William Cecil Pechell, the only son of Sir George, again following the
military instincts of his race, entered the army, and became captain
of the 77th regiment, with which he served during the Crimean war. He
fell leading on his men to repel an attack made by the Russians on the
advanced trenches before Sebastopol, on the 3rd of September, 1855. He
was beloved and deeply lamented by all who knew him; and sorrow at his
loss was expressed by the Queen, by the Commander-in-Chief, by the
whole of the light division, and by the mayor and principal
inhabitants of Brighton. A statue of Captain Pechell, by Noble, was
erected by public subscription, and now stands in the Pavilion at
Brighton.




II.

CAPTAIN RAPIN,

AUTHOR OF THE "HISTORY OF ENGLAND."


When Louis XIV. revoked the Edict of Nantes, he expelled from France
nearly all his subjects who would not conform to the Roman Catholic
religion. He drove out the manufacturers, who were for the most part
Protestants, and thus destroyed the manufacturing supremacy of France.
He expelled Protestants of every class--advocates, judges, doctors,
artists, scientists, teachers, and professors. And, last of all, he
expelled the Protestant soldiers and sailors.

According to Vauban, 12,000 tried soldiers, 9,000 sailors, and 600
officers left France, and entered into foreign service. Some went to
England, some to Holland, and some to Prussia. Those who took refuge
in Holland entered the service of William, Prince of Orange. Most of
them accompanied him to Torbay in 1688. They fought against the armies
of Louis XIV. at the Boyne, at Athlone, and at Aughrim, and finally
drove the French out of Ireland.

The sailors also did good service under the flags of England and
Holland. They distinguished themselves at the sea-fight off La Hogue,
where the English and Dutch fleets annihilated the expedition
prepared by Louis XIV. for a descent upon England.

The expatriated French soldiers occasionally revisited the country of
their birth, not as friends, but as enemies. They encountered the
armies of Louis XIV. in all the battles of the Low Countries. They
fought at Ramilies, Blenheim, and Malplacquet. A Huguenot engineer
directed the operations at the siege of Namur, which ended in the
capture of the fortress. Another Huguenot engineer conducted the
operations at Lisle, which was also taken by the allied forces. While
there, a flying party, consisting chiefly of French Huguenots,
penetrated as far as the neighbourhood of Paris, when they nearly
succeeded in carrying off the Dauphin.

The Huguenot officers who took refuge in Prussia entered the service
of Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg. Some were raised to the
highest offices in his army. Marshal Schomberg was one of the number.
But when he found that William of Orange was assembling a large force
in Holland for the purpose of making a descent upon England, he
requested leave to join him; and his friend Prince Frederick William,
though with great regret, at length granted him permission to leave
the Prussian service.

The subject of the following narrative was a French refugee, who
entered the service of William of Orange. To find the beginning of his
ancestry, we must reach far back into history. The Rapins were
supposed to have been driven from the Campagna of Rome during the
persecutions of Nero. They took refuge in one of the wildest and most
picturesque valleys of the Alps. In 1250 we find the Rapins
established near Saint-Jean de la Maurienne, in Savoy, close upon the
French frontier. Saint-Jean de la Maurienne was so called because of
the supposed relic of the bones of St. John the Baptist, which had
been deposited there by a female pilgrim, Sainte Thècle, who was, it
is supposed, a Rapin by birth. The fief of Chaudane en Valloires was
the patrimony of the Rapins, which they long continued to hold. In
1692 the descendants of the family endeavoured to prove, from the
numerous titles which they possessed, that they had been nobles for
eight or nine hundred years.

The home of the Rapins was situated in the country of the Vaudois. In
1375 the Vaudois descended from their mountains and preached the
gospel in the valleys of Savoy. The Pope appealed to the King of
France, who sent an army into the district. The Vaudois were crushed.
Those who remained fled back to the mountains. Nevertheless the
Reformed religion spread in the district. An Italian priest, Raphaël
Bordeille, even preached the gospel in the cathedral of Saint-Jean de
Maurienne. But he was suddenly arrested. He was seized, tried for the
crime of heresy, and burnt in front of the cathedral on Holy Thursday,
in Passion Week, 1550.

Though the Rapin family held many high offices in Church and State,
several of them attached themselves to the Reformed religion. Three
brothers at length left their home in Savoy, and established
themselves in France during the reign of Francis I. Without entering
into their history during the long-continued religious wars which
devastated the south of France, it may be sufficient to state that two
of the brothers took an active part under Condé. Antoine de Rapin held
important commands at Toulouse, at Montauban, at Castres and
Montpellier. Philibert de Rapin, his younger brother, was one of the
most valiant and trusted officers of the Reformed party. He was
selected by the Prince of Condé to carry into Languedoc the treaty of
peace signed at Longjumeaux on the 20th March, 1568.

Feeling safe under the royal commission, he presented to the
Parliament at Toulouse the edict with which he was intrusted. He then
retired to his country house at Grenade, on the outskirts of Toulouse.
He was there seized like a criminal, brought before the judges, and
sentenced to be beheaded in three days. The treaty was thus annulled.
War went on as before. Two years after, the army of Coligny appeared
before Toulouse. The houses and châteaux of the councillors of
Parliament were burnt, and on their smoking ruins were affixed the
significant words, "_Vengeance de Rapin_."

