feveral useless perfons," "that barbarous commander caused fome of them to be executed, and the rest to be whipped back into the town." d In September 1690, the lords juftices of Ireland iffued a proclamation, which actually produced a greater famine among the Irish, than that which De Rofen's driving was only intended to produce in the garrison of Derry. By that proclamation," the wives, children and families of all those who were in arms against King William, and of all thofe who had been killed in the fame cause, and of all absentees, were ordered to quit all places under his majesty's obedience, upon pain of being treated as fpies and enemies; by which means, great multitudes, especially of women and children, were driven into the Irish quarters, which haftened that famine that was afterwards among them." "But to speak impartially, fays Mr. Lefley' on that occafion," is not the ftarving of a country, or province, as barbarous as ftarving a city? And was not crowding all the Irish, men, women, and children over the Shannon in this war, done on purpose to reduce them to famine? And it had that effect. Many of these wretches died, many women mifcarried, and numbers were starved in that driving over the Shannon infomuch that fome of the proteftant officers, who were employed in that expedition, expreffed the greatest regret to fee fuch lamentable spectacles, and were asham 6 s Ludlow's Memoirs. ed The celebrated Mr. Spencer, after having mentioned that Lord Deputy Gray (whofe fecretary he was) in carrying on the war against the Irish in Munster, in 1580, " had driven them to fuch an extremity of famine, that they digged dead carcaffes out of the graves for food," was not afhamed to conclude in thefe fhocking words, "therefore, by all means it must be affured, that after once entering into this course of reformation, there be afterwards no remorse, nor drawing back, for the fight of any fuch rueful objects as muft thereupon follow, nor for compaffion of their calamities; seeing that by no other means it is poffible to cure them." State of Irel. p. 166. ed of their commiffions; and thofe, who were thus driven, had King William's protections in their pockets." Thefe hiftorical facts were, it feems, unknown to the Doctor, when he made his charge. CHA P. XII. King James countermands De Rofen's order. I AM far from vindicating, or even meaning to extenuate the cruelty of De Rofen's order, from any former examples of the fame kind; though many more than those I have mentioned, might be produced in the commanders of armies, on fuch occafions. "King James himself expreffed the highest refentment of it, and put a stop to its execution on the first notice; and in his circular letters to the governors of towns and «Circular letter from King James forbidding to put De Rofen's proclamation in execution:" "Trusty and well-beloved, we greet you well. Whereas we are informed, that our field marthal general, the Marquis De Rofen, hath fent orders to several places, requiring the relations of fuch as are now in rebellion against us in Derry, of what sex or age foever they be, to be delivered to him, and expofed by him, as he hath projected and declared in the said order; our will and pleasure is, that if any fuch order hath been sent to you from the faid marshal, you pofitively refufe obedience thereto, and make it known to all our people, that fuch orders have been given entirely without our knowledge, and are positively contrary to our inclinations, which have always been to reclaim even the worst of our fubjects by mercy, and inviolably preferve the affurances we have given, either by our royal declaration in general, or by any particular protections, to fuch as live peaceably under our government: we do therefore reiterate our orders to you, that you affure all our loving fubjects of our real intentions in this matter, and you shall affure them that such as live peaceably in their stations, fhall, without diftinction, enjoy our protection, and fo requiring your obedience to this our abfolute will and b 2 to the officers commanding in chief in the North, he commanded them by no means to obey it; and accordingly, that order was not executed in most parts of that province. This, adds Mr. Lefley, I had from the officers, to whom these orders were fent, and from feveral proteftants who have feen them, and can produce them." Mr. Lefley alfo appeals to the Earl of Granard, then living, "whether the fame day, that the news of this order of De Rofen's came to Dublin, VOL. II. N his and pleasure, we bid you heartily farewell. Given at our court at Dublin-castle, this 3d day of June, 1689, and in the fifth year of our reign. By his majesty's command, Macpherf. Orig. Pap. vol. i. p. 280. MELFORT." The Irish officers likewife, who were employed in De Rofen's driving, "executed thefe orders against their countrymen, (fays Sir John Dalrymple) weeping, and obeying ; and many of them owned, that the cries they then heard rang for ever in their ears." Memoirs, part ii. p. 40. Thofe very proteftants whom De Rofen cruelly ordered to be thus driven before the walls of Derry, and whom King James. immediately ordered to be difcharged upon the first notice, "confefs (fays Mr. Lefley) that Lieutenant General Hamilton (who was much against that driving, but De Rofen commanded) ordered meal and other provifions to be distributed among the poor people." Anfw. to King, p. 186. "It would be inhuman to the memory of the unhappy, to impute the difgrace