ent, and which, being unusual, were esteemed heavy, increased the
general ill will under which it labored. Besides the customs and excise,
ninety thousand pounds a month were levied on land for the subsistence
of the army. The sequestrations and compositions of the royalists, the
sale of the crown lands, and of the dean and chapter lands, though they
yielded great sums, were not sufficient to support the vast expenses,
and, as was suspected, the great depredations, of the parliament and of
their creatures.[*]

* History of Independency, part ii.

** Parl. History, vol. xix. p. 136, 176.

Amidst all these difficulties and disturbances, the steady mind of
Cromwell, without confusion or embarrassment, still pursued its purpose.
While he was collecting an army of twelve thousand men in the west
of England, he sent to Ireland, under Reynolds and Venables, a
reenforcement of four thousand horse and foot, in order to strengthen
Jones, and enable him to defend himself against the marquis of Ormond,
who lay at Finglass, and was making preparations for the attack of
Dublin. Inchiquin, who had now made a treaty with the king's lieutenant,
having, with a separate body, taken Tredah and Dundalk, gave a defeat
to Offarrell, who served under O'Neal, and to young Coot, who commanded
some parliamentary forces. After he had joined his troops to the main
army, with whom for some time he remained united, Ormond passed the
River Liffy, and took post at Rathmines, two miles from Dublin, with
a view of commencing the siege of that city. In order to cut off all
further supply from Jones, he had begun the reparation of an old fort
which lay at the gates of Dublin; and being exhausted with continual
fatigue for some days, he had retired to rest, after leaving orders to
keep his forces under arms. He was suddenly awaked with the noise of
firing; and starting from his bed, saw every thing already in tumult and
confusion. Jones, an excellent officer, formerly a lawyer, had sallied
out with the reenforcement newly arrived; and attacking the party
employed in repairing the fort, he totally routed them, pursued the
advantage, and fell in with the army, which had neglected Ormond's
orders. These he soon threw into disorder; put them to flight, in spite
of all the efforts of the lord lieutenant; chased them off the field;
seized all their tents, baggage, ammunition; and returned victorious
to Dublin, after killing a thousand men, and taking