parties in turn, and was ready to unite his arms with the highest bidder. The earl of Inchiquin, only zealous for the restoration of peace, at first adopted the obvious and probable means for this end by joining the parliamentary party; and in this, the motives by which he was actuated were identical with those of the marquess of Ormonde, who would not lower himself so far as to join the avowed enemies of the king; Preston was for peace, and considered the intervention of the marquess as the only expedient consistent with the safety of the Roman catholic nobility and gentry.

Among these parties, all moving independently of each other, and monthly changing their purposes and parties, a few more influential changes may be enumerated. Lord Inchiquin, disappointed by the slackness of the parliament in the conduct of the war, specially irritated by their breach of engagements with himself, and perhaps, (in common with many) mistaking the increasing weakness of the confederacy for the revival of the king's party, deserted them and returned to this party: while Owen O'Neile joined the parliamentary governor, and Monroe, still trying to preserve an independent posture, and leaving his intentions doubtful, was seized, and sent prisoner to London.

The desire for peace was at the same time universal to all who entertained no special expectation dependent upon the continuance of war. The confederates, with the exception of those who were immediately connected with the nuncio, were anxious to renew a treaty which all viewed as dependent upon the return of the marquess. His return was eagerly pressed by the earl of Inchiquin, who still continued to preserve his own force unbroken, and had, by the exertion of great address and courage, brought over his officers to the adoption of the same party with himself. A council, favourable to the same views, was held in Kilkenny, but menaced with a siege by O'Neile. O'Neile was compelled to retire by the combined forces of Inchiquin and Preston, of whom the first in vain tried to force him to a battle. An assembly was convened, and received with satisfaction the intelligence conveyed by Muskerry and Browne, that the marquess of Ormonde would soon follow them from France. The same assembly declared O'Neile a traitor, and renewed their appeal to Rome against the excommunication of Rinuncini.

The language of this paper strongly shows the unpopularity of the nuncio, as it declares, "the manifold oppressions, transcendent crimes, and capital offences, which he had continually been for three years past, acting within the kingdom to the unspeakable detriment of their religion, the ruin of the nation, and the dishonour of the see of Rome," &c.*

The marquess having been strongly urged by the confederate leaders, and also by the king, queen, and prince, once more to hazard himself for the only chance which then remained for the king's life and restoration; began by a vain endeavour to obtain from the French court such means as he was informed by Inchiquin would be necessary for the purpose of putting his troops in motion; but after great exertions, he could only bring together a sum equal to about £6000. He obtained

Carte, II. pp. 43.

a power from the queen and prince to conclude a peace, and a letter from the king, declaring himself a prisoner, and desiring the marquess to disregard any public commands from himself, until he should let him know that he was free from restraint.

Before the marquess set out on a journey so fraught with troubles and dangers, he turned out of his way to Caen to visit the marchioness, who was then settled there with his children. Taking leave of these, he pursued his way to Havre, from whence he was to embark; but on the way his life was exposed to great and imminent danger. Having reached the ferry opposite Havre, he agreed for his passage with the master of a small half-decker, laden with cyder. It was dark, when with his servant he embarked, and they had made but little way when the wind became rough and adverse, and they were in consequence all night on the water. Towards morning, the captain applied to the marquess to learn the hour;-his watch was fast, or his impatience at the delay, caused him to tell the captain an hour too late: the captain thus misled, missed his reckoning, and ran upon the flats; the vessel was split, and the marquess with some difficulty escaped in the cockboat. He was compelled to delay at Havre for a long time to await his despatches from St Germains, which put him to a ruinous expense, and this was aggravated by another incident. The prince of Orange had sent a forty-six gun vessel to convey him to Ireland, but the сарtain refused to take on board the cannon and other military stores which he had purchased to a large amount, so that he was under the necessity of hiring another vessel for his stores and train of attendants. When he landed in Cork he had only thirty pistoles remaining of the sum he had received in France.