of this action to King James. He revoked the order as foon as he heard of it, because his own fufferings had probably taught him to feel for those of others." Dalrymple's Mem. part ii. p. 41. "The French fleet which carried King James into Ireland, took fome English merchantmen while his majefty was aboard, and fome of the mafters were brought before King James, who expecting nothing but death, fell down upon their knees begging their lives, which brought tears into the king's eyes, and he not only restored them their ships with all their effects, but ordered two frigates to attend them and fee them safe through all the French fleet." Lefley's Anfw. p. 150. This earl was accounted very "zealous for the protestant intereft; his lady was a presbyterian, and he had constantly received five hundred pounds a year from King Charles the fecond, to be distributed among the prefbyterian clergy in the North of Ireland, even when he permitted a cruel perfecution of their brethren in England." Harris's K. William, f. 105. Note. his lordship did not tell King James of it, and whether his majesty did not anfwer, that he was grieved for it, that he had fent immediate orders to discharge it, and that none but a barbarous Mufcovite (for fuch, it feems, De Rofen was,) could have thought of so cruel a contrivance." As this charge against De Rofen has been frequently introduced in anniversary fermons on rebellion, plots and maffacres, 'tis but juft to give the following extracts from the authentic papers of Mr. Macpherson, and leave the reader to judge of that general's conduct. + DE ROSEN'S ORDER. 4 Camp before Londonderry, July 1ft, 1689. "The rebels of Londonderry augmenting every day in their obstinacy, which can no longer be endured, I have refolved to gather together all the rebels of this country, and to conduct them to camp, and afterwards to drive them under the walls of the town that they may starve. You are to give them no more fubfiftence than will be barely neceffary to fupport them this length from the places they fhall be taken. And as I have certain information that a confiderable number of the rebels of Londonderry and of this district, especially their wives and children, have retired to Belfaft and the neighbouring places; and as the hardiness of their hufbands deferves the feverest chastisements, I write this letter to acquaint you, that you are inftantly to make an exact research in Belfast and its neighbourhood, after fuch fubjects as are rebellious to the will of the king, whether men, women, boys or girls, without exception, and 4 Macphers. Orig. Pap. p. 203-4-5. "At Derry the refiftance of the rebels continuing, they made feveral fallies, killing many general officers and other officers, at length preffed with want of provifions, the garrison propofed a furrender on conditions (which they had fo often infidioufly done before during the fiege, at one time to the king in perfon). This was conftrued by De Rofen into a mere feint to gain time (which is evident). The befieged continued to fire and drove the Irifh from two entrenchments, which they had taken the day before. The marefchal incenfed at this unexpected refiftarice, adopted the expedient above-mentioned." Macpherf. Hift. Gr. Brit. vol. i. f. 566, and Orig. Pap. paffim. and whether they are protected or unprotected, and to arreft them and collect them together, that they may be conducted by a detachment to this camp, and driven under the walls of Londonderry, where they shall be allowed to ftarve in fight of the rebels within the town, unless they chufe to open their ports to them, which they fhall be at liberty to do, if they are difpofed to pity them. Do not fail to exert yourself to the utmost in executing these orders punctually, and without delay, and at the risk of being perfonally anfwerable to me for your diligence; and you are to be particularly careful, that none of the rebels, whether men or boys, women or girls, or infants, of whatever age, fhall pafs the river and escape the way of Charlemont, to fave themselves from the wretchedness to which they are to be reduced. "You are to intimate to the inhabitants of Port Patrick the orders you have received, and to declare to them, that they fhall affuredly be treated with the fame rigour, unless they remain quiet. I recommend to you to give the greatest attention to the execution of these orders. I am, &c. DE ROSEN." De Rofen "had however, before his mafter's (the king's) orders could reach him, affembled above four thousand men, women and children, which he caused to be driven to the walls; but fo little effect had this proceeding towards perfuading the town to furrender, that they fired upon them from the walls ("happily none were killed"), which Monfieur De Rofen perceiving, drew them off and fent them to their homes again." "It appears from another letter of the fame date (camp before Londonderry, 5th July, 1689) that he (De Rosen) had by that time received from the king an answer to his letter of June 30th, and his majefty's order, forbidding him to put his project in execution. He prefumes to blame James for his clemency, and attempts to juftify his own conduct. "SIRE, "I have received the letter which your majesty did me the honour to write to me the 3d inftant, by which I fee that your majesty is always full of benevolence towards the rebels of this kingdom: their own conviction of this encourages them in infolence, to which they are carried every day, and in the hopes that your |