"I have done with Saint Germain. I am as warm an
adherent as ever of the cause of the Stuarts, and should be
perfectly ready, when the time comes, to fight my hardest for
them; but I would vastly rather fight for the king, than converse
with him."

"I suppose, by what I have seen of him, that he must be somewhat
wearisome," Phelim O'Sullivan said, with a laugh. "Fortunately,
wit and gaiety are not essential qualities on the part of a
monarch; but I must own that, treasonable as it may sound, I fear
His Majesty is lacking in other qualities, far more essential in a
monarch. I should say that he is kindly and well disposed, he
wishes to be fair and just, and may turn out a wise ruler; but he
is altogether deficient in energy. I suppose there is no occasion
for a king, safely seated upon a throne, to be energetic; but a
prince in exile should possess the qualities that excite
enthusiasm, and bind men to him. Possibly, the qualities King
James possesses would be highly valued by the Scotch, but they
would certainly fail to inspire our people."

"Yes," Patrick O'Neil agreed. "His father did more to ruin his
cause, in Ireland, than all William's Dutch generals and troops,
together. It was disheartening to be risking life and possessions
for a man who would do nothing for himself, whose indecision
paralysed our leaders, and who, the moment a reverse came, sought
safety in flight, instead of taking his place among the men who
were devoted to his cause. I can understand that, in England,
where the majority of those who professed to be devoted to him
were betraying him, and were in secret communication with William,
he should be by turns obstinate and vacillating; but in Ireland,
where every man who surrounded him was risking his life in his
cause, he should have shown absolute confidence in them, listened
to their advice, set an example of personal gallantry and courage,
and, at least, remained among them until all was definitely lost.
It was the desertion of James, rather than the loss of the battle
of the Boyne, that ruined his cause.

"Well, I am glad you are out of it, for it was a pity that you
should be going without your work at the salle d'armes, when you
were making such progress that, the master reported, in a few
months you would become one of the best swordsmen in the
regiment."

There were, in Paris, many Irish officers besides those belonging
to Colonel O'Brien's regiment. These were, for the most part, men