from the copy actually signed was purely accidental; that neither the Lords Justices nor William desired to take any advantage of this omission; that yielding to the clamour of the colonists the clause was omitted from the Act of Parliament purporting to confirm the articles of Limerick; and that the number of persons affected by this omission cannot have been very great.
Returning now to the actual effects of the second article, it is to be noted that its drafting does little credit to the representatives of the Irish. For it stipulated for terms only for those actually in arms for King James, or under the protection of the Jacobite forces. Therefore it acquiesced in the forfeiture of all prisoners of war and of all those civilians in that part of Ireland, by far the greatest portion, which was already in the hands of the Williamites as well as of all those who had fallen in fight or died during the war.[1] It is true that the first terms asked for by the Irish had included a complete amnesty for all the supporters of James. These terms had been scornfully rejected by Ginkell; but it seems probable that as regards the estates of the partisans of James a little perseverance would have obtained better terms. William was anxious to end the war at any price, and must above all have been anxious to prevent any considerable emigration from Ireland to France.
- ↑ And the "Act for Confirming the Articles" enacted that all persons absent from Ireland when the Treaty was signed were excluded from it unless they were comprehended within the 3rd and 4th Articles. The latter only referred to four persons.The Duke of Berwick in his memoirs criticises severely the imbecility of the Irish plenipotentiaries.
