WIXLIAM AND MAKY.

5

They observed with delight that, infirm as he was, he took his chap.share of every hardship which they underwent; that he thought ' -more of their comfort than of his own; that he sharply repri-manded some officers, who were so anxious to procure luxuriesfor 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 citiesand palaces, slept in his small moveable hut of wood; that nosolicitations could induce him, on a hot day and in a high wind,to move out of the choking cloud of dust, which overhung theline of march, and which severely tried lungs less delicate thanhis. Every man under his command became familiar with hislooks and with his voice; for there was not a regiment whichhe did not inspect with minute attention. His pleasant looksand sayings were long remembered. One brave soldier hasrecorded in his journal the kind and courteous manner in whicha basket of the first cherries of the year was accepted from himby the King, and the sprightliness with which His Majestyconversed at supper with those who stood round the table.*

On the twenty fourth of June, the tenth day after William’s Williamlanding, he marched southward from Loughbriekland with all^th-' 3his forces. He was fully determined to take the first opportunity ' VIlrd ‘of fighting. Scliomberg and some other officers recommendedcaution and delay. But the King answered that he had notcome to Ireland to let the grass grow under his feet. The eventseems to prove that he judged rightly as a general. That hejudged rightly as a statesman cannot be doubted. He knewthat the English nation was discontented with the way in whichthe war had hitherto been conducted; that nothing but rapidand splendid success could revive the enthusiasm of his friendsand quell the spirit of his enemies; and that a defeat could

* Story’s Impartial Account; MS. Journal of Colonel Bellingham; TheRoyal Diary.