THE 
 
 SIEGE OF DERRY, 
 
 OR, 
 
 SUFFERINGS OF THE PROTESTANTS 
 
 TALE OF THE REVOLUTION, 
 
 CHARLOTTE ELIZABETH. '^ ) lO^ 
 
 From the Seventh English Edition 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 JOHN S. TAYLOR & Co. 
 
 BRICK CHURCH CHAPEL, 145 NASSAU-STBEKT. 
 1841.
 
 S. W. BENEDICT, PRINTEK.
 
 TO 
 
 JOHN ROBERT BOYD, Esq. 
 
 OF BALLYMACOOL. 
 
 My Dear Frie:^d, 
 
 To you I need not say, that in tracing the out- 
 line of that memorable defence in which your ancestors 
 bore a distinguished part, I have faithfully adhered to the 
 historical data afforded by credible writers. 
 
 In prefixing your name to the volume, I would fain ex- 
 press my grateful regard towards you : my deep feelings 
 of the wrongs, and sympathy in all the woes, of your be- 
 loved, unhappy country. May the wisdom that is from 
 above direct the steps of her embarrassed Protestants, and 
 that which is from beneath be banished from their coun- 
 cils. May Popery unmasked be the prelude to Popery 
 destroyed, not by carnal weapons, but by the word of 
 truth : not by the might and power, but by the Spirit, of 
 the Lord of Hosts. 
 
 I am, 
 Your affectionate Friend, 
 
 Charlotte Elizabeth.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 TO THE SIXTH EDITION 
 
 Ax impression seems to prevail in some quarters that the work 
 which has now, by the blessing of God, reached a sixth Edition, is a 
 mere fiction; or at least that the facts relating to the defence of 
 Derry have been greatly exaggerated, under the influence of imagi- 
 nation or of party spirit. This is an erroneous supposition : cha- 
 racters have certainly been introduced, and domestic scenes describ- 
 ed, for the purpose of bringing forward the object of all earthly 
 tilings most dear to the author's heart — that of affording instruction 
 in their own tongue to the Irish-speaking Aborigines of the land ; 
 and also of realizing more vividly the sufferings to which individuals 
 were exposed during the period of their wonderful defence of the 
 Protestant fortress ; but in every particular where public events are 
 noticed, she has been most scrupulously exact in following the histo- 
 rical records of those days, and now, after having for the first time 
 actually visited the spot, inspected its numerous monuments of the 
 siege, and collected every species of information that could be ob- 
 tained, she finds but one mis-statement to correct throughout the nar- 
 rative. This consisted in an erroneous representation of the con- 
 duct of the Presbyterian leaders, into which she was led by^the 
 remarks of another writer.
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 Familiarized as the author had loiig been with all the recorded 
 particulars of that momentous struggle which forms the main sub. 
 ject of the following pages, she was overwhelmed with wonder when 
 the first view of the maiden city broke upon her from that direction 
 whence Lord Antrim's forces approached to meet the unexpected 
 repulse of the gallant Apprentices. Abruptly rising from within a 
 bend of the beautiful Foyle, terminating, as it seemed, in a point, and 
 that narrow summit crowned with the single church, Derry, the 
 Dorry of 1683, appeared, girt with the dark zoue of her impregnable 
 old walls, and occupying a space so limited, that when by an effort 
 of imagination the numerous additions of more moderate date were 
 swept away, and their places supplied by the 'lines and batteries of an 
 investing army, it did ica'ly seem like a vision of wild romance, 
 rather than a simple fact of history, that the defenders of such a nar- 
 row fortress should have held their besiegers at bay during eight 
 months of unsuccoured distress, and finally have driven them from 
 the scene of their unparalleled discomfiture. 
 
 But when passing through the Ship-quay Gite, the visitor found 
 herself actually witliin the boundary where no Papal foe was ever 
 permitted to set up his banner, when, with a swelling heart, she 
 paced the still unbroken round ef those glorious ramparts, and from 
 the cathedral's tower took in at once the whole compass of the scene^ 
 wonder and admiration rose into awe : for never in the varied- 
 history of the church's deliverances was the finger of Omnipotence 
 more clearly revealed than in the preservation of this diminutive 
 casket, where the Lord had enshrined the jewel of true Protestan- 
 tism, and by the word of his power had declared that no spoiler 
 should rend it thence. He alone who for the promotion of his own 
 glory, and to abase the jjride of man, hath usually chosen the weak 
 thino's of the world to confound the strong, could have given the 
 victory to the enfeebled handful who remained, after a protracted 
 period of inconceivable suffering, to maintain that post, of which the 
 limited space and more limited supplies were less remarkable thai\ 
 its helplessly exposed situation, commanded by surrounding hills, the 
 broad outstretch of which afforded such favorable positions to the 
 assailants, that every battery they chose to mount could tell with cer-
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 tain effect on the city. In tracing the occupation of the ground by 
 the French and Irish army, and glancing down upon the straitened 
 space within the walls, computing the density of an imprisoned po- 
 pulation, and the inevitable effects of an incessant bombardment upon 
 the dwelling-houses, the streets, the walls, the inhabitants, there was 
 but one conclusion to which the mind could satisfactorily come : 
 " This was the Lord's doing, and it is mar^'ellous in our eyes." 
 
 Memorable and honorable as the defence of 1688-9 has rendered 
 the name of Derry, it is far from constituting her sole claim to dis- 
 tinction. JMany circumstances of much earlier date distinguish her 
 among the interesting spots of a most interesting country. The ex- 
 treme beauty of the situation, added to its pecuhar value as a sea- 
 port, seem to have recommended it from the earliest times as a de- 
 sirable post. The name by which it was first known was Derry- 
 Calgach, literally signifying " the oak-wood of the fierce warrior." 
 In former days, the slopes that on all sides bend down to the Foyle 
 were covered with noble oaks ; and upon its conical hill no doubt 
 some powerful chieftain fixed his abode, bidding defiance alike to the 
 rival clans around, and to the hostile invader who might, in rude 
 shipping, approach him from the neighboring coasts of Scotland or 
 England — to the fierce Norwegian or the restless Danej or who- 
 soever might attempt to violate the sanctuary of his own green Isle. 
 In the sixth century the celebrated Columbkill, who was a native of 
 Donegal, chose this tempting site for the erection of a monastery — 
 not a covert for the lazy monks of Rome, for at that period the papal 
 antichrist had not stretched his arrogant pretensions even to the 
 shores of England, and long, very long after England became a 
 vassal of the Romish despot, Ireland maintained the independence of 
 her pure Christian Church. Columbkill's monastery was a house 
 of prayer and of devotional retirement for men whose zeal in the 
 study and propagation of divine truth was tainted neither by a pha- 
 risaical spirit of separation from their fellow men, nor by unscriptural 
 restraint from the privileges and enjoyments of domestic life. After 
 a while the warlike distinction of Calgach gave place to a memorial 
 of the mild Christian patriot, and Derry-Columbkill became the re- 
 cognized title of the oak-girt city.
 
 Vm PREFACE. 
 
 It was not until so late as 1566 that the garrison of Derry passed 
 into the hands of the English: up to that period, the native race had 
 held possession, defeating all who, at various times, attempted to 
 dislodge them. In 1600, during the commotions excited by that ex- 
 traordinaiy person, Hugh Roe O'Donnell, Queen Elizabeth dispatch- 
 ed Sir Henry Docwra, with a powerful body of men, who landed 
 from the Foyle, and having cleared away the ruins of Columbkill's 
 institutions, then long desecrated by the idolatrous inventions of 
 Popery, and which had been nearly destroyed by an explosion in 
 1568, they commenced the work of regular fortification, by digging a 
 fosse, throwing up a rampart, and by every means in their power 
 placing the town on the defensive. Thus the very first foundation 
 of the walls of Derry was the work of Protestant hands ; and the 
 materials employed were gathered from the wreck of what had been 
 originally dedicated to the pure worship of God, thence passed into 
 the polluting grasp of Romish superstition, and now, having under- 
 gone a decomposing process by way of purifying them, they were 
 recomposed into a substance destined to be the groundwork of the 
 firmest earthly bulwark that Protestantism ever entrenched itself 
 witliin. So many and so various are the points of interest that 
 Derry offers to our contemplation. 
 
 When the terrible rebeUion of 1641 broke out, and Ireland was 
 reddened with the blood of many thousand Protestants, principally 
 the victims of a massacre such as the Romish Apostacy usually en- 
 joins and practices for the purgation of her domains from heretical 
 taint, the possession of Derry formed an object of great importance 
 to the rebels, who purposed taking it by surprise; but the vigilance 
 of its inhabitants defeated this plan ; and by the divine blessing on 
 their determined resistance its garrison succeeded in holding unin- 
 terrupted possession of their post, destined to become the scene of a 
 far more extraordinary defence and deliverance at the distance of less 
 than half a century from that time. 
 
 Protestantism being the pole-star of the Derry men, their submis- 
 sion to earthly rulers seems to have been always yielded under the 
 limitation which is now, happily, the safeguard of the British sceptre. 
 Their allegiance always bore the saving clause, " being a Protes-
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 tant;" so that, when nearly the whole of the north, disgusted by the 
 regicidal acts of the parUamentariaus declared against Cromwell, 
 Derry in 1649 stood another close investment, and a severe siege of 
 four months, rather than recognize an authority that, however legi- 
 mate, was regarded as dangerous to the interests of Protestantism. 
 On this occasion, Owen Roe O'Neill reheved the garrison, when re- 
 duced nearly to the last extremity; and for their unshaken fidelity to 
 the cause the citizens received a renewal of their charter, granted by 
 James I., and cancelled by his unhappy son Charles, but now re- 
 stored with additional privileges by Cromwell. In 1687, James II. 
 then in the full career of his persecuting tyranny in Dublin, brought 
 a quo warranto against the corporation, and thus again wrested their 
 charter away. 
 
 But the following year proved fatal to the hopes of that monarch ; 
 and its closing month introduced the eventful transactions of which 
 the ensuing pages furnish a feeble but, as far as it goes, a correct 
 memorial. Of incidents pregnant with most thrilling interest, enough 
 might easily be supplied to fill an additional volume ; but the author's 
 principal anxiety has been to show how tlie spirit of pure Protes- 
 tantism may best work for the good of those much injured claimants 
 on our Christian sympathy and zeal, the native race of Ireland. In- 
 fluenced as they now unhappily are to perpetrate anew the worst 
 outrages of former times, when Popery enjoyed the ascendant 
 among them, a display of physical force and of moral determination 
 appears requisite to restrain them from accomplishing the will of 
 their wily and remorseless instigators, the men who, themselves 
 wrapped in mysterious retirement, work the vast machinery of 
 Popish aggression and aggrandisement throughout the world. The 
 miserable, sworn assassin, who without being able, or even desirous, 
 to make out a case of personal wrong, or the slightest ground of in- 
 dividual hatred against his victim, stealthily tracks his path, and 
 stoops behind the hedge for a deliberate aim at the unconscious 
 prey — that wretched peasant is influenced as a puppet by its wire, 
 and its every motion impelled by the unseen chain of which the last 
 link encloses him, body, soul, and spirit, while the first is firmly 
 grasped in the practised hand of the man of sin, enthroned on the 
 B*
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 seven hills of Rome. An incalculable accession of strength and 
 ductility has accrued to this infernal engine of despotic cruelty by the 
 various sins of ignorance and of presumption that England has com- 
 mitted both against Ireland and against herself, in fostering the ac- 
 cursed thing that God commands his people to cast out from among 
 them. These sins have already found us out, and Protestantism 
 among ourselves is even now struggling in the net of chains that 
 could never have been cast over us but for our own wanton con- 
 nivance at the evil. In Ireland that net is more perfectly wrought 
 and far more closely drawn, but, blessed be God ! the struggle there 
 is so vigorous, so persevering, so believing, that a good hope is in- 
 spired of seeing the links broken, and the captives set free. Pro- 
 testantismthere exists in a wider extension than is generally dreamed 
 of; the struggle adverted to is carried on under the roof of many a 
 cabin, in the half enlightened mind of many a poor devotee, whose 
 hand falters with secret misgivings while telling out the idolatrous 
 ave on the string of beads : it struggles in the confessional, as a ray 
 of unsought light breaks in, revealing the spiritual darkness that 
 shrouds the unholy tribunal : it struggles on the steps of the vain 
 altar, where reason itself must fall prostrate before a palpable lie, and 
 the mind suffer degradation, while the soul incurs pollution, and the 
 lip utters blasphemy. It struggles too in the bosoms of some who 
 are themselves important links in the fetter that holds their unhappy 
 dupes, and who, when led to open the Word of God, and finding 
 tlie path of life set forth so plainly in its pages that way-faring men, 
 though fools, need not err therein, remember their fearful oath, bind- 
 ing them to receive and to understand the Scriptures only as their 
 Apostate Church professes to receive and to underetand them ; and 
 thus are reduced to the alternative of direct perjury or of consciously 
 turning the truth of God into a lie. 
 
 To aid the struggling Protestantism of these awakened souls, to 
 disperse more widely the light that alone can break on the slumbers 
 of their still sleeping brethren, and thus to fling the iron net from off' 
 their beloved counti-y, is the object for the attainment of which the 
 Protestants of Ireland struggle too, under difficulties and in the 
 midst of perils scarcely to be conceived by those who have not en-
 
 PREFACE. XI 
 
 joyed the rich, yet melancholy privilege of beholding their patience 
 and faith in the very scene of trial. Yet enough may be gathered 
 from what passes under our observation at home to convince us 
 that it becomes our bounden duty to assist in the veork ; and nothing 
 will so effectually promote it as a right understanding of the means 
 whereby a hold may be acquired on the affections, and an influence 
 exerted over the minds of the lower classes in Ireland. In this humble 
 volume the subject has never been lost sight of; and the Author 
 sends forth a sixth impression with feelings of unspeakable gladness, 
 while computing to how many thousands of individuals the plea 
 must have found its way by the dispersion of the former five editions. 
 On one occasion, the volume was placed in the hands of an aged 
 Christian Englishwoman, who, on perusing it, immediately added 
 to her will a bequest of one hundred pounds to the Irish Society 
 whose peculiar work it is to instruct the native race through the 
 medium of their own language. Such instances are very cheering 
 to the Author ; she desires and anticipates a blessing on this edition 
 also : and she strongly protests against having her book classed with 
 works of fiction, or considered as amusement for an idle hour. 
 
 The sufferings here recorded of the Protestant defenders of Derry, 
 and the other victims of Popish cruelty, ought to speak to us all in 
 the voice of solemn admonition. Are we so well grounded in the 
 faith for which they endured them as to maintain it as at costly a 
 price, if called on so to do ? Are we convinced by the Spirit of God 
 that Popery is indeed what his Word represents it to be, the " mother 
 of harlots and abominations of the earth ?" Do we comprehend the 
 soul destroying nature of her delusions, their inevitable conse- 
 quences, and the awful condemnation denounced on such as perish 
 in the guilt of trusting to them ? Are we fully aware that Popery 
 rejects Christ as Prophet, degrades Him as Priest, and dethrones 
 Him as King ? Have we considered the device in its true character, 
 as a mystery of iniquity, whereby Satan has instructed men to es- 
 tablish a political system for gain and authority, by means of a reli- 
 gious deception: making merchandize of the souls of their brethren? 
 that they may rule despotically over their bodies, and grasp their 
 worldly possessions ? If not, we have been exceedingly remiss in
 
 Xll PREFACE. 
 
 uot inquiring into the grounds of our own faith, which our fore- 
 fathers held amid the flames of martyrdom rather than concede a 
 particle of it to Romish demands. If we do know this, how deal to 
 our hearts should be the memory of the Lord's mighty works in de- 
 livering these lands from the fearful scourge, our fathers from the 
 yoke, and ourselves, hitherto, from the peril. It was by no slight 
 effort on the part of those who contended against it that the rescue 
 was effected ; nor ought we to regard in tlie light of a mere exciting 
 tale the history of their deeds and their endurance. 
 
 As respects the struggle in Derry, whether we view the nature, 
 the extent, or the continuance of what its defenders went through, 
 the reality is so overpowering as scarcely to leave room for the wild- 
 est fancy to present an exaggerated picture of the scene. In the first 
 place, the town is so small, taken in connection with the multitude 
 who had found a refuge there, that it is almost inconceivable how they 
 could be lodged; yet the documents whence these particulars are taken 
 are official reports, civil and militaiy, now before the writer, and bear- 
 ing the date of 1689, the year in which they were printed. From these 
 it appears that the garrison amounted, at the commencement of tiie 
 bombardment, to 7,343, and the whole population to above 30,000. 
 The space within which these were confined is nearly an oval sur- 
 rounded by the walls : less than 2,000 feet is its extreme length, and 
 its utmost width is less than 600. A street perfectly straight, and of 
 remarkable steepness, runs through it from Ship quay to Bishop's 
 Gate ; another cuts it across, on the top of the ascent, from Butcher's 
 to Ferry Gate. Their intersection forms the Diamond, in the cen- 
 tre of which stood the court-house, used as a guard-house during the 
 siege. The space between the houses and rampart forms another 
 street, running nearly round the city, and besides these there werenot 
 above five small intersections in tlie place. The Cathedral, with its 
 grave-yard, the small burial-ground, and the Bishop's palace and 
 garden, as well as the Diamond, took up a great deal of room ; so 
 that the inhabitants were crowded into the narrowest bounds we can 
 suppose capable of containing them. Now, to shew on indisputable 
 authority one consequence of this dreadful confinement the follow- 
 ing extract, gathered from the parish registry, may suffice.
 
 PREFACE. XUl 
 
 " There were but two places of burial within the walls — that 
 round the cathedral and a small space not far from it, on which the 
 present chapel of ease was afterwards built. Nine thousand corpses 
 were interred within the walls between the 18th of April and the 1st 
 of August, in these receptacles for the dead : being filled to overflow- 
 ing, there was a want of earth or other material to cover the putri- 
 fying bodies, and the shells aimed at the living frequently fell among 
 tlie dead, and made hideous exhumations of lately buried bodies. 
 In this sad state, the practice of burial in the back yards became un- 
 avoidable." After the relief, the naked bodies in the church-yards 
 were covered over with rubbish gathered from the ruins of the Town 
 Hall and other buildings destroyed by the shells : those buried in the 
 back yards of the various houses were allowed to remain there ; and 
 it was found necessary to issue very severe prohibitions, enforced by 
 strict vigilance, to discontinue the interment of such as died soon 
 after the relief beside their slaughtered friends — so strong was the 
 desire to enjoy a share in the grave of those who had so long shared 
 in their sufferings ! 
 
 Surely there is little danger of exaggeration when treating of 
 such a subject as this. Language cannot convey an adequate idea 
 of what must have been endured by these martyrs to Protestantism, 
 nor can the mind grasp a scene of such accumulated horrors as must 
 have glared out on every side to sicken the hearts of the fainting 
 multitude for many weeks previous to their deliverance. It is pain- 
 ful to remark too that the recompence of their constancy was, so far 
 as it rested with man to bestow it, a tissue of ingratitude and wrong. 
 Kirke, the unfeeling general •who, in the point of cruelty of disposi- 
 tion might almost have rivalled De Rosen, assumed the command of 
 the town, and exhibited suchawant ofcommon justice in his proceed- 
 ings towards the dauntless little garrison and their heroic comman- 
 ders as ought to have drawn down upon himsevere punishment from 
 the Protestant king. But William was only a political Protestant ; 
 of the life-giving influence that alone produces spiritual Protestantism 
 he appears to have been destitute; and those among the defenders 
 of Derry who had wrought and suffered for Christ's sake and the 
 Gospel, had their reward in seeing the religion of Christ firmly re-
 
 XIV PREFACE. 
 
 established through their means, and the Gospel secured to iheir 
 children beyond the grasp of Popish violence that would fain have 
 wrested it away. 
 
 Weak, imperfect, wholly unworthy of the subject as istheensuing 
 attempt at recording the main incidents of the Siege of Derry, the 
 Author unfeignedly rejoices that it was her privilege to make it. 
 Those who read it must needs know something of the deeds and suf- 
 ferings of former generations, a more intimate acquaintance with 
 which would have checked the growth of that false and mischievous 
 liberalism which is eating out the very heart of Protestant principle. 
 These pages but faintly delineate Popery as it was in Ireland ; and 
 what Poperywas, in its days of rampant domination, that Popery 
 
 IS, AND EVER WILL BE. 
 
 Many who doubted this ten years ago, and who, acting upon that 
 doubt, forebore to grapple with their country's destroyer, even when 
 striving to obtain a footing in the legislature, now mourn in the 
 bitterness of their souls such a faithless dereliction of duty ; and 
 deplore too late the blindness of that hour. Somewhat yet remains 
 to contend for ; all is not utterly lost though our high vantage ground 
 is abandoned, and the exulting enemy pours through a breach that 
 they could never have effected, had we, with the spirit of our fore- 
 fathers, manned the walls of our citadel. Oh that there may be 
 among us a heart to rally round and throw ourselves upon that 
 breach, to resist the encroaching tide, to set up a banner in the name 
 of the Lord, and, remembering that with Him there is no restraint to 
 save by many or by few, to experience yet once more His delivering 
 mercy, and in His almighty strength to trample the great master-piece 
 of Satanic ingenuity under our feet ! 
 
 May, 1839.
 
 THE SIEGE OF DERRY
 
 DERRY: 
 
 A TALE OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 " To exchange such a spot as this for the smoke, the din, 
 and publicity of a town — how shall I prevail on them ?" 
 
 Such was the mental inquiry of Bryan M'Alister, as 
 he slowly wound along through one of the most romantic 
 defiles of the ancient Tyrconnel. November blasts had 
 stripped the foliage from many a towering tree and luxu- 
 riant shrub, tarnishing the emerald hue of Erin's sod, and 
 imparting to that majestic scenery a character as sternly 
 wild as were the spirits of those times. Yet beautiful, 
 surpassingly beautiful in despite of cloud and storm, the 
 giant hills arose, the vallies crouched beneath their shel- 
 tering bulwarks, and the broad lake expanded, or the nar- 
 row streamlet rippled on, diversifying, by its liquid splen- 
 dor, the ever changeful prospect. Home itself, that centre 
 of all attractions to young Bryan's affectionate heart, could 
 not by its proximity win him to quicken his pace. He 
 suffered the rein to hang loosely on his horse's neck, and 
 2
 
 10 DERRY. 
 
 gazed around him with the sad forebodings of one who an- 
 ticipates a long farewell to a spot endeared by every tender 
 recollection of infancy and youth. 
 
 The abode towards which he was so leisurely advanc- 
 ing, lay buried in deep seclusion, considerably removed 
 from the highway. The approach was a perfect labyrinth, 
 scarcely deserving the name of a road, or even of a path ; 
 but Bryan's steed required no guidance to the well known 
 spot. Emerging from the covert under which an ascent, 
 and then a descent had been pursued, he now came full 
 in view of the simple but substantial cottage that sheltered 
 all his earthly treasures ; and his near approach was pre- 
 sently discovered by its delighted inmates. A sturdy 
 house-dog was the first to greet him, with the warning 
 bark of defiance, instantaneously changed into the yelp- 
 ings of joy, as he bounded forward to spring against the 
 saddle. Two blooming girls next rushed from the door ; 
 and after them hastened a white-haired retainer of that 
 noble, but no longer affluent house, whose fallen fortunes 
 it was his pride to follow. A bare-headed gossoon seized 
 the bridle with one hand, while the other plucked at his 
 matted locks by way of obeisance ; old Shane laid hold on 
 the stirrup ; and the impatient sisters seemed disposed to 
 drag their prize from his seat, before he could well dis- 
 mount. Bryan had a kiss, and a smile, and a tear too for 
 each, with many a kind word to old Shane, as he hobbled 
 after the youthful trio, to the presence of two more ex- 
 pectants ; a smiling mother and a grandame, whose feelings 
 were too deep to find vent in many words, as she em- 
 braced and blessed the sole representative of her slaugh- 
 tered line. 
 
 But why attempt to describe the most indescribable of 
 all things— an Irish welcome, bestowed on one around 
 whom a cluster of Irish hearts entwined their fondest af- 
 fections 1
 
 DERRY. 11 
 
 Amid the interesting group now assembled, a stranger's 
 eye would have involuntarily rested on the form and fea- 
 tures of the venerable parent. Both were strikingly noble, 
 nor had the pressure of near threescore years and ten di- 
 minished the sparkling intelligence of the face, or bowed 
 perceptibly the stately figure of the old lady. Highly in- 
 tellectual, and marked with decision of character, her 
 countenance yet bespoke a meek benevolence which en- 
 deared what had otherwise been too commanding to in- 
 spire affection ; and there were traits of long and patient 
 endurance, sufficient to show that a cross had indeed been 
 borne by her, whose whole deportment told a tale of pious 
 resignation. 
 
 Slie was a daughter of the princely race of O'Neill, 
 brought, in childhood, by a chain of providential circum- 
 stances, under the influence of truly Christian advisers. 
 Thus her mind became early and deeply imbued with 
 doubts and apprehensions as to the soundness of her here- 
 ditary religion. Pursuing in secret the inquiry, she had 
 made a tacit renunciation of its errors ; convinced by the 
 mere force of reason and such arguments as came within 
 her reach. At an early age she had become attached to 
 Colonel M'Alister, a Protestant of rank and influence, 
 whom she married, much to the chagrin of her own bi- 
 goted kindred, and resided with his family until the dread- 
 h.\l massacre of 1641 cut off many of them, and sent most 
 of the survivors broken hearted to an untimely grave. 
 
 Through many calamities, and bitter reverses of fortune, 
 she had been brought to such a thorough self-acquaintance 
 as laid her low at the foot of the Redeemer's cross ; and 
 rendered her a meet guide for the children of her only 
 son, v/ho, with their widowed mother, dwelt in this se- 
 cluded nook of their native Donegal, subsistino; on the 
 wreck of a fortune once most abundant. Letitia and 
 Ellen, the latter of whom was scarcely past the age of
 
 12 DEERY. 
 
 childhood, furnished sufficient employment for those whom 
 they fondly designated their two mothers ; but Shane dis- 
 tinguished the younger widow as " the mistress," and the 
 elder as " the Lady of M'Alister," by which title she was 
 generally known and spoken of, throughout the narrow 
 circle of their rustic acquaintance. 
 
 Shane O'Connogher was a genuine Irishman from the 
 western province, bred to arms from his infancy, and most 
 devotedly attached to the master, whose steps he had faith- 
 fully followed. The same partial affection that led him, 
 as a young lad, to separate from the Romish communion, 
 and to embrace nominally the faith of his benefactor, in- 
 spired him with unspeakable horror and detestation of all 
 belonging to that party by whom the cruel murder was 
 perpetrated. Shane was, in truth, a devotee to his politi- 
 cal creed ; and in universal, indiscriminate hatred of all 
 who differed from him, he could not be outdone by any 
 partizan of any cause whatsoever. His ardent fidelity was 
 so appreciated by all the wrecks of M'Alister's house, that 
 it secured to him immunities and privileges, approaching 
 rather to the station of a friend than that of a domestic. 
 
 Shane had never relinquished the use of his vernacular 
 tongue ; loquacious at most times, his eloquence never 
 flowed so freely or so rapidly, as when his thoughts found 
 vent in his native Irish ; and his frequent soliloquies in that 
 language proved a source of so much vexation to the chil- 
 dren, by exciting their curiosity, that they gladly became 
 his pupils, and acquired some little knowledge of a tongue 
 too generally as much despised among the higher classes, 
 as it is beloved and cherished by their more humble com- 
 patriots. 
 
 Of all created beings, the Lady of M'Alister possessed 
 the largest portion of Shane's reverential regard : but he 
 failed not to protest against her views and proceedings on 
 some occasions ; particularly in what related to her son
 
 DERRY. 13 
 
 and grandson, neither of whom she would allow to follow 
 the profession of her husband. The former had suffered 
 so much from the perils and privations to which his help- 
 less infancy was exposed, that he never acquired strength 
 of constitution ; he had lived in retirement, and died of 
 lingering decline soon after the birth of Ellen. Shane ad- 
 mitted that he was not formed for military life ; but could 
 by no means pardon the wrong done to the Protestant 
 cause, by restraining Bryan from following what was cer- 
 tainly the early bent of his inclinations — for Bryan was 
 truly Irish, after Shane's own fancy : manly in person, 
 robust in constitution, warm in his affections, and buoyant 
 in spirits as the bubble that danced upon the water. His 
 laughing eye was sunsliine to the old man's heart ; and 
 Shane had observation sufficient to discern the deep, firm 
 energy of character which had as yet been but partially 
 called forth : a steadiness of purpose and unflinching reso- 
 lution, joined to great personal courage. The sweetness 
 of a placid temper, rendered yet more even by the subdu- 
 ing influences of divine grace, restrained the exhibition of 
 these more vigorous traits ; but Shane delighted to trace 
 them, and loudly bewailed the successful appeals which 
 had won on the youth's affectionate heart to concur in the 
 wishes of his " two mothers," and to become the appren- 
 ticed assistant of a respectable merchant in Derry. 
 
 " Ahone !" sighed, or rather groaned the old man when 
 he heard that the indentures were made out. "Isn't it a 
 big shame to plant the last of the M'Alisters behind a 
 counter, out of the way of all the honor and glory in 
 life 1" 
 
 " Be easy, Shane, dear ; those things are not confined to 
 any profession. A faithful discharge of duty is the right 
 road to them every where." 
 
 " Murder ! Master Bryan, avourneen : is it yourself that 
 has the face to say so 1 You'd get 'em as a soldier ; or 
 2*
 
 14 DERRY. 
 
 may be as a sailor ; but musha ! who ever heard of the 
 honor and glory of a 'Piie.ntice Boy !" and he turned 
 away in high disdain. 
 
 As a 'Prentice Boy, however, the last of the M'Alistera 
 was well satisfied to commence his modest career. The 
 seed of divine truth had not been vainly scattered by pi- 
 ous hands during his early days ; it had taken deep 
 root, it had visibly sprung up, and gave promise of a 
 plenteous harvest. Those very traits in Bryan's charac- 
 ter, which rendered him the delight of his companions, 
 were to himself a source of watchful solicitude ; and he 
 bowed in secret thankfulness to the wisdom which mark- 
 ed out for him a path where such fiery qualities stood in 
 less apparent peril of being fanned into a flame. He had 
 acquired that great lesson — the root of all humility —self- 
 knowledge ; and his acquaintance with the doctrines 
 of the gospel was not merely theoretical : it was practical, 
 and wrought in him a growing conformity to the Author 
 and Finisher of his faith. He felt that much, very much, 
 was yet wanting to purify the silver : and he patiently 
 awaited the operation of whatsoever furnace it might please 
 the Great Refiner to prepare, for the trial of that precious 
 metal. 
 
 Bryan had now been settled for two years with his mas- 
 ter ; and his steady application to business had won many 
 kind approvals, with frequent permission to visit the cot- 
 tagers in the glen. To them his approach was ever as the 
 returning spring after the clouds of winter ; so dearly, so 
 exclusively, was he beloved in that retired nook. The 
 object of his present excursion, however, was one of more 
 serious import than any that had preceded it ; and he lost 
 no time in making known to the wondering little circle 
 that surrounded the evening fire, his wish to accomplish 
 their removal to the town of Derry.
 
 BERRY. 15 
 
 His grandmother shook her head, and his mother de- 
 clared it to be impossible. 
 
 " Nay, but let us hear his reasons," said Letitia, " for 
 Byran is not apt to counsel foolishly." 
 
 " They must be powerful reasons, my child, that would 
 tempt me from this quiet retreat, to place you amid the 
 turbulent scenes of a city, a seaport, and a garrison town." 
 
 " Dear mother," said the youth, " the dangers that you 
 would encounter are trifling, compared with those from 
 which you must flee. A storm is even now gathering 
 around ; and its first thunders are already rolling in deep 
 menaces of unequivocal import. Every nook in these 
 valleys will be explored in quest of plunder and revenge. 
 Think you that a family so marked as ours for sufferings 
 in the cause of truth, will escape the deadliest visitations of 
 their hatred 1" 
 
 " Our family lies buried in obscurity ; its name over- 
 looked, and its history forgotten." 
 
 " Never trust to that, mother. Many a hand would yet 
 be raised to point out the poor remains of M'Alister ; and 
 many a blade would thirst to quench its brightness in their 
 heretic blood." 
 
 " Don't speak so, Brother," said his younger sister im- 
 ploringly. 
 
 " I speak as I feel, my poor Ellen : and even were it 
 otherwise, the straggling foragers would doubtless discover 
 your abode. What defence would be found for such a 
 helpless household of females'!" 
 
 " The defence of the Most High, young man, is as po- 
 tent in the glens of Tyrconnel, as behind the fortresses of 
 Derry," said the old lady. 
 
 Bryan smiled as he bent towards her, and replied, 
 "Must I read back to my dear grandmother the lessons, 
 by means of which she coaxed the hereditary weapon 
 from my hand, and nailed me to an ignoble occupation,
 
 16 DERRY. 
 
 because I should not tempt the Lord, nor hazard the last 
 hope of an expiring line 1" He then more fully declared 
 the alarming indications that had of late been given, of 
 some hostile design on the part of those who held the great 
 mass of the people in spiritual bondage ; the Romish 
 Priesthood, whose language had assumed a character of 
 open defiance too general and too daring to be overlooked. 
 
 " Shane was telling us strange things about it," re- 
 marked Lotitia, " but my grandmother checked him." 
 
 " I did so, my child ; because his misjuding zeal is apt 
 to lead him into error ; while his prejudices operate to the 
 disadvantage of every one connected with the hostile 
 party." 
 
 At Bryan's earnest request, Shane was now summoned ; 
 and he, delighted to find the restraint taken ofT", gave full 
 vent to a large collection of anecdotes and inferences, bear- 
 ing on the subject under debate ; of which, if some pro- 
 voked a smile by their extravagant improbability, others 
 were calculated to excite serious alarm. He concluded 
 by advising Brj'^an to make a short tour through the neigh- 
 boring vallies, and to judge from the result of his own 
 inquiries. 
 
 His suggestion was adopted ; and it was ascertained be- 
 yond dispute that preparations of a most threatening de- 
 scription were on foot, among the more fierce and lawless 
 of the peasantry. Language was uttered from the altar 
 and the pulpit, that could admit of but one interpretation; 
 and instances were not wanting where the Priest had ad- 
 ded to his harangues the encouragement of his personal as- 
 sistance in collecting, marshalling, and exercising his 'Sock, 
 as for military service.* In corroboration of all this, a let- 
 ter followed Bryan from Dtrry, with farther intelligence 
 
 * Fee "Graham's History of the Siege of Derry ;" a work to 
 which the author is greatly indebted for accurate and minute io- 
 forraation.
 
 BERRY. 17 
 
 of a similar purport, collected from other quarters ; and 
 the friendly head of his establishment urged an immediate 
 removal of the family to Derry ; proffering the use of a 
 small house, in a retired part of the town, where, if ob- 
 scurity were their object, they might remain almost as 
 much out of the busy world as in their present retreat. 
 These concurrent circumstances satisfied the Lady of 
 M'Alister, that to reject such an interposition would be in- 
 deed presumptuous: and as her decisions gave law to the 
 whole household, immediate preparations were engaged in 
 for a hasty removal, which was accomplished without 
 much difficulty. 
 
 The little mansion allotted to the strangers stood in a 
 retired street, on a low site, well sheltered, and of course 
 suflficiently sombre. The narrow casements in their deep 
 recesses, shewed the thickness of walls that had braved 
 many a stroke from the hand of time, and contrasted pain- 
 fully with the airy character of their late abode, whose 
 windows, gaily festooned with flowering shrubs, invited 
 the broad beam of heaven to brighten the apartments. The 
 young girls found their spirits weighed down by irresisti- 
 ble depression, save when their brother's cheerful smile 
 broke in to dispell the gloom ; and the frequency of his 
 visits did indeed almost reconcile them to the change. 
 Their mother was more perplexed by the absence of the 
 many conveniences which formed the pride of her de- 
 partment in the forsaken cottage ; while the Lady sat in 
 patient contentment, pursuing her needle-work, discours- 
 ing with her family, or deeply meditating on the pages of 
 that venerable volume which, in its black binding, with 
 silver clasps, lay evermore within reach of her hand. 
 
 To one individual, the transition was fraught with un- 
 mixed delight. Old Shane scarcely found the winter days 
 long enough for the pursuit in which he was constantly 
 engaged, the insatiable quest after news. Neither his po-
 
 18 DERRY. 
 
 litical animosities, nor his religious bigotry, lacked sym- 
 pathizing encouragement from kindred spirits within the 
 walls of Derry, while the prospect of hostilities, the criti- 
 cal position of public affairs, and the overpowering anxiety 
 with which three kingdoms watched their progress, impart- 
 ed an unspeakable interest to the most indifferent actions 
 of James Stuart and William of Nassau. The latter had 
 very recently effected a landing in England, and every 
 rumored accession to his standard of title, wealth, and 
 military prowess, formed matter of rapturous exultation 
 among the zealous partizans who surrounded Shane O'Con- 
 nogher. 
 
 Nor was young Bryan free from enthusiasm of the same 
 cast. The sparkle of his eye, and the glow of his cheek, 
 when bearing such tidings to his family, bespoke it plainly. 
 But the feeling of personal hostility was a stranger to his 
 compassionate bosom, and the life which he counted not 
 dear to him in the cause of that holy faith wherein he 
 stood, would have been as freely sacrificed to win one of 
 its deluded persecutors from the error of his way. The 
 sin, not the sinner, excited his abhorrence ; and while 
 against the creed of Rome he avowed the most uncompro- 
 mising, the most unqualified hostility, his heart yearned 
 over the individuals enthralled beneath her merciless sway. 
 To implant in his young mind this important discrimina- 
 tion had been the indefatigable endeavor of his pious 
 grandmother, and she had amply succeeded, by leading him 
 to the same sacred fountain from whence she drew her own 
 supplies of knowledge and grace. Herself delivered fi-om 
 the net, she had long been habituated to examine minutely 
 its texture ; and regarding it as the mystery of iniquity, the 
 master-piece of Satanic wisdom, the most subtle and power- 
 ful delusion that ever triumphed over reason in the sub- 
 version of revealed truth, she marvelled not at the stubborn 
 adherence of its victims to their blinding errors, but sought
 
 DERRY. 19 
 
 by every affectionate and persevering effort to recover 
 them out of the snare. 
 
 In the fatal year 1641, her husband, his parents, two 
 young sisters, and a whole household of faithful domestics 
 had fallen — fallen within her view, and under circumstan- 
 ces of aggravated cruelty, while maternal love for the help- 
 less babe that slumbered in her arms, prompting the hope 
 of screening him from those gory knives and pikes, nerved 
 her to remain, a concealed and silent spectator of these 
 horrors. Shane O Connogher, returning from a mission 
 to the neighboring Barony, had providentially escaped 
 falling in with the assassins ; and by him she was borne 
 away from the scene of blood, nearly in a state of insanity. 
 Long, very long, it was ere her lacerated mind could en- 
 dure the slightest allusion to that hour ; and even then the 
 wildest spirit of vindictive passion that ever raved in the 
 unsubdued bosom of an O'Neill would impetuously break 
 forth as she looked upon her sickly child, and vowed to 
 train him for the work of vengeance. And well was she 
 qualified by nature for such a preceptorship, the masculine 
 strength and daring of her character having been conspicu- 
 ous from the cradle. But better things were in store for 
 the bereaved and desolate sufferer: her deep afflictions 
 melted the heart of a pious minister, who had brought into 
 a strange land all the devoted ardor of a Scottish Covenan- 
 ter. He too had his tale of wrongs and domestic anguish 
 to tell ; and having thus engaged her sympathy, he turned 
 to the best and holiest of purposes the advantage gained. 
 Before his white hairs descended to a peaceful grave, 
 the widow of M'Alister was enabled to cheer his dying 
 pillow with those sweet words of gospel promise which 
 had sounded strangely to her ear when first brought under 
 his teaching : and the boy so early dedicated to the work 
 of unhallowed wrath, was trained, and lived, and died, a 
 meek follower of his compassionaie Savior.
 
 20 DERRY. 
 
 But strong, indelibly strong, was the impression left by 
 that fearful scene of massacre ; and her mind would pon- 
 der and revolve it, under every change of character and 
 circumstance. She had beheld those murderers kneel in 
 prayer, before they plunged their weapons into bosoms 
 that pleaded for them with their last throb — for the M'Alis- 
 ters were more than nominally Christians — and she had 
 also seen and heard their solemn acts of thanksgiving over 
 the mangled bodies. The retrospection led to deep mu- 
 sings on the nature of that delusion under which they act- 
 ed, and the Lady of M'Alister had achieved the noblest 
 victory that human nature is capable of, in its renewed 
 and sanctified condition ; for her keenest wrongs now 
 formed an argument wherewith to disarm her own and 
 others' resentment ; and she dwelt upon them but as an 
 incentive to redoubled exertion in rescuing souls from 
 that Mother of Abominations, so drunken with the blood 
 of the saints, with the life-blood of all that had been most 
 dear to her own agonized bosom. When a blessing had 
 been given to her zealous and patient endeavors for the 
 conversion of some poor ignorant follower of Rome — and 
 more than one or two had crowned those efforts — she would 
 smile, and say, " Behold my triumphant revenge for the 
 slaughter of my house 1" 
 
 It will not be doubted that the progressive advance of 
 James II. towards a re-establishment of Popery had excited 
 in her mind the most acute and painful interest, while a 
 just view of what the Scriptures inculcate of submission to 
 constituted authorities taught her to shrink from tiie pros- 
 pect of popular insurrection on the part of the aggrieved 
 Protestants. The act of abdication, therefore, by which 
 the monarch subsequently vacated his throne, she hailed 
 as a most providential interposition ; the very name of 
 William of Nassau sounding in her ears a tale of hope and 
 joy. Beneath her calm deportment, there lay concealed
 
 DERRY. 21 
 
 an anxiety the most intense ; and while her thoughts 
 pursued, with eagle glance, the relative position of the 
 contending parties throughout the British Isles ; that little 
 spot to which the family had been recently removed, ac- 
 quired an importance abundantly verified by the sequel. 
 She doubted not but that a perilous fermentation pervaded 
 the Scottish clans, and that to secure a northern point of 
 rapid communication between that country and Ireland, 
 such as the port of Derry could supply, would be found 
 essential to the success of James, who had sufficiently shewn 
 that he hoped to recover by force what in a moment of 
 panic he had so hastily relinquished. These views she often 
 communicated to her little family circle, as an incentive to 
 more earnest prayer, since nothing short of divine power 
 could interpose between the project and its accomplish- 
 ment. Bryan was fully convinced that she predicted 
 rightly as to the importance of that post ; and the subject 
 was frequently canvassed among his young companions, 
 who entered into its discussion with the vivid feelings of 
 men whose earthly all was involved in the question. 
 
 Tyrconnel, the unprincipled viceroy of James, had, in 
 his eagerness to swell his master's disposable forces, with- 
 drawn from Derry its accustomed garrison — a welcome 
 relief to the minds of the many who dreaded such defenders 
 far more than any evils from which they might assist to 
 shield them. Entire subserviency to the views of James 
 had rendered these troops a terror to their Protestant fel- 
 low subjects 5 and now, whilst almost every other place of 
 note was strongly garrisoned by the partizans of James, 
 Derry enjoyed the singular privilege of being under the 
 guardianship of her own citizens. Whispers were abroad 
 in the streets that such a privilege would not be lightly 
 relinquished ; and looks more eloquent than words gave 
 frequent pledge of mutual fidelity, as from their barrier- 
 3
 
 22 DERRY. 
 
 walls they gazed upon the winding Foyle, and calculated 
 the strength of their position. But these were ebullitions 
 of youthful spirits, extorting the smile of pity, or provok- 
 ing the rebuke of prudence, from their more experienced 
 companions.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The chills of December were now striking their paraly- 
 'zing influence into every department of the natural world, 
 and its snows began to whiten on the neighboring hills. 
 The Protestants of Derry remained unmolested, but con- 
 scious that perils were thickening around them ; the nu- 
 merous Roman Catholics within its walls generally wear- 
 ing an aspect calculated to increase the perturbation, and 
 with trembling solicitude was the appearance of Bryan 
 M'Alister hailed whenever he approached the retired 
 dwelling of his kindred. 
 
 Even old Shane now found a ready audience for his 
 exaggerated reports ; and it was with no slight degree of 
 terror that Letitia and Ellen beheld him break abruptly 
 into their sitting-room, afrer a short absence, with a coun- 
 tenance full of important information. 
 
 " What is it, Shane 1" was the anxious inquiry. 
 
 Indeed, and it's bad enough for the like of you to 
 hear, poor fatherless cratures that ye be ! Its out and out 
 true, that next Sunday, the ninth of this very month, every 
 Protestant soul will be murdered. I'm just after seeing 
 the letter come in from Enniskillen, where the brave lads 
 are defending the place ; and there's a big army coming 
 up upon us, to be here in no time at all ; and the bloody 
 Papists whetting their knives in open day, all over the
 
 24 DERRY. 
 
 town. Musha, but we'll be all slaughtered like a flock of 
 sheep !" 
 
 Before the old man could recover his breath, Bryan en- 
 tered : his countenance was pale, but an air of fixed de- 
 termination pervaded every feature, and seemed to nerve 
 his whole frame. With a rapid, but silent glance, he 
 scanned the agitated circle, and then rested his intelligent 
 eyes on his grandmother. 
 
 " It is true," he said, " what Shane has no doubt com- 
 municated to you. A plan of general massacre is di- 
 vulged, and the day after to-morrow fixed for its perpetra- 
 tion. Lord Antrim's regiment of Irish and Scotch, 
 alike hostile to our iaith, is on the advance towards us ; 
 and the ferocious soldiery are even outnumbered by 
 more furious women and wild young boys, armed with 
 skenes, with pikes, and whatsoever instruments of destruc- 
 tion they can get hold of." 
 
 Ellen flew to her mother, who with a sigh of silent des- 
 pair clasped her arms around the shuddering girl. Leti- 
 tia sunk back on her seat, gazing with bewildered looks 
 from one to the other of the party. Bryan remained, his 
 eyes fastened on those of his grandmother, who raised 
 them to heaven, while Shane exclaimed, " The gates> 
 Master Bryan ; ye were talking of that." 
 
 " Of the gates 1" said the old lady, casting an inquiring 
 glance at her grandson. 
 
 " There was a talk among us of closing them," said 
 Bryan, " but the Corporation checked that suggestion ; and 
 yet — grandmother — where the means are at hand" — He 
 was proceeding in a tone of deepening energy, when an- 
 other young man of the city rushed into the house. 
 
 " M'Alister," he exclaimed, " why do you loiter 1 Our 
 lives hang by a whisp of hay. Those white-livered Al- 
 dermen are temporizing and higgling, ready enough to
 
 DERRY. 25 
 
 sacrifice us all as the price of their own proper immuni- 
 
 ty." 
 
 " For shame, Ross," interrupted Bryan'j "you wrong 
 them." 
 
 " Then let thera right themselves, the calculating 
 drones. M'Alister, do you flinch 1 You were forward 
 enough just now. Why, man, there are already two com- 
 panies of infernals arrived at the Water-side, attended by 
 a host of furies, actually drunk with rage, and yelling for 
 blood J while the little butchering ruffians, boys from 
 eight or ten years old, are brandishing their knives, and 
 prepared to take their initiatory lesson in the art of tortur- 
 ing from their more practised companions." 
 
 " Away !" exclaimed Bryan ; and regardless even of 
 the cries that implored his return, in voices so dear to 
 him, he ran off at full speed with Ross. 
 
 To describe the state of the city is utterly impossible ; 
 groups of terrified Protestants were seen congregated in 
 the streets, their low whisper and sidelong glance of half- 
 suppressed suspicion, following the steps of every neigh- 
 bor who held the contrary persuasion. Undissembled 
 triumph sat on the features of the many friars and priests 
 who, in evident expectation, paraded the town, while, in 
 strong contrast, an Episcopal or Presbyterian minister, with 
 meek resignation pourtra3'ed on his countenance, might 
 be seen encouraging his trembling hearers to a firmer 
 trust in the Most High. Others of the clergy, with offi- 
 cial men, merchants, and here and there a military officer, 
 were grouped in close and earnest debate. Rapidly pass- 
 ing by these, the two young men reached that quarter of 
 the city which fronts the Foyle ; and there, on the oppo- 
 site bank, called the Water-side, Bryan beheld an ample 
 confirmation of his friend's report. 
 
 At this period, the two officers in command of the as- 
 sailants were crossing the river in a ferry-boat, for the 
 3*
 
 26 DERRY. 
 
 purpose of demanding admission for their companies ; and 
 these, crowding to the water's edge, presented a most ap- 
 palling spectacle to the devoted inhabitants. Ross had 
 by no means exaggerated the horrors of their aspect. A 
 more formidable body of assailants the imagination could 
 not picture. Wild, fierce, and restless, their very look 
 was a menace j and the regular troops were mingled with 
 such a motle}' crowd as gave them the aspect of a pro- 
 miscuous' banditti, while the impatient gestures and shouts 
 of their female followers, accompanied by an immense 
 number of young boys, exactly answering to Ross's des- 
 cription, imparted a character more dreadful than could 
 have attached to a regular army of military besiegers. 
 The object of their cries — the intent with which those 
 weapons flashed in the sun-beam — was but too little ques- 
 tionable ; and maddening were the thoughts that crowded 
 upon those whose domestic circles were threatened by a 
 visitation so horrible. 
 
 Our youths found themselves surrounded by a number 
 of lads and young men, apprenticed to the different mer- 
 chants and tradesmen : these eagerly greeted their arrival, 
 and pointed to the opposite side. 
 
 " It cannot be — it shall not be," cried Bryan : " By 
 timely resistance we may avoid the effusion of blood. 
 Admit those forces and our houses will be deluged in the 
 gore of their inmates." 
 
 " To the gates, boys !" shouted several voices ; and the 
 mob re-echoed the words. 
 
 The deputy-mayor hastily approached, and demanded 
 that the cry should be silenced. 
 
 "Never mind him, boys," said Ross : " he's in the pay 
 of the old Papist. Sheriff Kennedy tells us another 
 story." 
 
 ~ The courteous reception given to the officers, and the 
 manifest determination of some among the leading men to
 
 DERRY. 27 
 
 admit their followers, increased the irritation of the ap- 
 prentices ; nor was this mitigated when they perceived the 
 foremost of the two companies already in the act of cross- 
 ing the river, to force admittance. 
 
 " Now, or never !" was ejaculated by the agitated look- 
 ers on. 
 
 Bryan's mind was in a tumult of opposing principles, 
 and harassing doubts ; how far they should be justified in 
 resisting what would soon become an overwhelming force, 
 and thus increasing the certainty of slaughter, was a mat- 
 ter of severe perplexity to him. But then, the firm con- 
 viction that their city was formed to be the earthly bul- 
 wark of a righteous cause, an assurance that there was no 
 restraint with the Lord, to save by many or by few, and 
 the evident fact that butchery would be retarded, if not al- 
 together averted, by a measure so purely defensive, all 
 wrought with him to obey the impulse of strong natural 
 feeling. One fervent ejaculation he breathed to the Help- 
 er of the oppressed, and then raising his voice to its utmost 
 pitch, cried out, " For our altars and our homes ! To the 
 Guardhouse, boys! Seize the keys!" and away they 
 started. 
 
 Some severe struggling took place, before the keys were 
 wrested from those who had them in charge ; but the ra- 
 pid approach of the soldiers, to within three hundred yards 
 of the gate, nerved every arm among the youthful band of 
 resolute defenders with supernatural strength. The scuf- 
 fle was quickly over, the keys were won ; and with the 
 rapidity of hounds in full chace, the boys rushed to the 
 ferry-gate, the drawbridge of which they instantaneously 
 drew up ; and as the massive gates swang heavily forward, 
 and the coarse key grated harshly upon its wards, it told 
 that the deed was done ; a deed to which, under the all- 
 directing power of the Most High, may doubtless, in some
 
 28 DERRY. 
 
 measure, be traced the blessings that for one liundred and 
 forty years crowned our country. A deed achieved by 
 unarmed boys, baffling the wily counsels of kings, imped- 
 ing the progress of victorious armies, setting at naught the 
 exterminating thunders of vindictive Rome, and proving 
 by what seemingly inefficient means the Lord of Hosts 
 wills to accomplish the dictates of Almighty wisdom. 
 
 At the moment when the ferry-gate was closed, Lord 
 Antrim's myrmidons had approached within sixty yards of 
 its portal. The other city gates were next secured and 
 guarded by the enthusiastic spirit of those who volunteered 
 for the duty. The hand of Bryan had been conspicuous- 
 ly active in assisting to perform all that his voice counsel- 
 led ; and he now led back his exulting comrades to the 
 market place : whence, after a vain attempt on the part of 
 the Deputy Mayor to induce a reception of the enemy, 
 they again sallied to repel a meditated movement, by 
 which their exploit would have been rendered unavailing, 
 and the gates thrown open. Popular feeling was now too 
 strongly excited on their behalf to leave any doubt of the 
 general resolution to defend the city, and the threat of 
 bringing a piece of ordnance to bear on the intruders, 
 sent them in disorder back to their companions ; leaving 
 the town to the guardian protection of her devoted young 
 apprentices. 
 
 During the whole of this tumultuous scene, old Shane 
 had endeavored to keep Bryan in his view ; but the tot- 
 tering limbs of the veteran were unequal to the task. In- 
 deed, the celerity of the young man's movements was 
 such, that to Shane's vision he appeared as a flash of light- 
 ning, or rather a succession of flashes, darting along vari- 
 ous points of the horizon. However, the powerful tones 
 of his voice, continually rising above others, as he shouted 
 forth the words of direction and encouragement, were 
 faithfully echoed by Shane, whose inmost soul revelled in
 
 DERRY. 29 
 
 the luxury of what he considered the first act of vengeance 
 wrought on the part of an injured family. At length he 
 bethought himself of the terrified and anxious females, to 
 whose abode the uproar must have penetrated ; and he 
 hobbled away from the scene of action, to place before 
 them a glowing picture of Bryan's achievements. " The 
 raal M'Alister ; the true blood of him that was now re- 
 venged." 
 
 It was late at night before the youth could snatch an 
 hour to satisfy his family that he was unhurt. The high- 
 est animation played upon his features, and enlivened every 
 gesture, as he explained the events of that memorable day : 
 and the Lady of M'Alister never sate m.ore erect in native 
 dignity than while she listened to his accents, and marked 
 the strong traits of a character endeared by cherished re- 
 membrances. Yet a tear fell, as the ejaculations of thank- 
 fiilness for the past, and earnest supplication for the future, 
 ascended from her lips : and the less subdued emotions of 
 the mother and sisters, who hailed in their most endeared 
 relative a deliverer from immediate destruction, sweetened 
 Bryan's hasty meal into luxury. But in the open expres- 
 sion of delight, old Shane far outdid all the rest, and fi-e- 
 quently extorted a smile by the extravagance of his com- 
 mendations on the heroes of the day. 
 
 " What are you dreaming of, Shane ?" asked his young 
 master, archly, " the honor and glory of an apprentice 
 boyl" 
 
 " Hush, my child," said the Lady of M'Alister : " and 
 you Shane forbear to take from the Lord the praise which 
 is due to him alone. The weakness, the inadequacy of 
 the instruments this day employed, give promise that the 
 work will prove to have been of God : and if so, it will be 
 a mighty and a perfect work. He who says to the foam- 
 ing billows, ' Hitherto shalt thou go, and no farther : here 
 shall thy proud waves be stayed,' may have blessed our
 
 30 DERRY. 
 
 little fortress to be the feeble but sufficient barrier against 
 the progress of His church's foes. Here he may be about 
 to kindle a fire through which they cannot pass ; a fir« 
 whose intenseness shall try us^ even as silver is tried. We 
 are now pent up, beset by open foes, and in manifest peril 
 of being surrounded by accumulating hosts, not one man 
 of whom can set upon us to hurt us, unless the Lord give 
 the word. Oh, my children ! shall we trust to an arm of 
 flesh, and cast away the shield of the Almighty, by boast- 
 ing in our own prowess 1 Let us rather turn unto Him, 
 in weeping and supplication, and pray that in these kind- 
 ling flames we may be purified, and made white, and shine 
 — for in the straitness of this siege, the slain of the Lord 
 shall be many." She then read the first two chapters of 
 Joel, and offered up an impressive prayer. 
 
 " Grandmother," said Bryan, as he took her hands on 
 rising to depart, " when I ran down to the portal, when I 
 laid hold on the pulleys of the bridge, when I lent my 
 strength to close those heavy gates— the sound of whose 
 creaking hinges I never, never shall forget — the prayer of 
 David was in my heart and on my lips, ' Let us now fall 
 into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great : and 
 let us not fall into the hand of man !' " 
 
 "Peace and blessing be with my dear boy !" she re- 
 plied ; and the tears of all mingled on his cheek, as they 
 bade him a reluctant farewell. 
 
 "Heaven bless her ladyship !" muttered Shane, as he 
 secured the door, after wringing his young master's offer- 
 ed hand, "the like of her isn't above ground for throwing 
 a wet blanket. And she's right, too, I'm entirely certain, 
 in respect to the siege ; tor when the Boys slammed the 
 creaking ould gates in the faces of yon spalpeens, thinks I, 
 its your heart's blood that '11 spout upon 'em yet, jewels of 
 the world \ And Shane O'Connogher's old ears will tin- 
 gle, when your merry voices are turned into dying groans,
 
 DERRY. 31 
 
 and the roar of big guns be your ullaloo !" And, over- 
 come with the picture that his fancy drew, he slunk away 
 to his little dormitory. 
 
 During the night considerable tumult prevailed in the 
 city, and with dawning day it arose to a higher swell ; and 
 agitating was the anxiety of the M'Alisters, as they sat in 
 desponding silence, bending many an impatient look on 
 the door. 
 
 Suddenly, the loud report of two cannon, successively 
 discharged from the walls, preceded and followed by most 
 exulting shouts, sent a tremor through every frame. Old 
 Shane, who had reluctantly consented to keep guard over 
 the household, started and threw back his head, as the aged 
 war-horse, who smells the battle afar off. The sisters 
 drew nearer to each other, and gazed with fearful expecta- 
 tion on the opening door. Never had the protecting arms of 
 their brother been so welcome as now, when, bursting into 
 the room, every feature irradiate with joy, he embraced 
 them, and exclaimed, " The post has brought us glorious 
 news : not only has the Prince of Denmark declared for 
 William of Nassau, but many a proud name of English 
 rank and influence swells the roll of his adherents. Our 
 own Ormonde has ranged his true men under the banner 
 of Orange ; and the tide of popular feeling runs steadily 
 along, promising victory and peace." 
 
 Ejaculations of delight and thanksgiving followed the 
 welcome communication. " But the guns, brother !" said 
 Ellen. 
 
 " Merely a shot in honor of our deliverer ; but I did 
 not stay to witness its effect on the gentry over the water ; 
 so anxious was I to be the bearer of welcome news. And 
 now have I earned my breakfast 1" 
 
 " What ! fasting yet, my poor boy 1" said his mother, as 
 she eagerly advanced to her little stores. 
 
 " That's right. Master Bryan," said Shane with great
 
 32 DERRY. 
 
 emphasis, " Eating is the last thing in life that a soldier 
 should think about. But is it you that have been on guard 
 all night, avourneen "?" 
 
 " Sure, and I have, Shane, who should keep the gates 
 but the boys that shut them 1" 
 
 " True for ye : and have you mustered the garrison V 
 
 " Aye, and a bare three hundred of fighting men can we 
 number, for the defence of our good town." 
 
 " Say three hundred and one, Sir ;" exclaimed Shane, 
 as he drew himself into an upright position. 
 
 " Three hundred and one, then : and to arm these we 
 have made free to open the magazine, and have taken out 
 muskets for about half that number : how to equip the rest, 
 we know not. But that cowardly rabble before the walls 
 cannot face the report of a child's pop-gun. Shoulder the 
 poker, Shane, ready — present — and off they will scamper." 
 
 " Beware, my child, of viewing these things too lightly," 
 said his grandmother. "Victorious moments are moments 
 of temptation, when a vain-glorious spirit is too apt to 
 taint the Christian's joy. For our sins is the chastisement 
 sent : and no race of beings, no reptile, no insect, too 
 mean to execute the judgments of the Lord, where he wills 
 to smite. Frogs, flies, and lice were made effectual to 
 scourge the pride of warlike Egypt." 
 
 Bryan assented : and united prayer was then engaged in, 
 led by the venerable Lady. Fervently did she supplicate 
 that the Lord would look favorably on his little Zion, and 
 be to them a strong hold in that their day of adversity. A 
 touching recurrence to past scenes melted every heart ; and 
 if one thing beyond all others, characterized those prayers, 
 it was the energetic pleading for every single soul among 
 the thousands then thirsting for Protestant blood. 
 
 Immediately on rising, the lady withdrew to her apart- 
 ment, and brought forth the antique arms of her slaugh- 
 tered husband. She had, on that morning, opened a chest,
 
 DERRY. 33 
 
 which for many a long year had remained unexplored ; 
 and often had it excited the curiosity of the young people, 
 as they remarked the jealous care with which its pos- 
 sessor kept it under her immediate guardianship. The ob- 
 jects now presented to their eyes were new to them : but 
 a heavy groan from poor old Shane bespoke his recogni- 
 tion of the broad sword, from whose hilt of costly work- 
 manship depended a knot, deeply incrusted with gore. A 
 belt of black leather, much embrowned with age, trailed 
 along the ground ; and a brace of pistols, superbly mounted 
 with silver, completed a burden almost two heavy for the 
 arms that trembled as they bore it. Bryan hastened to 
 take the weapons ; and his knee involuntarily touched the 
 ground, as he kissed the hands that yielded them. His 
 heart was two full for any other expression of thankful- 
 ness. 
 
 " Take them, my beloved child ; and may the sight of 
 them soften your heart." 
 
 " Soften his heart !" ejaculated Shane indignantly." 
 "Aye, Shane O'Connogher, soften his heart. He who 
 wielded that sword, my noble and faithful M'Alister, was 
 laid low by pitiless assassins. The stain on this knot, 
 Bryan, was from the heart's blood of your gallant grand- 
 father — but," and she laid her hand on his ai'm, and spoke 
 with awM solemnity — " but, Bryan, where are the mur- 
 derers now 1 Misled by treacherous guides, who assumed 
 to teach them the way to heaven, they verily believed 
 that in this work of butchery they wrought their own sal- 
 vation. They are gone ! The blind and guilty followers 
 of leaders more guilty, because less blind, they are swal- 
 lowed up in the pit of eternal woe. Oh, my children, 
 follow them in thought to that unchangeable state — hear 
 their groans — behold the smoke of their torment — and 
 each vindictive feeling shall be hushed beneath the power 
 of Him who alone maketh us to differ. Aye, and I too 
 4>
 
 34 DERRY. 
 
 have lisped In childhood the prayer for extermination of 
 all who differed from her who is drunken with the blood of 
 the saints. In this juncture, Bryan, you must needs bear 
 arms : but may that blade remain in your hand innoxious, 
 as it has lain for half a century : and never may those bar- 
 rels send a message of death to one soul unprepared for 
 the awful summons !" 
 
 It is not our purpose to furnish a chronicle of this mem- 
 orable siege, of which the annals are, or ought to be, familiar 
 to every one who loves to trace the hand of God, mani- 
 fested in signal mercies to his church, and to our nation — 
 mercies, in whose warm blaze a heedless posterity has 
 basked, until the suff*erings are well nigh forgotten that 
 taught their ancestors wisdom, warning them to repel the 
 encroaching billows of antichristian rage. 
 
 Unappalled by the menacing aspect of his indignant 
 subjects, James Stuart had pursued his darling scheme. 
 He sought to force upon them that detested yoke under 
 which their progenitors had perished in the flames of 
 Smithfield: nor could the unequivocal symptoms of popu- 
 lar resentment stay his course. It would be difficult to 
 credit the existence of such infatuation, did not the history 
 of other lands furnish us with abundant proof that Popery 
 is, and ever must be, unchanged in its spirit, uniform in its 
 manifestations, wheresoever it can find meet tools to work 
 with : sternly resolved to rear its throne upon the prostrate 
 rights of millions ; aye, and to cement that fabric with 
 their blood, should outraged humanity but dare to lift an 
 appealing hand against its galling pressure. 
 