The marquess landed at Cork, 29th September 1648, and on the 6th October published a declaration of which it is necessary to extract a few lines as it both attests the consistency of the marquess, and accounts for the dislike of a section of the confederacy whose hesitation to treat with the marquess has been attributed by adverse writers to reasons less creditable to this nobleman. In his declaration the marquess mentions, that " he deems it his duty to use his endeavours to recover his majesty's rights, and observes that the protestant army in Munster, having manifested their integrity to the king's person and rights, and disclaimed all obedience to the enemies of both, was esteemed by the king as an eminent and seasonable expression of their loyalty. In testimony of such his sentiments, his majesty had commanded him to repair to that province to discharge the duty of his place: that he had resolved publicly to evince not only his approbation of that army's proceedings, but his own resolution in the same particulars: that he would employ his utmost endeavours for settling the protestant religion-for defending the king in his prerogative-for maintaining the privileges and freedom of parliament and the liberty of his subjects. He declares he will, at the hazard of his life, oppose all rebels who shall refuse obedience to his majesty, on the terms he shall require it, and endeavour the suppression of the independents. That to prevent all distrust from former differences, he declares himself fully authorized to assure them that no distinction shall be made on any such account, but that all who engaged in the cause should be treated with

equal regard and favour: that the past should be forgot, and he would use his utmost diligence to provide for their subsistence, and do them all the good offices in his power, requiring no other return than their perseverance."

The events of the treaty which followed are to be briefly noticed, as though concluded by the marquess it was utterly without result. The ecclesiastical party earnestly protested against any thing being concluded before the return of their emissaries from Rome. The other party entered with zeal in the negotiation, and invited the marquess to his own castle of Kilkenny, in order that the proceedings might be conducted with less interruption. The marquess assented, and was received with every public demonstration of respect and zeal. He was however for a time called away by a mutiny in the army of the earl of Inchiquin, which was discontented by want of pay, and had besides a great leaning to the parliamentary party. The mutiny was suppressed with considerable exertion-the soldiers were appeasedsome of the officers were imprisoned-others cashiered—and the rest submitted. Reports arrived that a fleet from the prince was soon to arrive with money and provisions, and the prince himself with the duke of York, immediately to follow; and the army was thus encouraged and appeased. The marquess returned and found matters still more ripe for a treaty, which the condition of the king now made an affair of desperate necessity. While the marquess was endeavouring to abate the violence of his opponents, and to bring down their extravagant demands, intelligence arrived which had the effect of a thunderstroke upon the mind of every party in that negotiation. A copy of the remonstrance of the English army, demanding the trial of the king, was sent by the earl of Inchiquin to the marquess. At this dreadful intelligence the marquess gave up all consideration of every object beyond the meeting of that fearful emergency, (for such it then appeared) and only looked to saving the king by the union of Ireland in his favour, at any price. The treaty was therefore soon concluded to the entire satisfaction of the more moderate of the Roman catholic party, on the basis of the articles of 1646. These terms were indeed far from such as the marquess would have even listened to a few months before; but he now acted with the strong hope of producing a salutary reaction in favour of the king, and averting the ruin which seemed to menace both kingdoms. The marquess has been blamed for these concessions; but to his apprehension it was a choice of evils, and he chose the less, so far as human reason could go; for we have no right to assume them as interpositions of providence.

The execution of king Charles in the beginning of 1649, gave a shock to the marquess, which as he afterwards remarked, made all the troubles of his after life sit lighter upon him. The account was received with a general expression of sorrow and indignation. The marquess immediately ordered the proclamation of Charles II., and its reception was so generally favourable, that the nuncio, concluding that there would be a universal submission to the authority of the lord-lieutenant, was confirmed in the resolution which he had latterly formed, to leave the kingdom. He wrote his parting directions to Owen O'Neile and to such of the hierarchy of his communion as still

adhered to himself, to exert their most strenuous efforts to keep up the war. Owen was now the only person among the Irish who held out; but many circumstances had caused a falling off in his force, and the marquess employed Daniel O'Neile to treat with him. The commissioners of trust also sent their agents for the same purpose, but the terms which they offered, were such as to lead O'Neile to suspect that they underrated his value, and he resolved to let them see their error, and entered upon a treaty with the independents.

