they reeled, and compelled them to give way. Old Marshal Schomberg, who stood eagerly watching the advance of his troops from the northern bank, now saw that the crisis of the fight had arrived, and he prepared to act accordingly. Placing himself at the head of his Huguenot regiment of horse which he had held in reserve, and pointing with his sword across the river, he called out, "Allons, mes amis! rappelez votre courage et vos ressentements: VOILA VOS PERSECUTEURS!"* and plunged into the stream. On reaching the scene of contest, a furious struggle ensued. The Dutch and Huguenot infantry rallied; and William, coming up from the left with his cavalry, fell upon the Irish flank and completed their discomfiture. The combined French and Irish army was forced through the pass of Duleek, and fled towards Dublin-James II. being the first to carry thither the news of his defeat.t William's loss did not exceed 400 men; but to his deep grief Marshal Schomberg was amongst the fallen, the hero of eighty-two having been cut down in the melée by a party of Tyrconnel's horse; and he lay dead upon the field, with many other gallant gentlemen.

Rapin, who relates this incident in his History of England, was present at the battle of the Boyne as an officer in one of the Huguenot regiments.

+ On reaching Dublin Castle, James

was received by Lady Tyrconnel, the wife of his viceroy. Madam," said he, "your countrymen can run well." "Not quite so well as your Majesty," was her retort, "for I see you have won the race.

CHAPTER XII.

HUGUENOT OFFICERS IN THE BRITISH SERVICE.

Ir forms no part of our purpose to describe the military operations in Ireland which followed the battle of the Boyne, further than to designate the principal Huguenot officers who took part in them. Amongst these, one of the most distinguished was Henry, second Marquis de Ruvigny. At the date of the Revocation, he had attained the rank of brigadier in the army of Louis XIV., and was esteemed an excellent officer, having served with great distinction under Condé and Turenne. Indeed, it is believed that the French army in Germany would have been lost, but for the skill with which he reconciled the quarrels of the contending chiefs who aspired to its command on the death of Turenne. Louis XIV. anxiously desired to retain Ruvigny in his service; but all his offers of individual toleration were refused, and casting in his lot with the exiled Protestants, he left France with his father and settled with him at Greenwich, dispensing hospitality and bounty. Being allowed the enjoyment of his French property, he did not join the British army which fought in Ireland. But when he heard that his only brother, De la Caillemotte, as well as Marshal Schomberg, had been killed at the Boyne, he could

restrain his ardour no longer, and offered his services to King William, who appointed him major-general, and further gave him the colonelcy of Schomberg's regiment of Huguenot horse.

Ruvigny immediately joined the army of General Ginkell in Ireland, while engaged in the siege of Athlone. There a Huguenot soldier was the first to mount the breach, in which he fell, cheering on his comrades. That place taken, the French general Saint Ruth retired with the Irish army to Aughrim, where he took up an almost impregnable position. Notwithstanding this advantage, Ginkell attacked and routed the Irish, the principal share in the victory being attributed to the Marquess de Ruvigny and his horse, who charged impetuously and carried everything before them. That the brunt of the battle was borne by the Huguenot regiments is shown by the extent of their loss. Ruvigny's regiment lost 144 men killed and wounded; that of Cambon 106; and that of Belcastle 85-being about one-fifth of the total loss on the side of the victors. "After the battle," says De Bostaquet, "Ginkell came up and embraced De Ruvigny, declaring how much he was pleased with his bravery and his conduct; then advancing to the head of our regiment, he highly praised the officers as well as soldiers. M. Causaubon, who commanded, gained great honour by his valour that day."* For the services rendered by De Ruvigny on this occasion, William raised him to the Irish peerage, under the title of Earl of Galway.

* Memoires Inédits de Dumont de Bostaquet, p. 303.

In 1693 Lord Galway joined William in Flanders, and was with him in the severe battle of Néerwinden, where the combined Dutch and English army was defeated by Marshal Luxemburg. The Huguenot leader fought with conspicuous bravery at the head of his cavalry, and succeeded in covering William's He was shortly after promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general.

retreat.

The war with France was now raging all round her borders-along the Flemish and the German frontiers, and as far south as the country of the Vaudois. The Vaudois were among the most ancient Protestant people in Europe; and Louis XIV., not satisfied with exterminating Protestantism in his own dominions, sought to carry the crusade against it beyond his own frontiers into the territories of his neighbours. He accordingly sent to the young Duke of Savoy, requiring him to extirpate the Vaudois, unless they would conform to the Roman Catholic religion. The duke refused to obey the French king's behest, and besought the help of the emperor of Germany and the Protestant princes of the north to enable him to resist the armies of Louis. The elector of Brandenburg having applied to William for one of his generals, Charles, Duke of Schomberg, whose father fell at the Boyne, was at once despatched to the aid of the Savoy prince, with an army consisting for the most part of Huguenot refugees. William also undertook to supply a subsidy of £100,000 a-year, as the joint contribution of England and Holland to the cause of Protestantism in Savoy.

Schomberg, on his arrival at Turin, found the country in a state of the greatest consternation, the French army under Catinat overrunning it in all directions. With his vigorous help, however, the progress of the French army was speedily checked; but unfortunately Schomberg allowed himself to be drawn into a pitched battle on the plains of Marsiglia in October 1693, in which he suffered a complete defeat, at the same time receiving a mortal wound, of which he died a few days after the battle.

On this untoward result of the campaign being known in England, the Earl of Galway was despatched into Savoy to take the command, as well as to represent England and Holland as ambassador at the court of Turin. To his dismay he shortly discovered that the Duke of Savoy was engaged in a secret treaty with the French Government for peace, on which Lord Galway at once withdrew with his contingent, the only object he had been able to accomplish being to secure a certain degree of liberty of worship for the persecuted Vaudois.

On his return to England, the earl was appointed one of the Lords-Justices of Ireland; and during the time that he held the office, he devoted himself to the establishment of the linen trade, the improvement of agriculture, and the reparation of the losses and devastations from which the country had so severely suffered during its civil wars. Among his other undertakings was the founding of the French colony of Portarlington. By his influence, he induced a large num