208

HISTOEY OF ENfiEAKD.

CHAP.

XX.

1G93.

that, till he should land in England, they might hang royalistswithout the smallest fear of being called to account.*

But by no class of people was the Declaration read with somuch disgust and indignation as by the native aristocracy ofIreland. This then was the reward of their loyalty. This wasthe faith of kings. When England had cast James out, whenScotland had rejected him, the Irish had still been true to him;and he had, in return, solemnly given his sanction to a lawwhich restored to them an immense domain of which they hadbeen despoiled. Nothing that had happened since that timehad diminished their claim to his favour. They had defendedhis cause to the last: they had fought for him long after he haddeserted them: many of them, when unable to contend longeragainst superior force, had followed him into banishment; andnow it appeared that he was desirous to make peace with hisdeadliest enemies at the expense of his most faithful friends.There was much discontent in the Irish regiments which weredispersed through the Netherlands and along the frontiers ofGermany and Italy. Even the Whigs allowed that, for once,the O’s and Macs were in the right, and asked triumphantlywhether a prince who had broken his word to his devoted ser-vants could be expected to keep it to his foes?**

* James, ii. 514. I am unwilling to believe that Ken was among thosewho blamed the Declaration of 1693 as too merciful.

** Among the Nairne Papers is a letter sent on this occasion by Mid-dleton to Macarthy, who was then serving in Germany. Middleton tries tosooth Macarthy and to induce Macarthy to sooth others. Nothing moredisingenuous was ever written by a Minister of State. “The King,” saysthe Secretary, “promises in the foresaid Declaration to restore the Settle-ment, but, at the same time, declares that he will recompense all thosewho may suffer by it by giving them equivalents.” Now James did notdeclare that he would recompense any body, but merely that he wouldadvise with his Parliament on the subject. He did not declare that howould even adviso with his Parliament about recompensing all who mightsuffer, but merely about recompensing such as had followed him to thelast. Finally he said nothing about equivalents. Indeed the notion of