t hundred picked men, and to carry Old Fort by storm. The assault was
made with great determination and bravery; but the works were strong and
stoutly defended, and the British were about to fall back, discomfited,
when fortune came to their assistance. Some loose powder ignited and
fired the magazine, by which more than two hundred men of the garrison
were killed, and the works seriously injured. After this disaster, the
governor abandoned the fort and withdrew, with the survivors of its
garrison, to Charles's Fort. Marlborough at once commenced the siege of
this position, but for fifteen days the place resisted all his efforts.
The heavy loss, however, which the garrison had suffered by the explosion
in Old Fort, rendered them unable, by sallies, to interfere with the
works of the besiegers. These were carried on with great vigour, for
Marlborough feared that the approach of the wet season would put a stop
to his operations.

When, therefore, the governor offered to surrender, on the terms of his
being permitted "to march away with his garrison, their arms, baggage,
and all the honours of war, taking with them all persons who wished to
accompany them, together with their property, to Limerick," Marlborough
at once granted the terms demanded.

The advent of winter now put a stop to regular operations; but a war of
skirmishes continued, and the British, in their quarters, were greatly
straitened for forage and provisions. In Dublin, the work of confiscation
went on merrily. The greater part of the Catholic proprietors of the town
were thrown into prison. The various indictments against country
gentlemen, followed by the confiscation of their property, were hurried
through the court with the merest shadow of legal form; for, the
defendants being absent and unacquainted with what was being done in
Dublin, it was only necessary to recite the accusation to find the
accused guilty, and to pass sentence of confiscation--all this being the
work of a few minutes only.

Nothing could be done, however, to carry the sentences into effect, for
William's troops still possessed only the ground the troops stood upon,
and the towns they occupied. Outside those limits, the whole country was
against them. The Earl of Marlborough had returned to England,
immediately after the surrender of Kinsale; and General Ginckle, who had
now succeeded to the command, determined to harass the enemy, and to
increase the resources at his disposal by a