“He died on the scaffold in front of those walls, Where the blackness of ruin is seen from afar, And the gloom of their desolate aspect recalls The blackest of Broghill’s achievements in war.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER VII Ormond’s Treacherous Surrender of Dublin—Ireland’s Choice of Two Evils ORMOND would seem to have been the evil genius of the Irish nation at this period of its history. He was suspected by the Confederates and distrusted by the Parliamentarians. The former, convinced that he meant to betray Dublin, which was poorly fortified, to the latter, ordered O’Neill and Preston to unite their forces and take it from Ormond. Preston, who was, to all appearance, more of a royalist Palesman than an Irishman, threw obstacles in the way of the intended assault, and proposed to parley with Ormond before assuming the aggressive. Owing to this dilatoriness, and because of a false alarm, the combined Irish forces retired from before the city without accomplishing anything. There was mutual distrust between the unwilling allies, and, as usual, Ireland was the sufferer. Preston’s jealousy of O’Neill amounted to a frenzy, and, before an accommodation could be arrived at, Ormond surrendered the city to the Parliamentary forces, under General Jones, and fled to France, where, unaccountably, considering his suspicious conduct, he was favorably received. After a year’s absence, he returned to Ireland, and, finding the royal cause desperate, concluded a peace between the king’s supporters, the Confederates, and the National party, headed by Owen O’Neill. This treaty was, virtually, a revival of that submitted by Glamorgan, and fully recognized, when all too late, the justice of the Catholic claims to liberty of conscience. Had the original instrument been adopted, Charles could have held Ireland against the Parliament. But his days were now numbered, and he died on the scaffold, in front of his own palace of Whitehall, on January 30, 1649.