edings; but it should be remembered (1) that the Act of Settlement
was a gross injustice, and, as such, it was but justice that it should
be repealed. Had the measure been carried out, however severely it might
have been felt by the Protestant party, they could not have suffered
from the repeal as severely as the Catholics had suffered from the
enactment. (2) The Act of Attainder simply proclaimed that the
revolutionists were rebels against their lawful King, and that they
should be treated as such. (3) The utterance of base coin had already
been performed by several Governments, and James only availed himself of
the prerogatives exercised by his predecessors.

The day on which the siege of Derry was raised, the royalists met with a
severe reverse at Newtownbutler. They were under the command of Lord
Mountcashel, when attacked by the Enniskilleners. The dragoons had
already been dispirited by a reverse at Lisnaskea; and a word of
command[538] which was given incorrectly, threw the old corps into
confusion, from which their brave leader in vain endeavoured to rally
them. Colonel Wolseley, an English officer, commanded the
Enniskilleners; and the cruelties with which they hunted down the
unfortunate fugitives, has made the name almost a byword of reproach.
Five hundred men plunged into Lough Erne to escape their fury, but of
these only one was saved. Lord Mountcashel was taken prisoner, but he
escaped eventually, and fled to France. Sarsfield, who commanded at
Sligo, was obliged to retire to Athlone; and the victorious Williamites
remained masters of that part of the country.

Schomberg arrived[539] at Bangor, in Down, on the 13th of August, 1689,
with a large army, composed of Dutch, French Huguenots, and new levies
from England. On the 17th he marched to Belfast, where he met with no
resistance; and on the 27th Carrickfergus surrendered to him on
honorable terms, after a siege of eight days, but not until its
Governor, Colonel Charles MacCarthy More, was reduced to his last barrel
of powder. Schomberg pitched on Dundalk for his winter quarters, and
entrenched himself there strongly; but disease soon broke out in his
camp, and it has been estimated that 10,000 men, fully one-half of the
force, perished of want and dysentery. James challenged him to battle
several times, but Schomberg was too prudent to risk an encounter in the
state of his troops; and the King had not the moral courage to make the
first attack. Complain