 Panic struck, the unhappy James had abandoned for a 
 while his project, and retreated to a foreign shore ; but 
 goaded onward by his remorseless advisers, he had re- 
 sumed the enterprise, and thrown himself upon the fidelity 
 of his Irish subjects, rightly calculating on the fervency 
 with which the great majority would adhere to his cause.
 
 LERRY. 35 
 
 The very appointment of Tyrconnel to the vicegerency 
 of their country, had struck such terror into the Irish Pro- 
 testants, that on learning it, no fewer than fifteen hundred 
 had accompanied the Earl of Clarendon from their own 
 shore, self-doomed to voluntary exile ; nor had the subse- 
 quent acts of this governor tended to lessen the odium in 
 which he was held by the feebler party. The recent 
 death of the famous Duke of Ormonde — a name that ought 
 to live enshrined in every Irish heart — had increased the 
 helpless despair of all who desired peace. Even in ex- 
 treme age, that nobleman, who, like a stately tree, seemed 
 to have been planted for the shelter of his native soil, could 
 inspire confidence in their minds : while Ormonde yet 
 lived, Ireland had a champion, and a friend. But he was 
 gathered to his fathers just previous to the event which 
 armed Tyrconnel with augmented power of mischief. Nev- 
 er did a purer spirit of disinterested patriotism animate the 
 mind of man, than that, which, during the fifty-four years 
 of his public life, had endeared the Duke of Ormonde to 
 his suffering country. Poor Ireland has had many mas- 
 ters ; but alas, how small the number of her friends ! A 
 Butler, a Bedell, and a Boyle, do indeed shine forth, dur- 
 ing this the cloudiest period of her troubled history ; and 
 while the former, blazing through her political heavens, 
 scared many a vampire from his accustomed feast, the 
 two latter applied themselves to the sacred task of clear- 
 ing away those mists which hid the Sun of Righteousness 
 from her spiritual discernment, by clothing in the garb of 
 native language the word, whose entrance giveth light — 
 light to them that sit in darkness, and the shadow of death, 
 that it may guide their feet into the way of peace. 
 
 Ireland, poor, suffering, guilty, Ireland ! If the hand that 
 traces these lines might but be so directed, as to kindle a 
 flame of pure love and glowing zeal on thy behalf, it 
 might contentedly rest from its labors, to moulder in the
 
 36 DERRY. 
 
 dust of the grave. From every former attempt, by 
 whomsoever made, to promote this object, little else has 
 arisen than a blinding smoke, yet farther to darken and 
 confuse the judgment of thy friends. It is among thine 
 own, thy native children, that every evil fixes its deep 
 root, and defies alike the arm of force, and the voice of 
 persuasion to remove it. And wherefore ! Because we 
 are too proud, too obstinately prejudiced to opinion, to sit 
 down among the Irish race, and address them in a tongue 
 that sounds of home and kindred, and every endearing 
 sympathy to which their hearts can vibrate.* No : we 
 hail them in a language that to their jealous partialities 
 speaks of conquest and defiance, as though we treated 
 with a vanquished enemy, willing rather to fix the yoke 
 ol despotism on his neck, than to clasp his hand in the 
 fellowship of Christian love. We mean it not so j but so 
 he is taught to regard it ; and what avail our good inten- 
 tions, if our stubborn prejudice still neutralize the effort 1 
 For nearly seven centuries has the victim bled beneath 
 our hand, through the inefficiency of our ill-devised styp- 
 tics ; and miserably futile will the remedy be found, 
 which political wisdom has recently applied. England 
 has long squandered her millions, and all her costly sacri- 
 fices have been vain. And though her frantic despera- 
 tion lead her, like the priests of Baal; to lacerate her own 
 flesh, while trampling on the altars of her national faith, 
 the power, whose aid she supplicates, can yield no an- 
 swering sign. The God of Israel must be invoked, and 
 
 * Let it be remarked — let it be remembered, that at the pres- 
 ent moment, there are still between two and three millions of na- 
 tive Irish, so wedded to the ancient or Celtic tongue, that to their 
 affections no appeal can be made in any other language, with a 
 reasonable prospect of success. See a powerful and convincing 
 work, entitled, " Historical Sketches of the Native Irish and their 
 Descendants, By Christopher Anderson."
 
 DERRY. 37 
 
 that according to His own appointment : then, and never 
 till then, shall hallowed fire descend, consuming the body 
 of sin, absorbing the waters ot strife, confounding every 
 delusive idol, and causing the multitude with one tongue 
 to exclaim, " the Lord he is the God." 
 
 Had the rod no voice, that came so heavily on the Protes- 
 tants of Ireland in 1641, and was again uplifted after the 
 lapse of forty-seven years 1 Derry, which as we have 
 seen, could enrol but three hundred men capable of bear- 
 ing arms, when her gates were so intrepidly closed against 
 the enemy, became in a short time the great rallying 
 point of Protestant fugitives in the North. Lord Mount- 
 joy having been sent from Dublin with six companies for 
 the purpose of reducing the intrepid little garrison to obe- 
 dience, the towns-people had gladly received him, and 
 two companies composed of Protestants, to strengthen 
 their citadel, placing full confidence in that upright no- 
 bleman. A foul stratagem on the part of Tyrconnel re- 
 called, and betrayed him to a lingering imprisonment in 
 France 5 but not until he had placed the defence of 
 Derry on a more solid footing ; leaving Lieutenant-Col- 
 onel Lundy invested with the chief command. In this 
 officer, Tyrconnel possessed a disguised,- but most efficient 
 tool for his worst purposes : yet even here, the Lord won- 
 derfully over-ruled their devices ; for on the admission of 
 some additional forces, the citizens, with equal spirit and 
 judgment, selected from among them those whose religion 
 furnished a guarantee for their fidelity, and expelled the 
 remainder : Lundy not daring to unmask his actual char- 
 acter, by offering opposition to their unanimous decrees.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Patiently enduring their share of the general calamity, 
 the family of M'Alister continued retired from public ob- 
 servation, quietly pursuing such works of beneficence as 
 their means admitted. Many a fainting heart was cheer- 
 ed by the bare sight of such uncomplaining fortitude, such 
 cheerful submission, as shone on the now pale countenan- 
 ces of that unobtrusive group : for even Letitia and Ellen 
 had already lost tlie healthful bloom ; while Bryan's 
 looks bore witness to the effect of sleepless nights and 
 days of care. Considerable notice had been attracted by 
 his conduct, during the period when the defence of their 
 town might be said to rest entirely on the apprentices : 
 and since the appointment of military officers over an 
 augmented force, his counsel had been sought, and his co- 
 operation thankfully accepted by men of far greater expe- 
 rience than himself. Lundy, observing his deserved pop- 
 ularity, failed not to affect considerable deference to his 
 opinions, and sought every means of attaching him to his 
 interests ; but Bryan marked with latent suspicion his wi- 
 ly course, and never could shake off the unwonted reserve 
 of manner, which repelled the governor's advances. To 
 his friend Ross, he once began to hint these doubts ; but 
 the impetuous young man, thoroughly persuaded of Lun- 
 dy's sincerity, gave him no encouragement to proceed.
 
 DERRY. 39 
 
 It was, therefore, with no small surprise that at the end of 
 a few weeks, Bryan beheld Ross enter his mother's dwel- 
 ling with high displeasure on his countenance, scarcely 
 permitting himself to be seated before he proclaimed his 
 conviction, that Lundy was a traitor and deserved the gal- 
 lows : adding, " This very day has the fellow issued an 
 order to prohibit us from keeping our accustomed guard ; 
 taking the defence of the city out of our hands altogeth- 
 er." 
 
 *" " That will not be submitted to," remarked Bryan, 
 coloring. 
 
 " I trow not:" replied the other; "but unless a few of 
 the boys take heart, and pitch him into the Foyle, I see 
 not how we can be rid of him. Then, there is a mis- 
 chievous spirit at work among the Presbyterians, who tell 
 us to our faces, that all these troubles are the consequence 
 of our refusing to take the covenant, which they seem 
 pretty well disposed to ram down our throats. In truth, 
 there is no trusting any body ; and I begin to think of 
 stealing a march to join the brave lads of Enniskillen." 
 
 " Patience, Ross," said Bryan, " We all have our diffi- 
 culties to encounter, and must not be lightly discouraged. 
 Our troubles are but commencing, and surely we who 
 struck the tirst blow, should be the last to lain away." 
 
 Ross nodded assent : and glancing round, remarked with 
 affectionate concern, that no one present was looking so 
 well as he wished. 
 
 " How can we look well, Mr. Ross," said Ellen, " when 
 we are shut up like birds in a cage 1 However, I assure 
 you that we chirp and sing sometimes ; and though it is 
 seldom that a ray of sunshine contrives to creep through 
 the comer pane of that ugly casement, we feel the com- 
 forting beams of a better Sun, and can rejoice." 
 
 " And yet," said Ross, "it is to yourself that the change 
 appears most injurious."
 
 40 DERRY. 
 
 " Oh, don't say so !" exclaimed her mother anxiously. 
 "And why should he not say so, my love 1" asked the 
 old lady : " have we not made the same remark to each 
 other 5 and is not our Ellen conscious of it 1 How weak is 
 our faith, that in the midst of such peril, yet shrinks from 
 committing a treasure into safe keeping — to shelter a lamb 
 in the Shepherd's bosom, ere the wolves break into the 
 fold !" 
 
 " Dear lady," exclaimed Ross, " we will, by God's 
 help, keep the wolves at bay yet. Returning spring will 
 give you to liberty and security." 
 
 " I cannot think it : I see no token of aught but coming 
 judgment ; and your own tidings confirm it. When 
 hands that should be raised in united supplication are well 
 nigh lifted up to smite in wrathful debate, the arm of the 
 Lord will assuredly descend to chastise the pride of man. 
 Disunion among the people of God is ever the precursor 
 of judgment. Let professors lay to heart the lesson, that 
 we shall yet receive ; for Christians thus unnaturally sepa- 
 rating must be melted into one by the intense fires of His 
 wrath, whose holy name and cause are blasphemed through 
 their unseemly disputes." 
 
 At this moment a young minister of the Scottish church 
 entered the apartment ; and the Lady immediately repeat- 
 ed to him her last remark. 
 
 " I do not," said he, " view the matter in precisely the 
 same strong light. Discussion is unavoidable, where men 
 are diligently searching for truth ; and to restrain it would 
 be to bow us beneath a yoke incompatible with Christian 
 liberty." 
 
 "And is not truth recognized, and proclaimed by both 
 our churches, Mr. Malcolm 1" asked Mrs. M'Alister, 
 
 " Unquestionably, the broad basis of eternal truth sup- 
 ports either fabric : it is perspicuously set forth in our re- 
 spective confessions, and personally apprehended, as I trust,
 
 DERRY. 41 
 
 both by you and by me, through the enlightening grace of 
 the Holy Spirit making known to us the fulness of the sal- 
 vation that is in Christ Jesus; implanting faith, which 
 worketh by love, producing the fruits of righteousness, to 
 the glory of Him w^ho is the sole ground of our hope. But 
 beyond this there lies many a question." 
 
 " Alas, yes !" interrupted the Lady, " many a question 
 gendering strife, and sapping in the bud those fruits of 
 which you speak. Why stand we thus in jeopardy every 
 hour, exposed to the violence of unchristian men, but be- 
 cause the church, divinely commissioned to preach the 
 Gospel to every creature, has loitered by the way, entang- 
 ling her feet m snares laid by the rulers of the darkness of 
 this world 1 Think you not the enem}'' of souls would 
 prefer that you and I engaged in some discussion, profit- 
 able, it may be, to our individual growth in knowledge, 
 rather than that we sallied forth to invade his reign in the 
 dark places of our land, proclaiming deliverance to his 
 captives, and the opening of the prison to those whom he 
 hath bound 1 Oh, it is a question of awful import, how 
 far we can be doing the will of God, when occupied as 
 Satan would prefer to behold us !" 
 
 " Would you then prohibit all advance, beyond the ac- 
 quisition of first principles V 
 
 " Not so : but I guard against the selfishness that w^ould, 
 even in spiritual things, eat its morsel alone, and not in- 
 vite the fatherless to partake in it. I would bear in mind, 
 that I may ' understand all mysteries and all know- 
 ledge,' and yet be nothing, if lacking charity — that grace 
 which seeks the welfare of every soul around. I would 
 evermore desire to grow in grace, and in knowledge too ; 
 but the tree grows by watering, and what is the promise '? 
 ' he that watereth shall himself also be watered.' After 
 higher attainments we should constantly aspire ; but 
 ' whereunto we have already attained, let us walk by the
 
 42 DERRY. 
 
 same rule,' and impart to others the gifts vouchsafed unto 
 ourselves, so far as means will effect it." 
 
 " Were this rule followed," said Bryan, " every Chris- 
 tian would become a missionar}^, within his own sphere : 
 and who shall calculate the blessedness that would result, 
 if even in our own poor country alone, such were the gen- 
 eral feeling among Christians '\ JMay the Lord give me 
 grace diligently to communicate the little that I know, 
 relying on His inexhaustible treasury for a more abundant 
 supply!" 
 
 " Amen !" uttered Malcolm. " I never enter this abode, 
 but 1 find myself under an humbling dispensation, and im- 
 bibe somewhat of quickening zeal to cheer me on my 
 way. Thus my experience certainly furnishes a power- 
 ful argument in favor of your doctrine, albeit, I some- 
 times doubt whether it savors not of works." 
 
 "Works!" exclaimed the Lady of M'Alister, "and 
 who, being called into the vineyard, shall dare refuse to 
 work there 1 Shall the justifying righteousness of Christ, 
 by which alone we stand, become the plea of indolence \ 
 Put forth your whole strength, bend every faculty of mind 
 and body to the task of working while yet it is day ; and 
 fear not but when the night cometh, you shall smite upon 
 your breast, as an unprofitable servant, and lay hold, in 
 utter self-despair, on the satisfying obedience of the Sa- 
 vior." 
 
 The contentious spirit of the day, excited by Tyrcon- 
 nel's secret emissaries, found no abode in the bosom of 
 Malcolm. His character, formed among the covenanters 
 of the North, exhibited indeed much of the inflexibility 
 produced by being rooted in that region of storms ; nor did 
 he participate in the scruples which shrank from resisting 
 an ungodly ruler. Naturally bold and enterprising, he 
 loved to breast the opposing wave, to encounter obstacles > 
 and triumph over difficulties, alike in temporal and spirit"
 
 DERRY. 43 
 
 ual experience. This habitual bias frequently led him 
 from the even path of Christian usefulness, into heights 
 and depths of speculative inquiry, where few could follovv' 
 him : and thus, consciously pre-eminent, he occupied a 
 station in that little circle of theologians, perilous to man, 
 as tending to foster that carnal pride which never ceases 
 to struggle against the humbling grace of God, in the heart 
 even of the regenerate. The Lady of M'Alister perceived 
 the snare, and Malcolm had accurately described the con- 
 stant tenor of her discourse, when he called his visits to 
 her house humbling dispensations. Fully aware that she 
 was competent to engage with a high relish in those ab- 
 struse questions and subtle disquisitions which he so great- 
 ly valued, he could not but marvel at her unvarying self- 
 denial, her earnest endeavors to win him back to the 
 simplicity of all-sufficient truth. Her counsel he had 
 found to be salutary, her example stimulating ; and often 
 did he close some favorite volume of systematic divinity, 
 to pocket his little Bible, and sally forth on a mission of 
 mercy to such lowly and obscure abodes as had escaped 
 his observation, until the Lady told some tale of suffering 
 poverty, or conscious guilt, shrouding its inmate from the 
 public eye. The frequent accession, both of military 
 forces, and panic-struck individuals, seeking a shelter with- 
 in its walls, had now supplied the city with an overflowing 
 population : and so urgent was the call upon the few de- 
 voted ministers of Christ, that he, who truly and eminent- 
 ly merited that appellation, found his hands perpetually 
 full. Bryan, witnessing the indefatigable labors of one, 
 who was too apt to stigmatize as legal the more practical 
 exhortations of his brethren, used to remark, that the only 
 charge to be brought against Malcolm was the reverse of 
 that reproach too often deservedly incurred by his clerical 
 brethren — he needed but to preach what he practised to 
 render him an invaluable divine.
 
 44 DERRY. 
 
 The visits of this young pastor were indeed a welcome 
 refreshment to the afflicted family ; for it could not be but 
 that the scenes surrounding them should recal to the elder 
 branches many a heart-rending occurrence of former days. 
 Old Shane was rendered irritable by the weakness of his 
 frame, unable to follow the dictates of a spirit still ardent — a 
 mind devoted to the cause for which he passively suffered, 
 while his younger comrades toiled and triumphed in it. 
 The unsubdued, unsanctified character of this faithful ad- 
 herent occasioned many pangs to the bosom of his mis- 
 tress, who mourned over the hardness of a heart so impen- 
 etrable to divine grace, while overflowing with reverential 
 love towards herself. To this were added the forebodings 
 of a mind accustomed to look more deeply into passing 
 events, and to augur more correctly of theii- probable con- 
 sequences, than those around her. Intense anxiety for 
 her children depressed the spirits of the younger Mrs. 
 M'Alister, and rendered her incompetent to the task of 
 encouraging others : while Letitia and Ellen, the latter of 
 whom perceptibly declined, were losing all their youthful 
 elasticity of spirit, and rendering more apparent that loss 
 by ineffectual efforts to force a cheerful aspect, while their 
 tender hearts were writhing under natural terror. To 
 them the lofty tone of confident assurance, which Mal- 
 colm sometimes indulged in, came as a vivifying cordial : 
 and in this light, their grandmother not only sanctioned, 
 but encouraged it ; regarding it as rich wine, mercifully 
 provided to make glad the heart of man in his seasons of 
 overwhelming oppression. 
 
 Of Bryan's troubles, the greatest was his deep distrust 
 of Lundy, and the apprehension of some treacherous un- 
 der-current, baffling the honest efforts of his unsuspecting 
 companions : the act however, by which Boss had been 
 similarly alarmed, manifestly increased the secret misgiv- 
 ings of some, and opened the eyes of many more ; so that
 
 DERRY. 45 
 
 a strong party was quickly formed, whose avowed objpct 
 it was to keep a jealous watch upon the governor's pro- 
 ceedings. The solemn recognition of William and Mary, 
 as successors to the abdicated crown of James, took place 
 in the month of February, and the proclamation of their 
 sovereign dignity was celebrated in Derry with an enthu- 
 siasm proportioned to the magnitude of that stake for which 
 its inhabitants contended. Their joy was nevertheless 
 damped by incessant rumors of the landing of James in 
 their country : and the exulting triumph with which such 
 reports were hailed by the adversaries of their cause. Still 
 it was the general impression among them, that King 
 William could not fail to dispatch the succours which 
 their fidelity assuredly merited ; and which would place 
 them at once beyond the apprehension of farther peril. 
 
 But the infant power of William had 3'^et much to strug- 
 gle through, ere it could extend a sheltering wing to 
 this remote corner of his dominions 5 and the Protestants of 
 Derry had still to learn how vain is the confidence re- 
 posed in princes — how exclusively sufficient the arm of 
 the Lord, who is also a jealous God, and wills not that 
 His own professing people should trust in man, and make 
 flesh their refiige. 
 
 Tyrconnei pursued unfearingly his traitorous designs ; 
 and desolation once more rapidly spread over the soil of 
 Ireland, until the seal was, as it appeared, put to her 
 dreaded doom ; and the landing of ames Stuart at Kin- 
 sale, on the 12th of March, identified her as the stage on 
 which three kingdoms should be lost and won. 
 
 An unsuccessful effort on the castle of Carrickfergus dis- 
 heartened yet more the Protestants in that vicinity, who, 
 on the defeat of their forces, abandoned their homes, and 
 flocked for shelter to the fortresses of Enniskillen and Derr3^ 
 Throughout every movement of the northern troops, the 
 insidious proceeding^ of Lundy were found to operate dis- 
 5
 
 46 DERRY, 
 
 advantageously ; and under the pressure of their rapidly- 
 accumulating sufferings and privations, the popular feeling 
 arose against him, until the garrrison and inhabitants of 
 Derry were scarcely restrained from laying violent hands 
 on him. Still as no act of unequivocal treachery could 
 be authenticated, many continued to countenance his pro- 
 ceedings ; and this brief sketch must suffice to bring our nar- 
 rative down to the middle of March, when an incident 
 occurred to vary, in some measure, the painful solicitude 
 of the M'Alisters. 
 
 Bryan, and his friend Ross, were keeping their accus- 
 tomed guard towards evening, the former still endeavor- 
 ing to awaken in his comrade's mind that concern after 
 eternal things for which their growing perils furnished a 
 more forcible argument, when they were struck by the 
 appearance of a group surrounding an object of squalid as- 
 pect, whose stubborn taciturnity incurred the evident 
 wrath of his impatient querists. Demanding the nature of 
 their inquiry, Bryan was informed, that the captive had 
 been discovered lurking under the walls in a very suspi- 
 cious way ; and refused either to state the nature of his 
 business, or to give an explicit answer on the score of his 
 religion. 
 
 " Why don't you take him to the governor "?" asked 
 Bryan. 
 
 " Arrah, shure, and the governor's self is the very per- 
 son to dale with a traitor!" exclaimed one of the guard, 
 with a grimace that sufficiently showed the scope of his 
 remark ; while an involuntary movement of the prisoner's 
 muscles seemed to bespeak a recognition of its justice. 
 
 This play of feature yet more provoked the bystanders, 
 one of whom roughly seizing the stranger's collar, his tat- 
 tered vest gave way, and displayed a small crucifix of 
 coarse materials, suspended from his neck. The object 
 seemed a satisfactory confirmation of the worst possible
 
 DERRY. 47 
 
 surmises ; and while some shouted, " bayonet the popish 
 traitor!" others proposed to pitch him over the walls. 
 Among the latter was Ross ; but Bryan interposed, saying, 
 *' Really, boys, it is a bad example that our enemies set us, 
 of putting men to death without a trial — give him fair 
 play." 
 
 The public opinion, however, was against this ; but on 
 Ross enforcing the demand, and some other object divert- 
 ing the attention of the people, it was agreed, that if 
 M'Alister would be surety for his safe-keeping, he should 
 be allowed the disposal of the prisoner for the night ; and 
 their guard being now relieved, the friends consulted as to 
 the best way of securing their prize. 
 
 " I shall take him home," said Bryan, after a moment's 
 consideration, " no prison so safe as our little abode ; and I 
 dare say the poor fellow is hungry by this time. Proba- 
 bly, too, he is wholly Irish j and we can make out a little 
 of the Celtic among us." 
 
 " You needn't put yourself out of the way," grumbled 
 the prisoner. " Sure enough it's myself that has the Irish 
 drop, clane and entire ; but I'm 'cute at the languages." 
 
 Ross and M'Alister looked on each other, not a little 
 amused at the careless effrontery of a man in such critical 
 circumstances. The former, assuming as rich a brogue as 
 his new acquaint ance, said, 
 
 " Come now, my gay fellow, I'll engage that you'll be 
 after just taking charge of some nate little billet for Gov- 
 ernor Lundy." 
 
 " You may get out of that," answered the other ; " for 
 my trial does not come on till to-morrow." 
 
 " Hold your tongue, Ross," whispered Bryan, " we 
 must not encourage his familiarity : consider the poor 
 females at home." 
 
 Arrived at their abode, Bryan briefly prepared his fami- 
 ly for the entrance of such a guest ', and then ushered
 
 48 DERRY. 
 
 him into the apartment, from which the young ladies had 
 withdrawn. Old Shane, of late indulged with a seat near 
 the chimney corner, was dozing, and scarcely marked their 
 entrance ; but the Lady of M'Alister bent her scrutini- 
 zing eye upon the stranger, as, with mild dignity, she 
 pointed to a seat. 
 
 He was evidently quite young ; and in the absence of 
 filth, and if properly clothed, would have borne rather a 
 prepossessing aspect. His figure was good, but drooping 
 under evident weakness and fatigue : a naturally fair com- 
 plexion, though embrowned by exposure, and lively blue 
 eyes, bore witness to his Milesian descent ; while the 
 thick chestnut hair, clustered or rather matted about his 
 face, imparted a characteristic Avildness, and concealed 
 much of its expression. His manner at once changed to 
 respectful courtesy when he beheld the ladies ; till the 
 luxury of a warm seat appeared to banish every other feel- 
 ing but that of present enjoyment. Bryan immediately 
 supplied him with a substantial slice of bread and cheese, 
 over which he devoutly crossed himself 
 
 Just at this moment Shane recovered the use of all his 
 faculties ; and sitting upright, with staring eyes exclaim- 
 ed, " In the name of madness. Master Bryan, what have 
 you brought here 1" 
 
 A comic expression of countenance showed that the 
 new comer enjoyed his consternation : while Ross answer- 
 ed, " A prisoner;" and Bryan followed it up by a brief 
 statement of the circumstances attending his capture. 
 
 Mrs. M'Alister expressed her anxious hope that he 
 would not prove so guilty as they supposed ; but Shane's 
 indignation scarcely knew any bounds. 
 
 " Sure and you haven't the heart to see the poor ladies 
 kilt with fright, while you garrison the house with mur- 
 thering papist rebels !"
 
 DERRY. 49 
 
 " Compose yourself, Shane," said the Lady calmly ; 
 " we are perfectly satisfied to shelter him for the night." 
 
 " Long life to your Ladyship's hospitality !" said the 
 man ; " you'll be Irish, I'm thinking, by that same." 
 
 " Aye, won't she then V exclaimed Shane, in a yet 
 more angry tone ; " who'll be Irish if the right, real, rich 
 blood of the O'Neill's isn't that ] Nothing but a black 
 mouthed Papist could deny her ladyship." 
 
 " I'm proud to hear it," replied the other ; while Bryan 
 reprimanded Shane's asperity, and Ross highly enjoyed 
 the scene. 
 
 The old man, however, seemed to have been awakened 
 from some alarming dream, to behold the vision verified ; 
 for he continued to bewail the event, adding, " Man and 
 boy, these seventy years, has poor Shane O'Connogher 
 been laming the mischief of them ; barrin, that when I 
 was a brainless gossoon, I went to mass with my kin. But 
 never since I saw the outside of sweet Ballinahagan, to 
 follow my noble master, have I darkened the door of one 
 of their mass-houses. Och, and its old Shane that must 
 sit and be bearded to his face by a rebelly popish traitor, 
 crossing himself to the blessed work of selling our lives to 
 the bloody Tyrconnel." 
 
 " And is it yourself, Shane, dear," said the other, in 
 the most provoking tone of affectionate remonstrance ; " is 
 it yourself that'll sit cracking your precious windpipe to 
 the disparagement of your own nathral flesh and blood, 
 avoureen V 
 
 " My flesh and blood, you imp 1" 
 
 " Plase your honor," said the man, turning to Bryan 
 and his laughing companion, " as sure as I sit here, I'm 
 his brother's daughter's son. Hadn't he a brother named 
 Denis, five years older nor himself, and that same married 
 to Judy M 'Lanaghan, who died, rest her soul ! at the 
 birth of her first child. Well, and wasn't young Judy 
 5*
 
 50 DERRY. 
 
 married to Larry Magrath, the miller's son at Kilcronan, 
 and he my own father 1 Fait and it's a good name that 
 my uncle is after taking out of me, though I hadn't the 
 merit of turning my religion, agra !" 
 
 Fixed in amazement, old Shane gazed on his soi-disant 
 grand-nephew ; and then let forth a volley of Irish, to 
 which the other responded with no less fluency ; when, 
 quite overcome by the sudden recognition, the aged man 
 tottered towards his relation, and almost fell over him in 
 the attempt to grasp his hands. Young Magrath at once 
 lost the air of levity and sarcasm, and after affectionately 
 embracing his uncle, led him back to his chair, by which 
 he stood, looking down on him with an expression far 
 more pleasing than his countenance had yet assumed : 
 until Shane abruptly asked, " And did ye come to search 
 for me, dear V 
 
 " I can't say that I did," answered Magi-ath 5 and his 
 looks chano-ed again for the worse. 
 
 Had the recognition taken place under any other cir- 
 cumstances, suspicion of some sinister design might have 
 attached to the new comer ; but the way in which Ma- 
 grath had fallen into his hands, convinced Bryan that it was 
 altogether unpremeditated. Shane had said enough to 
 identify himself; and the particulars mentioned by the 
 other could not have been added at a venture. These 
 remarks he communicated apart to his grandmother, who, 
 with her accustomed strong faith, referred the whole mat- 
 ter to an over-ruling Providence ; expressing an anxious 
 desire to screen the captive from public resentment, if he 
 might be prevailed on to confess and to forego any treach- 
 erous purpose. Bryan consultfd Ross, whose compassion- 
 ate, good-natured feelings had already well nigh overcome 
 his political hostility ; and they agreed to make an effort 
 on their prisoner's behalf. Public suspicion, however, had 
 fastened so keenly on the governor, that the vengeance
 
 DERRY. 51 
 
 which was restrained from reaching him, would be sure to 
 fall heavily on any suspected emissary, if once within its 
 grasp. 
 
 Determined to elicit some confession from Magrath, the 
 two friends agreed to sit up during the night, having pre- 
 vailed on the ladies and Shane to retire and leave them 
 with their charge. Vain was all their skill ; for with in- 
 vincible self-possession, Magrath met, and successfully re- 
 pelled, every attempt to extort information, until Bryan, 
 was compelled to declare, that their wishes to protect him 
 must be unavailing, seeing how obstinately he withstood 
 every inducement to confide in them. He then dismissed 
 him to his couch in an adjoining closet, and pursued the 
 subject with Ross. 
 
 " You see how impossible it is to make him confess any 
 thing." 
 
 " Aye," replied Ross ; " but, mark you, he has denied 
 nothing. You'll get neither truth nor falsehood out of that 
 fellow. He is too wary for the first, and either too honest 
 or too proud for the latter — but, hark !" and he paused as 
 the voice of Magrath issued from the little cell, in the 
 voluble repetition of his prayers, which he uttered in 
 Irish. 
 
 " There now," continued Ross, " if that wasn't done to 
 brave us ! Why could he not gabble his mummeries in a 
 lower tone 1" 
 
 " Patience, my dear fellow : this lad is certainly of a 
 daring spirit, and intends to let us know it. Better to 
 deal with an undisguised ruffian than a smoothed-tongued 
 assassin. Let him sleep awhile ; and we will have re- 
 course to my dear grandmother's book, that lamp to our 
 feet which never yet cast its guiding ray on the wander- 
 ing mazes of his perilous path ;" and he read a portion of 
 Scripture, commenting as he proceeded: after which,
 
 52 DERRYo 
 
 wrapped each in his watch-cloak, they resigned themselvea 
 to slumber. 
 
 Before day-break, Magrath issued from his dormitory, 
 and succeeded in kindling the fire, whose smoke aroused 
 the young men from the sleep which his stealthy move- 
 ments had not disturbed. With some surprise they look- 
 ed at him and at each other, while Magrath, turning up 
 his arch countenance fi'om the operation of blowing the 
 fire, exclaimed, " Arrah, now, plase your honors, and if 
 I'd been the murthering traitor that my uncle, rest his 
 tongue ! convicted me, you mightn't be after shaking your- 
 selves out of your sleep this blessed morning." 
 
 " Sure enough," answered Ross, " we have proved our- 
 selves drowsy sentinels, and might have had the tables 
 turned." 
 
 " We felt ourselves safe, my lad," added Bryan. " We 
 were in good keeping, in the way of duty, and dreaded no 
 evil." 
 
 " Your honors have no cause to dread it from me," 
 said Magrath, with the strong emphasis of real feeling. 
 " Shane O'Connogher's old stomach has been nourished by 
 your bread, and his grey hairs sheltered under your roof, 
 too long to leave you in danger from one of his own 
 blood." 
 
 " And for poor old Shane's sake, if not for your own, 
 why will you not allow us to befriend you 1" 
 
 Magrath's brow clouded again, as he recommenced 
 blowing the fire ; and before he could frame a reply, a 
 gentle tap at the door announced the Lady of M'Alister, 
 whose busy thoughts had roused her thus early ; while 
 sounds of preparation proved that others were also on the 
 alert to provide a breakfast for the prisoner and his guards. 
 By the first grey tints of morning, Magrath beheld the 
 whole family assembled, and received the cordial greeting 
 of his uncle, whose limbs trembled with apprehension, as
 
 DEiaRY. 53 
 
 he wistfully inquired what they were going to do with 
 "the boy." 
 
 The Lady made a sign for silence as she unclosed the 
 precious volume of inspiration, and spread it before Bryan, 
 who selected the ninety-first Psalm. Curiosity and sur- 
 prise, mingled with much interest, animated Magrath's 
 countenance, to whom the nature and contents of the 
 book were apparently unknown ; but when the party 
 kneeled to pray, considerable embarrassment appeared in 
 his manner. He rose from his seat, moved away, linger- 
 ed, then again moved on ; and softly withdrew to his late 
 sleeping apartment, from which, however, he could not 
 exclude the voice of supplication, particularly pleading for 
 direction and a happy issue in that Avhich concerned 
 him. 
 
 This indication of Popish exclusiveness, on the part of 
 his nephew, seemed to revive somewhat of Shane's former 
 displeasure, which found vent in an interrogatory abrupt- 
 ly put in Irish, and answered with a seriousness which 
 prevented farther remark, beyond a little unintelligible 
 muttering. Magrath would have respectfully withdrawn 
 from the breakfast table ; but being kindly invited to stay, 
 he seated himself in a distant corner, and looked upon the 
 assembled party with an aspect from which Bryan augur- 
 ed a relenting temper. Ellen appeared particularly to en- 
 gage his regard. He inquired of Shane, in Irish, whether 
 she was sick, and received an answer from the girl herself, 
 who, sweetly smiling, replied in the same language, that 
 she was rather weak, but hoped to be better when the 
 siege was over, and she could get home to her native hills 
 again. No one could avoid noticing the effect produced 
 on Magrath by this unexpected address in his own tongue, 
 imperfectly spoken indeed, but quite intelligible to him. 
 He gazed for a moment on the pale face that smiled so 
 kindly upon him, then laid his hand to his forehead, and
 
 54 DERRY. 
 
 with elbow resting on his knee, continued in thought, the 
 earnestness of which was marked by the swelling veins of 
 a really expressive brow, partially seen. 
 
 " Ah, bless the dear child !" exclaimed Shane ; " she 
 little thinks how long a day that may be yet :" while Ross 
 darted at Magrath a glance so hostile that Bryan rejoiced 
 that it had failed to catch his eye, and whispered him anx- 
 iously to repress his feelings. No sooner had Bryan 
 completed his breakfast, than Magrath respectfully sum- 
 moned him aside, and commenced by asking before whom 
 he was to be taken. 
 
 " You heard the bargain," answered M'Alister. " I 
 engaged to deliver you up to the person who captured 
 you, and he, I suppose, will have you before the gov- 
 ernor." 
 
 "Colonel Lundyl" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 Magrath's forehead now wore a portentous scowl, and 
 he clenched his teeth. Bryan continued, " I have told 
 you that it is our wish to avert the necessary consequences 
 of your conviction. That your object in coming here was 
 that of an enemy, we can hardly doubt, nor have you de- 
 nied it. As a citizen and defender of this town, I cannot, 
 nor will I be a traitor to her cause, nor endanger her safe- 
 ty through favor to any man'' — 
 
 " Now your honor," interrupted Magrath, " will you 
 believe what I'm going to say V 
 
 " Certainly ; if I've no just cause to doubt it." 
 
 " Why then, it isn't that I value the toss of a halfpenny 
 what comes over myself ; and if the fellows pitch me into 
 the Foyle, as they talked, so let 'em. Larry Magrath isn't 
 the boy to flinch, right or wrong. But, Sir, if you'll keep 
 me out of the governor's sight, better folks than myself" — 
 and he glanced around him — "may be thankful; only 
 don't ask me why, for tell it I won't"
 
 DERRY, 55 
 
 " But how am I to do this, and in the dark too 1" 
 
 " Och ! it isn't for me to direct your worship : but one 
 of the jontlemen that collared me last night didn't appear 
 in haste to bring me to Colonel Lundy : and he seemed to 
 Icnow his honor too.'* 
 
 Bryan could not forbear smiling at the point with which 
 these words were spoken, recalling the evident suspicion 
 of Lundy's treachery, 
 
 " Well, Magrath ; if I bring you out of danger, will you 
 promise me — solemnly promise me — to lay aside any evil 
 design with which you came here, and to be faithful to 
 us while you remain V 
 
 " Sir, I will." And the firm tone, the deliberate utter- 
 ance, the straight forward look, carried conviction with 
 them, to Brj'an's generous mind. 
 
 Accompanied by Ross, he now repaired to the princi- 
 pal of the party who had committed Magrath to his care, 
 and informing him of his strong grounds for suspecting 
 that the prisoner had come on some mission of treachery, 
 which the unexpected meeting with a long-lost relation 
 had led him to regret, he suggested the propriety of pre- 
 venting the interview so much deprecated by Magrath. 
 Knowing how deeply his hearer participated in the pre- 
 vailing doubts concerning Lundy, he could speak without 
 reserve : and two or three influential men of similar views 
 having been consulted, it was agreed that if M'Alister 
 would himself become surety for the appearance of the 
 stranger when called on, no notice should be taken of hia 
 capture. The frequency of such occurrences rendered it 
 unlikely that any farther inquiry should be made, beyond 
 what a few vague words would satisfy, and Bryan returned 
 with a light heart to acquaint Magrath of the result : in- 
 quiring whether he would be content to remain a pris- 
 oner on parole with him. 
 
 " Long life to your honor, and it's myself that could
 
 56 DERRT. 
 
 desire no greater than to be your servant. I wouldn't ask 
 it first ; but indeed I'm better in it than outside the walls, 
 barrin always Governor Lundy's two eyes upon me. And 
 it isn't for my own gain I say it." 
 
 "I believe you, Magrath. I think that the natural kind 
 feelings of an Irishman towards an unsuspecting famih' 
 who wish him well, have overcome something less credit- 
 able to the character." 
 
 " True for you, Sir ; at least I don't deny it : and now 
 your honor will just let me work in the family, so as to 
 earn the bit that I eat ; and long life to you for the same."
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 A LITTLE attention to his person and apparel had 
 wrought such a change inMagrath s appearance, that there 
 seemed to be but slight hazard of a recognition, even 
 should he meet his original captors. He was, indeed, a 
 fine manly fellow, with an air of independence about him 
 that bespoke a habit of thinking and acting for himself. 
 He soon became an especial favorite with the younger 
 Mrs. M'Alister, who found his ready ways invaluable, as a 
 household assistant ; while his perfect good humor, tem- 
 pered with deep respect, won the partiality of the two 
 girls. The Lady regarded him with a more anxious in- 
 terest, concerned for his spiritual darkness, and longing to 
 see some indication of a willingness to receive the truth. 
 But Magrath baffled all her attempts to engage his notice, 
 and wrapped himself up, occasionally, in a reserve so 
 chilling, or else betrayed such manifest impatience to get 
 out of hearing, that Shane often lost his temper, and in- 
 dulged in hard speeches at his nephew's expense. Some- 
 times the old man was thoroughly bent on his conversion, 
 making violent attacks on his religious creed, more con- 
 spicuous for the zeal that inspired, than the knowledge 
 which supported them. To these Magrath generally op- 
 posed that dry and irritating sarcasm which never failed 
 to put his uncle completely off his guard j so that the 
 6
 
 58 DERRY. 
 
 Irish language, rich as it is in variety of expression, could 
 scarcely furnish the old man with phraseology sufficiently 
 copious for his purposes of invective and contradiction. 
 Often did the Lady of M'Alister interpose her authority, 
 and many a private admonition Shane received ; but his 
 irascibility surmounted every thing except the stoical en- 
 durance of his nephew, who with elbows on his knees, and 
 chin propped on the palms of his hands, seated on a low 
 stool, would gaze, and listen as if to an agreeable narra- 
 tive, while Shane exhausted all his strength of lungs, all 
 his treasury of tropes, figures, and denunciations, against 
 " the monsthrous, bare-faced tricks' of shaven priests ; and 
 the jabbering nonsense of prayers only fit to be squeezed 
 out of a rebelly throat at the foot of the gallows " So in- 
 variably did Shane identify Popery with treason ; still em- 
 bodying all loyal and patriotic virtues in the expressive 
 term of " a real Protestant." 
 
 And if Shane had lived to number a hundred and forty 
 years from the siege of Derry, would he have incurred 
 the charge of singularity by repeating this assertion 1 It 
 may be feared, that even among those of a far higher grade, 
 both in rank and learning, a kindred spirit would be found 
 extensively spread abroad, impressing men's minds with a 
 similar conviction, while the true nature of real Protestant- 
 ism remained as little understood as it was by old O'Con- 
 nogher. It must be observed, in the midst of his invec- 
 tives against the Romish faith, he never questioned the 
 safety of their souls who lived and died under its influence, 
 providing always that they were untainted by rebellion 
 against a Protestant ruler. Shane never viewed that faith 
 in its more awful character of treason against the King of 
 kings, a homage rendered to the anti-christian usurper, 
 who assuming a royal priesthood, yea, even to reign an 
 enthroned priest, over both priests and kings, lays claim to 
 that prerogative which belongs to Jesus Christ alone ; "so
 
 DERRY. 59 
 
 that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, shewing him- 
 self that he is God "* in his own estimation, while he re- 
 ceives the worship which is a robbery of the true God, 
 and therefore branded in scripture as bringing into eternal 
 perdition those who continue in its practice. A change of 
 opinion was that on which Shane hoped to build a change 
 of his nephew's character : while the enlightened Christians 
 ot the household well knew that such a fabric could not rest 
 on any other foundation than a change of heart. To shew 
 him the evil of his nature, and the peril in which he stood 
 as a helpless sinner, was the necessary prelude to hum- 
 bling him before the Lord in prayer for that renewing pro- 
 cess which God the Spirit can alone achieve ; and who- 
 soever has seriously tried this experiment with a member 
 of the church of Rome, must bear testimony, that, until 
 bulwarks be levelled, the task is hopeless. The trans- 
 gressor may be convinced, deeply convinced of guilt ; but 
 humbled he cannot be, so long as he believes that his own 
 doings and sufferings can atone for the sin which oppresses 
 him. Seeking wherewith he shall appear before the Lord, 
 the inquirer is met by a host of deceptive helpers, absolu- 
 tions, prayers, penances, alms-deeds, imaginary mediators 
 and purchaseable merits ; and should all lail on this side 
 the grave, he is assured of purifying fires beyond its bound- 
 ary, and efficacious masses to expedite their work. Alike 
 welcome to carnal pride and to spiritual sloth, he is pre- 
 sented with a scheme which offers him a self-righteous 
 plea on one hand, and on the other dispenses with that 
 sanctification which God has pronounced indispejnsable. 
 And can it be that any person taught of the Holy Spirit 
 should attempt to pour into these bottles of rotten leather, 
 the new wine of unadulterated truth — should essay to patch 
 this worn and perishing garment of rags with the firm 
 
 * 2 Thess. ii.4.'
 
 60 DERRY. 
 
 fabric of gospel doctrine— should flatter himself that Christ 
 will deign to rule in a temple where every species of idol- 
 atrous abomination is to cluster round its footstool, to ob- 
 scure his kingly glory, to intrude upon his priestly prero- 
 gative, to interpolate his prophetical mandate, and only as 
 a chief among many saviors, to yield him the worthless 
 homage of divided praise ! 
 
 " We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed : 
 forsake her, ' saith the prophet. The Lord, indeed, has 
 pronounced her incurable, and the only deliverance is found 
 in obeying the summons, " Come out of her, my people : 
 be not partakers of her sins, that he receive not of her 
 plagues." God has a people, even in the iron furnace of 
 her spiritual despotism ; and he alone can bring them forth, 
 and gather them into his fold : but ours is the task to pro- 
 claim deliverance, and M'oe be to us if we dilute the awful 
 ^ord rendering void the testimony of God by our traditional 
 delusions, miscalled charity. 
 
 We may naturally s-uppose that such a character as 
 Magrath, so singularly brought among them, must have 
 excited uncommon interest in the bosoms of a Christian 
 family : and anxiously did they, particularly Bryan and the 
 Lady, labor to make knoAvn to him the way of escape ; 
 but Shane's injudicious proceedings, entrenched in the 
 strong holds of his vernacular tongue, appeared t > counter- 
 act all their efforts. The partial knowledge acquired by the 
 young people was totally inadequate to follow Shane and 
 Magrath in their rapid enunciation; neither could they 
 command terms wherewith to express themselves on spirit- 
 ual or intellectual subjects. " I can manage pretty well," 
 observed Ellen, " so long as I keep to what is passing 
 around us every day : but to reason in that tongue is out 
 of the question. I cannot think in Irish." 
 
 "You are right, my love," said her grandmother ; "and 
 you have unconsciously described the one insurmountable
 
 DERRY. 61 
 
 bar to my country's peace : her children, the native 
 race, cannit tliink in Engh'sh ; and therefore the in- 
 struction offered to them under what they consider a fo- 
 reign garb, finds no entrance to their understanding or their 
 heart. Oh, but to see one of the days of Bedel, whose 
 hand so indefatigably labored in their cause ; his patient 
 mind surmounting every obstacle, until he had mastered 
 the language, and transferred into it the word of life, 
 leaving his name embalmed in many a heart which bleeds 
 in secret over my country's desolation !" 
 
 It may appear a bold assertion, though more easily to 
 be contradicted than confuted, that even the lowest orders 
 of native Irish — by which we always understand the 
 race whose ancestors possessed the soil prior to the English 
 invasion — are decidedly a more intellectual people than 
 any who occupy a similar station in other countries. Dis- 
 graced as Ireland has been by intestine Avars, rebellions, 
 massacres, and almost interminable insurrections, accom- 
 panied with deeds of aggravated atrocity, we are more dis- 
 posed to combine the idea of brutal force, animal courage, 
 and inherent cruelty, with that of an Irish peasant, than to 
 concede to him an elevated station in the grades of mental 
 capability. In this we err : at least in concluding that with 
 the latter distinction the'former characteristics are irrecon- 
 cilable. The simple fact is, that we have taken infinite 
 pains to incapacitate ourselves from forming any right judg- 
 ment concerning the race, by denouncing" the only key to 
 their thoughts and feelings. We have refused to explore 
 the mine of national intellect buried under what it pleases 
 us to call a barbarous tongue : and just looking upon the 
 rugged surface, we avert an eye of scorn, perchance of 
 disgust, incredulous that precious metal lies deeply imbed- 
 ded in the soil. And yet, in the face of all this prejudice, I 
 assert — disprove it who can — that the native Irish, general 
 ly speaking, are richly stored with mental powers ; keenly 
 6*
 
 62 DERRY. 
 
 sensitive, highly imaginative, delighting in the play of fan- 
 cy, and marked by an inquiring spirit, not terminating in 
 the present gratification of vague curiosity, but capable of 
 seizing, investigating, developing, and feeding upon those 
 subjects which call into fullest activity the reasoning facul- 
 ties of man. Withheld by the fetters of a darkening delu- 
 sion from expatiating where immortal beings find a conge- 
 nial element, the craving appetite turns earthward and 
 feasts on poisonous garbage : yet were an Englishman of 
 cultivated mind, well versed in the vernacular tongue, to 
 become the unsuspected witness when a party of Irish 
 peasants rest from their toil, he might often hear such tales 
 of Ireland's ancient glory, such legends of her warlike 
 kings, and such foreshowings of imaginary triumph, glean- 
 ed from prophetic lays, and traditionary oracles, as 
 would fix him in astonishment; and prompt the secret 
 query whether that is a wise policy which, by locking 
 from this ardent people the stores of useful sobering infor- 
 mation, indissolubly weds them to these exciting retro- 
 spections — these meteors of anticipated glory, too often 
 leading them forward in the path of mutual destruction. 
 
 But again we must return to Derry, and view the pro- 
 gressive troubles of her augmenting population, for she 
 soon became the last refuge of all the terrified northern 
 Protestants ; and while the garrison received a W'elcome 
 accession of strength, the influx of many helpless fugitives, 
 incapable of yieldmg any assistance in defending the 
 town, created additional embarrassment. Still was the 
 compassionate sympathy of the inhabitants imbounded ; 
 and they cheerfiilly concurred in submitting to every pri- 
 vation rather than reject the pleadings of these persecuted 
 wanderers. The Irish army, as it was called, under a 
 commander devoted to James Stuart and Tyrconnel, gradu- 
 ally approached this northern extremity : and it was evi-
 
 DERRY. 63 
 
 dent that the bloodless blockade would, ere long, be con- 
 verted into a sanguinary siege. 
 
 The presence of Lundy within the walls, however, 
 constituted a more serious cause for inquietude than the 
 prospects of assailants without. He was closely watched ; 
 and the doublings of his crooked policy made manifest to 
 many. Ross had become the most intemperate of these ; 
 and his irritation frequently shewed itself in bursts that all 
 the calm reasoning of his friends could scarcely rej ress. 
 It was on one of these occasions that, after a sweeping de- 
 nunciation, which included both principals and infeiiors, 
 all of every class attached to popery and King James, he 
 concluded by a comparison between the native Irish, and 
 all other inhabitants of the British Isles, thanking the fates 
 that he derived his lineage from a very different race, and 
 hoping that he might never have to do with the blood- 
 thirsty traitors of the soil. 
 
 The very peculiar expression that curled Magrath's 
 lips, as he turned to his uncle, caught the eye of Ross ; 
 which the other perceiving, dropped the native language, 
 and continued in English a remark just commenced, that 
 it was a pity they ever risked their nate persons among 
 'em. 
 
 " What are you saying. Sir !" demanded Ross, sternly. 
 
 " I am saying. Sir," answered the other, fixing on him 
 the full gaze of calm defiance, " that it's out and out true 
 for you, your forefathers had better have let us be asy in 
 our own land." 
 
 " Your land ! the land is our's by conquest, and it is 
 only by our weak sufferance that a tribe of you exist." 
 
 " Conquest ! ' ejaculated IMagrath, starting to his feet, 
 while impassioned energy swelled every feature, and fired 
 his ar'ion into vehemence. " 'Tis false ; ye invaded the 
 land, ye overran it, ye parcelled it out ; but conquer it ye 
 didn't, nor ye couldn't. Och ! but may be we'll be after
 
 64 DERRY. 
 
 forgetting, when Malachy scoured the land of them heath- 
 enish Danes : and our own Bryan Borromy led his Dal- 
 cais to Dublin gates, and shewed how Irishmen would'nt 
 be conquered. And we'll be forgetting " 
 
 " Hush, Magrath !" said the Lady of M'Alister, kindly 
 smiling on the vehement orator ; then turning to Ross, she 
 continued, " The way to conquer the Irish, my young 
 friend, is to conquer their hearts." 
 
 Till this moment it had never occurred to the angry 
 youth that his intemperate philippic had touched the 
 venerable lady as nearly as her more humble guest. He 
 manifested no little embarrassment, while Magrath's coun- 
 tenance brightened into tenfold animation. 
 
 " Good luck to your Ladyship, and long life, and hon- 
 or, and glory ! — that belongs to the O'Neill any how. 
 And poor Larry Magrath is bound to love the green sod 
 that your honor walks over, barrin' that it isn't in Derry 
 the grass will grow. And your Ladyship, wasn't the 
 O'Neill the very mischief among 'em, marching up and 
 down, like a mad cat at their tails 1 And you'll remem- 
 ber, your glory, when Finn M'Coul, in the pride of his 
 heart " 
 
 How far Magrath's reminiscences might have carried 
 him, or how many more epithets of affectionate reverence 
 he might have bestowed on the I^ady, cannot be ascertain- 
 ed : for Bryan, pjitylng his friend's confusion, good hu- 
 moredly interposed, saying, " Come, let me negotiate a 
 peace between the contending powers. Confess the truth, 
 Ross, you have very little blood in your veins that is not 
 Irish ; and therefore you could not intend seriously to de- 
 cry the race. You, Magrath, have certainly lost sight of 
 the respect due to a gentleman — to your joint protector — 
 to my friend." 
 
 This appeal seemed to fail of its effect, until the last 
 word was uttered, when Magrath, fixing on him a look of
 
 DERRY. 65 
 
 respectful firmness, answered, "Sir, any offence against 
 the friend of O'Neill couldn t come from my heart, and I 
 ask your pardon." Then, without noticing Ross, he turn- 
 ed to his uncle, and impatiently exclaimed in Irish, " By 
 the battles of Conn ! only for the O'Neill I would not 
 shelter my head under this roof another night." 
 
 One good effect seemed to result from this altercation 
 — Magrath's attachment to the Lady of M'Alister was 
 evidently increased ; and as Ellen inherited much of her 
 grandmother's resemblance, and took great interest in the 
 records of olden time, she came in for a large share of his 
 affection too. The poor girl was still wasting slowly 
 away, and furnished the little family with an object of 
 peculiar care and solicitude, among the many which press- 
 ed upon their thoughts. 
 
 On the reception into the garrison of a numerous rein- 
 forcement in troops, driven, with their attendant crowds 
 of fugitives, from the neighboring stations, it was found 
 needful to provide accommodations for them at the ex- 
 pense of almost all the little remaining comfort of the in- 
 habitants. The M'Alisters contrived to spare a portion of 
 their small abode ; the elder lady taking Ellen into her 
 apartment, which being on the ground-floor, was more ac- 
 cessible to the invalid ; while Letitia and her mother oc- 
 cupied a bed in the attic ; an adjoining closet serving the 
 purpose of a store; and Magrath, with his uncle, stowed 
 their couches, side by side, in the little cell already men- 
 tioned. The female servant only attended in the house 
 during the day ; and Bryan, when not on duty, slept at 
 his former home. By this arrangement, two comfortable 
 apartments on the intermediate floor were appropriated to 
 some respectable soldiers, whose care to prevent any en- 
 croachment on the family repaid the hospitable shelter 
 which they enjoyed. 
 
 It was not long, however, before another interesting in-
 
 66 DERRY. 
 
 dividual was added to the, household, in the person of a 
 venerable man, whose silver hairs and care-worn, but 
 meek and placid countenance, attracted Bryan's attention. 
 He was quartered in a noisy barrack room ; and M'Alister 
 overheard him reprove some blasphemous language from 
 a half drunken soldier, in terms that left no doubt on his 
 mind as to the religious feeling of the old man. Politely 
 introducing himself, he received ample confirmation of his 
 hope ; and finding that Basil, as his new acquaintance was 
 called, possessed the manner of one accustomed to far dif- 
 ferent society, he consulted his family, prevailed on the 
 soldiers to resign the smaller of their two apartments, and 
 conducted the old man to a home which he entered with 
 expressions of the dt-epest thankfulness. 
 
 Hitherto, no demonstration of an actual attack had been 
 made against the city ; but on the very evening following 
 that of Basil's reception into his family, Bryan entered, 
 accompanied as usual by Ross, and communicated the in- 
 telligence, that the combined Irish and French army, with 
 James at their head, would immediately appear to demand 
 that surrender which the traitor Lundy and his confede- 
 rates had assured them of A capitulation had indeed 
 been agreed upon by most of the leading men — some as- 
 senting through intimidation, while others acted on the 
 treacherous principle, or rather want of principle, which 
 swayed their leader. The bulk of the people, however, 
 were strenuously opposed to this measure ; and in answer 
 to the anxious inquiries of the trembling females, Bryan 
 assured them, that the citizens' resolution was unalter- 
 able. 
 
 " Aye !" exclaimed Ross, "we'll hang the rascals over 
 the gates, before we open them to the popish army." 
 
 " Limdy," added Bryan, " has nearly cast away all 
 semblance of decency. His villany in trying to keep Mr. 
 Walker outside the walls, after all his faithful and gallant
 
 DERRY. 67 
 
 conduct, was insufferable. You know that his little party 
 only got in by downright force." 
 
 " I do not like to hear of a lighting clergyman," remark- 
 ed Letitia ; '• and they say Mr. Walker is one." 
 
 " He has rendered us most important service, however," 
 rejoined her brother, " and helpless as we are, we must 
 not quarrel with his voluntary aid." 
 
 At this moment another of the apprentice youths en- 
 tered in breathless haste and agitation, exclaiming " AI'Al- 
 ister — Ross — sure boys, you've lost a most edifying scene ! 
 You know how our trusty governor and his crew have 
 been deliberating with closed doors, even denying admit- 
 tance to Crofton and his true fellow-soldiers. — Well, what 
 think you was the result ] Just a resolution to send back 
 the supplies from England, and to go forth en masse, with 
 halters about their necks, in prostrate submission to King 
 James." 
 
 " Halters !" ejaculated Brj^an, Ross, and Shane in a 
 breath. 
 
 " Nay, I won't swear to the halters ; but a most abject 
 submission was resolved on. The greater number of 
 white-livered poltroons, overawed by the lying represen- 
 tations of others, signed it ; but two or three honest fel- 
 lows refused, and gave a hint to the people without, who 
 surrounded the doors, and very audibly promised to treat 
 both governor and council with a swing. Yet we verily 
 think that an oificial communication has been dispatched, 
 and some agreement propounded to his popish majesty. 
 And if it comes to that the villains may settle the ratifica- 
 tion in person, for we 11 shoot them from our cannons' 
 mouths into the enemy's teeth." 
 
 " Aye, that will we !" exclaimed Ross. " Let's be off, 
 M'Alister, we are wanted." 
 
 With a hasty fareweU, Bryan tore himself from his 
 trembling mother and sisters, accompanying his fiery com-
 
 68 DERRY. 
 
 rades ; while Magrath, who had privately left the apart- 
 ment to summon Basil, attended him into the room ; and 
 in considerable agitation, placed himself behind the Lady's 
 chair. 
 
 " Oh, these are heavy crosses !" said the old man, as he 
 looked on the party before him, " but to God's children 
 they are mercli'ul chastisements, not wrathful visitations. 
 Let us bow the knee, dear ladies, to him who is near when 
 troubles press the hardest. Prayer, prayer is the balsam 
 for all wounds," 
 
 They kneeled ; and Magrath, instead of retiring as usu- 
 al, remained with his clasped hands resting on the chair's 
 back, and his forehead bowed upon them : his intense 
 anxiety had not been unnoticed ; and while it somewhat 
 soothed their leelings, it tended also to increase their 
 fears. 
 
 " You could tell us much, Magrath," said Mrs. M'Alis- 
 ter, looking earnestly at him. 
 
 " No, Madam : not more than you know, or can guesa 
 at, any how. But it's myself can tell you, that not a hair 
 of your heads shall be touched, while Larry Magrath has 
 a drop in his veins to shed for you.*' 
 
 " Oh, and will there be fighting V cried Ellen. 
 
 " Be calm, my love j" replied her mother : " there will 
 be nothing but what the Lord permits." 
 
 " But Bryan — our own Bryan !" 
 
 The mother could only reply by a fresh burst of tears, 
 while the Lady, raising her eyes, said, " The buckler of 
 the Highest is around him : the eye of a reconciled Father 
 is upon him : the prayer of faith still bears him before the 
 throne, our treasure — our precious boy :' — her voice fail- 
 ed, and Basil added, " The only son of his mother, and 
 she a widow." 
 
 There was something in the allusion that fell sweetly 
 upon every heart : a grateful smile beamed through the
 
 DERRY. 69 
 
 mother's tears, as she said, " I will think of Naiu, and trust, 
 and not be afraid." 
 
 Neither Bryan nor the soldiers returned to the house 
 that night, but the former sent a cheering message ; desir- 
 ing them to persevere in prayer, for that a great crisis was 
 at hand, and help would not be withheld by him who was 
 mighty to save. 
 
 On the following morning, by sun-rise, Bryan took post 
 on the flat roof of the cathedral, and beheld a scene well 
 calculated to thrill his every nerve. As far as the eye 
 could reach, dense columns of infantry, shrouded at times 
 in the dust raised by vast bodies of horse, approached the 
 devoted spot. Situated within an abrupt bend of Lough 
 Foyle, Derry is two-thirds surrounded by its waters, at 
 that spot not more than half a mile in width. Not only 
 was the town in process of investment by a line of troops, 
 whose extreme right and left rested on the edge of the 
 Lough ; but batteries were being erected on the opposite 
 side, and the prophet's imagery — " a lodge in a garden of 
 cucumbers, a besieged city," presented itself to the mind 
 of young M'Alister, with a force and a pathos that dimmed 
 his bright eye, as he scanned the accumulating host with- 
 out, and pondered on the treacherous leaven that wrought 
 on the multitudes within. Eager interest in the scene, as 
 it regarded his country and his faith, together with the ar- 
 dent risings of inherent courage, soon overcame these sad- 
 dening feelings, and aided by a small telescope, he took a 
 scrutinizing survey of the advancing foe. 
 
 Proudly waving on the breeze, he descried the royal 
 standard of England, which left upon his mind no doubt 
 of James's personal approach, at the head of his army, sur- 
 rounded by a galaxy of nobles and commanders, whose 
 armour flashed in the far distance. It was, indeed, that 
 unhappy and misguided tool of priestcraft, who, after exer- 
 cising in Dublin the brief authority again acquired in a 
 7
 
 70 DERRY. 
 
 manner sufficient to prove his infatuated devotion to the 
 will of spiritual tyrants, now came to overawe by his kingly 
 presence the cluster of determined Protestants encaged 
 within those walls. And it had surely been an easy con- 
 quest, but for the Omnipotent Guardian of a praying peo- 
 ple — a small number, who mingled in the mass, nerved by 
 their incessant supplications the arms which were too 
 prone to boast as though their own strength upheld them. 
 Wonderful indeed were the incidents of that protracted 
 siege, and most astonishing the deliverances vouchsafed. 
 Let the praise be rendered to him who wills not that his 
 glory be given to others. 
 
 The flat roof of Derry Cathedral furnished at once a 
 post of observation and a battery ; and while, beneath, tlie 
 word of life was dealt forth, the engines of destruction stood 
 ready charged above, to sweep immortal souls fi-om earth, 
 to the judgment-seat. The thought pressed heavily on 
 Bryan's spirit as the front of war expanded before his gaze : 
 but his reveries were quickly interrupted by the ascent of 
 many eager footsteps, while the citizens crowded to par- 
 take the commanding view. One of these presently 
 pointed out to Bryan a party of cavalry, exultingly an- 
 nouncing them as belonging to Colonel Murray, a faithful 
 and gallant ally, who, at the head of his troop, galloped up 
 to the ship-quay gates, demanding entrance. 
 
 " See, see ! " exclaimed Bryan's informant, " if the vil- 
 lainous governor have not refused them admittance, after 
 lighting their way thus far ! " 
 
 A rope was now brought to that part of the walls, and 
 an ofFiT evidently made to admit Murray singly by such 
 unmilitary conveyance ; while a messenger from the 
 Council directed the transaction. Colonel Murray wheeled 
 his horse, in marked disdain, and addressed a few words to 
 his followers ; but ere he could conclude, the gate was 
 flung wide by the officer in command ; and greeted with
 
 DERRY. 71 
 
 the loudest acclamations, Murray led his men into the 
 town, where he was presently hemmed in by the agitated 
 populace imploring his assistance against their betrayers. 
 The party on the cathedral rapidly descended to join their 
 voices with the rest. 
 
 A night of fears had ended, and the morning had 
 brought to the household of M'Alister tidings confirmatory 
 of their worst surmises. On the first assurance that the 
 enemy was actually taking post around the walls, Shane 
 had sallied forth ; and Magrath appeared disposed to fol- 
 low, but was withheld by the entreaties of the girls. A 
 short, but encouraging visit from Malcolm revived in some 
 measure their fainting spirits ; and several of Bryan's young 
 companions looked in from time to time, with a few hasty 
 words, often of contradictory import. The Bible lay open 
 before the Lady, and many a promise did she cull from 
 its abundant stores, to sustain her own firm mind — now 
 tried to its utmost stretch — as well as those of her less en- 
 ergetic companions. Magrath, indeed, was energy era- 
 bodied, as he paced the room, and busied himself in every 
 imaginable way, to curb his impatience. No countenance 
 exhibited so intense an expression of quick and watchful 
 solicitude : he seemed on the very tip-toe of eager expec- 
 tation, mingled with most painful doubts. Basil showed 
 the calm endurance of one too well acquainted with such 
 scenes ; and assisted the Lady in her task of consolation. 
 
