglect; and it was late in June before that, having borrowed some small sums on his personal credit, he could muster a respectable body of troops. Fresh mortifications met him from another quarter. Prince Rupert, whom he had requested to blockade the Bay of Dublin, while he pushed the siege by land, positively refused obedience, and remained with his fleet in one of the southern harbours. After a vain display of their troops before Dublin, which Ormond seems to have expected would have produced an insurrection of the royalists in the city, it was determined to reduce the garrisons of Drogheda and Dundalk, before besieging the capital; and the conduct of this enterprise was intrusted to Lord Inchiquin. Drogheda, after a brief siege, was taken by assault. Dundalk, though commanded by Monk, surrendered; and several castles which had been seized by O'Neill, were reduced by a body of the confederates under Lord Castlehaven. Before Ormond's army could be reassembled, the garrison of Dublin was reinforced by the parliamentary colonels Coote and Venables, with two thousand six hundred soldiers, and a large supply of provisions and ammunition. At the same time, news arrived that Cromwell, having assembled a powerful army, was preparing to sail over to Munster, where he hoped to be joined by several of the puritans. It was indeed well known to all the leaders, that the ultra-protestants in Youghal, Kinsale, and Cork, were secretly inclined to favour the cause of the parliament; for, with them, hatred of popery was a much more powerful feeling than love of their sovereign. |