delight, and her chief relaxation from the constant tension of her attendance on the King. She wanted such a drama for them, as might be thoroughly wholesome and instructive, and applied to Racine. A pupil of the Port Royalists, Racine was a deeply religious man. The stern opinions of his masters were against all ordinary amusements, and they had tried to repress his poetical and theatrical instincts; but these were too strong for renunciation-he could not but write, and after a time, M. Arnauld, on reading his great tragedy of Phoèdre, was convinced that he could be trusted only to write virtuously, and he was forgiven. He accompanied the King on his campaigns, and was in the highest favour when Madame de Maintenon asked him for the play for her children. Esther was the subject chosen. Whether he so meant it or not, the character of Vashti was absolutely supposed to be meant for Madame de Montespan, and that of Esther for Madame de Maintenon, though Protestants thought the parallel an unfortunate one as regarded the treatment of her own people. However, the representation was the greatest possible success, when it was witnessed by the two Kings and the Queen, during the carnival of 1689. Three days later came the tidings of the death of the young Queen of Spain, Marie Louise of Orleans, niece to both Kings, being daughter of the Duke of Orleans and Henrietta Stewart. She died at the same age as her mother, with much the same symptoms, and in like manner she was thought to have been poisoned. The supposed criminal in her case was the Queen-Mother, Maria of Austria, who was certainly jealous of her influence over her husband, and afraid that her strong feeling for her English uncle would lead to an alliance with France against the supporters of William of Orange. The poor helpless Charles II. of Spain had loved her passionately, and never held up his head after losing her, though he was made to marry again-a Princess of Neuberg, niece to the Emperor. James II. felt the loss as most unfortunate, but he founded strong hopes upon Ireland, and some upon the Highlanders in Scotland, as well as on the large party in England who had only acquiesced in the Revolution for want of a nucleus of resistance. Few of our kings have been so difficult to understand or judge as James II. He was sincere and self-sacrificing in the religion he had embraced, but guilty of vices thereby condemned—a better man in many respects than his brother Charles, but far less lovable, because too dull to understand the consequences of his actions. The confidence of the nation was lost by the atrocities of Jeffreys, and the imprisonment of the Bishops, and though the persons who took part in what led to his expulsion were comparatively few, the popular disbelief in the genuineness of his son's birth prevented any stir on his behalf; and there were many who accepted the allegation the more easily because of their dread of a Popish heir, CAMEO XIII. "Esther." 1689. CAMEO tion, Great wrong and treachery was practised by almost every actor in the scene of the Revolution. It was a time of immense perplexity, the The Revolu- foundations of public morality in statesmen had been sapped, and the dread of Romanism, of tyranny, and of French domination, made the bulk of the nation passive in the change, and silenced the spirit of personal loyalty. If the King abandoned his throne, even the most devoted did not feel bound to commence a civil war on his behalf, and there were many who would not willingly have fought for a suspected heir and alien Church. SYMPATHY Somewhat changes sides when the scene alters from Scotland to Ireland, for Jacobitism in the former country attracted the nobler spirits, while in the latter it became identified with the general spirit of misrule and rebellion. Still that the Roman Catholic country should cling to the Roman Catholic king was only natural, and a great deal had been suffered from the English immigrants, so that the great body of the country was Jacobite, and the Revolution had received no recognition. Indeed, the deputy, Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnel, had carefully filled every post in his power with Romanists, the Chief Baron being Stephen Rice, who is said to have originated the saying that he could drive a coach and horses through any Act of Parliament. The Protestants had for three years past been systematically depressed, suffering somewhat of the injustice they had inflicted on the Roman Catholics, and when William's arrival in England was known, a report was spread that they were all to be massacred, as in the early days of the Great Rebellion. The 9th December, 1688, was the day when this slaughter was expected, and the Protestant population of Dublin crowded down to Kingstown entreating to be taken on board ship and carried into safety. Tyrconnel sent two of the Lords of Council to reassure them; but as many as possible got on board, and the rest remained in fear and trembling. At Bandon, Mallow, and Sligo, bands were formed for self-defence, and at Enniskillen, on Lough Erne, not only was the place put in a state of defence, but the gentlemen sallied out and drove Tyrconnel's troops back to Cavan. CAMEO Terror in Ireland. 1688. CAMEO The Earl of Antrim, with 1, 200 men, chiefly Highlanders, was sent by Tyrconnel to garrison Londonderry. The magistrates, under the The Gates of influence of Rice, would have received him, but the citizens were of Derry. 