Philibert de Rapin's son Pierre embraced the career of arms almost
from his boyhood. He served under the Prince of Navarre. He was almost
as poor as the Prince. One day he asked him for some pistoles to
replace a horse which had been killed under him in action. The Prince
replied, "I should like to give you them, but do you see I have only
three shirts!" Pierre at length became Seigneur and Baron of Manvers,
though his château was destroyed and burnt during his absence with the
army. Destructions of the same kind were constantly taking place
throughout the whole of France. But, to the honour of humanity, it
must be told that when his château was last destroyed, the Catholic
gentlemen of the neighbourhood brought their labourers to the place,
and tilled and sowed his abandoned fields. When Rapin arrived eight
months later, he was surprised and gratified to find his estate in
perfect order. This was a touching proof of the esteem with which this
Protestant gentleman was held by his Catholic neighbours.

Pierre de Rapin died in 1647 at the age of eighty-nine. He left
twenty-two children by his second wife. His eldest son Jean succeeded
to the estate of Manvers and to the title of baron. Like his father,
he was a soldier. He first served under the Prince of Orange, who was
then a French prince, head of the principality of Orange. He served
under the King of France in the war with Spain. He was a frank and
loyal soldier, yet firmly attached to the faith of his fathers. He
belonged to the old Huguenot phalanx, who, as the Duke de Mayenne
said, "were always ready for death, from father to son." After the
wars were over, he gave up the sword for the plough. His château was
in ruins, and he had to live in a very humble way until his fortunes
were restored. He used to say that his riches consisted in his four
sons, who were all worthy of the name they bore.

Jacques de Rapin, Seigneur de Thoyras, was the second son of Pierre de
Rapin. Thoyras was a little hamlet near Grenade, adjacent to the
baronial estate of Manvers. Jacques studied the law. He became an
advocate, and practised with success, for about fifty years, at
Castres and other cities and towns in the south of France. When the
Edict of Nantes was revoked, the Protestants were no longer permitted
to practise the law, and he was compelled to resign his profession. He
died shortly after, but the authorities would not even allow his
corpse to be buried in the family vault. They demolished his place of
interment, and threw his body into a ditch by the side of the road.

In the meantime Paul de Rapin, son of Jean, Baron de Manvers, had
married the eldest daughter of Jacques, Seigneur de Thoyras. Paul,
like many of his ancestors, entered the army. He served with
distinction under the Duke of Luxembourg in Holland, Flanders, and
Italy, yet he never rose above the rank of captain. On his death in
1685, his widow and two daughters (being Protestants) were apprehended
in their château at Manvers, and incarcerated in convents at
Montpellier and Toulouse. Her sons were also taken away, and placed in
other convents. They were only liberated after five years'
confinement.

Madame de Rapin then resolved to quit France entirely. She contrived
to reach Holland, and established her family at Utrecht. Her
brother-in-law, Daniel de Rapin, had already escaped from France, and
achieved the position of colonel in the Dutch service.

Raoul de Cazenove, the author of "Rapin-Thoyras, sa Famille, sa Vie,
et ses OEuvres," says, "The women of the house of Rapin distinguished
themselves more than once by like courage. Strengthened and fortified
by persecutions, the Reformed were willing to die in exile, far from
their beloved children who had been violently snatched from them, but
leaving with them a holy heritage of example and of firmness in their
faith. The pious lessons of their mothers, profoundly engraved on the
hearts of their daughters, sufficed more than once to save them from
apostasy, which was rendered all the more easy by the feebleness of
their youth and the perfidious suggestions by which they were
surrounded."

We return to Paul de Rapin-Thoyras, second son of Madame de Rapin. He
was born at Castres in 1661. He received his first lessons at home. He
learnt the Latin rudiments, but his progress was not such as to
please his father. He was then sent to the academy at Puylaurens,
where the Protestant noblesse of the south of France were still
permitted to send their sons. The celebrated Bayle was educated there.
But in 1685 the academy of Puylaurens was suppressed, as that of
Montauban had been a few years before; and then young Rapin was sent
to Saumur, one of the few remaining schools in France where
Protestants were allowed to be educated.

Rapin finished his studies and returned home. He wished to enter the
army, but his father was so much opposed to it, that he at length
acceded to his desires and commenced the study of the law. He was
already prepared for being received to the office of advocate, when
the royal edict was passed which prevented Protestants from practising
before the courts; and, indeed, prevented them from following any
profession whatever. Immediately after the death of his father, Paul
de Rapin, accompanied by his younger brother Solomon, emigrated from
France and proceeded into England.

It was not without a profound feeling of sadness that Rapin-Thoyras
left his native country. He left his widowed mother in profound grief,
arising from the recent death of her husband. She was now exposed to
persecutions which were bitterer by far than the perils of exile. It
was at her express wish that Rapin left his native country and
emigrated to England. And yet it was for France that his fathers had
shed their blood and laid down their lives. But France now repelled
the descendants of her noblest sons from her bosom.

Shortly after his arrival in London, Rapin made the acquaintance of
the Abbé of Denbeck, nephew of the Bishop of Tournay. The Abbé was an
intimate friend of Rapin's uncle, Pélisson, a man notorious in those
times for buying up consciences with money. Louis XIV. consecrated to
this traffic one-third of the benefices which fell to the Crown during
their vacancy. They were left vacant for the purpose of paying for the
abjurations of the heretics. Pélisson had the administration of the
fund. He had been born a Protestant, but he abjured his religion, and
from a convert he became a converter. Voltaire says of him, in his
"Siècle de Louis XIV.," "Much more a courtier than a philosopher,
Pélisson changed his religion and made a fortune."

