He will at once submit to your verdict. Dismission from Court has
no terrors for him. He is raised, by the goodness of God, above the
necessity of looking to office for the means of supporting his rank."
The Committee divided, and Halifax was absolved by a majority of
fourteen, [423]

Had the division been postponed a few hours, the majority would probably
have been much greater. The Commons voted under the impression that
Londonderry had fallen, and that all Ireland was lost. Scarcely had the
House risen when a courier arrived with news that the boom on the Foyle
had been broken. He was speedily followed by a second, who announced
the raising of the siege, and by a third who brought the tidings of the
battle of Newton Butler. Hope and exultation succeeded to discontent
and dismay, [424] Ulster was safe; and it was confidently expected that
Schomberg would speedily reconquer Leinster, Connaught, and Munster. He
was now ready to set out. The port of Chester was the place from which
he was to take his departure. The army which he was to command had
assembled there; and the Dee was crowded with men of war and transports.
Unfortunately almost all those English soldiers who had seen war had
been sent to Flanders. The bulk of the force destined for Ireland
consisted of men just taken from the plough and the threshing floor.
There was, however, an excellent brigade of Dutch troops under the
command of an experienced officer, the Count of Solmes. Four regiments,
one of cavalry and three of infantry, had been formed out of the French
refugees, many of whom had borne arms with credit. No person did more to
promote the raising of these regiments than the Marquess of Ruvigny. He
had been during many years an eminently faithful and useful servant of
the French government. So highly was his merit appreciated at Versailles
that he had been solicited to accept indulgences which scarcely any
other heretic could by any solicitation obtain. Had he chosen to remain
in his native country, he and his household would have been permitted to
worship God privately according to their own forms. But Ruvigny rejected
all offers, cast in his lot with his brethren, and, at upwards of eighty
years of age, quitted Versailles, where he might still have been a
favourite, for a modest dwelling at Greenwich. That dwelling was,
during the last months of his life, the resort of all that was most
distinguished among his fellow exiles. His abilities, his experi