1689. another mind. As the soldiers were approaching, nine apprentice lads, under a sudden impulse, rushed at the gates, closed, barred, locked them, drew up a drawbridge, and let down the portcullis. Man after man of all ranks followed the impetus, the guns were manned, and minds were braced to a desperate resistance. Antrim durst not attack the place, and Tyrconnel sent the Master of the Ordnance, Lord Mountjoy, himself a Protestant, to induce the Ulster men to lay aside their fears, and admit the troops; but this proved a failure, and, moreover, the Romanists were showing themselves so much inclined to commit violences that there was danger of their justifying the alarms of the Protestants. Tyrconnel upon this sent Lord Mountjoy and Chief Baron Rice to France to urge James to come at once and make Ireland a point of vantage for the recovery of his throne-and it is said that he even offered Louis privately to make Ireland a dependency of France if his master would not make the attempt. "Now or never! Now or for ever!" was on the flag he hoisted on the Castle at Dublin, and he enlisted 50,000 Irish in James's cause; but there were many who, unwilling to submit to discipline, roamed the country, plundering, burning, and killing the cattle of the Protestants. Most of the persons, however, fled before the marauders, and took refuge in Ulster, where the population was in great part of Scottish or English extraction. In Londonderry, the numbers, usually 6,000 or 7,000, were swelled to 30,000. James was eager to respond to the summons of his deputy, and Louis was anxious to support him with money and a staff of officers, since Ireland itself was to furnish men. James wished for Lauzun to take the command; but he refused, unless Louis would make him a duke, and this was not as yet granted. James, however, made him a Knight of the Garter, giving him the very George worn by Charles I. on the scaffold. It had been guarded by Izaak Walton till the Restoration, and on Lauzun's death, being returned to the royal Stewarts, it remained with them till the last of the line sent it on his deathbed to George III. in 1807. The command of the French contingent was given to Marshal Count von Rosen, a Livonian soldier of fortune, of high birth and connection, but of rude coarse manners and ferocious temper, without any great ability. Count d'Avaux was to go as ambassador, and most of the fugitive nobles accompanied the King, as well as the Duke of Berwick, whose military capacity was far beyond that of any of the rest, but who I was still a mere lad of nineteen. Louis parted most affectionately with his cousin, giving his own sword as an augury of good fortune, and saying, with an embrace," The best wish I can give your Majesty is that I may never see you again!" A spendid equipage for the camp was also presented by the French King, but the vessel carrying it was lost at sea. Escorted by the French fleet from Brest, James arrived at Kinsale on the 12th of March, 1689, and was met at Cork by Tyrconnel, who conducted him to Dublin, where he was received with showers of flowers, tapestry spread in the streets, and loyal addresses from all ranks. His first proclamation summoned all Protestants to return to their homes, and all Catholics not regularly enlisted to give up their arms, and he then marched with his army to reduce Londonderry, which his generals assured him would be an easy conquest. The Governor, Colonel Lundy, himself considered the place untenable. Two regiments had been despatched from England to assist in the defence; but he sent to their officers to prevent their disembarkation, saying that there was no alternative but surrender, and they would only swell the number of prisoners. When the royal army came in sight, he gave orders that they should not be fired upon. However, George Walker, a parish clergyman, who had taken refuge in the city, stirred up the people to persevere, and secretly enabled Lundy to escape in disguise from their indignation, while two officers, Major Baker and Captain Murray, took the command of the soldiers, Walker was elected governor, and the advancing troops of James were fired upon. The ramparts were decayed, the walls crumbling, the artillery insufficient, the city overcrowded with useless mouths. James and Rosen expected an easy victory; but their summons to surrender was rejected, and so was an attempt to bribe Captain Murray. The resolution of the inhabitants was taken in a religious spirit. There were eighteen clergymen and seven Presbyterian ministers within the walls, and these all heartily co-operated. They had prayers daily within their churches and chapels, which were attended by the soldiers as well as the inhabitants, and above all things they endeavoured to prevent religious discussions. The town was battered for eleven days in vain, and at the end of two months it was plain to the besiegers that nothing but famine would reduce the place, and James and Rosen left General Hamilton to carry on the blockade, and repaired to Dublin. In the words of Mrs. Alexander, a poetess by adoption of Derry-. "Like a falcon on her perch, our fair Cathedral Church Above the tide-vext river looks eastward from the bay, Dear namesake of St. Columb, and each morning sweet and solemn, Our leader speaks the prayer, the Captains all are there, His deep voice never falters though his look be sad and grave; On the women's pallid faces and the soldiers in their places, And the stones above our brothers that he buried in their graves. They are closing round us still! by the river, on the hill You can see the white pavilion round the standard of their chief; САМЕО XIV. James in Ireland. 1689. |