ur long hours he engaged the attention of the enemy, until the
glare of the burning summer sun had passed away, and until he had
intercepted the reinforcements which Monroe expected. At last the
decisive moment had arrived. Monroe thought he saw his brother's
contingent in the distance; O'Neill knew that they were some of his own
men who had beaten that very contingent. When the Scotch general was
undeceived, he resolved to retire. O'Neill saw his advantage, and gave
the command to charge. With one loud cry of vengeance for desecrated
altars and desolated homes, the Irish soldiers dashed to the charge, and
Monroe's ranks were broken, and his men driven to flight. Even the
General himself fled so precipitately, that he left his hat, sword, and
cloak after him, and never halted until he reached Lisburn. Lord
Montgomery was taken prisoner, and 3,000 of the Scotch were left on the
field. Of the Irish only seventy men were killed, and 200 wounded. It
was a great victory; and it was something more--it was a glorious
victory; although Ireland remained, both as to political and religious
freedom, much as it had been before. The standards captured on that
bloody field were sent to the Nuncio at Limerick, and carried in
procession to the Cathedral, where a solemn _Te Deum_ was chanted--and
that was all the result that came of it. Confusion thrice confounded
followed in the rear. The King issued orders, under the compulsion of
the Scotch, which Lord Digby declared to be just the contrary of what he
really wished; and Ormonde proclaimed and ratified the treaty he had
formerly declined to fulfil, while the "old Irish" everywhere
indignantly rejected it. In Waterford, Clonmel, and Limerick, the people
would not permit it even to be proclaimed. The Nuncio summoned a
national synod in Waterford, at which it was condemned; and a decree was
issued, on the 12th of August, declaring that all who adhered to such
terms should be declared perjurers. Even Preston declared for the
Nuncio; and the clergy and the nobles who led the unpopular cause, were
obliged to ask Ormonde's assistance to help them out of their
difficulty. The Earl arrived at Kilkenny with an armed force; but fled
precipitately when he heard that O'Neill and Preston were advancing
towards him.

Rinuccini now took a high hand. He entered Kilkenny in state, on the
18th of September, and committed the members of the Supreme Council as
prisoners to the Castle, except Darcy and Plu