Vindication of Sarsfield.

IX. - Vindication of Sarsfield.

The reputation of Sarsfield did not escape the lash of the bigot. Lord Macaulay, with an ingenuity peculiar to himself, thought to brand with dishonour that noble name and to send it down to posterity with the stigma of a word-breaker upon it:- “Sarsfield,” says Macaulay, “perceived that one chief cause of the desertion which was thinning his army was the natural unwillingness of the men to leave their families in a state of destitution. Cork and its neighbourhood were filled with the kindred of those who were going abroad. Great numbers of women, many of them leading, carrying, or suckling their infants, covered all the roads which led to the place of embarkation. The Irish general, apprehensive of the effect which the entreaties and lamentations of these poor creatures could not fail to produce, put forth a proclamation, in which he assured his soldiers that they should be permitted to carry their wives and families to France. It would be injurious to the memory of so brave and loyal a gentleman to suppose that when he made this promise *he meant to break it. *It is much more probable that he had formed an erroneous estimate of the number of those who would demand a passage, and that he found himself when it was too late, to alter his arrangements, *unable to keep his word. *After the soldiers had embarked room was found for the families of many. But still there remained on the water-side a great multitude clamouring piteously to be taken on board. As the last boats put off there was a rush into the surf. Some women caught hold of the ropes, were dragged out of their depth, clung till their fingers were cut through, and perished in the waves. The ships began to move. A wild and terrible wail arose from the shore, and excited unwonted Compassion in hearts steeled by hatred of the Irish race and of the Romish faith. Even the stern Cromwellian, now at length after a desperate struggle of three years, left the undisputed lord of the bloodstained and devastated island, could not hear unmoved that bitter cry in which was poured forth all the rage and all the sorrow of a conquered nation.”

It is true that all this took place. It is false that Sarsfield broke his word. It was “Remember the women’s parting cry,” that fired the heart of the exiled soldiers to deeds of valour on the battlefield - but not less than the truthful unblemished tongue of the noble honourable Sarsfield.

The Military Articles of the Treaty reveal the man who was charged with the embarkation of the emigrants and their families-and who was to make out an estimate for King William of the necessary shipment. Who was this man? Was it Sarsfield? No, it was General Ginkell! And when Sarsfield assured the soldiers, in his proclamation, of the safe transport of their wives and families to France, he relied on the first and remaining articles of the Treaty, absolutely unsuspicious of the black design of the Violators of the Treaty. Besides Harris and Curry, in their histories, distinctly state that the Lords Justices and Ginkell did their utmost to violate the First Article by keeping the wives at home in the hope that their husbands would not join the gallant army in France, before whose steel and whose matchless prowess they quailed at home.

Macaulay saw and read these histories. But his lying calumny, his bigoted and narrow spirit are powerless to dim the glory, honour, and immortal fame of Patrick Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan.

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