Pélisson wrote to his friend the Abbé of Denbeck, then in London at
the court of James II., to look after his nephew Rapin-Thoyras, and
endeavour to bring him over to the true faith. It is even said that
Pélisson offered Rapin the priory of Saint-Orens d'Auch if he would
change his religion. The Abbé did his best. He introduced Rapin to M.
de Barillon, then ambassador at the English court. James II. was then
the pensioner of France, and accordingly had many intimate
transactions with the French ambassador. M. de Barillon received the
young refugee with great kindness, and, at the recommendation of the
Abbé and Pélisson, offered to present him to the King. Their object
was to get Rapin appointed to some public office, and thereby help his
conversion.

But Rapin fled from the temptation. Though no great theologian, he
felt it to be wrong to be thus entrapped into a faith which was not
his own; and without much reasoning about his belief, but merely
acting from a sense of duty, he left London at once and embarked for
Holland.

At Utrecht he joined his uncle, Daniel de Rapin, who was in command of
a company of cadets wholly composed of Huguenot gentlemen and nobles.
Daniel had left the service of France on the 25th of October, 1685,
three days after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He was then
captain of a French regiment in Picardy, but he could no longer,
without denying his God, serve his country and his King. In fact, he
was compelled, like all other Protestant officers, to leave France
unless he would at once conform to the King's faith.

Rapin was admitted to the company of refugee cadets commanded by his
uncle. He was now twenty-seven years old. His first instincts had been
military, and now he was about to pursue the profession of arms in his
adopted country. His first prospects were not brilliant. He was put
under a course of discipline, his pay amounting to only sixpence a
day. Indeed, the States-General of Holland were at first unwilling to
take so large a number of refugee Frenchmen into their service; but on
the Prince of Orange publicly declaring that he would himself pay the
expenses of maintaining the military refugees, they hesitated no
longer, but voted money enough to enrol them in their service.

The Prince of Orange had now a large body of troops at his command. No
one knew for what purpose they were enrolled. Some thought they were
intended for an attack upon France in revenge for Louis' devastation
of Holland a few years before. James II. never dreamt that they were
intended for a descent upon the coasts of England. Yet he was rapidly
alienating the loyalty of his subjects by hypocrisy, by infidelity to
the laws of England, and by unmitigated persecution of those who
differed from him in religious belief. In this state of affairs
England looked to the Prince of Orange for help.

William III. was doubly related to the royal family of England. He was
nephew of Charles I. and son-in-law of James II. His wife was the
heiress-presumptive to the British throne. Above all, he was a
Protestant, while James II. was a Roman Catholic. "Here," said the
Archbishop of Rheims of the latter, "is a good sort of man who has
lost his three kingdoms for a mass!"

William was at length ready with his troops. Louis XIV. suddenly
withdrew his army from Flanders and poured them into Germany. William
seized the opportunity. A fleet of more than six hundred vessels,
including fifty men-of-war, assembled at Helvoetsluys, near the mouth
of the Maas. The troops were embarked with great celerity. William
hoisted his flag with the words emblazoned on it, "The Protestant
Religion and Liberties of England," and underneath the motto of the
House of Nassau, _Je maintiendra_--"I will maintain."

The fleet set sail on the 19th October, the English Admiral Herbert
leading the van, the Prince of Orange commanding the main body of the
fleet, and the Dutch Vice-Admiral Evertzen bringing up the rear.

The wind was fair. It was the "Protestant wind" that the people of
England had so long been looking for. In a few hours the strong
eastern breeze had driven the fleet half across the sea that divides
the Dutch and English coasts. Then the wind changed. It began to blow
from the west. The wind increased until it blew a violent tempest. The
fleet seemed to be in the midst of a cyclone. The ships were blown
hither and thither, so that in less than two hours the fleet was
completely dispersed. At daybreak next morning scarce two ships could
be seen together.

The several ships returned to their rendez-vous at Goeree, in the
Maas. They returned in a miserable condition--some with their sails
blown away, some without their bulwarks, some without their masts.
Many ships were still missing. The horses had suffered severely. They
had been stowed away in the holds and driven against each other during
the storm. Many had been suffocated, others had their legs broken, and
had to be killed when the vessels reached the shore. The banks at
Goeree were covered with dead horses taken from the ships. Four
hundred had been lost.

Rapin de Thoyras and M. de Chavernay, commanding two companies of
French Huguenots, were on board one of the missing ships. The
frightful tempest had separated them from the fleet. They had been
driven before the wind as far as the coast of Norway. They thought
that each moment might be their last. But the sailors were brave, and
the ship was manageable. After enduring a week's storm the wind at
last abated. The ship was tacked, and winged its way towards the
south. At length, after about eight days' absence, they rejoined the
fleet, which had again assembled in the Maas. There were now only two
vessels missing, containing four companies of the Holstein regiment,
and about sixty French Huguenot officers.

In the meantime the Prince of Orange had caused all the damages in the
combined fleet to be repaired. New horses were embarked, new men were
added to the army, and new ships were hired for the purpose of
accommodating them. The men-of-war were also increased. After eleven
days the fleet was prepared to put to sea again.

