donation which is still annually bestowed by
the government on the Presbyterian clergy of Ulster, [680]

William was all himself again. His spirits, depressed by eighteen months
passed in dull state, amidst factions and intrigues which he but
half understood, rose high as soon as he was surrounded by tents
and standards, [681] It was strange to see how rapidly this man, so
unpopular at Westminster, obtained a complete mastery over the hearts of
his brethren in arms. They observed with delight that, infirm as he
was, he took his share of every hardship which they underwent; that
he thought more of their comfort than of his own, that he sharply
reprimanded some officers, who were so anxious to procure luxuries for
his table as to forget the wants of the common soldiers; that he never
once, from the day on which he took the field, lodged in a house, but,
even in the neighbourhood of cities and palaces, slept in his small
moveable hut of wood; that no solicitations could induce him, on a hot
day and in a high wind, to move out of the choking cloud of dust, which
overhung the line of march, and which severely tried lungs less delicate
than his. Every man under his command became familiar with his looks and
with his voice; for there was not a regiment which he did not inspect
with minute attention. His pleasant looks and sayings were long
remembered. One brave soldier has recorded in his journal the kind and
courteous manner in which a basket of the first cherries of the year
was accepted from him by the King, and the sprightliness with which His
Majesty conversed at supper with those who stood round the table, [682]

On the twenty-fourth of June, the tenth day after William's landing, he
marched southward from Loughbrickland with all his forces. He was fully
determined to take the first opportunity of fighting. Schomberg and some
other officers recommended caution and delay. But the King answered that
he had not come to Ireland to let the grass grow under his feet. The
event seems to prove that he judged rightly as a general. That he judged
rightly as a statesman cannot be doubted. He knew that the English
nation was discontented with the way in which the war had hitherto been
conducted; that nothing but rapid and splendid success could revive the
enthusiasm of his friends and quell the spirit of his enemies; and
that a defeat could scarcely be more injurious to his fame and to his
interests than a languid and indecisive cam