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sueth . ' His flight was furious arid disorderly . He arrived in Dublin with his horses blown , life baggage and servants scattered on the way , and exhibiting all the marks of consternation and despair . Meantime his army was whole and unbroken , and were marching from the field of battle with as much regularity as from a field of exercise ; while the King and commander of this brave army was endeavouring to ruin their cause and his own , by spreading alarm and dismay through the country . " The first news that had been received in Dublin from the Boyne gave the
victory to James . But these accounts came down no later than the charges of the Irish horse , which had been so successful . The flight of the Danish cavalry through the country had confirmed those reports from the field . The next accounts were brougiit by James himself . The manner of his entrance into the city would , to any one that did not know the Kinff , have been full assurance of the total destruction of the Irish army . His little stock of courage was gone , and his small understanding completely overwhelmed ; not by any thing that had occurred , but by the excess and extravagance of his fears .
" It was about nine at night when James reached Dublin . He was received at the Castle by Lady Tyrconnel ; and we are told that his terrors , whatever effect they might have on his understanding , had not spoiled his appetite . He supped as heartily as Falstaff would after a campaign . The next morning he sent for the Lord Mayor , and several of the Corporation , and made a speech to them , the purport of which was , ' That in England he had an army which would fight , but deserted him' ( which was not the fact , it was the-King
who deserted his army ); c and that in Ireland he had an army which stood by him , but would not fight ; ' which was also not fact , for has Irish army had fought a good battle at the Boyne , and James and his Frenchmen were the onl y portion of the army not engaged . James continued— ' that he was now under the necessity of taking care of himself ; and he recommended to them * to do the same , and make the best terms they could with the enemy , and to do no mischief to the town /
" Thus did this poor-spirited and unhappy prince desert his own cause , and even recruit for his enemy . He was now only anxious to make a dastardly escape to France . His reproaches against his English and Irish armies were but the poor expedients with which cowardice , covers its flight . " The King did not lose a moment afteT his speech to the Corporation of Dublin . He set out immediately , and continued his flight to Waterford , with the rapidity of terror ; and though he was master of the whole country , and
the British army had not stirred from their position on the Boyne , he broke down the bridges as he passed ; not reflecting that his fears , which were his onl y pursuers , held him already captive , ana would not quit their hold for broken-down bridge or ruined causeway . He did not delay at Waterford , not even to make a speech to the Corporation . The Vessel h ? s provident timidity had provided , was in the harbour and ready for sea . She soon set sail , aM carried the sacred monarch in safety to the coast of France , and conveyed him to his favourite pursuit of superstition . "—Pp . 116—120 .
The account of the siege of Aughrim is very interesti ng * but too long for insertion ; and the same may be said of the battle . We shall , however , extract the account of St . Ruth ' s death , by which it was decided , chiefly from their being no one to succeed him in the command in consequence of a quarrel between him and Sasfield . " The fate of the battle now depended on the struggle at Aughrim . On the left the English had failed to make good their passage ; in the centre they were broken . Talmash , general of cavalry , and a man remarkable for a daring courage , saw that all was lost unless a desperate effort was made to restore the battle . He commanded the squadron of horse to which the severe task
Untitled Article
Review : —0 > Drfoeor * History of Ireland . 259
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1828, page 259, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2559/page/43/
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