On the 1st of November, 1688, the armament started on its second
voyage for the English coast. The fleet at first steered northward,
and it was thought to be the Prince's intention to land at the mouth
of the Humber. But a violent east wind having begun to blow during the
night, the fleet steered towards the south-eastern coast of England;
after which the ships shortened sail for fear of accidents.

The same wind that blew the English and Dutch fleet towards the
Channel, had the effect of keeping King James's fleet in the Thames,
where they remained anchored at Gunfleet, sixty-one men-of-war, under
command of Admiral Lord Dartmouth.

On the 3rd of November, the fleet under the Prince of Orange entered
the English Channel, and lay between Calais and Dover to wait for the
ships that were behind. "It is easy," says Rapin Thoyras, "to imagine
what a glorious show the fleet made. Five or six hundred ships in so
narrow a channel, and both the English and French shores covered with
numberless spectators, are no common sight. For my part, who was then
on board the fleet, I own it struck me extremely."

Sunday, the 4th of November, was the Prince's birthday, and it was
dedicated to devotion. The fleet was then off the Isle of Wight. Sail
was slackened during the performance of divine service. The fleet then
sped on its way down-channel, in order that the troops might be landed
at Dartmouth or Torbay; but during the night the wind freshened, and
the fleet was carried beyond the desired ports. Soon after, however,
the wind changed to the south, when the fleet tacked in splendid
order, and made for the shore in Torbay. The landing was effected with
such diligence and tranquillity that the whole army was on shore
before night.

There was no opposition to the landing. King James's army greatly
outnumbered that of the Prince of Orange. It amounted to about forty
thousand troops, exclusive of the militia. But the King's forces had
been sent northward to resist the anticipated landing of the
delivering army at the mouth of the Humber, so that the south-west of
England was nearly stripped of troops.

Nor could the King depend upon his forces. The King had already
outraged and insulted the gallant noblemen and gentlemen who had
heretofore been the bulwark of his throne. He had imprisoned the
bishops, dismissed Protestant clergymen from their livings, refused to
summon a Parliament, and caused terror and dismay throughout England
and Scotland. He had created discontent throughout the army by his
dismissal of Protestant officers, and the King now began to fear that
the common soldiers themselves would fail to serve him in his time of
need.

His fears proved prophetic. When the army of the Prince of Orange
advanced from Brixton (where it had landed) to Exeter, and afterwards
to Salisbury and London, it was joined by noblemen, gentlemen,
officers, and soldiers. Lord Churchill, afterwards Duke of
Marlborough, Lord Cornbury, with four regiments of dragoons, passed
over to the Prince of Orange. The Prince of Denmark, the King's
son-in-law, deserted him. His councillors abandoned him. His
mistresses left him. The country was up against him. At length the
King saw no remedy before him but a precipitate flight.

The account given by Rapin of James's departure from England is
somewhat ludicrous. The Queen went first. On the night between the 9th
and 10th of December she crossed the Thames in disguise. She waited
under the walls of a church at Lambeth until a coach could be got
ready for her at the nearest inn. She went from thence to Gravesend,
where she embarked with the Prince of Wales on a small vessel, which
conveyed them safely to France. The King set out on the following
night. He entered a small boat at Whitehall, dressed in a plain suit
and a bob wig, accompanied by a few friends. He threw the Great Seal
into the water, from whence it was afterwards dragged up by a
fisherman's net. Before he left, he gave the Earl of Feversham orders
to disband the army without pay, in order, probably, to create anarchy
after his flight.

James reached the south shore of the Thames. He travelled, with relays
of horses, to Emley Ferry, near the Island of Sheppey. He went on
board the little vessel that was to convey him to a French frigate
lying in the mouth of the Thames ready to transport him to France. The
wind blew strong, and the vessel was unable to sail.

The fishermen of the neighbourhood boarded the vessel in which the
King was. They took him for the chaplain of Sir Edward Hales, one of
his attendants. They searched the King, and found upon him four
hundred guineas and several valuable seals and jewels, which they
seized. A constable was present who knew the King, and he ordered
restitution of the valuables which had been taken from him. The King
wished to be gone, but the people by a sort of violence conducted him
to a public inn in the town of Feversham. He then sent for the Earl of
Winchelsea, Lord-Lieutenant of the county, who prevailed upon him not
to leave the kingdom, but to return to London.

And to London he went. The Prince of Orange was by this time at
Windsor. On the King's arrival in London he was received with
acclamations, as if he had returned from victory. He resumed
possession of his palace. He published a proclamation, announcing that
having been given to understand that divers outrages had been
committed in various parts of the kingdom, by burning, pulling down,
and defacing of houses, he commanded all lord-lieutenants, &c., to
prevent such outrages for the future, and suppress all riotous
assemblies.

This was his last public act. He was without an army. He had few
friends. The Dutch Guards arrived in London, and took possession of
St. James's and Whitehall. The Prince of Orange sent three lords to
the King to desire his Majesty's departure for Ham--a house belonging
to the Duchess of Lauderdale; but the King desired them to tell the
Prince that he wished rather to go to Rochester. The Prince gave his
consent.

Next morning the King entered his barge, accompanied by four earls,
six of the Yeomen of his Guard, and about a hundred of the Dutch
Guard, commanded by a colonel of the regiment. They arrived at
Gravesend, where the King entered his coach, and proceeded across the
country to Rochester.