 The tumult occasioned by Murray's reception had now 
 subsided ; and its origin had been explained by a passing 
 friend, who described it as a most auspicious event. An- 
 other half hour elapsed, and with increasing anxiety the 
 coming of Bryan was expected ; when suddenly a thun- 
 dering peal of artillery burst forth, the roar of cannon 
 drowning the fainter report of musquetry, while every 
 building seemed to rock, and every roof to respond the 
 dreadful salutation. For a moment it paused j and then
 
 72 
 
 DERBY. 
 
 the shrieks of terror might be heard, resounding from 
 streets and neighboring houses ; but again the batteries re- 
 newed their fierce explosion, and clouds of smoke rolled 
 by, impregnating every breath with their sulphureous 
 effluvia. 
 
 What words may suffice to portray the agony of those 
 bewildered females 1 The dreadful reality was at length 
 arrived ; the substance of those troubled visions which had 
 frequently haunted their pillow, and even in the brightest 
 hours of day overclouded their minds with foreboding ap- 
 prehension. It was come ; and terrible indeed was that 
 hour. A vague desire to flee from the surrounding peril, 
 was immediately succeeded by a deep consciousness that 
 no possible way of escape existed for them. Enclosed on 
 every side, they must await the issue ; and await it they 
 did in meek and holy resignation. No scream escaped 
 them, no violent contortion appeared : they gazed on each 
 other, and on Basil, and simultaneously kneeled down, but 
 to articulate was impossible as it would have been vain, 
 amid that deafening uproar : Magrath wrung his hands, and 
 struck repeatedly upon his breast — now he hurried to- 
 wards the door, and then lingered and went back, when 
 some imploring eye turned towards him. Poor Ellen was 
 soon seized with a violent cough, as the tainted air assailed 
 her tender lungs, and he hastened to procure a cup of water ; 
 then looked to the entrance of the house, as resolved to 
 issue forth ; but she grasped his arm, and uttered a cry. 
 
 In the name of all the saints, Miss Ellen dear, do, do let 
 me go see for the master," he said, when an interval of 
 the firing allowed of it. His arm was immediately liber- 
 ated ; but before he could reach the door, his egress was 
 impeded.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 " Your handkerchiefs, girls, your handkerchiefs !" 
 shouted Bryan, as he dashed into the room, followed by 
 two or three more ; and he snatched them from the aston- 
 ish'^d females, rending them in two, and tossing the divided 
 portions to his companions : who, as well as himself, pro- 
 ceeded most busily to fasten each of them a fragment 
 round his right arm. 
 
 Again the cannon thundered, and again ceased, with a 
 longer pause than before : and Bryan was able to reply to 
 the broken sentences of mingled joy and terror. 
 
 *' Oil, such a deliverance ! Murray, gallant Murray, 
 has it all on his own way. No surrender ! James is re- 
 treating the Council stole off " 
 
 " And Lundy 1" asked Magrath. 
 " Gone to the bottomless pit, for aught we can make 
 out," replied some of the young men. 
 
 "And this," continued Bryan, striking his left hand 
 forcibly on the linen that encircled his right arm, " this 
 is the badge of No Surrender. We who wear it are 
 sworn to perish to a man, rather than hear of capitulation." 
 " Good luck to you, then," exclaimed Magrath, trium- 
 phant delight blazing in his countenance, while the guns 
 drowning the remainder of his speech, he tore his neck-
 
 74 DERRY. 
 
 erchief in two, and threw the half of it to Basil, twisting 
 the other round his own arm 
 
 " And now, Mr. Bryan, Sir," — for Magrath never 
 called him M'Alister ; — " when the cat's away, the mice 
 will play, as uncle says. And I'm after your Honor to 
 the last drop " again the cannon could alone be heard. 
 
 Old Shane now bustled in, as the young men hastened 
 out ; and seeing Magrath with the badge, bestowed on 
 him a cordial embrace — then, throwing himself into his 
 chair, answered the queries that flowed in upon him, with 
 a confirmation of the tidings, that the besiegers were cast 
 into great panic. 
 
 " And will they not come here, then V asked Ellen, 
 eagerly. 
 
 " Here ! Och, bless your simple heart ; why, it isn't 
 in them to look at the walls ! Out and out frightened 
 they were, from the minute the boys let loose the gun- 
 powder. There's a gay chap killed, they say, as close to 
 King James as the pratee to the stalk ; and himself 's off at 
 a hand gallop, out of reach clane and entirely, to complain 
 to Pope Joan, may be." 
 
 " Oh, brother," said Basil, " do not exult over a fallen 
 king ! Unhappy as guilty, he is betrayed by others ; — 
 and even here he came to look for homage, and dreamed 
 not of resistance." 
 
 " True, for you. Sir ; may be he didn't know that we 
 have but few Jacobites here," replied the old man, rather 
 bitterly. 
 
 " He is no Jacobite, Shane," said the Lady ; " but he 
 feels that a head once anointed is no meet object for mock- 
 ery. Let us rather pray that his present sufferings may 
 lead him to repentance." 
 
 "Your Ladyship can, sure," answered Shane, sulkily: 
 adding, in a lower tone, " it's myself that'll fight for King 
 William, let who will pray for old James."
 
 DERRY. 75 
 
 The assurance of no attack from without being contem 
 plated, somewhat reconciled the household to the dis- 
 charges which at intervals still shook their abode ; and in 
 the evening they were gladdened by a visit from Malcolm 
 and Ross, who brought a promise of Bryan's appearance : 
 a temporary couch was formed for poor Ellen, whose dis- 
 order was greatly aggravated by the impregnation of the 
 air with gunpowder. Magrath, who had returned with 
 Ross, occupied his usual place a little in the rear of 
 Shane's seat by the chimney corner. 
 
 An occasional cannonade, interrupting the repose of 
 their little apartment, furnished a striking commentary on 
 the pious and appropriate remarks of the Lady and Mal- 
 colm. The latter seemed to be still in a state of much 
 excitement ; and frequently paced the room, or stood 
 within the attentive circle, who hung upon his words. 
 
 " It was marvellous," he said, " to behold the spirit 
 which animated our heterogeneous mass of population 
 when the enemy drew on towards the walls. Mutual 
 mistrust had chilled their spirits, and unnerved many an 
 arm. Unable to look to an invisible Leader, the multi- 
 tude had no rallying point, no common centre of respect 
 and obedience, hope and confidence, until the good provi- 
 dence of God sent them that true-hearted Murray, round 
 whom they rallied to a man. I trust that he is the Gideon 
 raised up to deliver our afflicted Israel ; the more so, as 
 his presence struck an almost supernatural panic into 
 those traitors of the council-board, sending them self-ex- 
 iled from the spot, reluctantly to disprove their own un- 
 principled misrepresentations." 
 
 "And judge you," asked the Lady, "that all who re- 
 main are faithful V 
 
 " Of leading men, unquestionably so ; and among the 
 troops heroic ardor prevails. Our own citizens have 
 never wavered in fidelity, though some were for a space
 
 76 DERRY. 
 
 deluded by specious pretences of assured defeat. The 
 first roar of our artillery broke many a spell, and scattered 
 the fears of hundreds. I doubt not but the arm of the Lord 
 is on our side ; and that he will gird us with strength unto 
 the battle. May he glorify himself, be it by the mortal 
 weal or woe of his chosen ones ! Blood will flow even 
 within these walls ; and the Foyle may carry a crimson 
 streak into the northern main. We are compassed on 
 every side ; they come about us like bees : and yonder 
 Sennacherib will lie down among his motley host this 
 night, counting, perchance, on a banquet of carnage for 
 the morrow, but our Shepherd Avatches his fold, and the 
 wolves approach in vain : for we, even we, in the name 
 of the Lord, will destroy them." 
 
 "Alas, alas!" said the old stranger, "that ever the 
 carnal weapon should be drawn to fight the battles of the 
 Lord's people! Better yield our throats to the knife, as 
 befits the character of sheep for the slaughter." 
 
 " You speak not well, brother," observed Malcolm ; — 
 " we defend the ark from a company of uncircumcised 
 Philistines, who seek its capture. Know you not that 
 herein is the very citadel of the Protestant's faith, and 
 that he who is on the Lord's side must draw the sword as 
 of old ?" 
 
 " You are a minister. Sir," answered Basil, meekly. — 
 " It is not for me to gainsay your words. But he, too, 
 was a minister whose teaching 1 followed ; aye, and fol- 
 low it yet, hoping that the day is not far distant when like 
 him 1 shall go down in peace to the grave, and my spirit 
 rejoice before the throne, with my master, my glorified 
 master, precious holy Bedell." 
 
 The old man bent his face on his hands, and tears flowed 
 over them; the name of Bedell had operated variously 
 upon the assembled party. The Lady raised herself up, 
 and her eyes sparkled with momentary fire. Deep inter-
 
 DERRY. 77 
 
 est spoke in the features of the younger people. Mal- 
 colm, as he stood, looked down upon the aged sufferer 
 with reverential sympathy ; and Magrath, resting his 
 elbows on his knees, with chin propped on his hands — 
 his favorite posture of attention— gazed upon the stranger, 
 as if awaiting in eager curiosity for what was to follow. 
 
 "And did you really know the blessed Bedell 1" asked 
 Ellen, raising her pale cheek from its pillow. 
 
 "Know him ! Ah, young lady, I was born and cradled 
 under his roof, nourished and brought up in his doctrme. 
 I was the companion of his imprisonment, I supported his 
 dying head, I bent over his grave ;" and again the recol- 
 lection overcame him. 
 
 "My brother," said the young minister, gently and 
 affectionately placing his hand on the silver hairs, "be 
 collected. He who has been thus privileged is steward of 
 a gift, not to be WTapped up in the hidings of selfish sor- 
 row, but liberally imparted to the starving church of 
 Christ." 
 
 " I know it, I know it ; and many a faint heart has 
 waxed strong under the hearing of what I love to tell. It 
 is only now, weakened by age and many trials, and sur- 
 rounded by scenes at once so like and so unlike to those 
 that were — it is only now that nature rebels." He gazed 
 round him, and seemed to derive encouragement from the 
 expression of so many inquiring looks. 
 
 The entrance of Bryan and Shane completed the circle : 
 the former took his station by the invalid, surprised at the 
 animation of her countenance ; and while she explained 
 the cause, Shane received some communication from his 
 nephew, which appeared to brighten his faculties, fatigued 
 as he was, into something like corresponding attention. 
 
 "My father," said Basil, after humbly bowing to his 
 hearers, " was the confidential domestic of that holy man. 
 He accompanied the bishop from Suffolk to this country,
 
 '78 DERRY. 
 
 enjoying a place in his affection that bespoke for me, his 
 only child, the tender concern of our benevolent master, 
 when I was left, a helpless orphan in his house, my mother 
 having died at the time of my birth, and my father within 
 two years after. The bishop took on himself the care of 
 my education ; and many an hour of proud enjoyment 
 have I passed, seated at my little desk beside the good 
 man's chair, transcribing from his manuscript that best 
 monument of Bedell's fame, the Irish Bible." 
 
 " There, my Lady !" exclaimed Shane, exultingly ; and 
 the Lady had already taken the hand of the venerable 
 narrator. " Blessed old man," she said, " in the name of 
 my lacerated country, let me thank you for the oil and the 
 wine that can alone pour healing into her wounds. This 
 hand has wrought with that good Samaritan, and my roof 
 is honored to shelter it. Oh, never, never shall my coun- 
 try know the sweets of permanent peace, until that work 
 commenced by Bedell be perfected : until the fountain 
 dug by his pious labor, be cleared from all obstructions, 
 and widened, and caused to flow in a thousand ready 
 channels, spreading through the thirsty land those rivers 
 of the water of life !" 
 
 "Never!" responded Basil. " He said it many a time 
 to whom, for the prophetic work, a prophet's spirit seemed 
 given. But alas ! Lady, how few among her own tribes 
 seek Ireland's welfare as he sought it, whom you rightly 
 term a Samaritan ; an alien, held accursed by those for 
 whom he toiled, until his deeds disarmed their deadly 
 hatred, and awed it into love." 
 
 A general assent was given, and Basil resumed. " The 
 tale of forty-one is written in letters of blood on some 
 
 memories'' he paused, for Malcolm gave a sign ; and 
 
 again proceeded. " I was still a youth, but hardy and 
 strong ; and courageous in the cause of my beloved mas- 
 ter and his family. There lacked not among us those who
 
 DERRY. 79 
 
 would have repelled violence, and built a barrier round 
 him with our slaughtered bodies. Nay, I wrong many 
 in not including all his flock. But it was his care to re- 
 present the duty of resting solely upon the invisible arm 
 of Jehovah; and while his dwelling and his church were 
 thronged with faithful adherents, no breath was ever heard 
 but that of meek submission to the divine will. Dreadful 
 were the scenes beyond our little sanctuary ! within it all 
 was peace and safety." 
 
 " And yet," observed Ross, " your bishop understood 
 the principle of ' No surrender.' " 
 
 " He did, Sir ; and with holy daring acted upon it. I 
 was with him when that startling summons came, to de- 
 liver up the fugitives sheltered in his home. I saw the 
 many cheeks that were blanched with terror for them- 
 selves, while grateful love checked every wish for a re- 
 fusal which might expose his own sacred head to the fury 
 of their foes. Aye, and I heard that refusal given in tones 
 never to be forgotten— so solemn, so powerful, so nerved 
 with energy, and sweetened with humility — while with 
 uncovered heads, the messengers withdrew from the pre- 
 sence of one before whom their ferocity melted into awe. 
 Oh, my master ! Is it a dream, or did I really see thee 
 borne away from that home \ Did I really rush through 
 a crowd of levelled pikes, to claim, in prostrate supplica- 
 tion, the privilege of sharing thy dungeon !" 
 
 " No dream, I'll engage you," said Magrath, abruptly : 
 " you got it easy, that same." 
 
 " Yes," answered the other, " I did. The rebel appoint- 
 ed to guard the innocent captives, had been particularly 
 obliged to me ; and through his intercession I was permit- 
 ted to follow, though not to accompany my beloved mas- 
 ter and his sons. Before ray departure I saw the abo- 
 mination of desolation standing in that place where Bedell 
 had offered to God the sacrifice of prayer and praise.
 
 So DERRY. 
 
 Yes, I beheld the Host elevated, wh'*re holy hands had 
 been lifted up, and weapons incrusted with the blcjod of 
 the guiltless, were grounded, while the crimson fingers 
 that bore them smote upon the breast, and murderers 
 yielded homage to the blighting mockery." Indignation 
 burnt on his clieck as he recalled the scene. Shane look- 
 ed hard at his nephew ; but the latter merely rompressed 
 his lips, and listened with undivided attention. 
 
 Basil wi-nt on. " I was conveyed to my master's pri- 
 son, far from the unhallowed pageantry that desecrated 
 his palace. I found him enclosed in the tower of Loch- 
 water, that desolate dwelling which arises from the centre 
 of a lake, without so much land about it as might suffice 
 to support the foot. December's storms swept over the 
 unsheltered spot, and found entrance on every side, for the 
 building was most ruinous. The few prisoners whose 
 garments had been left upon them, were constrained to 
 part with all but a slight portion, to cover the more nu- 
 merous victims of rapacious cruelty, stripped literally to 
 the skin by their jailors : and bitter were the sufTeringH, 
 from cold and damp. Provision was liberally s\ipplied, 
 but in every instance, raw: so that thosi> who kmw any 
 thing of cooking were incessantly employed for the rest. 
 The good providence of God sent a pious carpenter to be 
 our companion in captivity : and by his skill some little 
 repairs were effected, for which we were most thankful. 
 But our best, our dearest pledge of Jehovah's gracious 
 presence we received in the unlocked for permission from 
 our keepers of worshiping together, according to the ac- 
 customed rites of our church. No interruption assailed 
 us : and deeply sunk the word of exhortation into our bo- 
 soms, from those revered lips that never ceased to proclaim 
 the unchangeable love of God, under whatsoever dispen- 
 sation his wisdom laid us."
 
 DERRY. 81 
 
 "Answer me tliis question," said Magrath, with a look 
 of restless impatience, " will you answer me truly (" 
 
 " Assuredly, young man : 1 would not dare to do other- 
 wise." 
 
 " Well — that good man, that heretic Bishop, did he ever 
 curse the Catholics with ye 1" 
 
 " Och, the fool's head that'supon your shoulders!" ex- 
 claimed iShane ; while Basil gazed with astonishment on 
 the querist. 
 
 "Answer him!" exclaimed the Lady. 
 
 Basil now seemed for the first time to comprehend that 
 a member of the Komish church was present. With a 
 look of placid kindness, he said, " My answer, brother, is 
 short, simple, and true. No ! as soon would the sweetest 
 springs of your native plains send forth the waters of bit- 
 terness and corruption, as those lips could have given ut- 
 terance to a curse. But they of whom you speak were 
 the objects of his deepest, tenderest sympathy and love ; 
 and thfir welfare was a constant theme of prayer in our 
 afflicted little congregation." 
 
 " Come, now, you'll be after making the best of it, and 
 no blame to yourself; liut you won't pretend that you 
 prayed for the fellows who gave you that lodging, took the 
 clothes olf your backs, and treated you like dogs, I'll en- 
 
 gage." 
 
 " We did," answered Basil. " Our suflerings were 
 great, and our oppressors cruel ; but morning, noon, and 
 night we made our supplication for them ; thai the light 
 of the gospel, visiting their dark minds, might shew them 
 under what deadly delusion they lay. Every murmur 
 excited by our own bodily pains was hushed by the awful 
 consideration of what awaited their immortal souls, blind- 
 ed and ruined under the influence of their false and per- 
 secuting relisiion." 
 
 "Thafs enough," said Magrath: and folding his arms, 
 8
 
 82 DERRY. 
 
 he leaned back against the wall, his eyes fixed on the 
 speaker. 
 
 This strange episode had excited no common interest 
 in the little circle ; but all were silent, and Basil re- 
 sumed, 
 
 "Even under thi'se depressing circumstances, the object 
 dearest to his heart — the Irish Bible — was not forgotten 
 by my blessed master. He would urge me to repeat from 
 memory sucli portions as I could recal, suggesting im- 
 provements. I was the more encouraged to this work, 
 because, at such times, I have seen the guards stealing to* 
 wards some aperture to listen, as the language never faih-d 
 to attract their attention." 
 
 " True for ye," said IMagrath : but the words seemed to 
 drop unconsciously from his lips. 
 
 Before the old man could proceed, another discharge 
 from the batteries broke in upon the comparative repose ; 
 and a guard turned out for the especial purpose of peram- 
 bulating the street, inquired if all was well within. A few 
 words with them, determined the young men on volun- 
 teering their services likewise for the night ; and after 
 joining in the supplications of the family, they sallied 
 forth, leaving on the minds of their friends a more anxious 
 tremor than had ever before accompanied the unwilling 
 farewell. 
 
 Shane's curiosity had been violently excited on more 
 than one occasion during that eventful day. His nephew, 
 from the moment of assuming the badge, had appeared to 
 throw off a painful restraint, and to attach himself with 
 unfeigned cordiality to a cause against which he had as- 
 suredly, not long before, harbored evil designs ; a circum- 
 stance to Shane quite unaccountable. The unexpected 
 and unwonted share which he had taken in the evening's 
 conversation also perplexed him ; for ]\Iagrath's general 
 deportment was marked by the extreme of reserve, rather
 
 DERRY. 83 
 
 than its opposite. To Shane's drowsy faculties, however, 
 the latter transition appeared less surprising than the former : 
 but with the Lady of M'Alister, it was far otherwise. She 
 rightly attributed his morning animation to a relief from 
 painful forebodings as to the sufferings awaiting the 
 family, whose kindness to him had evidently sunk deep 
 into his mind ; and also to the removal of that restraint 
 under which the fear of meeting Lundy had kept him. 
 To the cause, as such, she could not suppose him attach- 
 ed ; but to Bryan exceedingly so 5 and she verily believ- 
 ed that an affectionate desire to watch over his personal 
 safety, was the motive of Magrath, in adopting the prevail- 
 ing badge. A more inexplicable mystery involved his 
 evening conduct. The acquaintance which he seemed to 
 have with many particulars related by Basil, was not very 
 wonderful, the events being comparatively recent, and 
 strong in the memory of those who survived the scenes of 
 1641 ; but there was an intense interest, an eager curiosi- 
 ty in his aspect ; and an unmoved endurance of reflections 
 on his country's faith, from the lips of a Protestant and an 
 Englishman, which formed a strange contrast with his 
 fiery impatience under the reproach of Ross. The subject 
 haunted her pillow, and prompted many an aspiration on 
 behalf of the intractable object of her frequent endeavors? 
 while she counted the hours whose flight brought on the 
 wished yet dreaded dawning of another day. 
 
 It was upon the 18th of April that the dethroned mon- 
 arch met his un looked for repulse before the walls of 
 Derry ; and the next day beheld him on the road towards 
 Dublin, there to concert farther measures for the recovery 
 of his abdicated throne. No hostile act was committed on 
 either side during the two succeeding daj's, save in the 
 silent but busy work of offensive and defensive preparation. 
 Bryan was incessantly occupied among the citizens and 
 soldiers, both of whom repeiveJ with deference the sugges-
 
 84 DERRY. 
 
 lionsof his intelligent and judicious mind. In his peram- 
 bulations, Magrath was always at iiand ; and evidenced 
 the sincerity of his good-will by furnishing many valuable 
 hints, both in the way of information and precaution, for 
 his master's benefit ; but Bryan ffmarked that the mea- 
 sures which he seemed to approve were strictlv defensive ; 
 and in this, though on dillennt grounds, thiir feelings co- 
 incided. 
 
 " How I long for the Sabbath !" exclaimed Letitia, as 
 the evening preceding it closed in. " We shall all assem- 
 ble in the house of God, and raise the united voice of sup- 
 plication." 
 
 " And set up our Ebenezer," added her mother. 
 
 " And will my dear Ellen likewise venture !' asked 
 Bryan. 
 
 "Oh yes, brother dear ; these two quiet days have re- 
 freshed me, and I feel quite strong. I long to tread the 
 courts of the Lord's house too : and I have a sort of fearful 
 curiosity to pass through the street, and look upon the pre- 
 parations, and to be made to feel how precious it is to have 
 the Lord for a very present help." 
 
 " May it be a Sabbath of peace !" said the old lady ; 
 and she looked at Bryan, whose downcast eyes spoke lit- 
 tle of encouragement to her hope. 
 
 In fact, it had been decided to make a sortie from the 
 walls on the morrow, as the planting of a large gun very 
 near, seemed to menace a hostile attack. The design was 
 deprecated by those alone who preferred the sanctification 
 of the day to the pursuit of a possible advantage ; and it 
 may readily be believed that their voices were faint and 
 few, compared with the clamors of the many who thirsted 
 for vengeance and distinction. 
 
 The morning came, and to the cathedral all repaired 
 who desired to commit their cause unto the Lord of 
 Hosts ; these were so numerous, that a succession of con-
 
 DERRY. 85 
 
 gregations filled the pile, a fresh crowd of worshippers 
 Btill assembling as others departed ; and amongst them the 
 family of M'Alister sought the Lord with hearts united to 
 fear his name. 
 
 It was awful and affecting, 'the stillness that reigned 
 over the dense populace on the morning of that day. 
 Thronged as they were, the streets yet wore the character 
 of Sabbath solemnity, and the very sentinels appeared to 
 soften their measured tread, as they cast a frequent look to 
 the azure sky ; with some, the upturned gaze bespoke de- 
 votion : in others it seemed rather expressive of impa- 
 tience, and in many it indicated an anxious observance of 
 the weather, as though a few gathering clouds would have 
 marred some design. The citizens of Derry, close pent 
 within its narrow bounds for more than four months, already 
 bore the marks of pining imprisonment and protracted 
 care : while deeper anguish sat on the features of those 
 homeless wanderers, to whom the sacred season more for- 
 cibly recalled the memory of happy Sabbaths gone by 
 where their place knew them no more. 
 
 " It is in such a spot as this," said a weeping mother aa 
 she passed through the church-yard, " that my daughter 
 lies buried. Just such a tender yew tree was beginning to 
 bud above her grave : ah, little did I think that stranger 
 eyes should watch its growth, or stranger hands tear it from 
 the sod, where I must never hope to lay my bones beside her!' 
 
 " She is better there," replied a young woman, the 
 wildness of whose pallid looks contrasted with the melan- 
 choly gloom of the former speaker. " Better in a grave — 
 any grave —than living to weep over all that was loved, and 
 is lost, and gone — gone for ever" 
 
 "Oh no!" said Letitia, who overheard her, "say not 
 that all is gone, while he remains whose love for sinners 
 took the sting from death, and victory from the grave. 
 
 8*
 
 86 DERRY. 
 
 Come unto him— for the weary and the heavy laden shall 
 there find welcome and repose. ' 
 
 Arranged within the building, how sweet to the cars of 
 Christ's little flock sounded the word of promise and of 
 peace ! Magrath had accompanied them to the door, and 
 as he turned from it a deeper sense of their own inesti- 
 mable privileges filled each heart ; while compassion for 
 him added fervor to their intercessions, and earnestly did 
 they long to share with him the abundance of God's trea- 
 sury. 
 
 The preacher took for his text an animating promise of 
 deliverance ; and though the tenor of his discourse was 
 more decidedly warlike than fully accorded with the feel- 
 ings of his spiritually-minded auditors, there was much of 
 solid comfort in the address. Returning homeward, Bryan 
 directed his grandmother's attention to some military men 
 who were hastening towards the guard-house, after attend- 
 ing at the church. He told her that they were about to 
 sally forth and attack the enemy. 
 
 " Oh, Bryan, that ought not to be, on this holy day ; 
 dissuade them." 
 
 " It is impossible. Malcolm and myself, with one or 
 two others attempted it ; but the clamor was overj lower- 
 ing. Colonel Murray leads them on, and Mr. Walker 
 leaves the pulpit to accompany him." 
 
 " Then mark my words. This desecrated Sabbath will 
 stand recorded against us ; and many a cry will ascend in 
 vain from those who ballow it not." 
 
 " They are so confident of immediate succors from the 
 king, that they scarcely anticipate a contest of a week." 
 
 "They must then learn what it is to put confidence in 
 princes, rather than in the Lord." 
 
 The culverin planted by the enemy now discharged its 
 heavy shot — the first which passed into the town — and 
 that shot whizzing over their heads, struck the market- 
 house.
 
 TERRY. 87 
 
 " Messenger of woe !" said the Lady, " how many of thy 
 fellows shall bring havoc into our streets !" 
 
 Basil had remained at home, indisposed ; and Br}-an, 
 soltly ascending to his little apartment, was struck at hear- 
 ing the old man's voice, with tones of solemn earnestness 
 addressing another in the Irish language. He paused, as 
 the name of " Slanuigheora losa Criosd," the Savior Je- 
 sus Christ, met his ear, and ascertained that the words were 
 those of Scripture. Softly entering, he beheld Magrath, 
 his face buried in his hands, in an attitude of fixed atten- 
 tion, while Basil, with looks of unspeakable animation, was 
 setting before him the pure gospel, in the irresistible garb 
 of his own tongue. 
 
 Bryan withdrew unperceived, to communicate the glad 
 tidings below stairs: and " Blessed Bedell I" burst from 
 the lips of the old lady, while her heart overflowed with 
 thankful delight. 
 
 But far other works was going on without the walls ; and 
 after a fierce combat the partv came back victorious, bear- 
 ing the dead bodies of an olncer and several privates, who, 
 a few hours previously, had left tlie town in confident ex- 
 pectation of a triumphant return. They were hastily in- 
 terred ; and while the military exulted in the comparative 
 insignificance of their loss, a dark foreboding overcast the 
 minds of many, with a sad experimental certainty that 
 havoc was indeed begun. 
 
 The single piece of ordinance planted on the opposite 
 side of the water had intlicted little damage on the town ; 
 now at less than half that distance, four others commenced 
 their dreadul greeting from a different quarter, and their 
 balls continually rebounJing from the tiles, crashing the 
 window panes, and rattling through the streets, killed some, 
 inflicted wounds on many, and struck ten-or into all. On 
 the second day at'ter this, some mortar pieces being added, 
 the besiegers thx-ew bombs from them ; which by their
 
 88 DERRY. 
 
 noisy explosion increased the panic tenfold, among those 
 altogether unaccustomed to the liorrors of a siege. 
 
 " Now, your Honor," said Magrath, as with Hryan he 
 bent his course towai-ds the house in the evening of that 
 day, " I'm altogether not agreeable to going iiome to- 
 night." 
 
 » Why not V 
 
 " Oh, Sir, but it's the ladies that will be frightened to 
 purpose now. And, the sowls ! what comfort can we give 
 'em '." 
 
 " The very sight of us will bring comfort to them, Ma- 
 grath ; for I have marked this day, while carnage has been 
 in our streets, that those who go forth are followed by la- 
 mentations, as though they went to certain death ; and 
 their return welcomed with cries of joy. But in our 
 home, I trust, we shall find that the Lord himself is giving 
 strength according to their day." 
 
 " Is it to-day, Sir 1" asked the other, a little puzzled. 
 
 Bryan explained to him the promise, but it seemed not 
 to make much impression on his mind. Bryan's heart 
 was indeed oppressed witli a grievous weight : not for 
 that the instruments of destruction had now and again 
 crossed his own path — for himself he had no fear ; but 
 faith was sorely tried in regard to those so dear ; and the 
 consolations which his lip spontaneously uttered, scarcely 
 soothed his own bosom at the moment. 
 
 But the word of the Lord is sure ; and gratefully did he 
 acknowledge it ; for they found the little party calm be- 
 yond all human expectation ; and such a hol}^ character 
 of resigned submission sat on every countenance, as ren- 
 dered it far more touching than the wildest distress could 
 have done. 
 
 "And isn't the life frightened out of ye then V was 
 Magrath's first inquiry, after the silent welcome of thank- 
 ful love had been bestowed on Bryan.
 
 DERRY. 89 
 
 "We've been sadly frightened indeed," answered Ellen : 
 " but we prayed, and the Lord sent peace." 
 
 " Wars and fightings without," added the Lady, " but 
 peace within. Know you, Magrath, who walked the bil- 
 lows of the roaring sea, and bade them, ' Peace, be still C " 
 
 " It was Jesus Christ, or the Virgin, or one of the Saints, 
 I'm thinking." 
 
 Basil raised his head ; and in a clear tone he recited 
 the whole passage in Irish ; while Magrath, his mouth 
 wide open, and his eyes dancing with a peculiar expres- 
 sion of interested curiosity and pleasure, gave earnest heed 
 to every breath. 
 
 Has the reader ever witnessed the effect produced on a 
 poor native Irishman thrown among strangers, when the 
 sublime truths of Scripture fall upon his ear, in that lan- 
 guage so unutterably dear to him '? Probably not : but 
 why, oh, why is it probable, reader, that you should not 1 
 Has not your path been too frequently crossed, and your 
 step arrested, by the plaintive supplicant, whose accent 
 bespoke him a native of Erin, and to v. hom the utterance 
 of his wants in your language appeared difficult and un- 
 couth 1 Yes : you have met with Irish beggars, be your 
 habitation where it may ; and if tlie love of Christ rule in 
 your heart, you have, according to your means, supplied 
 their necessities ; but few indeed, in this age of missions, 
 have bethought themselves of pursuing a missionary work 
 at their own doors, by the acquisition of that tongue in 
 which the stammering mendicant could be as fluent, as 
 eloquent, as you in your native English. Make but the 
 inquiry, and you shall wonder at Ihe result. And if you 
 would be kindled into zeal on behalf of these poor outcast 
 victims of a gross delusion, so far as means can do it, go 
 forth among them where they congregate, and take with 
 you one who is versed in the Celtic dialect, bearing in his 
 hand the word of life, and on his heart the love of souls.
 
 90 DERRY. 
 
 One such scene is never to be forgotten : and, blessed be 
 the CJod of the friendless! such scenes shall ere long be 
 more frequent in our land, for the Lord is remembering 
 Erin, and his servants take pity to see her children in the 
 dust of spiritual death. Yes, tlirice blessed be his name ! 
 there are young and accomplished females at this moment 
 intently studying those characters so little known — so 
 grossly undervalued — for tlie sacred purpose of imparting 
 to these poor wandering beggars, these perishing immor- 
 tals, what in their own tongue they call " the story of 
 peace," and what shall, instrumentally, convey to many a 
 one among them the rich gift of joy and peace in believ- 
 ing. May the blessing of the Highest prosper their work ! 
 
 " How beautiful the language is, when Christ is the 
 theme !" observed Letitia. 
 
 " In what language can the name of Jesus sound unwel- 
 come 1" asked Malcolm, who entered as she spoke. " The 
 thunder of war has rolled about us this live-long day ; and 
 cries of terror, and groans of anguish have mingled with 
 its roar ; but, powerful above them all, the name of Jesus 
 has prevailed, to still the throb of many a bursting heart, 
 and soften to a prayer of resignation the scream of wild 
 dismay. Oh, for the faith of Israel's King ! ' Therefore 
 will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though 
 the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea,' for, 
 ' The Lord of Hosts is with us ; the God of Jacob is our 
 refuge.'" 
 
 "Ah, but he is with us now in anger," said Ellen, "to 
 afflict and destroy." 
 
 Malcolm looked earnestly on her, and repeated, " The 
 mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed ; but my 
 kindness shall not depait from thee, neither shall the cov- 
 enant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath 
 mercy on thee." 
 
 " No," said Mrs. M'Alister, " that covenant cannot fail.
 
 DERRY. 91 
 
 Hitherto, I have trembled and feared, and thought that my 
 very heart would burst asunder, whenever it came to this 
 awful climax. But the day is come, and with it grace 
 sufficient to the time of need ! Those dreadful bombs, as 
 they exploded in my hearing, even they have seemed to 
 utter, ' Fear not,' and my weak spirit is enabled to res- 
 pond, ' It is the Lord, let him do as seemeth him good.' " 
 
 "My daughter!" exclaimed the Lady, "have I not 
 ever told thee that his faithfulness could not fail V 
 
 " Yes, mother : but it is the Lord who tells me now." 
 
 " Happy experience !" said Malcolm. " ' 1 have heard 
 of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth 
 thee.' — Aged pilgrim," turning to Basil, " can you buffet 
 this storm, so nearly at the journey's end ]" 
 
 " Aye, Sir : and I bless God for it. I see young trees 
 well rooted by its blast ; and tender blades of corn may 
 peep forth, when the whirlwind has scattered opposing 
 rubbish." The allusion to Magrath was evident. 
 
 " All's well !" uttered the night-guard as they passed 
 the door : the explosion of a bomb followed, and then 
 Malcolm responded, " All's well ! Sin is pardoned, sal- 
 vation is secured, and the children of the promise sealed 
 to their eternal inheritance," 
 
 Then suddenly addressing Magrath, he added, "Brother 
 can you claim a portion here \ can 3^ou join us in the 
 glorious anticipation, and utter, with assured conviction, 
 that all is well ?" 
 
 " May be it is. Sir," answered Magrath, coldly. 
 
 " What ! stake eternity upon a may-be V 
 
 Magrath, yet more sullenly, muttered something about 
 the catholic church. 
 
 " Out upon ye, for an obstinate Papist !" ejaculated 
 Shane, " haven't we enough of the catholic church out- 
 side 1 What else is it knocking the houses about our ears
 
 92 UERRY. 
 
 this blessed night, but your rebelly church, ye spalpeen \ 
 isn't the bombs pretty boads to tell !" 
 
 "Muslia, llien," said Magralh, ''it's myself that'll go 
 look after uiy beads," and lie left the house. 
 
 " How obdurate !" observed Malcolm. 
 
 "Have patience, Sir," said Basil, "your query was a 
 startling one, and may be blessed to his soul. Let him 
 digest it." 
 
 The Lady reproved Shane for his ill-timed and railing 
 accusation ; but the old man continued to exclaim against 
 his nephew, who, as he said, ought to have been converted 
 in half the time. 
 
 The word of promise was then laid open ; and amid 
 the din of discord, the prayer and the hymn arose. Mal- 
 colm gave out a Psalm from the paraphrase of his church, 
 the 23d, dearly prized by the persecuted covenanters ; 
 and with deep intonation he dwelt upon the lines, 
 
 Yca.tliougli I walk in dcalli's dark vale, 
 
 Ytt will 1 fear none ill ; 
 For Ihou art with mf.and tliy rod 
 
 And staff inc coiiifurt still. 
 
 When Letitia retired with luT mother to their little 
 sleeping apartment, she stooped to look through the win- 
 dow, which nearly touched the ground, " How b< auliful, 
 Maifima, is this night ! The moon shines sweetly, and 
 Lough Foyle dances like quicksilver below. Is it not 
 strange that under such a sky, men should prepare to dye 
 those peaceful waters with blood '! With the words that 
 we have heard to-night, warm on my memory, methinks I 
 could go forth to yonder camp, and proclaim to the foes 
 who seek our lives, 'Peace on earth; and good-will to- 
 wards men.' " 
 
 "My child, it is the love of God, shed abroad in cur 
 hearts by the Holy Ghost, that disarms all bitter and re-
 
 DERRY. 93 
 
 eentful feelings. Come, Letitia ; let us pray for them 5 
 for they know not what they do." 
 
 They kneeled in prayer ; and peacefully composed 
 themselves to rest, conversing for a while on the glorious 
 privilege of God's children, so exquisitely set forth in the 
 Psalm, which Letitia again recited. 
 
 The grey tint had not visited the darkened east, when 
 a bomb broke through the garret roof, and falling on the 
 bed, rolled thence to the window, which it forced from its 
 frame, and exploded loudly in the street. 
 
 But those two quiet sleepers awoke not : without a 
 pang, they had passed into eternity.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 In the crowded state of the city, it was needful to com- 
 mit with all speed to their last earthly resting-place the 
 bodies of the slain: and scarcely had the agonized survi- 
 vors of M'Alistor's race a competent time allotted to en- 
 shroud the forms so tenderly beloved, ere they were pent 
 up in the narrow receptrcle that sufficed for both — one 
 coffin was prepared — one grave was dug — and ere yet the 
 shell received its lid, a croud of weeping friends hemmed 
 in the individuals, who, stationed close around the shatter- 
 ed bed, gazed upon those lineaments, as uninjured and as 
 calmly soft as when slumber first stole over them. The 
 Lady's heart was rent beyond th;3 power of her strong 
 mind, and stronger faith, to sustain without a struggle that 
 convulsed her frame ; while the tearless stupefaction of 
 poor Ellen, as she hung upon her brother's shoulder, ap- 
 peared more pitiable still. But Bryan's trial was perhaps 
 the hardest, for nature strove in his bosom against tlie sub- 
 duing grace of God, and raised a cry of wrath and ven- 
 geance. Shane's grief was frantic ; and his passionate 
 lamentations woke a responsive chord in many a breast : 
 for there were childless mothers by, and widowed brides, 
 and orphaned children. The fugitives who had sought 
 shelter in Derry, had each some tale to tell that would 
 have claimed an eminence in grief j and the stream of
 
 DERBY. 96 
 
 selfish sorrow now flowed afresh, in the contemplation of 
 another's woes. 
 
 Up to this period, Malcolm had not been apprized of the 
 event ; but he now appeared, led by vague rumor, and 
 hastily passing the deserted apartments, ascended to the 
 spot. His presence occasioned a movement throughout the 
 party, whose sobs and moans redoubled as they opened a 
 passage for him to the cofCn. 
 
 " See there," said Bryan, moving his clenched hand 
 towards it. 
 
 "And see there !' responded Malcolm, as he pointed to 
 the broken roof, through which was visible a portion of the 
 deep blue sky, and a little fleecy cloud that glided like a 
 distant wing athwart it. 
 
 But while oth?r eyes were raised to mark, his own fell 
 again on the lifeless forms, and he burst into tears. 
 
 The firing at this time became more rapid ; and whiz- 
 zing balls passed through the streets, and another bomb ex- 
 ploded at a short distance. When the noise subsided, 
 Malcolm spoke, " All is well ; aye, better than well with 
 them : for what hosannas, what music of heavenly harp- 
 ings, now surround those rejoicing spirits before the throne 
 of the Lamb ! Oh blessed confession," he added, as he 
 bent over the shell ; " said she not last night, that the 
 Lord himself had taught her, whose teaching is the pledge 
 of never-ending life 1" 
 
 Then, in a strain of triumphant praise, he rendered 
 thanks for the victory achieved over death and the grave. 
 The exercise was blessed ; for Ellen wept, and Bryan 
 found deliverance from the revengeful cravings of a lace- 
 rated spirit, while enabled to contrast the triumphs of 
 heavenly joy, with the poor mangled remains of the earth- 
 ly tabernacles, which once imprisoned the now liberated 
 Bouls. On rising, he inquired for Magrath. 
 
 Summoned from a corner, the poor fellow approached ;
 
 % DERRY. 
 
 and covering his face with both hands, exclaimed in brok- 
 en accents, " Oh, don't. Sir, don't put blame upon me — 
 they are not my beads." 
 
 " Blame you, Magrath \ never. I blame only the sin 
 which has brouglit death into the world. I called you to 
 take a farewell look at those whom you loved, and sei-ved, 
 would have died to defend. See, how peaceful — oh, Ma- 
 grath, they are hap| :y : for they died trusting in Christ, 
 and in Him alone. He is all — all sufficient." 
 
 Magrath gazed for a moment, then casting up his eyes> 
 he wrung his hands ; and with a passionate exclamation in 
 Irish, rushed from the room. 
 
 Through the broken window the coffin was lowered, 
 and, amid the tears of many, borne to its grave. 
 
 Ross had quitted Derry three or four days previously, on 
 a mission to Enniskillen ; and returning into the town, he 
 met his friend, slowly retracing the homeward path. 
 
 " M'Alister, my dear fellow, are you going to give me 
 the cut at last V said he gail}' ; but the eye that was rais- 
 ed to his own made him start away. 
 
 To speak Br3an found it impossible ; he took his arm, 
 and strongly compressing it, led him back to the grave. 
 Magrath had taken the shovel, and was carefully filling in 
 the last earth. 
 
 "Bryan, for mercy's sake, what is all this 1" 
 
 " My mother — and Letitia are there." 
 
 Aghast, and panting, Ross seated himself on an adjoin- 
 ing grave, while a stander-by related the circumstances. 
 
 " Come home with me," said Bryan. 
 
 Impossible ! what ! to see their places empty — to look 
 upon that venerable ruin, struck by such another thunder- 
 bolt — to see poor Ellen — poor Ellen ;"' and his tears 
 flowed. 
 
 " Yes, my friend, to see all this, and to witness likewise 
 the power of Him to whom you must come, that you too 
 may have life."
 
 DERRY. 97 
 
 It was indeed a struggle of no ordinary intenseness, by 
 which the Lady of M'Alister had retained her self-posses- 
 sion through the day ; but in Basil she found an invaluable 
 comforter. Long tried in such a school, he was well fit- 
 ted for the office ; and gentle representations on behalf of 
 poor Bryan, had prevailed to induce a composure that 
 could not but be soothing to his feelings, when at eve- 
 ning's close he returned to the diminished circle. The 
 appearance of Ross, and his undisguised emotion, had near- 
 ly overcome them again ; nor had any one courage to in- 
 vade the death-like silence ; till, on the entrance of Ma- 
 grath, the Lady, with marked kindness in her tone, invited 
 him to approach the fire. 
 
 Shane eyed him askance for a moment, and than began 
 most piteously to moan, rocking himself to and fro on his 
 chair. 
 
 After the evening meal, scarcely marked by a whisper, 
 Magrath took upon himself to lead the conversation, and in 
 so doing, displayed a wisdom and delicacy for which they 
 were hardly prepared. 
 
 Slowly disengaging from his neck a narrow tape, he 
 took from it what appeared a scapular, such as the lower 
 orders of Roman Catholics usually wear ; it seemed bulky, 
 and with a pen-knife he carefully ripped it open. A half 
 sheet of paper, closely folded up, was then discovered ; 
 the marks of age visible upon it ; and the appearance of 
 having been much in use. This he held towards Basil, at 
 the same time advancing the candle ; and asked him, "Do 
 you know it, Sir 1" 
 
 An exclamation of wonder, and of delight too, bespoke 
 an immediate recognition ; as Basil commenced the pe- 
 rusal — " it is my own," he said. 
 
 " True for you, Sir ; but it has had other masters " 
 
 *' To me it is scarcely legible now," observed Basil ; 
 9*
 
 98 DERRY. 
 
 " but well I know the contents, a part of the Irish Scrip- 
 tures." 
 
 Magrath took it ; and deliberately commenced reading 
 it, to the no small surprise of his auditors. 
 
 "It is the fifteenth chapter of the first of Corinthians,' 
 said Basil, " but not complete, only a selection." 
 
 " Will I tell you how I got that same 1" asked Magrath, 
 addressing Shane. 
 
 " No, no ! don't bother : will it bring back them that 
 arc gone 1" 
 
 " May be it will comfort them that remain, uncle." 
 
 " Comfort is it !" uttered Shane disdainfully ; but the 
 Lady interposed, saying, "Proceed, Magrath. All com- 
 fort is contained in the words which you now hold in your 
 hand, and nothing connected with them can be uninter- 
 esting.". 
 
 Magrath re-seated himself, and commenced a story which, 
 divested of extraneous matter, may thus be stated : — His 
 grandfather, Dennis O'Connogher, when a very young 
 man, had made one of the party most active in persecut- 
 ing the family of Bishop Bedell. In reward for his zeal, 
 he was entrusted, with others, to keep guard over the 
 prisoners in Lochwater tower : and in the pocket of a gar- 
 ment plundered from Basil, he had found that paper, 
 which, being unable to read, he kept for some other to 
 decypher. Much attached to his native language, when- 
 ever he heard the prisoners converse in it, as he supposed, 
 he placed himself at a cranny to listen ; and so, uncon- 
 sciously, heard many portions of the Holy Scriptures re- 
 cited. Convinced that men who thus continuall}^ spoke 
 such good words could harbor no very evil designs, he 
 became, though secretly and cautiously, yet effectually, 
 their friend : and to his favorable representations they 
 owed much of the indulgence afterwards granted. Re- 
 turning to the head-quarters of his army, Dennis found a
 
 DERRY. 99 
 
 person who read over to him the contents of the paper ; 
 which he recognized as having formed part of the supposed 
 conversations between the Bishop and his amanuensis. 
 This increased his curiosity ; he revisited the palace at 
 Kilmore ; and among some himber, thrown by as useless 
 by the rebels, he discovered, and appropriated a pretty 
 large parcel of MSS., in a rough state, which resembled 
 the fragment in his possession. This he lodged, with other 
 plunder, in safe keeping; and forming one of the rebel 
 party, who paid such unwonted honors to the remains of 
 the good Bishop — attending his funeral for the purpose of 
 firing a salute over his grave — Dennis was more deeply 
 impressed than ever with a consciousness that, in serving 
 him he had befriended a true follower of Christ — one 
 whose exa;mple he revered, and whose doctrine he longed 
 more fully to examine. 
 
 A series of battles and outrages soon obliterated from 
 his mind the transient interest thus awakened : and after 
 many years, Dennis, crippled by a wound, accepted the 
 shelter offered by his daughter, then recently married j 
 and had scarcely learned to relish the sweets of a quiet 
 home, and the dutiful affection of his child, when he be- 
 held her suddenly snatched away, and a motherless babe 
 left dependent on the attentions of others. The widower 
 soon married again ; but continued his hospitable kindness 
 to Judy's father : while young Larry formed the sole 
 earthly comfort and delight of the bereaved old man. 
 
 Magrath was much moved, when touching on the sub- 
 ject : and Shane's attention had become so eager, as to 
 banish lor a while the pressure of his immoderate grief. 
 
 "I was a wild gossoon," continued Magrath, " but I did 
 my duty by the grandfather, why shouldn't I, he so crip- 
 pled and sorrowful, and I the vein of his old heart. My 
 father, no blame to him, was a strong catholic, and never 
 heard the name of the bishop without putting a curse on
 
 1 00 DERRY. 
 
 him ; and as my father was well ofT in the world, and a big 
 man with the priest, old Dennis didn't care to be thwart- 
 ing him, may be: so ki'[)t all snug, and sorrow the word 
 he would be spaking, of what lay deep enough in his 
 mind. But he was a thought arch too ; and so, says he to 
 my father, ' Larry Magrath,' says he, " isn't it a thousand 
 murders that Larry the boy should have no more laming 
 nor a sea-gull, and ho so 'cute, the cratur.' — ' What is it 
 you'd be after, the day V says my father. ' O, then it's 
 myself that would put the boy to his laming, and Irish is 
 the thing for Larry,' says my grandfather, 'you see, ho- 
 ney, how Ireland will soon be at the top of her ancient 
 glory, please St. Patrick ; and is it young Larry that 
 shouldn't rise to be lord Judge, or huntsman, or may be 
 an ancient bard, or such like, when the land and the lan- 
 guage come round to be our own again V So he bothered 
 my father, good look to the blarney ! but I'm thinking, 
 that little was in him, barrin' only the wish to get to the 
 bottom of the old papers. For, when he found me dis- 
 creel, nnd no blab, he would tell of by-gone days; and out 
 and out partial was he to all that savored of the bishop, 
 and his follower, that ran upon the pikes' points for the 
 cold comfort of a lodging in Lochvvater ; and that's your- 
 self, Sir, I'm thinking," addressing Basil, who deeply 
 moved, could scarcely reply, " It was. ' 
 
 In short, by working on his son-in-law's ambition, Den- 
 nis prevailed to send the lad where he acquired a good 
 proficiency in reading and writing his native language. 
 Proud of his education, young Magrath returned, to find 
 his grandfather in wretched health, and woi'se spirits, con- 
 fined to his bed, with no better prospect than so to linger 
 out his remaining years. Convinced of his affection and 
 fidelity, the old man, after many injunctions to secrecy, 
 drew forth the scrap of paper ; " and joyful was he when 
 I read it off, as asy as I d skim a bowl of milk : though for
 
 DERRY. 101 
 
 the matter of understanding it, all the pains that my grand- 
 father took couldn't beat much of that into me." 
 
 " Ah, 1 11 engage its little that himself understood it," 
 eighed Shane ; " let alone that it wasn't for the likes of 
 you to read it right." 
 
 " Wasn't it then V exclaimed Magrath, rather hotly. 
 *' I'll be bound to you then that I'll not miscall a word of 
 it ;" and with extreme animation, feeling, and emphasis, he 
 read the whole passage, from the 42d verse, beginning, 
 " As mar an gc'dna bhias cis'irghe na marbh " — " So also 
 is the resurrection from the dead," to the end of the 
 chapter. 
 
 Various were the sensations excited by this unlooked- 
 for display, while Magrath, his voice deepening, and hia 
 color heightening as he proceeded, seemed to enter into 
 the full sublimity of that exquisite passage. 
 
 The circumstances under which he had, on that very 
 day, heard the same portion read in English, and which, 
 no doubt, led to its production now, filled his heart with 
 tenderness, and gave an occasional pathos to his tones, that 
 rendered them deeply affecting, even to Ross, who was 
 totally unacquainted with the language. 
 
 Bryan and Ellen could comprehend it, and to them the 
 voice sounded as from another world. The Lady's hands 
 were clasped, her eyes were closed, and every emotion 
 seemed lost in prayer. Old Shane presented the most 
 striking object of all : for accustomed as he was to hear 
 the scriptures daily read, it would have seemed as though 
 something most strangely new had reached his ear and 
 heart. He sat in breathless attention, catching as it were 
 at every word, and straining his faculties to grasp the mighty 
 subject presented to their view. 
 
 Basil — who shall portray the feelings of Basil 1 His 
 countenance was shaded, but tears of joy and praise trickled 
 fast down his furrowed cheeks, as the wonderful chain of
 
 102 DERRY. 
 
 ev(>nts passed rapidly before liis menial view. The master 
 chord was touched, in the heart of tliat poor Irishman : he 
 could not mistake its tone, and his was the blessed privi- 
 lege to have wrought in the work. Nor did his hap))iness 
 end here : such a persevering thirst after the word of life, 
 bespoke a divine agency, exerted also in the case of old 
 Dennis : and while, as Magrath slowly recited the con- 
 cluding verse, he received it as a message from on high, 
 addn>s>ed to himself, his emotion was increased yet more, 
 on hearing from poor Shane such an amen as never had 
 before issued from his lips, immediately after a heavy 
 cannonading shook the town ; and the falling of some 
 loosened tiles into the shattered room above, recalled most 
 bitterly the reality of their domestic loss. 
 
 " Go on, Magrath, go on with yuur story, my dear fel- 
 low," said Bryan, hastdy. 
 
 But Magrath seemed to have come to a stop in his nar- 
 rative. There evidently was something that he did not 
 like to relate ; and the Lady interposed, saying, " Magrath 
 is fatigued, my dear child : another time he may resume. 
 Bring the bible hither, and let us seek to the Lord. He 
 has smitten, and he will heal." 
 
 Bryan obeyed : he took the fourteenth chapter of St. 
 John, and commented on it as one who felt its rich conso- 
 lations. Neither did he abstain from exposing most unre- 
 servedly, the vanity of every hope that \vas not placed on 
 Jesus Christ alone. He addressed Magrath, and pointing 
 out the grounds of their perfect assurance, in regard to the 
 present bliss of those so recently departed, he told him 
 that of such bliss he could not be partaker, if cut ofTin like 
 manner, while resting on an unsound, unholy faith. In 
 solemn terms he spoke to Shane, as one yet unrenewed in 
 the spirit of his mind ; and directed to Ross a series of ani- 
 mated interrogatories, well calculated to probe his con- 
 science, and to display his peril. " And now to prayer,"
 
 DERKY. 103 
 
 he concluded. " Diminished as our party is, oh, let not 
 one withdraw from it!" Magrath understood the allusion 
 to himself, and kneeled beside his uncle. 
 
 "It seems strange," said Ross, when they arose, " that 
 I, who have been as one of your own family these many 
 months, and so heaped with kindnesses, should be the per- 
 son who has not a single word of consolation to offer — but 
 I cannot — it cuts too deep" — and he sat down quite over- 
 powered. 
 
 " My beloved young friend," said the Lady, laying her 
 hand on his shoulder, " we lack not the consolation which 
 man can give. ' Our souls had tainted within us, unless 
 we had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the 
 land of the living.' This, alas ! is the land of the dying, 
 the land of the dead. Earth bears us on its surface for a 
 little while, prepared to claim again the kindred dust. 
 These bodies that shall yet be scattered on the winds, and 
 whirled across the path of succeeding geneiations, do these 
 deserve our care \ Yonder empty seats can preach aa 
 eloquently as angel tongues, to tell us we are nothing- 
 Hark to that shot ! you know not its commission, the next 
 may summon you ; and whither ] To the land of the 
 living, or to that of the doubly dead I To the God of pu- 
 rity, whom none without holiness shall see, or to the father 
 of lies, who whispers that what the Lord has said he will 
 not perform ! Awake, awake, young man ; escape for 
 your life ; flee from the wrath to come !" 
 
 Bryan could not prevail on himself to quit the house on 
 that sad night : but left with Basil alone, while Magrath 
 had persuaded Shane to let him assist his tottering limbs 
 to reach the little dormitory, they commenced a discourse 
 on the subject of that joyous recognition which awaits the 
 members of Christ in the presence of their Head. Magrath 
 returned, and requested leave to join them. 
 
 " Now, your honor," said he, when a pause ensued,
 
 104 DERRY. 
 
 " I'm thinking that you would be glad to hear the end of 
 the ould story. Somehow, 1 didn't like to go on, and my 
 uncle by, and young Mr. Koss j but I'm quite agreeable to 
 letting you know the rest." 
 
 His oJer being very thankfully accepted, he proceeded 
 to relate, that his grandfathrr revealed to him the hiding 
 place of the manuscripts, and he commenced their peru- 
 sal ; overcoming, as well as he could, the obstacles pre- 
 sented by many corrections and interlineations. He 
 passed wliole hours in this occupation, until his father, 
 suspecting that all was not right, apprized the priest of his 
 doubts ; and young Larry was unexpectedly assailed at the 
 confessional by questions which, on peril to his sovil, he 
 was obliged to answer. A visit from the priest to Dennis 
 was the consequence ; but Magrath, not being present, 
 could not tell what passed, excepting only that he heard a 
 great deal of violent altercation ; and he himself, for hav- 
 ing so long listened to the commendation of heretics, and 
 above all, for daring to read a wicked book, was sent on a 
 long and severe pilgrimage. 
 
 " Before I set out, I was resolute to see my poor grand- 
 father ; but that wouldn't be allowed me. However, I 
 contented myself with getting in at his window by night, 
 the door being locked outside, and sure enough the old 
 man was changed grievously. ' Larry, dear,' says he, 
 ' it's the last of me you're seeing now ; for my ould heart 
 is broke into five halves by the blasphemy of 'em' — I sup- 
 pose he meant the books — 'and now, honey boy,' says he, 
 'they'll be after burying me afore you return, for the life 
 is flickering out of me like a wasted candle, but'— and 
 then he repeated something out of the papers, about the 
 blessed Savior. ' Ay,' says he, smiling like a babe, * out 
 of my hands they may get it, but sorrow the thief that can 
 steal it out of my mind.' 1 remember his words, though 
 I couldn't pin much meaning upon them, and it's like he
 
 DERRY. 105 
 
 was delirious. However, he gave me what was hanging 
 about his neck, and said, ' that's a true gospel for ye, Larry 
 dear : now, don't ye part with it, but wear it unknownst 
 for my poor sake. And, child, if ever ye're puzzling to 
 know how I died, it's according to thati! I cried over the 
 ould man, and left him ; and sure enough, when I came 
 home from my penance, it was burying him they were." 
 
 The young man was then, it appeared, absolved from 
 his past sins, and told to be thankful for his escape from 
 perdition. Dennis, they asserted, had made a full confes- 
 sion of all his crime against the church ; and that the 
 heretic bishop and his fellow prisoners had met several 
 times a day to curse the catholic church, and put spells 
 upon the kingdom. That, by listening to the prayers of 
 heretics, he had fallen under the power of the evil spirit, 
 and was trying to lead poor Larry in the same way. 
 However, having been convinced of his wickedness, on 
 giving up the fatal papers to be burnt, he had received 
 absolution and died in the faith. " Not but that it needed 
 a power of masses to help his sowl in purgatory," added 
 Magrath, " and the priest warned my father that he was 
 bound to do it for a penitent sinner. Indeed, I've heard 
 my father say that Dennis in his grave cost him more mo- 
 ney than his six living child er, that were munching and 
 supping from morning till night." 
 
 Magrath, however, was not well at ease concerning his 
 grandfather ; for it was whispered by some that he had 
 died excommunicate, though the priest soon put such 
 penances on those who hinted it, as stopped their tongues. 
 One day, recollecting that the old man had said the scapu- 
 lar, or gospel as the people generally called it, would show 
 how he died, the youth ventured to rip it open, and was 
 not a little amazed and alarmed to find that it contained 
 the old pnper. At first he thought to take it to the priest : 
 but having never confessed his nocturnal visit, he dreaded 
 10
 
 106 DERRY. 
 
 farther discoveries, and another pilgrimage. He therefore 
 read it over and over to detect any evil that might lurk in 
 it ; and finding nothing that could possibly do harm, melt- 
 ed too by the recollection of the afllicted donor, and not a 
 little afraid of being haunted if he disobeyed his last in- 
 junction, he again sewed up what, after all, might be a true 
 " gospel," as Dennis had solemnly assured him that it was, 
 and had worn it as such to that day. 
 
 " And this," said Basil, " was what led you to question 
 me as to our having cursed your church and people V 
 
 " It was, Sir." 
 
 " And are you satisfied on that point, now V 
 
 " Why, I can't say but I'm pretty clear about it. 
 'Tisn't yourself, Mr. Basil, that would curse a dog, let 
 alone a Christian, and I'm bound to believe that of ye." 
 
 " But, JMagrath, what becomes of the story told of your 
 poor grandfather's dying confession : did he die with a lie 
 in his mouth 1" 
 
 " He did not, Sir : I'll take my oath to it he wouldn't," 
 answered Magrath, warmly. 
 
 " Did the priest invent a falsehood, to slander the dead, 
 and to turn the living from the paths of peace 1" asked 
 Basil, with increased earnestness. Magrath put his hand 
 to his forehead. 
 
 " Why then, your honor, I'll tell you how it was. Poor 
 Dennis hadn't his senses right about him at all. Vexation 
 had bothered him, and he talked at random, which same 
 they mistook for a confession." 
 
 " Impossible ! the ravings of delirium cannot be mista- 
 ken for reason and recollection." 
 
 Magrath's perplexity increased ; and he gladly evaded 
 the subject by turning to Bryan, who, deeply brooding 
 over the agonizing dispensation which had bereft him of 
 objects so dear, sate unconscious of their short dialogue, 
 his eyes shaded with his hand, and tears flowing down his
 
 DERRY. 107 
 
 cheeks, in the bitterness of unrestrained sorrow. Magrath 
 for a moment gazed on him, and then repeated in Irish, 
 " death, where is thy sting 1" 
 
 Bryan looked at him, and he continued, " O grave, 
 where is thy victory 1 the sting of death is sin, and the 
 strength of sin is the law :" then added in English, 
 "Many's the time that I've gone over those words, for, 
 somehow, they took hold of my fancy ; let alone that my 
 grandfather would be saying it like a paternoster. But, 
 Mr. Bryan, dear, it's myself that can't comprehend it." 
 
 Roused by this judicious appeal, M'Alister replied 
 " Read the next verse." 
 
 Magrath unfolded his manuscript, and read, "But 
 thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 " And do you not understand that, Magrath." 
 
 " Not rightly. Sir, I'm thinking." 
 
 Supplied with so appropriate a text, Bryan proceeded, 
 with kindling animation, to set before him the full and 
 sublime consolation couched under those inspired words. 
 " By the entrance of sin into the world, sentence of death, 
 passed upon all men, for all are born in sin, and live in con- 
 tinual transgression. To him who dies unforg-iven, death 
 comes in unspeakable terrors, summoning his soul to hell. 
 The sting, or dart, which destroys him, is sin ; and that 
 which gives strength or power to sin, is the holy law of 
 God, showing it in all its blackness, the offspring of Satan, 
 worthy to dwell with him in the lake of fire for ever. The 
 grave swallows up its victims, and every mound of earth 
 is but a monument of the power of sin. God's law de- 
 clares ' the soul that sinneth, it shall die ;' ' the wages of 
 sin is death j' ' the wicked shall be turned into hell 5' and 
 armed with this commission, death goes forth to slay — to 
 furnish food for the grave, and fuel for the flames that can- 
 not be quenched. Do you understand this, Magrath V
 
 108 DERRY. 
 
 " I do, sir ; and ead enough it is. But then the inno- 
 cent and the good " 
 
 " The innocent and the good are those who never in 
 thought, word, or deed, departed from the strict and holy 
 law of God ; who never were conscious of a motive that 
 had not his honor and glory for its sole object ; who were 
 neither guilty of actual sin, nor partakers of that sinful na- 
 ture which belongs to the race of guilty Adam. Where 
 shall we find such characters, jMagrath V 
 
 " Indeed, Sir, if you are so strict as that, it isn't in this 
 world we must look for them." 
 
 " Then, if we stop here, judging according to the law 
 of God, what remains but death, in all its terrors, a victo- 
 rious grave, and a portion in eternal fire 1" 
 
 " Nothing else, Sir." 
 
 " Now, Magrath, in order to disarm death of his sting, 
 what must be done V 
 
 " You must take away the law. Sir." 
 
 " Impossible ; for God has said, ' one jot, or one title 
 shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.' " 
 
 " Then we must fulfil it." 
 
 " We cannot ; we are born under a broken law, and 
 we break it daily ; one transgression shuts us out from 
 hope ; for the scripture says, ' whosoever shall keep the 
 whole law, yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.' " 
 
 " Indeed, then, I'm quite astray how we are to get out 
 of it," said Magrath. 
 
 " Sin has obtained the victoiy over us, and by means of 
 the law destroys us. But what if one came, who could, 
 as you say, fulfil the law, having been born without the 
 sin of Adam's race, and lived and died without transgres- 
 sion V 
 
 " He would get the victory back again, sure." 
 
 " Exactly so, Magrath, and Jesus Christ has gained that 
 victory j for he was clothed in flesh, pure and holy as was
 
 DERRY. 109 
 
 Adam's when first created by the hand of Jehovah ; and 
 he perfectly fulfilled the whole law, suffering a wretched 
 life and cruel death, persecuted by Satan and evil men. 
 Yes, he won the victory indeed ! and what he won by 
 bitter sufferings he ogives to all believers. God, who arm- 
 ed the law with its dreadful power to slay, gives us the 
 means to escape its sting, gives us the victory through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. His sufferings satisfied the justice 
 of God : atoning: for our transgressions. His death is our 
 life : for Jesus, by descending into the grave, wrested 
 from Satan the conquest that he had won. And knowing 
 this, may we not exclaim, death, where is thy sting 1 
 grave, where is thy victory ?" 
 
