Sarsfield
Ireland. But it was only after the Boyne, and after James had fled to France, that Sarsfield began to assume the place which he has since held in the eyes of his countrymen. Tyrconnell, left as Viceroy, had no desire to prolong the struggle: his wife, a sister of Marlborough's duchess, was in Paris, and intrigued to prevent Louvois from sending fresh help to Ireland. She had no hard task, for Paris was full of accounts of Irish cowardice, which put a better colour on the defeat of a French army. In Ireland itself Lauzun was sick of the business, and, honestly or not, was convinced like Tyrconnell that the situation could not be retrieved. If events ultimately justified their forecast, it must be remembered that these leaders co-operated with fate: and at the very outset, their estimate of the resistance which could be opposed to Wilham was magnificently refuted.
To Limerick the whole forces of the Irish had gathered, by no orders, but as if, says O'Kelly, the author of Macariæ Excidium, "drawn by some secret instinct." The question arose whether Limerick could be defended. Lauzun declared that the fortifications "could be battered down with roasted apples."8 Tyrconnell supported him. On the other hand Sarsfield, who had no official position, but was admittedly
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