'It pleased God,' said George Walker, 'so to infatuate the councils of my Lord Tyrconnel that when the 3000 men were sent to assist his master against the invasion of the Prince of Orange, he took particular care to send away the whole regiment quartered in and about Londonderry.' The air was full of rumours, and the prevailing panic was increased by an anonymous letter announcing that there would be a massacre of the Protestants on Sunday, December 9. Many copies were circulated, one of which, addressed to Lord Mount Alexander, was found in the street at Comber in Down. The letter was doubtless an impudent fabrication, but it had a great effect, for 1641 was not forgotten. Copies reached Dublin on Friday, Sunday was the fatal day, and 3000 Protestants managed to get away by sea on the Saturday. Tyrconnel did not lose a moment before issuing a proclamation against false news, and he sent a yacht after the fugitives, but they could not be persuaded to return. The alarm spread to the country, and for several successive Sundays Protestant congregations worshipped with armed sentries at the door, like the Scotch field conventicles in Lauderdale's time. The panic in London owing to false reports brought by countrymen took place a week later, and may have been an echo of the Comber letter, but the truth will never be known. Londonderry became a city of refuge, with vigorous support from Enniskillen and Sligo, which Tyrconnel had also neglected to garrison.[179] [Sidenote: Non-resistance. Dr. King.] [Sidenote: Lord Mountjoy.]