In the meantime, Barillon, the French ambassador, was requested to
leave England. St. Ledger, a French refugee, was requested to attend
him and see him embark. While they were on the road St. Ledger could
not forbear saying to the ambassador, "Sir, had any one told you a
year ago that a French refugee should be commissioned to see you out
of England, would you have believed it?" To which the ambassador
answered, "Sir, cross over with me to Calais, and I will give you an
answer."

Shortly after, James embarked in a small French ship, which landed him
safely at Ambleteuse, a few miles north of Boulogne; while the army of
William marched into London amidst loud congratulations, and William
himself took possession of the Palace of St. James's, which the
recreant King had left for his occupation.

James II. fled from England at the end of December, 1688. Louis XIV.
received him courteously, and entertained him and his family at St.
Germain and Versailles. But he could scarcely entertain much regard
for the abdicated monarch. James had left his kingdom in an
ignominious manner. Though he was at the head of a great fleet and
army, he had not struck a single blow in defence of his kingly rights
And now he had come to the court of Louis XIV. to beg for the
assistance of a French fleet and army to recover his throne.

Though England had rejected James, Ireland was still in his favour.
The Lord-Deputy Tyrconnel was devoted to him; and the Irish people,
excepting those of the north, were ready to fight for him. About a
hundred thousand Irishmen were in arms. Half were soldiers; the rest
were undrilled Rapparees. James was urged by messengers from Ireland
to take advantage of this state of affairs. He accordingly begged
Louis XIV. to send a French army with him into Ireland to help him to
recover his kingdom.

But the French monarch, who saw before him the prospect of a
continental war, was unwilling to send a large body of troops out of
his kingdom. But he did what he could.

He ordered the Brest fleet to be ready. He put on board arms and
ammunition for ten thousand men. He selected four hundred French
officers for the purpose of disciplining the Irish levies. Count
Rosen, a veteran warrior, was placed in command. Over a hundred
thousand pounds of money was also put on board. When the fleet was
ready to sail, James took leave of his patron, Louis XIV. "The best
thing that I can wish you," said the French king, "is that I may never
see you again in this world."

The fleet sailed from Brest on the 7th of March, 1689, and reached
Kinsale, in the south of Ireland, four days later. James II. was
received with the greatest rejoicing. Next day he went on to Cork; he
was received by the Earl of Tyrconnel, who caused one of the
magistrates to be executed because he had declared for the Prince of
Orange.

The news went abroad that the King had landed. He entered Dublin on
the 24th of March, and was received in a triumphant manner. All Roman
Catholic Ireland was at his feet. The Protestants in the south were
disarmed. There was some show of resistance in the north; but no doubt
was entertained that Enniskillen and Derry, where the Protestants had
taken refuge, would soon be captured and Protestantism crushed.

The Prince of Orange, who had now been proclaimed King at Westminster,
found that he must fight for his throne, and that Ireland was to be
the battle-field. Londonderry was crowded with Protestants, who held
out for William III. James believed that the place would fall without
a blow. Count Rosen was of the same opinion. The Irish army proceeded
northwards without resistance. The country, as far as the walls of
Derry, was found abandoned by the population. Everything valuable had
been destroyed by bands of Rapparees. There was great want of food for
the army.

Nevertheless, James proceeded as far as Derry. Confident of success,
he approached within a hundred yards of the southern gate, when he was
received with a shout of "No surrender!" The cannon were fired from
the nearest bastion. One of James's officers was killed by his side.
Then he fled. A few days later he was on his way to Dublin,
accompanied by Count Rosen.

Londonderry, after an heroic contest, was at length relieved. A fleet
from England, laden with food, broke the boom which had been thrown by
the Irish army across the entrance to the harbour. The ships reached
the quay at ten o'clock at night. The whole population were there to
receive them. The food was unloaded, and the famished people were at
length fed. Three days after, the Irish army burnt their huts, and
left the long-beleaguered city. They retreated along the left bunk of
the Boyne to Strabane.

While the Irish forces were lying there, the news of another disaster
reached them. The Duke of Berwick lay with a strong detachment of
Irish troops before Enniskillen. He had already gained some advantage
over the Protestant colonists, and the command reached him from Dublin
that he was immediately to attack them. The Irish were five thousand
in number; the Enniskilleners under three thousand.

An engagement took place at Newton Butler. The Enniskillen horse swept
the Irish troops before them. Fifteen hundred were put to the sword,
and four hundred prisoners were taken. Seven pieces of cannon,
fourteen barrels of powder, and all the drums and colours were left in
the hands of the victors. The Irish army were then at Strabane, on
their retreat from Londonderry. They at once struck their tents, threw
their military stores into the river, and set out in full retreat for
the south.

In the meantime a French fleet had landed at Bantry Bay, with three
thousand men on board, and a large convoy of ammunition and
provisions. William III., on his part, determined, with the consent of
the English Parliament, to send a force into Ireland to encounter the
French and Irish forces under King James.

William's troops consisted of English, Scotch, Dutch, and Danes, with
a large admixture of French Huguenots. There were a regiment of
Huguenot horse, of eight companies, commanded by the Duke of
Schomberg, and three regiments of Huguenot foot, commanded by La
Mellonière, Du Cambon, and La Caillemotte. Schomberg, the old Huguenot
chief, was put in command of the entire force.

