the British family, in the wilds of America, are manifested to the world. A sketch of the Old English stock is given in the first chapter. That race had a character peculiar and imposing. The Scotch Irish had a character equally as peculiar, and, though less imposing, more effective of religious eminence, and literary excellence, and not a whit behind in political aspirations, and self-denying labours in the cause of liberty.

A true estimate of Makemie, whose sufferings and labours and success, occupy the two preceding chapters, cannot be formed by considering him individually, or his actions in Virginia, and other provinces, apart from that race that gave him birth, and from the circumstances that moulded that race and made him what he was. Looking at him as he appears in Virginia, aside from his education, he appears to be the most singular man of his day; his course cannot be well understood. That he had principles of religion and morality of great energy and unchangeable power, is evident. And it is equally evident that they were not, what was anciently termed malignancy, or in more modern times, radicalism, or personal ambition, or enthusiasm, or bigotry, or jesuitical adherence to party. The current of his life flowed like a pure stream from an abiding equable fountain. To find that fountain we must cross the ocean, and search the records of his race in the province of Ulster, Ireland.

For a detailed account of the Scotch Irish,-their origin,their principles of religion, their church forms and government,—their awakenings-their sufferings their abortive, yet almost romantic, effort at emigration to America, in the Eagle Wing, their political opinions, their expectations in emigrating to America, their influence in Ireland,—and the formation of their religious and civil character,—the reader is referred to the Sketches of North Carolina, published the latter part of 1846, by Carter, New York. The recent appearance of that volume, and the fulness of detail in chapters 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th, render the attempt at further delineation unnecessary. One powerful, and proximate, cause of emigration, omitted in that volume, will be given in this,-The Siege of Londonderry and its consequences.

The two distinct families of the British Empire met in Virginia, in circumstances well calculated to stimulate to vehement exercise the principles of both, in civil and religious matters. Their mutual action and reaction improved both parties; and Virginia is, now, what neither, singly, could have made her. Both had fixed principles of civil and religious liberty; but their views of liberty in the State, and in the Church, were somewhat different both in theory and practice. The scions of the Old English stock, in the "ancient dominion," considered, the en

joyment of religious ordinances established, maintained, and defended, by the State, undisturbed and unawed by any foreign power, to be religious liberty, the liberty of the majority, the liberty of an independent State.

The Scotch Irishman, on the frontier, thought freedom of choice in regard to doctrines of belief,-forms of worship,-and ordinances of religion, and the undisputed and undisturbed exercise of this choice, confirmed to every member of society, and defended by law, made religious liberty.

The civil liberty of the English scion was the liberty of Englishmen, of the national church, in England, the liberty of King, Lords and Commons, with different grades in society, acting independently of all foreign powers. The Scotch Irishman thought freedom of person,-the right of possession of property in fee simple,-and an open road to civil honours, secured to the poorest and feeblest member of society, constituted civil liberty.

When these races came in collision, and their first meeting was a collision, there was exasperation and persecution; the strong arm of the law avenged the complaining Establishment on the sturdy defender of Calvinistic Presbytery. But when the soft hand of the seaboard grasped, in friendship, the toil hardened hand of the frontier, the "ancient dominion" gave refinement of manners, and received back religious freedom, on the only true and firm foundation, the Being, Attributes and Government of God, as revealed in the Gospel of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And the blending powers gave being and life to the civil liberty of Virginia, the mother of Presidents and of States.

CHAPTER V.

SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY: ITS CONNEXION WITH THE VALLEY OF VIRGINIA.

THE Siege of Londonderry, a small, badly fortified city, on the West bank of the Foyle, in the province of Ulster, Ireland, forms an important chapter in the history of the Protestant succession in England. It is particularly interesting to multitudes in the United States, whose ancestors sustained the siege, shared in the joy of the victory, but not in the advantages, and finally became exiles, to the wilds of America, to enjoy a Protestantism too pure for England, or the nations of Europe. It is an unquestionable fact of history, though it may be slow in

finding its place in volumes written by English hands for English eyes, that the shutting the gates of Derry, Friday, Dec. 7th, 1688, by the APPRENTICE BOYS, followed by the distressing siege of eight weary months, in which the Irish forces of James II, assisted by troops from France, heaped upon the inhabitants, and the soldiers gathered within the narrow walls, all that can be endured by mortal famished man,-ending, as the siege finally did, in the disgraceful departure of the popish forces,-turned the scale in favour of William of Nassau and secured to him the crown of England, and to the country at large the succession of Protestant Kings and Queens that have filled the throne to this day.

Had the gates of Derry remained open, or had the siege terminated in the early capitulation of the city, the forces from France and Ireland would have gone to Scotland to act in concert with the famous Claver'se in favour of James. Who can calculate the effects of that union of forces? Even supposing the hour of Claver'se had come, and he must fall in some indecisive victory, James might have defended his crown against his son in law, the Prince of Orange, if not to victory, at least to a prolonged and sanguinary contest. James had the rare fortune to turn all favourable circumstances and events against himself, and a singular inability to turn adversity to his favour. But the Scotch and Irish and French forces united under able leaders would have tasked both the courage and ability of William and his followers. Londonderry broke up all arrangements. Her siege consumed the money, the provisions, and the men that were to vindicate the rights of James. Claver'se waited, and in despair gained his last victory, and died an ignobly glorious death. Scotland was lost to James. Ireland, then the field of contest, was abandoned after the battle of the Boyne. James felt his crown was lost. But had Derry been possessed in time, the battle of the Boyne could not have been fought; the decisive battle would have been elsewhere. It is a matter of surprise, and scarcely to be accounted for, that a place so badly fortified as Derry could have held out so long. An experienced commander, exclaimed at a glance,-"It is impossible a military man should have attempted its defence: or that such an one should have failed in its reduction."

