king's defign of hanging the other half of the protestants, Mr. Lesley also obferves, "that in all the time the proteftants of Dublin were in King James's power, viz. in fummer 1689, he did not hang one of them, though fome of them deferved it by the law then, as Dr. King could witness." CHA P. XI. General De Rofen's cruelty before Derry confidered. AFTER Derry had fhut its gates against King James, and several times refused to submit to his autho rity upon any conditions whatever, General De Rofen, a foreigner, was fent to befiege it; who made ufe, indeed, of a barbarous, though not unusual expedient to reduce it under King James's obedience. For, finding that the town was in extreme want of provisions, he purposed to increase their diftrefs, by adding to their number; for which purpose, he issued orders for a general driving of all the proteftants, protected and unprotected (fays Dr. King), within thirty miles round; who "I am told (fays Mr. Lefley) that Dr. King owed it to King James's mercy that he now lives: was he not (adds he) accufed of holding correfpondence with, and giving intelligence to the rebels, as they were then called, both in England and the north of Ireland? did he not give frequent intelligence to Schomberg by one Sherman, and keep conftant correfpondence with Mr. Tollet and others in London? a bloody-minded tyrant (fuch as King reprefents James) would have found another punishment for it than a fhort imprisonment. King James had once fo good an opinion of this author, that he had him frequently in private and trusted him in his affairs, til at last he found him out." Answ. p. 105-6. a cc Long before this, the people of Derry took out their pardon for shutting their gates against the Earl of Antrim's regiment, which (adds my author) was a confeffion of fome fort of guilt." Lefley's Anfwer, p. 93. The proteftants seized Derry the 7th or 8th of December 1688, and King James's army did not come to Dromore in the north till the 14th of March following. Id. ib. p. 97. who were brought to his camp, and placed before the walls of the town, in hopes that their friends within would receive them into it, rather than suffer them to remain in fo perilous a fituation. On account of this inhuman order of De Rofen, Dr. King thought himfelf entitled to brand the whole Irish army under him, with the decent appellation of "murderers," because,' "he C "Rofen represented to King James the ill confequences of his clemency, as his protections were found in the pockets of feveral who were found in arms against his authority." Macph. Hift. vol. i. p. 567. "This wretched meafure produced no effect on the townfmen (of Derry), they fired upon their friends from the wall, but no mischief was done. Rofen convinced of the folly of his expedient, or touched with a momentary pity, withdrew the unhappy people after a few hours, and permitted them to return home. Some might have died of hunger and fatigue. The miferies, however, which followed this deteftable measure have been greatly exaggerated, and King James himself has been unjustly blamed. James was alarmed at the intelligence, and offended at his general. He wrote to all his officers at their peril to pay no regard to the order: he fent his express commands to the marefchal himself to drop his unjuft, as well as impolitic defign. Thefe people (fays James) lived peaceably at home, they had either my protection or they relied upon my declaration. De Rofen's measure was inevitably to depopulate a country which I was refolved to defend. Befides, this precipitate and unjust order furnished my enemies with an instance of my breach of faith in Ireland, which would contribute to ruin my interest in my other kingdoms." Id. ib. "Had Dr. King (fays Mr. Lefley) fuch a story as that of Glenco, to tell of any of King James officers in Ireland, O! what declamations we fhould have of the bloody Irish cutthroats, maffacres, &c? And what ufe would he have made of their giving it under their hands, that what they did, was by the king's exprefs command, and none punished for it?" Anfw. to King, p. 114. That fhocking ftory of Glenco is thus briefly related by a late intelligent and unprejudiced writer. "A proclamation was published in autumn, 1691, which declared that all rebels who took the oaths to the government, before the first of January enfuing, fhould be pardoned. All the attainted chieftains of the Highlands, except M'Donald of Glenco, took the oaths before the " he did not remember to have met any thing like it in history." Had the doctor been a little more converfant with, or mindful of the hiftory of his own country, he would have found, that in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and fince alfo, many orders of equal, or greater cruelty had been iffued, by fome of the most celebrated English commanders of thofe times, in their feveral expeditions against the Irish. In the year 1602, Lord Deputy Mountjoy boasted in a letter to the Englifh council, that with his army, he had destroyed their 2 2 Morrif. Hift. of Ireland, f. 115. the time prefixed. Upon the laft day of December, he went