ered on the Clare side of the Shannon, to declare which
alternative they preferred. An Ulster battalion, and a few men in each
regiment, in all about 1,000, entered the service of Government; 2,000
received passes to return home; 11,000, with all the cavalry,
volunteered for France, and embarked for that country in different
detachments, under their respective officers. They were warmly received
in the land of their adoption; and all Irish Catholics to France were
granted the privileges of French citizens, without the formality of
naturalization. And thus was formed the famous "Irish Brigade," which
has become a household word for bravery and the glory of the Irish
nation.

The Treaty, as I have said, was signed on the 3rd of October, 1691. The
preamble states that the contracting parties were Sir Charles Porter and
Thomas Coningsby, Lords Justices, with the Baron de Ginkell as
Commander-in-Chief, on the part of William and Mary; Sarsfield, Earl of
Lucan, Viscount Galmoy, Colonel Purcell, Colonel Cusack, Sir J. Butler,
Colonel Dillon, and Colonel Brown, on the part of the Irish nation. The
articles were fifty-two in number. They guaranteed to the Catholics (1)
the free exercise of their religion; (2) the privilege of sitting in
Parliament; (3) freedom of trade; (4) the safety of the estates of those
who had taken up arms for King James; (5) a general amnesty; (6) all the
honours of war to the troops, and a free choice for their future
destination. The articles run to considerable length, and cannot,
therefore, be inserted here; but they may be seen _in extenso_ in
MacGeoghegan's _History of Ireland_, and several other works. So little
doubt had the Irish that this Treaty would be solemnly observed, that
when the accidental omission of two lines was discovered in the clean
copy, they refused to carry out the arrangements until those lines had
been inserted. The Treaty was confirmed by William and Mary, who pledged
"the honour of England" that it should be kept inviolably, saying: "We
do, for us, our heirs and successors, as far as in us lies, ratify and
confirm the same, and every clause, matter, and thing therein
contained." Two days after the signing of the Treaty, a French fleet
arrived in the Shannon, with 3,000 soldiers, 200 officers, and 10,000
stand of arms. Sarsfield was strongly urged to break faith with the
English; but he nobly rejected the temptation. How little did he foresee
how cruelly that nation would br