 Magrath replied not ; and Bryan requested Basil to re- 
 peat in Irish the substance of what he had said. This was 
 faithfully done, and attentively heard ; and then M'Alister 
 proceeded to describe who they were who could confi- 
 dently appropriate the apostle's exultation, dwelling on 
 the holiness, the zeal, devotion, and humility which mark 
 a true disciple of Christ : drawing a marked distinction 
 between the careless assent of a worldly mind, and the 
 active principle of true faith, uniting believers to their 
 Lord, as the members to their head, the branch to their 
 root, and the body of flesh to a vivifying soul. " And 
 these," he concluded, " are the ransomed, the pardoned, 
 the justified, who, having no hope but in Christ Jesus, find 
 in him all that they need ; through faith in him they can 
 defy a stingless death, and triumph over the victory of 
 the grave." 
 
 " I believe it," said Magrath, as he looked upon the 
 pale but animated countenance of his instructor ; " for it 
 isn't a fancy that could uphold ye all this sorrowful day. 
 I've listened and watched, but lambs upon earth or saints 
 in heaven couldn't take it more meekly. Not a word of 
 revenge against them that did it j not a look of reproach 
 10*
 
 110 DERRY. 
 
 to me that belong to 'em — and yet a heart-break it is, and 
 
 veins of the heart were they" He grasped Bryan's 
 
 hand, and ejaculatin^!:, " the Lord bless ye !" hastily re- 
 treated into his apartment. 
 
 " How characteristic was that burst of feeling," ex- 
 claimed Basil, " and how cheering ! Mercies rich and 
 abundant lie veiled beneath these cloudy dispensations ; 
 and the persecutions of God's people shall tend, as of old, 
 to the enlargement of his church." 
 
 " Amen !" sighed Bryan. " The blow has fallen heavi- 
 ly upon my heart , and while faith struggles to look up 
 and smile, memory cleaves to earth, imagination digs be- 
 neath its surface, and all the sinful weakness of flesh gath- 
 ers strength to resist the Comforter ; refusing, hating to be 
 comforted j I want reproof." 
 
 " Alas, my son, your, heart reproves you, and Satan 
 whispers hard sayings, adding wormwood to gall. That 
 doubting, half-reproachful expostulation, ' Lord, if thou 
 hadst been here, my brother had not died' — how often has 
 it breathed from my agonized soul ! But they shall rise 
 again, rise to welcome his approach, rise to share the glo- 
 ries of his reign. Then shall death be swallowed up in 
 victory, when this corruptible shall have put on incor- 
 ruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality. 
 It was sweetly considerate of poor Magrath to lead your 
 laboring thoughts into that track of life, and light, and 
 glory." 
 
 " It was indeed. A ray appeared to break on his own 
 mind, revealing where true comfort lay. Oh, that it may 
 lighten more and more, exposing the snares that beset his 
 crooked path, and guiding his feet into the way of peace !"
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The morning which followed that day of bitter trial, 
 dawned on the afflicted family through clouds and storms. 
 A heavy fall of rain, finding free ingress through the bro- 
 ken roof, obliged the inmates to devise means for filling up 
 the chasm — a task too perilous to be performed in the usual 
 way, since the workmen so employed would become a 
 mark for the enemy's gunners. Magrath displayed great 
 skill in directing the operation ; and hastening down stairs, 
 employed himself in altering, as much as possible, the ar- 
 rangement of the furniture, changing the usual position ol 
 the breakfast table,and narrowing the space formerly occupi- 
 ed by the family. Bryan, as he paced the room with restless 
 steps, surveyed from time to time the progress of his attach- 
 ed follower ; and secretly acknowledged the mercy which 
 had sent among them one, who to the faithful affection of 
 old Shane added that judgment and self-possession in which 
 the grey-haired domestic had always proved himself re- 
 markably deficient. But he spoke not. 
 
 Those feelings of bitter wrong sustained, which had 
 wrought in his mind on the preceding day, even to a mo- 
 mentary thirst for vengeance, had partially revived, while, 
 standing on the bedstead he assisted to repair the breach 
 where death found entrance, and fixed a temporary shutter 
 to the window-frame through which the beloved remains
 
 112 DERRY. 
 
 were passed to the street below. To combat these sug- 
 gestions was no easy task ; for ])atriotism combint'd its 
 powerful voice with wliat L,t'enied the pleadings of fdial 
 and fraternal love. Hitherto Bryan had refused to depart 
 from the strict line of defensive operations, nor hid he 
 been much urged to do so ; but now it became evident that 
 frequent sallies would take place, and not to volunteer a sol- 
 dier's part must necessarily expose a young and active man 
 to unpleasant remarks. It is the policy of the tempter to 
 aggravate present grief by leading the imagination to dwell 
 on the probability of future perplexities ; and poor Bryan 
 experienced such a conllict as almost overpowered his 
 frame, fatigued by two nights of watchful sorrow, during 
 which he had not cast olf his apparel. 
 
 Magrath, having ended his arrangements, brought out his 
 uncle, who complained of his chair having been removed ; 
 while Magrath, in a low voice, and in Irish, ixj)lained his 
 motive, and exorted the old man to lay a curb on his feel- 
 ings when the ladies should appear. Touched by the que- 
 rulous tremor of Shane's tone as he promised obedience, 
 Bryan drew a chair close to him, and taking both his 
 hands, asked how he had rested. 
 
 " Rested is it 1 Yourself may tell that, Master Bryan, 
 while the eye and the cheek of ye shew that your young 
 heart's well nigh broken. Ahone! but the deed hasn't 
 brought up to your sight the rivers of blood that trickled 
 past mine ; nor unshrouded the dead to shew you their gap- 
 ing wounds, and make the cries ring in your ears that 
 were hushed long afore you were born." 
 
 " It's nice comfort you're giving him, isn't it V asked 
 Magrath impatiently. 
 
 Shane hung his head, and Bryan with soothing kindness, 
 eaid, " It is I that should comfort him, for he speaks too tru- 
 ly of the agonizing recollections brought to mind by this 
 event. You know not, Magrath, what your uncle's affec-
 
 DERRY. 113 
 
 lion for your race has led Jaim to endure. We live in the 
 veins of his heart, and what afflicts us, pierces him." 
 
 Gratified by this testimony, Shane looked up at his 
 young master, saying, " True for ye, dear, but then we 
 know that they are in glory, and who would bring 'em 
 back V Then, with greater earnestness he went on ; 
 " There she sat, she that's an angel in heaven now, after 
 going to church last Sunday. ' And I'm thinking, Shane,' 
 said she, ' that my poor Ellen won't go again to the house 
 of God, until they'll be carrying her there in a coffin.' 'Ah, 
 now, Miss Lititia,' then said I, 'and what'U be putting such 
 dark fancies in your head \ Many's the day that ye'll 
 both be skipping with the kids, upon your own hills again.' 
 Sure, my heart didn't go along with my words, but I said 
 it to cheer her soul, any how. ' Is it dark my fancies are, 
 Shane V says she, with a smile like a sunbeam. ' Nay, 
 but I'll read you an account of the place that I'm thinking 
 to dwell in.' And then she opened the ould book and 
 read something near the end of it, about a city that hath no 
 8un nor moon, nor candle, but is always bright with the glory 
 of God. I asked her, how did she know that she was going 
 to live there 1 and she told me that she knew it. ' And 
 Shane,' said she, ' you heard the shot that hit the mar- 
 ket-house 1 many of those shots will we have among 
 us ; and if one of them hits me, I'll tell you, Shane dear, 
 it will but be the chariot that my father sends to take me 
 to the bright city.' Och, but I'll never forget how she 
 turned up her blue eyes and smiled, as if it was all before 
 her sight.'' 
 
 " She's there now," uttered Magrath, in a deep tone of 
 voice ; while Bryan in silence regaled on this almost dying 
 testimony of the gentle spirit whose flight he longed to fol- 
 low. 
 
 The entrance of the Lady and Ellen severely put to the 
 test both his fortitude and Shane's. They had slept, and
 
 1 14 DERRY. 
 
 the waking hour — who that has known such a waking 
 hour would wish it described \ — who that has not, could 
 realize the description 1 
 
 Deep sobs shook the frame of poor Ellen, as she vainly 
 strove to answer her brother's tender inquiries : while the 
 Lady, advancing to Shane, took his hand, and extending 
 her other to Alagrath, " What comfort, my aged partner in 
 sorrow, has the Lord given you under this blow !" 
 
 " Tell her Ladyship what you told the master," whis- 
 pered Magrath. Shane readily obeyed, and the Lady's 
 countenance assumed an expn-ssion of triumphant delight, 
 as she uttered praises to the author and linisher of her chil- 
 dren's faith, 
 
 " Oh ! that such a chariot would come for me 1" mur- 
 mured Ellen. 
 
 " Hush, love ; were you not, even now, resigning all 
 your will to his !" 
 
 " Ah ! yes ! but " 
 
 *' Unsay that but, my beloved young lady," interrupted 
 Basil, who had entered. " He hath done all things well ; 
 but it is never well with our souls till they assent to that 
 confession." 
 
 Magrath had placed the Bible before Bryan ; and whis- 
 pered, " Will I call the soldiers in ?" as their steps were 
 heard descending the stairs from their breakfast. 
 
 A nod of delighted acquiescence dispatched him to sum- 
 mon them, while a look of mutual gratulation was exchang- 
 ed between Basil and the Lady. 
 
 Again was the domestic visitation improved to the bene- 
 fit of others ; and Basil, having brought down his Irish 
 translation, had the delight of seeing Magrath diligently 
 studying the chapter that was read. 
 
 " Heaven bless you !" said the elder of the soldiers as 
 they respectfully retired after prayer. " God sends trouble 
 to all 5 and happy are they who get such comfort with it."
 
 DERRT. 115 
 
 "Blessed indeed," remarked Basil, "are those afflic 
 tions which trim the lamp to make it burn more brightly i 
 causing the light to shine broadly before men, which else 
 had illuminated but a contracted sphere." 
 
 " Oh, Sir, said Ellen, " I will, indeed unsay that dis- 
 contented but. It seemed hard, when first we entered this 
 altered room ; but the Lord sends others to hear and to 
 pray in their place ; yes," she added, raising her eyes 
 with solemn fervency, " yes ; he hath done all things well ; 
 and his will, his will alone be done !" 
 
 " Didn't she look like an angel then 1" whispered 
 Shane to Magrath in Irish. 
 
 " Aye, and she'll be one before long." 
 
 Magrath did not seem aware how widely he was de- 
 parting from his church's bounds, in thus freely conceding 
 an entrance into heaven to those whom she stigmatizes as 
 the progeny of hell. Taught from his earliest years to 
 regard as the natural claimants of his most vindictive ha- 
 tred all who bore the Protestant name, the temporary im- 
 pression in their iavor which his gi-andfather's narrations 
 had made, wore away beneath the rough collision of fiercer 
 spirits; and gladly did he accept the pre-eminence 
 which his comparative learning acquired for him among 
 evil men. Hardy, daring, and acute, he shrunk from no 
 enterprise that was placed before him, conscious that his 
 wit and cunning would be found available where the 
 rougher qualities might not suffice. He had been chosen 
 to convey intelligence to Lundy, and approached the walls 
 of Derry with feelings as hostile as ever beat in the bosom 
 of man ; counting it a high privilege to accelerate the ex- 
 termination of what he considered a nest of poisonous rep- 
 tiles. How far the hospitable generosity of Bryan might 
 have wrought upon his prejudiced feelings, without the 
 aid of his unexpected recognition of Shane, may be doubt- 
 ful, but the word is sure which says, " When a man's ways
 
 116 DERRT. 
 
 please the Lord, he maketli even his enemies to be at 
 peace with him," and many a persecuted member of the 
 churcii of Christ in those days of discord and massacre, 
 experienced its fullilmont. Certain it is, tliat consanguin- 
 ity was the least powerful of all the ties which, after a 
 little space, bound Magrath to the house of the IM'Alisters. 
 An Irishman is generally too much the creature of im- 
 pulse to investigate very closely the origin of his warm 
 leeliiigsj and when Magrath did incline to wonder at his 
 growing attachment to an hen»tical brood, he referred it to 
 the royalty of the O'Neill, which demanded from him an 
 allegiance spontaneously paid. Conscience occasionally 
 whispered that the Lady having strayed from their fold, 
 was under the ban of the church ; and as such an alien 
 from the prerogatives of her race : but Magrath turned a 
 deaf ear to these admonitions ; banishing the thought by a 
 happy facility which he had, of forgetting whatever he 
 did not choose to remember. 
 
 Basil's first recital had revived most unexpectedly the 
 very feelings best calculated to soften his religious asperi- 
 ties ; and it was from a dim recollection of the calming 
 effect which the Scriptures never failed to produce on his 
 grandfather, that Magrath was led, as it were, instinctively, 
 to place them in the hands of those who writhed under af- 
 fliction. But to his own mind they were still devoid of 
 interest, unless clothed in the garb of his kindred tongue. 
 " It isn't that I care for the Bible," said he, one day, when 
 wishing to damp the evident hopes that Basil entertained 
 of his conversion. " An ould legend of Bryan Boromy, or 
 Conn, would take my fancy more. But you see the Cel- 
 tic comes so natural to me, that the sound goes through 
 my heart. Sure, and didn't they all speak it that are dead, 
 and they that are far away 1 Wasn't it the comfort of 
 ould Dennis to tell his griefs in it ; and didn't I hear it
 
 DERRY. 117 
 
 talked round the dinner board, and sung over the cradle % 
 Och, but it's a murder to twist this Englishoff my tongue, 
 while the Irish slips out of my throat like the breath of 
 my lungs, or glides down into my heart before I'm aware 
 of it." An Irishman of our day has most beautifully ex- 
 pressed the charm of those familiar accents. 
 And oh ! bo it heard in that lancruarru endearing, 
 
 In wliicli the Ibnd niulher her lullaby snng ; 
 Wljich spoke the first lispings of childhood, and bearing 
 
 The fatiicr's last prayer from iiis now silent tongue. 
 Tiiat so, when ir breathes Ihc pure sound of devotion, 
 And speaks with the power that still'd the rough ocean, 
 Each breast may be caim'd into gentler emotion, 
 And Erin's wild harp to Hosannas be strung. 
 
 When Bryan made his appearance on that day, in the 
 streets of Derry, his garb of deep mourning heightening 
 the paleness of his dejected countenance, looks and words 
 of heartfelt sympathy followed his steps. His young 
 companions greeting him, evinced in various modes the 
 sincerity of their commiseration, some dashing away a tear 
 as they spoke of comfort, others bitterly imprecating ven- 
 geance on the authors of their common calamities, and 
 nearly all describing the event as having kindled tenfold 
 ardor in the breasts of the garrison. 
 
 Arrived at the Diamond, or open square, in which the 
 four principal streets of the city meet, Bryan was quickly 
 joined by Ross, and surrounded by citizens and officers of 
 the garrison, all anxious to tender their mite of consola- 
 tion. 
 
 He had not stood long on this spot when a party ap- 
 proached him, among whom he recognized the two most 
 distinguished characters, Governor Walker and Colonel 
 Murray. 
 
 The former of these, a Yorkshire clergyman, had lately 
 held some preferment in the county of Tyrone ; and being 
 ardently devoted to the Protestant cause, which he con- 
 11
 
 1 18 DEBBV. 
 
 sidercd it lawful to support hy otln-r than spiritual wea- 
 jions, he had raised a regiment Jbr the protection of his im- 
 mediate neighborhood, placinfj himself at its head. Dur- 
 ing the early jjart of Liiiuly's administration, and before 
 his treachery uas generally .susjjtxled, \\ alker had opened 
 a communication with iiim, volunteering his services to 
 aid in the defence of Derry ; and very materially had he 
 conduced to the first repulse of the rnemy. '1 he undis- 
 guised malice of Lundy towards him, and his refusal to 
 admit within the city one who had engaged the foe at a 
 few miles distance during the whole night, had aroused the 
 popular feeling so strongly against Luiuly, that it issued, 
 as we have seen, in tin; ex| ult-ion of tliat traitor, and \m 
 unprincipled abettors. ^Valker was tlirn, in conjunction 
 with Colonel Baker, invested with the government of 
 Derry ; and in his own j)erson continued to unit*' the 
 strangely incongruous characters of a military commander, 
 and civil governor, and a spiritual pastor. Nor was hii 
 external appearance of less singular combination than his 
 official responsibilities ; considerably advanced in life, his 
 tall and commanding figure yet displayi-d no token of 
 time's devastating hand, but well became the cuirass 
 which shone from beneath his upper garment. This, 
 however, was clerical, a gown of deep purple, with loose 
 sleeves, and a large ministerial band ; but the military sash 
 of bright crimson, not unfrequently stuck with pistols, 
 formed, with the cuirass, as unsuitable an accompaniment 
 to it as did the sword which his right hand generally bore, 
 to the Bible frequently carried in his left. Governor 
 Walker Avas, indeed, an apt personification of the days in 
 which he lived ; and had he confined his active exertions 
 to the spot committed to his trust, it might be difficult to 
 pass, at this distance of time, a severe judgment on a man 
 who certainly appeared so far commissioned for a most 
 extraordinary work ; but when we follow him to the end
 
 DERRY. 119 
 
 of his mortal career, and find him numbered among the 
 slain amid the waters of the distant Boyne, whither no 
 possible call of duty could have led him, we are again 
 brought back to the emphatic warning of him whose am- 
 bassador he assumed to be, " Put up thy sword again into 
 his place : for all they that take the sword shall perish 
 with the sword." 
 
 Murray wore a far different aspect. Descended from 
 the race of Philiphaugh, whence sprung the house of Athol, 
 he inherited an estate in Ireland from his fathers, who had 
 settled with others of their countrymen in the north. He 
 held the Protestant religion with the tenacity of his Scot- 
 tish ancestry, and defended it with the enthusiastic ardor 
 of his Irish birth and temperament. Still in the bloom of 
 life, he had already acquired great distinction by various 
 exploits of military courage and skill. To his energetic 
 proceedings, after fighting his way to the gates of Derry at 
 the head of his troop, was owing the sudden flight of Lundy 
 and his crew; and Murray, recognized as principal mili- 
 tary commander, enjoyed the full confidence both of the 
 garrison and citizens, among whom he was exceedingly 
 popular. 
 
 The day had brightened into sun-shine, and Shane 
 O'Connogher, leaning on the arm of his nephew, hobbled 
 unperceived towards his young master, on one side, while 
 the Governor and Colonel approached him from the op- 
 posite direction — he was made, for the time, an object of 
 general attention. 
 
 Walker first advanced, and laying one hand on Bryan's 
 shoulder, while he raised the other towards heaven, to 
 which also he lifted his expressive countenance, he solemn- 
 ly uttered, " I saw under the altar the souls of them that 
 were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony 
 which they held : and they cried with a loud voice, say- 
 ing, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge
 
 120 DERRY. 
 
 and avenge our blood on them that dwell on tlie earth \ 
 And white robes wore given unto every one of them ; 
 and it was said unto tlit-m tliat tliey should rest ytt lor a 
 little season, until their fellow servants also and their 
 brethren, that should be killfd as they were, should be ful- 
 filled." 
 
 These sublime words of Scripture, spoken with the 
 deepest emphasis of genuine feeling by a voice w»dl ac- 
 customed to make itself heard, even in the din of battle, 
 produced no slight ell'ect on the surrounding listeners. 
 Many an eye sparkled, many a cheek burned j and the 
 martyr's zeal appeared to kindle among them. Bryan 
 could not be insensible to their perfect a|)plicabilily in the 
 case of his beloved parent and sister ; well he knew that 
 for the testimony which they held, the testimony of Je8U8 
 as the only and all-sulTicient Savior of sinners, most 
 gladly would they have laid their heads on the block, or 
 given their bodies to the llame. But he was also conscious, 
 that the indiscriminate zeal of Walker would have ap- 
 plied the same passage to any among the ungodly multi- 
 tude, who had fallen, as Protestants, by the baud of the 
 common foe. He could not, therefore, yield the animated 
 response which the same passage would have called for, 
 if adduced by the lip of Malcolm, or of Basil ; but he deep- 
 ly felt the alfectionate sympathy of the warlike pastor, 
 and, clasping his descending hand, assured him that by the 
 grace of God, he was enabled to resign submissively what 
 his unerring judgment had seen fit to recal from among 
 the many blessings bestowed on him. 
 
 " Right, my young friend. You did not, without count- 
 ing the cost, close these gates against the popish legions, 
 and choose the defence of the Lord Almighty before the 
 favor of a treacherous king. We shall conquer yet, for 
 our cause is righteous, our hearts are true, and our hands 
 strong ; and they who now lament the sorest, will exult the
 
 DERRY. 121 
 
 loudest, when God has broken this accursed 3'oke from off 
 the neck of the country." He drew back, and Colonel 
 Murray, extending his hand to Bryan, spoke with a warmth 
 that crimsoned his cheek and bedewed his eye. 
 
 " Believe me, M'AIister, there is not a heart within these 
 walls, but throbs for your calamity in mingled sorrow and 
 wr-'h. The first shot, I may almost say, seems to have 
 
 • : d you out, as the fittest object of revenge — you, who 
 
 .0 been foremost among the gallant citizens of Derry, 
 .0 stamp upon her annals the record of inflexible patriot- 
 ism, shewing them an example of active courage, as now 
 of pious, unshrinking endurance." The sentiment was so 
 accordant with those of the by-standers, that it elicited an 
 audible buz of approbation, restrained only by delicacy 
 from breaking out into louder applause. The Colonel, 
 then, stepping back a pace or two, still facing Bryan, with 
 both hands resting on his sword, and the same bright ani- 
 mation playing on his countenance, resumed in a yet loud- 
 er tone — 
 
 " Reparation we cannot offer for this deep wrong sus- 
 tained in the public cause : yet what we can do we will. 
 Yonder, M'AIister," — and he pointed with his sword — 
 "yonder are the infernal machines that brought death into 
 your peaceful home. A sally is projected ; that battery 
 must be stormed, and the unanimous voice of your fellow- 
 townsmen will confirm my words, when I concede to your 
 well tried courage and fidelity, the post of honor — the con- 
 duct of this assault— the privilege of this just and honor- 
 able act of vengeance." A loud and general cheer from 
 his auditory gave the anticipated confirmation. 
 
 Never in the course cf his short experience, had Bryan 
 been called on to maintain such a struggle against every 
 bias of natural feeling. Young, ardent, and devoted to 
 the cause in which so many of his race had bled, he could 
 not be insensible to the personal distinction conferred, by 
 11*
 
 122 DERRY. 
 
 such marked ipspect from Walker and Murray. Twice 
 load he, with ditiiculty, stifled the secret cry for revenge, 
 to whicli this public invitation seemed, to give a momen- 
 tary sanctii)n : while all around him was calculated to feed 
 the indignant fire, as well as to render more intolerable the 
 imputation of cowardice, with which a refusal might liiirly 
 brand his name. The bright eye of Murray, and the ap- 
 proving smile of Walker were both upon him ; his young 
 companions crowded around, eager to volunteer their ser- 
 vices beneath his leadership. The sword of M'Alister was 
 girded over his sable coat, and on its liili his left hand un- 
 consciously rested ; while a discharge from the enemy's 
 guns, and a bugle call from the guard-house, completed 
 the exciting concomitants of that trying moment. 
 
 And how did Bryan meet this exigency \ In a strength 
 not his own. The principle on which he had dcclint'd to 
 mingle in offensive warfare was unchanged, nor could its 
 strong foundation be shaken by the inroad made upon his 
 personal happiness. Indeed, as he raised his heart in 
 mental prayer, that event assumed a restraining character, 
 as recalling forcibly to mind the command, "Avenge not 
 yourselves — vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the 
 Lord." Bryan's resolution was taken : but before he could 
 give utterance to it, Shane caught hold of his sl»^eve. The 
 old man had frequently expressed his displeasure at the 
 pacific counsels of the Lady of M'Alister, and loudly urged 
 his master to seek distinction in the paths of military peril ; 
 but the last blow had fallen so heavily on the acred suffer- 
 er, that his spirit was utterly broken by it ; and di^racted 
 by the apprehension of seeing the youth borne home, a 
 mangled corpse, to their house of mourning, he now utter- 
 ed, in a plaintive tone, an appeal, which increased the em- 
 barrassments of Bryan's situation. 
 
 " Musha, then. Honey dear, is it yourself that'll go to 
 be murdered and shot by the butcherly hands that have
 
 DERRY. 123 
 
 laid your kin in an untimely grave ? Ahone ! but a bloody 
 welcome ye'll get, and the Lady's heart to burst over 
 your coffin." 
 
 '' Silence your blarney there !" exclaimed an angry by- 
 stander J " d'ye think that ever a lad of us goes out to bat- 
 tle, but some lady's heart must stand a chance of an ache, 
 or may be a breaking, before he comes backl" 
 
 "Fie, fie, man ! ' cried another ; " what's to come over 
 us, if old soldiers preach up faint-heartedness to young 
 ones V 
 
 " Och, and it's no less than Shane O'Connogher," added 
 a third, more angrily, " old fire-eating Shane, persuading 
 his master to be a coward !" 
 
 That word cut Bryan to the heart ; his color rose, and 
 his lip quivered, and he felt as though more were required 
 of him than strength was given to achieve. But seeing 
 Shane about to renew his pleadings, he hastily interposed, 
 and looking on the last speaker, said, " Cannot charity 
 surmise a less disgraceful motive than cowardice, where 
 the hand is withheld from taking vengeance for a private 
 wrong V 
 
 " Private !" repeated Walker, " can that wrong be pri- 
 vate M'hich has carried blood and havoc into the family of 
 a patriotic citizen 1 Nay, but ' if one member suffer, the 
 rest suffer with it.' — Your wrong, M'Alister, is ours, and 
 our wrongs are j^ours. Private !" and he pointed to where 
 a bomb was at that moment falling over the houses ; " me- 
 thinks such messengers as that are sufficiently public to 
 appease all scruples on the score of individual grievance- 
 Come, young gentleman, I, an Englishman, am daily haz- 
 arding my life on behalf of your country — I, a minister of 
 the gospel of peace," and he drew his little bible from his 
 bosom, " am in arms to defend the most holy faith contain- 
 ed in this precious book. Think you that a private wrong 
 from yonder savages, would win me to renounce this glo- 
 rious cause 1 such qualms are unseemly,"
 
 124 DERRY. 
 
 " Nevertheless," replied Bryan, " as I have hitherto de- 
 clared my purpose of maintaining the character which I 
 at first assumed — one purely defensive — I have yet to 
 learn on what grounds I may now consistently depart 
 from it, under a full disclaimer of personal revenge." 
 
 " Please yourself, Sir," said Walker, as he coolly turned 
 away ; and Bryan had to endure the glance, the -hnig, 
 the whisper of wonder and contempt, from many of those 
 who had most eagerly pressed forward to hail him their 
 appointed leader. Even Ross walked off in gloomy dis- 
 pleasure ; but Murray, after a jiause of evident perplexity 
 and disap[)ointment, gave proof of the generous feeling for 
 which he was distinguished. In the same clear, audible 
 tone he once more addressed !!\I'Alister : " I cannot say 
 that 1 fully comprehend the nature of your distinction, 
 nor where the precise line of demarcation lies. But your 
 scruples I respect, because I know,^^ and he laid a strong 
 emphasis on the word, " that your personal intrepidity is 
 unimpeachable as your pnncijiles — both above the breath- 
 ing of a question. I would not, 1 confess, desire to see the 
 example generally followed, under our present circum- 
 stances ; but no man of honorable feeling can withhold 
 the testimony of warm esteem, where consistency of con- 
 duct springs from purity of motive. Give me your hand, 
 M'Alister; a hand that will never flinch from any enter- 
 prise, where your conscience approves." And with this 
 kind farewell he followed Walker. 
 
 Oppressed, and yet relieved from a far sorer oppression, 
 Bryan turned towards the burying ground, hoping by a 
 visit to that endeared spot, to calm his agitated spirit : yet 
 before he reached the corner, now so sadly precious, his 
 attention was attracted by two children, seated on a new 
 made grave, and crying bitterly. Bryan knew it to be 
 that of a young townsman, who had fallen in the sally of 
 the preceding Sunday ; and drawn by sympathy, he ap-
 
 DERRT. 12S 
 
 proached the youthful mourners, gently inquiring why 
 they grieved : " Oh, isn't it enough to be grieving at," 
 cried the girl, " when brother Patrick is lying down here, 
 ever so deep, and will never get up again !" 
 
 " Mother is always calling him," added the boy, who 
 was much younger, " but he doesn't come, any how ; 
 though I've called him too." And putting down his rosy 
 mouth to the sod, he shouted "Pat !" with all his power. 
 
 " Ah, vein of our hearts," sobbed the girl, as she also 
 bent downwards, " is it never that you'll answer us again, 
 your poor little Thadv and me !" 
 
 Bryan was deeply touched ; he seated himself by them 
 on the grave, and said, " My dears, 1 can feel for your 
 sorrow, and you for mine. Look yonder, in that corner, 
 at the large new mound of clay ; my own fond mother, 
 my young and beautiful sister, were buried there last 
 night" — he could not proceed. 
 
 The little boy leaned against him, looking up in his 
 face, while the girl said, " W hat, the ladies is it I — the 
 ladies killed by the big shot in their bed ?" 
 
 Bryan nodded assent. " Oh, then, and I wish you saw 
 my mother ; it's the only thing she'll hear about, let alone 
 Patrick. May be she'd listen, if you spoke of them first, 
 and then of Jesus Christ." 
 
 " And why of the Savior last 1" 
 
 " I don't rightly know ; she'd be talking of nothing else, 
 and Pat couldn't tire of reading about him in the ould bi- 
 ble. But now, joy, if we'll be spaking the least word, she 
 goes wild, and cries out for Pat, to no end." 
 
 " Will you take me to see her ?" asked Bryan. 
 
 " Och, and it's we that will, sure," answered the girl, 
 rising with alacrity ; but the boy remained seated, and as 
 Bryan moved away, he pulled at his coat, saying, " Sir, if 
 you'd call very loud, Pat, may be he'd hear you — Sir, will 
 you then 1"
 
 126 OTJRRY. 
 
 Bryan made no answor, but lifting the child in his arms, 
 and taking the girl by the hand, conducted thoni to the 
 other grave. 
 
 " See, my dears, if calling would waken the dead, do 
 you not tiiiiik that 1 should raise my voice, and shout for 
 those who lie here to return to me 1" 
 
 " May be not, Sir," said the girl. " Heaven is a better 
 place for them — no shot lly about there: Josus Christ 
 feeds them, and takes care of them." 
 
 Surprised, and soothed too, Bryan rejoined, " Most true, 
 my child ; nor would I, as I meant to tell you, bring them 
 back to this world of woe : for I know that they are with 
 Jesus. But how comes it that you wished to try and awak- 
 en Patrick '." 
 
 The girl again began to sob, and twisting her little 
 apron, said, " I didn't wish to try, because 1 knew that the 
 dead would never wake, till the angel comes with a trum- 
 pet. But mother cries out so, and she can't believe that 
 he's with Jesus Christ. It's Thady wants to call him up, 
 to make mother eat." 
 
 ]\Iore than ever interested for his little companions, 
 Bryan only remained long enough by the grave to declare 
 to them in simple terms the blessedness of sleeping in Je- 
 sus ; with a solemn warning of the hourly peril in which 
 their lives were placed : and then, still carrying Thady, 
 who had become drowsy with grief and fatigue, he accom- 
 panied Sarah to the abode of her parent, which was not far 
 distant. 
 
 It was the house of a widow, in humble, yet decent cir- 
 cumstances ; but all bore the marks of desolation and dis- 
 order. In a high-backed chair, at the farther end of a little 
 darkened apartment, reclined the mother ; her apron 
 thrown over her face. A compassionate neighbor watch- 
 ed beside her, who, on their silent approach, whispered, 
 " I'm tliinking she sleeps, the bereaved creature !"
 
 DEBRY. 127 
 
 "Sleeps!" repeated the mourner, throwing the apron 
 from her face ; " No, no — he giveth his beloved sleep, but 
 none to me." 
 
 Bryan quietly seated himself near her, and carefully 
 supporting the little Thady, showed him to his mother, in 
 a profound slumber. He was a beautiful child ; and the 
 traces of tears on his eyelids and cheeks, with the disor- 
 dered state of his auburn locks, added much to the interest 
 of his appearance. The mother's attention was arrested ; 
 she gazed on her boy ; and Bryan said, " Is not this one of 
 His beloved l see how peacefully he sleeps. I found 
 him," he continued, " near the spot where last night I 
 buried my mother and sister." 
 
 This abrupt intimation had all the effect that he antici- 
 pated ; the widow looked at him with much compassion, 
 and taking his hand, burst into tears. 
 
 " I have trusted the Lord," continued Bryan, " while 
 his dealings were plain and comprehensible to human 
 reason ; but now is the trial of faith, when he comes in a 
 cloud, rending away our heart-strings, and the soul would, 
 if it could, stay his hand, and say unto him. What doest 
 Thou 1" 
 
 The widow shook her head from side to side, and hid 
 her face, but spoke not. Bryan resumed. 
 
 " To have trusted in him, to have sought him long in 
 earnest prayer, and confidently known that the prayer of 
 faith could not fail : to have seen a token of gracious ac- 
 ceptance, and then the veil drawn, and all left dark — im- 
 penetrably dark — oh, it teaches us a lesson of our own un- 
 belief, most sorely humbling. For, had we faith, but as a 
 grain of mustard seed, we should cast ourselves upon that 
 Beal, ' the promise of God standeth sure.' "' 
 
 "Oh, Sir," exclaimed the poor woman, " your's are the 
 first words that have reached my heart, and sure I see a
 
 128 DERRY. 
 
 Jittit? briciht spot of hope and coinfort where all seemed 
 blacker than midnight. " 
 
 She then told him, that her dear boy had given many 
 evidences of spiritual feeling, delighting in the scriptures 
 and prayer. That on the preceding Saturday he had 
 been appointed to accompany «i party in the sally of the 
 following day ; but did nut make it known to her until the 
 Sabbath morning ; when on her requesting him to attend 
 her and the children to public worship, he was obliged 
 to confess that his destination was far different. In vain 
 did she plead, and weep, and set l)efore him the sin of vi- 
 olating the Lord's day : to hinder him was impossible, and 
 ■when he asked for her blessing, she still continued to urge 
 him, imtil, after hastily embracing her, he ran off. His 
 mangled remains were brought home at night : and utter 
 despair in regard to his eternal portion, had taken posses* 
 sion of her mind to that hour. 
 
 liy representing the peculiar nature of that obligation 
 which compelled the youth to follow his commanders, 
 Bryan convinced her, that she was not justified in deciding 
 so unfavorably, on this awfully interesting question. He 
 exhorted her rather to receive the message as one of ad- 
 monition to herself, sent in love, to rebuke and chasten, 
 for the quickening of zeal and repentance. 
 
 He dwelt on the mysteriousness of the divine dispensa- 
 tions towards the most favored people of God ; and ob- 
 tained a promise, that she would seek grace to rest her 
 burden on the unchangeableness of him, whose gifts and 
 calling are without repentance. 
 
 After kneeling in prayer, and persuading her to take 
 proper sustenance, he left a kiss on little Thady's bloom- 
 ing cheek, and departed. At the door, Sarah stood, and 
 raising her eyes to his face, with a low curtsey, pronounced 
 the words, "The Lord bless ye, Sir!"' in a tone of such
 
 DERRY. 129 
 
 solemn, such earnest gratitude, that Bryan's heart wel- 
 comed the blessing, and acknowledged the hand of God 
 in honoring him with this commission to comfort his 
 mourners, rather than permitting to go forth on an embassy 
 of destruction against his wretched and deluded country- 
 men. 
 
 12
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 To comnuinicato the tidinf!;s of Bryan's resolute consist 
 tency, Shane OX'onnogher had hastened home : hut Ma- 
 grath lingered about the Diamond, exceedin2;ly provoked 
 by the sarcasms occasionally levelled at his absent master. 
 Still he restrained himself; until, sauntering near a small 
 group of the better sort of citizens, he heard a respectable 
 merchant, an alderman, wlio prided himself on particular 
 friendship with Governor Walker, most vehemently pro- 
 testing that the insolent young scoundrel ought to be 
 drummed out of the city forthwith. 
 
 " Nay,'' observed another, smiling, " such a punishment 
 would be somewhat too severe for a silly notion learnt of 
 his fantastical old grandmother." 
 
 " 'Tis no such thing," answered the other, " malice and 
 envy against Dr. ^^ alker prompted every word that fel- 
 low uttered. Did you not perceive, in his sanctimonious 
 abhorrence of blood-shedding, an implied censure on our 
 heroic governor 1 If a layman, forsooth ! couldn't draw 
 the sword against popish traitors, how much less a clergy- 
 man ! This M'Alister, with all his fine mouthing, is a 
 rebel at heart, a hypocrite and a coward." 
 
 This was two much for Magrath : with that peculiar ex- 
 pression of bitter irony and stern disdain in which he had 
 lew competitors, he addressed the angry calumniator.
 
 DERRY. 131 
 
 " Sure, and the lad's out of hearing : you needn't spare 
 your lungs." 
 
 " What does the rascal mean V asked the other, sur- 
 veying him from top to toe. 
 
 " Mane ! what would it mane but to put the lie down 
 the throat of any spalpeen that names coward on Bryan 
 M'Alister." 
 
 " Hark ye, Sir," said another citizen, shaking his cane, 
 " if you don't ask pardon for your insolence, we'll soon 
 teach you better manners." 
 
 " Pardon is it \ Fait, and I've nothing to pardon you 
 for : it wasn't your honor that spake against him." 
 
 "Away with you, Paddy," said an English officer, who 
 stood by, "or your wit won't save your bacon." 
 
 Magrath, however, moved not, but continued to bend a 
 most ominous look upon the first offender, who called out, 
 " Halloo ! a guard here. The fellow's dangerous. Come, 
 Sir, off to the council : you shall confess your business to 
 Governor Walker." 
 
 " Confess, is it 1 and to the English priest \ Och, and 
 it's little he'll get out of me, his fighting reverence, any 
 how." 
 
 At this sally, some laughed : others denounced him 
 forthwith as a popish spy ; and Magrath's case was begin- 
 ning to assume an unpleasant aspect, when Colonel Murray 
 riding past, observed the commotion, and reined in his 
 horse. 
 
 The alderman bustled towards him, and his communica- 
 tion induced Murray to dismount, directing that the pris- 
 oner should be conducted into the adjoining guard-house, 
 requesting the attendance of the governor, who was at 
 hand. 
 
 All the evil in Magrath's character was now at work : 
 religious prejudice, party animosity, and the dark passions 
 of revengeful nature. Every individual present appeared
 
 132 DEBRY. 
 
 a legitimate object of bis hatred ; save only Murray, whose 
 courteous and consideratL- behavior towards Ilryan had 
 completely disarmed his malignity. The colonel, how- 
 ever, took his seat on a side-bench, in the attitude of an 
 observer only ; while Walker, with the alderman, and 
 other leading men, appeared in the conspicuous situation 
 of judges. There were not wanting some who treated the 
 whole matter as a ridiculous farce, while others conceived 
 that a mighty plot was on the eve of discovery. 
 
 In fact, the worthy alderman was an alarmist ; and one 
 of those fond partizans who considered the whole cause 
 of King William and the Protestant faith, to hang on the 
 individual exertions and personal security of Governor 
 Walker: who, on his part, had by far too much good 
 eense and integrity to encourage such misplaced confi- 
 dence in a fellow mortal. 
 
 The charge having been gone into, the harsh expres- 
 sions of the alderman being considerably softened in his 
 own statement, Magrath was asked what excuse he could 
 offer for so insulting an attack on one who had given him 
 no offence. 
 
 " Give him his oath," answered the prisoner, " till I 
 cross-question him." This proposal, exciting some mirth 
 at the alderman's expense, increased his wrath. 
 
 " He has been on his trial before now, I'll warrant you, 
 and for something more serious ; but waving the insult, 
 which is, in truth, beneath my notice, I tax the fellow 
 with being a popish spy." Then seeing Ross, who had 
 mingled with the crowd, he added, " You, Sir, as the inti- 
 mate companion of young M'Alister, can attest whether 
 this fellow has really been brought up in his family or not." 
 
 " Does he assert that he was V asked a person whom 
 Ross recognized as the original captor of IMagrath. 
 
 It was generally admitted that no such assertion had 
 been made : while the inflexible composure of Magrath 
 impressed many in his favor.
 
 DERRY. 
 
 133 
 
 " It does not appear to rtie," remarked Governor W'alk- 
 er, " that any thing more is proved than a very rude and 
 unjustifiable speech to a superior. If the prisoner can 
 show himself authorized to fight the battles of .Mr. M'Alis- 
 ter, I, for one, shall be content to u^e my influence with my 
 good friend Crowe, to accept an apology and dismiss him." 
 
 "Plase your riverince," asked Magrath, with a look of 
 simplicity ; " what call would a man shew for fighting of 
 battles V 
 
 " There now !" exclaimed the alderman : but Walker, 
 with great good humor, replied, " the call of duty, my 
 lad. A loyal man may fight when his king's authority is re- 
 sisted ; a Christian man will fight the battles of his faith ; and 
 an attached follower may stand by his master when assail- 
 ed ; which in the present instance I do not see to have 
 been the case. But come : our time is precious : call 
 witness to prove your connection with the IM'Alister fami- 
 ly ; and then make a suitable apology to this gentleman." 
 
 Ross stepped forward, and said that he knew Magrath to 
 have been some time in the family, that a near relation of 
 his had served them for half a century, and the attachment, 
 he believed, was very strong. 
 
 " And is he a steady adherent to our cause V asked the 
 suspicious alderman. 
 
 " He was among the first to assume the white badge, to 
 my knowledge." 
 
 " And his religion 1" 
 
 Here one of the soldiers quartered in the house, eagerly 
 advanced to depose that Magrath had, on that morning, in- 
 vited him to join in family worship, at which he was also 
 present, " After what form?" inquired the persevering 
 accuser. The soldier answered, that they belonged to the 
 Established Church. 
 
 " All well," said the governor : " and now make an am- 
 ple apology to the alderman." 
 12*
 
 134 DERBY. 
 
 But Magrath was thoroughly bf nt to ruin his own cause. 
 He roundly accused Mr. Crowe of having " meniled one 
 big lie with a bigger," and insisted that the apology ought 
 to come from him. 
 
 " Let him state his own case," said Colonel Murray, 
 " or we shall never have it ended." 
 
 Magrath turned to him, his countenance brightened, and 
 his manner softening from dogged sullenness into cour^ 
 tcous respect. " VV^hy, then, your honor, and I'll answer 
 to you with all the pleasure in life." 
 
 " Take my place, colonel," cried Walker, " and mak« 
 what dispatch you can." 
 
 "Sure, your riverince, you'll he laving your blessing 
 over us, anyhow V drawled out Magrath, in a ridiculous 
 tone, as Walter stopped to buckle on his sword. 
 
 "Come, come," said Murray, rapping his knuckles 
 loudly on the tables, " no more trifling, Sir, be brief." 
 
 In a moment Magrath assumed the aspect and attitude 
 of a man resolved to make good his cause ; and fixing a 
 proud look on Murray, said, " It's yourself. Sir that would 
 scorn to put wrong over right, or to call a noble young 
 gentleman out of his name, braving him behind his back. 
 It was you that spoke the generous word for him ; and 
 yourself would have stopped the foul mouth that angered 
 me. 
 
 " Angered you, truly !" interrupted the alderman. 
 Magrath turned fiercely round. " Didn't you call him 
 a rebel? — didn't you call him a hypocrite! — didn't yo 
 stick the name of coward upon him 1" 
 
 " I hope not," said Murray, " your fancy, my lad, help 
 ed out this meaning." 
 
 "Fancy is it V Then faking a cane from one who 
 stood near, he touched with it the shoulderof a gentleman, 
 saying, " You'll plase. Sir, to give evidence. Sworn you 
 are not — a poor Irishman's good name isn't worth such
 
 BERRY. 136 
 
 Becurity — but a gentleman's word is fair coin. Speak the 
 truth, Sir." 
 
 " Reall}^" answered the person appealed to, " I cannot 
 in conscience refuse. Certainly, Crowe, you did use the 
 words, though I am sure they were spoken in the heat of 
 argument." 
 
 The momentary displeasure occasioned by Bryan's con- 
 duct had already disnppeared from the minds of those who 
 well knew and rightly appreciated his examplary charac- 
 ter. Considerable indignation was excited by this disclo- 
 sure ; and not a little heightened when Magrath proceed- 
 ed " Wasn't he gone to grieve over the clay that these 
 
 two hands shovelled last night into the grave I Didn't he 
 return to see where they are not, who used to brighten hie 
 meals when he came in from the long guard, and the com- 
 fortless watching 1 A hypocrite ! aye, he will put a smile 
 over the breaking heart, to cheer up them that are fading 
 before his eyes. A rebel is he 1 — and the blood of Neill 
 in every vein !" — he trembled with passionate emotion. 
 
 "A great preservative, that against rebellion !" said Al- 
 derman Crowe, sneeringly. 
 
 " Pardon me," interrupted JMurray, somewhat warmly, 
 " but allowances must be made for those national feelings 
 which are enterwoven with our very being. This poor 
 fellow's attachment may well gather strength from the cir- 
 cumptance to which he last alluded. Young M'Alister 
 holds some singular opinions, but I confess that his manly 
 avowal of them struck me as indicating the reverse of hy- 
 pocrisy. As to rebellion or cowardice, the words might 
 escape in a moment of initation, but intentionally they 
 could not be uttered in reference to M'Alisler." 
 
 " Right for ye. Colonel Murray," said Magrath, trium- 
 phantly, " but his worship spoke a true word that he 
 could'nt make good. He called me a popish spy. Now, 
 a Catholic I am, and never denied it ; and if I didn't come
 
 136 DERRY. 
 
 here as a s[jy, I came as an cnprny. It Isn't for love of 
 your faith, nor for love of your cause, that Im your 
 friend, anyhow : but Ive borne the badge, and Til stick to 
 it, for the sake of Bryan AI'Alister." 
 
 "Upon my word,' said the alderman, "we are prettily 
 garrisoned, under this young gentleman's command." 
 
 "You are at liberty, Magrath," observed the Colonel, 
 rising. " Return to your master ; but, in future put a 
 check on these hasty ebullitions, or the consequences may 
 be more serious." Then, leaving the room, he remarked 
 to a brother othcer, " such a fellow is worth a regiment of 
 mercenary allii's." 
 
 Not a lew of the party concurred in this sentiment ; for 
 among the most faithful adherents of the alllicted Pro- 
 testants were often found those, who though refusing to 
 forsake their religion, yet held it in subordination to their 
 more earthly attachments : and the bold honesty of Ma- 
 grath's avowals had made its way to many manly bosoms. 
 The alderman, however, was exci-edingly annoyed at the 
 unceremonious manner ui which Murray had dismissed the 
 prisoner, without even pressing the condition of an apolo- 
 gy. In fact, Murray possessed too enlarged a mind for the 
 abode of party spirit, which loves to coil itself within a 
 contracted habitation. His generous sympathy was 
 awakened by Magrath's brief yet touching allusion to 
 M'Alister's domestic calamity; and the concluding trait of 
 enthusiastic nationality struck a kindred chord in his own 
 chivalric character, to which the alderman's unfeeling re- 
 mark presented a discordant contrast. 
 
 There had, indeed, been such displays — displays of mu- 
 tual animosity — within the walls of Derry, as well nigh 
 disheartened her warmest defenders ; and happy it was for 
 them, that the more elevated characters who now took the 
 lead, both in civil and military concerns, placed a check 
 on these foolish and disgraceful exhibitions ; the nature of
 
 DERRY. ]37 
 
 ■which may be judged from the fact that, a short time be- 
 fore, in that very place, the Diamond, two parties, Epis- 
 copalian and Presbyterian, had actually arrayed themselves 
 to fight for the privileges of respectively using the cathe- 
 dral as a place of worship ! The right feeling of a few 
 principal m<'n interposed, to prevent this alm.ost incredible 
 act of madness ; and Walker succeeded in convincing 
 both parties that Hewson, the individual who had instigated 
 them to it, was a hired emissary of T3rconners. By much 
 persuasion they were induced to adjust the difference, and 
 agree to use alternately the venerable edifice on the Sab- 
 bath : and once in the week also the ministers of the kirk 
 were invited to assemble their congregations beneath its 
 roof. Increasing danger and privations quickly united 
 tlie sincere Protestants in a common bond ot fidelity : but 
 sad were the forebodings of those whose spiritual discern- 
 ment could detect, in this unseemly contest, the permitted 
 power of Satan within, while his more open instruments 
 from without were so vauntingly defied. 
 
 There was also much of treacherous instability among 
 the worldly class, which manifested itself by degrees in 
 frequent desertions, accompanied sometimes with dis- 
 closures that kept the garrison in continual fear lest the 
 enemy's guns should be so pointed as to ignite their scanty 
 stores of ammunition ; and those very characters, whose 
 blind attachment was wont to manifest itself in ebullitions 
 of misjudging zeal, like that of Alderman Crowe, were the 
 most ready and efficient dupes of such hollow professors. 
 Crowe had a follower, in whom he placed unbounded con- 
 fidence, on the ground of his having forsaken popery out 
 of compliment to himself; and this man was made ac- 
 quainted with many deliberations that were not supposed 
 to be divulged beyond the council-chamber. To him the 
 alderman communicated his suspicions respecting Magrath, 
 and directed him to keep an eye on the audacious avower
 
 138 DERRY. 
 
 of popery — an injunction upon wliicli the other acted, 
 from motives somewhat unlike those suggested by his em- 
 ployer. 
 
 Time was rolling on, and the warmth of approaching 
 summer appeared far more dreadful than the rudest storms 
 of winter to so dense a population, pent up within a nar- 
 row compass. Alter the beginning of May, the throwing 
 of bombs ceased : and this was hailed as a welcome res- 
 pite, thougli only of a few weeks duration ; but the firing 
 of cannon balls into the city, some of which were red hot, 
 created a new source of terror, and deprived several j)er- 
 Bons of life. 
 
 James Stuart was still in Dublin, where, assisted by his 
 mock parliament, he continued to issue the most tyrannical 
 and oppressive edicts against the Protestants ol the land, 
 outlawing them, that his own adherents might obtain pos- 
 session of their estates ; and proving that their sole hope 
 must lie in a desperate course of resistance to his usurpa- 
 tion. No succors had been received from King \\ illiam : 
 while the French fleet, with a reinforcement of popish aux- 
 iliaries on board, had gladdened the heart of James by mak- 
 ing good their entrance intoBantry Bay, and landing their 
 formidable freight in the country which, it was credibly 
 reported, was to be annexed to the dominions of the French 
 king, when his troops should have completed its subjuga- 
 tion. The Marechal Conrad de Rosen, a fierce and pitiless 
 commander, headed this expedition : and commenced his 
 progress across the island, from which his object was to 
 root out Protestantism in every form, and to lay the nation 
 prostrate before the rulers into whose hearts it was put to 
 give their dominion unto the papal antichrist. It is difficult 
 to assign a reason for the tardiness of the English govern- 
 ment in this emergency ; but it was overruled to the better 
 instruction of the Protestants as to the value of the stake for 
 ■which they contended ; and also to the severe chastisement
 
 DERRY. 139 
 
 of that pride, self-confidence, and disunion which so dis- 
 gracefully marred the church of Christ among them. 
 
 During the month of May, continual sallies took place 
 from the gates of Derry, in which the besieged were gen- 
 erally successful. Such was their confidence, that Walk- 
 er in his diary mentions, under date, May 5, " This night 
 the besiegers drew a trench across the Windmill-hill from 
 the bog to the river, and there began a battery ; from that 
 they endeavored to annoy our walls, but they were too 
 strong for the guns they us'd, and our men were not afraid 
 to advise them to save all that labor and expense, that they 
 always kept the gates open, and they might use that pas- 
 sage if they pleas'd, which was wider than any breach they 
 could make in the walls." This was five months after the 
 commencement of the contest, and strikingly displays the 
 undaunted resolution of men who, what with external as- 
 saults and internal treachery and disappointed hope, had 
 endured enough to damp the ardor of minds sustained by 
 any thing less powerful than the consciousness of a righteous 
 cause. In the bulk of those people there might indeed be 
 found few instances of vital, personal religion ; but, collec- 
 tively, they had by solemn public acts of devotion, com- 
 mitted themselves and their cause into the hands of the 
 Most High, abjuring all connection with the idolatrous 
 power which is most emphatically opposed to the sole and 
 absolute sovereignty of Jehovah. What was the result 1 
 " He wrought for his name's sake," and having made them, 
 in their unsupported constancy, a spectacle to the world, 
 he finally brought them out of their distressed when in the 
 utmost extremity, and blessed their-efForts to the establish- 
 ment of that pure faith for which they professijd to suffer. 
 Alas, that so signal an example should in our day have be- 
 come powerless ! that on occasions of national perplexity, 
 instead of seeking to that arm wherein our fathers hoped, 
 and trusted, and found deliverance, we should embark our
 
 140 DERRY. 
 
 safety in the nutshell of our own strength, relying on a 
 worldly, crooked, inconsistent, and unscrii)tural policy for 
 that i^hich our perverted wisdom can no more secure, 
 than could our puny might have acquired it. "Do we 
 provoke the Lord to jealousy ] are we stronger than He 1" 
 Neglected by their friends, and on all sides pressed by 
 foes, yet could not the inhabitants of Derry entertain a 
 thought of capitulation ; for not only were the most 
 shameless acts ol treachery committed, — prisoners murder- 
 ed in cold blood, and messengers tired at under a flag of 
 truce, — by the assailants, but one of the captives brought 
 into the town after a successful sally, moved by the gener- 
 ous compassion and kind usage of the citizens, confessed 
 to Governor Walker that the enemy were bound by dread- 
 ful oaths to observe no faitii with them : but on ■whatsoev- 
 er terms they might obtain possession of the city, to 
 slaughter indiscriminately, without regard to age or sex, 
 whosoever bore the Protestant name. Thus, by the mer- 
 cy of God, their peril was still made known to them j and 
 any degree of suffering preferred before delivering up 
 their helpless families to such blood-thirsty fanaticism. 
 
 The report of De Rosen's probable advance, with for- 
 midable reinforcements, was communicated to the besieg- 
 ed by their enemies, in one of the frequent parleys that 
 took place. It reached M'Alister's home, and was vari- 
 ously received by the different inmates. 
 
 " This commander," said Ross, who brought the tid- 
 ings, " is alike celebrated for skill and brutality. He 
 cares not about the price of a victory ; friend and foe may 
 perish together, providing another leaf is added to his lau- 
 rels, and his name clad in additional terrors. I doubt 
 whether he would honor us with a menace, had we not 
 made ourselves of some consequence by holding out so 
 long." 
 
 " The tenors of his name," observed the Lady, " will
 
 DERRY. 141 
 
 not daunt us. No blast can uproot what the Lord has 
 planted ; no gate of hell prevail where he acknowledges 
 a church. Let De Rosen approach with his foreign band : 
 it will but relieve us from the pain of counting as our foes 
 exclusively those of our own household." 
 
 " True for you, my Lady," said Magrath. " Its my- 
 self that'll serve again, if the Frenchmen but take a peep 
 at the ould walls." 
 
 " But," asked Ellen, whose increasing debility had ren- 
 dered her almost helpless, " will they not again throw 
 bombs when he arrives V 
 
 " You needn't doubt that. Miss Ellen," answered Shane. 
 " The art of war requires it. Och, but we'll be bombard- 
 ed to purpose, and set fire to, and blown up, may-be." 
 
 Ellen shuddered, and Basil remarked, " You have got ra- 
 ther a croaking tune to-day, Shane. Has De Rosen received 
 any commission more effectually to harm us than those 
 who have so long been kept at bay 1 Does an event that 
 will drive us closer to our Refuge call for despondency 1 
 Burnt, and blown up we should long since have been, had 
 not a shield been over us, which France and all her mar- 
 shals cannot penetrate." 
 
 " How like you that rebuke from a man of peace, my 
 old soldier '." asked Bryan, clapping Shane on the back. 
 " You'll get me into some new scrapes by preaching cow- 
 ardice, after all the trouble it has cost me to retrieve my 
 character." 
 
 The sprightliness with which this was spoken, Bryan 
 had recently assumed to avoid the suspicion of those for 
 whom he was suiTering sore privations. Confident that 
 famine would soon show her ghastly face among them, and 
 distressed at the thoughtless profusion of which many 
 were still guilty, he, with a few others, had agreed to lay 
 by for their families whatsoever their own abstinence could 
 enable them to save, without secreting the conimon pro- 
 13
 
 142 DEBRY. 
 
 perty. To this end they established a mess ; and procur- 
 ing the most durable articles, such as salt meat, potatoes, 
 meal, cheese, &c., they barely satisfit-d the cravings of 
 nature, and hoarded the rest. The ellocts of this spare 
 diet were often visible ; but wore little remarked where 
 all were losing their bloom, and pining beneath the hourly 
 distresses of the time ; while, as if by common agreement, 
 every tone became bolder, and the courage of every heart 
 assumed a character of higher elevation. Scripture was 
 ransacked, by the various preachers, to furnish their flocks 
 with examples of holy daring, and pious endurance. 
 Even the absurdities of the Apocryphal books were render- 
 ed available by some, while others with more spiritualized 
 judgmont selected the messages to the seven churches of 
 Asia, applying the reproofs and encouragements in which 
 those exquisite portions abound, to the present circumstan- 
 ces of their afflicted community. At the tire thus kept 
 constantly burning on the altar, many a torch was kin- 
 dled, which had otherwise perhaps remained in eternal 
 darkness. And we, who by our peaceful hearths, look 
 back upon the sufferings of that period, may live to expe- 
 rience that persecution can be made effectual to awake a 
 drowsy church, or to cement a disunited household of 
 faith, or to compel the people of God to put away from 
 among them the unholy leaven, with which false maxims 
 of interest and expediency have led them to defile them- 
 selves. 
 
 In one of the skirmishes which took place during the 
 month of May, at a little distance from the town, a gallant 
 officer, Captain Cunningham, having been made prisoner 
 by the enemy, and afterwards basely murdered, his re- 
 mains were brought into Derry, and interred with great 
 solemnity ; a strict fast being kept by the members of the 
 Scottish and dissenting churches, while their respective 
 ministers addressed them from the pulpit in terms suited to
 
 DERRY. 143 
 
 the affecting occasion. A liberal collection for the suffer- 
 ing poor, was, at the same time made : and the laudable 
 example was followed immediately by those of the Estab- 
 lished Church. The fast was more strictly kept : and no 
 where more so than under the roof of M'Alister. 
 
 Perceiving that Ellen refused to fare better than the rest, 
 Magrath expressed his wish that in her weak state her 
 minister had given her leave to eat. He was not a little 
 surprised at being told that their abstinence was altogether 
 voluntary, and that no penalty would have followed their 
 non-observance of the fast. This led to a full discussion of 
 the subject, with Basil and the Lady, in which JMagrath 
 evinced a deeper spirit of inquiry than he had ever before 
 displayed. He could not well conceive upon what prin- 
 ciple the whole question of merit was excluded from the 
 acts of self-denial and almsgiving which he saw practised ; 
 but his readiness to abide by the decisions of God's word 
 occasioned great joy to his affectionate instructors j and 
 they hailed the dawning of such pure light upon his soul, 
 as must, in its progressive brightening, dispel every shade 
 of error. The Irish Scriptures were often in his hand j 
 and Basil requested bis assistance in translating anew some* 
 striking passages : so that Magrath was becoming possessed 
 of a little hoard of manuscripts similar to that which his 
 grandfather had so dearly prized. 
 
 But the Lady never failed to point out those peculiar 
 doctrines, and numerous declarations that brand the Ro- 
 mish fiith as an anti-christian delusion. Malcolm was 
 wont to recommend that the word of God should be left 
 to acliieve alone what nothing else could effect. 
 
 " Without it, I admit," said the Lady of M'Alister, " that 
 no real conquest can be gained over this delusion : but 
 from that Word itself I derive my authority for enforcing 
 these distinctions. When our Lord commissions his ser- 
 vants to go forth among the Gentile nations generally, the
 
 144 DERRY. 
 
 injunction is to preach the gospel, to baptize, and to teach 
 them to observe and do whatsoever he had commanded* 
 To the Jews, in adJition to this, we find a continual ap- 
 peal made as to tho acknowled^t^d predictions of the Old 
 Testament which they possesseil and reverenced as the 
 oracles of God : but when this mystery of iniquity, that 
 should spring up in the latter times, is referred to, what 
 directions are given 1 St. Paul, aftor describing the un- 
 equivocal signs of forbidding to marr}', and commanding to 
 abstain from meats, adds, ' If thou put the brethren in re- 
 membrance of xnESE TniNns, thou shall be a good minis- 
 ter of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and 
 of good doctrine ;' a command which surely brings a heavy 
 charge of omission against those who neglect to point them 
 out. Again, in the revelation made to St. John, where 
 this apostacy is most vividly described, we find a voice 
 from heaven proclaiming, ' Come out of her, my people, 
 that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive 
 not of her plagues.' Can you assign to these, and similar 
 passages, any other interpretation than that of an open, 
 distinct, and unwavering testimony against the particular 
 abomination of this fearful per\'erter of God's truth 1" 
 
 Malcolm assented to this remark, and confessed that he 
 had not devoted any careful study to that branch of the 
 sacred writings wliich more immediately related to the 
 papal error : he had rather accustomed himself to spiritual- 
 ize every part of God's word for the edification of his own 
 soul, and the nourishment of his flock. 
 
 "Aye,-' replied the Lady, "ani behold in the surround- 
 ing horrors the fruits of that unauthorized procedure, too 
 general among the pastors of the churches. The Lord has 
 meetly and equally guarded every avenue to his fold, pre- 
 senting against each assailant such bulwarks as his infinite 
 wisdom, and foreknowledge saw fit. But ye, too often, in 
 -the exercise of a limited vision, displace the goodly ar-
 
 DERRY. 
 
 146 
 
 rangement, and in order to heap defences in one point, 
 leave many a gap whereat the wolf enters, and ravages at 
 his pleasure." 
 
 " Is it not," asked Basil, " as though we should take 
 three of the four city gates from their hinges to strengthen 
 tlie other, when all quarters are equally assailed V 
 
 *' I must not dispute the point," replied Malcolm, smil- 
 ing. " May the Lord abundantly bless your zealous en- 
 deavors, and give you a harvest of many souls!" 
 
 " Amen !" ejaculated the Lady of M'Alister j "and see 
 that you withhold not your own hand from the work." 
 
 But in despite of past experience, in the face of those 
 provisions which the Reformers established, and in an un- 
 accountable indifference to many plain comrnands of God 
 the ministers of our Protestant churches have withheld — 
 do withhold their hands, with very few exceptions : and 
 the wolf enters, bearing away whole flocks, while scarcely 
 an attempt has been made to rescue from his fangs a single 
 victim, until within so short a space of time that our vouth 
 can remember its first date. And with what epithets have 
 they been hailed, who venture to claim for the outcasts of 
 Israel, and the dispersed of Judah, their appointed portion 
 from the Lord's inexhaustible stores ] a portion lent indeed 
 to the Gentile church for spiritual improvement, and that 
 by apostolical authority, but as unalienable from the Jew 
 in its actual literal import, as is the land which God gave 
 to Abraham and his seed for ever ; but which during the 
 period assigned for scattering the holy people, has likewise 
 been permitted to remain in Gentile hands. Or has a less 
 abundant share of harsh reproof fallen to the lot of those 
 who, under the title of The Reformation Society, have 
 gone forth, bearing their divinely commissioned testimony 
 against the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth 1 
 The men of Derry, in 1689, doubtless reckoned that suc- 
 ceeding generations would reap the fruits of their heroic 
 13*
 
 146 D£RBY. 
 
 endurance, in the wide extension of gospel tnith : and thai 
 from their little citadel should spread broader light over 
 their beloved and suflTi'ring country, even through the ef- 
 fort to extinguish what she yet jiossessed. Oh ! that there 
 had been such an heart in Gotl's people as should have led 
 them to verify these hopes, rightly dividing the word of 
 truth ; and conquering with the sword of the Spirit the 
 fathers of those, who, h.'ft in the bondage of s[)iritual Egypt 
 through such cruel neglect, now array themselves in wrath- 
 ful hostility against our name and nation, prepared to com- 
 bat for the privilege of perpetual darkness in the dungeons 
 of papal delusion !
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 The month of May had passed without any greater an> 
 noyance from the enemy than that of the frequent can- 
 nonading, which amongst other unpleasant effects, so pol- 
 luted the water of the city, that many hazarded, and some 
 lost their lives in the attempt to obtain a purer beverage 
 from without the gates. This was a dreadful hardship, 
 bearing, particularly, on the sick, on delicate women, and 
 children. Various diseases began to spread among them, 
 heightened by the heat of summer, and the unwholesome 
 food to which they were well nigh confined. But on the 
 twenty-ninth of the month a general panic was spread 
 throughout the numerous families, by an order that every 
 houses hould be provided with supplies of water ; a heavy 
 bombardment being expected during the night, of which 
 the probable effect would be to ignite the town in every 
 quarter. 
 