William of Orange landed in England on the 5th of November, 1688. That may be considered as the first act of hostility. James, in the distraction of his councils, summoned his forces from Ireland. He supposed that England or Scotland must be the battle ground. Lord Mountjoy who had possession of Derry, with a regiment of disciplined soldiers, left this little town, in the extreme north of Ireland, vacant, and hastened to

the aid of James. The aged Earl of Antrim was ordered to occupy it with his regiment of Papists, loyal in principle, but less disciplined and incomparably less trustworthy than the forces of Mountjoy. The Papists of Ireland had never been reconciled to the Protestant emigration that occupied so large a portion of the province of Ulster. They were continually fomenting quarrels and making inroads. James I, the Charleses, as well as Cromwell had found it necessary to pacify Ireland with an armed force. James II. had no better experience of the friendship of the Papists for the English Church; or for himself till he made it evident he designed re-establishing the Roman Catholic forms and ceremonies. When the Prince of Orange took arms against James, the Papists in Ireland rallied in his defence. France sent money and an armed force to Ireland. In the course of the military movements that succeeded, Derry became the theatre of events great in their consequences to the king and the people, the Church and the State.

In the great emigration from England and Scotland promoted by James I. the northern part of the province was given to the citizens of London on condition they would fortify Londonderry and Coleraine. The country prospered in the hands of the Protestants who had resorted thither from London and other parts of the kingdom. With the increase of wealth, industry and population, there were no symptoms of increased friendship between the native Irish who were Papists and the immigrants who were Protestants. On the 3d of December, 1688, a letter was found in Cumber, county Down, informing Earl Mount Alexander, that on the succeeding Sabbath, the 9th of the month, the Irish throughout the Island, were to massacre the Protestants, men, women, and children; and that a Captain's commission would be the reward of him that killed the Earl, whom the writer as a personal friend urged to be on his guard. The Earl spread the alarm by sending copies of the letter through the country as far as Dublin. In the progress of the news it was found that other gentlemen had received similar warning. Expresses were sent to all the Protestant towns. The news reached Derry, on Thursday the 6th, while the place was yet vacant of any military force. The alarm here, as every where else, was great. Many circumstances concurred in producing belief in the rumoured conspiracy,—such as the massacre in 1641, which had not been general for want of power and concert, the sermons and addresses of the priests at the mass houses,-the directions known to be given to the Irish every where to procure themselves good arms,

the busy preparation of skeins, or long knives by the blacksmiths throughout the kingdom,—and the repeated declarations

amongst the Papists that some great event was about to take place advantageous to their cause. Every where the Protestants were aroused.

The messenger that brought the news to Derry, reported the forces of the Earl of Antrim to be near the city; that the advanced guard was within three or four miles when he passed. The city was filled with consternation at the double danger. The Rev. James Gordon, Presbyterian minister of Clondomet, near Derry, being in the town, and consulted by Alderman Tompkins, advised to shut the gates and exclude the soldiery; as the walls of the town were sufficient protection against forces unprovided with artillery. The aged and pious Bishop Hopkins, being also in town, was consulted by Alderman Norman, and gave his opinion against shutting the gates, as such a measure would irritate the soldiers of Antrim, and the inhabitants were not prepared for a siege. The terrified inhabitants assembled in groups; and here and there is heard a threat from the young men, the apprentices,-for Derry was extensively engaged in the manufacture of linen,—to shut the gates. The men in authority were engaged in discouraging any outbreak of passion; and were miserably hesitating between submission and resistance. Two companies of the advancing forces having reached the river, the commanding officers were ferried over the Foyle, and called for a conference with the city authorities, to adjust the manner of admission and the disposition of the forces. The Deputy Mayor, John Buchanan, was for giving them an immediate and honourable reception; Horace Kennedy, one of the Sheriffs, was for shutting the gates; the others were hesitating. The young men were assembled waiting the result and a signal from Kennedy. The discussion was prolonged. The soldiers, anxious to get to their expected quarters, without orders, began to cross the river and to approach the ferry gate. The young men took the alarm. Some ran to the guard, seized the keys, and hasting to the gates, shut them in the face of the soldiers. The other gates were speedily shut and secured. The names of the apprentices that led the way in this exploit, were Henry Campsie, William Crookshanks, Robert Sherrard, Daniel Sherrard, Alexander Irwin, James Stewart, Robert Morrison, Alexander Coningham, William Cairns, and Samuel Harvey. From the gates the young men hastened to the magazine, where their leader, Henry Campsie, is wounded by the guard, a reputed Papist. The sight of blood aggravated the populace. All the efforts of the Deputy Mayor, the Bishop, and the officers of Antrim, who were in the town, could not prevail on the people to open the gates. "The dull heads of the men of Londonderry" says Makenzie-" could not comprehend how it