failed, and in that case there was
nothing remained to Ginckle but a precipitous retreat to Dublin, with the
loss of the whole of the advantages gained in the previous campaign, and
the necessity of bringing the war to an end by the concession of the
rights and privileges of the Irish Catholics and landowners. The whole
course of history was changed by the folly of one man. Ginckle had taken
Athlone, but it was at a vast cost of life, and he was more than ever
impressed with the magnitude of the task of subduing Ireland, so long as
the people were driven to desperation by the threatened confiscation of
all their lands, and by the persecution of their religion. King William,
too, was more anxious than ever for the termination of hostilities, and,
on the very day that the news of the fall of Athlone reached him, he
issued a proclamation offering protection, security of all possessions,
and continuance in any offices which they held under James, to all who
would lay down their arms in three weeks' time.

The issue of such a proclamation as this, a year before, would have
satisfied the Irish and put a stop to the war; but it was now too late.
The promises made had been broken, over and over again, and the Irish had
but too much reason to fear that, when all opposition ceased, the council
and their train of greedy adherents would again obtain the ascendency,
and would continue their work of spoliation and robbery.

Moreover, the Irish army did not feel itself in any way beaten. It was
not its fault that the second siege of Athlone had not terminated as the
former siege and that of Limerick had done, and that Ginckle's army was
not hurrying back, defeated and disorganized, to Dublin. They felt that,
at the battle of the Boyne, they had suffered no defeat, although, in
accordance with the general plan, they had fallen back, and they eagerly
desired to fight one battle to prove that, in the open field, they were
more than a match for the mercenaries of King William.

The council and lords justices, who were aghast at the proclamation,
which threatened to destroy their hopes of dividing among themselves and
their friends all the lands of the Catholics of Ireland, did their best
to prevent its acceptance, by spreading rumours that it was a mere bait,
and that its promises would not be fulfilled; while Saint Ruth and his
French officers did their best, also, to set the Irish against it.

Saint Ruth, who was really a good office