THE SURRENDER OF DROGHEDA AND DUBLIN—THE FIRST SIEGE OF ATHLONE.

After the departure of King James from Dublin, Colonel Simon Loutrell, then military governor, in pursuance of the royal order, released all the prisoners, and, assembling the principal Protestant inhabitants, surrendered the government of the city into their hands. Those parties having constituted a provisional governor until the arrival of the Prince of Orange, Loutrell withdrew the Irish garrison from the city, and marched to Leixlip, where he was joined by Tyrconnell and De Lausun, and took up the route for Limerick. In the mean time, the French troops had been partially disbanded. One half of them, under De la Hoquette, had marched towards Cork to avail themselves of transportation to France; and the other, under Brigadier De Surlaube, brought up the rear of the Irish army, and followed De Lausun to Limerick.

Berwick, who had remained for some days with a body of cavalry between Drogheda and Dublin, to retard the immediate advance of the enemy on the capital, soon after took up his march for the general rendezvous, whither he had been preceded by the other division leaders, and in a short time an army was assembled there exceeding by some thousands the force that participated in the Battle of the Boyne. This, according to the estimate of the Duke of Berwick, consisted of 4,000 cavalry, still in good condition, and 16,000 infantry, of which only one half were armed with muskets.

De Lausun, who had become quite disgusted with the condition of affairs to which he had so largely contributed since his arrival, now lost no opportunity of effecting his recall, by representing the Jacobite cause as hopeless. Arriving at Limerick, he at once pronounced the place untenable; commented on the forlorn condition of the troops; the dilapidated state of its defences; ridiculed the idea of holding it against the army of the Prince of Orange; and in the excess of irony, declared that "his master could take it with roast-apples." Sarsfield and Berwick thought differently. It was their principal depot of provisions and military stores; one of the few ports of entry that now remained in their possession, and being moreover the key to the defences of the river, its loss would be soon followed by the total subjugation of the island. They accordingly set their minds on holding it to the last extremity, and being joined in this resolution by the governor, De Bo?sselau, they at once set about strengthening its fortifications. De Lausun, finding that his motives were understood, and that he no longer possessed the confidence or respect of the Irish leaders, withdrew his men, military chest, and artillery from the city, and encamped within view of it, on the Clare side of the river, where he remained an inactive spectator of the events that succeeded. But whatever were the motives of De Lausun, the strait to which the city was at this time reduced could hardly be underrated. The provisions of the garrison were quite inadequate to the maintenance of such a force for any considerable time; its ammunition was nearly exhausted, and there were only nine guns, and those of inferior calibre, on its walls. The late reverse had opened up all the country to the east of the Shannon to the arms of William, and on the southern side, round to Cork, there was hardly a fortress capable of offering a day's resistance. The forts of Kilkenny and Clonmel, in the interior, which had been dismantled during the war of the Confederacy, had been neglected during this, and could hardly retard his march from the seaboard longer than to comply with the forms of capitulation. Commerce, which had been hitherto carried on briskly between this city and France, ceased as the risks increased; the shipment of military stores was suspended; and operations in the field had become utterly impracticable. The treasury, too, was empty. The sum of 50,000 pistoles which the king left with Tyrconnell, was soon expended; the troops had become clamorous for pay, and private contributions were no longer to be obtained. The king's Catholic subjects throughout the eastern counties, were beset by the soldiers of William, and the king once departed, the entire Protestant population transferred their allegiance. Still every motive of pride and interest impelled the Irish leaders to more determined resistance, for there was now no alternative between success and total ruin. They had indicated the Shannon as the proper base of operations during the earlier stages of the war, and now that they were driven to it as a necessity, its defence became doubly imperative. Should they now fail to defend it successfully, their former importunities would be looked on as the effect of a weak and vacillating spirit, and the king would be more than justified in having rejected their counsel. All these considerations stirred them to renewed action, and the work of preparation was carried on with vigor. In consequence of their straitened means, one of their first measures was a reduction of the garrison. All the cavalry, and 8,000 infantry were retained for the defence; a few regiments were distributed at the different forts along the river up to Lanesborough, and the rest were sent to live on the country, subject to immediate service when called on.