 All was confusion ; and among other precautions the 
 gunpowder hitherto lodged in the church, was removed 
 into places of great security. Wells, long since dried up, 
 were selected to receive it ; and covered with every article 
 best calculated to repel the dangerous element. In this 
 service Magrath made himself so useful, that Colonel 
 Murray particularly noticed his activity, and the good 
 sense that marked his frequent suggestions j while Alder-
 
 148 DERBY. 
 
 man Crowe observed to his factotum that it argued little 
 short of madness in the; leadinj^ men to follow the counsel 
 of an acknowledged papist in a matter of such importance. 
 
 The wily follower of this zealot had good cause to know 
 that Magrath was sincere ; since he had himself such fre- 
 quent comiiKinication witti the enemy as enabled him to 
 identify every other traitor within the walls: he was one 
 of those purchasable characters who may always he relied 
 on by the highest bidder, and a chief agent of Tyrconnel's 
 retained him at a handsome price. He had ascertained 
 many particulars relating to Magrath ; and was pursuing 
 measures to rid the garrison of one so likely to become a 
 valuable helper in the struggle. 
 
 The bombardment did not take place ; but on the first of 
 June a few shells were thrown during the night, and on 
 the morrow an incessant fire was poured in from the ene- 
 my's guns; they had, in the course of the few pP'ceding 
 days, constructed no less than sixteen forts, on which 
 to mount these engines of destruction. It was now that 
 Magrath, for the tirst time took part in oflensive prepara- 
 tions ; for he assisted to cast leaden balis, mounting the 
 roofs of houses with cool intrepidity to strip the metal from 
 them. But the following day was marked by a shower of 
 bombs, which inllicted greater damage than had yet been 
 sustained ; and a fierce assault from the besiegers brought 
 the combat to the very walls of the town. 
 
 " This is terrible," said Ellen, as the chairs on which 
 she lay rocked with the concussion ; but her look was 
 calm, and her fortitude unshaken. 
 
 " Isn't it a blessed thing that they were taken away from 
 all this evil (" whispered Shane to Basil. 
 
 The old man had, for some time past, given his atten- 
 tion to the word of God, as continually spoken in his hear- 
 ing by Basil. Conveyed in his native tongue, Scripture
 
 DERKY. 149 
 
 truths came home to his understanding, with a plainness 
 of intelligibility never before felt. He did not often ask 
 to be indulged in this way, but a sort of restlessness frequently 
 came over him, which yielded to nothing else ; and when 
 once that sound reached his ear, it subsided into pleased 
 attention. Magrath was the first to notice this ; and struck 
 with the similarity of his case to that of old Dennis, he 
 would seat himself on the low stool, and read from his 
 manuscripts, until, as he said, he fancied himself a gossoon 
 again. It was a feast indeed to the Lady of M'Alister, 
 when, employed at her knotting, she watched and prayed 
 over the interesting scene : and poor Ellen, with eyes half- 
 closed in delighted attention, followed the language, to her 
 perfectly intelligible. Basil seemed engaged with his 
 own book, occasionally introducing a remark, as passages 
 of particular applicability occurred in Magrath's reading : 
 and amid the bitter trials of that calamitous season, the 
 voice of praise was incessantly called forth on behalf not 
 only of Magrath but of Shane. 
 
 On this dreadful day, however, the former was absent 
 with Bryan, and every explosion spoke in audible menace 
 concerning those abroad. 
 
 "I have been in many perils," remarked Basil ; "But 
 such a roar of artillery, such crashes, and bursts, I never 
 heard. Oh, it is a happy privilege to know that the Lord 
 who dwelleth on high is mightier than all this noise ; and 
 that his thunders are not armed against our souls, nor will 
 his terrors make us afraid." 
 
 " My country, my poor Ireland !" said Ellen, " will she 
 never leave off thus to wound herself ?" 
 
 "Alas for Erin !" responded the Lady, "her history is 
 but a tale of horrors such as these." 
 
 Basil was about to speak, but a tremendous noise, ac- 
 companied by a shock that made everv pane to rattle in 
 the casement, told that a bomb had exploded near the
 
 160 DERhY. 
 
 house. Groans and shrieks fallowed, and Ellen, her 
 countenance convulsi'd with anj^uish, t-xciaiined, "O 
 grandmother, when will it end ! when t;hall I git free 1" 
 
 " Hush, my child : tarry the Lord's leisure. Patience 
 must have her p-'rfect work, but rest is near." 
 
 Shouts and screams, more appalling than before, were 
 now heard : explosions re-echoed in various directions, and 
 the sulphureous clouds of dense smoke drifted pa^t, until 
 the girls lungs were oppressed almost to sullbcation. 
 Gently raised by her aged attendants, she struggled long 
 under the paroxysms of coughing ; and then sank down, 
 sobbing for breath, and presenting such a spectacle of 
 hopeless sufTiTing, that Shane averted his eyes, groaning 
 bitterly, while the others looked on and wept. 
 
 But instead of dispersing as usual, the smoke increased 
 so fast as to suggest an apprehension of the city having 
 taken fire. Another thundering explosion shook the 
 house, and several panes of glass fell from the window. 
 Rushing through the aperture, the choking fumes now 
 whirled in eddies round the apartment, and Ellen's infirm 
 supporters were themselves beginning to need support, 
 when the door was hastily opened and closed again ; and 
 Bryan, catching up Ellen from her couch, bore her rapidly 
 into an inner room, returning for the Lady, whom he 
 dragged rather than led, to the same place, giving no 
 heed to her questions ; reaching again the outer apartment, 
 he bolted the door after him. Then clasping his hands on 
 his forehead, he said, " There are times when I f^el as if 
 on the very verge of insanity. But a moment since, I 
 looked with tearless and reckless eye on the mangled bodies 
 of friends long endeared — now, the bare recollection mad- 
 dens me." 
 
 " Yet be calm. Think of the Christian's perfect peace." 
 
 " I do but, I had forgotten — one of our poor soldier 
 
 inmates has been desperately wounded : they are bearing
 
 DERRY. 151 
 
 him hither — for that cause I bolted the door. Can you 
 endure the sight V 
 
 " Aye, and play the leech too, if needful : I am inured 
 to all." 
 
 The party now arrived, bearing the poor soldier, whose 
 leg was completely shattered. They carried him up to 
 his apartment, followed by Basil, while Shane strewed 
 ashes over the crimsoned floor, and Bryan went to break 
 the matter to the females. 
 
 " It is all well, my love," said the Lady ; " we will at- 
 tend him, with every care." Ellen asked for Magrath. 
 
 " When I last saw him he was communicating some- 
 thing to Walker. There has been dreadful work, but the 
 assault is repelled, chiefly through the intrepidity of 
 females." 
 
 " Oh Bryan, are you not thankful concerning our mo- 
 ther and Letitia V 
 
 " I am, I am. From the church battery I looked down, 
 and rejoiced over their quiet resting-place. It is all well, 
 Ellen ; and as to us, the Lord fights for his persecuted 
 church. There is some invisible wall of fire around us." 
 " It is even so," rejoined the Lady, with a look of tri- 
 umph ; " horses and chariots of fire surround us, and we 
 are impregnable in the bulwark of prayer. Come, kneel ; 
 for his ear is ever open, and his eye beholds, while his 
 shield defends us." She poured forth a strain of interces- 
 soiy supplication for her countr}- ; and in glowing faith 
 commended the cause of his church to their glorious 
 Head. 
 
 During the whole of the week, havoc and destruction 
 were carried into the city : not satisfied with execution 
 already done, their besiegers increased the size of the 
 bombs, striking down houses, and killing numbers of all 
 ranks and classes. Salted horseflesh was almost the only 
 meat now discoverable, and of this they had put by a tole-
 
 152 DERRY, 
 
 rablc store. Oa the Friday evening Magrath entered, his 
 countenance clouded in an unusual degree, and seated 
 himself as if scarcely conscious where he was. 
 
 " What's come over the boy 1 ' askod Shane, anxiously. 
 
 He received no answer; but on a similar question from 
 Hryan, Magrath rt plied that he must leave the city before 
 dawn, adding that he hoped to return in two days. Re- 
 monsti-anccs and entreaties ensued, wliich at last compelled 
 him to say that l;e had been summoned by his j)riest to 
 confession, preparatory to the festival of St. Columbkill. 
 
 "Confession!" ejaculated Bryan; "surely, Magrath, 
 you are not about to bt-tray the confidence so freely re- 
 posed in you." 
 
 "Nothing, your honor, barring what my clergy can re- 
 quire." 
 
 " And that is just every tiling ! Bt-sides, I could not 
 believe you to be still under this irrational thraldom." 
 
 " Is it that I ever turned my religion, Sir V 
 
 " I don't say so, but in short, it perplexes as much 
 
 as it grieves me." 
 
 Magrath handed a paper to Ba^il, requesting him to de- 
 clare its contents aloud. It was in Irish, and required him 
 to repair to the ' station ' at Culmore, lor the purpose of 
 confessing, and hearing mass. 
 
 " Culmore ! Really, Magrath, this is madness ! Why, 
 the enemy are in the greatest force there." 
 
 " May be so ; but it isn't for me to dispute my clergy's 
 orders." 
 
 " Ahone !" said Shane, " and what confession would 
 you need, when the Savior himself is ready to hear and 
 forgive you 1" 
 
 " True and he is ; but then didn't himself say, ' Hear 
 the church V " 
 
 This led to an argument, in which Bryan, the Lady, 
 and Basil took part. Magrath heard them patiently, but
 
 DERRY. 153 
 
 maintained that, as a member of the church, he was bound 
 to obey his priests. He added, that the besieged would 
 probably enjoy a respite on Sunday, as it was to be kept 
 in the Irish army. 
 
 Before separating for the night, the Lady addressed him 
 in a solemn tone. " Mark me, Larry Magrath, if you 
 bow the knee at that confessional, invoking departed saints 
 to hear and intercede, you reject the sole ^Mediator who 
 stands between you and an offended God. If you worship 
 the wafer, you make the cross of Christ of none effect, 
 owning another sacrifice than that which God appointed, 
 and committing likewise the deadly sin of idolatry. Trifle 
 not with your salvation, for you totter on the brink of 
 eternal flames. Take with you this warning, from one 
 who has burst the yoke, and knows it to be a link to per- 
 dition." Ellen, with tears, implored him to the same 
 effect ; and Basil advanced a host of scripture evidences 
 against his purposed deed. The poor fellow, was, how- 
 ever, inflexible, though evidently distressed ; and before 
 day-break he was past the gates, under a written protection 
 from General Hamilton, which had been enclosed in the 
 priest's letter. 
 
 The scanty fare of the breakfast table was rendered un- 
 palatable to those v.'ho surrounded it, not so much by the 
 tremendous sounds that deafened them, as by the dreary 
 feeling which Magrath's absence produced. The wounded 
 soldier had died in the night, and Basil, who had assidu- 
 ously attended him, seemed exhausted by fatigue. Shane 
 appeared lost in painful ruminations ; and the Lady her- 
 self was unusually cast down. Ellen wept, as Bryan pre- 
 pared to depart, and augured that they would lose him 
 too ; but her brother checked the murmuring expression, 
 reminding her that her doubts of his continued presei-va- 
 tion would be the worst omen of their own fulfilment. 
 He urged them to be much in prayer for Magrath, as well 
 U
 
 154 DEBRY. 
 
 as for himself: and left the dwelling with a heavy heart } 
 for in Magrath he had lost the voice which always spoke 
 some cheoring word as they crossed the threshhold. 
 
 Colonel ^lurray was one of the first persons whom he 
 met, and he instantly inquired where Bryan had left his 
 shadow. Obtaining a promise of secrecy, M'Alister ac- 
 quainted him with the fact, at which the Colonel express- 
 ed no small annoyance, hinting that he questioned how far 
 they were justified in permitting him to depart. 
 
 " Do you doubt his fidelity '." asked Bryan. 
 
 " Why, I cannot if I would ; but the matter is one of a 
 j)erplexing character. JSo many desertions take place, 
 that, in fact, we cannot hope to conceal any thing ; but i 
 felt a sort of regard for that fellow, which renders the pos- 
 sibility ol his treachery quite painful."' 
 
 As they approached the walls, Alderman Crowe came 
 bustling up, and accosted Brj-an, " So, Mr. M'Alister, your 
 trusty follower has turned traitor, and deserted to the 
 enemy.'' 
 
 " Indeed !" said the Colonel, " how is that V giving 
 Bryan a sign to be silent. 
 
 " Why, 111 tell you now, since it's all out. You know 
 I have an attached servant, who changed his religion en- 
 tirely out of personal regard for me, and therefore must be 
 sincere. He has kept an eye on this famous gentleman 
 some time past ; and last night informed me that he was 
 going to desert, having all along maintained a communi- 
 cation with the enemy. This morning I hear that he 
 passed the Ferry-gate, and was received with open arms 
 by his fellow-scoundrels outside." 
 
 " Well — he is not the first who has done so." 
 
 '• I hope he may be the last ; but don't notice what I 
 have told you. In fact, Smith desired me to say nothing 
 until I should hear it from other quarters. He does not 
 like to claim the reward which his ow^n fidelity merits."
 
 DERRY. 155 
 
 " He shall get it though," said the Colonel, as soon as 
 the alderman was out of hearing. " Of the two, I'd far 
 sooner suspect his convert than your stout-hearted papist. 
 Keep Smith in view, if you can, M'Alister ; I must away 
 to the guard-house. You see what a peppering the rascals 
 are disposed to give us to day." 
 
 Perfectly sure that Magrath was the victim of some 
 treacherous stratagem, Brj'an at once bent his steps to Al- 
 derman Crowe's house ; and on the door being opened by 
 Smith, asked first if all was well within ; and then, wheth- 
 er he had seen or heard any thing of his man, Magrath. 
 
 " Nothing, Sir : sure I hav'nt been outside to-day. The 
 last I saw of Magrath, he was walking past with you yes- 
 terday. I hope no harm's come over the honest lad." 
 
 Bryan turned away, and seeking out Ross, told him all 
 that had occurred. He was not a little gratified to find 
 his impetuous friend as perfectly convinced of Magrath's 
 integrity, and Smith's perfidy, as himself; but how to 
 make their conviction available, in the dreadful state of the 
 fown, was a difficulty which they could not surmount. 
 " Let us to the church battery," said Ross, " and take a 
 look around us." 
 
 They ascended the cathedral roof; and surveyed the 
 sickening prospect. The numerous forts, entrenchments, 
 batteries, and works of every description that had com- 
 pleted the investment, were occasionally obscured, as the 
 mortars rolled forth their clouds of smoke, each sending 
 into the city its messenger of destruction. Lough Foyle 
 rolled its broad stream tranquilly past, unless when a shot 
 ploughed the surface, or sank with an echoing plash into 
 the tide. Towards its mouth many a longing look had 
 been cast, in fond anticipation of coming succors: and 
 some, when their hearts failed them, were wont to mount 
 the walls, and gaze in that direction, until the vision of 
 hope pictured an approaching sail, and imagination filled
 
 156 DERRY. 
 
 up the outline. But now, in addition to the accumulated 
 works on either side, the enemy were beginning to stretch 
 a boom across the river ; and thus ])resentod such obstacles 
 to the progress of a lloct, as tended to cliill tht; most san- 
 guine expectant : and when the eye, withdrawn from this 
 quarter, fell on the streets below, a spectacle of misery 
 presented itself, ditficult to conceive and impossible to de- 
 scribe. 
 
 At this time the mortality was such, that the burials 
 averaged thirty in a day ; so that the streets presented a 
 succession of funerals, conducted in trembling haste, while 
 the frequent bombs tore up the neighboring pavement, and 
 cast it among the attendants. Scarcely was more than the 
 surface of the burying ground disturbed, to furnish a shal- 
 low grave for several dead bodies togetber : and often was 
 some mourner reached by a fatal ])all, while returning 
 from his sorrowful task. Even as Bryan and Ross looked 
 down from their elevation, a bomb struck the house of a 
 gentleman, driving out from the wall a ponderous stone, 
 which, falling on a man near the Ship-quav brisl; >n, dash 
 ed his head to atoms. 
 
 The fort, or castle of Culmore, situate on a point of land 
 which projected considerably into the river, at a short dis- 
 tance, was an object of particular interest to the two 
 friends. It formed the strongest of the enemy's positions 
 of annoyance, in case of any approach from the harbor, and 
 W'as well garrisoned. But beyond the association of Ma- 
 grath's image with its distant outline, it presented nothing 
 to their view : and in melancholy silence they quitted the 
 spot, to commune with those who thronged the Diamond ; 
 to assist in deliberation on the important subject of hus- 
 banding provisions, and the many other anxious cares that 
 harassed the public mind. 
 
 Magrath's augury that the Sunday would afford a respite 
 from bombardment was fulfilled. Not a shell nor a ball
 
 DERRY. 157 
 
 was fired on that day ; the Irish camp being engrossed in 
 paying those honors to St. Columbkill which they had 
 never once afforded to the Lord of the Sabbath, during the 
 protracted siege. Advantage was taken of this cessation 
 by many whom timidity had deterred from venturing 
 abroad ; and the Church was thronged at its various sen'ices, 
 by a crowd of sickly objects, whose squalid and emaciated 
 appearance contrasted most strangely with the words of 
 hope and fortitude to which they gave utterance. J\lany 
 with tearless eyes looked on the graves of their nearest and 
 dearest connections ; while others in greater emotion, ut- 
 tered ejaculations of resignation to the divine will, blessing 
 the Lord for what he had done, and declaring that they 
 deemed no sacrifice too great for a cause so holy. Ellen 
 was wheeled in a low chair to the cathedral, her grand- 
 mother, supported by Bryan, walking on one side, Basil on 
 the other ; and Shane, with trembling hand, essaying to 
 steady the hinder part of the vehicle, which rather assisted 
 his steps. An expression of heavenly peace was upon her 
 pale fair countenance, and though a teai* swelled when she 
 passed her mother's grave, a smile of indescribable sweet- 
 ness illumined every feature, as, looking up to Bryan, she 
 softly said, " I hope they will have room beside it." 
 
 At the door, a number of coffins were deposited during 
 the service, and the departing congregation were constrain- 
 ed to pass between two files of them, awaiting a hasty in- 
 terment. One very plain box, over which was thrown a 
 black shawl, attracted Bryan's view : for the mother of 
 Patrick, with little Thady in her hand, stood behind it. 
 She curtsied as she caught his eye ; and with unruffled se- 
 renity glanced first at the boy, and then at the cofiin, in- 
 dicating that her other child was there. 
 
 " And is it so ?" asked Bryan, involuntarily pausing on 
 his path. 
 
 " She was so happy !" answered the mother, raising her 
 U*
 
 158 DERRY. 
 
 eyes to heaven ; while tlie deep hollow of her cheek, the 
 sunken eye, and sallow hue bespoke her also a candidate 
 for speedy admission to the mansions of peace. Thady re- 
 tained all iiis beauty, blooming like a solitary flower in the 
 midst of every imaginable species of desolation. 
 
 " Ah ! the cause upholds her wonderfully," said a stand- 
 er-by. 
 
 " The cause of the cross," rejoined the siiflerer, " and 
 the cross in the cause, are precious." 
 
 The crowded coffins, the open graves, the church win- 
 dows shattered by balls, together with the wretched aspect 
 of the living spectres, all arrayed in the gorntous beams ol 
 a dazzling summer's sun, presented a wild and ghastly in- 
 congruity, over which the holy enthusiasm of the hour 
 threw a character of such awful interest, that many linger- 
 ed and looked, as if to impress upon their minds a lasting 
 recollection of the unearthly scene. Among these was 
 Colonel Murray, who, as Walker in full canonicals took 
 his station in the door way, approached M'Alistcr, and re. 
 4juested to be presented to his venerable parent, to whom 
 ho immediately tendered his arm, addressing her with a 
 suavity of manner peculiarly his own. 
 
 " It is a sad, and yet a glorious spectacle, which those 
 who survive will labor to declare to their children's chil- 
 dren, as a holy incentive to like fidelity." 
 
 *' And as a lesson of confiding faith," added the Lady, 
 *' that hearing what the liord has done for us, they may 
 feel the blessedness of saying, ' This God is our God, for 
 ever and ever.' " 
 
 " I trust so," said Murray : then added, " no tidings of 
 poor IMagrath." 
 
 " He is in the Lord's hand," responded she : " may he 
 receive grace to resist every temptation !' 
 
 "I have taken precautions in a quiet way, that no hin- 
 drance should be given to his re-admission : but suspended
 
 DERRY. 159 
 
 as we all are by a mere cobweb over the abyss of eternity, 
 a single life is perhaps too little recked of." 
 
 " Yet each single life, Colonel INIurray, involves the 
 doom of an immortal soul ; and what of equal value does 
 this material world contain V 
 
 Murray took her hand and answered, " At this spot I 
 must reluctantly leave you ; but to your query I reply, that 
 a single soul is beyond all price ; and while your faithful 
 prayers nerve our arms in battle, forget not to supplicate 
 that those who fall may find mercy through the blood of 
 the Redeemer." Then turning to Ellen, he bent over her 
 little carriage, and said, with strong feeling, " Be of good 
 cheer, dearest young lady : true hearts and firm hands are 
 the walls that hem you in : and the Most High will not for- 
 sake his children." 
 
 " May you be numbered among them !" was the secret 
 prayer of each as he departed. 
 
 The family sat up late, indulging a hope that Magrath 
 might return : but in vain. He formed the subject of their 
 discourse, and of their supplications ; and unwillingly they 
 bade good night and parted ; yet thankful for the day's 
 unwonted repose. 
 
 The ibllowing morning witnessed a renewal of the bom- 
 bardment and cannonade : a new scene of horror was also 
 exhibited; for the dead so lightly interred, were rent from 
 their graves b}' the bursting of large shells. This proved 
 to many fond survivors a more heart-rending visitation than 
 all their personal afflictions, outraging, as it did, one of the 
 strongest feelings of domestic love. But no trial seemed 
 to be wanting in this season of fiery tribulation. Magrath's 
 non-appearance increased the despondency of his friends : 
 and Ross kept a strict watch over the mansion of Alder- 
 man Crowe, in the vague hope of eliciting something from 
 Smith : but to no purpose. On the following day, Ross 
 himself was not to be found, nor could Bryan gain any 
 tidings of him.
 
 160 DERRY. 
 
 At the old Lady's suggestion, Basil had obtained per- 
 mission to visit the prisoners, and make an attempt to read 
 the Irish Scriptures to them. In this he was successful 
 beyond his hope ; for although many rejected with sul- 
 len scorn, and some with abusive insolence, his proposal, 
 yet, when he conmienced, on tlie slender encouragement 
 which a few afforded, such was the power of their ver- 
 nacular tongue, that scarcely one refused to listen. Many 
 were sensibly affected j and as he chose the most simple 
 portions, chiefly the recital of the Lord's miracle s, teach- 
 ing, and sutl'erings, their interest was engaged, their preju- 
 dices disarmed, and not a lew repaid with warm thanks his 
 kindness in cheering their captivity. Shane accompanied 
 him once or twice ; and his report, divested as it was of 
 every acrimonious expression concerning those whom he 
 before deemed it meritorious to revile, was doubly wel- 
 come to his friends. 
 
 Weary, disheartened, and indisposed, Bryan stretched 
 himself on some chairs in the evening of that day, listen- 
 ins: to a conversation between Shane and Basil, and se- 
 cretly wishing that he was as sure of a speedy removal to 
 the unseen world as their advanced years rendered them. 
 Ellen dozed ; and the Lady was engrossed with her Bible. 
 Frequent explosions shook the house ; but they were now 
 of too common occurrence to be much regarded. The 
 door was flung open, and Ross entered, with a shout of 
 joy, which was echoed, in some wise by each of the party, 
 when they discovered that he led Magrath, evidently 
 wounded, and extremely weak : but staggering eagerly 
 towards Bryan, who had started up, and upon whose arms 
 he threw his own for support, while he exclaimed, " Praise 
 to God— the fleet ! the fleet !" 
 
 " Oh ! blessed sound !" cried the Lady, as she raised 
 her clasped hands, " and blessed sight to behold our poor 
 brother once more."
 
 DERRY. 161 
 
 " Magrath — my dear fellow !" exclaimed Bryan, al- 
 most Avild with joy, while Ross said, " The fleet is in the 
 Lough, though still far distant ; and not likely to make 
 any way for some hours, and panic is spreading among 
 the enemy ; but we must look after Magrath. We fished 
 him out of the water in good time, and I fancy that he is 
 in a poor plight — have you any provision at hand V 
 
 Such as they had was produced, and Magrath voracious- 
 ly devoured it. The bullet which had passed through the 
 fleshy part of his arm, had inflicted but a slight wound ; 
 and Basil remarked that it would be a source of great 
 thankfulness if his soul had sustained no greater injury, ex- 
 posed as it had been to worse peril than his body. 
 
 " Sure, and I've taken a power of care of the same. 
 Troth, and it's I that have need to do that," he added 
 with an indescribable grimace, and checked himself. 
 
 " You've been to mass !" said Shane, in a tone of sor- 
 rowful reproach. 
 
 " May-be I hav'nt." 
 
 " Nor to confession ]" asked Bryan eagerly. 
 
 " Sorrow a bit. Sir." 
 
 " What, could you not find a priest V inquired Ross. 
 
 " Och ! as plenty as pratees, your honor : but we 
 couldn't agree, any how." 
 
 He then, with perfect composure, proceeded to recount 
 his adventures, and in the effect produced by them, his 
 mind appeared to lose all consideration of the triumph 
 which such a narrative must afford to some who had hith- 
 erto been his opponents, as well on religious as political 
 grounds. 
 
 He related that no obstruction had been offered on the 
 short excursion to Culmore, where he found a bishop of 
 his church, who received him with much kindness, con- 
 gratulating him on having escaped the hands of his ene- 
 mies, and strictly enjoining him not again to hazard him-
 
 162 DERRY. 
 
 8"lf among them. After some discourse, in the progress of 
 which Magrath baffled several attempts at obtaining infor- 
 mation concerning Derry, the Bisliop recommended his 
 confessing to a priest, just arrived to hold a station there. 
 Magrath obeyed ; but on coming to the confessional, hon- 
 estly apprized the priest that he should give no informa- 
 tion on any thing that did not concern himself ; — a plan 
 in which the other refused to concur, indignantly assuring 
 him tliat any concealment on points where he might be 
 questioned, would burden his soul with mortal sin. Find- 
 ing his penitent still refractory, he changed his tone, and 
 pathetically appealed on behalf of the persecuted church, 
 representing the Protestants, especially those of Deny, as 
 children of perdition, obnoxious alike to divine and human 
 detestation, and with whom none could keep faith with- 
 out incurring the contamination of their damnable heresies. 
 
 The failure alike of his eloquence, and oi the menaces 
 with which he interspersed it, soon overcame his small 
 stock of patience, and seizing Magrath by the collar, he 
 dragged him towards an adjoining room, the door of which 
 he threw open, and in violent wrath denounced him as a 
 pestilent heretic to the bishop, who was seated at break- 
 fast, with a party of his clergy around him. Every eye 
 was turned on ^Magrath, who presently recognized in one 
 of them the ominous twinkle of Father Peters, under whose 
 careful superintendence he had been sent on pilgrimage, 
 just previous to his grandfather's death. 
 
 The recognition was mutual, notwithstanding the lapse 
 of eight years since their last meeting; and the priest, ex- 
 pressing great pleasure at beholding him again, assured his 
 brethren that he was a faithful son of the church, long un- 
 der his care, and one who would gladly receive wholesome 
 admonition from his ancient pastor. 
 
 With Peters, therefore, Magrath withdrew, and had to 
 maintain his post against every mode of displaying that
 
 DERRY. 163 
 
 authority to which he had once paid such unlimited obe- 
 dience. 
 
 " I tould his riverince that I came to confess all my own 
 sins and get absolution ; but the Derry men hadn't put it 
 upon me to fetch them a penance, and I couldn't in con- 
 science betray them. ' Conscience,' says he, ' and who's 
 to look after your conscience, barrin the clergy that has 
 you under his knee !' ' 0, sure,' sa3fs I, ' and isn't it my- 
 self that must give account of myself to God ] Musn't I 
 stand before the judgment seat of Christ V Then to see 
 the face of him when he axed me, ' And who tould you 
 all that stuff] ' ' Stuff is it V says I j ' Sure and it's in 
 the blessed book of God's truth.' And then I gave it hira 
 in Irish, clane and entire, as it was on my memory." 
 
 "And how bore he that ]" asked Bryan. 
 
 " Bear it he didn't any how ; but he clenched his fist 
 in my teeth, and cursed me for as big a heretic as ould 
 Dennis himself, that was bumirtg like a dry sod of turf in 
 the fire of hell. I axed him how long had he known that 
 the sowl was there \ ' How long is it V says he ; ' It's 
 ever since I put my curse on the ould heretic for sticking 
 to the trash that has poisoned ye all. Didn't he tell me 
 the rites of the church couldn't bring him to heaven 1 
 Troth, and he went fast enough to hell without 'em.' 
 ' Why then,' says I, ' it's your riverince that's going to 
 do the just and generous thing, giving back to my father's 
 son the mass-money that went to fetch Dennis out of pur- 
 gatory, and he in hell the comfortless creathur !' " 
 
 Unmoved by the burst of laughter which this shrewd 
 turn drew from Ross and Bryan, Magrath went on to des- 
 cribe the augmented r£ige of the priest, who swore that 
 unless he gave full information on every point required, 
 and amply atoned for his sacrilegious insolence, he should 
 be turned out among the faithful army as an excommuni- 
 cated traitor Left to himself, in a small apartment, of
 
 164 DERRY. 
 
 which the grated window and iron clenclicd door bespoke 
 it a prison, Magrath had leisure to reflect on the probable 
 termination of his adventure ; while the pacing of a sentry 
 at a short distance proved that he was carefully guarded. 
 
 " And didn't you repent of your stoutness the while 1" 
 asked Shane, the intentness of whose interest struck all 
 the party. 
 
 " I didn't repent of my honesty, any way," answered 
 the other, with strong emphasis : " but Father Peters' 
 blarney had put me on thinking over past times ; and sure 
 it was 1 that had sins to confess, and wouldn't be let tell 
 them to mortal man." He paused his heart seemed full, 
 and his downcast looks l.espoke deep thought. Then sud- 
 denly raising his eyes with a bold and frank expression, 
 he fixed them on Basil, saying, " I'll tell you what my- 
 self did : I couldn't well bear the weight that was on me ; 
 for somehow, talking of ould Dennis brought back the re- 
 membrance of the lone tower where the bishop was pent; 
 and I couldn't but think a curse was upon me for that 
 same ; so I kneeled down and confessed to the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, without priest or patron ; and when 1 was in it, 
 somehow I couldn't leave off", but confessed for ould Den- 
 nis and all the race, and asked him would I get absolution 
 that way 1 why shouldn't I ] for sure the words were 
 clear in m^' mind :" anil he recited in Irish, " Come unto 
 me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest." 
 
 Bryan started from his chaii-, and repeating the text in 
 English, paced the room, absorbed in mental thanksgiving ; 
 while Basil, suppressing his emotion, asked Magrath wiiethex 
 he experienced any comfort from this, to him, novel mode 
 of confession. 
 
 " Sure, and I did, Sir. A feel came over me as if the 
 great God looked and listened, and I cannot say but 1 
 trembled. Yet, comfort it was to think that he heard me,
 
 DERRY. 165 
 
 and I got up with a lighter heart." He then related that 
 another attack was made on his constancy by one of the 
 servants, who, coming as if by stealth, set before him the 
 certain death which awaited him, should the priest de- 
 nounce him from the altar on the morrow, as he would 
 do unless a timely submission averted the fate. Magrath, 
 however, described the report of the pieces which sent 
 shells and shot into Derry, as assisting to harden hira 
 against all pleading ; and he made up his mind to brave 
 the worst ; passing the night in painful reflection, not lin- 
 mixed with joy, as passages from the Irish scrijjtures were 
 forcibly brought to his remembrance. 
 
 At early morning, Peters once more appeared, accom- 
 panied by the bishop, and armed with all the artillery of 
 expostulation, and thundering menaces, both as regarded 
 this world and the next. He stood firm ; and they left hira 
 for the first mass, giving him until noon to consider the 
 consequences of such unheard-of pertinacity. Peters had 
 informed the bishop of old Dennis's refractory end ; and 
 the virulent abuse heaped on the word of God by the soi' 
 disa7it ministers of his truth, operated to strengthen Ma- 
 grath against the uttermost that their malice could achieve. 
 Through his narrow window he saw the men crowding to 
 mass, and, not wishing to be behind hand in devotion, he 
 knelt down to pray, as before. 
 
 The sentry had been frequently relieved ; and about 
 noon, when, after a short query, to which an equally short 
 negative was given, the priest had l?ft his door, Magrath 
 recognized in his new guard one whom he well knew as 
 an active emissary of his party ; high in the confidence of 
 some leaders among the native Irish clans. Magrath called 
 him by name ; and the other, much surprised, advanced 
 to the grate, inquiring by what means he had been placed 
 in such a dilemma. 
 
 " For my honesty," was the reply j and before he could 
 15
 
 166 DERRY. 
 
 proceed, the other burst into low but bitter invectives against 
 the French party, who, he said, were using the Irish aa 
 tools, to gain a looting in the land at the expense ol' their 
 blood, and afterwards to enslave them. The priests then 
 at Culmore, he said, were all in the plot, and would, no 
 doubt, make away with every honest man who sought to 
 maintain his country's independence. He then inquired 
 if it was by their means that the prisoner lay under sen- 
 tence of death, as he understood ; Magrath simply gave an 
 affirmative ; which drew from his friend renewed expres- 
 sions of indignation. As, however, time for relieving him, 
 approached, he hastily desired the prisoner to watch until 
 he should see a sentry on guard, wearing a green ribbon 
 at his button-hole, and then to try the door of his cell, and 
 make wliat use he could of the opi)ortunity. He finished 
 by directing him to seek out their former employer, and 
 apprize him that those in authority were deeply plotting 
 the subjugation of Ireland beneath the yoke of France j 
 and was gone before JMagrath could answer a word, leav- 
 ing him doubtful whether he should avail himself of suc- 
 cour given under so evident a misconception. 
 
 Connellan, his ancient comrade, he knew to be a man 
 of dark and stern resolve, in whatsoever regarded the vx- 
 clusive interests of the native race. Religion formed, with 
 him, only an inferior branch of patriotism, and his was the 
 hand that would stab on the high altar even a sovereign 
 I>ontiif, capable of conspiring against Irish ascendancy. 
 Called from a distant post to take his turn in guarding a 
 prisoner whose safe keeping was only entrusted to men of 
 tried resolution, he knew no more than that he had fallen 
 under the displeasure of their leaders. His former expe- 
 rience of Magrath's devoted attachment to the native 
 cause, brought at once his impetuous mind to the conclu- 
 sion that for it he was now about to suffer : nor would he 
 regard the representations subsequently made in answer to
 
 DERRY. 167 
 
 his inquiries as any but the artful invectives of his ene- 
 mies. Revelry prevailed throughout the camp, while, in 
 honor of Columbkill a high feast was kept: and this dis- 
 order bade fair to facilitate the plans of Connellan, whose 
 fixed resolve it was to liberate the captive. 
 
 iVIagrath, meanwhile, ruminated on the strange event, 
 opening so unexpected a way of escape. With character- 
 istic scorn of consequences, he resolved to undeceive Con- 
 nellan, rather than bear the brand of treachery to any 
 party : at the same time not purposing to lose any hope 
 of an honorable retreat from the grasp of those against 
 whom his patriotism was rising into active hostility. Some 
 hours elapsed, and several times had Magrath taken an 
 anxious survey of some new guard, before the welcome 
 sight of an end of green ribband, drawn out through the 
 button-hole of his vest, apprized him that a confederate of 
 Connellan had assumed the office. This man took a wider 
 range than his predecessors, whistling a national melody 
 as he paced the ground ; and while observing him, Magrath 
 distinctly heard a key turn in the lock of his door. At 
 the same time, the sentry, ceasing his tune, stood stationary 
 with his back to the building. 
 
 Magrath opened the door; all was clear : he turned the 
 key again, to secure the entrance of his prison, and slip- 
 ping it into his pocket, passed swiftly round a projecting 
 angel of the wall, and descended a bank overhanging the 
 lower ground — a rude, natural rampart — under which 
 he paused, stooping low beneath its level, to ponder on 
 the next movement in his novel and perilous expedition. 
 At any other time, such an escape would have been mor- 
 ally impossible, nor could he have occupied his present 
 position for three minutes undiscovered : but all bonds of 
 discipline had been loosed, and every military precaution 
 sacrificed at the shrine ofdrunken revelry. In fact, the army 
 had long manifested symptoms of disgust, and even of an in-
 
 168 DERBY. 
 
 surrectionary spirit, under the severe privations imposed 
 by their arduous task before the stubborn walls of Derry ; 
 and it was wisely counselled by the crafty priesthood, that 
 a day of unlimited enjoyment should be conceded, to re- 
 store in some measure the good humor of the troops ; while 
 by an extensive application of that invaluable engine, the 
 confessional, they should themselves be able to ascertain 
 that nothing like an organized plan of mutiny existed among 
 the complainants. Always ready to take full advantage of 
 such festive seasons, the men were continually assembling 
 in that part of the camp where liquor abounded ; and no 
 such attraction residing in Magrath's present vicinity, he 
 was comparatively safe, while sreened from the view of 
 the sentinels, whose measured tread still vibrated before 
 the empty guard-house. 
 
 In deliberating on his future course, Magrath decided 
 on that from which a mind of ordinary nerve would most 
 intuitively have shrunk. With care and circumspection 
 he might have won his way back to the walls of Derry, 
 favored as he was by circumstances that would speedily 
 be changed into double vigilance ; but he resolved on 
 gaining some farther insight into the condition of his coun- 
 trymen, and with this intent he prepared to throw himself 
 into the midst of that confused company, which, like the 
 mixed multitude that went up out of Egypt, still hovered 
 about the regular camp, and anticipated, ifnotashare 
 in the future spoil, yet, at least, a sanguinary participation 
 in the meditated carnage of the devoted city. The better 
 to avoid such suspicion as his decent garb would perhaps 
 excite, ^lagrath divested himself of his coat and shoes, 
 which, with his hat, he buried under some loose earth : 
 then, having torn his waistcoat, and otherwise damaged 
 his remaining apparel, he placed the fragment of a tobac- 
 co-pipe in bis mouth, and sallied forth, exposed to any eye 
 that might be roaming thitherward, and deliberately pajised 
 on towards the outermost part of the encampment.
 
 PERRY. 169 
 
 Bryan could not refrain from expressing some astonish- 
 ment at a proceeding so manifestly imprudent ; but Magrath 
 assured him that, barring Father Peters, he could have 
 faced any man who had seen him during that or the pre- 
 ceding day without apprehension of discovery. Adding, 
 that at tirst he had assumed somewhat of a staggering gait, 
 as though intoxicated ; but some passage which came into 
 his mind, bidding him abstain from every appearance of 
 evil — and he quoted it in the Irish — induced him to lay 
 aside the semblance of that sin which he would not actu- 
 ally have committed, and to trust to such disguise alone as 
 his conscience could not condemn. 
 
 Arrived among the wild stragglers of his race, he was 
 allured by the savory steams of a pot, which promised 
 some relief to his hunger ; and which, as he approached, 
 was just taken over from a fire of turf, where it had hung 
 suspended from sticks, and carried into a sort of cabin, or 
 rather shed, most rudely constructed for the shelter of 
 as many human beings sis chose to congregate beneath its 
 roof. His wistful looks were remarked by one who seemed 
 to exercise some control over his surrounding companions ; 
 and who, as a matter of course, proffered a welcome to the 
 stranger, in that tongue which was almost exclusively 
 spoken around him. Magrath thankfiilly accepted the in- 
 vitation, while his host remarked that it was a long kst 
 some of them had kept : adding, that probably Magrath, 
 like himself, had been with the priest that day : a fact 
 which the visitor readily confirmed. 
 
 " I could not get to the blessed sacrament," said the 
 other, crossing himself, " until just now ; and that is the 
 reason that I am fasting still. Oh, it's a comfortable thing 
 to come under the priest's hand, and to know that all is 
 right between God and your soul." 
 
 " Ay, Corny," remarked another, " you are the most re- 
 15*
 
 170 DERRY. 
 
 ligious man among us. I don't believe you ever put your 
 head down without prayers." 
 
 " Never, without an act of faith, and of hope, and of 
 charity," answered Corny. " How could I get my rest, if 
 I was not in peace with God and all the world !" 
 
 By this time the savoury mess was emptied into a ca- 
 pacious pan, and the guests proceed to help themselves, 
 each as suited his own convenience. Some women and 
 children were among the party, and the latter appeared 
 particularly ravenous; one little fellow was grasping at a 
 small bone, in sucli haste that he burnt his fingers severely, 
 and threw it down with a cry. 
 
 "Served you right, Dan," said Corny. ''What good 
 do you think you'll get of the food without blessing your- 
 self? come, sir, do it now ; you are a perfect heathen." 
 The child readily crossed himself, and Magrath could not 
 but feel respect for the character of his pious and hospit- 
 able entertainer. As the dinner proceeded, he cast his 
 eyes around tlie room, if such it could be called, and in 
 one corner discerned a confused heap, the outlines of which 
 struck him with sensations of uneasiness, though he could 
 hardly assign a name to the object before him. 
 
 Corney, however, followed the direction of his eye, and 
 exclaimed, triumphantly, " Aye, that's one of them, and 
 snug enough he is, I'll engage you." He then put forth 
 what partook pretty equally of the character of an impre- 
 cation and a prayer : trusting that the Virgin would give 
 them as many whole heretic carcases to pike, as there 
 were hairs on that fellow's head. 
 
 " Where did he come from 1" asked Magrath. 
 
 " Skulking from Enniskillen, I suppose, to the wall of 
 the devil's other fortress, yonder. We laid hold of him, 
 last evening, and paid him off to some purpose. It was 
 myself^ though, that cut at him both first and last."
 
 DERRY. 171 
 
 " No, it was not," said little Dan, " for I stuck the knife 
 into him after you." 
 
 " Well, you are a brave little lad, and there's a better 
 bone for you, only don't forget the blessing again, Dan ; for 
 what is man or boy without religion 1" 
 
 Magrath had never been sensible to how great an extent 
 the veil had been removed from his heart, until he expe- 
 rienced the thrill of horror which this dialogue sent through 
 it. A few weeks ago, and not the slightest incongmity 
 would have appeared on the face of this fearful compound 
 of religion and butchery ; but now it struck him as the 
 very masterpiece of satanic domination over the soul of 
 man. Still, with his unfailing self-possession, he escaped 
 exciting a surmise as to the lenor of his feelings ; and wish- 
 ing for farther confirmation, where his own experience 
 bore but too clear a testimony, he asked, in a careless 
 way, " And what said his reverence to you about it 1" 
 
 "It would not become me,'' answered Corny, "to re- 
 peat all that his reverence was so good as to say ; for sure- 
 ly I did no more than my duty. But he gave me a plen- 
 ary indulgence for seven years, and power to deliver the 
 soul of my father and grandfather from purgatory ; saying 
 — and that I tell for the encouragement of others — that if 
 every heart was as sound, and every hand as steady as 
 Cornelius O Keefe's, we should not be so long unkennelling 
 the poisonous vermin, and clearing the sod of their whole 
 generation." 
 
 "The infernal hypocrite!" ejaculated Ross, while the 
 rest of the party seemed petrified by the tale. Magrath 
 quietly asked him, " Is it Corny, or the priest. Sir V 
 
 " Why, both, but particularly the murdering scoundrel 
 who made such a fuss about crossing himself." 
 
 " Then, begging your honor's pardon, no more a hypo- 
 crite than yourself, Mr. Ross ; or than Mr. Basil was, when 
 he prayed over his enemies in the ould tower. And why
 
 172 DERRY. 
 
 did he do that ] Sure, wasn't it because his religion 
 taught him, and his own bishop showed him the way into 
 it 1 Now, Corny 's relif^ion tauj^ht him the other plan, and 
 his priest encouraged him in the same. If Mr. Basil had 
 murdered ould Dennis that guarded him, I'm thinking it's 
 he that would have been the hypocrite ; and sure if O'Keefe 
 let til.' Trutestant escape, the same would have been his 
 rightful name. Moreover, he'd have earned the curse of 
 his church, instead of gettint: sowls out of purgatory." 
 
 *' Och," groaned old Shane ; " and vou think they were 
 in it !" 
 
 " Myself didn't see them any how, in or out," answered 
 Magrath, with one of his peculiar grimaces. He then re- 
 sumed th(.' thread of his narrative, relating that the sulPer- 
 ings of the Irish without the walls fell very little short of 
 those experienced by the besieged : while f imine pn'vailcd 
 to a great extent, and contagious diseases carried olf num- 
 bers daily. A feeling similar to that expressed by Con- 
 nellan seemed very generally diliused among the native 
 Irish, who complained heavily of the callous indill'erence 
 with which the foreign soldiers and officers beheld their 
 sullerings, securing to themselves whatever they could lay 
 hold on, and treating as an inferior race of beings those to 
 whose aid they professed to have come. Still the priesta 
 had laid a timely and elTectual curb on this murmuring dis- 
 position ; and by directing every excited feeling into its 
 ancient channel of vengeful hatred a2;ainst the Protestant 
 name and cause, these ghostly engineers had wrought a 
 diversion highly favorable to their arrogant allies ; into 
 whose hands, as Magrath again asserted, they had most as- 
 suredly sold both the country and its whole population. 
 
 When he had completed his survey, the intrepid Irish- 
 man bent his steps towards Derry ; but having excited 
 some suspicion when approaching it, he was fired at and 
 pursued. As a dernier resort he had plunged into the
 
 DEKRY. 173 
 
 Foyle, by his skill in diving, baffling farther aim, and un 
 der the shades of closing twilight, escaped their view ; the 
 attention of his pursuers having been arrested by the sud- 
 den report of a fleet entering the Lough. He had, how- 
 ever, exhausted his strength so much, that he might have 
 perished in the water, had not Ross, with his little recon- 
 noitering party, happily discovered and rescued him. 
 
 " Aye, my lad," observed Ross, as he concluded, " and 
 ■with hearty good will I landed you on terra jirma ; but 
 mind, the next time you sally out at the priest's bidding, 
 you may e'en fight your way back again, for any help that 
 you'll get from me." 
 
 " True, for you, Sir," answered Magrath ; and the smile 
 that accompanied his words seemed to augur little success 
 for the priest, should he issue a second summons. 
 
 Ross declared that he would have Smith tossed over to 
 his confederates, at the top of the morning ; but tliat worthy 
 gentleman had anticipated his kind purpose, by stealing 
 out soon after nightfall, leaving them to conjecture that 
 tidings of the prisoner's escape had reached him, and that 
 his disinclination for any possible meeting with Magrath 
 prompted the hasty retreat. 
 
 Magrath had not described to his auditors the effect pro- 
 duced on his mind by the horrible incongruities, displayed 
 under the roof of Cornelius O'Keefe ; but from his ready 
 disclosure of the facts, the inference was necessarily drawn, 
 that popery had nearly lost her victim ; and powerful was 
 the encouragement deduced, to pursue those rational and 
 scriptural means whereby the infernal yoke should be ef- 
 fectually and for ever broken from his neck.
 
 CIIAPTHU XI 
 
 It was a remark of King William, when alluding to the 
 protracted d»'fonce of Derry, that then* could not have 
 been one soldier either without or within its walls. He 
 spoke with that exclusive reference to second cauKS, 
 which is too prevalent among warriors and statesmen ; evi- 
 dently implying that no man of military genius cf)uld have 
 failed of carrying, or ventured upon defending, so weak a 
 post. In thus saying, he, however under-rated the profes- 
 sional abilities of the French Mareschal, who, on the first 
 view of that little citadel, was so struck with the human 
 impossibility of any garrison maintaining passession, that 
 he expressed supreme contempt for those who had failed 
 of capturing it ; sAvearing a most impious oath, that he 
 would make his soldiers bring it to him stone by stone. It 
 would seem that neither the monarch nor the maresclial 
 called to mind the over-ruling power of him who, in answer 
 to the jirayer of a believing king, said of the vaunting 
 enemy encamped before his walls, " He shall not come 
 into this city nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it 
 with shields, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that 
 he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come 
 into this city, saith the Lord." 
 
 It was a sore trial of faith to the fainting inhabitants of 
 Derry, when the ships, whose approach had so revived
 
 DERRY. 175 
 
 their hopes, and struck terror into the besiegers, turned their 
 prows against the breeze and departed. The drawing of a 
 few cannon from the Irish camp down to the banks of 
 Lough Foyle, intimidated the English commander into this 
 cruel desertion oi his suffering allies ; and they were once 
 more cast on the unseen Arm to which many of them 
 clung with an enduring trust, well worthy the brightest 
 periods of the church. 
 
 In vain did the signal of distress wave from their cathe- 
 dral-spire ; in vain did the famishing people mount their 
 walls, and stretch their hands, and strain their eyeballs, as 
 if to catch some answering sign from the receding vessels j 
 some with cries of anguish, others with loud reproach, or 
 bitter execrations, while a few, in patient submission, se- 
 cretly prayed for grace to wait the Lord's appointed time. 
 The shouts and insulting gestures with which the enemy 
 mocked their baffled hope, proved to some more irritating 
 than the disappointment itself; and one of the apprentices 
 exclaimed that, to be revenged on those unfeeling English, 
 he could find in his heart to lling open the town-gates, and 
 swear fealty to King James. 
 
 " Indeed you would not," answered Bryan ; " our cause 
 is unchanged and so are we. We struggle not to sustain 
 this dynasty or that, but to keep alive a glimmering spark, 
 which, once extinct, must leave our poor country in utter 
 darkness. We have nursed that little spark through storm 
 and flame, through pestilence and famine, and we'll guard 
 it still, the Lord being our helper. Precious beam ! yet 
 destined to survive, and shine, and brighten every nook of 
 our own green isle !" 
 
 " Bravo !" cried Walker ; " three cheers for that sen- 
 timent from all true Derry boys :" and the call wai) 
 obeyed with all the alacrity of rekindled enthusiasm. 
 
 But sadly they descended from those walls to bear the 
 unwelcome tidings, each to his home : to meet the hollow
 
 176 DERRY. 
 
 eye of craving famine, and to blanch the hectic of expec- 
 tation on many a care-worn clie»'k ; to hear the moan of 
 insupportable disajipoititinont, or to gaze on the more piti- 
 able smile, beneath which allection souf^ht to veil the suf- 
 ferings of nature. This last was Bryan's lot to encounter; 
 the Lady of M'Alisler looked up with meek s\ibmission, 
 saying, "All is well. The tire would not be thus intensely 
 heated if the Lord had nut here SDnie preciuus metal tore- 
 fine and purify." 
 
 Ellen, stretched on her couch o( chairs, turned her cheek 
 to the pillow, and remarked, " 1 must needs grieve for 
 others who hunger ; but nuiif need pity me, who have so 
 poor an appetite." 
 
 '' You'll be saying any how," rejoined Shane ; "■ but it'a 
 a sup of nourishment that would put the blood into your 
 veins again, avourneen." 
 
 " I have a heavier trial than this," observed Basil, " for 
 the swelling in my ancles threatens to forbid my visiting 
 tile prisoners." 
 
 The Lady anxiously exclaimed, " Do not say so ; you 
 shall be wheeled in Ellen's chair. Amid these sighs and 
 sounds of horror, O let not that voice of pity be silenced." 
 
 " And why would it {" asked Magrath, who in gloomy 
 silence had occupied a distant corner. " Sure, and I'm 
 quite agreeable to go in his place." 
 
 '• And to read the scriptures to your countrymen ?" 
 
 " Why not \ The story o' pace is a good story to tell a 
 man any day, let alone such days as these." He took Ba. 
 sil's book from the mantel-piece, and immediately sallied 
 forth. 
 
 " Now, grandmother :" said Ellen, " is not that better 
 cheer than all the ships of England could have brought 
 
 us r 
 
 " Fm thinking it is," remarked Shane, as he took hia 
 staff, and tottered out after his nephew.
 
 DKRRY. 177 
 
 " These are cordials," cried the Lady, " precious cor- 
 dials for fainting hearts. Year after year has that stubborn 
 8oil resisted the hand of culture, and chilled me oft with 
 sinful unbelief, as though God had willed the death of a 
 soul, placed by his own overruling providence under every 
 means of grace. The famine and the drought are consum- 
 ing his aged flesh ; but Shane's spirit now hangers and 
 thirsts after righteousness, and it shall be filled."' 
 
 "Indeed," rejoined Basil, " I never witnessed a more 
 lively eagerness after spiritual nourishment than he has 
 lately shown. When you read, he listens with serious 
 attention, and strives to understand : but soon as the sen- 
 tence reached his ear in the beloved Celtic, every faculty 
 is roused, and his whole soul absorbed, to the seeming ex- 
 clusion of all bodily sullering." 
 
 In the mean time, the subject of their remarks proceed- 
 ed to the prison, where jMagrath, surrounded by his won- 
 dering countrymen, was reading the word of life to some 
 who had formerly known him under very different cir- 
 cumstances. Basil had in somewise overawed them by 
 his venerable aspect and superior manners : but with 
 Magrath they were under less restraint, and one began 
 loudly to cavil, rejecting the bible as a book proscribed by 
 the priest, and therefore to be abhorred of all true catho- 
 lics. Another maintained that the book proscribed was 
 the English bible, the real heretic words, whereas nothing 
 but the right religion could be put into Irish. Magrath 
 refused to avail himself of the ready assent yielded by the 
 rest to this characteristic distinction ; he stoutly asserted 
 the supreme authority of God's word, in whatsoever lan- 
 guage conveyed ; and his arguments, though abounding 
 rather in point and shrewdness than in spiritual power, 
 plainly indicated that glowing light which had begun to 
 triumph over the long-cherished darkness of his soul. 
 
 He returned home in good spirits, recounting what had 
 16
 
 178 DERRY. 
 
 passed, and apparently much gratified by the invitation 
 given at parting to renew his visit. 
 
 " This blessed leaven will work," remarked Basil to 
 Bryan, " and tbt; teacher will learn while insUuctijig 
 others.'' 
 
 Ellen observed how much England must have to answer 
 for, in so long neglecting these simple means of instructing 
 her sisfer island. 
 
 "JShe has answered, dearly answered for it," said the 
 Lady of M'Alister, " in rivers of her best blood, and 
 hoards of her treasure ; nor will the efTrct ever cease 
 while the cause remains. Ireland unenlightened, will still 
 be Ireland unsubdued ; her people may be won, may be 
 melted, may be attached with all the ardor that their 
 glowing atlt'ctions are caj)able of : but coerced they can- 
 not be into perfect subjugation, while the dearest feelings 
 of their nature are outraged by the wild attempt to crush 
 their national predilections, or left to expatiate amid ex* 
 citing themes, in a language unknown to thf strangers who 
 govern them. Strangers slill, and over to remain as such, 
 while they suffer that language to run, like an impassable 
 river, along the boundary, which, by a little ])atirnt and 
 judicious labor, might be led into channels of kindly com- 
 munication and mutual benefit between two people so 
 near, and yet, alas! so widely and fatally separated!" 
 
 Thus, under many a roof, were the manifestations of di» 
 vine love enabling surtering families to glorify God in the 
 fires of increasing tribulations ; and the prayer of the peo- 
 ple prevailed to strengthen the bulwarks, in themselves so 
 miserably weak. A few days brought the expected aug- 
 mentation to their besiegers' forces of fifteen hundred 
 troops, commanded by De Rosen, whose preliminary vaunt 
 has been already noticed, and who took especial caie that 
 threats and promises should be conveyed in equal abun- 
 dance to the straitened garrison. He menaced all of every
 
 DERRY. 179 
 
 age and either sex, with the most cruel deaths that protract- 
 ed torture could inflict, unless the town were immediately 
 delivered up to him ; while bribes as cos:ly as the denun- 
 ciations were terrific, were held out to those who should 
 induce submission ; but, as Walker writes in his brief 
 diary, " God having under all their difficulties established 
 them, with a spirit and resolution above all fear or tempta- 
 tion," this intrepid governor immediately issued an order, 
 denouncing the penalty of death on any man in Derry who 
 should even mention the subject of surrender. 
 
 Magrath, with undisguised satisfaction, communicated 
 this order at home, adding, " It's his riverence that is arch, 
 sure enough ; and he'll be guessing that Mounseer hasn't 
 the gift like one of the real blood, to bring the boys afler 
 his heels. Connellan wasn't the only one that grumbled 
 over it ; and myself doesn't care if I join the next sally, to 
 put down the foreigners that come to enslave us." From 
 that day his activity increased in the service of the citizens, 
 who were kept in continual anxiety by numerous deser- 
 tions, and the consequent accuracy of the intelligence per- 
 petually conveyed to their vigilant foes. 
 
 Language is insufficient to portray the horrors of accu- 
 mulating misery sustained by the diminished band. The 
 horse-flesh was all expended, and the twenty thousand 
 sufferers who still remained were reduced to greater priva- 
 tions than they had ever yet anticipated ; the daily deaths 
 becoming a matter of calculation, not unmixed with selfish 
 feeling, among those whose craving hunger grudged the 
 supply of so many mouths ; but instances abounded of no- 
 ble devotion to the public cause, and self-denial was prac- 
 tised to an extent truly admirable. Bryan's little party 
 had long since made a voluntary relinquishment of their 
 private hoard to the public store, and he had himself em- 
 barked in an attempt to gain the distant ships, with the 
 view of making known their desperate situation to the un-
 
 180 DRRBY. 
 
 feeling Kirke who still rode at anchor where he could 
 behold the piteous signals of agonizing distress. This effort 
 was rendered fruitless by opposing enemies ; and the little 
 party returned after braving such ])eril in the cause of hu- 
 itianity, that Magrath couW not refrain from uttering a few 
 remarks on the subject of M'Alister's cowardice, within 
 par-shut of his ancient antagonist, Crowe. 
 
 The Lady was privy to this expedition, but they con- 
 cealed it from Ellt-n, whose wasted powers could ill have 
 sustained the agony of sisterly apprehension. Her grand- 
 mother had cut the silver buttons from a suit of her hus- 
 band's garments, and added to them the poor remains of 
 her family insignia, in the hope that a price of some mag- 
 nitude might win, from the well-supplied shipp'mg, a few 
 articles of suitable nourishment for the uncomplaining girl ; 
 but in vain. Bryan returned, after an absence of twinty- 
 four hours ; and the first feeling of his mind, on re-entering 
 their poor abode, was a conviction that Ellen's sull'erings 
 were nearly terminated, although, to eyes less habituated 
 to the sight of premature death, she would have a])pfared 
 surprisingly revived. 
 
 " What tidings do you bring us, dearest brother 1" she 
 asked, as he took his station by her side. 
 
 He answered, " Governor Baker is no more ; and the 
 enemy persist in tempting the garrison to treachery by 
 every species of inducement ; but they will not prevail." 
 
 "Prevail is it 1" said Shane; "sure I saw the boy, 
 Larry, seize a fellow, with papers in his pouch, to tempt 
 the lads ; and no thanks to them that he wasn't tore to 
 pieces before Larry could get him under shelter."' 
 
 Magrath entered to confirm this statement, adding that 
 the Derry men had a greater spite to traitors within than 
 foes without. 
 
 "And that is a good rule," observed Ellen, " if we all 
 applied it to the traitors in our own hearts, as being for 
 more hateful than all our outward afflictions."
 
 DEKRY. 181 
 
 The Lady of jM'Alister had caught Bryan's eye, and the 
 look told much of mutual expectation of what was at hand. 
 Magialh had rivetted his on Ellen, and, with an altered 
 expression of countenance, seated himself opposite. The 
 summer twilight was closing, and a small lamp shed its 
 pale glimmer on the beautiful but still paler face be- 
 neath it. 
 
 " Now let us speak," she said " of the mercies already 
 experienced in our little besieged city, that from the past 
 we may gather hope for the future." 
 
 " First then,"' said Bryan, " for a recent interposition, 
 too remarkable to be overlooked. We removed our 
 gunpowder from Campsie's cellar, on a vague apprehension 
 of insecurity. In less than twenty-four hours, a bomb fell 
 and exploded in that cellar, by which, but for the provi- 
 dential removal, our city had been destroyed." 
 
 A pause of thankfulness ensued ; and several other in- 
 stances of merciful interposition having been recounted, 
 the Lady spoke of that discriminating goodness which had 
 removed, by so easy a transition, the two who, of their 
 little household, seemed most ripe for heaven ; sparing them 
 the anguish which thousands were left to endure ; adding, 
 " Few and feeble will be the remnant reserved to welcome 
 deliverance, if, to any, temporal deliverance come." 
 
 i' Never ' if ' it, my Lady," said Shane. " Delivered 
 we shall be ; and of that we have tokens galore." 
 
 " The token of continual answers to prayer," added 
 Bryan. 
 
 " That to be sure. Master Bryan dear ; but we've signs 
 to show us the same, if you'll only listen to what has been 
 seen." 
 
 " Well go on." 
 
 " Troth and its uncle that will make a long story," said 
 Magrath ; " but 1 11 tell you clean off hand. Why then, 
 Sir, every night, as soon as the bell goes twelve, fair or 
 16*
 
 182 DERRT. 
 
 foul, light or dark, there comes a big angel, riding a horse 
 as white as Miss Ellon's hand, and going the round, with a 
 drawn sword, over land and water, to trace the holy circle, 
 that neither man nor devil may pass ;" — he was about to 
 cross himself, but desisted. 
 
 "And you believe this !" asked Bryan, smiling. 
 " And why wouldn't he V indignantly retorted Shane. 
 " Hasn't he told you the real truth ! How else would he 
 know the horse's color, and the sword that is pale and 
 pink, like the top of the morning \ Och ! but it's no time 
 to be doubting : when the devils come up against us by 
 troops, is it that tlie Lord couldn't spare us an angel to stand 
 sentry !" 
 
 " Very true, iShane ; but" 
 
 " It isn't a but," interrupted Magrath : "and yourself, 
 Mr. Bryan, slioiddn't question it : for why '. didn't you shew 
 me the jisalm that says it V and he repeated in Irish, " The 
 angel of the Lord encampcth round about them that fear 
 him, and delivereth them. ' 
 
 " There, Sir," cried Shane exultingly. 
 "Not one angel alone," exclaimed Ellen, "but hosts of 
 heavenly guardians, chariots, and horses of fire are on the 
 hills around us. Are they not ministering spirits, sent 
 forth to minister to us / Have they not charge concern- 
 ing us, to keep us in all our ways '. Do they not joy in 
 the presence of God over one repenting sinner \ Oh ! to 
 attain to that innumerable company — that groat multitude 
 of the heavenly host, who, on the plain of Bethlehem, 
 hymned the new-born Savior, and now roll their unceas- 
 ing anthems round the throne of the Lamb!" 
 
