166

HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CnAP.

XV.

lbS9.

Inquiryinto thoconductof theIrish war,

jeant.* But no censure was passed, on the chief offender, Tor-rington; nor does it appear that a single voice was raisedagainst him. He had personal friends in both parties. He hadmany popular qualities. Even his vices were not those whichexcite public hatred. The people readily forgave a courageousopenhanded sailor for being too fond of his bottle, his booncompanions and his mistresses, and did not sufficiently considerhow great must be the perils of a country of which the safetydepends on a man sunk in indolence, stupified by wine, ener-vated by licentiousness, ruined by prodigality, and enslavedby sycophants and harlots.

The sufferings of the army in Ireland called forth strong ex-pressions of sympathy and indignation. The Commons didjustice to the firmness and wisdom with which Schomberg hadconducted the most arduous of all campaigns. That he had notachieved more was attributed chiefly to the villany of the Com-missariat. The pestilence itself, itw'as said, would have beenno serious calamity if it had not been aggravated by the wicked-ness of man. The disease had generally spared those who hadwarm garments and bedding, and had swept away by thousandsthose who were thinly clad and who slept on the wet ground.Immense sums had been drawn out of the Treasury: yet the payof the troops was in arrear. Hundreds of horses, tens of thou-sands of shoes, had been paid for by the public: yet the baggagewas left behind for want of beasts to draw it; and the soldierswere marching barefoot through the mire. Seventeen hundredpounds had been charged to the government for medicines: yetthe common drugs with which every apothecary in the smallestmarket town was provided were not to be found in the plague-stricken camp. The cry against Shales was loud. An addresswas carried to the throne, requesting that he might be sent for

* Commons’ Journals and Grey’s Debates, Nov. 13, 14. 18, 19. 23. 28.1689.