liament the capital of that kingdom.[a] The nuncio, Rinuccini, had then
seated himself in the chair of the president of the supreme council at
Kilkenny; but his administration was soon marked by disasters, which
enabled his rivals to undermine and subvert his authority.[b] The Catholic
army of Leinster, under Preston, was defeated on Dungan Hill by Jones,
the governor of Dublin, and that of Munster, under the Viscount Taafe, at
Clontarf, by the Lord Inchiquin.[2][c] To Rinuccini

[Footnote 1: Balfour, iii. 405; and the Proceedings of the Commissioners
of the Church and Kingdoms of Scotland with his Majestie at the Hague.
Edinburgh, printed by Evan Tyler, 1649.]

[Footnote 2: Rushworth, 833, 916. In the battle of Dungan Hill, at the
first charge the Commander of the Irish cavalry was slain: his men
immediately fled; the infantry repelled several charges, and retired into
a bog, where they offered to capitulate. Colonel Flower said he had no
authority to grant quarter, but at the same time ordered his men to
stand to their arms, and preserved the lives of the earl of Westmeath,
Lieutenant-General Bryne, and several officers and soldiers who repaired
to his colours. "In the mean time the Scotch colonel Tichburn, and Colonel
Moor, of Bankhall's regiments, without mercy put the rest to the sword."
They amounted to between three and four thousand men.--Belling's History of
the late Warre in Ireland, MS. ii. 95. I mention this instance to show
that Cromwell did not introduce the practice of massacre. He followed his
predecessors, whose avowed object it was to exterminate the natives.]]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1649. July.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1649. August 2.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1649. Nov. 13.]

himself these misfortunes appeared as benefits, for he distrusted Preston
and Taafe on account of their attachment to Ormond; and their depression
served to exalt his friend and protector, Owen Roe O'Neil, the leader of
the men of Ulster. But from such beginnings the nation at large anticipated
a succession of similar calamities; his adversaries obtained a majority in
the general assembly; and the nuncio, after a declaration that he advanced
no claim to temporal authority, prudently avoided a forced abdication,
by offering to resign his office.[a] A new council, consisting, in equal
number, of men chosen out of the two parties, was appointed; and the
marquess of Antrim, the Lord Muskerry, and Geoffrey Brown, were despatched
to the queen mot