On the 12th of November, a vessel arrived in Dublin with the news that William of Orange had landed at Torbay on the 5th.

The news created the wildest excitement.

The Protestants, who had been deeply depressed, by the apparent intention of James to hand back, to their original owners, the land which had been wrested from them, now took heart and began openly to arm.

Upon the other hand, the Catholics felt that, if William and the Whigs succeeded to the chief power in England, their faith, their remaining property, and their lives were alike menaced, and they, too, prepared to fight to the last for all they held dear.
Walter rode several times with his father into Dublin.

The streets presented a strange spectacle.