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without a battle, consented to retreat till he should reach somespot where he might have the vantage of ground. "When there-fore William’s advanced guard reached Dundalk, nothing wasto he seen of the Irish army, except a great cloud of dust whichwas slowly rolling southwards towards Ardee. The Englishhalted one night near the ground on which Schomberg’s camphad been pitched in the preceding year; and many sad recol-lections were awakened by the sight of that dreary marsh, thesepulchre of thousands of brave men.*

Still William continued to push forward, and still the Irishreceded before him, till, on the morning of Monday the thirtiethof June, his army, marching in three columns, reached thesummit of a rising ground near the southern frontier of thecounty of Louth. Beneath lay a valley, now so rich and socheerful that the Englishman who gazes on it may imagine him-self to be in one of the most highly favoured parts of his ownhighly favoured country. Fields of wheat, woodlands, meadowsbright with daisies and clover, slope gently down to the edge ofthe Boyne. That bright and tranquil stream, the boundary ofLouth and Meath, having flowed many miles between verdantbanks crowned by modern palaces, and by the ruined keeps ofold Norman barons of the pale, is here about to mingle withthe sea. Five miles to the west of the place from which Williamlooked down on the river, now stands, on a verdant bank, amidstnoble woods, Slane Castle, the mansion of the Marquess ofConyngham. Two miles to the east, a cloud of smoke from fac-tories and steam vessels overhangs the busy town and port ofDrogheda. On the Meath side of the Boyne, the ground, stillall corn, grass, flowers, and foliage, rises with a gentle swell toan eminence surmounted by a conspicuous tuft of ash trees whichovershades the ruined church and desolate graveyard ofDonore.**

* Story’s Impartial Account; Dumont MS.

** Much interesting information respecting the field of battle and the

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