they had been ordered, on the 20th, of which they severally apprised lieutenant-general Lake, who was himself, with his staff and lieutenant-general Dundas, posted at Solsborough. The insurgents of the northern part of the county of Wexford had now concentrated their force on their station of Vinegar-hill, and at a consultation of their chiefs it was proposed to make a general assault on the post of Solsborough during the night, but to this the people could not be prevailed upon to agree; who chose rather to depend upou their very scanty provision of powder, and wait for open day-light to engage. It is very surprising, that, considering the great courage, and intrepidity displayed by them in so many engagements the insurgents could never be brought to make a nocturnal attack wherein they must have inevitably proved successful, as the confusion into which the regular troops would have been thrown by such a proceeding, would reduce them to a level with irregular bodies, whose superiority of numbers must necessarily have given them every advantage. On the 19th, general Edward Roche, and such of the insurgents of his neighbourhood as were at Vinegar-hill, were sent home to collect the whole mass of the people for general defence. By the march of the army in all directions, towards Vinegar-hill and Wexford, a general flight of such of the inhabitants as could get off took place; and as the greater part of the county was now occupied by the troops, the whole population was compressed into a very narrow space; and at this time there was not an encampment of insurgents in the northern part of the county, except at Vinegar-hill; while in the southern quarter the small camps of Carne and Rastoonstown were concentrated at the Three-rocks.

THE alarm was now general throughout the whole country; all men were called to attend the camps; and Wexford became the universal rendezvous of the fugitives, who reported, with various circumstances of horror, the progress of the different armies approaching in every direction, marking their move

ments with terrible devastation. Ships of war were also seen off the coast, and several gun-boats blocked up the entrance of the harbour, which precluded the possibility of any vessel getting out; so that Wexford was now on the brink of destruction, and the inhabitants without the smallest hope of escape. It is dreadful to conceive, and impossible to describe, the horrors felt by all who had the misfortune of being in the town on this most critical occasion. The melancholy scenes of devastation perpetrated by the army, in the country about Carrick-byrne, exhibited a melancholy picture; and from the commanding situation of the camp at the Three-rocks, on the mountain of Forth, the general conflagration, which was as pro-gressive as the march of the troops, was clealy perceivable. On the approach of the army, great numbers of countrymen, with their wives and children, and any little baggage they could hastily pack up, fled toward Wexford, as to an asylum or place of refuge; and the number of these was encreased every instant by the arrival of new fugitives, who described, in melancholy strain of lamentation, how their houses were plundered and destroyed, and how they themselves had narrowly escaped with life from the fury of the soldiery, who when thus let loose and encouraged to range over and ravage a country, become the greatest curse that can befal it!!!

I must however observe, that general Moore did all in his power to prevent these atrocities, and got some plunderers immediately put to death; but his humane and benevolent intentions were not so successful from the representations and excitements of the refugees returning home. It is much to be regretted that he was not afterward left in command in the county of Wexford, as he was ordered to Wicklow, where his conciliatory conduct and humanity were conspicuous, and will ever be remembered with gratitude by the people, who flocked to his standard for protection. Did Ireland enjoy the blessings of

such rulers, it would never have been involved such a dreadful situation.

THE Rev. Philip Roche, after having settled the encampment at the Three-rocks, came into Wexford and demanded all kinds of supplies for his forces; and as the inhabitants, (except the guns-men, who at tended for some time on Vinegar-hill) had never quit their homes or assisted at any battle, they were looked upon in a very invidious point of view by the rest of the people; who accordingly vowed the destruction of the town if all its armed men would not appear at the camp on the Three-rocks, early the next morning, and join in general defence. The Rev. general Roche, on coming into Wexford, was greatly exhausted from his diligent and unremitting exertions in covering the retreat from Lacken-hill, and not having taken a morsel of food during the whole day, less drink than usual exhibited him in the course of the evening very much intoxicated. Of this man it is however necessary to say, that however apparently violent and boisterous, he was remarkable for humanity. He never suffered a man to be put to death on Lacken-hill; and the following, recorded by the Rev. Mr. Gordon, is a most powerful instance of his benevolence. After stating, that although "Phi"lip Roche was in appearance fierce and sanguinary, "yet several persons now living owe their lives to his "boisterous interference;" he proceeds to state, that' "two protestants in a respectable situation in life, brothers, of the name of Robinson, inhabitants of the parish of Killegny, being seized and carried to Vinegar-hill, some of their Roman catholic tenants, anxious for their safety, gallopped in full speed to Roche's quarters at Lacken, and begged his assistance. immediately sent an express with orders to bring the two Robinsons to Lacken, pretending to have charges of a criminal nature against them, for which they should be tried. The miscreants on Vinegar-hill, who were preparing to butcher these men, though they were advanced in years, and unimpeachable