Rapin accompanied the expedition as a cadet. The army assembled at
Highlake, about sixteen miles from Chester. About ninety vessels of
all sorts were assembled near the mouth of the Dee. Part of the army
was embarked on the 12th of August, and set sail for Ireland. About
ten thousand men, horse and foot, were landed at Bangor, near the
southern entrance to Belfast Lough. Parties were sent out to scour the
adjacent country, and to feel for the enemy. This done, the army set
out for Belfast.

James's forces had abandoned the place, and retired to Carrickfergus,
some ten miles from Belfast, on the north coast of the Lough.
Carrickfergus was a fortified town. The castle occupies a strong
position on a rock overlooking the Lough. The place formed a depôt for
James's troops, and Schomberg therefore determined to besiege the
fortress.

Rapin has written an account of William's campaigns in England and
Ireland; but with becoming modesty he says nothing about his own
achievements. We must therefore supply the deficiency. Before the
siege of Carrickfergus, he had been appointed ensign in Lord
Kingston's regiment. He was helped to this office by his uncle Daniel,
who accompanied the expedition. Several regiments of Schomberg's army
were detached from Belfast to Carrickfergus, to commence the siege.
Among these was Lord Kingston's regiment.

On their approach, the enemy beat a parley. They desired to march out
with arms and baggage. Schomberg refused, and the siege began. The
trenches were opened, the batteries were raised, and the cannon
thundered against the walls of the old town. Several breaches were
made. The attacks were pursued with great vigour for four days, when a
general assault was made. The besieged hoisted the white flag. After a
parley, it was arranged that the Irish should surrender the place, and
march out with their arms, and as much baggage as they could carry on
their backs.

Carrickfergus was not taken without considerable loss to the
besiegers. Lieutenant Briset, of the Flemish Guards, was killed by the
first shot fired from the castle. The Marquis de Venours was also
killed while leading the Huguenot regiments to the breach. Rapin
distinguished himself so much during the siege that he was promoted
to the rank of lieutenant. He was at the same time transferred to
another regiment, and served under Lieutenant-General Douglas during
the rest of the campaign.

More troops having arrived from England, Schomberg marched with his
augmented army to Lisburn, Drummore, and Loughbrickland. Here the
Enniskillen Horse joined them, and offered to be the advanced guard of
the army. The Enniskilleners were a body of irregular horsemen, of
singularly wild and uncouth appearance. They rode together in a
confused body, each man being attended by a mounted servant, bearing
his baggage. The horsemen were each mounted and accoutred after their
own fashion, without any regular dress, or arms, or mode of attack.
They only assumed a hasty and confused line when about to rush into
action. They fell on pell-mell. Yet they were the bravest of the
brave, and were never deterred from attacking by inequality of
numbers. They were attended by their favourite preachers, who urged
them on to deeds of valour, and encouraged them "to purge the land of
idolatry."

Thus reinforced, Schomberg pushed on to Newry. The Irish were in force
there, under command of the Duke of Berwick. But although it was a
very strong place, the Irish abandoned the town, first setting fire to
it. This news having been brought to Schomberg, he sent a trumpet to
the Duke of Berwick, acquainting him that if they went on to burn
towns in that barbarous manner, he would give no quarter. This notice
seems to have had a good effect, for on quitting Dundalk the
retreating army did no harm to the town. Schomberg encamped about a
mile north of Dundalk, in a low, moist ground, where he entrenched his
army. Count Rosen was then at Drogheda with about twenty thousand
men, far outnumbering the forces under Schomberg.

About the end of September, King James's army approached the lines of
Dundalk. They drew up in order of battle. The English officers were
for attacking the enemy, but Schomberg advised them to refrain. A
large party of horse appeared within cannon shot, but they made no
further attempt. In a day or two after James drew off his army to
Ardee, Count Rosen indignantly exclaiming, "If your Majesty had ten
kingdoms, you would lose them all." In the meantime, Schomberg
remained entrenched in his camp. The Enniskilleners nevertheless made
various excursions, and routed a body of James's troops marching
towards Sligo.

Great distress fell upon Schomberg's army. The marshy land on which
they were encamped, the wet and drizzly weather, the scarcity and
badness of the food, caused a raging sickness to break out. Great
numbers were swept away by disease. Among the officers who died were
Sir Edward Deering, of Kent; Colonel Wharton, son of Lord Wharton; Sir
Thomas Gower and Colonel Hungerford, two young gentlemen of
distinguished merit. Two thousand soldiers died in the camp. Many
afterwards perished from cold and hunger. Schomberg at length left the
camp at Dundalk, and the remains of his army went into winter
quarters.

Rapin shared all the suffering of the campaign. When the army
retreated northward, Rapin was sent with a party of soldiers to occupy
a fortified place between Stranorlar and Donegal. It commanded the
Pass of Barnes Gap. This is perhaps the most magnificent defile in
Ireland. It is about four miles long. Huge mountains rise on either
side. The fortalice occupied by Rapin is now in ruins. It stands on a
height overlooking the northern end of the pass. It is now called
Barrack Hill. The Rapparees who lived at the lower end of the Gap were
accustomed to come down upon the farming population of the lowland
country on the banks of the rivers Finn and Mourne, and carry off all
the cattle that they could seize; Rapin was accordingly sent with a
body of troops to defend the lowland farmers from the Rapparees.
Besides, it was found necessary to defend the pass against the forces
of King James, who then occupied Sligo and the neighbouring towns,
under the command of General Sarsfield.

