But if the defenders did not display as great intrepidity as the besiegers, they showed qualities which, in their position, would be considered by many as more important:--wonderful fortitude and great endurance--and their service to England can scarcely be overestimated. They forced this war for religious ascendency; they maintained this stronghold until the landing of Schomberg, which turned the tide of fortune; but in all that transpired before the walls, the Jacobite army exhibited greater courage, and far greater valor and intrepidity. If, then, it should be asked why they were able to withstand, so long, the greater valor claimed for their enemies, the answer is plain:--Stone walls, abundant means, and great numerical odds. If it be true,--and it is so asserted,--that in a moment of desperation they threw open their gates and invited the enemy to enter, and it should be asked, why they were not accommodated?--it should be remembered that there is a wide difference between rashness and valor. But that they were driven from the open country, by a much inferior force, and twice brought to terms, unwisely rejected by an over-punctilious king, are also as certain as the records of the time are reliable. But, when it is asked, why men and appliances sufficient were not brought to bear on them in time; the answer is harrowing, but nevertheless true:--an impoverished country, a ruined exchequer, and the consequent dependence on the bounty of the French king. CHAPTER VII. THE LANDING OF MARSHAL SCHOMBERG, AND HIS WINTER CAMPAIGN.