The king was at the Hague, when the account reached him of his father's death; he immediately confirmed the appointment of the marquess. The marquess was involved meanwhile, in many added perplexities. The commissioners of trust, who held pro tempore the power of levying assessments for the expense of the war, were more sedulous to fill their own coffers, than to execute their trusts. The marquess, pressed by a host of emergencies, could only command the ordinary revenue, which was insufficient for preparations which would be necessary for taking the field in the following spring. He wrote to the king strongly urging him to come over, as his presence would unite all parties, and supersede all authorities which at present embarrassed the course of his interests. The king had at the same time received invitations from Scotland. The Scottish commissioners proposed terms which could not be accepted, and were referred to his arrival in Ireland for an answer; the States entered warmly into the wishes of the Scots and pressed him in their favour. It was thought desirable to obstruct his journey to Ireland, and with this view it was suggested that the States would, if applied to, advance a sum of money for the purpose. Charles applied by a memorial and was thus diverted into procrastination of his journey, till the time when it might be of avail was spent in awaiting the fulfilment of a promise which, from the beginning was but a snare. At last, when reduced to the greatest embarrassment for want of the ordinary means of supporting his household, Charles left Holland and went to France.

The marquess was in the meantime left to the ruinous means to which he was ordinarily compelled to resort, for the purpose of raising and maintaining a force which at best was wholly inadequate to the demand of the time. By loans where he could borrow, and by freely involving himself in debts, which afterwards became the burden of many years, and which no private estate could wipe away, he made such preparations as he could, to lay siege to Dublin. On this undertaking the event of the struggle was now thought to depend; the loyalists in England stood in suspense, waiting for the result of an enterprise which was expected to be the signal for a fresh insurrection in England. The difficulties of the marquess were aggravated by the general scarcity; every kind of provision was exhausted, and the spring was more backward than usual. So late as May, he was only enabled to collect 2000 foot and 200 horse; these he sent with the earl of Castlehaven to take such places as O'Neile held in Leinster, which it would not be safe to leave in the occupation of an enemy in the rear of his march against Dublin. During this expedition it is stated that the soldiers were sometimes two or three days without food, and daily on the point of breaking up; this the marquess barely con

trived to prevent by sending off small sums as fast as he could borrow them. In the meanwhile he was drawing together such troops as he could at Leighlin bridge; in the utmost uneasiness at being compelled to let pass an occasion so favourable for the execution of a decisive blow: Dublin, at that moment was itself reduced to a state of great extremity, and would have offered little effectual resistance, could he but advance before Jones should be further reinforced and the town supplied. The marquess in vain represented to prince Rupert that there was at the time "not ten days' provisions of bread in the place, so that if the harbour were but blocked up, the forces within it must fall to nothing immediately."* Jones had himself been neglected by his masters, who were yet kept in a state of internal ferment by the pressure throughout England of a strong re-action of popular feeling, and still more by the contest for pre-eminence which had arisen among themselves. The importance of Ireland however, appeared so considerable, that it could not under any circumstances be neglected; the hopes of the royal party had turned thither, and though the time had not arrived for a decisive blow, it was yet indispensable to occupy a precautionary position. So that before the marquess could sit down with any reasonable hope of success before the walls, the parliamentary commander was enabled to bid him defiance, and to look without apprehension upon his approach at the head of a scanty, discontented, and divided force; which he had by the first of June contrived to raise to 6000 foot and 2000 horse. To enable him to advance a step with these, he had to borrow £800 and to take up a supply of meal on credit; he thus advanced and took Kildare, Talbotstown and Castle Talbot, but at this latter place, he was again checked by the exhaustion of these supplies, and compelled to remain on the west of the Liffey, while Jones drew out as far as Johnstown to meet him.

Jones had been relieved with needful supplies of corn and money, and in a letter to Cromwell dated on the 6th of the same month, describes himself as successfully engaged in fomenting differences between Owen O'Neile and the marquess, and also as having opened an intercourse with Preston for the same purpose. This was it appears,

facilitated by some discontent of Preston's who had about two months previous, received from the marquess a refusal to his application to be made master-general of the ordnance, on the death of Sir T. Lucas, who held the office. The marquess, who found it very difficult to satisfy the disorderly ambition of those who had joined him from the confederate party, gave this post to lord Taaffe, who had merited it by continued and efficient service.

It is mentioned rather doubtfully, but on grounds probable enough, that a conspiracy against the life of the marquess was at this time suspected. A report seems to have prevailed in England, that several ruffians were hired to assassinate him; this is mentioned directly in a letter from Sir E. Nicholas to the marquess himself. And a passage from one of the letters between Jones and a person of the name of Rochfort, who seems to have been his correspondent in the quarters of the marquess, appears to hint at something of the kind.

* Carte.

"None,"