Schomberg was very much blamed by the English Parliament for having
effected nothing decisive in Ireland. But what could he do? He had to
oppose an army more than three times stronger in numbers than his own.
King William, Rapin says, wrote twice to him, "pressing him to put
somewhat to the venture." But his army was wasted by disease, and had
he volunteered an encounter and been defeated, his whole army, and
consequently all Ireland, would have been lost, for he could not have
made a regular retreat. "His sure way," says Rapin, "was to preserve
his army, and that would save Ulster and keep matters entire for
another year. And therefore, though this conduct of his was blamed by
some, yet better judges thought that the managing of this campaign as
he did was one of the greatest parts of his life."

Winter passed. Nothing decisive had been accomplished on either side.
Part of Ulster was in the hands of William; the remainder of Ireland
was in the hands of James. Schomberg's army was wasted by famine and
disease. James made no use of his opportunity to convert his athletic
peasants into good soldiers. On the contrary, Schomberg recruited his
old regiments, drilled them constantly, and was ready to take the
field at the approach of spring.

His first achievement was the capture of Charlemont, midway between
Armagh and Dungannon. It was one of the strongest forts in the north
of Ireland. It overlooked the Blackwater, and commanded an important
pass. It was surrounded by a morass, and approachable only by two
narrow causeways. When Teague O'Regan, who commanded the fort, was
summoned to surrender, he replied, "Schomberg is an old rogue, and
shall not have this castle!" But Caillemotte, with his Huguenot
regiments, sat down before the fortress, and starved the garrison into
submission. Captain Francis Rapin, cousin of our hero, was killed
during the siege.

The armies on both sides were now receiving reinforcements. Louis XIV.
sent seven thousand two hundred and ninety men of all ranks to the
help of James, under the command of Count Lauzun. They landed at Cork
in March, 1689, and marched at once to Dublin. Lauzun described the
country as a chaos such as he had read of in the Book of Genesis. On
his arrival at Dublin, Lauzun was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the
Irish army, and took up his residence in the castle.

On the other hand, Schomberg's forces were recruited by seven thousand
Danes, under a treaty which William III. had entered into with the
King of Denmark. New detachments of English and Scotch, of Huguenots,
Dutch, Flemings, and Brandenburgers, were also added to the allied
army.

William landed at Carrickfergus on the 14th of June. He passed on to
Belfast, where he met Schomberg, the Prince of Wurtemberg,
Major-General Kirk, and other general officers. He then pushed on to
Lisburn, the head-quarters of his army. He there declared that he
would not let the grass grow under his feet, but would pursue the war
with the utmost vigour. He ordered the whole army to assemble at
Loughbrickland. He found them to consist of sixty-two squadrons of
cavalry and fifty-two battalions of infantry--in all, thirty-six
thousand English, Dutch, French, Danes, and Germans, well appointed in
every respect. Lieutenant-General Douglas commanded the
advance-guard--to which Rapin belonged--and William III., Schomberg,
and St. Gravenmore commanded the main body.

William III. had no hesitation in entering at once on the campaign. He
had been kept too long in London by parliamentary turmoil, by
intrigues between Whigs and Tories, and sometimes by treachery on both
sides. But now that he was in the field his spirits returned, and he
determined to lose not a day in measuring swords with his enemy. He
had very little time to spare. He must lose or win his crown; though
his determination was to win. Accordingly he marched southward without
delay.

William had been in Ireland six days before James knew of his arrival.
The passes between Newry and Dundalk had been left unguarded--passes
where a small body of well-disciplined troops might easily have
checked the advance of William's army. Dundalk was abandoned. Ardee
was abandoned. The Irish army were drawn up in a strong position on
the south of the Boyne to arrest the progress of the invading army.
James had all the advantages that nature could give him. He had a deep
river in front, a morass on his left, and the narrow bridge of Slane
on his right. Behind was a rising ground stretching along the whole of
the field. In the rear lay the church and village of Donore, and the
Pass of Duleek. Drogheda lay towards the mouth of the river, where the
green and white flags of Ireland and France were flying, emblazoned
with the harp and the lilies.

William never halted until he reached the summit of a rising ground
overlooking the beautiful valley of the Boyne. It is about the most
fertile ground in Ireland. As he looked from east to west, William
said to one of his staff, "Behold a land worth fighting for!" Rapin
was there, and has told the story of the crossing of the Boyne. He
says that the forces of King James, lying on the other side of the
river, amounted to about the same number as those under King William.
They included more than seven thousand veteran French soldiers. There
was a splendid body of Irish horse, and about twenty thousand Irish
foot.

James's officers were opposed to a battle; they wished to wait for the
large fleet and the additional forces promised by Louis XIV. But James
resolved to maintain his position, and thought that he might have one
fair battle for his crown. "But," says Rapin, "notwithstanding all his
advantages--the deep river in front, the morass on his right, and the
rising ground behind him--he ordered a ship to be prepared for him at
Waterford, that in case of a defeat he might secure his retreat to
France."

On the morning of the 30th of June, William ordered his whole army to
move by break of day by three lines towards the river, about three
miles distant. The King marched in front. By nine o'clock they were
within two miles of Drogheda. Observing a hill east of the enemy, the
King rode up to view the enemy's camp. He found it to lie all along
the river in two lines. Here he had a long consultation with his
leading officers. He then rode to the pass at Old Bridge, within
musket-shot of the ford; next he rode westward, so as to take a full
view of the enemy's camp. He fixed the place where his batteries were
to be planted, and decided upon the spot where his army was to cross
the river on the following day.

