and threaten him with a catastrophe
still more direful, he thought proper to retire into France, where he
joined the queen and the prince of Wales.

In Ireland, during these transactions, the authority of the nuncio
prevailed without control among all the Catholics; and that prelate, by
his indiscretion and insolence, soon made them repent of the power with
which they had intrusted him. Prudent men likewise were sensible of the
total destruction which was hanging over the nation from the English
parliament, and saw no resource or safety but in giving support to the
declining authority of the king. The earl of Clanricarde, a nobleman
of an ancient family, a person too of merit, who had ever preserved his
loyalty, was sensible of the ruin which threatened his countrymen,
and was resolved, if possible, to prevent it. He secretly formed a
combination among the Catholics; he entered into a correspondence
with Inchiquin, who preserved great authority over the Protestants in
Munster; he attacked the nuncio, whom he chased out of the island; and
he sent to Paris a deputation, inviting the lord lieutenant to return
and take possession of his government.

Ormond, on his arrival in Ireland, found the kingdom divided into many
factions, among which either open war or secret enmity prevailed. The
authority of the English parliament was established in Dublin, and the
other towns which he himself had delivered into their hands. O'Neal
maintained his credit in Ulster; and having entered into a secret
correspondence with the parliamentary generals, was more intent on
schemes for his own personal safety, than anxious for the preservation
of his country or religion. The other Irish, divided between their
clergy, who were averse to Ormond, and their nobility, who were attached
to him, were very uncertain in their motions and feeble in their
measures. The Scots in the north, enraged, as well as their other
countrymen, against the usurpations of the sectarian army, professed
their adherence to the king; but were still hindered by many prejudices
from entering into a cordial union with his lieutenant. All these
distracted councils and contrary humors checked the progress of Ormond,
and enabled the parliamentary forces in Ireland to maintain their ground
against him. The republican faction, meanwhile, in England, employed
in subduing the revolted royalists, in reducing the parliament
to subjection, in the trial, condemnation, and execution of