 She uttered this most energetically ; and Magrath'ji 
 countenance bespoke such triumphant animation as re- 
 called to every one present the fact of his having been 
 taught, from infancy, to worship those ministers of God's 
 pleasure. Ellen gathered breath, and proceeded : "Shall
 
 DERRY. 183 
 
 We not love our fellow-servants, and bless the hand which 
 commissions them to aid 1 Because some have erred from 
 the truth, and taught men to pray to them which are no gods, 
 we run into the other extreme, and fear to speak of them. 
 I can rejoice in the sunshine, love the warm beam, and 
 bless the power and wisdom which created it, without 
 danger of worshiping the sun, with Eastern idolators/' 
 
 " You are right, my love," responded the Lady. " We 
 dwell too little on the realities of that spiritual world near 
 which we live, unseeing, but how clearly seen. And 
 doubtless, the sin of worshiping angels, introduced among 
 a cloud of other abominations, has operated to deprive us 
 of many a sweet and cheering contemplation on their ex- 
 istence, nature, offices, and privileges — so soon to be our 
 own, through the grace of Him, who, for our sakes, stooped 
 to be made lower than the3\" 
 
 " ril toll 3'ou," said -Macjrath, who perceived the drift 
 of their allusions to his creed. "It's myself that hasn't 
 prayed a bead to saint or angel this many a da3\ Why 
 should I ]" Then with an emotion that defied control, 
 while tears burst from his eyes, he added, " Miss Ellen, 
 dear, the cold hand of death is over ye." 
 
 "I know it, Magrath." 
 
 " Then carry this comfort with ye, that poor Larry 
 Magrath will never put hope nor trust in living soul, let 
 alone them that are dead, but believe in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, for 'tis he that can save — and make his 
 prayer to God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, with- 
 out cross or crucifix, bead or wafer, or any thing but the 
 blessed bible itself Amen." 
 
 He clasped his hands and raised bis eyes with a look of 
 fervent appeal ; but, save Eilen herself, none could fully 
 participate in its feelings. A gleam of heart-cheering de- 
 light it did indeed shed over each ; but his abrupt annun- 
 ciation of her approaching departure, and the calm response
 
 184 DEKRY. 
 
 which confirmed it, wrung every bosom. She perceived 
 it; and after extending her hand to Magrath, with an earn- 
 est blessing, she threw it around lier brother's, and asked 
 him whether he wished to detain her from the blessed so- 
 ciety of which they had been speaking. 
 
 "No Ellen, I tlo not. These are tears of selfish envy. 
 You are happy — quite happy 1" and his voice soltened 
 fix)m assertion into interrogation, as he bent over her. 
 
 "Perfectly happy; not a doubt nor a fear. The Lord \a 
 present, who has done great things for me, and in that I re- 
 joice. O Bryan, trust him at all times, and pour out your 
 hearts before him! Yes, I am very happy ; but oh, my be- 
 reaved mother!" and she turned to the Lady, who knelt 
 beside her. " Hush, my darling : the mother sees her chil- 
 dren laid to rest, and then how peaceful her own pillow ! — 
 how bright tiiat morning of the resurrection, when all shall 
 bloom in n>novated beauty around their Father's table ! 
 I have lived to see the fruit of many prayers — every 
 prayer: and shall I murmur 1 No, Ellen, this is the vic- 
 tory that overcometh the world even our faith. Co in 
 peace, vein of my heart ! and we will abide in hope." 
 
 Peaceful indeed, as atlection itself could desire, were 
 the few remaining hours of Ellen's mortal existence. She 
 declined to be carried into her own apartment, observing, 
 that there would be less trouble in removing her remains 
 from where she then lay. Encouragement to persevere 
 in defending the citadel of Protestantism, mingled with 
 fervent su})plication for her deluded countrymen, and glow- 
 ing anticipations of the rest upon which she was about to 
 enter, occupied her latest breath. The last faint whisper 
 was one of praise ; and the last smiling look was bent on 
 poor old Shane, who could not be persuaded to relinquish 
 her hand, until its pulse had long ceased to throb. She 
 departed soon after midnight, as if to verify the earnest whis- 
 per of Magrath to Basil, that the angel would rein in his
 
 DERRY. 
 
 186 
 
 horse to wait for her spirit, and bear it around the city, and 
 away to heaven : a thought which seemed to delight him 
 so much, that the old man, smiling through his tears, fore- 
 bore to chock it, otherwise than by an answering whisper, 
 reciting in Irish the promise of Jesus, " If I go to prepare a 
 place for you, I will come again and receive you unto my- 
 self." Magrath assented, but immediately quoted also the 
 passage which describes Lazarus as being carried by an- 
 gels to Abraham's bosom ; and Basil was too much rejoiced 
 at his readiness in appealing to scripture, to cavil at the 
 innocent and touching inference which he delighted to 
 draw. 
 
 The last sigh was hushed, the long lasli had fallen over 
 the sunken but beautiful cheek, and the chin was support- 
 ed by a ribband, which had confined her chesnut tresses, 
 now straying over the pillow. Solemn stillness reigned, 
 broken sometimes by a stifled sob as recollections of past 
 days became two powerful for entire restraint ; and occa- 
 sionally by a short but fervent supplication, offered in a 
 low tone, by Basil or the Lady, and mingled with praise. 
 Bryan sat in deep, calm silence, gazing on the features 
 which, from the day when first he peeped into the cradle 
 to admire the " new baby," had been o{ all earthly things 
 most lovely in his sight. The short gloom of a summer 
 night soon passed away : the little lamp was extinguished, 
 with that frugal care which the deep poverty of the poor 
 succourless inhabitants rendered indispensable : and the 
 Sabbath morning's golden hue crept round the apartment. 
 Magrath arose to shade the window with a token of death } 
 and with one consent the trembling voices of age, suffering, 
 and sorrow, commenced a funeral dirge, from the simple 
 melodies that had frequently cheered their hearts during 
 the long season of wasting calamity. Absorbed in the 
 soothing employment, they marked not the opening of the 
 door ; and on concluding, beheld with surprise Colonel
 
 186 DKRRV. 
 
 Murray loaning against a j)rojection of the antique wall, 
 gazing on the group, with an expression of such mingled 
 pity and love, as words could but weakly have conveyed. 
 
 "Another deserter from our garrison,^' said liryan, as 
 with a melancholy smile he ]K)inled to the couch. 
 
 The Colont.l advaijced, and with clasped hands, bent 
 over it for a moment ; then staiiing aw ay, exclaimed, " It 
 will not do ; we must be men of iron and rock. A few 
 more such sights as this, M'Alister, will nult us into chil- 
 dren." 
 
 " You wouldn't say that," uttered .Maj^rath reproachfully, 
 *'Ifyou(i ht-ard thf cnatun-'s dying breath, telling us to 
 stand by the last stone of Derry walls." 
 
 " Anil did she \ the beautiful martyr : may that lovely 
 smile upon the lips that sjjoke such cheer, be prophetic of 
 its accomplishment ! M'Aliiter I came to speak of death 
 and the grave, but knew not of this. Baker will be in- 
 terred to-day : you will, alas ! you must be there ;" and 
 again he looked on the corpse, and from that to the Lady, 
 until his eyes swam in tears. 
 
 " Grieve not for us, Colonel," she said, " we share but 
 the common woe. Would that every mourner equally 
 shared our abundant consolations ! We are chosen to suf- 
 fer in the cause of truth : — May succeeding generations 
 estimate the blessing, for the preservation of which we 
 gladly endure the loss of all earthly things." 
 
 " Amen," he ejaculated. " The Protestant cause is the 
 cause of posterity ; and we are cementing with our dearest 
 blood bulwarks which they will value and maintain." 
 
 Before the sun had reached his meridian height, a long 
 and mournful procession conveyed to the cathedral the 
 mortal remains of Henry Baker, in whom the citizens had 
 lost a valuable friend. He was united with Walker in the 
 government of Derry, and generally beloved. A solemn 
 funeral service was performed, a sermon delivered on the
 
 DEREY. 387 
 
 occasion, and groups of mourners surrounding their respec- 
 tive dead, collected as usual for interment near the door, 
 listened with deep interest to a theme but too widely ap- 
 plicable. Ellen's bier was, by Murray's command, brought 
 near the governor's ; and among the haggard counte- 
 nances assembled, none excited more commiseration than 
 the venerable trio attached to it, Shane, Basil, and the 
 Lady of M'Alister. Magrath voluntarily accompanied 
 them, and joined in the service of the Church, having ftil- 
 filled his self-imposed task of digging a grave unusually 
 deep, beside that of the two first victims ; and here, after 
 depositing Baker in the vault, they bore the corpse of 
 Ellen to its nook of peaceful day. 
 
 On that same day the infamous De Rossen srnt in his 
 peremptory order to surrender the town, before six o'clock, 
 on the ensuing evening, on pain of indiscriminate slaugh* 
 ter, by fire and sword. It was rejected : and he proceeded 
 to renew the bombardment with increasing fury. This 
 producing no appearance of intimidation or fluctuation in 
 the devoted little garrison, the Frenchman had recourse to 
 an expedient, in the execution of which he proved himself 
 an incarnation of the spirit of cruelty ; a meet son of her 
 who is drunken with the blood of the saints. 
 
 On inquiring for his friend Ross, Bryan ascertained that 
 he had been wounded, and was unable to leave his bed. 
 Repairing to him, he found him under considerable ex- 
 citement, having been assured that De Rosen had some 
 project of cruelty which should overcome the obstinate re- 
 sistance of the Prostestants. " It is the rufhans boast, that 
 in Langiiedoc, he found means to quell them, such as had 
 never entered the dull heads of English or Irish. Come, 
 M'Alister, promise me, helpless as I am, that you will join 
 to your own my share of resolution, and stand, though it be 
 eingly, against every temptation to yield." 
 
 " My dear fellow ! what is my resolution, and what
 
 188 DERBY. 
 
 your ownl — the weak, wavering flame of a candle, to be 
 blown out by the first breath, unless lighted at the altar of 
 divine love and holy zeal. For a double portion of such 
 fire I will pray : and so far as I know myself, I will suffer 
 martyrdom rather than flinch from the sacred cause — the 
 caust^ that my poor Kllen cherished with her latest sigh." 
 
 " So, ^o ! Ellen too is gone \ Very good, and 1 am glad, 
 and so ought you to he. She will never more A'fl heat, 
 nor thirst — burning thirst like this" — he was evidently in 
 great torture, and his brain become alfecteil. 
 
 " He calm, dear Ross; leave these agitating themes, and 
 look to the lord — the Lamb who now leads Kllen to the 
 living fountains of waters ; who is equally willing to lead 
 you there, and to overade these bodily sutferings, to the 
 eternal refreshment of your soul. ' 
 
 " 1 know it : I think of it sometimes — often. Hut 1 
 fear it is the freshness of the cool, cool damp green pas- 
 tures, and the bubbling and flowing of the delicious cold 
 waters, that allure me. 0, .M'Alister, 1 fear it is my rav- 
 ing thirst of body, not the thirst of a parching soul, that 
 makes all this so lovely ; for 1 am dying under these 
 parching agonies, and no drop to moisten my burning 
 lips." 
 
 "Try to compose yourself until I return," said his 
 friend ; and then borrowing a small pitch€*r he sallied 
 forth, at the imminent peril of his life, and filled it at one 
 of the wells without the gate, while the enemy's marks- 
 men showered bullets around him. The furious bombard- 
 ment, just renewed, had polluted the water in the town 
 to such a degree that many of the sick, like Ross, rejected 
 the nauseous draught, while perishing with thirst : and 
 few had the hardihood to brave, on their own behalf, what 
 Bryan readily encountered for his friend. 
 
 Ross quaffed the precious beverage with gasping eager- 
 ness, and lay down refreshed.
 
 DERRY. 189 
 
 " Now will you hear of the Savior V 
 
 *' Ah yes, gladly ; but I fear that gratitude for the 
 water, love to the friendly hand which brought it, will 
 predominate over better feelings." 
 
 " Well, you are right to mistrust yourself: but you 
 must not therefore reject the offered mercy." He then 
 spoke, and read, and prayed with the youth, and left hira 
 much composed. At the door he was met by JMagrath, 
 who asked him, had he heard the ^lareschal's message 1 
 and informed him that the inhuman foreigner had threat- 
 ened to plunder all the Protestants in the country round ; 
 and then to drive them, men, women, and children, to 
 starve under the walls of Derry. 
 
 A menace so barbarous was not to be credited ; and 
 Bryan found the council preparing an answer expressive 
 of universal indignation at the threat, with the reiterated 
 assurance that no regard would be paid to any proposition 
 which he could convey, on the subject of surrender. This 
 was the unanimous feeling of all ranks ; and the message 
 was confirmed by hearty cheers from the walls. 
 
 On the following morning the Lady of M'Alister ap- 
 peared equipped for a walk. Bryan suggested that the 
 continued bombardment rendered the streets unsafe ; but 
 she replied, " My child, I have now no sacred task to 
 fulfil at home ; and it becomes ray duty to devote the 
 remnant of strength to our more helpless fellows." 
 
 " But, dear mother, you can pray." 
 
 " And work too, Bryan. He who has coupled ' fervent 
 in spirit,' with ' not slothful in business,' will accept the 
 heart's prayer, while the feet and the hands are occupied 
 in the service of his poor aillicted ones. — Lead me to 
 Ross." 
 
 With secret gladness he obeyed, and rejoiced in the de- 
 lighted welcome of his friend, who received her as a celes- 
 tial visitant. He left her there, and joined by Magratb. 
 17
 
 190 PERRY. 
 
 who had fulfilled his visit of morcy to the prisonpre, he 
 mounted the walls. The celebrated bulwarks of Derry 
 consist of an inner and an outer wall, the former of which 
 is about twi'uty feet in thickness, aJfording an excellent 
 promenade ; the hcii^ht of the other varies, in some places 
 rising al)ove the stature of a man, but generally not more 
 than four feet, forming battlements to the inner one, to 
 which it is united. Ht»re then, thf besieged were wont to 
 array themselves, and employ their smaller fire-arms with 
 such effect as they could, to aid their gvms, planted on the 
 bastions and lines. Of th»'S(» they had no mon- than 
 twenty tit ll)r use, which, with two stationed on the cathe- 
 dral roof, lormed the entire battery for defence of the 
 town. 
 
 Some excitement prevailed in that quarter to which 
 Bryan had repaired ; for a rising cloud of dust bespoke 
 the approach of a large body of assailants ; and De Kosen'a 
 threats had rendered them doubly watchful. ''I3e steady, 
 lads," said tlie officer in command, " and givt; them a 
 proper greeting, if they advance." A line was formed, 
 the men stood to their arms, and, the party still drawing 
 nearer, a volley was discharged into the mass. Screams 
 and cries, in the shrill voices of women and children, with 
 the loud and melancholy tonrs of entreaty from men, 
 pealed back instead of the expected fire of musquetry : 
 and the smoke dispersing, on a light breeze, and the dust, 
 abating from the temporary halt, a scene presented itself 
 — would it were a vision of the writer's fancy — but alas ! 
 no description can do justice to the appalling reality of 
 what has been left on record by eye-witnesses, then gaxing 
 from those walls. 
 
 A crowd appeared, comprising several thousands of 
 Protestants — not captives taken in battle, but victims 
 dragged by force from their peaceful habitations, of whom 
 the great majority were females of every age, from ex-
 
 DERRY. 191 
 
 treme decrepitude of years to the infant newly born ; 
 the rest were old men and j'oung boys, or invalids brought 
 from their sick-rooms, with some more vigorous in appear- 
 ance, seized in the moment of unarmed security, overpow- 
 ered, and compelled to mingle in the wretched throng. Half 
 naked, with bleeding feet and tottering knees, they stag- 
 gered on, raising their supplicating voices to the besieged, 
 to spare their helpless friends ; while the latter, in the 
 very attitude of reloading their pieces, stood petrified 
 with horror, staring as on some hideous vision which they 
 wished to dispel. It was, however, no vision ; still the 
 crowd advanced ; and they might see the rutfian soldiery 
 behind, violently pushing and goading with their swords, 
 the fainting forms that lingered last from inability to pro- 
 ceed ; or dragging them along the ground, to which some 
 had fallen. 
 
 The trance of horror into which the Derry men had 
 been surprised was of short duration ; and such a yell of 
 frantic fury was perhaps never heard from human lips, as 
 then echoed from the walls. Faces pale and ghastly with 
 famine, now flushed into the deep hectic of rage, and not 
 a menace nor an execration was left unuttered, that their 
 boiling passions could suggest. For a time, nothing was 
 heard but incoherent invective, and threatenings, till Mur- 
 ray shouted out " a gallows !" and instantly a thousand 
 eager hands were at work, preparing the apparatus of ig- 
 nominious death, which they erected within view of the 
 enemies' camp, for the execution of the prisoners then in 
 their hands. 
 
 Meanwhile, the exhausted crowds had gained the walls 
 under which they sat or fell down, wiping the starting 
 moisture, and tears, and blood that mingled on their faces ; 
 extracting the thorns from their blistered feet, and striving 
 to close the tattered garments that scarcely covered their 
 emaciated frames. Mothers clasped their infants, and
 
 192 DERRY. 
 
 rocked them to and fro, moaning in answer to the little 
 sufferers' cries, or vainly tried to appease the clamors of 
 children, who screamed for drink and food. Young girls 
 were seen smothering their own complaints, though rack- 
 ed with the anguish of fatigue and suffering, while busied 
 in contriving some little support for the trembling head 
 of an aged parent ; or binding up the wounds of a brother, 
 or relieving some fainting mother of her helpless babe. 
 All this was terrible to witness : but when the victims 
 looked up to those who hung over the walls, and smiled, 
 and blessed them for their heroic fidelity, it was too much: 
 tears and sobs broke forth from many who had endured 
 without a groan the intlictions of that dreadful siege ; 
 and the leading men hastened to dispatch a message to 
 the general who commanded under the hateful De Kosen, 
 declaring that unless the fugitives were properly refreshed, 
 and re-conducted to their homes, the prisoners should be 
 immediately hanged within their view, including a noble- 
 man, and several officers. Yet, with this atrocious exam- 
 ple of religious persecution before their eyes, tiuy added 
 a free permission, for popish priests to enter, and prepare 
 them for their fate. 
 
 The captives, acknowledging the strict justice of this 
 proceeding, and expressing deep abhorrence at the deed of 
 De Rosen, wrote an imploring letter to their general, to 
 save them from a disgraceful death by his compliance, but 
 in vain. The Frenchman was inexorable, and left them 
 to their fate, merely signifying that their death would be 
 revenged on the defenceless multitude. The sentence 
 was not carried into execution, but every possible method 
 was taken to relieve the sufferers, who on the following 
 day were joined by another thousand in similar circum- 
 stances. 
 
 There was not a person in Derry, able to move, who 
 did not seem to lose the sense of every privation, in the
 
 DERRY. 193 
 
 all-absorbing sentiment of indignant pity. Many climbed 
 the walls, whom age or sickness had apparently disabled 
 from walking the street, and some were seen to drop their 
 own scant}' morsel of food, or change of clothing, in the 
 laps of such as seemed perishing for help. Recognitions 
 the most heart-rending took place, while those on the 
 walls discerned in some bleeding famishing creature be- 
 neath, a sister, a parent, a child — sometimes a wife or hus- 
 band. Distressed as was the garrison, it became necessary 
 to prohibit, under severe penalties, the reception, and 
 even the relief, of those over whom all hearts yearned ; 
 but the pleadings of natural affection overcame both fear 
 and prudence, and many were admitted, fed, and clothed, 
 during the night. Among these, one amply recompensed 
 the mercy shown, by delivering a message from the fleet, 
 directing that in case of great extremity, two fires should 
 be lighted on the church. The beacons were immediate- 
 ly ignited, and plentifully fed, that their blaze might 
 reach the ships with a silent tale of unparalleled distresses. 
 
 IV
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Tin; ^iirrisnn of Di-rry was now rtMlucfd to less than six 
 thousand ; and within the walls were many rondcrcd use- 
 less by ago or debility, but assisting to consume its scanty 
 Btore of provisions ; while under its battlements there lay 
 some hundreds of comparatively able men. It was propos- 
 ed by several of the formcrthat they should steal (jut nnd'^r 
 cover of the night, and their places be supplied by the lat- 
 ter. The most afllictcd of the Protestants without, had re- 
 monstrated against receiving that help which the besieged 
 could so ill spare : and the voice of tender compassion 
 from above, was often answered from below in terms of 
 cheering encouragement, from those who lay dying. Many 
 a sublime instance of devotion to the righteous cause was 
 long recounted to the children's children of the martyrs : 
 and when the above-mentioned proposition was communi- 
 cated, they united in assisting to single out the stoutest of 
 their party, to the number of five hundred, while as many 
 from within prepared to take their places. 
 
 It was a night of partings in Derry ; and often the half- 
 stifled cry of agony broke forth, as the voluntary victims 
 crossed their threshold, to place themselves in the imme- 
 diate power of their deadliest foes ; and still the question 
 will present itself. Why did they thus suffer 1 What 
 nerved the citizens of this diminutive fortress even to the
 
 DERRY. 195 
 
 endurance of death in every shape, rather than surrender 
 it 1 The answer is obvious : they knew the unspeakable 
 value of that Protest from which they derived their very 
 name ; that solemn abjuration of an antichrislian heresy, 
 wherein consists the getting of ' the victory over the 
 Beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the 
 number of his name'* — the maintenance of that pure and 
 spotless faith, which loathes the ways of spiritual unclean- 
 ness. They trusted that the privilege which they individu- 
 ally enjoyed, would, througli their constancy, be confirm- 
 ed as a national blessing ; and that the bulwarks of their 
 citadel should typify an impregnable defence, to be reared 
 around the altar and the throne, to guard alike the palace 
 and the hovel. They succeeded, and the walls of Derry 
 yet stand a venerable monument of its incorruptible de- 
 fenders. Shall we go on ? Shall we ask, where are now 
 the national barriers ] Gone. The adamantine bulwarks 
 were undermined, and crumbled, and those who prostrated 
 them are building a wall, and daubing it with untempered 
 mortar. But let them look to it, for the great hailstones 
 are beginning to fall, and England will yet learn that it is 
 an evil thing and a bitter, to forsake the living God, who 
 will not brook the Bab3'lonian vest, however goodly in 
 man's eyes. 
 
 The voice of fervent supplication rose around the Pro- 
 testant city, for those who manned its walls ; and with it 
 the pleading of intercession for tlie deluded agents of a 
 foreigner's cruelty. The victims said that the Irish offi- 
 cers had shed tears over their miseries ; and that General 
 Hamilton, in defiance of his tyrant commander, had given 
 them provisions on their passage through his camp. In- 
 deed, deeply as were the native troops embrued in kindred 
 blood, this unprecedented act of barbarity towards their 
 countrymen, on the part of a French intruder, united them 
 
 • Rev. xr. 2.
 
 196 DERRT. 
 
 iu a feeling of detestation against him, and prevented that 
 zealous co-operation wliich would have rendered the safety 
 of Derry a linmaa impossilnlity. This the sullerers did not 
 fail to remark to their friends on tlie walls, rejoicing that 
 their wrongs would be overruled to the promotion of their 
 ultimate triumph. 
 
 On that mournful night the home of M'Alister presented 
 signs of participation in what was going on. Nothing had 
 been said ; but Basil, after tottering to the walls and hold- 
 ing converse with some individuals below, returmd to ga- 
 ther up his little bundle of necessaries, and with tearful 
 eyes gazed on the Lady, who sate in melancholy silence, 
 while Bryan and Magrath held a whispering conversation 
 near the window. They approached, and Basil said, " Un- 
 der this liospitable and blessed roof let me once more ren- 
 der praises to the Lord who brought nie hither, and com- 
 mend to his grace tho<:e w ho yet remain." They joined 
 him in his prayer, wliich flowed in a strain of devotional 
 joy and hope, well fitted to cht?er their spirits. " And 
 now," he said, on rising, " farewell for a little, a very little 
 space, until we meet in our Father's dwelling." 
 
 While exchanging tlu'ir tearful adieu, they were startled 
 to behold Shane O'Connogher issue from his little cell, 
 equipped for departure ; while his countenance left no 
 room to doubt that it Wiis a final one. With earnest ex- 
 postulation Bryan approached, and the Lady united her 
 remonstrances : but, hiding his face, the old man called 
 upon ^Nlagrath to state his reason for accompanying Basil. 
 
 " Sure and I will, uncle dear, and the Lord strengthen 
 ye! It's the Irish, my Lady, that has warmed his old 
 heart, and he cannot 'bide without it." 
 
 " The blessed Word," said Shane ; " the story o' pace, 
 it's what I can't leave. And it's he that has the comfort- 
 ing words that keep me looking to my Savior. Och ! but 
 it's many a long year that ye prayed over me, and wasn't
 
 DERRY. 197 
 
 weary, though I grieved ye sorely : but he was sent, and 
 my heart opened at the sound of the tongue : and I can't 
 part with him." 
 
 " And can you part with us, Shane 1" 
 
 "Don't, Master Bryan dear, don't ye ask me. 'Ti» 
 duty, and God gives me help, and comfort in it. We'll 
 be meeting again, avourneen : with them and with her. 
 It's I that couldn't sit and look on the empty chairs. 
 May-be I'd get dark, and anger the Lord. It's the cross. 
 Master Bryan, and who hasn't it now 1" 
 
 " He is right," said the Lady with a deep sigh. 
 
 " Come, brother pilgrim," exclaimed Basil, " let us go 
 forth without the camp." 
 
 Magrath stood by, frowning most sternly, and making 
 every grimace that could sers'e to hide the workings of 
 emotion. Basil's Irish Bible was in his hand, and he 
 grasped it with tenacious affection : but now held it out to 
 its owner. 
 
 " Keep it Magrath." 
 
 " Me ! I wouldn't rob you of it for fifty thousand worlds," 
 he exclaimed with extreme warmth. 
 
 " I'm glad you know it's worth to be so priceless ; but I 
 cannot lose what you may gain : for I have it stored in my 
 memory ; and the book itself would be taken from me by 
 the foe." 
 
 " Then," said Magrath, " give me your blessing with 
 it." 
 
 " God bless thee, my son ! The Lord has evidently 
 given the promise which is never revoked. May the day- 
 star brightly shine, where already day has dawned, in thy 
 heart. May thy life be the life of faith, and thine end, 
 peace !" 
 
 " Amen !" was the simultaneous response. 
 
 But it was difficult to get Shane away from his Lady : 
 he sobbed, and seemed to lose all resolution. Magrath whis-
 
 198 DEREY. 
 
 pored, and he regained it in some measure, while makjog 
 the parting request that they would take young Mr. Roes 
 into the house, and nurse him, and teach Itim in the 
 right way. 
 
 Supported hy Bryan and Magrath, the old men gained 
 the walls ; and were presently slipped into the crowd with- 
 out ; while several stout young follows stole in at the half- 
 opened gate. 
 
 " rU stay and look after tliem," said Magrath : " go, i>ir, 
 and fetch Mr. Ross home." 
 
 Bryan felt the excellence of this arrangement, and fully 
 appreciated the motive that suggessed it. He found Ross^ 
 to his surprise, prepared for the removal ; and a bier in 
 readiness to convey him, beside which he walked, recount- 
 ing what had occured, and describing the self devotion of 
 the poor creatures under the walls. " They tell us to 
 look on their sulTerings, not as an inducement to surren- 
 der, but as a warning sent by heaven to show us the con- 
 sequences of trusting such perfidious foes ; for scarcely 
 one among them but has James Stuart's protection. Seve- 
 ral expired yesterday in the very act of encouraging us; 
 and indeed it has nerved us all to desperation." 
 
 " How did Magrath behave ?" 
 
 " Like a madman at first : tried to tear stones from the 
 wall to hurl at the ruflians. On the suggestion of the gal- 
 lows, he darted away, and was foremost in that work ; but 
 when I spoke of the deed as emanating from a foreigner, 
 and he heard Lord Netterville justify us in hanging him 
 and his companions, his feelings took a less violent turn ; 
 at least, the whole tide of his indignation set in against De 
 Rosen, his French troops, and their religion." 
 
 " Aye, this is popery unmasked to some purpose," said 
 Ross, " and worth all your controversy." 
 
 " Our controversy, however, in directing his attention 
 through the produce of the tree, to the root, paved a way
 
 TERRY. 199 
 
 for an application of the event, which few, I fear, of his 
 former party will think of making." 
 
 When the day was a little advanced, many citizens 
 thronged the walls, in hope of discovering among the mul- 
 titude below some beloved relative, who had participated 
 in the voluntary exile of the preceding night ; but careful- 
 ly avoided any sign of recognition, lest the watchful foe 
 might detect the arrangement. They did, indeed, accuse 
 the garrison of forming such intention : but failed to dis- 
 cover its success, although, with insulting mockery, they 
 passed among the shrinking victims, smelling to their gar 
 ments, and declaring that they should identify the Derry 
 people by the ill savor resulting from their wretched mode 
 of existence. For, not only had their dwellings been im- 
 pregnated by the sulphureous effluvia of the shells con- 
 tinually bursting, which also rendered the water unfit for 
 cleansing their linen, but they were now reduced to sub- 
 sist on the flesh of dogs, cats, and rats ; on tallow, greaves, 
 and every description of offal that famine could compel it- 
 self to swallow. The extreme length of the town being 
 but three hundred paces, and its greatest breadth one hun- 
 dred and eighty, some conception may be formed, even by 
 those who have not seen it, of the dreadful effects produc- 
 ed on the health of its inmates, by a contest already of 
 seven months' continuance ; during the last ten weeks of 
 which their rest had been broken, their houses shattered, 
 their friends slain, the water polluted, and the air poison- 
 ed, by the almost incessant explosion of shells in the 
 streets, three hundred and fort}' having been thrown in, to 
 that date. To this we must add the horrible circumstance 
 of dead bodies being frequently torn up from the grave, 
 by the same destructive engines ; and the devastating na- 
 ture of the pestilence which was carrying off the inhabi- 
 tants in augmented numbers every day. It becomes a 
 matter of increasing astonishment that human nature could
 
 200 PERRY. 
 
 endure such varied and protracted sufl'erings : if we refer 
 it to dread of the infuriated enemy, what shall we say of 
 those who vohintarily placed themselves in their power, 
 for the sole purpose of relieving and strengthening the gar- 
 rison within ? That party spirit actuated its defenders is 
 palpably false in the eyes of every one who considers the 
 circumstances ; for when did the overflowings of party 
 zeal produce efTects in any way comparable to those so 
 faintly described in these pages ! Men of rescjlute minds, 
 or of very excitable passions, have been known, imiier the 
 influence of ambition or revenge, to sacrifice present ad- 
 vantage, to hazard fortune and character, perhaps even to 
 peril life itself in pursuit of that wherein they had embark- 
 ed as avowed partizans : but when did the demon of fac- 
 tion so influence a mingled and motley crowd, comprising 
 both sexes and every grade of rank, that with one heart 
 and one hand they should combine to immolate upon his al- 
 tar all that endears existence, all that makes it desirable, all 
 that even renders it supportable, and then to pine and 
 waste away in the protracted agonies of a most lingering 
 death 1 We must look far higher, for a motive capable 
 of producing acts of such extraordinary devotion ; and 
 vain will be the search if we stop short of that high and 
 holy principle which has, in all ages, nerved to super-hu- 
 man endurance sincere professors of the true iaith, when 
 called on to resist the rulers of the darkness of this world. 
 The Huguenots of France, the early confessors of the Pied- 
 montese vallies, bear witness to the all-conquering power 
 of this divine principle, which so overcame in them, that 
 they loved not their lives unto the death, but willingly 
 partook the cup of martyrdom, aggravated as it was by adl 
 that the craft of Satan and the cruelty of man could wring 
 into its overflowing bitterness. To the Lord of Hosts, and 
 to him alone, ascribe we all the glory of that endurance 
 which the Protestants of lb 88-9 were enabled to manifest
 
 DERRY. 201 
 
 under their fiery trials : in so doing we detract not from 
 their well earned meed of pitying admiration, but crown 
 them with a wreath more glorious than all the unhallowed 
 trophies that deck the vaunted heroes of old Greece and 
 Rome. Shame and confusion of face belong to us, while 
 we contemplate the deeds and the sufferings of those con- 
 fessors, contrasting with them our own unfaithful and sin- 
 ful connivance at the rapid growth of the overspreading 
 abomination which they died to oppose. Will they not 
 rise up in the judgment with this generation, and con- 
 demn it 1 
 
 Magrath had succeeded in finding a spot on the wall of 
 Derry, where, on bending forward, he had a full view of his 
 uncle and Basil, who sate at some little distance from each 
 other, amid a group of most desolate-looking creatures, one 
 of whom was evidently about to enter eternity. The dy- 
 ing woman lay with her head reclined on the knees of a 
 companion ; while her eyes fixed on Basil, with a charac- 
 ter of earnest, deep attention, only wandered occasionally 
 to the wan countenance of a little babe, which had, appa- 
 rently, not many days before been added to the number of 
 those helpless sufferers. The old man spoke in English ; 
 and his earnest though tremulous tones frequently rose 
 above the discordant sounds that pained the dying ear, ge- 
 nerally drowning the voice of pity and the accent of 
 prayerful supplication. Complaint was rarely heard, ex- 
 cept from children too young to stifle their lamentations, or 
 when a wail of agony burst over the closed eye of some 
 endeared connection ; or, more painful yet, when the ma- 
 niac laugh and scream told a tale of woe, that reason itself 
 had given way under the pressure of unmitigated suffer- 
 ings of body and mind : but there were shouts of exulta- 
 tion from the foe, and bitter jests uttered in their own for- 
 eign tongue by invaders, too generally lost to every feel- 
 ing of humanity ; mingled with bursts of indignant re- 
 18
 
 202 DERBY. 
 
 proachon the part of many who bent from the walls, white 
 the accustomed storm of bombs abated nothing of its fury, 
 twenty-eight of th(we destructive missiles being cast into 
 the city on that day. 
 
 Magrath gazed for awhile from his rlevatitl position, and 
 then shifti'd it a little to approach a group u|x>n whoee 
 wretclu'dnrss a party of the enemy sto«xl gazing, and evi- 
 dently animadverting. Some French soldiers were talking 
 fast and loud, their tones besfn-aLing much of mocking le- 
 vity ; while several native Irish, with scowling looks, sur- 
 veyed thi'ir allifs, uttt-ring in thfir own tongue remarkt 
 that seemed by no means favorable to tne latter. 
 
 It was not luiusual for individuals among the bt^ieged to 
 hold parley with stragglers who came under their walls ; 
 and Magrath, seeing ihem within a favorable di.stance, ap- 
 proached his countrymen near enough to ascertain the «ub- 
 ject of their discourse. 
 
 " To be sure," said one, in reply to a comrade's obser* 
 vation, " we have alwavs done our best to rid the country 
 of the heretic brood ; and good reason for it. The land is 
 our own, and we've a right to recover it, and to see our 
 holy church restored to lier ancient glory ; hut what 
 brought these fellows over to show their impertinence 
 herel" 
 
 " They came to help us,"' observe<i another. 
 
 " Help us ! sure there has been no luck since they came. 
 Does not the old wall stand as fast as ever ? and does the 
 Frenchman suppose it will fall down with the cries of those 
 perishing creatures beneath it 1" 
 
 "The starving heretics," remarked a third, "will only 
 become more obstinate by seeing what sort of usage they 
 should get from him. Any way, they can but die ; and 
 better among their friends within yonder, than to be mock- 
 ed at in their last agonies by those booted baboons." 
 
 " That's a true word, my lad," said Magrath, bending
 
 DERRY. 203 
 
 over the ramparts where he leaned. "Starving we are, no 
 doubt ; and yourselves have no great feast to boast of, if all 
 were spoken honestly." 
 
 " Troth, no ; " answered the former speaker. " We are 
 short enough ; but 'tis merit to suffer in the cause of reli- 
 gion, to root out heresy, and recover our fathers' inheri- 
 tance.' 
 
 " You are likely to have all the merit," observed Ma- 
 grath, '"and your allies all the rest. They don't look so 
 hungry as yourselves, and I am doubtful whether they 
 mean to hand over the country to you when they've had 
 the glory of conquering it for ye." 
 
 This speech produced the effect anticipated : his hearers 
 burst into indignant invective, and one exclaimed, "'Tis 
 ourselves that can conquer it far better without them. 
 Haven't they taken command over the heads of our best 
 leaders ^ Isn't General Hamilton overlooked and affionted 
 every day ? Does not our provision go to pamper the for- 
 eigners, while we are kept starving, and kicked about 
 like dogs, if we do but growl over our wrongs 1" 
 
 " Fair and softly," said Magrath. " You ought to con- 
 sider that these gentlemen made their terms before coming 
 here, and who can blame them for looking to their own 
 share in the bargain \ It is but reasonable to make room 
 for themselves before they send for their families; and 
 you'll not catch a dancing Frenchman building a house 
 where he can find one ready furnished to his hands. Now 
 here," pointing to a crowd of suff'erers who lay round, 
 "here is the French manner of serving ejectments on 
 troublesome tenants. Many a nice little dwelling-house and 
 patch of land is left vacant by turning these out ; and being 
 convenient to the coast, you see, 'tis all the better. Our 
 town, when they get it, will be a famous key tp the whole 
 Island ; and as to starving a few thousand of ye, boys, or 
 putting you forward, in our way, when we take the air on
 
 204 DERRT. 
 
 a sally, its perfectly natural, for it leaves more room in the 
 land. Don't be severe on your friends, nor expect they'll 
 fight your battles for nothint^." And so sayinji;, he with- 
 drew from the wall, leaving his countrymen to vent as they 
 nii<^ht the indignant fei'lings to whicli he had added no 
 small degree of ixjignancy hy his ironical iiardngiu-. 
 
 It was, indeed, unspeakably galling to the native Irish, 
 particularly to their otlicers, to witness the increasing ar- 
 rogance of the Mareschal and his troops ; wliose general de- 
 portment was such as to justify the surmises expressed by 
 Magralh, and secretly i-nterlaint-d by many of those who 
 hailed them as allies, and fought under their command. 
 
 The recent act of outrage apjieared too barbarous, even 
 in the eyes of those who had not scriiplcd to conmiit atro- 
 cities equally cruel in the prosecution of that unnatural 
 warfare : but the latter had been perpetrated on a small 
 scale, individuals, or at most single familir s, having been 
 the victims of their murderous animosity ; while the dread- 
 ful aggregate of human suffering ]>resented to their eyes, 
 under the wholesale system of De Rosen, assumed an as- 
 pect of horror not recognized before. Added to this, a se- 
 cret jealousy, a sym|)alhy which in the case nf Jicretics 
 they were loth to confess, even to themselves, whispered 
 that the sufferers were their countrj-men, the aggressors for- 
 eign intruders ; and national pride was roused to resent 
 what bore the aspict of national insult. 
 
 By such means, division was wrought in the advene 
 camp ; and no small degree of perpkxity harassed the 
 impatient commander, who experienced its efTecls without 
 being able to apply a remedy to evils to which he was 
 unused, and which indeed were in their very nature irre- 
 mediable. " No weapon that is formed against thee shall 
 prosper," is the gracious assurance given to God's perse- 
 cuted people ; and he has a thousand w ays of rendering 
 ineffectual the most skilful devices of their foes.
 
 DEKRY. 205 
 
 The fourth of July found de Rosen in a situation far 
 from enviable : the half suppressed murmurs cf his Irish 
 confedrratos were rising into tlireats of open insurrection, 
 on behalf of their tortured countrymen. The professing 
 Protestants, who had disgraced their calling by co-operatioix 
 w^ith the Popish army, and who were chiefly men of in- 
 fluence, put no restraint on their angry feelings, but in- 
 veighed most bitterly against the unprecedented insult of 
 fared to their nominal faith, and the scandalous violation of 
 all that man could deem binding on his fellow-man ; for the 
 greater number of De Rosen's victims had James Stewart's 
 proti'ction in their pockets. The Popish officers, as we 
 have seen, shrunk from indcntifying themselves with the 
 perpetrators of tin; outrage : and their feelings were res- 
 ponded to by the native soldiers. When the Mareschal 
 looked upon his motley camp, he could not but perceive 
 that elements where there at work, which threatened a seri- 
 ous explosion ; and on turning his eye towards Derry he be- 
 held the appalling ai)paratus still displayed — the gallows 
 on which Lord Netterville and his companions were to 
 terminate theirearthly course, in full view of their former 
 associates and followers. Yet all this, it is probable, would 
 have failed to turn the foreign General horn his purpose, and 
 under the walls of Derry those four thousand Protestants 
 might have perished by famine, w hile above i*s ramparts 
 the bones of his captured comrades had whitened on a gib- 
 bet, if he could have farther calculated on the countenance 
 of the unhappy king whose cause he had been sent to up- 
 hold. 
 
 But James was not sufliciently divested of humanity to 
 concur in the dreadful project of the Mareschal. On being 
 made acquainted with his cruel order, the monarch dis- 
 patched a letter condemnatory of the proceeding, and 
 strongly protesting against it. The receipt of this com- 
 munication left De Rosen under a responsibility too 
 18*
 
 206 bERBY. 
 
 ■weighty to bo incurred ; and after some delay, he reluct- 
 antly issued the order for driving the poor captives back to 
 their homes. 
 
 This command was haih-d with joy by many who had 
 often been tlie ready instruments of persecution, but whcae 
 bosoms werf melted by tl>e piteous sp«'ctacle brfore their 
 eyes ; and by them it was communicatrd to the men of 
 Derry, who mounted the walls to take a last farewell of 
 their fellow sufferers, mid to exchange one parting look 
 with many a dear connection, who had mingled stcretly 
 with the crowd below. The enemy this day were liberal 
 of their ammunition, sending into the town a number of 
 bombs much larger than those fired on the five preceding 
 days : but these missiles appeared to have lost the power 
 of intiniidaling even the weakest, where death in such va- 
 riety of terrible forms continually crossed their path. In- 
 deed, it became with many a matter of cool calculation, or 
 a topic of desperate levity, in what manner tlu-y were 
 likely to quit the world before another sun should set or 
 rise. When, therefore, it was known that a movement 
 had commenced among th»'ir friends without, non*' were 
 deterred from hastening to the walls, who had j>ower yet 
 left to mount them. 
 
 The Lady of jM'Alister, supported by Brv'an and Ma- 
 grath, was among the number who succeeded in ascending 
 those impregnable ramparts ; and melancholy beyond de- 
 scription was the scene displayed. Hundreds had already 
 died upon the spot, and now, when the welcome sound of 
 home saluted their ears, many were seen rising eagerly 
 from the earth, only to fall again in helpless debility, be- 
 neath the overpowering burden of famine and disease. 
 Of these, some in the wild eagerness of that hope which 
 will cling even to a shadow, essayed to crawl along on 
 their hands and feet ; while others even rolled in the di- 
 rection to which their hearts pointed. Many in meek
 
 DERRY. 207 
 
 submission to the divine will gave over the attempt, after 
 a faint struggle or two ; and greeting with audible blessings 
 the departing footsteps of their comrades, resigned them- 
 selves to the approach of a lingering death where they 
 lay. And there were partings, characterized by such 
 ebullitions of violent feeling as wrung the hearts of many 
 whose overflowing portion of private sorrow might have 
 been expected to render them heedless of all besides : such 
 a spectacle was displayed immediately under the spot 
 where the Lady of M'A lister bent to survey the scene. 
 
 A woman of interesting appearance, the remains of 
 whose garments bespoke that gentility to which her lan- 
 guage also bore witness, was compelled to give over her 
 attempts at rising from a rude couch, spread by some com- 
 passionate hands for her accommodation. A girl, appa- 
 rently about eighteen years old, stood near, gazing in silent 
 anguish on her parent, while three children of tender age 
 were using all their artless rhetoric to rouse the sutterer 
 into renewed exertions. 
 
 " AVe are going home, mother dear," said the elder of 
 the three j " and you will be well when once you see our 
 pretty home again." 
 
 " Ah, mother," added a little boy, somewhat younger, 
 *' the smell of the roses, and the sweet honeysuckle over 
 the porch, will be so nice after this place. The gunpowder 
 and the noise of these naughty men, have made you sick — 
 home will make you well again." 
 
 " I want to go home," sobbed out a little creature, who 
 clung to her mother's neck, attempting to raise her. 
 
 "Kathleen will take you home, my darlings," answered 
 the poor mother. 
 
 " But you must come too." 
 
 " Yes, I shall go home, my children ; but not to the one 
 you are returning to." 
 
 " Then we'll go with you, dear mother, to the other 
 home," said the little boy.
 
 208 DERBY. 
 
 "No, not now, Robert: but if you love the Lord and 
 pray to be among the Lambs of the Good Shepherd, you 
 will come to me in that pleasant home where I am to en- 
 ter first. ' 
 
 " Oh then you are going to die, mother ! Vou must 
 not die —you must not leave us ;" and with cries of grief 
 and terror each little voice repeated the words ; adding 
 such entreaties, mingled with terms of endearment and 
 tender reproach, that the parent's natural feelings seemed 
 for a while to overpower even the working of divine grace 
 in her soul. She groaned with anguish of spirit, and ex- 
 claimed, "Oh, Kathleen, t;ik'' them hence — h-ave me, 
 leave me!" 
 
 Kathleen bent over with an aspt-ct ol ttiirli-ss dtspair, 
 and in a smothered voice, answered, ''Mother, I cannot." 
 
 " You must,"' said a voice from the wall, so deep, so un- 
 earthly in its tone, that all who heard it turned involunta- 
 rily towards the speaker, 
 
 Kathleen started : the mother raised her eyes to the spot, 
 clasping her hands, but neither uttered a word. The chil- 
 dren renewed their lamentations, mingling the name of 
 father with that of mother ; until Kathleen, evidently im- 
 pelled to a renewed eli'ort, stooped down to fold her parent 
 in a long, a fervent embrace, and then raising herself, pro- 
 ceeded to disengage her from the arms of the children, to 
 whom she spoke in an earnest manner, but too low to be 
 heard by any others. Her words seemed to produce the 
 desired effect : for the little ones checked their tears, and 
 in turn kissed their mother, each whispering some injunc- 
 tion in her ear, while she held them close, and seemed to 
 experience the rending of a heart-string as each soft lip 
 was withdrawn from her face. They then surrounded 
 their sister ; and the girls, gathering up their garments, 
 displayed the scars that had marked their tender ancles : 
 while the boy's feet, without shoes, shrank from the rough
 
 DERBY. 209 
 
 stones, with which they came in contact as he moved 
 away. It was with unspeakable thankfulness that the 
 weeping lookers-on beheld a pair of shoes suited to his 
 eize flung from the ramparts just in his path ; which the 
 little fellow immediately put on, jumping with delight at 
 the valuable acquisition. Kathleen turned round — she ap- 
 peared doubly glad of the excuse so to do ; and raising 
 first her arms and eyes to heaven, she fixed an intent gaze 
 upon the walls : she then bowed her head, clenched her 
 hands in unutterable agony, and with one more hurried 
 glance at her dying mother, she buried herself and the 
 children amid the departing crowd. 
 
 All this was clearly comprehended by the spectators on 
 the wall J and deep indeed was the sympathy excited for 
 the father, who beheld his lovely and delicate children 
 thus driven from beneath his eye, to seek a home, where 
 no protection, beyond that of the bare paternal roof, 
 awaited them ; while the partner of bis sorrow lay expir- 
 ing, nor dared by one glance of recognition to hazard the 
 discovery of his having been admitted into the garrison. 
 He stood, his elbows resting on the outer wall, and his face 
 entirely concealed upon his hands. There was no out- 
 ward sign of what was raging within, save the short and 
 violent gasping of his breath ; nor did those who imme- 
 diately surrounded him venture to break the silence, which 
 spoke more than audible complaints could have expressed. 
 Bryan had beheld the whole scene with feelings unusually 
 excited ; for, as the venerable forms of Basil and Shane 
 had receded from his view, until they became lost in the 
 promiscuous company around them, every wound recently 
 inflicted on his affectionate heart, bled anew under the 
 sense of irreparable loss, rendering him more keenl}' alive 
 to the suflferings of others. Besides, the objects most dear 
 to him, his mother, Letitia, Ellen, were committed to a 
 peaceflil grave, over which it was his privilege daily to
 
 2 10 DERRY, 
 
 watch ; and their spirits, he knew, were yet more safely 
 housed in the mansions of the blessed, under the guardian 
 hand of Him who had lovtd them, and who gave himself 
 for tliem : whereas this agonized husband and father was 
 left to the most dreadful surmises, as to what of mortal suf- 
 fering might yet await those in whom his own lite seemed 
 to be wrapped up. "And I know not," thought Bryan, 
 " whether he be a partaker in that precious faith which 
 seems to support the suul of his expiring wife." With 
 such thoughts in his mind, he gradually approached the 
 stranger ; and having rested for a while on the wall beside 
 him, adilressed him in a voice of respectful commiseration. 
 " You are not alone in your suH'erings : alas, that the 
 only consolation which we can offer should be a fellow- 
 ship in wretchedness !" 
 
 The stranger shook his head in token of bitter assent, 
 but neither spoke, nor looked up. 
 
 Encouraged by this slight proof of attention to his words, 
 Bryan proceeded : " 1 know that he whose power to save 
 is as infmite as the compassion which calls that power into 
 action, is likewise touched with a feeling of all our infirmi- 
 ties — has in all points bet-n tempted like as we are" — 
 
 "Yet without sin," interrupted the other: and then rai*- 
 ing his tearful eyes to heaven, he ejaculated, " Oh, merci- 
 ful High Priest ! subdue these sinful repinings, and teach 
 my soul to say, ' It is the Lord !' " 
 
 There was a simple, a sublime fervor in the tone of 
 this short appeal, that bespoke the agony of spirit under 
 which the sufferer struggled for resignation : it carried re- 
 proach to many a heart which had failed under similar 
 trial to seek to the same source for comfort and submis- 
 sion. To Bryan the words were fraught with solid satis- 
 faction ; and confirmed him in a purpose already formed in 
 his benevolent mind. Pressing still nearer to the object 
 of his compassion, he continued, in a low voice, the ex-
 
 DERRY. 211 
 
 presslon of his Christian sympathy ; then said, " There is 
 evident danger in your remaining to occupy a station from 
 which it is yet hardly possible to urge your removal. 
 Whenever your feelings will permit you to relinquish for 
 a short space this post of melancholy watching, leave it to 
 me — I will not neglect for a moment the sacred charge — 
 and give my aged grandmother the support of your arm 
 to her bereaved home, where your presence will fill one 
 of its many vacancies with a fellow sufferer, partaking alike 
 in our abounding affliction, and in the consolation that, 
 through divine grace, sometimes much more abounds." 
 
 The stranger turned upon him his heavy and swollen 
 eyes, with an expression of deep thankfulness, replying, 
 " It is a brotherly offer ; and with a brother's frankness I 
 will accept it." 
 
 " Where have you been, Magrath 1" asked Bryan, as his 
 faithful follower mounted the wall near him. 
 
 " I have been putting my hand to the work yonder, 
 your honor," he replied, pointing to the place where the 
 gallows had stood, which, with scrupulous adherence to 
 the letter and spirit of their declaration, the Derry men 
 had taken down as soon as the crowd moved off from be- 
 low. 
 
 " And did your governor really purpose to execute those 
 miserable captives 1" asked the stranger, whose name was 
 Morrison. 
 
 "Every neck of them, Sir, we would have stretched," 
 answered Magrath, sternly, "and themselves never denied 
 the justice of it."' 
 
 " That acknowledgment was what saved them," added 
 Bryan ; " together with the evident fact, that the savage 
 foreigners cared not how much of native blood might flow, 
 but would rather rejoice in proportion to the horrors per- 
 petrated under their iniquitous domination." 
 
 " They are encouraged by the priests," said Morrison.
 
 212 DERRY. 
 
 " Look yonder !" exclaimud Magrath, unconscious of the 
 agonizing interest that the scene to which hi' pointed must 
 excite in the breast of his hearer. 
 
 A Frrnch oflicer, who appeared to have received some 
 order to investigate the condition of those who remained 
 below the walls, had approached the place where ■Morri- 
 son's wife lay, seemingly in a quiet sleep. Attended by 
 three or four soldiers, he reached the spot, and rudely 
 pushing with his foot the helpless creature bclorc him, he 
 demanded in broken English why shr illd not fjjlow tha 
 rest of the rabble on their march. 
 
 She raised her hollow eyes, and arfieuhiti-d some words 
 too faintly to be understood. The I'Vi.-nchman, with his 
 sheathed sword, was about to thrust the pillow of ragged 
 clothes from beneath her head, at the same lime ordering 
 her to rise, while Morrison grasping the top of the wall, 
 seemed in act to throw himself over, as the nearest way to 
 succor her, when an Irish sergeant approaching, in a tone 
 of suppressed rage, exclaimed, " Let the woman ilie in 
 peace." 
 
 The officer commanded him to retire, but he stood his 
 ground, seemingly prepared to resist, in deed as well as by 
 words, the wanton barbarity of his companions, towards 
 one so evidently sufTt-ring the pangs of dissolution ; while 
 the soldiers, pressin^^ nearer, seemed anxious for some com- 
 mand to remove him by force. 
 
 This was presently given ; and at the same moment the 
 sergeant, placing himself astride over the narrow couch, 
 drew his hanger ; but several of his countrymen running 
 up, among whom was an officer, the Frenchman moved 
 back, calling on his men to disarm the mutineer, and con- 
 duct him to the fort. 
 
 " What's this, Connellan V asked the Irish officer, " how 
 came you to mutiny, sirl" 
 
 " Is it mutiny to defend a dying countrywoman from
 
 DERRY. 213 
 
 those who thirst for Irish blood 1" said the sergeant, in hi» 
 native tongue. 
 
 "Is she dying'?" 
 
 The Frenchman asserted that she was as well able to 
 walk o3' as the rest of the party ; but that she preferred ly- 
 ing there, in the hope of being taken into the town. 
 
 " No fear of that," answered the other. " The starving 
 rascals know better than to let more hungry mouths into 
 their den ; besides," he added, stooping to look at her pal- 
 lid face, "she is really at the point of death." 
 
 The Frenchman made no reply to this, but in a more 
 violent lone repeated the order to seize Connellan for mu- 
 tiny. 
 
 "I've committed no mutiny, and I'll not be disarmed 
 by you," said the sergeant, darting a look of defiance at 
 all the foreign soldiers. 
 
 " You're right, my lad," exclaimed the officer, " and 
 General Hamilton will say the same." 
 
 The Frenchman vehemently protested that all the rules 
 of military service were on his side ; that for a non-com- 
 missioned officer to draw his sword upon a superior, wa& 
 death before any court-martial. 
 
 " Never mind, ' replied the other, with provoking cool- 
 ness. " We're not particular here, you know. Monsieur 
 de Rosen has dispensed with all the troublesome laws at 
 honor, good faith, and humanity ; and we need not stick at 
 a trifle in the articles of war." 
 
 The Frenchman peremptorily ordered his men to ad- 
 vance upon Connellan ; the others as promptly joined in 
 defending him. A desperate scuffle took place, pistols 
 were discharged, while Magrath and others shouted from 
 the walls their loud encouragement to the Irish party. It 
 was a short interval of unspeakable horror to the husband, 
 who beheld this sanguinary struggle around and over the 
 death-bed of his beloved partner j and scarcely could 
 19
 
 214 DEBtlY. 
 
 Bryan withhold liim from leapin^down to certain destruc- 
 tion. But the fray was ended, the Frenchruen retreated, 
 U'aving one of their number hheding on the ground ; and 
 as the combatants separated, the Irish otficer gently raised 
 the lifeless olijt'ct of tli.^ir corvipassion, sayin?, "She's gone, 
 indeed : a l)ullet has passed through her brain." 
 
 The fact was evident ; and ]\Iorrison, bowing his head 
 upon the wall, exclaimed, in a smothered tone, " Kven 
 so ; and there is mercy in it. Lord, tejich my soul to prai»« 
 thee?"
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 When the little household of M'Alister assembled at 
 their evening duty, Morrison formed the principal object 
 of interest, and their united prayers arose for the safe 
 guidance of his distant children, concerning whom many 
 questions were asked ; less from curiosity than to indulge 
 the fatherly feelings of their guest. He represented Kath- 
 leen as endued with wisdom and disci*etion far beyond her 
 years ; well armed in the gospel panoply, either to do or 
 to suiior in that glorious cause, for which he professed his 
 readiness to see even his children oflered up as victims 
 on the altar of their faith, rather than he or they should 
 compromise it. 
 
 "I begin," said Ross, " to understand something of this 
 high and holy principle, the fruits of which 1 have, with 
 admiring wonder, continually seen displayed beneath this 
 roof, without being able to comprehend the root that pro- 
 duced them. My head, I think, gets clearer ; but the 
 heart, alas ! errs more widely every day." 
 
 " Say rather," replied the Lady of M'Alister, " that 
 grace is given more clearly to discern its errors. The ad- 
 mission of light, my dear young friend, makes manifest 
 many displeasing objects that were not before seen ; but it 
 neither adds to their number, nor increases their actual de- 
 formity."
 
 216 PFllRY. 
 
 " I've born thinking on that myBelf," said Magrath, 
 " when reading to the prisoners to-day." 
 
 " Then you found time even to-day, my good iVUow V 
 «aid Bryan. 
 
 " Sure, Sir, and I couhhi't do less. The poor souls ex- 
 pected every one to be hanged, though we told them it 
 was onlv the ollicersthat we meant to execute ; and when 
 the p<>oj)le marched away, and the gallows was taken down, 
 it was myself that couldn't but go and n-ad llx-m a psalm 
 out of Mr. Basil's beautiful book." 
 
 " And this was what detained you so long !" asked 
 Ross. 
 
 " No, sir ; I had other work in hand afterwards ; but I 
 didn't like to mention it till prayers were done :" — Then 
 turning to Mr. Morrison, with the hesitation of real feel- 
 ing, he inquired whether the name of Connf llan had 
 not reached his ears in the morning ; to which the other, 
 with a heavy sigh, answered, that it had j under circum- 
 stances never to be forgotten. 
 
 " Well, Sir, that Connellan is an old comrade of mine ; 
 and a lad who wont be nice about his religion when his 
 Irish blood is up against the French. I took advantage of 
 this after you left the wall, and " — he hesitated again, and 
 then, in a more hurried manner added, " There are gravea 
 of my digging in the church-yard, that cover some who 
 were the sunshine to our eyes. I've dug another beside 
 them, and at midnight we'll receive the body of her who 
 is gone to their blessed home, Connellan will bring it to 
 the gate, and I've the Governor's leave. I know 'tis a 
 comfort," he added, turning away to hide the starting 
 tears, " for havn't I found it so myself!" 
 
 While jNIorrison, overcome by this unexpected mercy, 
 vainly strove to express his gratitude, Ross exclaimed, 
 "Magrath, I verily think you were sent here to be a per- 
 petual reproach to my shameful prejudices against the na- 
 tive race."
 
 DERRY. 217 
 
 " You've no prejudice now, Mr. Ross, avourncen," an- 
 swered Magrath, with an affectionate smile ; " but when 
 they who should sow good seed plant nothing but thistles, 
 what crop can you expect I Only lay the blame on the 
 right shoulders." 
 
 " He speaks most justly," observed Morrison ; " and the 
 generous deed that he and Conn ell an have performed are 
 more characteristic of our countrymen's natural feeling 
 than are the sanguinary acts which have made their name 
 a terror, and our beautiful island a reproach among the 
 nations. My own life has been an active one, bringing me 
 very frequently into contact with the most untamed among 
 my countrymen, in their mountain fastnesses and secluded 
 vallies. ! have been so situated in those remote districts, 
 that my personal safety depended, so far as man was con- 
 cerned, on an unhesitating appeal to the nobler feelings of 
 their nature : and when uninfluenced by the present insti- 
 gation of their priests, I have found their enmity melt 
 away before the appearance, or let me rather say the reali- 
 ty, of affectionate confidence on the part of one who 
 threw himself on their hospitable faith." 
 
 "Tis the way of them when left to themselves," said 
 Magrath, thoughtfully ; " but your honor was right in 
 barring the priest's blarney." 
 
 " I have good reason to do so, my dear brother," re- 
 joined Morrison, whose every look beamed with grateful 
 cordiality towards Magrath; ''and one among several 
 instances I will name. Some years sinc*^ I was traveling 
 through a mountainous and unfrequented district in the 
 wildest part of Galway, where scarcely a trace of civiliza- 
 tion could be discovered, and where my ignorance of the 
 native language, left me in the state of a man cast ashore 
 on some foreign strand. In fact, I had acted very incau- 
 tiously, in neglecting to provide myself with an interpret- 
 ing guide J but I could not believe that the English tongue 
 19*
 
 218 DKURT. 
 
 would be so univprsally unintclligiblo within hnlf a day's 
 journey of places whore it was generally understood, and 
 used. However, I found my «'rror too late to profit by 
 the discovery ; ami cominitlin;^ myself to the Lord, 1 wi-nt 
 on, accosting all whom I m^t, in the liope of obtaining an 
 answer from some one. 1 was disappointed ; and to aggra- 
 vate it, there generally appean-d a scowl of displeasure ac- 
 companying the ivultered Celtic, or the sullen silence in 
 which my address was received." 
 
 "I'll engage for 'em," said Magrath, smiling ; "it isn't 
 the English sound will make a man welcome in Cun- 
 namara. ' 
 
 " I went on," continued .Morrison, " until the closing 
 evening, and my own fatigue, together with the jaded 
 pace of my horse, compelled me to make an attack on the 
 hospitality of the next cabin that olFered any appearance 
 of comfort. I reached one, situated in the micht of what 
 seemed a respectable little property, well farmed ; but the 
 house, though large, was as rudely built, an<l of as rugged 
 an aspect, as any cabin in the bogs. Here 1 reined in my 
 horse, and fastening him to a tree, walked into the 
 kitchen." 
 
 " And parlor, and bedroom," iiili rrupted Magrath, who 
 seemed to enjoy the recital greatly. 
 
 "Yes ; I believe it would be diliicult to name any use 
 to which it was not applied. .AIv entrance was hailed 
 with respectful courtesy, but when I spoke in English, the 
 party looked one upon another, with countenances that 
 promised me little encouragement. Affecting not to per- 
 ceive this, I advanced towards the table, on whicli smoked 
 a plentiful load of hot potatoes; and, smiling with the air 
 of a man who knows that he is welcome, I drew a stool 
 nearer to the board, and seated myself; taking off my hat, 
 wiping my brow, and letting them see that 1 was pretty 
 well fatigued."
 
 DERRY. 219 
 
 " And how did they look V asked Ross. 
 
 " Perfectly well pleased. Some remarks passed among 
 them in a tone of good-humored raillery ; but the best po- 
 tatoes were culled, and a slice of bacon presently cut, and 
 laid over the clear turf embers. One of the young men, 
 spying out my spurs, lookt^d from the door-way, and went 
 out, returning soon after Avith my saddle, bridle, and ve- 
 lisse ; which he put down, nodding his head, and point- 
 ing in a direction where I had observed some sheds, to in- 
 timate that the horse was housed ; and taking out with 
 him a bucket, and a measure for corn, he left me well sat- 
 isfied that my poor steed was sharing the hospitality of 
 which his master heartily partook." 
 
 Magrath's countenance shone with satisfaction. He 
 rubbed his hands, and turned involuntarily towards the 
 comer from whence old Shane's smile was wont to re- 
 spond to any expression of national feeling on the part of 
 his nephew. But that corner was empty, and a shade 
 passed over the clear brow, not unmarked or unfelt by 
 Bryan and the Lady. 
 
 "I need not describe," resumed Morrison, "the kind- 
 ness with which I was treated, having once been made 
 welcome by this Irish family: and on a rough but com- 
 fortable bed I slept that night, as free from apprehension 
 as though my own roof had been over m.e ; notwithstand- 
 ing the evident dissatisfaction with which they had mark- 
 ed my rejection of the holy water, careful!}' placed within 
 my reach. Next morning I found that my horse, whose 
 limping motion I had attributed to flitigue, had been injur- 
 ed by some sharp gravel getting into an old sore in one of 
 his ancles, and really needed the rest which his good-na- 
 tured attendant, by signs, requested me to afford him ; and 
 while I considered the matter, a younger lad, whom I had 
 missed from the breakfast tDble, appeared, leading a pretty 
 little maiden by the hand ; who with a low curtesy, and
 
 £20 DERRT. 
 
 blushing, informed me that she was come to give us Ihe 
 help so much needed, being able to s])eak both the lan- 
 guage of my hosts and my own. With her assistance, the 
 invitation was pressed more eloquently, and the case of 
 my poor horse feelingly described ; so tiiat I consented to 
 be their guest for a day or two longer." 
 
 " And did it last, the hospitality of them, Sir ?" asked 
 Magrath anxiously. 
 