On the day after the Battle of the Boyne, General Mellioneire, with 8,000 men, and a battering train, approached the town of Drogheda, still held by a Jacobite garrison of 1,300 men. The place was immediately summoned to surrender at sight, or expect no quarter. This was the order of the Prince of Orange, and that he meant to carry it out to the letter, there could hardly be a doubt. The history of this old town had furnished more than one instance of similar cruelty in his predecessors, and there was nothing in the antecedents of William to leave room for a doubt in favor of his greater humanity. The commandant of the garrison, however, interpreted the message literally, and so accepted it. The Irish army had disappeared; there was no hope of succor; and successful resistance to such a force, supported as it would be, if necessary, by William's entire army, was impossible. All these considerations, duly weighed, determined the conduct of the governor, and the garrison was accordingly surrendered. This removed the last enemy from William's rear, and at once opened the way to the capital. But to the great surprise and vexation of its expectant inhabitants, he drew up his army on the ground he had won, and took a respite of several days' duration.

On the withdrawal of the Jacobite authorities from Dublin, a scene of riot and plunder took place there which threatened the safety of the city. The Protestant mob, in defiance of all legal restraint, had commenced to plunder the houses of the Catholic gentry. Among them, the house of General Sarsfield became an object for special violence, and was rifled and totally demolished. The infuriated populace fled to the suburbs, and threatened to burn the city. Fitzgerald, the governor, did all that he could to protect life and property, but the riot increased in violence, and the greatest consternation prevailed among "the better sort." In this emergency, a messenger was dispatched to William's camp for a force sufficient to suppress these outrages, but he turned a deaf ear to the entreaty, and continued unmoved in his present quarters. He is accordingly much censured by the contemporary writers of his own party, for this neglect of what they considered the primary duty of a king who had taken them under his special protection. But, all things considered, the Prince was not so much to blame in this connection. The troops by whom he was surrounded, when from under his own eye, were entirely uncontrollable. They had given proof of this before Carrickfergus. There the presence of Schomberg was insufficient to check their excesses, and now, had they entered the city of Dublin during this tumult, they would but add fuel to the flame; and in this light the conduct of the Prince might be looked on rather as an act of forbearance than otherwise. But the truth is, that William, at that moment, was disturbed by graver considerations than the safety of his good citizens of Dublin. His spies at the French court, and his friends in England, kept him duly apprised of all that transpired abroad touching his interests. Immediately after the surrender of Drogheda, he had received intelligence of the situation of affairs, both on the continent and in England, since his departure, and that intelligence was not very assuring. The career of Luxembourg; the defeat of Admiral Torrington, and the preparations of de Seignelay, had wrought a change in the sentiment of the English people, and his presence among them had become a matter of pressing necessity. His fleet of transports, which accompanied him along the coast, was now moored at Drogheda; his army was encamped there, and his ordnance and military stores were still at hand, and he remained there but to watch the current of events, undecided whether to re-embark at once for England, and leave Ireland to its fate, or to risk his hold on England, by advancing into the country to renew a campaign but just inaugurated.—A few days, however, decided his course.

King James tells us that his principal object in leaving Ireland at this juncture, was to obtain a force from the French king to make a landing in England. He also adds that he had assurances from his friends in England, that any respectable force thrown into the country at that time would wrest it from the dominion of William. But his flight from his only remaining kingdom at such a juncture, so displeased King Louis, that he utterly denied him his presence for several days; and when at last he succeeded in obtaining an interview through the mediation of the queen, he found that de Lausun's misrepresentations had so completely closed the ear of the king to his appeals, that he not only denied his request, but that he had resolved on recalling the force already sent to Ireland.

William was duly apprised of all this, and it allayed his apprehensions for the safety of England; so, after a few days' delay, he struck tents, turned his steps southward, and encamping his army at Finglass, entered the capital.

The Parliament which assembled to meet him, presented a marked contrast to that of the preceding years of this war. The latter was earnestly intent on securing the liberty of the country and the religious freedom of all the denominations, and on having them secured by constitutional enactments; while the total extirpation of the Catholic faith, and the immediate confiscation of the estates of those still in arms for their rightful sovereign, alone could satisfy the former. William adopted a half-way measure, and one which was more likely to subserve his own interests. The confiscation of course became necessary, not only to satisfy his new subjects of Ireland, but also to reward his Dutch and foreign mercenaries; and it accordingly received his sanction. But the extermination of the people did not suit his views. The population of the country was already greatly reduced; and besides, 'tis said that William was opposed to persecution for conscience' sake. However, it became necessary, if possible, to detach the people from their leaders. While their interests were identified, the success of his arms was doubtful, and accordingly, a proclamation w............