William himself left his army, as soon as he broke up the siege, and
pushed straight on to Waterford, and the troops, relieved from the only
authority they feared, and rendered furious by the ill success which had
attended their operations, broke out into acts of plunder and
insubordination which surpassed anything that they had before
perpetrated.

The siege of Limerick brought the campaign to a close, and, so far, the
Irish had no reason to be disheartened. They had besieged and nearly
annihilated the army of Schomberg at Dundalk. They had fought a sturdy
battle on the Boyne, and had proved themselves a match for William's best
troops. They had decisively repulsed the attacks upon Athlone and
Limerick. Half the troops William had sent to conquer the country had
fallen, while their own losses had been comparatively small.

The sole fruit, of all the efforts of William, had been the occupation of
the capital--a great advantage, as it gave him a point at which he could
pour fresh troops into Ireland, and recommence the war in the spring with
new chances of success. When the British army reached Callan, some of the
arrears of pay were distributed among the troops, and the army was then
broken up, and the troops went into winter quarters.

William had returned at once to England, and sent over some new lords
justices to Dublin. These were received with delight by the townspeople,
who had suffered terribly from the exactions and depredations of the
foreign troops quartered there, and were, indeed, almost in a state of
starvation, for the country people were afraid to bring in provisions for
sale, as they were either plundered of the goods as they approached the
city, or robbed of their money as they returned after disposing of them.
As the only possible check to these disorders, the justices raised a body