THE BATTLE OF, THE BOYNE
[To the Editor of Tien SPECTATOR.] - , Sipp—My authorities in this letter arc the Life of Louis XIV '13Y. HaSsaI and alSo Lord Macaulay. The amount of ignorance in the Free State and North of Ireland about the battle of
'the Boyne, the effuse 'of so much bloodshed 'every ear, is appalling. The battle Was won by the Dutch GUards, composed solely of Roman Catholics. The English Parliament had decided that the Guards should leave England on account of their religion. In the battle they were assisted by the North of Ireland Protestants and some Irish Huguenots. The English took no part in the battle: A little explanation is here necessary of the origin of the Boyne expedition. , Louis XIV had equipped the Boyne expedition for James II with the view of keeping William III . engaged in Ireland. This he thought necessary before he made his advance for the. conquest of Western Europe, as Holkiad had to be conquered first. , The, hopes of Louis XIV were shattered by the Biayne . Victory and William was able to return to London and:the . continent with a. large English army, and was able to stay the. advance of Louis XIV, having Ieft the subjugation of Ireland to his generals. William III had made a treaty (Augsburg) with the Emperor of Austria and the Pope. ,
• If Louis had been successful he would have made, the conquered countries Protestants, as his religious views had greatly changed since the Edict of Nantes. He had quarrelled , with the Pope, his Guards had sacked the Vatican and he . was seeking to capture the Pope, who was protected by William III and the Emperor. He had made, all his French bishops abjure the commands of the Pope ; in fact, he was becoming another Henry VIII, My object in writing this letter was to show that it is through historical ignorance the Free Staters should have dentolished the statue of .King William III in Dublin, as he was the defender of the Pope. On the'other hand, it is 'equally absurd that the Protestants of the North' of Ireland' should proclaim William III to be the great defender of the Protestant 'religion, whereas he did great damage to Protestantism by aiding, accidentally or intentionally, the defeat of the anibitions plans of Louis XIV.
If these facts were ventilated in the Free State and in the North of Ireland, there would be very-. little bloodshed in the future.-1 am, Sir, your obedient servant,
JAMES D. DAY,
118 Queen's Gate, S.W.7. Lieut.-Colonel.
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