He

with any other crime than that of protestantism, on receipt of Roche's orders, relinquished their fury, not doubting that death awaited them at Lacken. But Roche, whose object was to snatch these innocent men from the jaws of the blood-hounds, immediately on their arrival at his quarters, gave them written protections, and sent them to their homes, where they were soon after in danger of being hanged by the king's troops, who were too ready to pronounce disloyal all such as had been spared by rebel parties." But to put the question for ever at rest, whether the insurrection of this period was a war of religion, it is only necessary to observe, that this was utterly impossible, notwithstanding the fanatic deeds of some base and barbarous individuals, since the militia regiments, who fought with such determined animosity against the insurgents, were mostly composed of catholics.

WHILE the principal inhabitants of Wexford were in consultation, to which they were now summoned, upon the best mode of self-preservation and defence, the order for all the armed men to appear in camp by break-of-day became imperious; and the outcry was so loud against the backwardness of the Wexfordmen, that several set off immediately. The six small cannon on board the Guinea cutter were brought on shore, and their carriages being too small for land service, they were tied on cars and taken, thus mounted, by the sailors to the camp at the Three-rocks, where the scarcity of ammunition was so great, that not a charge remained for any other cannon. On this evening it was that the Wexford guns-men had returned home from Vinegar-hill: and about seventy men from the northern side of the Slaney came into town during the night, and were lodged in the barrack by captain Dixon, who had been remarkably active in spreading alarm through the country north of the town, through which he had rode several miles to induce the people to come into Wexford, as it were for general defence. Early on the morning of

such rulers, it would never have been involved in such a dreadful situation.

THE Rev. Philip Roche, after having settled the encampment at the Three-rocks, came into Wexford and demanded all kinds of supplies for his forces and as the inhabitants, (except the guns-men, who at tended for some time on Vinegar-hill) had never quit their homes or assisted at any battle, they were looked upon in a very invidious point of view by the rest of the people; who accordingly vowed the destruction of the town if all its armed men would not appear at the camp on the Three-rocks, early the next morning, and join in general defence. The Rev. general Roche, on coming into Wexford, was greatly exhausted from his diligent and unremitting exertions in covering the retreat from Lacken-hill, and not having taken a morsel of food during the whole day, less drink than usual exhibited him in the course of the evening very much intoxicated. Of this man it is however necessary to say, that however apparently violent and boisterous, he was remarkable for humanity. He never suffered a man to be put to death on Lacken-hill; and the following, recorded by the Rev. Mr. Gordon, is a most powerful instance of his benevolence. After stating, that although "Phi66 lip Roche was in appearance fierce and sanguinary, "yet several persons now living owe their lives to his "boisterous interference;" he proceeds to state, that "two protestants in a respectable situation in life, brothers, of the name of Robinson, inhabitants of the parish of Killegny, being seized and carried to Vinegar-hill, some of their Roman catholic tenants, anxious for their safety, gallopped in full speed to Roche's quarters at Lacken, and begged his assistance. He immediately sent an express with orders to bring the two Robinsons to Lacken, pretending to have charges of a criminal nature against them, for which they should be tried. The miscreants on Vinegar-hill, who were preparing to butcher these men, though they were advanced in years, and unimpeachable