Among the war books languishing in the only penny tub of our acquaintance, we lately caught sight of a small, dingy pamphlet which proved to be no less than "A True Account of the Siege of Londonderry. By the Reverend Mr. George Walker, Rector of Donoghmoore, in the County of Tirone, and late Governour of Derry." Something in the title suiting the mood of the moment, our, penny was quickly exchanged for This old record, which has now taken its place among our favourite classics, Mr. Edmund Blunden writes in the "Daily News." The Reverend Mr. Walker was an early exponent of muscular Christianity; his book 's the story of a simple soul with a bias.
In 1689 the prospect of the Protestants in Londonderry was poor. The city was in danger of being possessed by the Irish—O, naive Mr. Walker!—and King James with his Catholic army was marching upon it. Indeed. the Aldermen and "the graver Citizens" were in a state of mental palsy. and it was well that some of the younger men "run in all hast to the Main-Guard. snatch up the keys, and shut the Gates."
Mvstarp axp Mimactes.
Mr. Walker stepped sing a regiment (the passed a resolution that under the circumstances it was the duty of the principal officers to withdraw), he awaited events. The principal officers found no difficulty in keeping their _resolution, James appeared outside the town, and our clergyman found himself at the head of 7,000 soldiers and nearly 20,000 civilians prepared to stand or fall.
But meanwhile there had been trouble in the ranks. The men complained of a powder shortage, but they reckoned not with Walker. "By the contrivance of their Officer, a bag of Mustard-Seed was laid upon the carriages, which by its resemblance easily obtained the credit of a bag of powder, and immediately gave motion to the soldiers." No sooner had this miracle been performed than the staff's dereliction was noised abroad. It needed a far subtler miracle to keep the troops from "expressing their discontent. with violence upon some Persons."
But at last the real business of the siege was begun—bombardments, raids, intelligence reports, and sniping. The defenders had "not so much as a hand-granada to annoy the Enemy," nor provisions to last longer than a fortnight; yet on April 21, 1689, "our Men sallied out, as many as pleased, and what officers were at_leasure, not in any commendable Order, yet they killed above 200 of the Enemies' Souldiers, besides Ma-mow, the French General." Indeed, scarcely a day passed without some brilliant exploit on the part of Mr. Walker's men, and the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.