In the Irish Brigade | Page 6

had settled the succession, after Anne, on her

brother, there might have been an end of the quarrel altogether. But
now that they have settled it on Sophia of Hanover, granddaughter of
James the 1st, and her descendants, subject to the restriction that they
shall be Protestants, the quarrel does not seem likely to be healed."
"This priest of yours must be a dangerous man," O'Sullivan said.
"Not at all. I can assure you, he is devoted to the king; but, as he told
me, there is no use in Irishmen always closing their eyes to the true
state of things. He says that we must rely upon ourselves, and our loyal
friends in Scotland and England, but that he is sure the king will never
be placed on his throne by French bayonets. A small auxiliary force
may be sent over, but, in all these years, Louis has made no real effort
to assist him; and even if, for his own purposes, he sent a great army to
England, and placed him on the throne, he would not be able to
maintain himself there for a month after the French had withdrawn, for
even a rightful king would be hated by the people upon whom he had
been forced, by a foreign power, especially a power that had, for
centuries, been regarded as their chief enemy. If he had been in earnest,
Louis would have sent over a great army, instead of a few thousand
men, to Ireland, when such a diversion would have turned the scale in
our favour. As he did not do so then, he is not likely to do so in the
future. The king is useful to him, here, by keeping up an agitation that
must, to some extent, cripple the strength of England; but, were a Stuart
on the throne, he would have to listen to the wishes of the majority of
his people, and France would gain nothing by placing him there.
Moreover, she would lose the services of twenty thousand of her best
soldiers, for naturally the exiles would all return home, and what is now
the most valuable force in the French service, might then become an
equally important one in the service of Britain."
"I am glad that this priest of yours remains quietly in Kilkargan, for, if
he were to come here, and expound his views among our regiments, he
might cause quite a defection among them. At any rate, Kennedy, I
should advise you not to take to propagating his views in the regiment.
It would not add to your comfort, or ours, and there are a good many
hot-headed men who would take up the idea that you had been infected

by O'Carroll's principles."
"It would not be well for anyone to say as much to my face," Desmond
said. "Father O'Leary is loyal to the backbone, although he has his own
ideas as to the hopelessness of our obtaining any efficient help from
Louis. He thinks that it will be far better to trust to our friends at home,
and that, even did Louis carry out his promises, it would in the long run
harm rather than benefit King James."
"I am not saying that his view may not be correct, Kennedy. I am only
saying that the view would be a very unpopular one, among the
Brigade. We are fighting for France because we believe that France, in
turn, will aid in placing our rightful king on the throne, and if we once
entertained the notion that Louis was deceiving us, that he had no
intention of helping us, and that, if he did place James on the throne, he
would alienate all his sympathizers at home, we should ask ourselves of
what use was it, spending our blood in fighting the battles of France."
"At any rate, I will take your advice, O'Sullivan, and will keep my lips
sealed, as to Father O'Leary's views. As you see, by my presence here,
he has not convinced me, and as long as there is a hope that, by the aid
of a French army, we may yet see our king come to his own again, I
shall do my best to prove myself a faithful soldier of France. I have
chosen my career with my eyes open. A loyal Irishman cannot obtain
employment, still less military employment, in his own country, and
accordingly, we are to be found fighting as soldiers of fortune in every
country in Europe. At least there is some chance that we may be
benefiting the royal cause by fighting for the country that gave King
James shelter, and rendered him armed assistance in his struggle with
the usurper, and will probably give aid, more or less efficient, when the
next attempt is