REGARDING the assortment of views over William III (Letters, July 15 and 16), let us examine some of the facts which both modern and traditional historians provide about his reign.

After the Monmouth rebellion and the chaos following Sedgemoor, William was invited to this country and, on advice, imposed with troops from the Netherlands a military dictatorship which lasted 18 months.

William, over a five year period, ordered a policy of fire and sword in the Scottish Highlands, which climaxed with the massacre at Glencoe.

After the Battle of the Boyne and the defeat of combined French and Irish Catholic forces, he ordered the deportation of Catholic peasants and townspeople and gave settlements of their lands to his Protestant followers, strengthening the hold of Protestants over Catholics.

Taking these points into consideration, as well as the fact that many of the people in the areas he reigned over were slaughtered with extreme prejudice, I would think harshness and cruelty depends on your point of view.

DUNCAN McVEE, Robin Bank Road, Darwen.

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