to Fort-William, and defired the oaths to be tendered to him by the governor of the fortrefs, who, as he was not a civil magiftrate, refused to adminifter them. M'Donald then went to Inverary, the country town, to take them; but by bad weather was prevented from reaching it, till the term prefcribed by the proclamation was elapfed. The fheriff scrupled at first, but was prevailed upon at laft to receive his allegiance. Advantage was taken of M'Donald's not having complied literally with the terms of the proclamation, and a warrant for proceeding to execution was procured from the king, which was figned both above and below with his own hand. Sir John Dalrymple, the fecretary, gave orders that the execution of it fhould be effectual, and without any previous warning. For this purpose, in the month of February, two companies went, not as enemies, but as friends, to take quarters in the valley of Glenco, where all the clan lived. To conceal the intention the better, the foldiers were of their own lineage, Highlanders of Argyle's regiment. They were all received with the rude, but kind hofpitality of the country. They continued in the valley near a fortnight, and then in the night time rofe to butcher their hofts! Captain Campbell of Glenlyon, who was uncle to the wife of one of M'Donald's fons, and had fupped and played cards with M'Donald's family the night before, commanded the party. Thirty-eight men were flain. The reft would have thared the fame fate, had not the alarm been given by one of M'Donald's fons, who overheard one of the foldiers fay, to another," he liked not the work; he feared not to fight the M'Donalds in the field, but had scarcely courage to kill them in their fleep; but that their officers were anfwerable for the deed, not they." This execution made the deeper impreffion, because the king would not permit any of those who were concerned in it to be punished, confcious their corn, and caused a famine; that being the only fure way," adds he, "adds he, " to reduce or root them out.' And his fecretary Morriffon," thought the war was then no way fo likely to be ended, as by a general famine. Which, as we have already feen, they did at laft completely effect. In the lift of Sir William Cole's boafted exploits against the infurgents in 1641, we find," that within a few months, he had starved and famished five thousand four hundred and fifty-feven of the Irish." And when the garrison of Limerick, which was befieged by Ireton in 1650, and like that of Derry, was in great want of provifions, had turned out feveral + Borl. Hift. of the Irish Rebel. 3 Hift. Irel. f. 68. conscious that in their cafe his own was involved." Sir John Dalrymple's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 213. Dub. ed. "As a mark of his own eagerness to fave Secretary Dalrymple, King William figned the warrant both above and below with his own hand. In the night Lieutenant Lindsay, with a party of foldiers, called in a friendly manner at M'Donald's door; he was inftantly admitted. M'Donald, as he was rifing from his bed to receive his guest, was shot dead behind his back with two bullets; his wife had already put on her cloaths, but fhe was ftripped naked by the foldiers, who tore the rings off her fingers with their teeth. The flaughter became general. To prevent the pity of the foldiers to their hofts, their quarters had been changed the night before; neither age nor infirmity was fpared; fome women in defending their children were killed; boys imploring mercy were shot by officers on whofe knees they hung; in one place nine perfons as they fat enjoyingt hemfelves at table, were shot dead by the foldiers. The affaffins are even said to have made a sport of death. At Inveriggen, in Campbell's own quarters, nine men were firft bound by the foldiers, then shot at intervals, one by one : feveral who fled to the mountains, perished by famine and the inclemency of the season; those who efcaped owed their lives to a tempeftuous night. Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton, who had the charge of the execution from Dalrymple, was on his march with four hundred men, to occupy all the paffes, which led from the valley of Glenco; he was obliged to ftop by the feverity of the weather, which proved the safety of the unfortunate tribe. He entered the valley the next day; he laid all the houfes in afhes, and carried away all the cattle and spoil, which were divided. among the officers, and foldiers." Macpherfon's Hift. Dub. ed. vol. i. p. 628-9. 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, By that proclamation, "the wives, children and families of all those who were in arms against King William, and of all those 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. Lesley' 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 miscarried, 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 afham 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 Munfter, 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 courfe of reformation," there be afterwards no remorfe, 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. |