The Irish on the other side of the river had not been unobservant of
the King's movements. They could see him riding up and down the banks,
for they were not sixty yards apart. The Duke of Berwick, the Viceroy
Tyrconnel, General Sarsfield, and other officers were carefully
watching his movements. While the army was marching up the river-side,
William dismounted and sat down upon a rising ground to partake of
some refreshments, for he had been on horseback since early dawn.
During this time a party of Irish horse on the other side brought
forward two field-pieces through a ploughed field, and planted them
behind a hedge. They took their sight and fired. The first shot killed
a man and two horses close by the King. William immediately mounted
his horse. The second gun was not so well aimed. The shot struck the
water, but rising _en ricochet_, it slanted on the King's right
shoulder, took a piece out of his coat, and tore the skin and the
flesh. William rode away stooping in his saddle. The Earl of Coningsby
put a handkerchief over the wound, but William said "there was no
necessity, the bullet should have come nearer."

The enemy, seeing the discomfiture of the King's party, and that he
rode away wounded, spread abroad the news that he was killed. "They
immediately," says Rapin, "set up a shout all over their camp, and
drew down several squadrons of their horse upon a plain towards the
river, as if they meant to pass and pursue the English army. Nay, the
report of the King's death flew presently to Dublin, and from thence
spread as far as Paris, where the people were encouraged to express
their joy by bonfires and illuminations." In the meantime William
returned to his tent, where he had his wound dressed, and again
mounted and showed himself to the whole army, in order to dissipate
their apprehensions. He remained on horseback until nine at night,
though he had been up since one o'clock in the morning.

William then called a council of war, and declared his resolution of
forcing the river next day. Schomberg opposed this, but finding the
King determined, he urged that a strong body of horse and foot should
be sent to Slane bridge that night, so as to be able to cross the
bridge and get between the enemy and the Pass of Duleek, which lay
behind King James's army. This advice, if followed, might perhaps have
ended the war in one campaign. Such is Rapin's opinion. The proposal
was, however, rejected; and it was determined to cross the river in
force on the following morning. William inspected the troops at
midnight. He rode along the whole army by torchlight, and after giving
out the password "Westminster," he returned to his tent for a few
hours' sleep.

The shades of night lay still over that sleeping host. The stars
looked down in peace on these sixty thousand brethren of the same
human family, ready to rise with the sun and imbrue their hands in
each other's blood. Tyrannical factions and warring creeds had set
them at enmity with each other, and turned the sweetness and joy of
their nature into gall and bitterness. The night was quiet. The murmur
of the river fell faintly on the ear. A few trembling lights gleamed
through the dark from the distant watchtowers of Drogheda. The only
sounds that rose from the vast host that lay encamped in the valley of
the Boyne were the challenges of the sentinels to each other as they
paced their midnight rounds.

The sun rose clear and beautiful. It was the first day of July--a day
for ever memorable in the history of Ireland as well as England. The
_générale_ was beat in the camp of William before daybreak, and as
soon as the sun was up the battle began. Lieutenant-General Douglas
marched towards the right with six battalions of foot, accompanied by
Count Schomberg (son of the Marshal) with twenty-four squadrons of
horse. They crossed the river below the bridge of Slane, and though
opposed by the Irish, they drove them back and pressed them on towards
Duleek.

When it was supposed that the left wing had crossed the Boyne, the
Dutch Blue Guards, beating a march till they reached the river's edge,
went in eight or ten abreast, the water reaching above their girdles.
When they had gained the centre of the stream they were saluted with a
tremendous fire from the Irish foot, protected by the breastworks,
lanes, and hedges on the farther side of the river. Nevertheless they
pushed on, formed in two lines, and drove the Irish before them.
Several Irish battalions were brought to bear upon them, but without
effect. Then a body of Irish cavalry assailed them, but still they
held their ground.

William, seeing his troops hardly pressed, sent across two Huguenot
regiments and one English regiment to their assistance. But a regiment
of Irish dragoons, at the moment of their reaching the shore, fell
upon their flank, broke their ranks, and put many of them to the
sword. Colonel Caillemotte, leader of the Huguenots, received a mortal
wound. He was laid on a litter and carried to the rear. As he met his
men coming up to the help of their comrades, he called out, "A la
gloire, mes enfants! à la gloire!" A squadron of Danish horse forded
the river, but the Irish dragoons, in one of their dashing charges,
broke and defeated them, and drove them across the river in great
confusion.

Duke Schomberg, who was in command of the centre, seeing that the day
was going against King William, and that the French Huguenots were
fighting without their leader, crossed the river and put himself at
their head. Pointing to the Frenchmen in James's ranks, he cried out
to his men, "Allons, messieurs, voilà vos persécuteurs!" The words
were scarcely out of his mouth when a troop of James's guards,
returning full speed to their main body, fell furiously upon the Duke
and inflicted two sword cuts upon his head. The regiment of Cambon
began at once to fire upon the enemy, but by a miss shot they hit the
Duke. "They shot the Duke," says Rapin, "through the neck, of which he
instantly died, and M. Foubert, alighting to receive him, was shot in
the arm."