long as he reigned, William declared in memorable words,
there should be no persecution for conscience' sake. "We never could be
of that mind that violence was suited to the advancing of true religion,
nor do we intend that our authority shall ever be a tool to the
irregular passions of any party."

[Sidenote: The Irish Rising.]

It was not in Scotland however but in Ireland that James and Lewis hoped
to arrest William's progress. Ireland had long been the object of
special attention on the part of James. In the middle of his reign, when
his chief aim was to provide against the renewed depression of his
fellow-religionists at his death by any Protestant successor, he had
resolved (if we may trust the statement of the French ambassador) to
place Ireland in such a position of independence that she might serve as
a refuge for his Catholic subjects. It was with a view to the success of
this design that Lord Clarendon was dismissed from the Lord-Lieutenancy
and succeeded in the charge of the island by the Catholic Earl of
Tyrconnell. The new governor, who was raised to a dukedom, went roughly
to work. Every Englishman was turned out of office. Every Judge, every
Privy Councillor, every Mayor and Alderman of a borough, was required to
be a Catholic and an Irishman. The Irish army, raised to the number of
fifty thousand men and purged of its Protestant soldiers, was entrusted
to Catholic officers. In a few months the English ascendency was
overthrown, and the life and fortune of the English settlers were at the
mercy of the natives on whom they had trampled since Cromwell's day. The
king's flight and the agitation among the native Irish at the news
spread panic therefore through the island. Another massacre was believed
to be at hand; and fifteen hundred Protestant families, chiefly from the
south, fled in terror over sea. The Protestants of the north on the
other hand drew together at Enniskillen and Londonderry, and prepared
for self-defence. The outbreak however was still delayed, and for two
months Tyrconnell intrigued with William's Government. But his aim was
simply to gain time. He was at this very moment indeed inviting James to
return to Ireland, and assuring him of his fidelity. To James this call
promised the aid of an army which would enable him to help the Scotch
rising and to effect a landing in England, while Lewis saw in it the
means of diverting William from giving effectual aid to the Grand
Alliance. A staf