 " It did, for three days ; and we really had become 
 such friends, that I could not, without pain, think of part- 
 ing from them. On that day, however, being with Judyj 
 my little interpreter, at some distance from the house, and 
 reading to her from the bible, some of those precious 
 truths which, by her means, I had also conveyed to the 
 family party, wc heard on a sudden a very loud voice, evi- 
 dently in great anger, expostulating in Irish, while the 
 crack of a stout whip seemed to give empliasis to the ex- 
 hortation." 
 
 " Long life to the whipcord !" said Magrath, with one 
 of his inimitable grimaces: "'tis the best argument his 
 riverence has to the fore." 
 
 "My poor little companion," continued Morrison^ 
 *' turned so pale, and trembled so violently, that I easily 
 guessed what formidable personage was at hand. The 
 voices approached nearer, and Judy, suddenly seizing me 
 by the arm, compelled me to crouch with her beneath the 
 shelter of a clamp of turf, which effectually concealed us 5 
 while the priest slowly walked his horse, vociferating at 
 the farmer and his eldest son, who silentl}"^ accompanied 
 his progress, until, just over against our hiding place, the 
 young man spoke in a tone of respectful but earnest re- 
 monstrance. 
 
 " On this the priest pulled up his hor^e ; and prefacing 
 his speech with a crack that made poor Judy start terri. 
 bly, he commenced a long and indignant reply, to which
 
 derry. 221 
 
 my companion eagerly listened. Her countenance bore 
 testimony to its purport ; for she first let go my arm, 
 which she had been holding fast, and then, by degrees, 
 edged away from me, casting every now and then such a 
 glance of fear and perplexity at my face, as it really pain- 
 ed me to witness. At length the parties proceeded on 
 their way ; and we left our retreat. I had remarked that 
 Judy seemed quite ignorant on the subject of her own re- 
 ligion, and unconscious that any difference existed between 
 others on matters of faith. She was also artless, grateful, 
 and affectionate in an uncommon degree ; and as I easily 
 surmised the cause of her sudden estrangement, I had little 
 difficulty in counteracting the effect of the priest's dis- 
 course on her mind, so lar as to regain much of her inno- 
 cent good-will. I depended on the Lord's mercy to make 
 her instrumental in preserving me from any snare that 
 might be laid. 
 
 " Towards evening, Judy sought me out : and in a 
 trembling voice, told me to go away from that place as 
 fast as I could. ' Why, my child 1 Do you think that I 
 will hurt you, or any one V She replied, that it was not 
 me that would hurt them ; and spoke it with an emphasis 
 that shewed she wished me to understand the reverse to be 
 the cause of her fear. I pondered upon the case, not a 
 little at a loss, and still unwilling to believe that any harm 
 would reach me in the bosom of that hospitable and frank- 
 hearted family.*' 
 
 Magrath shook his head, with a bitter smile. 
 
 Mr. Morrison proceeded. "At the evening meal 1 
 watched the looks of the assembled part}^, but could detect 
 no change. Indeed, if any thing, the farmer and his son 
 were more officiously cordial than before ; and this cer- 
 tainly perplexed me, seeing the effect produced on Judy 
 by the priest's harangue. The little girl was evidently 
 watching also j and at one time, when the men were talk-
 
 222 lEBRY. 
 
 ing ill a loud, chc«'rful tone, calculated to dispr-l all susp»» 
 cion from th<' mind of one who could not understand their 
 language, 1 saw h':'r so much terrified, that combining it 
 with some side looks cautiously darted at me by the 
 ■peakers, I f.-lt convinced there was no timt* to lose. ' 
 took advantage of a half hour, when 1 knew that the men 
 would be absent in a distant field ; and saddling my horse* 
 with a heavy heart, I rode hastily away. ' 
 
 " But yuu had no projf of ill intentions b'iniz • iiti rfain- 
 ed," observed Bryan. 
 
 "Not at that time; but I altt-rwariis mrt wnii cin-- oi the 
 farmer's sons, under circumstances where I was enabled to 
 render him such an important service, that in the over- 
 flowings of his gratitude, he confessed how near I had been 
 to losing my life. The priest, he said, had threatened to 
 denounce them all for harboring a heretic so long ; and to 
 BUch a pitch were the national and superstitious feelings of 
 the elder son excited by his inflammatory language, that 
 he had n'solved to do me some mortal injury, in revenge 
 for the wrongs of his country and his religi^jn, as he said.'' 
 
 " I don't doubt it," observed Magrath ; " but unless the 
 others had joined him, he would hardly havi' been able to 
 do it. No thanks to the priest, that all the party were not 
 against you. If the farmer had withstood his rivcrence, 
 and kept your honor in his house, he'd have had the parish 
 raised up against him, and a long day it would have been 
 before he saw the end of their persecution." 
 
 "Pernicious influence !" exclaimed Bryan. 
 
 " And unaccountable, too ;" added Ross, " that it should 
 quell, at a word, the strongest impulses of the national 
 character, the force of habit, and all that appears most 
 stubbornly rooted in man." 
 
 " That mystery of iniquity," remarked the Lady of 
 M'Alister, " will be a mystery always ; yet we may in 
 some wise account for the despotic power so banefully
 
 DERRY. 223 
 
 exercised over the consciences, the souls, and the actions 
 of our fellow men. They are taught from earliest child- 
 hood, that to the priests of Rome are committed the desli- 
 nif 3 of their followers ; that he who ministers at the altar, 
 and presides over the confessional, possesses unquestioned 
 authority fo admit ck" to exclnde ; to throw wide the door 
 of lieavon, or to fence it with impassable barriers againsj 
 the individual who kneels at his (eat. What marvel that, 
 ruling as a demi-god, assuming to wit-Id at will the thunders 
 of Him who governs earth and heaven, his sway should be 
 unlimit(Hl, and his dominion perfect 1" 
 
 " kStill, ' said Ross, " I am astonished that religion should 
 so powerfully and extensively influence the members of 
 the popish communion, when among the followers of a 
 purer faith we see it generally occup3'ing a ver}' small 
 share of their attention. Supposing that a protestant could 
 believe his minister pqually potent, in spiritual matters, as 
 the papist holds his priest to be, I doubt whether the for- 
 mer, I mean the great bulk of professing protestants, would 
 show sufiicient concern for things not of this world, to 
 yield such blind obedience to the dicta of his guide." 
 
 " It is true," replied the Lady ; "and it affords a lament- 
 able proof how much wiser in their generation are the vo- 
 taries of delusion than the children of light. But mark the 
 origin of what you have alluded to : the priest of Rome 
 knov/s that it is essential to the existence of his power to 
 bring up every child in habits of religious observance. 
 He must be kept mindful of his soul's concerns, because 
 on that depends the value of all priestly services : and to 
 accomplish this, the father of lies has framed for him a re- 
 ligion in no' wise opposed to the natural bent of corrupt 
 minds ; a religion consisting of bodily exercises, and will- 
 worship, fitted to nourish and to gratify his carnal pride ; 
 a religion perfectly compatible with the dominant preva- 
 lence of all sin and uncleanness ; which does indeed point
 
 224 DERRY. 
 
 out and stigmatize those things as displeasing to God, and 
 dangerous to the soul of man, but which at the same time 
 profiers to the ofl'ender connivance — impunity in transgres- 
 sion — at tiic price of perfect submission to the church. 
 The wealthy must purchase \\ith tlieir riches the privi- 
 lege of sinning ; the poor must render such service as they 
 can, by holding themselves in perpetual readiness to exe- 
 cute every mandate of their crafty guides. And all this 
 is comparatively easy to the natural man, to whom any 
 sound is more welcome than that which calls on him to 
 repent and be converted — to believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that he may be saved — which assures him that, in 
 order to enter heaven, he must become a new creature, 
 denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and glorifying God 
 in that body, and in that spirit, which are his alone." 
 
 Magralh listened attentively to this remark ; and when 
 the Lady concluded, he said, " It's all true, for your Lady- 
 ship, and there's yet another thing that you haven't no- 
 ticed. The poor people, indeed, are careful for their 
 souls, as well they may be, seeing how little comfort they 
 have to their bodies, let alone looking forward to the fire 
 of purgatory : but you'll please to remember, that the 
 priest has power to harm them, in life, limb, and substance. 
 Many's the one upon whom he has put his curse; and my- 
 self has seen it — bad luck was all that came to the sorrow- 
 ful creature from that day forward. I've seen how the 
 praties would tail, the cow would be dry, the turf was 
 rotted in the clamp, and the man would sicken, and pine, 
 and melt away, till only the bare bones remained, and into 
 the grave he sank, withered by the curse of the altar." 
 
 "Indeed, Magrath!" said Bryan, " I did not suppose 
 that you still believed these lying wonders." 
 
 " I've seen it. Sir," answered Magrath in a firm tone, 
 that seemed to set farther question at defiance. 
 
 " You may have seen all these things, indeed, and I do
 
 DERRY. 225 
 
 iiot doubt your word ; but they were not the effects of the 
 priest's curse." 
 
 " Then why did they follow it, Sir 1" 
 
 " The failure of a crop, of a cow, or a^ claflnp of tun^' 
 would have occurred, and passed unmarked, only that, the 
 curse being borne in mind- by the superstitious people, 
 every untoward event was traced back to its operation. 
 Did no other like misfortunes happen where the priest had 
 given his blessing, Magrath 1" 
 
 "I don't say but they might, Mr. Bryan: but then for 
 the pining away, and melting of the person, just as the 
 priest said, wasn't that his doing 1" 
 
 " Most probably it was," replied the Lady of M'Alister ; 
 " but not by any power of his own. The poor victim 
 who has fallen under a ban, which he vainly considers of 
 such potency as to affect his life, becomes a prey to de- 
 spair. The persecution to which he is subjected destroys 
 every comfort of his existence, or dreadfully embitters it : 
 and, looking on himself as doomed to destruction, he pines 
 awa}', under the dread of what he has no hope of averting. 
 Trust me, j\Iagrath, should any power which he could be- 
 lieve to be more effectual than that of his priest, visibly in- 
 terpose on his behalf, to reverse the unholy charm, he 
 would quickly cast off his fear, the danger would vanish 
 from before him, hope Avould revive his fainting heart ; and 
 if the malady of grief had not already eaten so deeply as 
 to injure the springs of life, he would quickly walk abroad 
 among his fellows, as alert as ever, and as far removed 
 from that grave to which his own despondency was rapidly 
 consigning him." 
 
 Magrath looked very thoughtful ; and Bryan added, 
 " Remember, you told me yourself that the hoisting of the 
 gallows, and the prospect of a sudden, shameful death, had 
 left the prisoners but little life for our justice to deprive 
 them of.' 
 
 20
 
 226 DERBY. 
 
 '^ Vm glad," said Magrath, '' to have heard all thi» j for,. 
 troth, Mr. Bryan, I've been more bothered by the same 
 than you would suppose. I couldn't deny that my own 
 eyes had seen the curse prosper ; and understand it 1 didn't : 
 but it's reasonable to be as you say, and it's sheer roguery 
 among the priests to frighten men out of their natural 
 lives." 
 
 During the latter part of this dificourse, Morrison had 
 remained painfully abstracted from all that passed ; ab- 
 sorbed in the musings of a mind most cruelly bereaved, 
 and following, in anxious thought, the pJth of his help- 
 less children. He was roused by the energetic tone of 
 Bryan, who, rising from his seat, exclaimed, " Against thia 
 system of Satanic delusion, — against this merciless traffic 
 in the souls of men, — against this moral blight and spirit- 
 ual pestilence, which desolates out country, w'e have 
 manned our solitary fortress ; and we will hold it, by 
 God's help, while one stone remains upon another. 
 Though loes press us from without, though famine pinches 
 us within, though death stalks along our streets, and grave 
 after grave yawns to receive the desire of our eyes ; — 
 though sorrow and suffering eat away our strength ; and 
 hope, perpetually deferred, sickens the hearts that it ceases 
 not to mock —yet, yet we are unshaken : our cause is that 
 of immutable truth, and an immutable God will give us 
 the victory still. No surrender !" 
 
 " No surrender !" was repeated by every individual 
 around him, while their sunken cheeks kindled into a flush 
 of sacred exultation : for even Ross now felt within him 
 the actings of that principle which he had truly charac- 
 terized as high and holy, and to him for a long time in- 
 comprehensible. .;, In Magrath it had taken deep root j 
 like a plant which at first vegetates but slow ly to the sight, 
 its vigorous fibres were fixing a firm and lasting hold in 
 the prepared soil of his heart. Under ordinary circum-
 
 ©ERRY. 227 
 
 stances, it is probable he would havf maintained a more 
 protracted contest in defence of those delusions on which, 
 "but a few months before, his hope had been exclusively 
 built ; but the besieged fortress of Derry was no common 
 school, nor the very court and presence-chamber of death 
 a scene wherein to trifle with the things of eternity. Te 
 this may be added the rare advantage of seeing his in- 
 structors called upon daily to exemplify their teachings, 
 by doing and euffering in the cause of tnith, what the 
 stoutest heart might quail to encounter ; and in their un- 
 shaken constancy^ their unrepining endurance, their free- 
 dom from all rancorous or vindictive feeling towards the 
 wretched agents of persecution, he read a lesson the most 
 touching, the most convincing to an observant mind. Thus, 
 by external helps that infinite wisdom devised, was that 
 secret work accelerated, without which all outward means 
 had surely failed ; Magrath grew in grace and in know- 
 ledge ; the light that had so recently dawned upon his 
 soul lightening more and more into perfect day. 
 
 Bryan's apostrophe had not been uttered without an es- 
 pecial view to the trial which awaited the stranger then 
 under his roof. Midnight drew on, and the nourishment 
 that would have recruited his exhausted frame, the cordial 
 by which a temporary animation might have cheered his 
 drooping spirit, that impoverished household could not 
 bestow. Themselves pining with unsatisfied hunger, so 
 long that its cravings had become, as it were, habitual, 
 and, therefore, more endurable, they boheld with yearning 
 commiseration the unsupplied wants of one to whom the 
 privation came with the severity of an untried affliction. 
 Bryan well knew the power of that stimulus which he had 
 applied ; he followed it up by a prayer such as they alone 
 can pour forth on whom is laid the chastening hand of the 
 Lord ; and closed the exercise v;ith those impressive 
 words that the suffering Protestants were often w^ont to
 
 228 DERRY. 
 
 appropriate, " My hoart and my flesh failcth : but God 
 is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.'' 
 
 " Now, Mr. Morrison," said Magrath, " 'tis time for us 
 to be going. You've a sorrowful iiour before ye. Sir : 
 but the sorrow is all to you — she's done with it for ever." 
 Morrison grasped his h.md, unable to reply ; and with 
 Bryan they proceeded to the place of melancholy rendez- 
 vous. 
 
 " Lady," said Ross, " shall I ever attain to this trium- 
 phant spirit of self-surrender, which shines out so beauti- 
 fully in those around me 1. Kemoved as I am far away 
 from every near connection, and under no apprehension 
 for their security, I seem exempted from the trial under 
 which I should probably be found to fail." 
 
 " Say not so, my young friend. Your faith, too, will 
 be tried, for it is no less precious than that of others ; 
 you too will be scourged : for what son is he whom the 
 Father loveth^nd chasteneth not 1 But the time and 
 the mannei' are in his hand. Your cross is prepared, 
 though as yet you may not feci its pressure on your 
 shoulder." 
 
 " I often wish that I did," said Ross. 
 
 The Lady smiled. " If your tender mother, and the 
 sisters who love you, could witness that emaciated frame, 
 those cheeks of famine, and the disabling wound that holds 
 their Frederick in tedious captivity, would they not im- 
 plore the mitigation of a cross so heavy V 
 
 " Yes ; individually considered, I grant that I might be 
 deemed a sufferer. But when I look around me at the 
 widowed husband, the bereaved brother, the childless 
 parent, and above all, when I look at my multiplied trans- 
 gressions, I cannot but ask, oh, why is the rod so lightly 
 laid upon one whose demerits call for its most unsparing 
 strokes !" 
 
 " Believe me, Ross," said the Lady earnestly, " the
 
 DERBY. 229 
 
 iatter consideration is one of the most perilous snares 
 spread in the path of God's afflicted children by their in- 
 •defatigable enemy. You know now somewhat of the 
 plague of your heart ; you feel the burden of those sins 
 that, through your life, have grieved a cojnpassionate 
 Father ; and, conscious of your desert, you invite the 
 punishment which, for the glory of his justice, you feel 
 willing to endure." 
 
 "And is that wrong 1" asked Ross. 
 
 " Alas ! were he to reckon with you for the least of all 
 your transgressions, hell must be your portion, and that 
 for ever. I have witnessed much of this dangerous spirit 
 among our sufferers, and therefore, my son, would 1 warn 
 you. He who considers that the punishment of his of- 
 fences is to be laid upon himself, will, when heavily 
 afflicted, regard the chastening as meritorious in God's 
 sight, and make a Savior of his own endurance. When 
 you behold in the sacrifice once offered on Calvary, a full, 
 perfect, and sufficient sacrifice and satisfaction for all your 
 sins, when in the undeviating obedience of the incarnate 
 Son of God you see a justifying righteousness, and lay hold 
 ■on it, and make it all your plea, then will you be strength- 
 ened to suffer and to do, according to the will of him who 
 must be to you all that you require — wisdom and right- 
 eousness, and sanctification and redemption." 
 
 " I see som.ewhat of this," said Ross, after a few mo- 
 ments of deep thought ; and, raising his eyes, he added, 
 " Oh, for more of that divine teaching, by which even I 
 may become instructed in the things of God !" 
 
 During this discourse — to the Lady of M'Alister most 
 richly refreshing, as another token of accepted prayer — 
 the party who had left the house bent their way to the 
 gate at w^hich Connellan had appointed to meet them. 
 Late as was the hour, there was little appearance of repose 
 within the walls of Derry : on the contrary, there seemed 
 20*
 
 '230 DERRY. 
 
 a greater stir than by day : a temporary respite from bom- 
 bardment, combined with the frt'shness of the night breeze 
 that swept over Loch Foyle, having tempted many to 
 leave the covert into which they had been driven during 
 the glare of a sultry sun, rendered doubly oppressive by 
 the perpetual explosion of gunpowder in every street. 
 Of the better sort, many felt an insuperable reluctance to 
 expose the squalid wretchedness of their unwashed gar- 
 ments and blackened visages, even to the gaze of partners 
 in afiliction ; and among all classes there were mourners 
 whose very heart-strings had been rent, while the objects 
 of their tenderest love perished miserably before their 
 eyes, and to whom the darkness seemed more congenial 
 than the day. To this may be added the appalling fact, 
 that their principal support now consisted of such animals 
 as might be discovered prowling about the haunts of fa- 
 mine, under the cover of night ; and these were sold at a high 
 price by those whose love of money overcame the cravings 
 of hunger, or who had a surplus, after deadening that crav- 
 ing by a scanty meal on such loathsome fare as they had 
 seized. Dogs were turned out in the evening, to prey 
 upon the unburied bodies of those who had been slain 
 without the walls ; and on their return were slaughtered 
 to furnisli a meal for the faiplly, at whose hands the}- had 
 once been plentifully fed. To such extremity had the 
 garrison been reduced before the end of July, that a single 
 quarter of one of these dogs was priced at five shillings 
 and sixpence of their currency, and his head at half that 
 sum. Even a cat was gladly purchased whenever it 
 could be found, for four shillings and sixpence ; and ani- 
 mals yet more disgusting to the human palate in propor- 
 tion. 
 
 Such being the condition of the beleaguered fortress, 
 the imagination may perhaps sketch an outline — it cannot 
 by any possibility fill up the picture — of what was pass-
 
 DEERY. S31 
 
 ing under the midnight sky of Derry. One object appear- 
 ed to possess attraction, even for the most reckless wan- 
 derer ; and that was the double beacon which sent its red 
 columns on high from the cathedral roof. It was the ap- 
 pointed signal, communicating to the tardy fleet the des- 
 peration of that distress which tliey alone could relieve : 
 and to the hollow eyes upturned towards the glare, it pre- 
 sented a sort of link between them and the objects of that 
 oft-defeated hope which they could not relinquish. It 
 was piteous to see the wistful countenances with which 
 many would pause to gaze upon this unconscious messen- 
 ger of their grief j as though by so doing they could com- 
 municate to it additional power of expressing what they 
 longed to send to the eye and the heart of unfeeling Kirke. 
 Seen under its ruddy blaze, the broken windows of the 
 cathedral, the shattered walls and dismantled buildings 
 around it, roofs ploughed up by innumerable bombs, and 
 wood-work blackened by the frequent ignition that had 
 marked the progress of red-hot cannon balls — all these 
 things united to produce such a spectacle of wretchedness, 
 as the mind will shrink from dv/elling upon. Yet happy 
 had it been for poor Ireland, could that scene have lived 
 indelibly engraven on the memory of her Protestant race, 
 as an abiding stimulus to incessant exertion in the peace- 
 ful and holy warfare, whereby alone the souls of their de- 
 luded countrymen can be rescued from the usurping pow- 
 ers of darkness and cruelty ! 
 
 Absorbed as he was in the contemplation of his indivi- 
 dual calamities, Morrison could not pass along the street 
 of Derry, an indifferent spectator of these things. His 
 heart melted over the sorrows, and glowed in the devoted 
 heroism of the sufferers around him. " Methinks," he 
 remarked to Bryan, " it would be a sore reproach to walk 
 among these martyrs, if I bore not a portion of their 
 cross, in humble anticipation of sharing with them the 
 crown."
 
 232 DERRY. 
 
 *' True for you, Sir," eagerly responded Magrath : *' It 
 was myself felt the sanu', and couldn't ri;^l)tly look 
 them in the face till my hand and heart went along with 
 theirs. It isn't the starving among them, Mr. Morrison, 
 that gives one a fellowship in their troubles: 'tis knowing 
 what we KufTer for, and being willing to suffer, though a 
 man were left standing alone for the cause, and every 
 back turned upon him." 
 
 " And what do we suffer for, Magrath V asked Colonel 
 Murray, who, unperceivcd, had joined them, and walked 
 beside the animated speaker. 
 
 " Troth, Colonel, I'm somehow bothered to tell the mat- 
 ter clearly, but" he hesitated ; then turning full upon 
 
 the I inquirer, he made a stand, and raising his voice, em- 
 phatically uttered, " Sir, we suffer for our God, and for our 
 country." 
 
 " I\Iost true, Magrath ; and from yon that testimony is 
 invaluable. It is not long since you held us the direst 
 enemies of bothu" 
 
 " I'll not be denying it, your honor: but now I've learn- 
 ed God's will out of his own word myself: and I'll suffer 
 to death, rather than not see my poor country share in the 
 blessing. They are God's enemies that wouldn't let his 
 mighty works be made known to the people ; and they 
 are Ireland's foes who blind her people from seeing the 
 glory of God's truth. If Derry fell, we'd soon see the dead 
 idols set up over the land ; and the living Word buried out 
 of sight. 'Tis to hinder this, Colonel Murray, that we 
 gladly sufler ; and in the name of God and poor Ireland, I 
 say, ' No suereisder !' " 
 
 The last words were uttered with a shout, while he 
 waved his hat exultingly. That watchword was caught 
 by the surrounding population, Murray himself being the 
 first tore-echo it ; and like an electric shock the impulse 
 was communicated, until a hundred hands were raised, and
 
 DERRY. 233 
 
 a hundred voices pealed the inflexible resolve, " No sor- 
 
 RENDER !" 
 
 Murray, after this ebullition of patriotic, and more than 
 patriotic feeling had subsided, turned with graceful courte- 
 sy to Morrison, just as Bryan was about to pronounce his 
 name. " I need not," he said, "any other medium of in- 
 troduction than the deep and heartfelt «ymjxithy that must 
 draw me towards one who has done and undergone so much 
 in the sacred cause which binds us all together. Your 
 name, Mr. Morrison, is familiar to me ; as are the many 
 good deads that adorn it. In yielding a hearty assent to 
 the request of our honest Magrath, Governor Walker grati- 
 fies his own feelings, no less than he hopes to soothe yours. 
 He w^ould have expressed this in person ; but unavoidable 
 engagements detain him for two hours longer. At the end 
 of that time, he A\'ill be ready to perform the last solemn 
 offices over one whose grave will be bedewed with many a 
 tear. Meantime I attend, his willing representative, to 
 sanction, and in every way to put such honor as we can 
 upon this mournful duty." 
 
 Morrison expressed most warmly his grateful sense -of 
 such delicate attention ; while M'Alister enjoyed increas- 
 ed satisfaction in finding that his roof had sheltered a valua- 
 ble and active laborer in the cause for which it was his dear- 
 est privilege to endure the loss of all things. 
 
 They had now reached the gate, Murray's presence af- 
 fording a most welcome countenance to the proceeding ; 
 and on a given signal, that gate which, seven months before, 
 had been the first to close against the enemy, swung back 
 upon its hinges to admit the lifeless remains of one who had 
 perished under that enemy's implacable cruelty. 
 . The body was laid on a rude bier, a dark coarse sack 
 being thrown over it, the better to conceal the nature of 
 its freight. Before, however, any one could enter the half 
 opened portal, Magrath presented himself at an aperture.
 
 ^4 DERIPy. 
 
 and in Irish, demanded whether all was (air and honora- 
 ^ble. 
 
 " You need not doubt it,""' answered Connellan, in the 
 same language. " My own officer is on duty here, and 
 not a Frenchman near us." 
 
 " This is my old comrade, Colonel," said Magrath to 
 Murray. "I'll answer for him, if once he gives us his 
 word : the other I don't know." 
 
 By Murray's direction, Connellan was told, that in con- 
 sideration of his compassionate interference, he was weL 
 •come, if such his wish, to attend the body to its last resting- 
 place: pledging, of course, his promise to take no undue 
 advantage of such discoveries as he might make. The as- 
 <}urance was given to Magrath's satisfaction, and Connellan, 
 with the bier, entered the eventful gates. 
 
 A considerable number of persons had gathered around 
 them : and many proffers were made with indications of 
 respectful sympathy, to assist in bearing the humble car- 
 riage to the burial ground : but Morrison himself took the 
 ■place of Connellan's former helper, while Bryan and Ma- 
 grath each raising one of the poles, the bier was thus car- 
 ried onward, followed closely by Colonel Murray, and a 
 long train of voluntary mourners, who arranged themselves 
 in procession behind them. 
 
 It was now that the full tide of sympathy seemed to set 
 m with an uninterrupted flow^ towards the widowed hus- 
 band ; nor could he, amid his smothered anguish, be in- 
 sensible to its soothing power. Appropriate texts of Scrip- 
 ture, touching allusions, sentiments of .^elevated piety and 
 holy resignation, fell continually upon his ear : while the 
 haggard looks of those who uttered them, bespoke how 
 needful to themselves was the consolation that they tender- 
 ed to an afflicted brother. 
 
 Arriving Avithin the church-yard, there was a temporary 
 halt, preparatory to the opening of the cathedial door ; and
 
 DERBY. 235 
 
 Magrath suggested the removal of the uncouth covering, to 
 be replaced by a sheet, which he had considerately provid- 
 ed. He had previously ascertained from Connellan that 
 all was neat and respectful about the corpse. "Some poor 
 Irishwoman," said he to Morrison, " undertook to settle the 
 dear lady in her little bed ; and you'll find they've not ne- 
 glected it." 
 
 It proved so : the placid countenance was uncovered' 
 beneath the flickering light of the beacon ; for other torch 
 could ill be affcrded. The oil was spent, the remaining 
 wood stored up to feed the v/atchfire : and tallow was be- 
 eome an article of food, eagerly purchased at four shillings 
 the pound. 
 
 Morrison, nearly overcome, seated himself on the bier ;, 
 and with clasped hands gazed on the sweet face that 
 had never failed to meet his eye with smiles of con 
 jugal affection. The bystanders pressed nearer, after 
 a short silence of pitying respect j and by degrees 
 their words reached his ear with somewhat of intelligible 
 meaning. 
 
 " These are they which came out of great tribulation," 
 said one : and another added, "^ They were slain for the 
 testimony of Jesus-'* 
 
 A grey-haired man, raising his folded hands above his- 
 head, and casting up his eyes, fervently ejaculated, " The 
 noble army of martyrs praise Thee !" 
 
 A famished mother, pressing in her arras the living skel- 
 eton of a child of two years old, bent over the corpse, and 
 repeated, in the bitterness of agonized feeling, " They shaU 
 hui^er no more, neither thirst any more :" while a school- 
 boy, gently touching the shoulder of the silent mourner 
 tendered his little mite of consolation by whispering a 
 Lsatin line, 
 
 Dulce et decorum est pro patria niori. 
 
 " Sweet and becoming indeed it is, my child," respondetJ
 
 ^ 
 
 DLRRV. 
 
 aljystander, " to die for our beloved country, a willing vic- 
 tim in that cause, which with us is no less the cause of God." 
 
 The door was now unlocked, a taper provided, and the 
 body havinjr been borne into the church, Morrison was left 
 awhile to indulge his grief alone over the beloved remains. 
 
 Connellan looked around him with a mixture of surprise 
 and painful interest, not altogether divested of hostile feel- 
 ing's ; while, heedless of his presence, the group pursued 
 the subject that seemed for a time to have absorbed their 
 individual sorrows. " I beheld the lady's death," said one, 
 " and could not but thank God when I saw she was really 
 gone. It was a quick passage at last, after some grievous 
 tossings on the troubled sea of affliction." 
 
 " Alas !" exclaimed a female near him, " did you see the 
 parting with b.er children \ Yonder are the graves of my 
 two darlings, cut off, the elder by the sword, and the other 
 by the pestilence, within a fortnight. I did not begi-udge 
 them in the cause ; but I never felt how mercifully 1 had 
 been dealt with, until I saw that lady's children driven frdm 
 her side to wander through a scene of horror, and cruel- 
 ty, and blood : without a friend to watch over their young 
 heads." 
 
 " Without a friend !" ejaculated another. " When did the 
 best of Friends forsake those who cheerfully took their cross 
 for him 1 We know better : we have tasted his mercy. 
 He hath delivered us, he doth now deliver us : and in him 
 we trust that he will more fully tmd triumphantly deliver us 
 yet." 
 
 " It must be by a strong force, at any rate,' said Connellan. 
 
 " There is no restraint with the Lord, brother, to save by 
 many or by few ;" mildly answered the old man who had 
 before spoken. " All power is his, and he wields at will 
 the armies of heaven no less than the elements of earth. By 
 the waves of the sea were Pharaoh and his host overwhelm, 
 ed : by the soundings of rams' horns did proud Jericho's 
 bulwarks fall. A few lamps concealed in pitchers wrought
 
 DERRY. 237 
 
 the defeat of the many thousands of Midian : and when 
 the haughty Sennacherib lay encamped around the city of 
 David, even as yonder our enemies encompass our city, 
 an angel was sent forth at dead of night, who, with noise- 
 less destruction, slew at once a hundred and eighty-five 
 thousand of these boastful Assyrians. This God is our God : 
 his hand is not now shortened, nor his power in aught dimi- 
 nished. For the better trial of our faith, deliverance is de- 
 layed ; but in the appointed hour it will come — it will come, 
 and not tarry." 
 
 " And is this the way that you encourage yourselves to 
 hold out 1" asked Connellan, with a shrug. 
 
 " Ay, it is — it is," responded many voices : and some ad- 
 ded, " We'll stand to our guns while we can lift a match 
 to them." 
 
 " That won't be long," obser\^ed Connellan, looking 
 round him with more of pity than of scorn. 
 
 " Perhaps not," replied Magrath : " but when we can't 
 move a hand to help ourselves, what follows V 
 
 " Why your town will be captured at once." 
 
 " Captured is it \ Sorrow a bit do we fear that. It isn't 
 yet that the Derry men have lost the trick of peppering 
 their friends outside : but when God takes it out of our 
 hands, he'll take it into his own. With his own right hand, 
 and with his holy arm, he will get for himself the victory !" 
 and this he again repeated in Irish. 
 
 A hum of applause, restrained, by delicacy towards 
 Morrison, from breaking out into a cheer, followed this 
 apostrophe : and Connellan, to change the subject, asked 
 why they kept that great fire on the top of the church. 
 Various replies were given, chiefly in a jesting strain : one 
 saying it was to assist the enemy in rightly pointing their 
 guns and mortars ; another, that it was used to fumigate, 
 their town being none of the sweetest. A third remarked 
 that it would be wanted to roast the oxen and sheep which 
 21
 
 238 DF.RRY. 
 
 lliey intended to take in the next sally ; while Bryan 
 more truly observed that a pillar of fire having been for- 
 merly the signal of God's presence among his people, the 
 token of his guidance, and pledge of their deliverance, it 
 could not but cheer them to be rem'mded, whenever they 
 looked towards the house of prayer, of those works and 
 wonders of old, the contemplation of which was their un- 
 failing encouragement. 
 
 " Here comes the Governor," said Magrath. " Now, 
 Connellan, we'll show you a better friend to poor old Ire- 
 land than your camp contains." 
 
 •' He's an Englishman," obsen'ed Connellan, sullenly. 
 " He's not a Frenchman," warmly responded Magrath. 
 " He's not wading through Irish blood to enslave the land : 
 to keep it in darkness, and shut out the blessed light of 
 truth." 
 
 Walker now approached ; and Connellan, from under 
 his bent brows, took a keen and curious survey of a man 
 whom hp had more than once seen in the confusion of a 
 skirmish, but who now appeared in a garb better suited to 
 the sacred profession which he had so often merged in that 
 of the warrior. Tlie Governor's countenance bore testi- 
 mony that he had fully participated in the privations of 
 the suffering garrison : but his air was more lofty, his step 
 more firm, his eye more animated than in days when hope 
 was buoyant, and their present extremity of want alto- 
 gether unthought of. Slowly and majesticallv this singu- 
 lar man walked through the opening crowd, with every 
 individual of whom he seemed to be on terms of personal 
 acquaintance. There lacked not several, even among 
 those then before him, in whose bosoms rankled the feel- 
 ing of envy, suspicion, or dislike ; but the observing eye of 
 Connellan operated as a check upon them ; and care was 
 taken to maintain in his presence, at least, the semblance 
 of unanimous attachment to their celebrated leader. On
 
 DERRY. 239 
 
 arriving at the place where Bryan stood, Mr. Walker 
 stopped short, addressing him in words of familiar friend- 
 ship ; and, apologizing for the delay in his arrival, inquired 
 for the person who had acted so humane a part towards 
 the slaughtered lady. 
 
 Connellan was immediately pointed out, and respect- 
 fully returned the Governor's recognition. 
 
 " Sergeant," said Walker, in that abrupt phrase, which 
 generally told well among the troops, " it seems you have 
 not yet met a mutineer's fate." 
 
 " Nor ever will, Sir," answered Connellan, sternly. 
 
 " The French are worse masters than the English," con- 
 tinued Walker. 
 
 " English or French," retorted Connellan, almost fierce- 
 ly, "Ireland needs no masters, — she can govern herself." 
 
 " James Stuart thinks otherwise," said Walker, with a 
 half smile ; and slowly passed on. 
 
 The principal door of the church was thrown open, 
 and thither in silence the spectators followed their clerical 
 governor. Murray's considerate kindness had provided 
 the unwonted luxury of a coffin, which had been private- 
 ly introduced through a side door, by attendants who 
 assisted Morrison to enclose the beloved remains in that 
 narrow receptacle. When, therefore, the bier was again 
 discovered, it supported the coffin, and over it was thrown 
 a pall : Morrison stood at the feet, not far from the reading- 
 desk, on which two tapers were lighted, casting their 
 feeble glimmer upon his pallid countenance, while with 
 folded arms, and tearless eye, he steadfastly gazed on the 
 inanimate object before him. Connellan pressed forward, 
 accompanied by Bryan and Magrath, and followed by a 
 considerable number of persons. It was Walker's custom 
 to render everything as far as possible conducive to the 
 grand concern so near his heart j and no man better knew 
 how to give a powerful effect to such means as came with-
 
 240 DERRY. 
 
 in Ills roach. The present was an inviting occasion, not 
 only to strengthen his friends, but to display be forean 
 enemy that unshak'>n constancy, that vivid interest in their 
 glorious cause, by which alone he could entertain a hope 
 of ultimate triumph. At the moment of uncovering his 
 head, and stepping forward, he broke, with startling sud- 
 denness, the deep and deathlike stillness of the scene, by 
 uttering in the most sonorous tones of his powerful voice, 
 the sublime commencemen' of that service whicli he came 
 to perform. " I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith 
 the Lord : he that believeth in mi^, though ho were dead, 
 yet shall he live ; and whoso.ner liveth and believeth in 
 me, shall never die." 
 
 Here he ceased, advancing in silence until he stood be- 
 side the bier, over which he stretched his right hand, 
 standing erect in stately dignity ; and turning full towards 
 the' listening audience, whose eyes were fixed upon him, 
 he addressed to them the next of those impressive sen- 
 tences ; giving to it an emphasis of enthusiasm not to be 
 described, " I know that my Redeemer liveth ; and that he 
 shall stand at the latter day upon the earth : and though 
 after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh 
 shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and mine 
 eyes shall behold him, and not another." 
 
 The last apostrophe followed, after a second solemn 
 pause, during which he bent his head with a thoughtful 
 and compassionate gaze upon the cotfin. " We brought 
 nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry 
 nothing out of it." Then raising his eyes to Morrison, he 
 concluded, in a voice of really touchins; pathos, "Brother, 
 the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be 
 the name of the Lord." 
 
 Walker then ascended the desk, and proceeded to read, 
 or rather to recite, in a most animated strain, the magnifi- 
 cent lesson from the fifteenth chapter of the first Epistle to
 
 DERRY. 24 ] 
 
 the Corinthians, while Magrath, almost unconsciously, 
 whispered it close to the ear of Connellan, in the beloved 
 language of his country and his heart. 
 
 It was now, indeed, that the hostile visiter might take 
 an accurate survey of those who had so long bade defiance 
 to the united efforts of Rome and France — so long resisted 
 the evil spirits of Ireland's worst delusion, with a con- 
 stancy of endurance scarcely to be paralleled in the annals 
 of human fortitude. Already had the morning put on the 
 tints which promised a speedy brightening into day. The 
 windows, retaining scarcely one unbroken pane of glass, 
 gave ready entrance to her beam ; and from the casements 
 of surrounding houses was reflected the deep red blaze of 
 the beacon above. Every head was bare, every counte- 
 nance up-turned towards the minister, receiving from 
 the eastern window a full portion of light, and exhibiting 
 such traces of famine, such wrinkles of care and sorrow, 
 such a fixedness of earnest tho\ight, while communing in 
 spirit with that eternity on the visible borders of which 
 their daily path was held, that all Connellan's feelings be- 
 came softened into a mixture of pity, wonder, and invol- 
 untary respect ; while his heart secretly pleaded that the 
 suflTerers before him were but defending their native soil 
 from the inroads of a foreign enemy, — were but rallying 
 round the altar of their fathers, for the faith in which they 
 had lived and died. 
 
 When the procession moved towards the grave, Con- 
 nellan resumed his former station as a bearer; his subdued 
 tones giving testimony to the effect of what he had wit- 
 nessed, on a heart replete with Irish susceptibility. 
 Magrath observed, and rejoiced in the change ; resolved to 
 follow up the advantage gained, with all the powers of his 
 versatile mind. 
 
 The coffin was deposited in its final resting-place, amid 
 the unfeigned sympathy of many, who had recently borne 
 21*
 
 242 DERRY. 
 
 to that burial ground the remains of all that their hearti 
 chorishtcl. Hitherto Walker had acted in his sacred 
 character, perforiuirifj its functions in such wise as to in^i^ress 
 the spectators with that holy submission which the beauti- 
 ful fonnulary is adnurably calculated to nourish in every 
 (Christian breast ; but he ceased not ht're ; on ebbing his book, 
 he assiuui'd un altitude of animated earnestness, and com- 
 menced an harangue addressed to the sterner j>;i'-^iiins. 
 which it was his |X>licy to keep perpetually awake. 
 
 He pointed to the open grave, charactt ri/.ini; it ai the 
 glorious couch of a martyr ; and waving his hand around, 
 extended that character to the innumerable mounds that 
 had, during the h<t f'W months changt'd the aspect of 
 the place, ami filled to repb-tion the yawning appetite of 
 the king of terrors. He apostrophized those moulder- 
 ing ashes to utter an articulate voice, protnsting, even 
 from the grave, against the merciless ban-dogs of infuriate 
 Rome. He reverted to the massacre of H)U, sketched 
 the partial outrages of intervening years, expatiated on 
 the treachery that had doomed the inhabitants of Derry to 
 the knife, and which would have been glutted with their 
 blood, only for the closing of those impregnable gates. 
 He stigmatized the native Irish as willing instruments in 
 the hands of butchering priests, bent on the df'stniction of 
 everything Protestant, and sworn to delude Ireland with 
 blood, so long as any power remained with them. Refer- 
 ring again to the victim whom they had then interred, he 
 dwelt upon the dreadful scenes enacted under their very 
 walls a day or two before ; asking whether, after such a 
 specimen of popish cruelty, his hearers could hesitate in 
 preferring the most lingering or excruciating death, to any 
 league that could be formed, any agreement that could be 
 concluded with the vassals of perlidious Rome ? Exulting 
 over the numbers who had been slain in their various sal- 
 lies, he spoke of them as so many irreconcileable fo<?s laid
 
 DERBY. 243 
 
 prostrate beneath their feet : auguring a complete subjuga- 
 tion of the island to Protestant authority. Ashe concluded, 
 some inconsiderate partizan proposed a cheer for King 
 William , and the call was obeyed, but by no means una- 
 nimously. This war-note seemed to grate on the feelings 
 of many, attuned so recently to holier strains. Morrison 
 turned away, evidently much pained ; Bryan passed his 
 arm through his, addressing him in a low tone; and 
 Magrath, apparently under great excitement, seized a 
 shovel wherewith to fill in the earth, putting another into 
 Connellan's hand, and calling on him in Irish, to finish his 
 good work for a countrywoman of his own. There was a 
 bitterness in the emphasis, which, accompanied with a 
 quick glance towards Walker, spemed to bespeak a dis- 
 claimer of any such tie in that quarter ; and when the par- 
 tial cheer was given, he did not scruple to utter pretty 
 audibly, the very dissimilar note of " Erin go bragh !" 
 
 The general cast of Connellan's countenance was dark 
 and stern in no common degree : shaggy eyebrows, closely 
 contracted by the deep furrows of an habitual frown, were 
 wont to conceal the flashes of an eye that never quailed 
 before crt-ated being, though frequently cast down to mask 
 its glittering animation, when some ulterior purpose re- 
 quired the sacrifice of present impulse. Magrath had of- 
 ten marked the momentary struggle, in which his comrade 
 rarely failed to lay a curb upon his strongest nt^tural pro- 
 pensities, and gather in the lightnings that would fain 
 have dealt destruction around him ; in the present occa- 
 sion he witnessed no such conflict, for Connellan's features 
 were wrapped in a cloud of sullen scorn ; but Magrath 
 had found himself too nearly touched, to doubt that Con- 
 nellan's towering spirit writhed under what had been 
 spoken. 
 
 They were soon left alone at their work, Bryan having 
 seated JMorrison near the grave of his mother, and holding
 
 -44 TEHRY. 
 
 tliscourse with him, so as to preclude all likelihood of 
 overhearing iho Irishmen, who conversed in their national 
 dialect. 
 
 " It's a sorrowful story that Hryan M'Alister is telling 
 yonder," said Alagrath. 
 
 " Many such stories may they have to tcH !" .'xclaimed 
 Connellarj, in a strrn and bitter tonr. " What are the sor- 
 rows of such intruding strangers, to the tale that Ireland 
 can give of her children's sutferings under their hateful op 
 pression ! They have sowed in hlood — let them reap de- 
 struction—they brought a curse into the land; let it be 
 their meat and thi-ir drink — let it poison their life, and 
 dis(juiet their graves!" 
 
 " Vou are wrong, Connellan," said Magrath. " He that 
 loved cursing never yet inherited a blessing for his own 
 portion." 
 
 "And is not that what I am saying ! "fis well that 
 bloody-minded prir'st threw oil' the sheep's skin and dis- 
 played the wolf. I was becoming as soft as a child, and 
 doubting whether my hand could again point a gun at the 
 wretched beings who crowded that battered building. I 
 forgot they were English — sassenachs — enemies to God 
 and man ; so smoothly lay the serpent coiled under the 
 green herbage. Ay, Magrath, I could have calbd them 
 Irish ; could have made common cause with them, and 
 manned these walls to drive the more recent invader back 
 to his home." 
 
 " You were right there, Connellan : the Irish bhxxl is 
 in them, or never could thoy have shown this endurance. 
 Yet," he added, checking himself, " God can give to any 
 man, of any country, wisdom and faithfulness to stand by 
 his cause, when he knows it to be the cause of taith." 
 
 " But theirs is the cause of error and falsehood ; of 
 heresy, tyranny, and treachery." 
 
 "As to falsehood and heresv, Connellan, you and I
 
 TERRY. 245 
 
 could know no more of that matter than the priests were 
 pleased to tell us ; and judge you what sort of teachers 
 they must be, who now sell the country to a parcel of 
 foreigners, more insolent and cruel than any who have 
 ever before tainted the land. Tyrants there have been, of 
 English race ; but the first and the worst were of the same 
 faith with your priests ; and as lor treachery, let Dermod 
 M'AIurtough tell who was the traitor. We have all gon*' 
 astray, comrade ; and astray we must still go, till we gel 
 a guide that cannot err, to put us in the right way." 
 
 " Such a guide who shall find V 
 
 " 'Tis found, Connellan ; and if followed we can never 
 go wrong. The words that you heard this morning were 
 part of God's book : and that book is the only lamp to 
 liglit us in the right, path.'^ 
 
 " Away with such woman's talk !" exclaimed Connel- 
 lan : " The words were smooth, and fell pleasantly upon 
 the ear ; and 1 deny not that they helped to lull my better 
 feelings into a dangerous slumber. . But marked you not 
 the contrast between those words, read fluently from a 
 printed book, and the burning thoughts that issued in na- 
 tural language from the heart of that heretic priest \ No, 
 no : trust me, ^lagrath, they are alike — children of one 
 race, and priestcraft is the same, call it what you will. 
 The legend of a saint may be given, in the way of trade, 
 from altar or pulpit, and in the same way may such dis- 
 courses as we now heard be dealt forth to listening fol* 
 lowers, breathing only peace, and love, and pious resigna* 
 tion ; but hatred burns in their hearts the while, and that 
 mutual hatred will still break out, whether in the priestly 
 whisper of our secret confessional, or the open harangue of 
 a Protestant rufllan, laughing to scorn the sanctimonious 
 hypocrisy of their public ministrations. Vengeance, the 
 cry ; blood is the demand : and, mask it as you will, ex- 
 terminating hatred prompts both priest and minister."
 
 246 DERRY. 
 
 Ucfore Megrath could n'ply, the grave Wing Tilled, 
 Morrison and Bryan approached. The former, grasping 
 Connellan's rrliicUmt hand, iiKjuired if there was any 
 possible means wht'^chy ho Qould manifest his grateful 
 sense of the obligation under which he was laid. 
 
 '' Xone, Sir ; we are enemies, and enemies we must re- 
 main, I would ask of you yet to be a maidy foe ; and 
 when th« weak and the helpless fill within your grasp, 
 remember that Connellan, though a despised Irish savage, 
 could not look on, when the wife of his enemy was mis- 
 used by a heartless foreigner.'' 
 
 '' Call me not your enemy, Connellan," said .Morrison, 
 deeply affected. '' I too am Irish, and my spirit weeps 
 over the woes of my country, the alllictions of her chil- 
 dren." 
 
 " We will not argiie that point, .Mr. .Morrison, I've done 
 my duty: and if more than my duty, let it be remembered 
 in the right place." He crossed himself; and handing 
 the shovel to .AIngrath, prepared to depart. 
 
 "Connellan,' said Hryan, "j)oor and unsatisfactory as 
 is the refreshment that I can otler, still — " the Irishman 
 interrupted him : 
 
 " .Air. M -A lister, sooner than take one mouthful from 
 your starving townsmen, I'd go and blow the brains out 
 of yonder French Mareschal, and make my breakfast on 
 them. No, Sir ; had I my wish, I would feed you all first, 
 and tight you afterwards. God and the Virgin give poor 
 Ireland a happy deliverance from all her foes, whatever 
 name they are called by !" and saluting the gentlemen 
 with an air in which respect and defiance were strangely 
 blended, he hastened away, followed by Magrath.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 liN the course of the day which followed the interment 
 of Mrs. Morrison, Colonel ^lurray paid a visit to the 
 widowed husband, whom he found engaged in earnest 
 conversation with his friends. " Let me not, ' he said, 
 after the first kind greeting had passed, " let me not in- 
 terrupt your discourse. United as we are in striving to 
 uphold a righteous cause, it cannot be thai any individual 
 member of our common body should suffer or rejoice with- 
 out exciting the sympathy of all."' 
 
 " Our discourse. Colonel Murray," replied Ross, " was 
 indeed on a topic of public interest ; one on which opin- 
 ion seems much divided, and where we should like to hear 
 your sentiments. The Governor's address this morning 
 to the spectators — I should rather say the mourners, as- 
 sembled in the churchyard : — was it or was it not judi- 
 cious 1" 
 
 " Pardon me, my dear Ross ; but you are aware how 
 much I deprecate the habit of sitting in judgment on the 
 words or actions of constituted authorities ; particularly 
 when, as in the present case, the thing is done past re- 
 call." 
 
 " There's a silencer for you, Magiath," said Ross. 
 
 '' May be not, your honor," replied Magrath, who ap- 
 peared to have been much ruffled. " It's the popish way,
 
 24S DKKuy. 
 
 05 myself woll knows, to silence a man without convinc- 
 ing him. 'Tisn t in jiuigrm nt that I'd presume to sit ; but 
 when men are perisliiuj; by scores and by hundred:} in a 
 cause that is dearer to them than their heart's biwxl, they 
 shouldn't bo misrepresented, and that before an enemy, aa 
 if they were doinij the deNil's own work." 
 
 " Softly, my good lad," said Hryan. 
 
 " No, no : out witli your grievance, Macirath," said 
 Murray, good-humoredly. '' 'Tis some misunderstand- 
 ing that I may perhaps be able to dear up. (Jovemor 
 Walker misrepresent his Derry Boys ! Von'v.- h»'cn 
 dreaming on an empty stomach, I »uspect." 
 
 " Is it dreaming I was, y<Mir honor \ Truih, and my 
 stomach may be empty, but my heart is too fidl Uj dream. 
 Why then, Sir, I'll tell you, and your two ears will bear 
 me witness, that the Ciovernor halloed us on like a pack 
 ol blootl-iiounds ; and if ' Kevenge' wasn't his woril, I'll 
 be bound that every soul present lilt 'twas his meaning." 
 
 " And have we not much to revenge V asked the 
 Colonel, somewhat warmly. 
 
 '' You have, Sir ; and GotI give you vengeance, ever- 
 lasting vengeance upon her that is drunk with the blood 
 
 of the Saints — that mother of Harlots that" and his 
 
 veliemence increa>ed until he was obliged to have recourse 
 to his native language for greater freedom of expression. 
 
 •' He is quoting," said Bryan, " some of the awful de- 
 nunciations of scripture against the apostate church, which 
 he now, at last, most deeply feels to be indeed the destroy- 
 er of our country. This excitement is carried beyond due 
 bounds ; but the scent? at his parting with Connellan cer- 
 tainly offers some palliation. Come, Magrath ; be com- 
 posed, and relate once more what passed at the gate." 
 
 Magrath obeyed ; addressing Murray, he requested his 
 pardon for being so rough in his presence, and then told 
 him, that on reaching the walls with Connellan, he had
 
 IffiRRY. 249 
 
 endeavored to set before his comrade the misery into 
 which both the country and the souls of her people were 
 plunged, by the selfish machinations of that crafty priest- 
 hood, whose teaching they both knew, from personal ex- 
 perience, to be so decidedly contrary to the gospel of love 
 and peace. He represented the contest in which they 
 were engaged, not as one of individual hostility, but as a 
 struggle on the part of the Protestants to preserve that 
 light by which alone the darkness of the land could be 
 dispelled ; and their efforts as directed to the subversion 
 of the anti-christian power, by whom a foreign host had 
 been invited to assist in fixing more deeply the fetter, 
 which the priests were perpetually inciting them to cast 
 off. " Didn't I tell him," added Magrath, with increasing 
 vehemence, " that himself and me well knew the cry 
 had been, ' away with the English yoke ;' that from fath- 
 er to son they told it to the babe in his cradle, and talked 
 it over the old man's coffin, how, since bloody Henry set 
 foot in the land, Ireland had never known the sunshine of 
 peace — how the strings of her harp were broken, and the 
 song of her bards was silenced, and sorrowful under the 
 blasted oak of her mountain, sat Erin — cuislile-ma- 
 chree !" 
 
 " This is poetry, Magrath," said Murray, smiling, as 
 he looked on the flushed cheek of the excited Irishman. 
 
 " It is poetry. Colonel Murray : and it kindles the 
 heart of many a one whose hands are made ready to the 
 work of death. But, Sir, I'm to speak of Connellan. I 
 told him all this, and then I asked him. Isn't James Stuart 
 an English king ^ Isn't it the English yoke that you're 
 fighting to strengthen \ and doesn't it prove that, English 
 or French, any foreigners may have the help of the priest, 
 if they'll but support him in making merchandize of the 
 people's souls \ Now, Colonel Murray, if Connellan had 
 agreed with me ; if he'd been convinced, as myself had 
 been, that such is the truth, what would have followed ?" 
 22
 
 '250 PERRY. 
 
 " Why, we should have gained another adherent, Ma- 
 grath." 
 
 " Ay, Sir, and an honest one : and the same would hare 
 been lost to the enemy. He'd have seen that your I'oe is 
 Ireland's foe ; and that is the way, the only way, to break 
 down the power that ruins my country. Derry might fall 
 to-morrow, and myself be the first that should throw the 
 gates open, only that I look for peace to grow out of this 
 bitter war. God has said, ' Destroy it not, for a blessing is 
 m it.' " 
 
 " I agree most heartily with you, Magrath : but how 
 does this alfect the Governor's speech I" 
 
 "Sure and it was that did all the harm !" exclaimed 
 Magrath, indignantly. " Coimellan told me that he had 
 many a thought come over him like what I'd been saying: 
 and only for hearing how Avell the Protestants kept their 
 account for old grievances, and how they'd be reckoning 
 still on hunting down the native Irish like wild beasts, to 
 be rooted out before the land could have peace, he'd been 
 likely to join us. But that hour was past : truth, he said, 
 would out, and since poor Ireland had no friends, he'd but 
 perish in defying her foes." 
 
 " So much," observed Morrison, " for the illustration 
 which has brought home to Magrath's feelings the distinc- 
 tion between the mere casket of nominal Protestantism, and 
 the precious jewel that lies within it. Mr. Walker s ha- 
 rangue was doubtless well calculated to rouse the indig- 
 nant spirit, and nerve the animal courage, by which the 
 military defence of these walls may be protracted until suc- 
 cor shall arrive, and our dt-liverance be wrought ; but the 
 question arises, how far will this event be made subservient 
 to the welfare of our sutiering country ?" 
 
 " It cannot be otherwise, ' answered Murray. " What- 
 soever tends to the establishment of Protestantism, must 
 conduce to the overthrow of its hateful opponent. Let
 
 DERRY. 251 
 
 William of Nassau be firmly seated on the throne of these 
 realms, let a Protestant succession be ensured, Protestant 
 ascendency take deep and abiding root, we shall, we must 
 see prosperous days, shining ere long on our poor distract- 
 ed island." 
 
 " This, too, is conceded," said the Lady of M'Alister, 
 " but we are all agreed as to the meaning of that word so 
 precious to our hearts 1 Do we fully comprehend what is 
 included in that single term Protestantism V 
 
 " I hope so," said Murray. 
 
 " I fear it is grievously misunderstood," remarked Bry- 
 an : and Ross added, " To that I can bear testimony, for 
 no one more vauntingly claimed, or more successfully won 
 the c haracter of a staunch Protestant than myself How 
 for I was from deserving, or even com.prehending the name, 
 I am every day more feelingly taught : nor is tlie lesson yet 
 perfect." 
 
 " Explain yourself," said Bryan. 
 
 " Why, truly, I considered Protestantism as a principle 
 that should become exceedingly active and warlike in 
 troublous times : but which might safely go to sleep in 
 seasons of tranquillity. So long as the papist made a hos- 
 tile show, I held myself bound to offer uncompromising re- 
 sistance ; but let me succeed in establishing my own reli- 
 gion, secure from his innovations, and he was welcome to 
 the snug enjoyment of his darling delusions. In insurrec- 
 tionary days, I had sword and pistol wherewith to put him 
 down : right order restored, my purse was at his service for 
 the building of a chapel, or for the collection-piste of a 
 conventual school. I laughed at his dogma of transubstan- 
 tiation and abhorred the idolatrous absurdity of his image 
 worship ; yet for the music of a mass, or the raree-show 
 of a nun's profession, I could mingle in the crowd, a seri- 
 ous and respectful looker-on. Heartily believing that the 
 popish priesthood constituted the abiding curse of the land.
 
 252 DBRRY. 
 
 still, in private society, or on a public occasion, I felt it 
 my duty to place his reverence next in honor to tin- Pro- 
 testant clergyman ; and liy no sjx>l<en word, or overt act 
 of dissent, to remind him that his creed was the object of 
 my reprobation ; his abuse of its assumed authority the 
 ground-work of my country's destruction. Now this is the 
 empty shell and husk of Protestant pmfVssion ; fit only to 
 be cracked, and flung into the fire." 
 
 "If such be only the shell," ohstrved .Murray, "I 
 should like to hear the dffmition of what you conceive to 
 be the kernel." 
 
 " I refer you to Bryan M'Alister." 
 
 " You might have made a fitter choice," replied IJryan, 
 '' but I acc( ]it the ( fl!ce. You have well described the un- 
 substantial Protestantism of multitudes : how diflerent is 
 that vital principle of a pure faith, Avhich holds an unde- 
 viating, unflinching protest agninst the powers of a darken- 
 ing delusion ! The former, altogether selfish, starts into 
 angi'y resistance if the circle of its own privileges be threat- 
 ened with encroachment : and having reptll'd the invad- 
 er, it coils itself within its narrow boundary, leaving the 
 soul of its neighbor to perish in its sin. The latter, di- 
 vinely taught to look ' not every man on his own things 
 only, but every man also on the things of others,' seeks not 
 to purchase a momentary repose by such dishonest conni- 
 vance; it wages exterminating war, not against the ene- 
 my, but against the enmity — not against the deluded pa- 
 pist, but against the popery which constitutes his delusion. 
 Yes, real Protestantism will seek to establish, even in tem- 
 poral things, its just and lawful dominion ; but this it will 
 make subservient to the far higher and nobler purpose of 
 bringing souls into willing subjection to the righteous gov- 
 ernment of Christ. Real Protestantism never slumbers, 
 never is off its watch-tower : its very name argues that 
 there is always something against which to protest, and
 
 DERBY. 253 
 
 that something is known to be the enemy of God and man, 
 an enslaver of souls, and an usurper of the temple of the 
 Lord. When the wretched bond-slaves of that anti-chris- 
 tian despotism take the carnal weapons, and march onward 
 to root out and destroy, real Protestantism is tender, most 
 tender of their lives ; for willingly it would not send one 
 unrepentant soul to the judgment-seat of Christ : but know- 
 ing that its Author and Finisher is the Lord of Hosts, it 
 casts its cause on his Almighty arm ; and, humbly using 
 the allotted means, waits for tlie deliverance which shall 
 glorify his name." 
 
 Exhausted by the fervency of his spirit, the weakened 
 frame of M'Alister demanded a momentary pause. It was 
 one of unbroken silence ; but with many it was one of se- 
 cret prayer. Bryan resumed : 
 
 " Real Protestantism, when the Lord has given it rest 
 from external enemies, will improve that season to the ex- 
 tension of its Master's kingdom. Tenderly concerned for 
 the souls of men, it will go into the dens of spiritual tyranny, 
 preaching ' deliverance to the captives, the opening of 
 the prison to them that are bound.' By no act, by no 
 passive acquiescence, will it sanction the deeds of dark- 
 ness, or connive at the thraldom of a single soul. He who 
 contributes to the building of a popish chapel, he who si- 
 lently looks on when God is dishonored in a popish mass, 
 CEASES TO BE A Protestant — he is identified with the 
 abominations against which it is his calling to protest. 
 And oh, how far, how immeasurably removed from the 
 standard of real Protestantism, is he who, by the right 
 hand of fellowship externally given to the false and idola- 
 trous shepherd, assists to confirm his sway over the delud- 
 ed flock whom he is leading to perdition." 
 
 " Pardon me,' said Colonel Murray ; " but, cordially as 
 I must needs concur in the greater part of your animated 
 description, I do not see how we can carry the protest so 
 2--*
 
 254 DERRT. 
 
 openly into tho (lomostic circle, whese wo must occa- 
 sionally come in contact with tht* priest of Rome. It is 
 not every man amonp us, in fact there are hut very few, 
 who can enter upon thf controvrrtrd points of doctrines : 
 and must we, hy such a hostile carriaj^e, provoke the en- 
 counter when there is no rational hope of any thing better 
 than a mortifying defeat ?' 
 
 " Your (|U(^slion, (.'nlonel," replied .'M'A lister, " involves 
 another cxj)os\ire of the lamentable defect in our nominal 
 Protestantism. The word of God enjoins every man to 
 be able to ' give to him that asketh a reason of the hope 
 that is in him ;' no person who can scripturally do this, 
 need fear the result of even a controversial encounter with 
 a man whose creed opposes the fundamental doctrines of 
 the all-suflicienl atonement of Christ, and justification by 
 faith in that atonement. Real Protestantism, therefore, 
 will never need to shrink from such unmasked avowal of 
 its principles, as shall call forth a statement of opposing 
 creeds : and this it will the more readily do, because the 
 minister of a false religion is himself also a man, within 
 the reach of converting grace, liable to be convinced by 
 the spirit of God : and open to the cheering ' peradven- 
 ture,' that, through the gentleness with which the servant 
 of the Lord will be ' apt to teach,' in ' meekness instruct- 
 ing them that oppose themselves,' repentance may also 
 be given to him for the acknowledging of the truth. Such 
 has often been the case ; such was the progress of that 
 blessed Reformation which began with the conversion of 
 a solitary Augustine monk." 
 
 "If your estimate of real Protestantism be just," said 
 Murray, thoughtfully, " and I cannot gainsa}' any part of 
 it — alas for the great bulk of those whom we call the Pro. 
 testants of Ireland ! ' 
 
 " And alas for Ireland !" added Morrison, " if her hope 
 of permanent prosperity be built on what our friend has
 
 DERRY. 255 
 
 aptly designated as empty nutshells. Victory may yet be 
 ours : and a successful ascendency be established in the 
 government of the country ; but where shall we look for 
 security against a future explosion of these terrific ele- 
 ments, which we leave within the grasp of the prince of 
 the power of the air, instea^l of putting forth our spiritual 
 strength to wrest them for ever from his hand. ' 
 
 " Yet let me add one lovely feature of real Protestant- 
 ism," said Bryan. " It knows not the unhallowed thirst 
 for revenge which characterizes the carnal mind. Emulat- 
 ing the glorious example of him who says of his people, 
 ' Their sins and iniquities I will remember no more,' the 
 sin alone is hated, the sinner is pitied and forgiven. Our 
 poor countrymen now do the bidding of those who delude 
 their souls, and bind their consciences in fetters : our work 
 is not to take vengeance on them for such erring obedi- 
 ence, but to convince them that the influence under which 
 they act is alike opposed to the will of God and to their 
 own well-doing. Is their sin against us of darker dye than 
 that of the Jews in crucifying the Lord of Glory, that we 
 should not, in recurring to past outrages, take up the lan- 
 guage of Peter, ' And now, brethren, I wot that through 
 ignorance ye did it' — ' Repent ye therefore, and be con- 
 verted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times 
 of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.' " 
 
 " There !" exclaimed Magrath, striking his hands to- 
 gether, " there's the blessed truth of God's own word, to 
 encourage poor ignorant rebels. A long day it would 
 have been before Larry JMagrath took the name of a Pro- 
 testant, if the story that was told him hadn't been a story 
 o' peace : and Connellan's proud heart, that's now break- 
 ing in sin and despair, might have softened and turned un- 
 der this very roof, only for Governor Walker's speech. 
 Myself, that ought to have known better, felt all the Irish 
 blood in a blaze about me j and what blame to Connel- 
 lan 1."
 
