the gallant Walker, who had acted so nobly in the siege of Londonderry. I should tell you, that the city of Limerick was afterwards besieged by the English. The inhabitants behaved very bravely, and though at last they were obliged to surrender, yet they did so upon honourable terms. They received pardon from William; and a large number of those who had fought under James, went over to France, where they were received by king Louis, and joined his army.

But now you may wish to enquire what the Scotch were doing all this time, and how William's accession to the throne of England was received by them. Some of them were willing to acknowledge him as their king; but in Scotland, as well as in Ireland, there was a party who favoured James; and William did not establish his authority in the Highlands without some difficulty. At the head of the opposing party was Viscount Dundee, who, with his Highland troops, defeated William's army at the pass of Killicrankie. He died the following day of the wounds he had received, but the Highlanders still continued to resist, and the warfare went on for two years longer. At last, William published a declaration promising pardon to all who would submit to his authority before a certain day; and most of the chieftains were willing to do

this. But there was one, named Macdonald of Glencoe, who, for some reason or other, unfortunately put off making his submission. until the very last day of the time allowed. Procrastination is always dangerous, and in this case it proved fatal, not only to Macdonald himself, but to many of his country-people also, as you will find from the sad story I am now going to tell you.

The day on which Macdonald at last went to take the required oaths of submission, happened to be one of intense cold. The ground was covered with snow, and as he had some distance to travel, and delays unhappily occurred, he did not reach the place appointed until the day after the expiration of the term which William had named in his proclamation. Notwithstanding this, however, Macdonald made his submission in due form, and returned to Glencoe. And now he hoped that all was safe; but in this he was sadly mistaken. He had a dangerous enemy at court-the Earl of Breadalbane, who had some cause of complaint against the chieftain: for Macdonald had plundered his lands during the time of hostilities, and refused afterwards to pay for the mischief he had done. Breadalbane therefore determined to take revenge. He told William, that Macdonald was a disobedient subject, an incorrigible rebel, who would not

submit to any laws, nor live peacefully under any sovereign; and then he urged the king to make an example of him, and to command that he, and all his family, and his adherents in the vale of Glencoe, should be put to death by military execution. William, without due consideration, followed the advice of Breadalbane: he signed the order for the execution, and sent it to the Master of Stair, the Secretary of Scotland, who was but too willing to carry out the command with the utmost rigour.

One day in the month of February, not long after, a company of soldiers was seen marching into the valley of Glencoe, under the command of Captain Campbell. Macdonald went out to meet them, and enquired whether they came as friends or as foes. They said they came as friends, to collect some taxes which were now due, and that no injury was intended either to himself or to his people. So Macdonald received the captain and his men with great hospitality; he entertained them for fifteen days, and all that time they and the inhabitants of the glen lived together in the most friendly manner. One evening, however, after Macdonald and Campbell had passed the day very pleasantly in each other's company, and parted with their usual affection, the chieftain's sons perceived that the guard of soldiers had been doubled. This surprised

them, and they began to fear that all was not right. They told their father, but he said he could not think of suspecting Captain Campbell. He had made warm professions of friendship only a few hours before, and Macdonald would not doubt his sincerity. But the young men were not so easily satisfied; so they determined to go out secretly, and make observations for themselves. They soon saw a party of soldiers talking together, and they listened to hear what they said. The soldiers were speaking of some work which had been given them to do, which they did not at all like; and as the two young men stood near, they overheard them say, that though they would willingly fight against the Macdonalds in the field, in a fair open way, yet they thought it base to murder them in cold blood; but that the officers, not themselves, were accountable for such treachery!

You may imagine the horror with which the poor boys heard this. They hastened home to warn their father of his danger. But they were too late; the house was already surrounded with soldiers, and all around was heard the dreadful sound of the firing of muskets, and the shrieks of the women, and the cries of the children, who were just roused from their beds, and were trying to escape from their cruel enemies, in the darkness of