 256 PERRY. 
 
 The conversation appeared to sink deep into Murray'fl 
 mind, which was of no common cast : but the dflicate 
 situation in which lio stood, involving him in fre(juent 
 dilticultios between contending factions, induced a degree 
 ot extt'rnal caution, uncou<;»'niaI, and ofti-t» irksonie, to 
 liis frank disposition. Abundant opportunities had been 
 affbrded liim of verifying the distinction just drawn be- 
 tween genuine Protestantism and that political bias which 
 assumes the nan^e. Orten had such prDmising slulls of 
 fa'u- profession invited his contidince, while strengthening 
 his hope in the stability of the cause : and then, on a more 
 mature inspection, had proved allt)gether empty, or per- 
 haps inhabited by l)itterness and corruption. Colonel 
 I\Iurray already knew, far better than he cared to ac- 
 knowledge, that Derry owed not its defence, nor would 
 Ireland ever l)e indebted for lu-r drliverance, to such ad- 
 herence as worldly minds display, even to the most right- 
 eous cause. He had witnessed the defection of some, con- 
 cerning whom he had entertained the most sanguine ex- 
 pectations from their blind and headlong devotion to the 
 interests of what they calh-d the Protestant faith : while 
 others who, like Bryan ]\I'.\ lister, appeared comparatively 
 cold, and almost timidly reluctant to take the sword against 
 their wretched countrymen, had siiown themselves en- 
 dowed with invincible courage, and such an enduring for- 
 titude as could not be shaken. Ross, in the recent change 
 so clearly evidenced by his discourse, afforded an instance 
 of this : for Murray, as he looked upon him, read in the 
 sobered and settled expression of his countenance, a spirit 
 of determination more fixed, than he had ever traced 
 when the young man was found in the van of every des- 
 perate sally : in the language that bewailed the fate of his 
 deluded countrymen, Murray discerned a better promise of 
 inflexible hostility against all compromise, than in the loud 
 and vehement execrations with which he had been wont to
 
 DERRY. 257 
 
 load them and their cause. And fervently, though se- 
 cretly, was he led to wish that Derry had, from the first, 
 been garrisoned, or, at least, that it could now be exclu- 
 sively defended, by such men as were before him, under 
 the roof of the M'Alisters. 
 
 There was, indeed, much to occasion the most serious 
 misgivings in the minds of those who knew the actual state 
 to which the stores of the city were reduced : what this 
 was, mi^ht be pretty well guessed by the inhabitants, 
 when, on the ninth of July, it was announced that the 
 garrison allowance to be served out for that day's sub- 
 sistence was, to each man, a pound of tallow. This was 
 the soldier's fare ; the miserable citizens had no such regu- 
 lar supply, whereon to depend : and they were to be seen 
 in every corner, raking among the rubbish with which the 
 bombs had overspread their little gardens, their bony 
 fingers eagerly grasping every decayed leaf of even the 
 most common weeds ; while many strolled out, in the 
 carelessness of desperation, beyond the gates, to collect 
 whatever the waters of Lough Foyle might have cast 
 upon the beach, devouring the sea-weed as a dainty, 
 though its only effect was to render more intolerable the 
 burning thirst, to slake which, few could obtain a cup of 
 cold water ; so high was the price set upon the refreshing 
 beverage, by those who must place their lives in immi- 
 nent hazard to procure it. When, therefore, on the fol- 
 lowing day, bombs were thrown into the town, containing, 
 in lieu of gunpowder, the most inviting proffers from Gen- 
 eral Hamilton, to such as should be willing to surrender 
 the fortress, it became a matter of most anxious calcula- 
 tion how far the leaders could depend on those placed un- 
 der their command. It was with a beating heart that 
 Bryan M'Alister communicated to his friend Ross, the 
 morning after this discovery, that a parley had been agreed 
 upon, and that a council was about to be held for the dis-
 
 -'58 PERRY. 
 
 ciission of that subject, rt'plote witfi nwful intrrrst to tlwm 
 ill — the surrender of the city. 
 
 "Surrender!" exclaimed Ross, tirtui^ iioin las chair. 
 • never, M'Alister, never !" 
 
 " It must not be," said the Lady ; " we niav not deliv- 
 T up our stronghold ; we may not renounce our trust ■' 
 we must not make ourselves a scorn, and our hope a deri- 
 sion to those who have hitherto been defied in the name of 
 the Lord of Ibxsts." 
 
 " What excust! upon earth Imve tiiey found for such a 
 project /" asked Ross. 
 
 " The dreadful strait to which we arc reduced in point 
 of provision ; the rapid decrea-se of the pirrison by dtath 
 and overpowering disease ; the disappearance of the ships, 
 which drop away from their distant station, becoming in- 
 visible tf> our lie.st glasses." 
 
 Mori ihon, who had entered as Ross put his question, add- 
 ed, " And disalFection secretly expressed by some ; and 
 more loudly declared since the insidious oilers of Hamil- 
 ton were circulated in the town." 
 
 Before Ross could commence the indignant reply which 
 was rising on his lips, Magrath came in, asking, " D^e 
 know, gentlemen, what's tothefi)re this morning !" 
 
 " Ay," answered Ross, " and to the fore it may still be; 
 for I'll never believe that it can be present while there's 
 breath in one true Derry boy." 
 
 '• Loni? life to you, Mr. Ross, avoumeen ; and it's you 
 that will get into Miss Ellens chair — didn't she bid us 
 hold out like a rockl — and we'll take you to the Dia- 
 mond, where there's a party assembled that mean to have 
 two words to the bargain. It's no time to be hesitating 
 about the trifle of life that's in ye yet : make the most ol 
 it, and die like a man. Sir." 
 
 " Magrath, my noble fellow, my tme Irishman," cried 
 Ross, " I would crawl there on my hands and knees rather
 
 DERRY. 259 
 
 than be absent. No need for the chair, Larry : ^ve me 
 your arm, and your's M'Alister — 'tis true you have not 
 yet declared your purpose, as to this new trial of our con- 
 stancy, but you will not, you cannot" — he fixed a look of 
 anxious earnestness on Bryan ; and ]Magrath, with a broad 
 grin, responded, " Declared himself, hasn't he 1 Sure and 
 'twas not Mr, Bryan who sent me to collect the boys that 
 first wore the white badge, and to tell 'em all that the sev- 
 enth of December was come round again. Be asy, Mr. 
 Ross," he added, as the other put the little wheeled car- 
 riage aside, " into it you shall go, if 'twas onh' to honor 
 her that spent her last breath in putting courage into our 
 hearts. There, that's right ; and now, your honors, for 
 the Diamond, and no surrender !" 
 
 The Lady of M'Alister watched them from the doorway 
 of her dwelling, in which, for the first time, she was left 
 perfectly alone. With uplifted hands and overflowing 
 eyes, she besought a blessing on the receding group j and 
 then retired, to wrestle in more importunate fenency with 
 him to whom alone she dared to look in this extremity of 
 peril. 
 
 When Ross, having left his humble carriage at the en- 
 trance, was led into the room, supported by Morrison and 
 Bryan, a movement of mingled gratulation and concern 
 took place among the assembled party. His crippled state 
 rendered his appearance yet more pitiable than theirs, who 
 bore upon their visages the impress of famine, and on their 
 persons the worn-out, uncleanly garments that contrasted 
 most miserably with the gentlemanly deportment of the 
 wearers. Few among them had of late paid any regard to 
 outward purification ; it was, indeed, next to impossible so 
 to do ; for water was too precious to be employed exter- 
 nally, and men who were thankful to feast on a dead dog, 
 or a handful of meal fried in tallow, were little tempted to 
 bring to their disgusting fare the decorations of the toilet.
 
 260 DEBRY. 
 
 But there was many a sunken eye now tlasliing bnghlly 
 beneath the rude mass of uncombed hair ; and th*- hectic 
 color speckled many a ghastly cheek, eager to encounter 
 a far greater extremity of suJlering, in the cause for which 
 they were pledged to live and to die. 
 
 " Vou are wrlcome, Koss," said one with a smile. "A 
 gOO<l sp»'ctre added to this most sepulchral assembhige.*' 
 
 *' 'Tis in contemplation," added another, " to treat yon- 
 der rascals with a display of our plump condition ; we are 
 to march out, a funeral exhibition of uncoflined skeletons, 
 to show what sore penance we have undergone, for refus- 
 ing to deliver up our town seven months since." 
 
 " I'll blow up the magazine first !" ejaculated a third. 
 
 " SoAly, young gentlemen," said Morrison, who was 
 by some years the elder of the party ; " we must delibrr- 
 ate, not inveigh — time is very precious." 
 
 " Who is he ?" was demanded in various tones, some 
 of which sounded rather like those of defiance. 
 
 '' A Protestant," answered Bryan emphatically ; " one 
 who has given many a costly pledge of his immoveable at- 
 tachment to that cause in which we first closed our gates : 
 and for which, with the help of our God, we'll keep them 
 closed, until our dead bodies, piled against them, form the 
 last barrier for Ireland's enemies to force." 
 
 " We will ! We will !" was responded in deep stern 
 accents, and with almost unanimous consent ; while 
 several extended their hands to Morrison, and some sug- 
 gested that he should be invited to preside. 
 
 " We need not the ceremony of a chairman," said he ; 
 " our object is simply to express the unchanged resolve of 
 Derry's original defenders ; and to have that declaration 
 conveyed to the council, now assembling to treat of sur- 
 render." 
 
 The word was echoed through the room, in a murmur 
 of angry scorn ; only one or two seeming to dissent from 
 the general feeling.
 
 DERRY. 261 
 
 " Brothers," said Bryan M'Alister, " Brother 'Prentices 
 — for that is our proudest title — we need no eloquence to 
 relate what has been done and endured within these walls 
 since the Lord of hosts nerved our hands to combine, for 
 their defence, against the enemies of our faith, the des- 
 troyers of our country. That tale is imprinted on every 
 countenance before me ; and it stands recorded in indeli- 
 ble, though unwritten characters, on the graves of our 
 martyred brethren. We assumed no weapons of aggres- 
 sive warfare : we desired not to spill one drop of Irish 
 blood, but beholding ourselves sold into the hands of those 
 who make merchandize of our countrymen, and this little 
 citadel about to be secured for the final establishment of 
 anti-christian supremacy in our island, we cast our cause 
 upon our covenant God, and pledged ourselves to uphold 
 the sanctuary of our persecuted faith." 
 
 An applauding assent followed his momentary pause. 
 " Sufferings, far exceeding our utmost calculation, have 
 been the conseqiience ; not only the malice of men, but 
 the power of Satan, seems to have been let loose against 
 us to try our faith, and to make proof of our constancy. 
 Death has received an extensive commission, the grave 
 has been peopled with our dearest connections, and owr 
 feelings have been harrowed up by such an appeal as 
 never can be forgotten by those \^ ho looked down from 
 the walls of Derry upon the agonized friends beneath. 
 All this we have borne ; we have borne to encounter the 
 utmost, in patient waiting upon our God, in whom we 
 trust ; knowing that he is able to deliver us, and made 
 willing, by his mighty power, to endure even unto the 
 end, so that we may but go down to the grave unstained 
 with the guilt of connivance at this deed of darkness — this 
 betraying of our beloved, our unhappy country, into the 
 grasp of her children's most dire and pitiless foe — Popery." 
 23
 
 262 KF.RRT. 
 
 " We'll peri^!h tirst !" was the emphatic exclamation of 
 in;uiy ; while others vociferated, '' No surrender !" 
 
 " And now," said Koss, who saw that his friend waa 
 nearly exhausted by speakin;; so lonjr, " now we are ap- 
 prised that a sudden i)anic has seized some who hold the 
 chief authority here, shall we let them carry their plan 
 into execution without one vigorous protest, one solemn 
 declaration, that, come what will, we are no ]»arties to the 
 surrender of what we hold imnnasurably dealer than our 
 
 life." 
 
 " A moment's pause, pntlcnien," said Morrison, aj» 
 another ebullition of strong resolve was about to a|)pear. 
 *' Let us consider for whom and tor what we hold this 
 important post. Is it for a party — is it for a name 1 Is 
 it for the pride of political ascendency, or the emolument 
 derived from hereditary possessions \ No : as a Protes- 
 tant I say that it is not — but we hold it for our country- 
 men, we hold it for our posterity. We have here our 
 treasure of more worth than myriads of material worlds ; 
 we have this book" — he held forth a small bible — " the 
 pure, unmi.xed, unmutilated word, by which alone poor 
 last sinful man can be made wise unto salvation, through 
 faith in that only Savior to whom its blessed pages bear 
 witness. Too well do we know that the indispensable 
 preliminary to the binding of our peo[)le in chains of dark- 
 ness, is the withdrawal of this inspired volume from their 
 sight ; and wheresoever Poperj- is permitted to rear its 
 head, there we find it stretching forth the sacrilegious hand 
 to wrest away this stalF, to extinguish this lamp, to rob our 
 souls of this charter of their freedom. God hais bestowed 
 this precious book, as the richest of all his gifts to man ; 
 and dare we doubt that he will yet put forth his mighty 
 power, to guarantee to us possession of what he has be- 
 stowed, that we may, through it, make known his won- 
 drous works unto our children — through it, spread light
 
 DERRY. 263 
 
 and knowledge among our hapless countrymen, if we 
 humbly look to him for that help which he can, in the 
 direst extremity, abundantly convey \ Lay this to heart, 
 my friends ; and putting aside all angry, all vindictive 
 feelings, resolve in the strength of your God to defend his 
 choicest gift ; in the humble, trustful hope, that some from 
 among your besieging foes shall yet joyfully share with 
 you the treasure that ye now preserve for them and for 
 your children." 
 
 This address was received with warm applause, and £ 
 resolution was immediately passed, that a deputation of 
 three or four, including Bryan and Ross, should attend the 
 council, to enter a solemn protest against capitulation, on 
 any terms whatever. The delegates had but a few paces 
 of the Diamond to traverse, before they entered the pre- 
 sence of those who were met to decide the fate of Derry. 
 
 M'Alister privately acquainted Murray with the purport 
 of their coming : the Colonel shook his head, with a look 
 of despondency very unusual. " You are come on a hope- 
 less embassy, if your purpose is to turn the council from 
 their project : already are they appointing commissioners 
 to treat with the enemy." 
 
 " Then it is time for us to speak," Observed the other ; 
 and advancing to the Governor, he loudly and clearly de- 
 livered his message. 
 
 Walker frowned. " This painful necessity, Mr. M'Alis- 
 ter, is rendered doubly distressing by the unavailing oppo- 
 sition of our young friends.'' 
 
 Ross did not relish the slight emphasis with which the 
 word " young" was marked : he spoke respectfully, but with 
 considerable animation. " The}' were young heads, Mr. 
 Walker, which first conceived the plan of defending this 
 town ; young hands that made fast those stubborn gates ; 
 young hearts that have been foremost to bleed in the pro- 
 tracted conflict I and young voices may surely be heard
 
 264 DERBY. 
 
 in deprecation of a deed tliat must render nugatory all 
 their services." 
 
 " The ships have disappeared —the stores are exhausted 
 — King Wilhain gives uo lieed to our extremity ol sutler- 
 ing.' 
 
 " The stores aie not yet totally exhausted ; the ships 
 may sail in again as easily as they have sailed out, and 
 King William — with loyal respect 1 speak it — holds not 
 the |>o\vtT to save or to clcstroy. We look to a hifrher 
 source for rescue." 
 
 " Very true, Mr. Hoss," said \\ alkcr, who, while from 
 policy he appeared to advocate the projKJsed measure, in 
 his heart determined to resist it to the uttermost, " very 
 true : but il we hold not this citadel for his Majesty King 
 William, and experience not his royal countenance, in 
 what predicament, I pray you, do we stand ?' 
 
 M'Alister answered, " In the predicament, ?>ir, of men 
 who have experimentally learned not to put their trust in 
 any child of man ; for there is no help in them. We, as 
 loyal Protestant subjects, are leagued to uphold that cause, 
 which, to a Protestant government, must be the strength of 
 its life. Imagining for a moment that such a government 
 should become blind or indillerent to that which consti- 
 tutes its very existence, are we therefore to assist in driv- 
 ing the suicidal knife to its heart \ If King William, our 
 Protestant sovereign, whom God preserve ! or his respon- 
 sible advisers, know not the incalculable value of Protes- 
 tant loyalty in his Irish dominions, must we league in a 
 treacherous surrender of his dearest interests, leaving it to 
 our king and our country hereafter to lament the error 
 when past recall \ No, Sir : we must yet be loyal, 
 though our loyalty bore for a day the brand of disaffec- 
 tion : we must withstand the enemies of our king, though 
 for a little moment he were beguiled into considering them 
 his friends. Above all, we must — ay, and we will — con-
 
 DERRY. 265 
 
 tend for the faith once delivered to the saints, nor give the 
 adversaries of that faith occasion to blaspheme, as though 
 we mistrusted the will or the power of our God to main- 
 tain his own righteous cause, and to magnify his great 
 strength in the feebleness of our emaciated band." 
 
 Walker gave full time for this speech to take effect upon 
 the hearers ; then repeated his regret, that circumstances 
 had rendered it impossible to decline the proffered treaty ; 
 and, the commissioners being named, the second day from 
 that — the thirteenth of July — was appointed for the final 
 adjustment of those terms on which Derry should be given 
 up to the combined French and Irish armies. 
 
 On that evening a sally took place, in which the Derry 
 men exhibited so little of their characteristic courage and 
 enterprise, that it formed a matter of exulting reproach 
 among the strenuous opposers of capitulation, and wrought 
 on the minds of many who had before wavered, to renew 
 their sternest resolves. 
 
 The Lady of M'Alister took especial note ofthe cir- 
 cumstances, remarking that the Lord would no longer ac- 
 knowledge their cause, since they ceased to confide in his 
 delivering power : while Bryan was indefatigable in urg- 
 ing upon the citizens every argument, persuasion, and re- 
 monstrance, that could tend to fix their fainting hopes 
 upon that succor, which, however long delayed, they had 
 professed to anticipate as certain. " If now we cease to 
 hold fast our confidence," said he, "who shall calculate 
 the extent of that evil which our faithless abandonment 
 must entail on the Protestant name and cause \ Enclosed 
 in our diminutive town, we have hitherto found our de- 
 fence invulnerable, and can fearlessly shout to the baffled 
 hosts around us, that ' their rock is not as our Rock, our 
 enemies themselves being judges.' Shall we invite them 
 to hurl back upon us this word of holy exultation in the 
 tones of triumphant mockery 1 Shall we yield in a con- 
 23*
 
 266 DERRY. 
 
 flict where we assuredly know that the Lord himself is on 
 our side, that our cause is the cause of his eternal truth, 
 and our foes the enemies of his righteous dominion I" B)r 
 such expostulation hf succeeded in increasing and strength- 
 ening the party who appeared to be the forlorn hope of 
 Protestantism in that, her strongest hold ; and when, on 
 the appointi^d day, the commissioners met to deliberate in 
 a tent erected for that purpose outside the walls, those 
 ramparts were lined with many an anxious expectant, se- 
 cretly resolved never to be found acquiescing in the sur- 
 render against which they had so steadily, so vauntingly 
 protested. 
 
 A letter was received on that very day from the fleet, 
 announcing that a formidable encampment had been effect- 
 ed by Kirke on the island of Inch, with a view to some 
 speedy movement towards the relief of Derry ; and the 
 promptitude of Walker in circulating these glad tidings 
 through the town, sulficiently indicated his real sentiments 
 on the question of capitulation. It became a matter of 
 the greatest moment to protract the parley, in expectation 
 of the promised succor j and therefore the commissioners 
 on one side were urgent in demanding for the besieged 
 some days' space to consider of the proposed terms— an 
 indulgence most strenuously resisted on the other side. 
 One day, or rather one night alone, was given for the fi- 
 nal settlement of this momentous point, within the walls, 
 and the terms demanded by the garrison being such as the 
 enemy would by no means accede to, the negociation ab- 
 ruptly concluded ; a furious cannonading from their disap- 
 pointed foes conveying to the defenders a speedy token of 
 the wrath excited by their enduring pertinacity. This 
 was followed up by new and menacing demonstrations, 
 large bodies of the hostile army being marched upon the 
 different points towards the city ; but these were met and 
 repulsed by the intrepidity of the besieged, who sallied
 
 DERRY, 267 
 
 forth to meet them, apparently as much refreshed by the 
 assurance of enduring yet longer their dreadful privations, 
 as though they had received that supply for the lack of 
 which they were perishing with hunger. 
 
 In the midst of these awful scenes, Magrath had never 
 failed of pursuing his delegated task among the Irish prison- 
 ers, who, subdued by the sufferings in which they were 
 compelled to share, gave frequent encouragement to their 
 zealous visitor to hope that his labor among them was not 
 in vain. In one of the prison rooms was confined an en- 
 sign, with thirteen privates of the Irish army, from whom 
 Magrath generally experienced a welcome reception. 
 Going one evening to visit them, he found the guards re- 
 duced to so exhausted a state, as to be incapable of bear- 
 ing to the poor captives, their wretched pittance, which, 
 nevertheless, stood untasted by the famished beings 
 around. 
 
 " What's the meaning of this ?" asked Magrath. 
 
 The temporary gaoler, who was lying on the ground, 
 raised himself a little, and replied, " It's sheer starvation, 
 comrade : I could not gain the door, but reeled from side 
 to side after a most drunken fashion, until I fell where you 
 see me ; and not one among us is in a better plight. It 
 is yet a good hour before the regular relief of our guard ; 
 and I fear the poor wretches within are even in a worse 
 condition than ourselves." 
 
 " Where are the keys V 
 
 " In my pocket : take them, and carry in yonder the 
 precious mess that would turn the stomach of a dog : 'tia 
 a bitter temptation though, to have it in our sight." 
 
 Magrath took the keys, as directed ; and raising also the 
 earthen pan, which contained the garrison fare of meal fried 
 in tallow — scarcely himself equal to the effort of bear- 
 ing even such a moderate freight, he proceeded to the pri- 
 soners' apartment.
 
 268 DERRY. 
 
 The spectacle there was touching, even far beyond what 
 he had witnessed without. The officer, a fair and delicate 
 youth, lay stretched on a low bedstead, surrounded by se- 
 veral of his men ; one of whom appeared in the act of direct- 
 ing the point of a rusty nail to the veins in his own bare 
 and emaciated arm, while a comrade with difficulty re- 
 strained him, by grasping his wrist, from prosecuting his 
 strange purpose. The discourse that passed was in Irish. 
 
 " Be easy, Terence : he has said and sworn, that a drop 
 of it should not touch his lips. Why will you drain the 
 little life that is luft in you, to no purpose '." 
 
 " To no purpose, Cormick 1 Is he not my foster-bro- 
 ther \ Did not the milk of my mother nourish his infan- 
 cy, and should not the blood of her son flow, to bring back 
 the young breath that is fleeting fast away 1" 
 
 " No — no !" faintly whispered the youth, with a move- 
 ment of the head indicating much distress. 
 
 " You must, gramachree : how else could I show my 
 face again under the roof of that cabin where your emile 
 was the sunshine of the day 1 Now let me go, Cormick !" 
 and he strove by a sudden wrench to release his hand ; but, 
 unequal to the struggle, both staggered together, until they 
 fell against the grated window of the prison — a low groan 
 from the officer showing at once his consciousness and 
 painful appreciation of his poor follower's deeply-rooted 
 attachment. 
 
 " Let us have no blood-shedding," said Magrath, advanc- 
 ing. '^' We are not yet quite driven to be cannibals. 
 Come, Terence, lend a hand to raise your officer's head : 
 while I give him a spoonful of what may keep the life in 
 him, sorry food though it be !" 
 
 The sustenance was eagerly administered ; and its effect 
 presently apparent ; for the youth sat upright, and leaning 
 his head on the naked arm of Terence, exclaimed, " Never 
 again think of such a thing ; my poor fellow, do you ima- 
 gine I could feed upon your life 1"
 
 DERRY. 269 
 
 Magrath was deeply affected ; his heart yearned over 
 the noble and generous natures whom he knew to be per- 
 verted, even from the cradle, into instruments of persecut- 
 ing cruelty. He divided in silence the mess ; and leaving 
 them to devour it, hastened to the place where he knew 
 that some of the council were then sitting in anxious deli- 
 beration. To them he related the circumstance, and heard 
 with delight an unanimous vote passed for the liberation of 
 the whole party ; authority to carry it into effect being at 
 once vested in himself. 
 
 With a beating heart, he returned to the prison ; and 
 drawing forth his Irish bible, first communicated the wel- 
 come tidings of their release, and then abruptly commenc- 
 ed reading the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah, drawing a 
 vivid picture of the far mightier deliverance wrought by 
 the anointed Savior, for those who are held in Spiritual 
 bondage. He next represented how beautifully in accord- 
 ance with the divine example was the act of those hu- 
 mane Protestants, in conferring the unsought boon of free- 
 dom, in that hour of the prisoners' extremity : and he 
 compelled them to acknowledge, that, had the case been re- 
 versed, the spirit of a merciless creed, and the too consist- 
 ent practice to which they had been inured, would have 
 suggested a scene of slaughter, or of more lingering death 
 by famine, as the fitting dole to enemies so sternly and so 
 perseveringly opposed. 
 
 He then conducted his countrymen to the Ferry gate, 
 recommending them to the care of the enemy's patrol, who 
 in silent astonishment received his charge. 
 
 It was by such deeds as this — for such a liberation 
 really took place in Derry — that the Protestants contin- 
 ually weakened the hands of their opponents. To so great 
 a degree was the dissatisfaction of the Irish army now vi- 
 sible, that from the inaccurate pointing of their guns and 
 mortars, scarcely a shot took effect in the besieged town*
 
 *270 DERRY. 
 
 where previously such fearful execution had been done by 
 those formidable engines. This was continually remarked 
 by the garrison : and while some hesitated not to aver that 
 balls and bombs were miiaculously turned out of their course, 
 others, more sober-minded, recognized a no less mighty dis- 
 play of divine power in thus softening the implacability of 
 foes long distinguished by their exterminating rage. 
 
 Still, whatever might be the subdued feelings of the na- 
 tive Irish towards their persecuted countrymen, no visitings 
 of compunction were discernible in the leaders of that 
 army. De Rosen prosecuted, to the uttermost of his pow- 
 er, the w^ork of destruction ; and little it availed the suf- 
 ferers that their dwellings were less frequently shattered by 
 missiles from without, while pestilence walked their 
 streets, and famine reigned under every roof. In the fre- 
 quent sallies, too, their loss was considerable ; and every 
 family participated in the affliction experienced, when, from 
 one of those sorties, the gallant Murray was brought in, so 
 severely wounded by a shot which passed through both his 
 thighs, that, for a time, his life was despaired of j and his 
 valuable services were, at the best, to be lost to the distress- 
 ed inhabitants in their greatest need. 
 
 It was now that the household of M'Alister found the 
 trial of their faith most precious. While confidence was 
 strong, and hope was buoyant, many had rejected their 
 solemn counsels, making liglit of their faithfid reproofs ; but 
 the season of extreme destitution brought those scorners to 
 their door, in humble quest of the teaching that was often 
 blessed to the quickening of souls, while the poor tenement 
 of clay crumbled beneath the pressure of overwhelming ca- 
 lamities. Often when, on the point of famishing, the 
 M'Alisters had resigned themselves to what appeared in- 
 evitable death, the grateful love of those whose starving 
 souls they had led to feast upon the bread of life, brought 
 the unlooked-for morsel to their colorless lips, and wep t
 
 DERRY. 271 
 
 with joy in beholding its revivifying effect. "You have 
 sown unto us spiritual things : is it a great matter ifyou reap 
 our carnal things V was the affectionate plea to induce ac- 
 ceptance of what the donors could so ill afford to lose : and 
 every new accession of strength, thus mercifully given, was 
 ireely expendedin fresh labors of faithful love, oi devoted zeal 
 in their Master's cause. Magrath was as a ministering spirit 
 among them: how the cravings of his own hunger were 
 appeased, no one could tell ; for seldom was he seen to 
 taste of food — all that his diligent search could obtain, 
 was for those who lived in the warm recesses of his grate- 
 ful heart. When urged to partake of their pittance, he 
 would smilingly express his thankfulness to the watchful 
 care of Father Peters, in^ early habituating him to the ex- 
 ercise of fasting ; adding, that one who had been accus- 
 tomed to keep black Lent for forty days, would not flinch 
 from a few weeks of self-denial. The natural hilarity of 
 his character shone out in an extraordinary degree, during 
 the darkest seasons of gloom and despondency ; but there 
 was one place where Magrath's tone always softened into 
 tenderness, and where his movements were cautious as 
 those of a careful mother by the cradle of her slumbering 
 babe : this was the chamber of Murray, whither he bore 
 his daily report of temporal warfare and of spiritual peace. 
 
 " Please your honor," said he, one day, on seeing the 
 Colonel somewhat revived, " is it now that you'll hear 
 what Fve been about this morning 1" 
 
 " Do, my good fellow, tell me." 
 
 " Why then. Sir, it's me that has introduced a regular 
 spy into the city." 
 
 " I can't believe that of you, my lad." 
 
 " It's true. Sir, notwithstanding. I made out that an 
 old acquaintance of mine was on the sharps to discover 
 what store of meal we had got inside : so I made my plan 
 known to the Governor, and brought him privately in, to
 
 272 DERRY. 
 
 let his two eyes bear witness to the dozen good barrels of 
 meal that were stowed away in one cellar." 
 
 " You could not do that, Magrath : for there are not so 
 many left in the garrison, I ft^ar." 
 
 " May be not, your honor ; but empty barrels there 
 are, galore. 'Twas no difficult matter to turn a dozen 
 of these upside down ; and when the bottoms were 
 well covered with good meal, they must have been sharp 
 eyes that could find out it wasn't the top." 
 
 "And did you really play off such a trick 1" asked 
 Murray, laughing. 
 
 " I did, your honor ; and sent him away to report it in 
 the camp." 
 
 Murray greatly enjoyed the stratagem, which was one 
 among the many that were resorted to, in order to dis- 
 hearten the enemy ; and Magrath very adroitly turned the 
 discourse to the affecting tale of the Zidonian widow, 
 whose barrel failed not, while the prophet of the Lord found 
 shelter beneath her roof. More eloquently he could have 
 told it in the loved language of his race ; but the gospel he 
 was resolved to preach, however imperfectly ; and now, 
 beside the pillow of that wounded warrior, zealously and 
 sweetly he proclaimed once more the " story of peace."
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 Shortly after the renewal of hostilities, the fleet — that 
 mocking vision of deceitful hope to the poor suffering citi- 
 zens — had anchored in the Lough, near Culmore. The 
 boom thrown across, between that fort and Derry, barred 
 its nearer approach : but the besieged were hourly flatter- 
 ing themselves that the English spirit of the commander 
 would lead him to attempt, at least, some enterprise for 
 their relief With straining eyes, and agonized hearts, 
 they beheld once more these inconstant ships, spreading 
 their sails, and saw them again recede into hopeless dis- 
 tance. It is difiicult to devise an excuse for such selfish, 
 such unseemly forbearance on the part of Kirke ; neither 
 will the constitutional phlegm of William of Nassau justif}', 
 in the eyes of Protestant inquirers, his indifference to the 
 calamities of those attached subjects, Avhose heroism, in the 
 defence of their little fortress, materially contributed to 
 the final success of his arms, at this period, against the dis- 
 affected Scottish clans. Had Derry been reduced, the 
 Irish and French army encamped before its walls might 
 have speedily passed over from the swelling Lough, to 
 pour a formidable reinforcement upon the Scottish coast, 
 for the maintenance of James Stuart's cause. But they 
 could not overleap that barrier ; and while De Rosen 
 thundered forth his ineffectual rage against its stubborn 
 wall, the battle of Killicrankie decided the Northern cam- 
 24
 
 274 TERKY. 
 
 paign, sealing the doom of popish usurpation in the hour 
 of bootless victory. 
 
 But desperate beyond description was the case of those 
 unvanquished defenders of Derry : for a time, as we have 
 seen, the efforts of the enemy seemed to lose much of their 
 wonted energy ; and very little execution was done by 
 tlieir guns. This comparative respite did not long con- 
 tinue ; a new spirit appeared to be infused into them, and 
 very severe was the injury inflicted, both upon the out- 
 works and in the town. The enemy's cattle, grazing 
 within sight of the walls, induced the famished garrison to 
 make repeated sallies in the hope of capturing them : and 
 many lives were lost in such fruitless attempts : yet the 
 tones of expectation sounded as boldly confident, the words 
 of encouragement were as cheerily exchanged, as though 
 the floating rumors of promised relief had been its unques- 
 tionable harbingers. 
 
 The voice of despondency, and even of open disaffec- 
 tion, was indeed sometimes to be heard ; but to silence 
 such sounds appeared to be the especial business of all 
 who distinguished them. On one occasion, as Bryan ap- 
 proached a group near the market-house, he recognized 
 the querulous tones of Alderman Crowe, who had long 
 ceased to consider even Governor Walker a sufficient staff 
 whereon to lean in the grievous emergency to which they 
 were reduced. " It is useless to talk of it," said the Al- 
 derman ; " so long as meat remained in the shambles, 
 though it were but a barrel of salted hides, we might anti- 
 cipate a further struggle against these desperate odds : but 
 after what I have this day seen and heard, it does sound 
 like a jest to talk of holding out any longer." 
 
 " Many a true word, however, is spoken in jest," re- 
 marked a bystander : " and the joke of our holding out 
 will come in among them." 
 
 "So you say," responded the Alderman, "but look 
 round you. Can we eat the stones out of the walls 1"
 
 DERRY. 275 
 
 "No, no," observed Bryan, "they do us better service 
 where they are. The walls, boys, the walls of Derry are 
 a marvellously tough morsel, as the gentlemen yonder can 
 vouch." 
 
 A hearty laugh yielded the general assent to this obser- 
 vation. 
 
 " There now, Mr. M'Alister," said Crowe, " you are 
 well known to be among the most obstinately sanguine of 
 our infatuated citizens : yet you have suffered enough to 
 damp the enthusiasm of any person. Yesterday it was 
 currently reported that your venerable grandmother had 
 died in consequence of feeding upon one of the nauseous 
 rats that now form our dainty provision.'' 
 
 " It must have been the tail," observed another, laugh- 
 ing, " for they say that's poisonous. However, I saw the 
 good lady to-day, as active as ever among the sick ; and I 
 shall see her, ere long, carving plump slices of beef and 
 mutton to strengthen her patients." 
 
 " Or if not,', said Bryan, " we'll never stand by to see 
 the isle of our birth carved out among foreigners, or cut 
 into fat slices of abbey lands, to nourish the priests and 
 friars of Rome. Come, come, my good friend Crowe," he 
 added, seeing another lamentation ready to break forth, 
 " what change has passed upon our glorious cause, since 
 you so loudly exhorted us to die in it, that your tone is 
 become so discouraging 1" 
 
 "The cause is not changed, M'Alister j but" 
 
 " Then it is still the cause of truth, and the God of 
 truth will uphold it. Is his arm shortened, or is there 
 any thing too hard for him to achieve 1" 
 
 " Certainly not ; but" 
 
 " No more butting against our faith, my dear Alder- 
 man ; or, stay, if we must have a but, I'll find you one 
 presently : — ' For a small moment have I forsaken thee, 
 BUT with great mercies will I gather thee' — 'for the
 
 276 DERRY. 
 
 mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my 
 kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the cov- 
 enant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord, that hath 
 mercy on thee.' " 
 
 This quotation was received with delight ; and the Al- 
 derman ceased to oppose the strong current of determined 
 hope. He took Bryan's arm, and leading him a little 
 apart, expressed his regret for having formerly wronged a 
 character which he felt to be far superior to his own ; 
 adding, that he had still a small store of good meal, and 
 «ome few salted provisions, which he must insist on shar- 
 ing with the Lady ofM'Alister. Magrath conveyed this 
 welcome supply, and the more welcome information that 
 the poor old man had shown him, with tears, the passage 
 quoted by Bryan ; observing that the chapter had been 
 the best cordial he had got for many a day. 
 
 " Let patience have her perfect work," said the Lady : 
 " We shall know- by and by that there was a need-be for 
 every shot fired against our fortress." 
 
 " I doubt it not," remarked Morrison. " But it is for 
 posterity to gather in the plenteous harvest, whatever in- 
 dividual gleanings the field may offer to us." 
 
 " Ay, if our posterity follow up the work of those who 
 now sow in tears, they shall surely reap in joy: but 
 should they suffer themselves to be lulled into thoughtless 
 security, while the enemy sows his tares, they will be 
 compelled to enter anew upon this conflict, and against 
 sorer odds than what we now encounter." 
 
 " I often fear it," said Ross, " In that false liberality 
 which shrinks from the imputation of bigotry and intole- 
 rance, the lesson now written in our people's blood will 
 perhaps be forgotten, or laid aside with disgust j until, 
 bursting forth with recruited strength, the enemy of all 
 righteousness shall succeed in driving Protestantism into 
 its ancient fastnesses ; and Derry will again be remem-
 
 DERRY. 277 
 
 bered, amid bitter regrets that ever its instructive records 
 were buried in oblivion." 
 
 " And if it be so," exclaimed Bryan, " let the Protest- 
 ants of Ireland recollect in whose name we strengthened 
 ourselves, remembering that he abideth always the same. 
 If the Lord deliver us, and establish the true faith in this 
 land, a similar crisis can scarcely occur, except through 
 the most culpable neglect of men's souls ; the most infat- 
 uated connivance at the moral, the spiritual, and political 
 plague of popery. In such case, let them take patiently 
 the chastisement, searching and trying their ways, and 
 turning anew to the Lord, with purpose of heart to work 
 in reality that deliverance which cometh not by might 
 nor by power, but by his Spirit alone." 
 
 But deliverance, though often on the lips of the suffer- 
 ers, was a word that mocked them. Language is inade- 
 quate to describe the wretchedness to which they were 
 reduced, towards the end of this month. Repeated sug- 
 gestions were made of surrendering the town j but an 
 overpowering majority of resolute voices never failed to 
 drown the timid accents of despair. A formidable sally 
 was planned and executed, of which the object was, as 
 usual, to capture a few of the enemy's cattle : in this they 
 failed, but took some inconsiderable spoil of oaten bread, 
 and fragments of meat, on which the captors regaled them- 
 selves, and as many as they could admit to share it 
 
 the hungry bystanders felicitating themselves that it was 
 at once a sample and an earnest of what they too should 
 enjoy on the arrival of the promised succors. So debili- 
 tated were the frames of the men who made the sortie, 
 that they reeled under the shock occasioned by discharg- 
 ing their own muskets, and often fell in the effort to strike 
 a blow ; yet such was the vigor of this unlooked-for as- 
 sault, that three hundred of the besiegers were slain, while 
 24*
 
 278 DERBY. 
 
 the loss of the assailants amounted but to one officer and 
 two private men.* 
 
 " I love not," said the Lady of M'Alister, " to be told 
 of slaughtered hundreds; my thought pursues those souls 
 into the dreadful world of eternal realities, and shrinks 
 from contemplating their doom." 
 
 " The closing of our gates," said Bryan, " was an act 
 purely defensive ; and some who were most forward in ac- 
 complishing it would have been the last to engage in ag- 
 gressive warfare. These, however, and others like-minded 
 with them, form but a small, a very small portion of the 
 inhabitants, and possess little influence in the council. 
 Worldly policy, trusting in the arm of flesh, is eager to 
 make a proud display of physical strength, resolved that 
 not to God, but to man, shall be ascribed the glory of 
 whatsoever shall be achieved." 
 
 '' It may appear a strange assertion," observed Morri- 
 son, "but I have always thought that the numerical 
 strength of Protestantism among us constitutes its actual 
 w'eakness. Our Protestantism is a sacred ark, upon which 
 no unhallowed touch sliould come: it is pure Christianity, 
 distinguished alike from the systems of false religion, and 
 from the worldliness which regards all religion as a party 
 question— a symbol of adherence to this or that political 
 cause. We have among us a little band of praying and 
 believing brethren, for whose sakes the Lord defends our 
 citadel : but there is also much to provoke his wrathful in- 
 dignation, to keep the scourge uplifted still, and to make 
 us almost tremble for the tinal result." 
 
 ■ Bryan remarked, " The frequent desecration of the Sab- 
 bath day stands prominently forward in that dark cata- 
 logue of provocations." 
 
 » This disparity appears scarcely credible, considering the stale 
 lo which the besieged were reduced : but it is autlicnticatcd bj 
 Graham. — Sec History of tlie Siege of Deny, page 248.
 
 DERRY. 279 
 
 " Assuredly," answered the Lady ; " and my child will 
 remember that, as the first ball fired into our fortress be- 
 spoke the enemy's scorn of that hallowed institution, so, 
 alas ! did the first sally of our unthinking garrison bring us 
 under the like condemnation, in the sight of him who is 
 jealous over his Sabbaths." 
 
 " I never could relish that part of the business," said 
 Ross, " as far as the Governor was concerned. To my 
 thoughtle.'s and ignorant mind it appeared suitable enough 
 for military men to pursue their work on that, as on any 
 other day ; but it struck me as incongruous, almost revolt- 
 ing, to see a minister of religion descend from his pulpit 
 to gird on a sword, and to lead his flock into mortal com- 
 bat, merely from choice ; not from any necessity, real or 
 imagined." 
 
 " No real necessity ever did, ever can exist, for casting 
 God's law behind us," said the Lady of M'Alister. " Woe 
 to the people whose rulers lead the way in provoking to 
 jealousy the Lord of Hosts ! Success may, for a little, 
 appear to smile upon their council table ; conquest may 
 proudly sit upon the banners of their warlike array ; but 
 no blessing is there : no permanent advantage shall that na- 
 tion reap. In tribulation and anguish they shall be com- 
 pelled to own, that it is an evil and a bitter thing to for- 
 sake the Lord their God." 
 
 " That experience is deeply written upon all our hearts," 
 eaid Morrison with a heavy sigh. " My slaughtered wife, 
 my helpless, wandering children, seem to speak a per- 
 petual reproach to my soul for having compromised the 
 holy principle of Christian separation, leaguing with world- 
 ly men, to promote, by worldly means, the cause which 
 rests upon a purer basis than to brook such alloying mix- 
 ture. Collectively, we suffer for the truth's sake ; but in- 
 dividually, each can doubtless point to some bygone com- 
 pliance, some treacherous departure from the acknowledg-
 
 280 
 
 DERRY. 
 
 ed standard of his faith, and say, ' My sin has found me 
 out.' " 
 
 At this moment the half-opened door was pushed farther 
 back, and a most pitiable object presented herself. A 
 woman, whose husband and two sons had already fallen 
 victims to disease and famine, reeled forward : clinging to 
 her soiled and tattered garments, were three children, 
 whose cries appeared to have overcome her reason j for 
 «he stared around with looks of wild distraction, repeated- 
 ly endeavoring to release herself from their grasp. 
 
 " Naughty mother! naughty mother !" screamed one of 
 the children, striking at her with his little fist, in furioui 
 passion. 
 
 " Motlier's not naughty," cried another, beating down 
 the uplifted hand, "poor mother couldn't help it." 
 
 This uiterference was vehemently resented by the first 
 •peaker, who seemed scarcely four years old : he dealt a 
 blow at his sister, and amid their redoubled cries of rage 
 and pain, the battle continued, each maintaining its tena- 
 cious hold on the agonized parent. 
 
 The infant combatants were presently separated by 
 Bryan and his friends, who vainly strove to pacify them. 
 Their little bosoms seemed bursting with resentment and 
 despair, and it was long before an answer could be obtain- 
 ed to the mild inquiries of their captors : at last the girl, 
 who had been placed by Morrison on his knee, said, "Mo- 
 ther had a loaf, a beautiful loaf, that a kind gentleman 
 gave : she dropped it ; and a big boy snatched it up, and 
 ran away." 
 
 " Naughty mother wouldn't catch the boy," roared her 
 brother : the third child was too young to join in the ex- 
 planation. 
 
 The poor woman, who had sunk into a chair, clasped 
 her withered hands, exclaiming, "When will mercy 
 come 1"
 
 DERRY. 281 
 
 " It will come," said the Lady, " when we cast our- 
 selves on it in utter self-despair." Then looking around 
 upon the miserable objects that encompassed her, she ut- 
 tered, with a burst of anguish, " Hath the Lord forgotten 
 to be gracious \ hath he shut up his loving kindness in 
 displeasure V' 
 
 " Never ask such a question, my Lady," said Magrath, 
 who had entered : " it's the first doubtful word that ever 
 came out of your mouth. Forgotten ! No, no : God 
 hasn't forgotten any thing but our sins : and doesn't he 
 say that he will remember them no more 1" He then 
 drew from beneath his coat a wooden bowl, adding, 
 " here's a new dish just invented, that's in great request 
 among us ; enough to mess ye all." He glanced at the 
 squalid children and their stupified mother, adding, as he 
 put down the provisions, with a look of deep feeling, 
 " When God sends mouths, he will send meat." 
 
 This supply proved to be a composition of starch and 
 tallow, fried together ; a large quantity of the former arti- 
 cle having been found in a store, a respectable merchant, 
 Mr. James Cunningham, was induced to try whether it 
 might not be made available in the extremity of famine. 
 He found it not only eatable, but medicinal ; and gladly 
 published the important discovery, which became a means 
 of saving many valuable lives. With the greediness of 
 young wolves did those poor babes devour the portion joy- 
 iiilly raised to their livid lips ; and that sight, melting the 
 mother into tears, relieved her brain from its intolerable 
 oppression. She also ate, and invoking blessings on that 
 hospitable roof, departed with her now laughing little ones. 
 
 In almost every house some spectacle of equal suffering 
 might be witnessed ; but while the strongest frame lay 
 fainting, and the most sanguine voice of hope died into the 
 silence of despair, even a whisper breathing the hated word 
 suKRENDER, rekindled in each sunken eye the fire of in-
 
 282 DERRY. 
 
 dignatit reproof, and '* Never ! never!" was the univer- 
 sal response. The ministers of religion, who had inde- 
 fatigably fanned the steady blaze of self-devoting zeal, re- 
 doubled their efforts as the time became more awfully cri- 
 tical. Their exhortations varied, indeed, according as the 
 love of God or the pride of man, ruled in the teacher's 
 heart : but their object was the same ; and endurance 
 unto death the unvarying topic of their animated admoni- 
 tions. On the twenty-seventh day of July, there was a 
 general darkening of countenance, an interchange of looks 
 among those who had charge ov^r the public stores, that 
 bespoke an approaching failure of the last poor pittance : 
 and by the Governor's order, an urgent invitation was cir- 
 culated through the town, for all to assemble on the mor- 
 row at the cathedral, and with united supplication to make 
 known their request to God. 
 
 The Lady of M'Alister, reclined in lier antique chair, 
 with folded hands and closed eyes, was placidly meditating 
 on the inscrutable ways of Him whose path is in the deep 
 waters. She sensibly felt the loosening of those cords 
 which held her earthly tabernacle together, and secretly 
 resolved to waste as little of the city's scanty provisions 
 upon it, as the vigilance of her attached household circle 
 would allow. More than once she had baffled the watch- 
 ful anxiety of even Bryan ; but Magrath it was still harder 
 to elude, with such jealous care did he note her reception 
 of each providential supply. Neither could her dignity 
 overawe him ; for when, with a semblance of displeasure, 
 ihe had demanded to be left alone over her pittance, the 
 poor fellow replied, with glistening eyes, " And I'll go, 
 my Lady, as soon as I have seen the morsel pass your lips. 
 Sure and what is it keeps the life in poor old Shane, but 
 the hope of looking you in the face again 1" 
 
 " Shane has a better hope, ]\Iagrath," she answered ; 
 but touched by his evident distress, partook of what his
 
 DERRY. 283 
 
 affectionate zeal had provided. On this evening no in- 
 ducement presented itself, for food there v/as none ; and 
 Bryan returned from an unsuccessful search, with looks of 
 deeper dejection than he had ever worn, and seating him- 
 self opposite, silently gazed on the venerable ruin before 
 him. 
 
 It was then that the summons reached them, to join the 
 morrow's solemnity ; and the Lady, aroused by the wel- 
 come sound, said, " It is well ; be the issue life or death, 
 in God's temple let us find it." 
 
 The silence of the grave reigned in Derry throughout 
 that solemn night, save only one unceasing sound — the 
 cries of hungry children, unsupported by the high resolve 
 which nerved the adult population. Morning arrived ; 
 and at an early honr, the ghastly apparitions of that famish- 
 ed town were seen approaching from every quarter to the 
 house of prayer. In little more than the space of a fort- 
 night, the garrison had lost upwards of a thousand men : 
 the mortality among other classes having been proportion- 
 ate. No marvel that death, become so familiar to their 
 daily and hourly view, seemed stripped of half its terrors ; 
 no marvel that the burying ground, crowded as it was with 
 objects nearest and dearest to their hearts, presented to 
 many an inviting couch of repose. They entered the 
 cathedral, and. prostrate in supplication, sought help of 
 Him who alone is mighty to save. 
 
 Walker preached ; in a strain of sublime eloquence, he 
 set before his drooping hearers the encouragements of holy 
 writ, showing the marvellous interpositions by which the 
 Lord had of old maintained the right and the cause of his 
 oppressed people. He exhorted them to trust, and not to 
 be afraid 5 he recounted the extraordinary instances of a 
 peculiar providence which had been remarked during the 
 siege ; and with a confidence that infused new life into 
 many a fainting heart, he predicted a speedy realization of
 
 284 DEilRY. 
 
 their most sanguine hopes. He exhorted, he prayed for, 
 he blessed them with paternal tenderness ; and then, de- 
 scending from the pulpit, he mingled with the departing 
 congregation, as slowly they emerged from the sacred 
 edifice. 
 
 In the burying-ground a pause was made, as by general 
 consent ; each individual seeming disposed to take one more 
 survey of the beloved temple in which they had been 
 wont to meet their God ; and of the lowly resting-places 
 where so many of thiMr kindred reclined — iar removed 
 from the troubling of the wicked. Leaning upon tombs 
 and gravestones, or upon each other, for a momentary sup- 
 port, they gazed in solemn silence on those objects long 
 familiarized, but, by every human probability, soon to be 
 •shut out for ever from their view. Then might be seen 
 the dilated eye, deep sunk, indeed, within its socket, but 
 still beaming forth the high resolve of unsubdued devotion 
 to their righteous cause ; and fleshless lips, livid as those 
 of a corpse, compressed as though they would forcibly im- 
 prison the straggling sigh of famishing distress. Walker, 
 still robed as in the pulpit, paced slowly among the scat- 
 tered groups, his gaunt frame and hollow cheek present- 
 ing a personification of sufiering, as acute as had been 
 undergone by any one. Arrived at an eminence, formed 
 by the recent interment of several bodies beneath one 
 mound, he looked for a moment at the crimson flag whose 
 folds fell languidly over the battlements of the church 
 tower, then cast his eye around upon the patient sufferers, 
 who met it with something approacliing to a smile, so full 
 of melancholy endurance, that his tears well nigh over- 
 flowed, while once more addressing them in the tones of 
 soothing encouragement. " Nay, doubt not, my faithful, 
 my true-hearted fellow Protestants ; the Lord has heard — 
 the Lord will assuredly answer — the united appeal of his 
 poor perishing creatures. Doubt not, for when did he re-
 
 DERRY. 285 
 
 ject the prayer of faith "? - when did," A sound, sud- 
 den and strange, and wildly joyfiil, came from the direc- 
 tion of the water-side ; it produced a suigular effect upon 
 the hearers, and occasioned even in Walker, a sensation of 
 such choking emotion as cut short his address. That 
 
 sound dare they believe it ? had they heard it aright 1 
 
 Yes, again it was repeated, and again the shout was rais- 
 ed ; and again in articulate words was the transporting in- 
 telligence borne to their ears, " The fleet, the fleet ap- 
 proaches ! — The ships are in the Lough !" 
 
 It was as in a death-struggle that the greater number 
 of those emaciated beings rushed to the walls. Husbands 
 carried their dying wives, mothers their expiring children, 
 and by efforts that seemed supernatural, they gained the 
 height, to witness what to their eyes appeared a celestial 
 vision — the bi'oad sails of three stately vessels, filled by a 
 favouring gale, whitening upon the curling waters, and 
 steadily approaching, with the undoubted purpose of 
 anchoring beneath the walls. In the besiegers' camp all 
 was bustle : a desperate resistance would no doubt be 
 made ; arfd the boom that stretched across the Lough me- 
 naced destruction to the coming deliverers. The fort of 
 Culmore was manned, and its batteries opened with thun- 
 dering fury upon the advancing ships ; while volleys of 
 musquetry from either bank, poured upon their sides. 
 The fire was returned, and evidently with considerable 
 execution, upon the wretched instruments of Romish ag- 
 gression ; while, comparatively unharmed, the gallant 
 vessels made good their passage past the fort. 
 
 " The boom ! the boom !" was breathed in gasps, and 
 whispers of unutterable agony, by the terribly interested 
 spectators on the walls. " Will they venture to pass 1 — 
 Can they break it 1 — Oh now, now, or never ! — God 
 give them resolution ! — Still they approach V Such ex- 
 clamations burst from the parching lips that had so recent- 
 25
 
 286 DERRY. 
 
 ly moved in united prayer ; while a party of the towns- 
 men mounted the cathedral, firing as a knell their minute 
 guns of distress, and combining the efforts of their trembling 
 arms to wave the crimson flag, in mute, yet touching ap- 
 peal to the hearts of their compassionate deliverers. 
 
 The Mountjoy had taken the lead ; her captain was a 
 native of Derry, and within its walls were his wife, his 
 children, and his friends. The boom was right before her, 
 and she swerved not ; but rising upon the flowing tide, im 
 pelled by a lively breeze, she bore with all her force upon 
 
 the sturdy barrier. It broke : alas ! the shock was too 
 
 severe for the vessel ; she recoiled, rolled deeply in the 
 waters, and striking into the shalloAV stream, was instantly 
 aground. 
 
 A shout, or rather a yell of rapturous exultation, re- 
 sounded from the hostile banks;— and boats were pushed 
 off for the purpose of boarding the Mountjoy : while a 
 groan, a deep, low, scarcely-uttered groan, seemed to issue 
 from the walls of Derry, with now and then a shriek of 
 female agony, re-echoed by terrified children. There was 
 a horror on the minds of those devoted beings, compared 
 with which, all their preceding sufferings seemed light and 
 trifling : but there was also many a prayerful spirit 
 wrought into that intenseness of supplication, which can- 
 not fail of entering into the ears of the Lord God of 
 Sabaoth. 
 
 The Mountjoy lay upon her side, seemingly a helpless 
 victim within reach of the foe : but the stake for which 
 her captain fought was too precious to be trifled with. He 
 fixed an earnest gaze upon the crowded walls of Derry, 
 then raised his eyes to heaven as in passionate appeal ; and 
 drawing his sword, sprang forward to the most command- 
 ing station upon deck, cheering his men to a determined 
 resistance. His shout was answered by a general huzza 
 from the crew, each gunner applying his ignited match,
 
 BERRY. 287 
 
 and a tremendous broadside instantly enveloped the com- 
 batants in a cloud of smoke. 
 
 This was indeed the climax of agonized expectation to 
 the gasping spectators, who clung to their rampart walls 
 for that support which their own trembling knees refused 
 to yield. Mothers strained their infants as in the very 
 grasp of death, and joined their little hands together, lifting 
 them between their own in mute supplication. Some 
 were actually fainting under the conflict of hope and ter- 
 ror : not a few of whom had mounted the walls by that 
 strength alone which desperation gives, to sink exhausted 
 into the arms of bystanders somewhat less enfeebled. And 
 the voice of trembling affection was heard in anxious whis 
 pers, imploring some loved one to revive, and hope, and 
 pray for the issue of that fearful hour. It was a scene to 
 mock description ; a reality before which all the powers 
 of imagination fade into contemptible nothingness. 
 
 The few seconds that elapsed before that cloud of smoke 
 rolled away, leaving the Mountjoy once more fully visible 
 — those few seconds seemed long indeed to the breathless 
 gazers. They passed, and the gallant ship re-appeared, not 
 lying in stranded helplessness upon the bank, but, ma- 
 jestically floating in deep water, she ploughed the dancing 
 tide right onwards towards the town. 
 
 " That broadside saved her !" shouted Walker, " she 
 has bounded from the shore — she has passed the boom ! 
 Derry and Victory !" 
 
 Loud and long, varied and strange, were the sounds that 
 pealed from those invincible walls. The thundering shout 
 of triumph again and again burst forth, mingled with 
 passionate cries of devout thanksgiving. " Not unto us, O 
 Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be the praise ! ' was the 
 language of many a lip ; while streaming eyes and out- 
 spread hands were raised towards the dwelling-place of Hm
 
 288 DERRY. 
 
 whom out of the depths they had called, and from whom 
 they had received so gracious a reply. 
 
 " Hush, baby, hush !" said the mother, while the laughter 
 of joy mingled with her agitated sobs : " look yonder at the 
 pretty ships : they come like birds — they come like angels 
 to us. There is food for my baby — bread for my child — 
 meat, meat for us all. Oh, God of mercy, ever mindful of 
 thy covenant, thou wilt open thy hand and fill us all with 
 plenteousness !" 
 
 Leaping from the walls, the men of Derry now hastened 
 to throw wide the ship-quay gate, and in the bustle of 
 rapturous preparation, they made all ready for receiving 
 their precious freight. The other ships had fought their pas- 
 sage past Culmore, and followed the Mountjoy, where the 
 gallant captain had fallen in the moment of success. A 
 musket ball had terminated his mortal career, the last effec- 
 tive, discharged by the baffled foe. 
 
 Magrath had hastened to his favorite post, the bedside 
 of Colonel Murray, whom he found in joyous exultation, 
 too great for language to express. A silent giasp of the 
 hand bespoke their mutual congratulations, and then 
 Magrath sat down, and burying his face in his palms, wept 
 like a child. 
 
 " Many a stout heart has melted to-day, my lad," said 
 the Colonel, after a short pause, " and I should not envy 
 the feelings of the man who could be ashamed to weep, 
 when he looks upon our living spectres, and thinks upon 
 our martyred dead." 
 
 " True for you, Colonel Murray ; and the last soul that 
 passed hasn't left its fellow among us." 
 
 " Do you mean the gallant Browning 1" 
 
 " No, Sir ; I mean the Lady O'Neill." 
 
 " The lady of JM'Alister !" exclaimed Murra}^ almost 
 starting from his pillow: and before Magrath could re- 
 sume, Bryan entered, with Morrison and Ross.
 
 DERRY. 289 
 
 The smile with which M'Alister greeted his friend met 
 no response ; Murray's brow was contracted, and he said 
 in a tone almost resentful, "Surely, surely, she might 
 have been spared to rejoice a while with us !" 
 
 "Aye, surely," said Morrison. " She is spared indeed, 
 spared all farther conflict with a body of sin and death : 
 spared to rejoice with us for ever." 
 
 " Don't teach me rebellion, dear Colonel," said Bryan, 
 smiling through his tears : " my own heart is ready enough 
 to prompt that lesson. The liberated saint whom we 
 would fain have kept a longer tenant in this dreary dun- 
 geon, lingered till our deliverance was certain. At her 
 own request, she was taken to the church battery, where 
 we were stationed ; and there, upon that hallowed roof, she 
 poured forth the supplications of a soul that truly wrestled 
 unto death, for us and for our cause." 
 
 "When the minute guns of distress were fired," observed 
 Morrison, " she expressed her thankfulness, that even our 
 engines of destruction had laid aside their character, utter- 
 ing only the voice of sorrowful entreaty." 
 
 " She called them a goodly passing knell," said Ross ; 
 ^' and seeing that I both understood and felt her meaning, 
 she added, ' All, all is peace : full pardon, foil salvation, 
 joy unspeakable, and full of glory.' " 
 
 " But the flag,"— said Magrath. 
 
 "Aye," rejoined M'Alister, "we waved our flag, the 
 signal of distress, and reeled beneath its weight She gaz- 
 ed upon its crimson folds, and, in a tone of holy triumph, 
 ejaculated, ' Jehovah-nissi ! In thy name, O Lord, we 
 first set up our banners : for thy name's sake, put to thy 
 hand, hear, behold, and save.' It was then that Brown- 
 ing's vessel ran aground, and every shout from the enemy, 
 every cry from the walls, seemed to infuse new energy 
 into her prayers. Life was ebbing fast away ; I gave her 
 my support, and strove to join her fervent supplications ;
 
 2?90 DERRY. 
 
 but I think my head and heai-t were failing together, for 
 never did so fearful a darkness overspread my soul, as dur- 
 ing that season of suspense." 
 
 " It was not yourself only, Mr. Bryan," said Magrath. 
 " Every man's face was changed, and blackened as if by a 
 spell. Such looks were never seen among living men, as 
 we beheld this day." 
 
 " And did she rally again 1" asked Murray, whose inte- 
 rest appeared intense. 
 
 " Yes : when the ship gave that successful broadside, 
 she raised her head in earnest expectation ; and then the 
 shout, the clamorous joy, that told its glad result, came 
 pealing on our ears ; our comrades on the battery exclaim- 
 ed, ' she floats ! she floats !' and I raised my dying charge, 
 and bore her to the point from whence she might descry 
 the stately vessels bearing down in unimpeded approach. 
 She uttered a sound of joy, and spreading abroad her 
 hands, exclaimed, ' Lord, I have lived to pray — I come to 
 praise thee !' She sunk back, breathed the name of Jesus, 
 and departed to abide with him for ever." 
 
 There was a pause of solemn silence, broken at last by 
 Magrath. 
 
 " There's a rest and a glory, Cblonel Murray, prepared 
 for the people of God : a city where nothing can enter that 
 has not been washed in the blood of the Lamb. Outside 
 its gates is another place, and that place is hell. 'Tis an 
 awful question to put, which dwelling is for us 1 That 
 question was once put to me, within these walls, and it 
 stuck like a barbed hook in my conscience ; till God gave 
 me the peace that only he can give. The question is 
 here," he continued, drawing forth his beloved Irish bible, 
 "and here, too, is the answer ; and sorrow a sun, that may 
 rise upon Larry Magrath, shall set, till he's told both ques- 
 tion and answer to the ignorant people of his own poor
 
 DERRY. 291 
 
 country. Over mountain and bog, I'll bear this precious 
 word, this story of peace, and many a knee that's now 
 bent in sinful worship before an image of wood or clay, 
 may learn to bow at the name of Jesus, knowing no hope 
 but in him alone." 
 
 " You must not leave us, Magrath," said Murray, anx- 
 iously : " we owe you a debt that I will see paid. Your 
 fidelity, your zeal, your courage " 
 
 " Colonel Murray," interrupted the Irishman, rising, 
 and standing before him in collected dignity, " Colonel 
 Murray, you owe me no debt. The debt that was owing 
 is paid, but not by your hand. This," and he elevated 
 the Irish Bible, and spoke with passionate feeling, " this 
 is the debt that you owe to every poor child of sorrowful 
 Erin. It's a long debt, and it bears a fearful interest, and 
 woe to the Protestant who doesn't come forward to pay 
 his share of it ! You've made a resolute stand, and God 
 has prospered it : the dark horn- is ended, and yonder foes 
 will be marching away by to-morrow's dawn : but Papists 
 defeated may rally again ; they'll nurse the red spark of 
 hatred from father to son, till your children's grandchild- 
 ren may see the flame break out, the vengeance of heaven 
 to fan, and no power in man to quench it !" 
 
 " But, Magrath, wherein lies our security, if not in Pa- 
 pists defeated 1" 
 
 " In Papists converted. Sir," answered Magrath, ener- 
 getically. " Take the word of a Papist who came here 
 to destroy his friends, and now goes forth with no wish 
 but to save his enemies. You'll never enjoy the land till 
 you've conquered it 5 you never will conquer it while 
 Popery reigns. You may build palaces, and dwell in 
 fenced cities, and laugh your enemies to scorn ; but there's 
 that concealed under the cabin roof which all your armies 
 cannot overcome. You may hang, and shoot, and perse-
 
 292 DERRr. 
 
 cute, but destroy it you cannot; you may flatter and foster, 
 and give it power, but your friend it will never be. 
 Popery is the curse of God upon a land; and nothing can 
 remove it but the blessing of God, made known in tlu- 
 gospel of Jesus Christ.''
 
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